Later on that day, Stephen grew bored and started looking around, aimlessly in his basement, seeking for jewels of his past, buried underneath brown, cardboard boxes. As Stephen, searched, he came upon a diary, buried underneath, books and papers in one of his many boxes. The title of the diary, read: "The Life and Times of Loretta Lawrence." "Oh my God, Loretta's diary", says Stephen with surprise and curiosity in his voice. "I've never read this, before. Now, my wife is immortalized in a book...her very own diary. I didn't know that she kept one. Let's see what she wrote about in here." Stephen then opened the diary and began reading on its first page, it says:

Dear Diary,

Today, I will go to Coney Island with Stephen. After that, we will go to the zoo and look at all the beautiful birds and animals on display. Oh how, I love birds, but it's such a secret love. Without, my love, Stephen knowing, I watch birds and take photos of them as a hobby. I see all types of birds. They're so beautiful with all their vibrant, beautiful colors, but yesterday, I saw a very ugly bird. This bird, that I saw yesterday, I've never seen in this town, before. Yesterday, I saw a vulture and what a creepy thing it was. It just stared at me, with such evil eyes and lifted up it's claw and showed me three fingers and then mysteriously vanished. I don't know what I saw, yesterday was truly real and that I might be getting hallucinations from my hot flashes, but I got really shaken up because of the whole thing.

-Loretta Lawerence
03/13/1992

Stunned in disbelief on what he had just read, Stephen turns to the page of the diary and begins to read, once again.

Dear Diary,

Yesterday, I had such fun and enjoyment going on all the rides and seeing all the attractions in Coney Island, but what remained in my head that entire day was the site of that vulture. This morning, the vulture appeared from my kitchen window, while I was preparing myself some breakfast. I told Stephen about it, but he didn't believe me. He said, it's just my imagination and maybe it is because I do love birds and imagining some bird, isn't really that far fetched because I think about birds a lot, but why a vulture and why did he show me his two fingers, today? Is it some kind of sign? Maybe it's God trying to tell me something. I don't know. I guess, I need some rest. Yeah, that's it. I just need some rest.

-Loretta Lawerence
03/14/1992

"This is unreal", says Stephen in a light voice as he turns over another page of the diary and begins reading.

Dear Diary,

Last night, I prayed to God, so that the vulture will go away. I hope that he listened. Am I seeing things? Is there really a demon vulture, lurking in the shadows of my mind, stalking me? What does he want? I don't even attempt to tell, Stephen about it because he'll just think that I'm crazy, but I'm not crazy, atleast, I think I'm not. Oh God, please help me. I'm afraid, I don't know what's going on and I don't think there is anything that I can do that can stop it from going on. I'm so paranoid, now. I won't go outside, anymore. Not even to do the thing that I enjoy to do best and that is to watch and take pictures of birds, but now it seems as if the birds have betrayed me, well atleast, one of them. Today, the vulture shows me one finger, I wonder what he will show me, tomorrow.

-Loretta Lawerence
03/15/1992

Stephen's stomach sank in fear because of what he had just read. "What am I going to do? My wife...it's happening to me, too. These diary entries are dated on the same week that she died.", says Stephen as he nervously turns the page to the diary. On fear and curiosity, alone, was the reason that he read her next and final diary entry, that was written in the form of a poem and was written, completely in blood.

Vulture


The day grows thin and the night grows cold
The vulture will come when I become too old
For my life, it has come to seek
Through its powers, it will often reep
The vulture will take my life when my three days are done
And I pray to God, it doesn't reach any of my loved ones
As its claws grow weary, it will take mine
As my clock stops in the hands of times




