Sold My Soul
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Chapter One
I can't help it. I'm scared. That's why I'm running in the opposite direction of Jump City. That's why I left my silver butterfly comb, a gift from my mother, at their stupid Tower. I'm scared. Scared to death.
They know. That's all I can think, as my footsteps pound out the rhythm on the dusty ground. They know I'm a freak, just some freak that can't control her powers. My stupid powers. I don't even want them, not really.
I'm thinking, as I'm running, that it was a mistake—coming here. I had heard about this group of superheroes, see, and I figured I could join them. I figured someone like me might even be welcome here. But I'm not. It turns out that I'm a freak among freaks. They're not my real friends anyway. I don't have any friends. There's nowhere that I'm welcome.
I take that back. I know of somewhere I'm welcome. I know of someone who wants me: Slade. Even thinking his name gives me shivers. I met him, actually.
Now I'm getting hot from all this running. The sun is going down, but it's still the hottest part of the day. At least I think it is. I might have learned that in school, before I just gave up and dropped out. I've been running for so long that I can hear the blood pounding in my ears as salty, sticky sweat trickles down my back. I hate sweat. By now I know I should slow down and rest, but I don't. I just keep running into the canyons.
I'm really stupid, because my mind keeps going back to Slade. I can't believe I met the great villain himself. Of course, he made me look like a fool. Good thing we were the only ones around to see that he could have kicked my ass without batting an eye. But he didn't. And I suppose in some ironic way, that makes him the only person I've met that hasn't hurt me.
Actually, he made me cry. I'm ashamed of that. He didn't see, though. All he saw was me lose control, yet again. And Beast Boy…but I don't want to think about him. He just made me hurt worse. It's Beast Boy's fault anyway. He told Robin, and the rest of them.
I don't want to think about him. It hurts, you know? It hurts to finally let in some hope, some little ray of sunshine, and then to have the door slammed shut right in your face. I can't tell if I'm queasy from the disappointment, or from all the running.
Slade made me an offer. He made me an offer. Slade said that he could help me. With my problem. And trust me, I really need his help. But he really scares me, which is why I can't decide…screw it. I don't have anywhere else to go!
I can't run anymore. My chest feels like…like Slade just whacked me with that long metal rod, whatever it's called. Falling to the ground, I can feel my knees scraping the ground, the sand grinding into my knees. But I don't really care right now. I can't take it anymore. I can't go anymore.
"SLADE!"
My voice sounds hoarse, but water is just a happy memory right now. It echoes around the red rocks in the canyon I'm in as I wobble to my feet. There's a light sound to my right. Slowly turning around in that direction, he's there, just like I expected. Standing there like my guardian angel. If my guardian angel was a criminal, that is.
"Yes, Terra?" He asks calmly, and somehow that makes me mad and frustrated. It's not like I'm about to keel over or anything. I wipe sweat off my forehead and squint up at him. I've come to take your offer, I want to say, but instead I take one ragged breath and—"Please you have to help me the Titans don't want me anymore and I don't have anywhere else to go and I don't have any money or anything just PLEASE!"
Covering my face with my hands, I suck in one ragged breath after another as the tears start pouring down my face. "Terra, stop," Slade says flatly, and I jump as he lays a heavy hand on my shoulder. "You're dehydrated. And delirious."
"I am?" I feel myself ask. But I can't really feel anything anymore. "Terra," Slade warns, and I feel him catch me before I pass out right there.
