Chapter 32

Haunting Ground

Terra sat up in bed at the sound of someone's voice. She scanned the room with her half open eyes. Even if someone had been in there she would probably have missed them because she was so tired. After finding nothing she once again placed her head on her pillow and her eyelids closed immediately. Then she felt someone grab her covers and forced her over the side bed and she fell to the floor with a loud thud. Now Terra was wide awake and she thrashed around on the floor trying to remove the covers that had wrapped themselves around her. She finally removed them and saw her door slid open. There was no one anywhere near her doors but soon they closed and footsteps could be heard beyond them. "Beast Boy is that you?" Terra called as she opened her door. The moonlight barely escaped the barrier the clouds had formed around it making it nearly impossible to see. "Beast Boy if this is some sort of joke then it's not funny". The only reply was a series of footsteps coming from all sides. "Ok very funny, you got the twins to help freak me out and make me think you're everywhere" Terra called out. There was still no reply. Terra suddenly had the sensation that someone was watching her from behind. Terra turned around and could barley make out the silhouette of Beast Boy in the darkness…or at least she thought it was Beast Boy.

"Oh but I'm not here to freak you out…" said the shadow. He stepped closer and Terra soon realized that it wasn't Beast Boy at all.

"How…how did…how did you get in here?" Terra gasped.

"Does it matter…I'm here…aren't I?" said Terran as he was illuminated in the dim moonlight.

"But…the…alarms…they".

Terran smiled and stepped forward, the moonlight seeming to pass through him more and more as he did. "There is something that's been bugging me for some time…and I tired of waiting".

Terra ran at Terran full speed but stumbled to the side as he side stepped out of the way. Terran kicked her in the back and she fell against the carpeted floor. Terra quickly got up and ran down the hallway, away from Terran, towards the other Titans rooms.

"Why are you running to them…wasn't it not long ago you couldn't stand being near them"?

Terra stopped and turned to her brother. He hadn't moved from his spot. His arms were folded behind his back and he had tilted his head slightly so his eyes were looking at her from below.

"Tell me Terra, why did you go back?" asked Terran in a monotone voice. Terra didn't answer and continued to run. Terran appeared out of the shadows and Terra skidded to a halt. "If you were so content with your little school life then why didn't you just run away again to some other city to start over"?

"SHUT UP!" Terra shouted and let her fist fly towards Terran. Terran grabbed her fist in his hand and bent it back sending unbearable pain into Terra's wrist.

"Now that's no way to talk to me" said Terran and slammed his fist into Terra's gut. Terra doubled over in pain, gasping for breath as Terran stood over her. "Why do you run to Beast Boy…I thought you never wanted to see him again…or any of the Titans for that matter".

"JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!" Terra shouted and dashed towards the staircase. Terra looked back and saw Terran melt into the shadows and disappeared from sight. Terra faced forward and saw Terran standing in front of her ever calm.

"Weren't you happy there…?" Terran asked. Terra ran past him but Terran grabbed her by her hair and she was thrust against the railing. "…or were you just running away from your problems again…like you did when you were dragged into all this…like your doing now"?

"What do you want?" Terra sobbed trying to drown out her brother's voice.

Terran let go of her and she rolled down the stairs until she collided with a wall. "I am merely someone seeking answers that only you can provide".

"Why do you care so much about that now" Terra growled as she clutched her arm.

"I don't…" said Terran and he charged at Terra "…now get up". Terra got to her feet but was met by one of Terran's punches and she fell backwards. Terra hadn't even touched the ground when Terran grabbed her by her shirt and tossed her over the railing. She spun head over heels as she plummeted down the stairwell.

"What's he trying to do to me, first he's asking me random questions and now he's trying to kill me" Terra thought as she reached out desperately trying to find something to hold onto. Her hand brushed one of the railings and she instinctively grabbed onto it and she was slammed against the side of the stairs. Terra forced herself to hold on and she struggled to pull herself up. She gazed up at her brother who was standing on one of the railings several stories above her. There was a flash of lightning and he was gone. She fell over the railings and landed hard on the stairs. Terra brushed her hair away from her eyes as another flash of lightning struck the roof of the Tower. The Tower was filled with a blinding light as all the lighting systems overloaded. The stairwell became a homemade light show as every light bulb snapped on and off sending random streams of light crisscrossing in the night. Terra shielded her eyes and ducked into a hallway. The lights were flickering here as well and Terra was about to turn back when she heard a voice farther down the hallway.

"Now where were we…" said Terran with his arms behind his back. He stepped forward as the hallway lights flickered on and off. Even though the flickering was random, not one was touching him as he walked. "…Ah, that's right".

"What is it that you want from me?" Terra scowled.

"My my, were we not paying attention?" Terran said in a monotone voice.

