1 — RAFI LEARNS PAIN
11:03 PM — An alley behind a shuttered convenience store.
Rafi stands alone, cheap black hoodie pulled over his face. His pocket knife feels heavier than it should.
In his head, he's her — the Black Raven. Fast, silent, feared.
He swings the blade at a rusted dumpster, picturing feathers flying.
But then: footsteps. Real ones. A man, drunk or high, shoves him against the wall.
Stranger:
"Whatcha got there, tough guy? Gimme the knife."
Rafi panics — slashes out, wild. It cuts air. The man punches him in the stomach. Rafi folds. Drops the blade.
The man kicks it away — eyes on the cheap phone Rafi uses to record himself.
Stranger:
"Play hero again, kid, I'll carve your face off. Stay home. Leave the night to monsters."
Rafi curls up in garbage and regret — a pretend predator tasting real prey for the first time.
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2 — JESS CRACKS
Daytime — the morgue's fluorescent lights hum like insects.
Jess sorts tissue samples — eyes red from no sleep. Selene's shadow looms over her shoulder. They exchange no words — too risky.
The doors swing — Detective Mendoza enters, crisp blazer, cheap smile. She sets her badge on Jess's table like a threat.
Mendoza:
"Hi, Jess. Just a quick question — ever wonder why your friend always calls in sick when the Raven shows up on the news?"
Jess's hand trembles over the scalpels.
Jess:
"I don't know what you think you know."
Mendoza steps closer — invades her bubble.
Mendoza:
"No, but you do know something. You'll slip. Secrets leak. When they do — I'll be here to mop it up."
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3 — LYRIC'S SIGNATURE
Midnight — an abandoned parking garage. Dr. Lyric drags his victim — a night-shift clerk who just wanted to get home — across oil-slick concrete.
He hums. A small music box turns slowly on a nearby pillar — a lullaby echoing off the concrete.
He cuts with surgical delight — tongue, eyelids, then a feather pinned in the victim's mouth.
He sets the body under a flickering security camera — ensuring it will be found.
Lyric (soft, to the corpse):
"A city that forgets its monsters needs reminders carved in muscle and bone."
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4 — MICAH'S HORROR
Back at The Nest — Micah hunches over flickering screens. He replays the old test footage: TALON restrained, its clawed hands wrapped in heavy iron. The thing looks human, but only on the surface. Beneath: steel tendons, bone replaced by carbon filament.
A voice on the old tape — a Flock scientist, long dead:
"Subject TALON is designed for urban erasure. Self-repairing tissue, optical uplink, no pain threshold. Final command: hunt."
Micah rubs his eyes raw.
Micah (to the empty air):
"Selene, when you meet this thing… don't miss."
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5 — SELENE TRIES TO BREATHE
Selene sits on a bench by the river — night wind cold through her hair.
Next to her: Jess, head on her shoulder, pretending they're two normal women on a break, not an undertaker and an angel of death.
Jess murmurs into Selene's coat:
Jess:
"Promise me one night where you don't disappear when the sirens hit."
Selene wants to promise — she does. But her phone hums. Micah's coded text: Lyric. North Docks. Another message.
Jess feels the shift — the way Selene stiffens.
She sighs. Pulls away.
Jess:
"Go. Bring your feathers. Just come back to me next time."
Selene doesn't say goodbye — she never does.
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6 — WARD'S LINE
At the crime scene, Lyric's victim lies under sheets. Ward scans the grotesque signature — the feather pinned in a dead man's grin.
Mendoza stands beside him — cold rage in her eyes.
Mendoza:
"She's losing control. Her monsters are breeding more monsters."
Ward doesn't argue — but in his pocket, his phone buzzes: an encrypted text from an old burner number.
— Keep her safe. Or bury her.
Ward stares at the city lights flickering beyond the crime tape. Mendoza watches him — the suspicion plain.
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7 — THE FEATHERS NEVER SLEEP
In an abandoned fish market near the docks, Selene perches on a steel beam, mask down, talons out.
Below, she sees fresh drag marks — Lyric's calling card. The wind carries the stench of something half-human, half-nightmare.
Micah's voice flickers in her ear:
Micah (low, urgent):
"Boss, Talon's real. Lyric's just the bait. They're moving pieces we don't even see."
Selene's eyes harden — feathers bristle.
Selene (a whisper only the night hears):
"Then I'll cut them all off — feather by feather."
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END OF CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO