Day 14 - Clown

"Alright, Titans. We need to split up and find this guy." Robin ordered, standing in the middle of his team, "Cyborg, Beast Boy; check down town."

The boys nodded,

"Star, you and I will check the docks." He continued, earning a determined nod from his girlfriend,

"Raven. You check around the pier, near the funfair. These are all the locations we've most recently seen him. Try to find him or at least something to help us out."

Nods were exchanged before they all took off in the direction of designated areas. Raven levitated off of the ground and floated through the dark sky, her eyes constantly scanning. She even reached out with her powers to try and sense this new bad guy that was treating them to a wild goose chase.

She sighed as she was coming up empty. As Raven zoned in on the funfair, she withheld her grunt of annoyance. It was late and the lights had all been switched off. The fair was abandoned which would technically make it easier to find the target but at the same time, it was also easier for him to see her coming.

Raven landed in the middle of the fair grounds, turning left and right in an attempt to catch a glimpse of something that seemed out of place.

Nothing.

Well, nothing but silence and the occasional piece of trash that got blown across her path. Funfairs were such hotbeds for mess. People just didn't care and littered the place with empty polystyrene cups and paper popcorn packets.

Raven stopped suddenly, hearing a rustling. She turned towards the sound but it ceased almost immediately. She sighed, pinning it down to rats or some kind of vermin roaming the grounds as well.

That was until she saw a shadow brush against a wall.

She gasped, her eyes focusing on that specific spot. Not wanting to waste a single second, Raven gave chase into a darkened room. She hadn't paid attention to where it was this guy was leading her so when she bumped into something hard, she muttered an, "ow" and stood still, simply waiting.

The lights flickered on and Raven frowned.

All around her were full length mirrors, taunting and misleading her.

"Come out now before I force you out." Raven growled, her power glowing in her hands,

There was a laugh that echoed around her and Raven spun around to try and locate the source of it. Her cloak swished around her ankles as she glared at the mirrors surrounding her.

From the shadows, a figure loomed, the red nose being the point of focus first and foremost. A boisterous laugh echoed again as they took a further step, revealing them self in the mirrors.

Raven frowned.

It was a clown; dressed all in a white jumpsuit with big red shoes and multicoloured buttons. The hair was an ombre of bright oranges and greens which stuck out at all angles, giving them a truly demented appearance.

What really threw Raven however was this clown's face. She couldn't be sure if it was a mask or makeup; it looked fairly real, whatever the case.

A blood red smile split the lower half of their face, right up to their cheeks. The eyes were dusted with blue and purple shades, making the eyes appear so much darker than they actually were.

"A clown… I'm petrified." Raven deadpanned, sighing and tilting her head slightly at this Halloween reject.

The clown's stance did not change. It tilted its head and barked out another deranged sounding laugh, sending a shiver down Raven's spine.

Suddenly, the lights flickered, sending the room into a moment of complete and utter darkness.

When the lights ceased and stayed on, Raven's heart rate sped up. She could have sworn this damn clown had been further away before. He seemed to have taken a couple giant steps closer to her.

She turned around, her hands balled into fists, "I'm not joking. Come willingly and you won't be hurt… much."

The clown grinned again, lifting a hand and wagging an index finger through the glass at her. Raven swallowed and simply stared back at this joker.

He gave her a gleeful chuckle and danced behind her. Raven furrowed her eyebrows, turning her head to try and spot him but she came up empty.

"I'm warning you." Raven told him in a voice that sounded a lot more confident than she actually felt.

The lights above once again faded in and out, sinking the room into darkness once more. Raven tried to control her breathing as the lights seemed to stay off for longer this time.

She shuddered as she felt a breath just by her ear. Raven spun around to try and attack whatever or whoever was doing this but all she managed to touch was air.

"Raven."

A deep throated chuckle bounced around the room.

"Raven."

She could sense someone in front of her; knew that if she opened her eyes and the lights were on, there would be something right there.

Silence filled the room for a moment; nothing but the quiet breathing coming from the sorceress herself.

Suddenly, the lights flashed on and the clown stood directly before her; that menacing smirk painted across its face.

"Boo." It snarled, watching in delight as Raven gasped and stumbled backwards onto her rear.

The lights went out a final time, accompanied by the sound of a dark chuckle. Raven closed her eyes, reluctant to see if the clown was still there or not.

She breathed a sigh of relief as the lights came on and the insistent buzzing came along too. She paused, waiting but nothing came. No laughter. No grins. Nothing.

Her communicator sounded from her waist and she fumbled for it, trying to swallow the lump in her throat. She wanted to roll her eyes at being stupid but sometimes, fear couldn't be ignored. She learnt that the hard way.

"Rae? Raven!"

She lifted the device to her face and answered, "Y-Yeah?"

"Rae, you okay? I've been calling for the last 10 minutes and you haven't been answering." Beast Boy explained, concern tinting his voice,

Raven gave a ghost of a smile, "I'm fine… what's wrong? Why are you calling?"

"Huh? Oh! Robin and Star have got the guy cornered over at the their location. He asked us to get over there as soon as possible."

Raven nodded, still cautiously looking around the house of mirrors, "Right. I'll be there soon."

She ended the call and stood up, brushing herself down. Raven walked through the hallway, leading to the exit with the utmost haste. She wasn't afraid of clowns; really she wasn't but something about the one she had just encountered didn't sit right.

Some part of her didn't think it was human which made her question; what was that thing?