Hey-lo! I know its been FOREVER, and I'm so flippin' sorry! Oh and just for the record, I haven't read the Teen Titan comic books! So sorry I didn't say before, but I've been using the web as a resource. Anywho I've been having some writer's block (sure….excuses excuses). I'm really not sure what I'm doing(just to make you all feel secure), but where there's a will, there's a way! Please R&R and as always, little notes to my wonderful reviewers at the end!

Onward!

The Curse of the Blood Stone

Episode One

The Brilliant Red (Part 2)

"Robin Logan. But I go by my middle name, Roth."

The words rung in Nina's head wildly as she was temporarily blinded by a brilliant red, and nothing else. The stone, she thought.

"Nina, are you paying attention?" called Mr. Parker, giving her a stern look that made the question seem more like a demand.

Nina's cheeks flushed as she snapped from her trance and realized she had been zoning away from class. She meant to give a quiet apology, but Mr. Parker went on.

"Today were going to be starting a new project," he said rising from his chair. "Your going to co-write a short-story with another classmate," as he said this several girls giggled in hopes that Roth would be their partner.

"Of course," he said, cutting their laughter short, "I will assign partners. I'll hand out a sheet with the details, a minimum of two thousand words, and you can pick from the genres given on the hand-out. It's due by Friday first period, not second Peterson!"

Mr. Parker handed the papers to a girl in front of him to pass out. As she did so, he called out partners in no distinct pattern. The pairs grouped themselves, moving to corners and pushing desks together, as was routine in Mr. Parker's class during group projects. When everyone had been paired but Nina and Roth, he walked over to the two of them and placed his hands on each of their desktops.

"Roth, have you been showed around the school yet?" asked Mr. Parker as he craned his long neck down for the response.

"Just to this class, but I'm going down to guidance during lunch," responded Roth, his deep tone capturing the attention of every female within earshot.

"Well, your schedule seems very similar to Nina's…," Roth's face expressed some surprise at his knowledge of Nina's daily routine, but Nina was not the least bit phased by it. Nina, who was secretary of 'LitClub'(a club which produced a bimonthly mini 'zine' of 6 or 7 pages, usually containing a short and a political cartoon or two) which was run by Mr. Parker, was very accustomed to being pulled out of class for various requests and updates on meetings and deadlines. "Nina, since your in guidance, would you mind showing Roth around? Possibly inform him on some after school activities?" he smiled hopefully. If there was anything that could get no nonsense Mr. Parker to smile, it was just that.

Nina nodded and smiled, still slightly shaken from the strange sensation that had overcome her.

"Good, good. Now get to work you two."

Several days later Nina sat at her desk, thinking about the interesting new student she had just met. Showing Roth around was not difficult, he was kind and chivalrous, and didn't bother to ask many questions. Most new students that Nina had come across asked many tiring questions about the school's intricate scheduling and bell system. Nina, having always been very shy, felt uncomfortable answering the questions, always feeling she was rambling. She didn't, however, feel this discomfort with Roth, who seldom spoke when not discussing their story, and always seemed lost in his own world, accepting things for the way they were and not concerned with much else.

Nina had been cleaning her room, for Roth was coming over so that they could finish their short story together to turn in the following day. Roth had come up with a brilliant story plot about death and rebirth, feeding his ideas to her almost as if they were established facts, which they most likely were in his own mind. Nina came up with the details and contributed most of the actual written part of it, for he had little ways with words and minor factors, for his creative mind seemed to overlook them.

Thinking of the second paragraph of the third page that needed drastic editing, and also of Roth and his grand talent, she was very startled by the vibrating of her pants and fell on the floor, sending a stack of papers to the ground. She grabbed her phone with a shaky hand and answered it.

"He-hello?"

"Hey it's Roth," came Roth's calmed voice.

"Oh, um, hi," Nina said as she pushed herself up from the floor and collected the mess she had made.

"I kinda forgot, but did you say your house number was 6223, or 6232?"

"Oh, well um, actually it's 7332."

"Oh, okay, then I'm here," he said, slightly relieved. "Well, see ya then."

"Uh, bye!" she heard a click and fell down on her bed completely alleviated.

It had been a while since she had spoken to anyone on the phone besides Megan or family, and it felt very foreign and awkward to her.

Realizing what Roth had just said, Nina jumped up from her bed and hurried to the door. Opening it before Roth could knock, she mumbled a few apologies that Roth could barely hear.

"Um…you didn't do anything…" he stated, thoroughly confused.

"I know I'm sorry," Nina uttered again, staring down at her feet.

Roth stepped in the house and handed Nina the copy of the story they had been working on. "Your parents home?" he asked.

"No, my mom's at work." Replied Nina sheepishly.

"Oh ok." He said indifferently. "Do you wanna get started?"

Nina nodded and leaded him to her room. Seeing several pairs of shoes before her door, he followed suit and took off his own.

"So I was thinking, around the second chapt…" Nina stopped before her bed, her mouth hung open in shock.

"Is everything ok?" Roth looked from Nina to her bed and back again. But when he looked back to it again, he saw a luminously red stone. He felt the stone call to him, hundreds of voices all in one song of eternity crying his name through any means but words.

Something out of the corner of his eye broke the bizarre moment and he saw Nina falling to the ground. He dove down and caught her before her head had hit the wooden floor and called her name.

"Nina, Nina are you okay?" he asked frantically, realizing she had blacked-out, and would not respond.

Looking down to the back of her wrist, he saw a gash that hadn't been there the moment before, bleeding profusely. Trying not to panic, he lifted her up, seated her in the chair at her desk, and tried to think of what to do. Call her mother? Where would he find the number? An ambulance?

As he pondered a plan something extraordinary happen. The blood from Nina's arm slowly lifted from her wound, strands of it stretching from the skin kissing it good-bye. Then it formed itself in midair into a single strand of glittering crimson, floating slowly to Nina's bed. The route was a complex one, one with twists and turns and glimmers of the sunlight that poured from the window reflecting off this new being. Roth held his breath, entirely terrified, too petrified to have any rational thoughts, or to allow his body to cope with the fear.

The blood continued swaying in the air, taking an obvious course to the stone. It dipped slowly hoping to unite with the stone, and when the phenomena reached its desired location, a red flash consumed the room, illuminating everything beneath its glow. Protectively, Roth pulled his left wrist close to him, covering it with his right hand. But when his fingers touched his skinned, he realized his useless form of defense against the supernatural was too late.

The world went black, and Roth was captivated by its darkness.