A/N: I'm glad you guys thought the, uh... panty stuff was funny, lol! I forgot to mention earlier... episode #12 is lamely titled "Titans Together!" It's the conclusion of a four-part thingy with Raven. Il est tres bon.
Apologies for the HORRENDOUSLY late update... First Microsoft Word got deleted off the computer I use (WTF?!?!!???) And then by the time I went through all my junk around here and put it and found the disk and put it back on... Band camp had just started! So for two weeks there, I would wake up, get dressed, get ready for band, leave and be there from 1 until 9, come home, watch late night 'toons and do it all over again the next day. Of course I had SOME time in between, but I was just too exhausted. Anyways... That's why there was nothing for all that time. But school is starting up again, and y'all know what that means! No? Well... I'm taking an expository writing class gags, chokes, vomits, etc and that means I'll have an excuse to type more without question. Get it? I can PRETEND to be doing homework! Ha! In my last writing class, my teacher thought I was just untalented. But really... I'm just lazy.
That's all I have for now, so please enjoy chapter five, "Stench" of "Oh, My Pretty Kitty."
It had been many hours since Raven had retired to her bedroom, and many hours prior to that that the teenaged heroes had returned from their expedition. Despite her time nestled between the covers, Raven had not gotten very much rest.
Absolute silence engulfed her room, save for the petite girl's thrashing underneath the sheets. Beads of sweat formed on her face, and the faint sound of gnashing teeth softly echoed. Her eyebrows furrowed, and she curled subconsciously into the fetal position as she clutched tightly to the sheets that slowly cocooned around her.
A cold breeze leaked through the cracked window, causing the long violet drapes to flap carelessly around her bed. The wind sped up and began to whistle an eerie tune in her ears. Its chill finally caught up to the dark girl, sending shivers up her spine.
She shook for a moment or so and thrashed around her bed, subconsciously trying in vain to not only warm herself, but to calm her nerves. Suddenly, she shot upright in her bed and took in a long, jagged gasp of air. Now fully awake, the girl darted her eyes around nervously and ran a shaky hand through her sweaty hair.
'Nightmares...' she sighed and rubbed her palms against her bare arms. 'Only... nightmares...'
She was about to lay back down but something diverted her attention. Something warm and sticky had found its way to the back of her neck. It felt like someone (or something) was breathing down her back. Eyes wide, she whirled around... to find nothing.
"It's nothing," she vocalized as if to reassure herself. 'I'm just wound up from that dream...'
The dark girl sighed heavily and readjusted her pillow, which she had found strangely at the foot of her bed.
'Wait, that isn't the bottom of my bed... I must've flipped to the bottom of my bed.'
Upon investigation, she realized that indeed her feet were where her head should have been, and her head was where her feet should have been. Blaming it on the nightmares and thinking nothing of it, Raven turned herself back around and curled up under the sheets once more.
"Hnnnnhhhhhh.... Hnnnnhhhhhh..." a deep throttle noise distrupted her train of thought.
For the second time, she bottled up and demanded, "Who's there?!"
Her only response was the dragging, thick breathing and the sound of her drapes flapping softly in the breeze.
"Who's there!" she pleaded.
This time silence greeted her. She warily turned her head and gave a small gasp to see that the drapes had suddenly become still. She whimpered slightly to herself and curled her knees up to her chest as she retreated to the top of her bed and perched on top of her pillow. Her eyes darted back and forth, scanning her room in a paranoid fashion. Silence enveloped her, except for her jagged breathing. The warm tingling feeling crept up her spine and back to her neck, where it hung idly for a moment. Her breaths increased and became more erratic and fearful. The mysterious hot breath grew thicker. Suddenly, an unexplained dip formed in the mattress just in front of her, as if someone had just sat down. But no one was there.
"Who... who are you...?" her lips quivered as she managed to utter the few words.
The deep breath answered her. The invisible being breathed its hot, thick breath right in her face, causing her to gag slightly. She whimpered more audibly and leaned backwards in a futile attempt to rid herself of the invisible attacker. She felt the warm trail down her neck and stop between her collarbone and breast. The warmth sat on top of her chest, seemingly sensing her pounding, racing heart. She whipped her head around frantically, searching for an offender. She felt the sinking of the mattress draw nearer. In a panic, she kicked forward, and hit nothing. The girl's eyes widened, and she gasped loudly. She crawled clumsily to the foot of her bed and flopped off onto the floor. She looked for something, anything, to protect herself from the attacker with.
Upon discovering nothing but a single book on her tidy floor, she grabbed for its thick binding and began crawling frantically towards the door. Raven grabbed a knob on the dresser for support and heaved herself to her feet. Free hand shaking, she pushed the numerical buttons on the side of the door as to unlock it. The heavy sound of breathing returned and hot, thick breath greeted her back. The girl returned the motion by breathing erratically and paid more notice to the stink of the hot breath than to the code she was typing in. after several attempts, she finally shoved the massive door to the side with great effort. Raven could think of nothing to do but run.
