Umbra Angelus.

Written under the influence of Auf der Maur, Ill Nino and The White Stripes. Preview chapter.

Nefara looked out over the dark bay of the Jump City Harbor. She'd been here two weeks already and she still hadn't found who she was looking for. The water was as gray as steel, reflecting the murky sky. There was a crack of thunder, lightning running across the ocean. Nefara shoved her hands deep into her pockets. She turned and walked towards the dark city buildings, looking for a warm cafe to shelter in.

The bottoms of her jeans were sopping wet, after trailing through the snowy streets. She pushed open the door to a dark cafe called 'The Bats Nest'. It was dark and quiet. Only the soft strains of some goth music floated through hidden speakers. "Hot chocolate please." Nefara asked the waitress at the counter. The girl nodded. "2 dollars." Nefara handed over the money and settled in a quiet corner. There was a book on the table. 'Demon in my view'. Nefara opened the hard cover. 'Property of Raven Roth. Please Return to Titans Tower.'

Nefara leaned back, thinking. She'd heard of the Titans. Superheros. Just who she was looking for. This was too much of a coincidence. It was fate, if you believed in that kinda crap.

There was a contact number on the back page. 'No time like the present.' She thought wryly, taking out a small, red cellphone. She dialed the number on the paper and held the phone to her ear.

Almost immediately, the phone was picked up.

"Titans Tower. Robin speaking."
"Hi. I found a book in a cafe. The Bats Nest. It had this number in it. It said it was-"
"Ravens? I'll tell her. She's been looking for it. Someone will come pick it up. Stay at the cafe."

And the boy hung up. Nefara looked at the blank phone, a shocked smirk on her face. 'Well that was rude.'

Nefara drunk 3 hot chocolates before a boy in bright, traffic light colors walked into the cafe. She nodded to him, sitting up straight in her chair. "Hi, I'm Nefara. You must be Robin." She spoke in perfect English, but with a slight accent. Her skin was tan.

Robin raised his eyebrows. "The book?"

Nefara handed over the book and grinned showing long canines. Robin raised his eyes to hers. "Let me guess. You're either a super hero looking for a place on the Titans or a super villain looking to destroy us."

Nefara laughed. "More like an acquaintance trying to get to know the Titans."

"I don't think we've met before." Robin said, getting out of his chair.

Nefara shook her head. "But you know of me. Everyone knows of me."

Robin looked at Nefara, confused. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Nefara is just one of my names. My real name, but you'll probably know me as Athor." She said smiling again.

Robin's eyes widened. "But... I thought you were meant to be trapped in a pyramid in Egypt."

Nefara snorted loudly, flicking her long black hair over her shoulder. "You really think that a pyramid could hold me?" She said mockingly. "You're about to run like a scared animal, aren't you?"

Robin glared at her, forcing himself to relax. "What would you expect? I'm sat opposite a creature thousands of years old."

"Two thousand in fact. But I wouldn't do anything to you, Robin. It isn't worth my time. Where would that get me?" She shook her head gracefully. "No, I need your help and you will soon need mine."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, my dear boy, that we both need each other. I help you, you help me." She turned her black eyes away from him, turning them to the window. "I do not wish to harm this city. I mean to help it. Everything you hold dear, could be gone. I don't want that. It's mutual interest, see?"

Robin looked seriously at Iliana. "You must promise not to kill anyone while you are in this city."

Nefara rolled her eyes. "I haven't killed anyone in centuries. That is not a hard thing to ask."

Robin sighed, seemingly defeated. "Fine, come to the tower. But don't even try to break your promise."

Nefara smiled at him. "Don't worry. 'Creatures' like me are bound to promises, we can't break them even if we want to." She grabbed her coat and stood up. Robin sighed again and gestured to the door.

Outside, it had stopped snowing and the sun had peeked out from behind a cloud. Nefara threw her head back and bathed it in sunlight. Robin handed her a spare helmet and climbed onto the motorbike.

Nefara grinned. And climbed onto the back, holding on only to the seat. Robin shook his head, smiling slightly, and shot off onto the street. Nefara cackled from the back seat, sounding more like a witch than a majestic creature, three thousand years old.

When they pulled up in the garage of Titans tower, Cy was stood by the T-car, waxing it. His eyes narrowed slightly when he saw there was two people on the bike. "Who you got there Rob?"

Nefara took of the helmet, smiling at Cyborg. "I'm Nefara, who are you?"

Cy stuck out his hand. "Cyborg. Pleased to make your acquaintance." Nefara took the hand in a forceful grip, shaking it vigorously, before walking into the tower.

Cyborg's brows lowered as he stretched his slightly crumpled hand. "Who's she and why can she crush my metal hand?"

"I'll tell you all inside. But I can promise you, Nefara is only one of her names." Robin said, sighing.

