Black Sparrow

Chapter 1

I awoke with a start, my heart racing. Sounds of a shattered dream were swirling in my head, screams, howling, blood. I could not remember the specifics of the dream, only that it left me with a feeling of terror. I lay on my back in my cozy bed with my dog, Yuliy, licking my fingers in an attempt to calm me. Not wanting to dwell on my terror for much longer, I gathered myself and rolled out of bed. I snatched my phone off the side table and glanced at the time; 5:20 am. “Perfect!”, I exclaim as my cat Taiki strolled into the bedroom. Yuliy, my sable and white English Shepherd and Taiki, a long-haired yellow tabby are my entire life. I gathered up Yuliy’s long, fluffy mane in my hands and brought him into a hug. “Good morning baby boy! Are you ready for a jog?” Yuliy was visibly excited at my words, wagging his tail quickly and slightly shuffling his feet.

 I grabbed my rubber band from where it sat on my bedpost, so as to discourage the naughty feline of the house from snatching it. I put my long, mousy brown hair into a high messy bun and slipped on a sports bra and some running shorts. I walked out of the bedroom and into the living room of my two bed one bath cottage, with Yuliy following close behind. I opened the curtains to the window in the living room to check the weather, it is late spring, my favorite weather; not too hot and not too cold. It looks a little foggy, but the sun is coming up and warming the air. “Lets go!” I say to Yuliy as I grab his prong collar and leash off the wood coffee table. Yuliy runs and sits at the front door, waiting patiently. I snag my bluetooth headphones and keys off the floating shelf / key rack by the door and bend down to put Yuliy’s collar and leash on. I put the headphones in and start the jogging playlist on Pandora. 

Separate Ways by Journey starts playing, I nod my head and tuck the phone in my sports bra. “Alright, here we go” I say to Yuliy as I start to open the door. We step out into the chilly morning to see the beautiful sunrise over the tree tops. The smell of pine needles and fresh mountain air hit my senses as I took a deep breath in and smiled. Before beginning our jog I head over to the chicken coop near the back of the cottage and open the metal trash can holding the chicken feed and a makeshift scoop. I fill the scoop and open the door into the coop. I drop Yuliy’s leash and tell him “Stay.” before walking in. “Good morning ladies!” The six Australorps cluck as they make their way over from their roost a foot above the wooden floor. The smell of fresh hay and chicken poop hits me as I dump the feed into the metal trough on the ground. The girls rush the trough and make quite the racket, pecking at the food. I step over to the automatic PVC pipe waterer I made last year, checking to see that the water level was still high, and thanking my past self for making it. I step out of the coop to find Yuliy sitting exactly where I left him, “Who’s my good boy?” I ask as I grab his leash, he gives a little yip and wags his tail as I command him to “Heel” and start our jog on the mountain trail.

We jogged two miles, and when we arrived home Yuliy was feeling it. I take his prong collar off and he ran to his water bowl, lapping it up eagerly. I set my stuff down and filled his food bowl before stepping into the bathroom. I take my clothes off and start the shower. While I wait for the water to warm up I take a look at myself in the mirror. I am a beautiful girl, or so I’ve been told. I have long, straight mousy brown hair, baby blue eyes with high cheekbones and almond colored skin. My breasts are nothing amazing to look at, but are not small either, a solid B cup. My stomach is toned, as is the rest of my body. I pride myself in staying fit and healthy.

The room starts filling with steam as I step into the shower. I rinse my hair and start shampooing, quickly rinsing and reaching for the conditioner. As I wrap my fingers around the bottle Taiki swipes at my hand from where he sits on the edge of the tub and behind the plastic curtain. “Get outta here you asshole!” I yell as I push him off. He hates being wet, but for some reason needs to mess with stuff while I’m in the shower. When I am finished I turn off the water and pull the curtain back. As soon as I step out, Taiki jumps into the tub and starts lapping the water off the faucet. Yuliy is waiting for me at the doorway while I dry off and wrap my hair in the towel. I ruffle his ears as I walk by and enter my small walk in closet. I throw on a plain white shirt and black high rise skinny jeans. I walk back to the bathroom to brush my hair and teeth. I throw my hair up in a slightly less messy bun and do some quick makeup, just some eyeliner and mascara. I take Yuliy out one more time to potty before locking him in his kennel and heading to the drive way. I start my 2009 Subaru Forrester and wait a couple of minutes for it to warm up before heading into town.

I arrive into Hovirngton in about 30 minutes. It’s a small town, with a population of about 1,000 people. A town where everybody knows everybody, and gossip spreads like fire. I pull into the local downtown coffee shop where I work 40 hours a week, Rainy Days Cafe. I walk in the back employee entrance and am greeted by the cafe’s owner, Cohen Porter. Cohen has been my main support since I was eighteen, when both my foster parents died in a car crash. He is a tall man with fiery red hair and green eyes, kind of like some of the faerie folk I like to read about. His complexion is of course pasty white, as a red head. His personality is just as fiery as his hair. He can seem really fierce, however, he has a sweet spot, especially when it comes to me, his “Little Bird”. “G’mornin Little Bird!” Cohen says as he gives me a quick hug . “You’re as early as ever I see! Since you’re here you might as well put your apron on and help me set up.” My shift doesn’t technically start till 9 am, but I always arrive at 8:30 am to help Cohen set up. He is the closest thing I have to family, so helping a little extra just feels right.

