Ch.1
The sky was blue in Jump City. The day was peaceful. Just the other day, the teen-titans had put the last standing villain in the city-jail. Robin decided that they would travel to Maine for a small vacation. At first, Raven disagreed.
It's too risky," Raven said in her monotonous voice. But fear was imminent in her voice, growing as something grew inside her. "We can't just abandon Jump City."
"The mayor granted us a vacation," Robin said. "And besides, I have this weird feeling
(come come come please come)
that we are needed there. I can't explain why; it just is." And Raven could feel it, too. She nodded, in darkened agreement. No other words were necessary.
Starfire, with her all too un-appropriate cheery and giddy voice, asked, "Friend Robin, What is this 'Maine' you speak of, and why are we doing the "traveling" there?" Beast Boy laughed. And Robin explained, "Maine is an U.S.A. state. And I don't know why we are going. Not yet at least."
All six teen titans (Robin, Raven, Cyborg, Starfire, Beast Boy, Terra) soon were in the T-car, and traveled in super-speed
(hurry, hurry, hurry)
to Maine. At the last minute, Terra decided to stay home and patrol the city, just in case. (Terra: Who said I'm not strong enough to save the city on my own?)
Once they were there, it was 7:00 p.m. They knew something was going to happen at 8:00 p.m., or at least begin. But what could happen in such a small town? What were they there for? This was certainly not a vacation town. There weren't even any hotels.
Starfire heard two girls talking. "I can't wait, it's going to be so fun tonight…" "I have to go, but see you at the prom…" "What is this prom they speak of?" Starfire asked Robin. "It's like…an ending dance. But that's not important…"
Or was it, Robin began to wonder….
And Starfire quickly caught on to the excitement-the excitement of girly-girls, the magic of wearing long, beautiful dresses, the glory of dancing. You could see it in her eyes. You could tell she wanted to be a part of it. But just being in the atmosphere (prom prom prom) made her smile.
"We're not supposed to be here yet," Robin said all of a sudden.
But they didn't leave. They stayed, and when 8:00 p.m. came, they watched all of the couples couples step out of their limos. They watched from the backround, and no one saw them. It was like they weren't even there.
(Raven's POV)
All of the couples were so bland, dull, prosaic, boring. They smiled, but it was so fake. Raven could see and feel right through it. And they were all dressed the same; in long gowns…it all seemed so pointless. Everyone was the same, a façade of beauty. Nothing was real. Preppy, pointless. It was a group of teenagers pretending to be nice. And somehow, Raven knew, 99 of them definitely did not fit into the category "nice".
But Raven could tell that the next couple that stepped out of a white car was different. And she could see all the stares and gasps. But this couple was beautiful-truly beautiful, not fake-and was glowing with a quintessence of purity. The girl, dressed in a long, shiny, light pink dress with a light pink scarf wrapped around her shoulders, had glowing amber-colored eyes, and strawberry hair. And her smile… Raven could tell (and hoped) that it was something that was meant to be. Somehow, she knew that this girl was the reason they were in Maine. She did not know how she knew,
(but she is beautiful)
But she knew.
(Robin's POV)
"Come 'on, guys. We can't sit around and watch this. We have to go. We'll come back later,
(and they would.)
But now we have to go."
So the teen-titans, Robin in the lead, left that particular town in Maine. Robin could tell that both Raven and Starfire
(Raven?)
Wanted to stay, but for different reasons. Around 11:00 p.m., Raven said, "Robin, we have to go back. I can feel it, Robin. Something is going to go wrong. That girl…
("didn't you see her….")
…we have to save her."
So Robin became Robin again, strong and beautiful. And he knew also, that he was needed.
(Back in The Town)
The school was in flames. The whole town was in flames. And Raven knew
(this is what it looks like when powers get out of control. I should know…)
That this could have happened to her-if she didn't meditate every day, and restrain from feeling emotions. It was a reminder, a horrible reminder. But Raven knew, this was not what was meant to be, and that girl
(how do i know this)
Was tortured, and to some degree, forced to do this. This was an unconscious act. Raven knew this girl was pure, and innocent.
The teen-titans didn't just watch. Robin led them to where she was.
A young girl was laying, unconscious, her body limp, practically buried, in a burning, collapsing house. They had come almost too late.
She looked like she was dead. But Robin knew better.
The teen-titans took her with them, back to the Titans Tower in Jump City. She was unconscious now, but thanks to Raven's healing powers, her breathing had become steadier and her wounds had diminished. They had saved her.
Robin looked at her in awe. She was truly beautiful. He didn't know how all the other high school students in Maine could want to torture her, humiliate her, try to destroy her. But something told him, they did. For all her life.
And then They (the other seniors) had given her happiness-and like a bolt of lightning, took it away. Robin didn't know exactly what happened, but he knew that Raven's powers only got out of control when she was upset, her emotions out of hand. Robin somehow knew that this girl had been suffering more than anyone he knew. Her family problems were at least equal, if not worse than, to Raven's problems with her evil father Trigon had been. And more than anything, Robin wanted to see this girl smile again. And he wanted to be the one to make her smile.