The first person Nefara saw when she walk into the living room, was Starfire in the kitchen. "Greetings and salutations. May I ask your calling?"

"Hi! My name is Nefara." Nefara said with a smile.

Star enveloped her in a bone crushing hug, that would have crippled any normal human, but Nefara just took it with a smile. Star straightened up and asked, "Where are you from, how did you get here, what is your favorite color and would you like to be my friend?"

"Um, Egypt, Aeroplane, black and sure." Iliana said, still smiling. "But I don't know your name."

Starfire looked mortified. "Forgive me, Friend, my name is Starfire and I am from the planet of Tameran (A/N:sp?)."

Nefara nodded. "Anyone else here?" She asked as Cy and Robin walked up the steps behind them. "Besides them I mean."

Star smiled. "Yes, I shall go find them."

Robin cleared his throat. "Are you gonna need a place to stay, then?"

"If it wouldn't be too much trouble. Otherwise I'm gonna have to fork out a fortune to stay in a hotel." Nefara said, shrugging.

Star bounded down the stairs, followed by Beast Boy and Raven. Raven regarded Nefara from under her hood.

"Hi." Nefara said nonchalantly. "I'm Nefara."

"Raven." Raven replied in quiet monotone.

BB smiled. "Hey, dude, I'm Beast Boy."

Nefara grinned, hiding her teeth. "Awesome."

Star cocked her head, still smiling brightly. "What business do you have here at our home, Friend Nefara?" She asked innocently.

Nefara looked towards Robin. "Well, it's a kinda long story. I mean, you might already have heard of me." She smiled slightly at the confusion on the Titans faces.

"You're clued up on your Ancient Egyptian religion, right?" She asked the group. All but Star and BB nodded. "Well, the Egyptians believed in a collection of Gods and Goddesses. The father of them being Ra. Different regions had different patrons etc etc. Well the Nubian's patron Goddess was Athor, Goddess of War. She's meant to take a lioness' form and meant to drink her enemies blood." She sighed and continued. "The thing is, Athor is a real person, she's just not known by that name. When the Egyptians found out, they trapped her in a pyramid for 500 years. Well, more for what she was then who." Nefara smiled again this time, showing her fangs. "Her real name is Nefara. She's me. And I'm a vampire."

The groups eyes widened and Star screamed. "No need to be frightened." Nefara said, laughing. "I'm here to help you."

Cy's face hardened. "And why would we want your help?" He spat with disgust.

Nefara laughed loudly. "You're joking right? You guys are good, but come on. You're only kids."

Cy growled. "So are you." He said taking in Nefara's 17 year old appearance.

Nefara's eyes narrowed and despite her short height, Cy cowered slightly. "I am two thousand years old." She hissed. "I have seen more horror than you will ever see in you're short lifetime. With this evil, you need my help."

Raven spoke up. "And just who is this villain? And how do you know so much about us?"

"I have my sources. Just because I'm not a criminal, doesn't mean I can't have friends who are." Nefara said with a small smile. "I'm sure you know Red X. He's very interesting. He has some very intriguing information about you. As for the person who is, as we speak, come towards Jump City, they're bad. Worse than Slade, Brother Blood, even," She continued, leveling her black gaze with Raven's, "Trigon."

"Get to the point." BB said impatiently.

Nefara rolled her eyes. "I was getting to that. I can't tell you their name. All I can do is try and find the person who can."

BB snorted. "Well that a load of help."

"Shut up, elf." Nefara snapped, finally getting sick of the unbelieving Titans. "I don't need you to believe me." She pointed angrily at the window. "What do you think is making the weather so bad? Do you really think you can escape the approaching evil just because you're a superhero? It won't save you now."

The boys glared at Nefara angrily, Star looked bemused, while Raven looked calm as always.

"Do you want me to call the person who can help or not?" Nefara snapped angrily.

"Of course we do." Monotoned Raven. "Even if these idiots don't want to admit it, we'll probably need your help with whatever it is that's coming."

Nefara smiled at Raven. "I could tell by that book of yours that you're the intelligent one. Seems like you're the smartest in this group."

The boys began to object, but Nefara interrupted them. "I'll call her now. She's in Athens so it might take her a day to get here."

"You're not calling someone in Athens on out phone!" Robin exclaimed.

Nefara rolled her eyes. "I don't mean calling her by phone. She's my blood sister." She continued, seeing the confused looks on the groups faces. "We were changed by the same person. An hour after each other. We have a special connection." She was silent, seemingly thinking.

After a moment her face cleared and she smiled. "She's on her way. We have to pick her up from the bus station tomorrow at noon."

Nefara smiled at the group, who shot each other worried glances. "Don't worry. You'll like her. Everyone likes her. She's nicer than me."

What you think? This is your preview. Is it good enough? Vampires, of course.