"Every bad thing you've ever done, every cruel thing you've ever said, will come back to you one day in the form of a raven."
That's what Ilya's grandmother had always told him. A raven for every lie, every nasty word, every time he'd raised his hand to someone. Each infraction would bring another bird into this world, and supposedly they'd make him pay for his misdeeds. At first he'd believed her, crying and apologizing when he'd called his mother a nasty name, or the one time he'd stolen some candy from his brother. Every time he misbehaved he'd immediately regret it, thinking that a black-feathered bird would pop into being with a harsh croak. flying off only to return and punish him later.
No birds ever appeared though. Not one. By the time he was eight, Ilya no longer believed in his grandmother's ravens. They were only a story meant to keep him in line and nothing else. Without the threat of the birds hanging over his head, he had little to fear. Well, aside from getting caught and punished for his actions, but that was by people, not ravens. As long as he was careful, no one would be the wiser. As for the nasty words, well...if the person they were directed towards did not hear them, then there was no harm.
And so, Ilya did as he wanted. His mother was baffled as her once-sweet son slowly but surely became a monster. He went where he wanted and did as he pleased. The school called every week about his bullying. His poor mother was at her wits' end with this behavior, and one night at dinner decided to confront her wayward child about it.
"Ilya, what is this? This is not how I taught you to behave! You need to stop this or else!"
"Or else what? The ravens will come and get me?" he sneered. "There are no ravens. It's all a lie."
Over the years, Ilya grew into a man with few friends, many enemies, and a family that wondered where everything had gone so horribly wrong. One day Ilya noticed a strange noise outside gradually growing in volume. Grumbling to himself, he went to the window to see what it was, only to be met with an awful sight.
Hundreds of ravens, perched on every branch of every tree. More on every windowsill peering in at him. Still more on the powerlines, on the fence, scratching around on the roof. All of them croaking, calling, pecking at the glass. The sound of flapping wings was deafening.
"Bitch!" one cried, followed by a chorus of the same from more of the birds. They all spat the word with the same venom that he did at his mother, his sisters, and any woman that had ever spurned him. "Bitch! Bitch! Bitch!"
"I hate you! I wish you dead!" screamed two more. "Go to Hell!" shrieked a third. Countless more spewed slurs and profanity of all kinds, filling the air with the horrible words he'd hurled at people for years.
Unable to endure it any longer he grabbed a pot and pan and went outside, hoping to drive them away, but the birds did not fear him.
One dove at his head, leaving a bleeding wound in its wake. To Ilya's horror, an incident from when he was sixteen flashed before his eyes. In a fit of anger he'd struck his girlfriend. She'd staggered and fell, hitting her head against the counter as she went, leaving a horrible gash. He'd blamed her for her clumsiness. More birds pecked, clawed, beat at him with their wings, each one reminding him of another act of violence.
Snapping at his fingers triggered visions of how he'd stolen candy from his brother as a child, then as he got older, stealing his mother's jewelry or money from a friend. He ran as long as he could but the birds were relentless, and they soon overcame him.
When the ravens were finally done, Ilya lay motionless in the street, battered and bloody from the beaks. The largest of the group, old, with greyish feathers and pale eyes much like his grandmother's, approached and stared down at the man.
"An unkindness for all your unkindness", it said.