By Timothy Lantz

Zoe couldn't believe her luck. After years of searching, she had finally found the abbey.

Hidden deep in a forest in central Pennsylvania, it was almost enough to make her laugh. Now, if only the information she needed was still inside.

Brushing a rain soaked strand of hair behind her ear, she made her way from out of the underbrush towards the massive stone edifice. The sky had stopped crying over an hour ago, but the coolness of the autumn air carried with it a chill seemingly impossible to shake.

Carefully she picked a path through the small clearing, dodging miniature lakes and rivers until at last she stood before the ancient wood doors. Pausing only to take one last look around, she carefully reached out her hand toward the iron handle.

As her fingers met with the frigid metal, she caught the rarest glimpse of something flutter to her left. Her heart raced and quickly she spun around searching for the cause of her distraction.

Standing there, observing her, was a huge black crow.

"Hello there", she remarked.

The crow just blinked and cocked his head to one side.