 I grab my apron off the hook in the break room to the right of the entrance and walk into the kitchen. “What still needs done?” I ask as I tie the strings around my neck and back. “I need the coffee pot started and that's about it, I had a spat with the wife this mornin’, so I got here a little early.” Libby Porter is a short and stout woman with a hearty smile and blue eyes that shine like the stars when she laughs. Her black hair and olive skin tone make her beauty seem ethereal. Her personality is very much alike to that of Cohens, so they butt heads quite often, however, they love each other to the ends of the world, so they usually make up in a day or two. “Have you apologized yet?” I say in a teasing tone. “Apologize for what?! That woman has gone crazy I tell you! She wants me to hire someone else to run the store so I can stay home more often!” I give a little sigh, this argument has gone on for about a year now, Cohen is in his late 60s and Libby wants to spend more time with him. “Why don’t you just consider it Cohen? It might not be as bad as you think, I could help the new owner and you could relax and go on vacations! Cruises!” As he replies I walk into the front area behind the counter and grab 2 coffee filters from the shelf above the double coffee pot set in the corner. I grab a bag of Columbian Coffee from the shelf and use the spoon inside to pour three scoops into each filter. “You sound just like her! You know this cafe is my passion, no, my life! I can’t just hand it over to anybody, and I can’t just stop working and do nothing all day! I’d go nuts!” I flip the switch to start the coffee brewing. “I think Libby would say that you already are nuts!” I gave a little chuckle as he glared at me through the serving window. Our conversation ended as the third member of our team arrived.

 Ella White, tall, slender and gorgeous. She has short dark brown hair with eyes to match. Her face is small and pointed, like a pixie. Her appearance is a sharp contrast to her personality, she is very crass and has no filter when speaking. “It is too damn early to be up! I should be laying naked in bed still.” She gives a little pout as she puts her apron on. “Language young lady!” Cohen roars from the kitchen. “I better not hear any of that language when we’re open!” “But it’s ok if we’re not open?” She replies snarkily, giving a teeny grin my way. Cohen sighed and ducked into the back with a wave of his hand, as if saying, “Whatever”. We both giggled a little and set out to finishing touches before we opened. “Ella, it’s nine, will you flip the sign on and unlock the door?” I ask. “Sure thing sugar t**s!” She replies, I shot her a scolding look and she just laughed and unlocked the door.

The first customer to arrive is a regular, Ben Day. “Well if it ain’t Sparrow Williams!” Ben always greets me with this, like we didn’t see each other just last friday. “Hello Ben, would you like your regular today or will you switch it up?” And I always ask if he’ll try something new, like he hasn’t gotten the same thing for the past two years. “Hmmm, maybe it’s time for a change, let me think on it a minute.” I exchange a side glance with Ella and she rolls her eyes as she starts to pour his regular, black coffee with a splash of half and half and a spoonful of sugar. “Well darn, I can’t decide! Just give me the regular and maybe next time I’ll try something new.” I chuckle and hand him the coffee Ella just finished. “That’ll be five dollars even Ben.” He hands me the cash and strolls towards the door. “Thanks ladies!” He yells as he exits the building. 

“Hey Sparrow, have you heard about the new family that moved in to the old farm up in the mountains?” Ella asked as she was organizing the syrups in the cupboard below the counter. “No, when did they move in?” I ask, thinking it strange that they moved into the run down farm house so near to my own home. “Huh, woulda thunk you’d know, since the house is only a couple of miles away from you. They moved in at the end of last week. I heard it was a large family, with three sons and two daughters! Its crazy, and no one has seen them in town since!” Our conversation was cut short by a customer. 

I watched him walk in, all the way up to the register, and just stared. He was gorgeous! Light brown skin with intense green eyes, a strong nose and high cheekbones. His hair was a caramel brown, with dark brown streaks, and had slight curls that brushed the sides of his neck. He looked to be about 6 foot tall and built. I jumped out of my daze as he cleared his throat. “H-H-Hello, ummm, what can I do for you today?” I just about slapped myself, stuttering? Seriuosly, get it together. I looked over to Ella for help and saw that she was in a similar state of awe. I turned back to Mr. Sexy to find him staring at me expectantly, almost curiously. “I-I-I’m sorry, did you say something?” He frowned a little and leaned forward with a heated look in his eyes, “You don’t feel anything? You don’t know?” I stared at his parted lips for a moment, feeling an intense desire to lean into him. It was strange, I felt like I had known this man all my life, I just wanted to leap into his arms like a schoolgirl. “Ummm, Sparrow, do you know him?” Ella’s sudden question snapped me out of my trance and I straightened up like a bullet. “Uh, no, I don’t know him.” I turned back to Mr. Sexy, “I’m sorry, what would you like to order?” He looked hurt as he leaned back and ordered a 16 oz Nutty Irishman latte over ice. He gave me one last glance before walking out the door, leaving me with a strange longing and a huge amount of questions.