Author's Note: Oh my God. .I actually updated! (Slaps hands to her face and screams like Macually Culkin in Home Alone). Shocking, ne? Well I'll tell you this, the fic is beginning to get a little more dramatic. I hope you like it. Chapter 9 is almost done, 6 pages done. I want to add more, which might lead to Chapter 10, who knows. Chapter 8 is here so the fic can at least have one new chapter. It's not long but it'll do. Just keep in mind that an even longer one is almost here. I'm currently preparing for a High School entrance test that I will be taking this Saturday. Wish me luck! Ja Ne!

Chapter 8

Cold, marble floors pierced Raven's bare skin. She flinched under the cold, and wrapped her arms around her body for warmth. Raven cracked an eye open and noticed that she was not in her room anymore. The pale blue walls were gone; the computer was missing; the bookcase was nowhere to be seen; and it didn't seem like Raven was sleeping on her comfortable bed. Her eyes widened with wonder as she scanned the room she was currently in. The floor was black, shining marble. The walls were midnight black; the blue flames of the torches gave the atmosphere a mysterious and ghostly feel.

"Where am I?. .This isn't my room. ."

Raven slowly rose to her feet. Fortunately, she didn't feel one bit light- headed. The room seemed to never end. Raven tried to find a way out. There was nothing but walls and blue flames. The sound of a bang escaped and echoed off the walls. Raven swiftly turned around. No one to be seen. Though, there was a pearl, white door in sight.

"Strange, that door wasn't there before."

Raven approached the door with cautiousness. As it came up larger in view, she telekinetically swung the door open, and walked through the doorway. The floor was now covered with a blood-red carpet. The walls were still black, yet the flames were now red. Long mirrors stood against the walls. They continued on down the hall. 'Where is this place leading me to?' Raven thought. The sound of a slammed door blasted out of nowhere. Raven turned around to see that the door was no longer there. She eyed the area where it used to be, suspicious of how it disappeared. 'This place gets weirder and weirder.' She decided to walk down the hall since there was no other way to go.

As she walked by, the mirrors reflected her physical image: Straight, violet hair; big, stormy eyes; and her navy blue pajamas. However, one mirror seemed to show a different image. Raven looked deep into the mirror. This mirror reflected an image of a girl with a wine-red cape and red eyes, glowing evilly in the darkness. 'That's not. .me. .' She moved her hand from side to side. The reflection mimicked her action.

"No. ."

Raven backed away, hoping the evil reflection would just go away. She bumped into a wall from behind, and swiftly spun around. Another mirror faced her way. The evil reflection was indeed gone, only to be replaced by another reflection. This reflection of Raven had a long, white cape, and eyes glowing with holy light. 'That's not my reflection. .' She looked back at the mirror with the evil reflection. Then, she returned to the holy reflection. Evil. Holy. Evil. Holy. Neither one showed who Raven was.

'Raven. .The darkness calls for you. .Answer the call. .Be one with the dark. .'

The evil reflection whispered with poison words, slithering their way into Raven's mind.

'Do not listen to that of the Dark. .In Darkness. .you are only lost in a world where nothing seems true. .The Light can defeat the Darkness. .Light will shine through. .'

The Holy reflection protested. Raven heard two views. Two ways. Two paths. Neither seemed right to her.

'The Darkness will conquer. .'

"Stop it!"

'The Light will shine through. .'

"Shut up! I don't want to hear this anymore!"

The whispers went on and on. The voices clogged her mind. Raven covered her ears to bloke it all out. On and on they came. She yelled in frustration. She belonged to neither side. Her eyes glowed with power as a snarl escaped her mouth.

"Just shut up!"

She violently slammed her fist in the mirror, not caring about the glass slicing her skin. Scarlet blood oozed from the slits. She yelled out in anger as she broke the other mirror with a strength-filled punch. The clanging of broken glass filled the room. Raven's breathing quickened as the sting of pain rose in her hands. The walls were disappearing, as well as the carpet floors and the pieces of glass. Raven was left alone in the middle of nowhere. She opened her eyes and looked down at her cut up hands. They were stained with fresh blood, pain searing in each cut. 'Look at yourself. .' Tears filled her eyes, blurring her vision.

'The daughter of Trigon will rise. .Let the evil consume you. .'

