The Raven Four Books 1-3 - Jessica Sorensen Page 0,1

I bring bad luck wherever I go.

“Ravenlee Wilowwynter! Get your butt down here,” my aunt Beth shouts from downstairs. “You don’t need to make everyone else late to your first day of school because you can’t get your lazy butt moving.”

My initial instinct is to throw back a snarky retort, but I know better than to do that while my uncle’s home. So, I take a deep breath before calling out, “I’m just about ready.”

She doesn’t say anything to me directly, but I hear her tell my uncle, “That damn girl is really getting on my nerves. She’s always late. And don’t even get me started on how much trouble she gets into. And the mouth on her … I don’t understand why we can’t kick her butt out when she turns eighteen. I don’t think I can put up with her crap until graduation.”

“I made an agreement when I took her in, Beth. She’s going to live with us until she graduates high school, and that’s final,” my uncle Don replies in a cold tone.

He’s my dad’s brother but, where my dad was a nice, caring man, my uncle is frigid and angry all the time, especially with me. Although, there are occasions when he seems almost thrilled to be around me, but that’s never a good thing.

“Now, go make me my breakfast. It’s my first day, and I’m not going to be late.”

I roll my eyes as my aunt says, “Of course, dear.”

My aunt usually does what she’s told, at least when it comes to my uncle. She stays home, where she cooks, cleans, and has dinner on the table every night when he gets home from work. I swear it’s like they still think it’s the 1950s or something. If I didn’t despise my aunt so much, I might try to encourage her not to be such a doormat. But if I tried to tell her that, not only would my aunt ground my ass, my uncle would smack me a good one.

He’s been doing that kind of shit since I moved in with them and their daughter right after my parents died. At first, I put up a fight, trying to battle back. But a shit-ton of good that did. I quickly learned that fighting back meant more hits. So, I learned to swallow my pride and keep my mouth shut when I’m around my uncle. All bets are off, though, with everyone else.

I wish I had another choice. Wish I could turn him in. I thought about doing so when he first started smacking me around. The problem is, he’s a cop. And I’m the rebel piece of shit niece they so kindly took in after she did horrible things. At least, that’s how everyone sees it.

And I have a feeling things with my uncle are about to get even worse now that he’s officially the sheriff on Honeyton, a small town that we moved to just a handful of days ago, today.

The place is out in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by hills that give a sense of seclusion and friendliness. Well, that's the bullshit my uncle told us when he announced we were moving here. Personally, I'm not buying it. I took a walk around town yesterday, and the looks I got from the townspeople were less than friendly. I could practically smell the judgment and snobbery lacing the crisp fall air and feel my impending outcast title waiting for me today when I enter the hallways of my new school. I do look kind of intimidating, though.

But it’s cool. I can handle it. I can and have dealt with a lot worst. In fact, I'm used to being the outcast. I've been one since I moved in with my uncle, aunt, and their daughter, Dixie May.

Dixie fucking May. Though she’s my cousin and is the same age as me, we have no other similarities. If I’m a reincarnated raven, then Dixie May is probably a hawk, which I once read are supposed to be predators to ravens and can represent danger. Honestly, from what I’ve read, ravens can usually only fend off a hawk if there’s a group of them, also known as a conspiracy. I like the name conspiracy better, probably because I mentally conspire all the time to take Dixie May down. But I’ve never had any real friends, at least long-lasting ones, so, more than likely, that’s not going to happen. Not that I just let her walk all