"Does this…" Terra stuttered "…have anything to do with my friends"? Terran didn't answer; he only continued to step closer. "If you do anything to them I swear I'll…"!

Terran stopped and tilted his head to the side "But I thought you didn't really care about them…after all you are leaving them once you're done with the 'Brotherhood'…right"?

Terra stared at her feet in shame. She had said that when she first rejoined the Titans, she remembered how much in hurt them to hear that, how much it had hurt Beast Boy. "I…"

"So are you just using them…is that it"?

"NO…its not"!

"Then what is it"?

"I don't…I don't know" Terra admitted.

Terran's eyes narrowed "You always did have a hard time making up your mind, so I always had to do it for you". Terran's attention suddenly turned to the stairwell and Terra turned as well. There were three sets of footsteps racing down the stairs as another flash of lightning struck. Terra looked back and the space where Terran had been standing was empty.

"TARA ARE YOU ALRIGHT!" called Beast Boy as he raced down the steps with the twins on his heels.

"I'm right here" Terra called.

"Tara…what happened?" asked as he saw Terra standing in a hallway looking quite beaten up.

"Ter…I mean Brion's here…in the Tower" Terra stuttered.

At first Beast Boy couldn't make sense of what she was saying but he soon realized what she meant. "HERE…HOW"?

"I don't…" Terra started but was then distracted by something over Beast Boy's shoulder. There was a flash of lightning and she saw Terran standing on a railing with his arms crossed directly opposite of them. He dived off the railing and plummeted head first into the darkness. Terra darted passed Beast Boy and jumped over the edge after him. Terran landed on the ground without making a sound and quickly dashed down another hallway. Terra was about to touch the floor when she felt a pair of large claws grab her shoulders. She was placed gently on the ground and Beast Boy resumed his original form.

"TERRA ARE YOU CRAZY?" Beast Boy shouted, forgetting to call her Tara "YOU COULD HAVE KILLED YOURSELF"! He placed his hands on her shoulders trying to keep her from shaking "Terra, he isn't here, the alarms would have picked him up if he was".

"But we changed it so the other Terran wouldn't get attacked!" Terra countered.

"Terra you…" Beast Boy's hand passed over the bump on Terra's neck "Where'd you get that"?

"It's a mosquito bite…but that doesn't matter…HE IS HERE AND I'M GOING TO FIND HIM"! Terra wrenched herself from Beast Boy's gripped and sprinted down the hallway Terran had escaped down. Terra ran along the hallway, continually blinded by the random burst of lights from the light bulbs above her. Another one flickered and she saw Terran duck into a ventilation shaft and crawl to the upper floors. Terra jumped up to grab onto the vent but something was blocking her grip. She brushed the open vent and felt a cool metal grating cover over it. "That's weird…." she murmured but never gave it a second thought. A door down the hallway beeped and opened up to show a waiting elevator with its light working properly. Terra walked into the elevator pressed one of the buttons. The light snapped off and elevator began to rise and Terra used this time to catch her breath. She leaned against wall of the elevator and felt her back press against a bulge in it. Terra's eyes widened as she heard quiet breathing behind her.

"Hello Terra". The door to the elevator opened and Terra was knocked through the opening. Terra got to her feet but felt her gut compress and all the air in her lungs rushed out her mouth. "Don't go running off…I'm not done with you yet" Terran said. There was a flash of lightning right outside the window and blinded Terra for several seconds. As Terra caught her breath she noticed that Terran was gone. She wearily got to her feet and started walking down the hallway. She heard footsteps in front of her and she quickly broke into a sprint to catch them. There was another flash of lightning and Terra saw something in the corner of her eye. She looked to her left and saw Terran with his arms hanging behind him keeping pace with her. But there was one problem with this: Terran was outside the window. Terra looked at his feet and saw that he was running along on thin air. Terran turned to Terra and leaped at her just as another bolt of lightning struck. Terra shielded her eyes from the light and heard someone behind her. Terran was now inside the Tower and was racing quickly down the hallway. Terra ran after him but was having a hard time keeping up with him and she soon lost sight of him. Terra skidded to a halt at a hallway cross section. She frantically looked around to see if she could find any trace of where her brother went. She noticed a storage room door had been left open and could hear someone beyond it.

"Found you!" she thought and quickly dashed inside. It was quite a large storage, with cardboard boxes littering the floor. Terran was standing with his back to her at the far end of the room gazing at the wall. "Looks like I've got you" Terra smirked at having cornered Terran.

"Actually Terra…" Terran said. The only entrance to the room slammed shut and the security lock activated locking them both inside "…I've got you". Terra stood paralyzed in the center of the room, she had walked right into a trap. "It's funny how we always seem to meet this way". Terran turned around and stepped closer to Terra. "Now that we're alone…we're going to have a little chat". Terran jumped and spun into the air and his foot connected with Terra's face and she went crashing into a stack of boxes. Terra picked herself up in time to see Terran disappear as one of the lights snapped on. The light snapped off again and Terran closer reappeared having never lost his stride.