Slowly, she opened her eyes. Five strangers
(who are these people I don't know them where
am i what happened!)
were sitting in front of her. The tallest had short purple hair and glowing amethyst eyes, with pallid but beautiful gray skin. Her eyes were solemn, staid. The other girl had long, red hair, shiny green eyes, and a well-shaped body, and looked similar to her classmates. But she looked some-what different, somewhat glowing, somewhat alien-like…. There were three boys. One was huge and part-robot. Another was green-skinned, with green hair. He pretended to be serious, but she could tell it was a façade. And the other-with his dark black, spiky hair, and his eyes, and his face-looked determined, and agile and….she thought she saw him before,
(who is he is he the one who saved me i don't remember what
happened tell me what happened please what happened what
did i do?)
but no, she couldn't have…
"What happened?" she asked, suddenly. "What happened? Where am I?"
Robin spoke first, "Maybe it's best not to remember." Just as Robin was saying that, another girl ran into the room.
(Terra's POV)
"Hey, B.B., what's going on?" Then she saw the other girl. Now serious, Terra said, gravely, "What happened?"
Raven looked up at Terra. Raven's eyes seemed to tell Terra everything. Raven looked down at the girl in her eyes. "Try to remember," she said, solemnly. "The only way to forget is to remember first".
"What's her name?" terra asked. And the titans finally realized that they didn't even know her name.
The girl slowly sat up. "Who are you guys?" she spoke, with a faint voice. And they told her. ("We are the teen-titans….etc., etc.). She looked at them, looking into all of their eyes.
And she whispered, "My name is…Carrie. Carrie White."
And slowly, everything that happened came back to her memory. The memory was vivid, gruesome, horrible. She didn't want to remember,
(please don't make me remember)
But she knew she had to.
She didn't know if she could trust these "teen-titans", but she also knew it was her only hope, and she had to. So she told them her story. Every painful detail.
She told them about Chris Hargenson and all of Chris's pranks and jokes. She told about the sixteen years she had let herself be the one everyone made fun of, tortured, destroyed. And she told them about Margaret, her Momma, and the dark, sinister closet. And about blood. About how her Momma had told her that blood was a curse and was the result of sin. And she told them about Chris's final prank, when she was at the prom with a boy called Tommy Ross. "They poured pigs' blood on my head," she said. "And they all laughed! They all laughed. Just like my Momma had said they would…." And she told them about her telekinesis, and how she had became unconscious, and her powers had gotten out of control. And she told them about the final scene with Margaret. When her Momma had stabbed her. When it all ended, and there was no hope left…
She told them every detail, and was crying by the time she was done. She was trying to hold back the tears, appear strong, be strong…but she couldn't.
Robin put his arm around her. "It's o.k. now," he said. "You're safe here. You can put the past behind you." "I don't think I can," Carrie whispered. I want to but I can't." "You can," Robin said. His strength was eminent. "You can, Carrie".
(Terra's POV)
Terra said, "Yeah, it's o.k., bad things happen all the time. The world's full of them". Terra remembered what Slade did to her…what Trigon did to Raven…Robin, the mystery-mans,' father dying…Terra thought it was horrible-what they did to Carrie. It was worse by far than what Slade had done to her. And worse than who she was before the Titans and Slade, roaming, wandering, alone…she had left home for the very same reason…Terra couldn't help but allow the memory to re-surface…
Starfire was thinking, who are these people that can be so cruel? On Earth are all people so cruel? Starfire did not really know what to say. Somehow she knew that her giddy attitude would not be that helpful now.
Or maybe it would.
"Stay here." Robin said. "Everything will be o.k. REALLY." "No, I can't stay…" Carrie whispered softly and feebly. "Yes, you can," Besides, where else can you go?" Robin said. Carrie looked at Robin. At that moment, their eyes me-his masked, hidden eyes, his dark eyes, and her brown eyes. Their eyes met, and for that small moment, everything was o.k.
But only for that moment.
"You can sleep in Starfire or Terra's room tonight. And we'll work on preparing you a room of your own," Robin said. And Starfire or Terra—probably Terra because she has more your body-type-probably have some clean clothes you can borrow."
"Thank-you", Carrie whispered, barely audible, looking down at the ground.
(Raven's POV)
Raven wanted to say something. What happened to Carrie was awful. Horrible. Dark. Worse even than Trigon?…..maybe. Maybe. But Trigon was finished now. It ended n a positive note. Raven had found the strength to prevent Trigon, and therefore herself, from destroying the world. It ended with light.
So can this, Raven thought. Raven thought, 'I can make this so that this isn't the End…just something horrible that happened. There can be more…
Raven didn't really know what to say, though. What did they say to her during the prophecy? How did they make her keep going, trying, believing?
All of a sudden, Raven said, "She can stay in my room." "Are you positive?" Robin asked. "Yes," raven nodded confidently.
The teen-titans and Carrie were in the living room. Robin was telling Carrie more about the teen-titans and what they faced. And when he came to the most recent issue, he made eye-contact with Raven, and she nodded. But when he started, she said, "No, let me tell it," monotonously, but her eyes and even her mouth showed so much more. So Raven told of the prophecy and how people in azarath had avoided her when she was little and about the things they said about her behind her back and why she moved to Earth and how she was the portal and had almost been the cause of the complete destruction of the World. BB said to Raven, "Hey, you don't have to make it seem so morbid."
But in truth, it was morbid.
Both tales were.
Robin said to Carrie, "Come 'on. We'll show you around the tower." And the moon turned. And Carrie knew, the Night was almost over.