"Ugh. This sucks."

After wandering around the small house she had been allowed to stay in, Tara Markov decided she wouldn't be getting tired enough to go back to sleep. She always hated waking up in the middle of the night - She was never able to get back to sleep. Not to mention the pounding rain outside that prevented her from taking a stroll to calm down.

Hoping that it had at least gone from 11:00 to 11:30, Tara looked at the clock. 11:06. "Awww, come ooon," she whined, throwing herself onto the couch. Bored senseless, she decided she might as well see what kind of T.V. was on in Scotland at this time of night. Once she found the remote under a cushion, Tara fell against the couch's arm with a sigh and began flipping through the channels idly.

Doctor Why. "No." High Gear. "No." Infomercials. "Heck no." Some kind of channel depicting all sorts of royalty-related programming. "...Interesting, but I'd rather have someone take a pickaxe to my foot." Eventually, she just settled on a news channel. Turning it down, Tara suddenly got an idea. She hopped to her feet and went over to the corner of her dining room counter. Sat there proudly was a small, old-fashioned radio. Would it...?

Two minutes spent fiddling with the knobs had eaten up some time, but afterwards, Tara was even more wired up than before. Just as she was ready to hurl the radio out of her window in frustration, Tara heard a distinct female voice and played by ear until she had tuned the radio in. Patchy as it was, it gave Tara something to listen to.

...The scientists report a conspiracy theory to hold significant truth...

"Yes, I'm sure they do. Crackpots and lunatics are all over the world, I guess."

...They have found long-abandoned Chinese mission reports detailing the sabotage of a decades-old joint American and European space mission - This probe abruptly lost contact on mid-course to the Beta Centauri star system...

"..." Tara stared blankly at her radio. "Okay. That's creepy." She leaned in despite herself.

...The mission had been sent to investigate strange radio signals that came shortly after a high-power transmission was sent to the Beta Centauri system...It was believed at the time that this could be an attempt at contact by extrater - Kzzzzzsssccchhh...

Hand shakily lowered from abruptly turning the radio off, Tara gulped. "O...Okay. Th, that's gonna make it hard to get back to sleep." She looked up at the clock.

11:13 P.M. "Rrrgh!" Tara stomped her foot in impotent rage. "Well," she huffed, "Might as well prepare for the alien apocalypse. The frickin' Beta Centaurians must on their way here after we ignored their long-distance call." She began ratting around the house.

Under the bed, she found a long-abandoned bottle of pills. "Testosterone Supplements: Only Take If Male And Suffering From - ...EW EW EW!" After tossing the pill bottle violently into the trash bin, Tara had to seriously calm her breathing to force down her gag reflex. Heading into the bathroom, Tara decided to check her shower.

Her flat stare focused on the shelf inside. "...One half-gone bar of soap. No shampoo. God." She groaned tiredly. "Well, it was free. I guess I should've expected this." Lifting up something from the floor, Tara wondered if this shiny object could help her in case of -

"...A spoon. In the bathroom floor. Whoever owned this house before me had some kind of issues that I've never even heard of." She sighed, twirling the bent utensil around on her fingers idly. "Well, if push comes to shove, maybe I can use this to reflect a laser or something." She groaned. "Why am I even focused on this? Am I that bored?"

As soon as Tara walked back out and saw the time, she decided she had plenty of time to still be bored. "11:17. Guh." Slumped back over to the couch, Tara turned the volume up so that she could hear the news program.

...Scientists have discovered a deep undersea trench filled with large, previously-undiscovered life forms. Investigations are - Klik. Shakily lowering the remote to her side, Tara was now quivering like a leaf on a tree. Her mind was working in overdrive.

Aliens + Deep Sea Trench + Large Undiscovered Marine Life Forms = ?

"...There is no such thing as Cthulhu, Tara," she murmured. "That was a novel. Just a novel. Written by a man who was likely disturbed." Then, a certain English town known as Innsmouth popped into her mind.

Innsmouth = Aylesbury?

Now, the pitter-patter of rain sounded much more ominous and dreadful.

"...Uuugh..."

...

...Terra...Terra...Terra...

...Tara? Who's saying my name?