"Never! I'm sick of you manipulating me!"

'You can't run from the Darkness. It's in your blood.'

"Shut it! I want you out of my mind!"

Raven came face-to-face with her father. His evil eyes piercing with haunting darkness. Her body froze. She lost her breath. Her eyes grew wide with horror and fear. 'Father. .'

----------------------------

Raven awakened in a cold sweat. The sound of her heartbeat rang in her ears. Her breathing slowed down as she realized she was back in her own bed, safe and sound.

"It was. .just a dream."

She rubbed her eyes. They felt all wet. 'What?' She took her hand away. Had she been crying in her sleep? She shook her head and rose out of bed. She rushed to the bathroom and turned on the lights. She looked back at her reflection in the mirror with hesitation. No red or white cape. No weird, glowing eyes. She was normal. Her face was stained with tears, and circles were forming under her eyes. Raven turned on the faucet, and started splashing water onto her face repeatedly, as if the water will wash away her pain. After several times throwing water at her face, she stopped and tried to calm down. Why was that dream so horrifying? Why did all those voices keep shooting at her all at once?

As hard as she could, she blocked everything about that dream away. It was difficult. She covered her eyes, trying to prevent more tears from pouring down. She looked at the mirror, at herself in a weak state. She glared. Her lip quivered. 'What are you doing, Raven? You can't show him that you are weak. Fools are weak and helpless.' 'Those voices. .they were all forcing me to be on one side. I don't want to choose! I want to be free of this!' 'Complaining is not going to work! Be strong!' 'I can't take it anymore!' Just then, the mirror was sliced in web-like patterns. Raven's eyes widened.

"What. ."

Her emotions. Her emotions are causing this. Her powers are getting out of control because of one dream.

"No."

She looked away from the broken mirror and shut off the light. She went over to her desk, opened a drawer, and took out a lighter, and some inscents. Raven walked to the night table, and stuck the inscents sticks in each holder. She then pulled the trigger of the lighter. A flame shot out in an instant, as it danced in the air. Raven lit the inscents and released the trigger. After putting it back in the drawer, she sat down on the floor near the inscents, crossing her legs like that of Indian ways. She breathed in deeply, and released, calming her nerves. Raven began to chant in whispers.

"Azareth, Metrion, Zinthos. ."

Meditating was a good way for Raven to clear herself of her emotions. She continued chanting for a while until she felt ready to sleep again. She rose from the floor, and crawled back into bed, covering the blankets over herself for warmth. She rested her head back on the pillow and relaxed. Raven breathed in the Egyptian musk of the inscents. It was an enchanting smell that hypnotized you, drew you in closer to the scent. She fell into a light sleep. It did not last long, for morning was approaching soon. She didn't dream of anything really.

Sunlight poured through the window. Raven's eyes twitched as the bright light stung her eyes. She pulled the blanket over her face to block the rays.

"What time is it?" she asked in a raspy voice.

She pulled down the blanket and stared at the alarm clock. 9:00 a.m. She groaned and turned on her side. Raven wanted to stay in bed all day, no matter how long she lies in her bed. 'I don't want to face the world. Shut it out.' Her stomach disagreed, as it started to grumble loudly for food. 'I'll just drink some herbal tea and come right back.' Slowly, she crawled out of bed and onto her feet. She dragged herself to the bathroom, brushed her teeth, and slipped on her uniform. Raven slid open the bedroom door and closed it shut behind her. She flipped up her hood to conceal her face. Keeping her mind clear, she entered the kitchen, which seemed to be a ghost town. "Strange. .usually everybody is devouring their breakfast at this hour..Why is it empty?"

She looked around. It's empty alright. Raven shrugged. 'Oh well.' She walked over to the counter and pulled out a tea bag from a drawer. Opening the cabinet, she took out a black mug. Raven turned on the stove, fire lightly rising to the air. She took out a pan, filled it with water, and carefully placed it over the stove. She then dipped the tea bag in the water, the bag moistening from the liquid. Raven left it alone and decided to wait at the counter. She rested her head in her hand and waited patiently. 'Everybody's probably still sleeping. It is Saturday.' She rubbed the sleep from her eyes. 'Is the tea done yet?'

