Issue 1 Downtime

It was dark. She didn't mind that.

The crows were still perched around her. She very much minded that.

Then they started to talk.

"Why did she stray from her path?"

"Answered the call."

"Abandoned it."

"The butterfly tearing away it's own wings."

"And deceiving everyone."

"The Tyneside Strangler."

"You're not Sammy... Who are you and what are you blabbing about!?" she demands.

"You didn't forget, did you?" The crows rise into the air and converge into a small man with a wide grin.

Reaching into his breast-pocket he pulls out a black envelope, almost ceremoniously opens it and pulls out a piece of paper.

"This is yours, is it not?" he asks and hands it to her.

Melpomene takes the piece of paper and her eye twitches as she reads what she scrawled down so long ago.

"Splendid! You remember!" the gnome grins even wider when Mel accepts the note.

He snaps his finger and the collar around Mel's neck dissipates into smoke. "Now let's talk about those damn birds..."