A soft beeping noise awoke Raven from her fretful sleep. For a moment, she sat still in her bed with her eyes closed, trying to force the horrible dream out of her head. It certainly was a crazy nightmare. She actually had friends, a family.

She smirked. Like that would ever happen.

Using the sides of her mattress, she pulled herself into a sitting position, only to stop when a horrible throbbing pain filled her head.

"Ow, mom, why does my head hurt so badly?" She squeezed her temples to make the throbbing go away.

No one answered.

The pain lessoned, only slightly, and she slowly opened her eyes. "Mom?" Her arms fell limply to her sides when she found that her mother wasn't there at all, nor was she even in her room.

"Hello?" Still, the room was silent except for the steady beeping of the machines behind her.

Then to her horror, she found that the machines carried wires that connected to her heart, to her neck, and another that actually slid into her wrist. She almost screamed, but quickly regained control of her fear before anything could blow up.

"Calm Raven," she told herself, "Figure out where you are first before you start blowing up everything."

Raven winced as she slid the tube from her wrist then gently pulled the wires off of her chest. A long, high-pitched beep filled the room and she quickly summoned her powers to stop it.

But nothing happened.

Focusing her energy, she reached towards to machine to silence it. Still, the box let out a shrill beep and Raven was forced to stick the wire back on her chest. To her relief, the machine resumed its steady beeping rhythm.

Figuring that she couldn't possibly make any more noise, she slowly climbed out of her bed to stand up. However, as soon as she tried to balance herself, her legs collapsed and she fell facedown onto the hard tile floor. She shakily stood up, feeling the bruise that started to form on her cheek.

But there wasn't supposed to be a bruise. Her powers should have healed it before it even formed.

"My powers," she said sullenly, "They're…gone."

The door to the room slid open and Raven spun around sharply, barely catching herself before she fell again.

"Raven!"

The bright green eyes and fiery hair gave it away. Fighting a Tamaranian would be tough, nearly impossible in her current state and without her powers.

The girl bolted straight towards her and she braced herself for an attack. Reacting out of pure instinct, Raven grabbed the two arms that had enveloped her in a death-like grip and twisted them. The Tamaranian reacted quickly and flew over her putting a fist full of green energy inches from her face.

"Why have you possessed Raven?" the Tamaranian said dangerously, "Where do you hail from?"

Usually, Raven wouldn't have been afraid of the small ball of energy the girl held in her fist. She assumed that it was some simple sorcery or harmless magic. The shamans of Azerath often made the balls of energy float to please little children. However, against her beliefs, the Tamaranian's glare convinced her otherwise. Even in the ball of energy was harmless, the girl's exceptional strength was not.

Raven stood to her full height but she doubted it did anything to intimidate her. The Tamaranian easily towered a head above her. "My name is Raven; daughter of Arella and…" She paused a moment before she said his name. "…the demon Trigon. I hail from the planet Azerath. Now it's your turn. Who are you? Why did you bring me here? How did you take my powers?"

Surprise came over the girl's face and she slowly lowered her fist. "Raven?" she asked, as if she didn't believe it was really her.

"Yes, we've established that that is my name," Raven said impatiently. The Tamaranian didn't seem like she wanted to hurt her. "Now, what is yours?"

The girl opened her mouth to speak but quickly shut it.

"Raven."

Raven slowly turned around to become face-to-face with a boy a few years older than her. Her heart fluttered painfully in her chest but she quickly hid it behind a straight face.

"How do you know my name?" she asked uncertainly.

"You're hurt." Ignoring her question, he placed a gloved hand to her cheek where the bruise had formed. Again, something in her stomach squirmed and she shoved his hand away. She shouldn't be feeling this way. She didn't even know him.

"Who are you?"

The boy looked worried. "Raven, you should get some rest. You're powers…"

"No," she cried out, taking a step away from them, "I want answers. Who are you? How did you take my powers?"

"Raven," the masked boy took a step towards her, "I don't know how you lost your powers but…we're you're friends. We won't hurt you."

Raven found herself cornered against the wall with nowhere else to run. "Don't come closer," she threatened. It seemed she was suddenly out of breath and her legs seemed to no longer be able to support her weight.

"Raven-" The boy moved towards her to keep her from falling but Raven put a hand out to stop him.

"Don't…touch me," she warned, falling to her knees. Her eyelids felt heavy. She just wanted to lie down and sleep but she wasn't about to with these strangers.

"What is happening to her?" the Tamaranian asked worriedly.

"I think," the boy said not taking his eyes off Raven, "that without her powers, she isn't used to using so much energy."

Raven forced herself to stay awake but it wasn't working. The carpet felt so soft beneath her. She would only sleep for a little while…

She felt two arms grab her before she fell into another fretful sleep.




Hope you liked. Chapter 3 will be up soon.

KN