"How did…" Terra began.

"You know it's very rude to stare…" Terran said as he slammed his fist into Terra sending her careening back. Terran grabbed her by her hair and pulled her head towards him. "…just like its very rude not to answer someone's questions". He flung her into another pile of boxes and their lids fell off sending swarms of paper into the air.

"Just go…away" Terra growled as she tried to pick herself up off the ground.

"Sorry…" Terran said as dragged her by her shirt onto one of the storage elevators "…I'm never going to go away". He slammed her against the console and the elevator started to descend to the basement where the majority of the Titan's storage was kept. As they descended Terran continued to attack Terra until she was barely able to keep conscious and every time Terra got a chance to hit back, Terran would pull off almost inhuman counters and dodges to avoid it. The elevator finally rested on the bottom floor and Terra was flung into a file cabinet. A box that had been left lying on the ground was sent skidding to the side and its contents were scattered across the floor. "I must say it has been some time since we've seen each other…" Terran said as he stepped off the elevator. "…I was beginning to think I would never see your beautiful face again".

Terra weakly got to her knees and she could feel drips of blood running down her face and staining the front of her shirt. Something wasn't right about Terran, but she couldn't figure out what, he was acting so strange, so different.

"I thought I told you…" Terran pulled Terra to her feet and punched her in the face "…to get up". He kicked her in the side and she once again collapsed to the floor. "You're performance is pitiful".

Terra's vision was blurred for blood had seeped into her eyes. But she could see Terran standing over her.

"Maybe I should just finish you…" Terran said as he raised his foot off the ground. Terra suddenly felt a surge of energy coursed through her. She sprang to her feet catching Terran off balance and slammed her fist into his face.

"JUST…LEAVE…ME…ALONE!" she screamed as she pressed her fist harder into his face. Terran stumbled backwards but never made a sound. Terra placed her arm over the file cabinet to help her to stay upright as she watched Terran regain his composure.

"That's my girl". Terran lifted his head from his chest and Terra could see cracks stretching across his face. His face began to fall away until there was nothing but a dark hole where his face had once been. Terra let go of the file cabinet and slowly inched her way towards Terran. Then where Terran's left eye would have been a single eye snapped open and Terra froze. The eye seemed to cut right through her and peer into her very soul. She felt very cold and she clutched her heart thinking it might burst.

"Terra, are you down there?" came a voice from above them. Terra looked up and saw the silhouette of Beast Boy standing in the doorway with a flashlight. Its beam cut through the darkness as it swept across the room. The beam fell upon Terra and she heard Beast Boy quicken his pace. He reached the bottom of the steps and the beam swung across Terran. Terran's chest and right arm disappeared in the light but what was left of stayed where it was. Terra felt a bulge in her neck and then the mosquito bite split open and blood began to drip down her neck. Terra saw a small black beetle floating away and she quickly snatched it out of the air. She felt it buzz in her hand a then felt a tiny pop as it was crushed under the pressure. Terra opened her hand and saw tiny bits of plastic scattered across her palm. She wiped them away and turned to Beast Boy as he ran up to her. "TERRA, ARE YOU ALRIGHT…WHERE'S TERRAN!" he shouted. Terra looked to where Terran had been standing only to find it empty.

Terra shook her head and smiled "He's gone Beast Boy".

"Oh…" Beast Boy said, disappointed that he hadn't help Terra find him. He reached for the light switch and the room was flooded with light. "There that's better, trying to find someone in the dark is always creepy huh".

"Yeah" Terra agreed.

Beast Boy looked her over seeing that she was in bad shape. He wrapped her arm around his shoulder and began to help her walk to the stairs. "Let's get you cleaned up". Terra smiled at how caring Beast Boy was being even though she had yelled at him before. Terra turned her head around and saw the open box lying on the floor. Inside she saw a black and bronze mask with a single eye slit. It sent a chill down her spine and she shivered slightly. "You okay?" Beast Boy asked noticing that she was distracted by something.

Terra looked back and Beast Boy and smiled "Yeah I'm fine". The two made their way to the elevator and Beast Boy pressed the button that would lead them to the infirmary. The elevator began to rise and the two stood there in silence. "Beast Boy" Terra said after a long silence.

"What"?

"I've been thinking…you know…about what I said when I came back".

"Yeah" Beast Boy said, not at all happy to be remembering that conversation.

"Well…I've been thinking" Terra said softly "and I've changed my mind…I want to stay with you guys".

Beast Boy looked at her in surprise "Really"!

Terra smiled and kissed him "Really".