She checked the water, which was now filled with tea. Ready. She took the pan and poured the steaming tea in the mug. She blew the steam away a couple times to cool it off. Raven sat back at the counter sipped her tea quietly. Her head began to hurt from trying to keep her mind clear. That dream. If she thought about it at all, something bad would happen. Damn, why do telekinetic powers run on emotions? Raven sighed and shut her mind from thinking any further. A minute later, voices could be heard from the hall. 'They're up. .'

"Yyaaawwwnnnn. . .Ah, I needed a good night sleep," said Beast Boy as he stretched his arms out.

"I'm starving. .I need grub," said Cyborg.

"Come, friends, I shall prepare our daily morning meal!" exclaimed Starfire.

"Oh no. ." said Robin under his breath, Beast Boy and Cyborg's grossed-out expressions agreeing with him.

They finally appeared through the hallway entrance. Starfire's face lit up with enthusiasm as she saw that Raven was awake after-all.

"Raven! You are awake!"

Starfire threw her arms around Raven, causing her to lose oxygen.

"Yes," Raven managed to croak out.

She let go of Raven and glided towards the stove. Raven continued sipping her tea as the other Titans sat at the table.

"How you feelin'?" asked Cyborg.

"Yeah, Ray," said Beast Boy.

"Fine. I used some of my healing powers to make the swelling of the bump go down."

"Glad to hear the bump's gone. It looks a lot better," said Robin.

"Thanks."

She finished the last bit of the herbal tea and breathed out loudly.

"I had the strangest dream last night," said Robin, trying to a conversation.

"What was it 'bout?" asked Cyborg.

"Your face," said Beast Boy.

"Shut up, you!" yelled Cyborg.

"No, it wasn't of Cyborg's face. I dreamed that I was in the city and I was walking down the street. Then, the buildings disappear and the road becomes sand. It gets really hot, and over to the side, this dude in a cowboy hat talks to me in a raspy voice. 'Hey kid! Get back to digging the hole!' I'm like 'What?'. He goes 'You heard me!' 'Ok. .why do I have to dig a hole?' 'It builds character, boy! Get to work!' I'm thinking 'Whatever.' So, I grab a nearby shovel and I find a hole that's like 5 feet deep, 5 feet wide. I'm looking down the hole and I see these little green aliens wearing sombreros-"

"Som-what?" asked Beast Boy.

"Sombrero. It means 'hat' in Spanish. They were wearing these Spanish hats. And then they look up at me and scream their heads off. They say 'Human! I thought we invaded the Earth!' 'No, you just invaded a hole..' Then I wake up."

"That's. . .weird," said Cyborg.

"Maybe that 'digging holes' thing came from that movie we watched, 'Holes.' I liked it," said Beast Boy.

"But it didn't have any robots and technology," said Cyborg.

"There are no robots in the middle of nowhere," said Raven.

"Did you have any dreams last night?" he asked.

". .I don't want to talk about it," she said coldly.

"It was a nightmare then! What was it of? Fuzzy bunnies?" said Beast Boy.

"I said I don't want to talk about it," said Raven.

The mug in front of her began to shake on the counter.

"BB, if she doesn't want to talk about it, then don't ask about it," said Robin.

"No wait. C'mon tell me! What was it? Tell me tell me tell me-"

"Shut up!" she yelled.

Her eyes lit up with a red tint, and the mug exploded into small pieces scattered across the counter and floor. Starfire gasped and stopped cooking. Beast Boy stared, he didn't dare say a word. Raven calmed down. A look of horror and shock took over her face. Her lip quivered as she ran out of the kitchen, leaving the other Titans speechless.

"Now you did it, Beast Boy," said Cyborg.

"What was that? It was frightening," said Starfire.

Robin looked at the hall entrance, where Raven just ran through. 'I hope it's nothing serious,' he thought.

Raven rushed to her room and slammed the door. 'Could this get any worse?!' she thought with frustration. 'Why does he come back to haunt me?. . .Why now?' Raven tried to stop shaking. She lay down on her bed and relaxed her muscles. 'This will get better by tomorrow. It won't last long if I keep it out of my mind.' She pulled the covers over her head to block everything out. Raven slept the rest of the day, keeping away from human contact as much as possible. Things will get better. . .Hopefully.