She ran down the hall, as far away from her room as she could. She clutched the worn cover of the ancient book to her chest and continued to run wildly and wrecklessly down the dark hall. The padding of her feet on the floor seemed to thump in her head as she ran through the empty hall. She suddenly swerved to the left and collided with the entrance to the staircase. With each flight of stairs she went down, she felt as though she was actually getting farther away from the bottom.
The dark girl burst through the door and gave a heavy sigh of relief. She took several steps and stood silently in the pale moonlight that shone through the large window and into the common room. She took in deep gasps of air, still slightly breathless from her run, and found herself wandering towards the kitchen. She deposited the book on the counter and let her fingers trace over the familiar golden letters on its cover as she retracted her hand.
She stood solemnly and listened to the soft sound of her breath getting slower as it returned to her. She took in a deep, shaky breath and held it, as if symbolically holding in her fear. To her dismay, she heard the sound of breathing. Eyes wide, Raven dared not to exhale. The horribly familiar sound of thick breathing returned to her. Her body turned rigid yet she managed to rotate herself around to see behind her. Shadows danced behind her. She whipped her head back around and saw that nothing was moving in front of her. All the furniture remained stationary. The moonlight illuminated the otherwise dark room through the large window and cast long shadows upon the floor. Each shadow danced from underneath the tables and chairs, threatening to come closer to her. They gnashed their lifelike teeth in the dark ones direction. Frightened and confused, Raven's breath left her once again.
Unfortunately the slow, sticky breath did not leave her. The invisible creature blew its stink breath in her face once again. Avoiding the stench, Raven instinctively looked to the side and brought her hand to her nose. Upon turning her head, she peered at the ground and came face to face with her own shadow. Rather than mimicking her stance, the shadow seemed to be looking up at her and then it waved. A hard lump stuck in the goth's throat as she stood rooted in her spot, terrified at the sight before her. Her shadow lunged and prepared to attack its owner. Raven's jaw dropped several inches and her instincts told her to move out and fast. She ducked away and pressed herself against a small part of the fridge.
Hiding in the darkness, there were no shadows. Raven breathed a sigh of relief. As she did, a hot stream of breath greeted her. Pushing herself back up against the cool, metallic refridgerator, her hands searched for the utensil drawer. She groped frantically and blindly behind her, searching for the handle.
"Come on... come on!" she yelled at herself.
The breath lingered and wrapped around her neck. It spread down to her shoulders and slowly began to envelope her. Finally her hand made contact with the drawer's handle. After pulling it towards herself, the girl thrust her hand into its depths and retrieved a steak knife.
A frightened growl escaped her lips as she swung wildly, searching for a possible offender. The sound of a wounded animal echoed throughout the tower while Raven swung her makeshift weapon. The sticky grip loosened from around her and yet she continued her flailing motions. The blood began to spurt seemingly out of thin air. It splashed around and the howling continued. Vaguely aware that she was still slashing and stabbing away, Raven felt the blood drip upon her bare arms and face. The salty brown liquid leaked down her cheek and flowed into her mouth; the bitter taste gagged her slightly.
After what seemed like forever, the howling died down. There was no longer a hot stream of breath plaguing her. The shadows settled down to their rightful places and were behaving themselves. Raven's breath once again returned to her. She shook her head in disbelief. This all had been so frightening and confusing, and she was soaked in blood. She had no idea where it had come from or to whom it belonged. The bloody steak knife quivered in her hand. Realizing what she had done, the knife slipped from her fingers and landed in a pool of blood with a clank.
"Oh god..." she gasped and took several steps away from the blood.
Raven ran into the common room and looked through the huge window up at the pale moon. She could see a transparent reflection of herself in the window. Her plum colored hair was a tangled mess. Dark circles sat beneath her eyes and blood flecks sat on her cheeks like mock freckles. Her brows furrowed at the sight of both the meddlesome moon and her frail face. She reached to the side and pulled a large black drape over half the window and then reached to the other side and repeated her previous action. The room became pitch black. She shuddered deeply, yet she was satisfied.
Turning on her heel, the goth rubbed her bare arms as though hugging herself. Though not running, she moved quickly up to the staircase and strode swiftly up the steps. She felt as though she was floating, and didn't really pay attention as she made her way to her room. The door slid open, and she slipped inside, closing it quickly. Seemingly incapable of comprehending the past events, Raven blinked wildly and rubbed her eyes. She flopped onto her bed and crawled up to the top. The dark girl buried her face under her pillow and hid deep beneath the warm comforters and cried until sleep took her once more.
A/N: Well-e-tee, well-e-tee, well-e-tee... Took me long enough, huh? Again, sorry about that. But like I said... as long I pretend to do homework, I can write fanfiction! Hahaha. I know this chapter may have been confusing, but it'll all make sense when the next chapter is posted. Guaranteed. I'm hoping for chapter six to be done by Thursday or Friday. You can feel free to hold me to this. As always... REVIEW!!
Slan, Kelly