No! I don't want to hurt them anymore! Hurt me all you want, Slade, just leave them alone! I'm begging you, don't hurt my friends anymore!

Silence.

Augh!

Huh? Wh...Who is that girl? Why is that man hurting her? Why...Why does she...

You and I could have been happy together...And you threw it all away for that pathetic, snivelling runt.

Aah...Ah, aaahhh...Ugh, ghh, guuuh...Hik, hik...Hik, snff...Agh...Aaagh...Uuuuuh...

Please stop! Why are you doing this to her? Who are you? Why is - ...What...?

I'll make sure you regret this dearly, Terra.

Her...Her face...Sh...She's...She's...No...No, no, no...No no no no no...

"Excuse me, miss?"

"AAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!"

...

When Tara awoke, she was curled up on the couch with tears streaming from her eyes. She murmured piteously, "Wh...Who...Who was that girl?" A quiet sniffle escaped her. "Why...Why did she...Look like me? Why was that awful man beating her...?" Before her swimming vision appeared an offered handkerchief. "...Th...Thank...Youuu..."

After wiping her tears up, Tara looked down at the handkerchief in her hands. Icy fear shot through every last vein. Shivering violently, Tara looked to see that her locked door was still closed. Yet before her stood an incredibly tall man garbed in what appeared to be very outdated gentleman's clothes.

Leaned forward slightly, a surprisingly high-pitched, faintly mocking English voice asked, "Are you quite alright? I was told that you were going to be affected by the Darkening, but I had no idea you would be in such a state. Poor thing." He tilted his shadowed head.

Tara's eyes grew wider and wider, before she took a deep breath. "Monster! Ghost! Ghoul! Demon! SCUM! FREAK! CHILD MOLESTER!" With every word, Tara kicked either leg alternatingly into the bizarre intruder's groin. Falling silent, she panted.

He never flinched once to each and every kick. After a few seconds of silence between the two, his head tilted to the other side.

"Hm. 7,833. 3,451. 4,227. 4,139. 2,478. 10,292. Aaand 317." He carefully pried the handkerchief from Tara's grasp. "I've been called a lot of things over the years, dear."

As he spun the handkerchief a few times, Tara's eyes narrowed. Her entire body quaked - Now with rage. She only distantly noticed that the handkerchief was now dry.

Leaned onto her back, Tara folded her legs up and ready. "Have you ever been called 'Whooped by a Girl who has a Black Belt,' then?" Both of her legs speared towards the obviously disturbed man's stomach.

When her legs hit air, she realized that the man was now sitting on the arm of the couch next to her. She also realized that, beneath his tophat, he wore a paper bag over his head with a single hole cut out for his left eye.

"I've heard that one nineteen times, now," he chuckled. "My turn. You are Tara Markov, American high school student, briefly followed by Beast Boy of the Teen Titans a few months or so prior to now." His cackling increased as Tara's face drained of color.

At that moment, the clock on the wall chimed. Midnight. The bizarre gentleman swore in what distinctly sounded like German if Tara heard right. "Darkness is here. Stay close to me, Lady Markov." Tara was given no chance to question this.

Suddenly, a loud screeching erupted into the living room. Cold, wailing gales blasted from every shadow, robbing Tara's body of breath for a few moments. Upon the front door formed a swirling shadow, which started to extend a large set of jaws.

Instinctively clutching to the stranger, Tara could not close her eyes for terror. The coalescing jaws were growing ever-more distinct and solid. As the bizarre man raised his hand, Tara heard his voice drop at least an octave.

"Get thee behind me, daemon. This girl at my side is hereby and henceforth under the protection of Her Excellency's Sable Nightwatch."

Tara clutched to the man for dear life - Whatever was trying to cross her doorstep, it refused to back down. Humming quietly, the stranger wrapped his arm over her shoulders.

"I will protect you," he murmured. "Tell this cretin that he is not invited into your home."

Tears began to flow again from Tara's eyes. This was supposed to be a nice Summer Vacation with her friends. Yet the stranger continued to murmur softly.

A huge pair of jaws were right about to close over both of them.

With all her strength, Tara wailed out loudly.

"I command you to leave my home!"

An ear-piercing scream filled the room.

Then it all faded to black.