A/N: Happy New Year, everybody!

This is going to be a five-chaptered story for the Five Things Challenge on WCFC.

"That was amazing, Riven!" Musa squeals. She grips Riven's hand as she tightens her jacket around her lithe body. Riven shakes his head; he is not so sure that he agrees with her.

They have just been to see Gruesome and Gory, the film that – when it first came out – they were both excited to go and see. But now, Riven doesn't think he sees the amusement in the film. For one thing, it was harsher than he expected it to be. Harsh to the title character, Benjamin; and harsh to almost everyone else. For another, he thinks he has just ruined his reputation. There were endless jump scares and he physically flinched every time.

"Riven?" He hears a soft voice ask. He turns his head to his angel, his princess and manages a small, minute smile. "Are you OK?" Musa asks.

"Yeah." He looks down at the ground as they walk, thinking. "Is it OK if I drop you off to Alfea and then go straight back to Red Fountain?" He asks looking back up at her.

Musa raises an eyebrow. "Yeah, I guess. Why?" She shrugs.

"I just want an early night, that's all." Riven doesn't let on that he is keeping something from her.

The film has scared him. A lot. He doesn't think that he will get a solid night of sleep tonight. Monsters will creep up into his dreams and frighten him senseless. He knows it is unusual for him to get scared so easily, but after the incident last week with Icy and his mother, it is unlikely for him not to jump at the slightest thing.

"Are you sure?" Musa says as they round a bend, getting nearer to their transport home: Riven's wind rider. The near midnight breeze hits them hard and Riven lets go of Musa's hand and wraps his arm round her shoulders. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

"No. No. I'm fine." He shakes his head.

"If you say so," Musa says, clearly not believing him but not pressing the matter either.


Riven lies on his bed, in the pitch black dark, with his hands behind his head and thinks. It is now nearly quarter to two in the morning and he still hasn't gotten to sleep.

Every time he closes his eyes, all he can see is blood, broken bones and the little boy Benjamin. He sees the young boy screaming as he his thrown into the pit of fire. He sees Benjamin's sister, Belle, crying as she tries to reach him. He sees the torturers with their whips and knives and weapons.

So he keeps his eyes open and listens. He listens to Timmy and Sky sleeping peacefully either side of him. He keeps an eye out for anything that seems out of place. He also doesn't want to sleep for the fear that he doesn't wake up again in the morning. It's what happened in the film; and to his mother.

Thinking about going outside, he slips himself out of bed, trying his hardest not to make a sound. He puts on his Red Fountain uniform over the top of his black t-shirt and shorts. Reaching into his bedside table drawer, he pulls out his flashlight. He hasn't used it in ages; he hasn't needed to. The dark never used to scare him. But tonight, he thinks he'll keep it in his hands, just in case. After all, you can never be too sure about what's lurking in the darkness. Switching it on briefly to make sure it works, he slips out of his room, closing the door softly behind him.

The hallways are not pitch black dark and not that bright either. There are torches hung on the walls every few metres. Riven puts his flashlight in his pocket and then crosses his arms across his chest. He tries to appear defiant in case a student or one of the professors are around, in which case he will have to make them believe he is OK. Even so, he cannot stop himself from glancing around cautiously, trying to make sure that no monster of any sort is watching him.

Getting out of the Red Fountain campus, he starts walking, constantly on the lookout for anything that he deems suspicious.

A path is lit up in front of him, as if trying to guide him in the right direction. He looks up at the sky, half expecting it to be the stars. Except, there are no stars out. Not even a single one. The sky is a deep blue with no moon to light it up.

It unnerves Riven. So much so that he starts running. He runs in the direction of the path to see where it leads him. To see whether it was a good idea or not. He thinks he made a mistake when he dropped Musa off at Alfea. Thinking about it, he wouldn't have minded telling her what is bothering him. He wouldn't have minded having her hug him close and tell him not to worry.

The path leads him into a forest. It gets considerably darker so he fumbles in his pocket as he runs. He fishes out his flashlight, flicking the switch on the side. A golden yellow glow comes out of the front of it, causing Riven to break out into a relieved grin. He slows his pace into a walk again.

He can't help but think about the film, though it is one thing that he wants to bury deep into the back of his mind. He curses under his breath as he sees the green-eyed, big-clawed demon in his head. Even though he knows that the film is fiction and the monsters, torture and even little Benjamin are not real, he can't help but shine his flashlight in every direction just to make sure he is alone. He breathes out. Regardless, a little niggling part of him is still shaking with apprehension.

He makes it out of the forest and – getting a little tired of walking for so long – leans his back against a tree. He wipes the back of his hand across his forehead. He then sits with his back still against the tree.

Closing his eyes, he does his best to think of his happiest moments with his music princess. Like the time when the story of Bloom and Sky's totally failed date had them in hysterics and the time when they pranked everyone into thinking they were going to become parents.

He laughs slightly at the memory and can't help but think for a second that he wants that to become a reality.

Suddenly, a voice pushes itself into his thoughts and he can do nothing to get it back out again.