After reading that, Stephen froze and the diary fell from his hands onto the basement floor. Stephen's spine went up in fright, as he thought about what he had just read. As Stephen's thought about it, things went bump in the darkness of his basement. "What? Who's there?", asks Stephen as he spun, around. Paranoia and terror washed over Stephen as a dark shadow stepped out from behind a stack of cardboard boxes. The dark figure stepped forward and Stephen stepped back. "I'll kill ya. I swear.", says Stephen as he steps back, away from the figure, shrouded in darkness. The dark figure stepped toward, closing in on Stephen. Behind the darkness of the basement, Stephen's face was pale with fright on anticipation on who the dark figure is, in his basement and what is it, that it wants. The dark figure, contuined to creep forward to a frighten, Stephen. Stephen backed up, until his back meet the wall of the basement and the dark figure grew inches away from him. "Oh God...what am I going to do?", says Stephen. A flashback then washes over Stephen...


The day was March 15, 1992 and Stephen was sitting on a chair at his table, opposite of his wife, Loretta, while drinking a warm cup of tea in his kitchen, listening to the Yankees VS. Red Sox on the radio. Outside of the house, the streets were barren, their backyard looked as if it was stripped of life, itself. No grass grew in Stephen's backyard and no bird's chirped in the trees. Stephen's wife, Loretta starred off into space as Stephen looked at her in disgust. "You really are a crazy, bitch. You know that?", said Stephen in complete disgust. "Stephen...no...I'm serious. You have to protect me...I might die...Stephen...you have to believe me", said Loretta, frantically. Stephen takes a sip of his tea and then replied, "Loretta...I really think that you need some help. You've been talking about this vulture for the past few days. It's all bull crap, Loretta, that's all it is, bull crap. All this vulture, mobo jumbo is all in your head. It's not real. Get it? You're nuts, you know that. You're f***ing nuts." "I hate you!", said Loretta as she bursts out crying, throwing her hand down on the table and then back up, staring at Stephen with sadness and frustrastion. "What I'm saying is the truth. You have to believe. What I'm saying is true...there is a vulture who comes here and I think he's going to try to kill me. He keeps showing up, flashing me it's claw. Showing me it's three, disgusting, long, pointy fingers and Stephen, don't you notice that, our whole backyard, just dried up in a few days. Face it, Stephen. There's a demonic force, sucking the life out of everything that comes in its path!" "No, Loretta...the reason for our backyard being dried up is because we're in a drought. There hasn't been rain for weeks and it's cold as hell, outside. Nothing will grow, right now. Not even a weed, but the good part about it, is that there's no snow, so I don't have to break my back out there, shoveling it, while you sit in the house, all cozy and stare off talking about f***ing vulture. You're really starting to scare me, you know that? Vultures? What the f*** did I get myself into marrying you, I mean geez! Stephen Lawerence, an accomplished lawyer, goes and marries a whack job. Who would of knew", said Stephen with aggravation in his voice. "You know what? I can take care of my ownself, when the vulture comes and kills me and then you will be happy. When I am f***ing six feet under. You know what?! F*** you!", said Loretta angirly, as she sticks up both her middle fingers at him. "F*** me, huh?", said Stephen. Stephen then leaned over to Lorretta and then said, "You know what I really think?" "What?!", said Loretta, annoyingly. Stephen then put back his right hand and slapped Loretta across the face as hard as he could. "Who puts the bread on the table?! Me! Who pays the bills?! Me! Who has a job in this house?! Me!", said Stephen, angirly as he slapped, Loretta across the face for a second time and then a third time. "I can't take this s***, anymore!", said Loretta as she gets up and storms out of the kitchen and out the door, leading outside.

Stephen's mind then turns back to reality, as he looks around in his basement and sees that the dark figure is gone. "This is too much", says Stephen as his back slides down the wall, until he is sitting on the floor. "Now, I know how Loretta died...that thing is going to pay. Tomorrow. I'll get my pay back." Stephen then notices something lying, next to him on the dark, basement floor. Stephen then picked up the object. The object lying on the floor is revealed to be a feather, a feather of pale gray with a black tip. Stephen then throws the feather back onto the floor and rests his head on the basement wall, looking up to the ceiling. "I should of listened to Loretta...I really should of", says Stephen.