A/N: I need to thank all the people who have been reviewing my story. Thank you! So far, they've all been good reviews! For those of you who have been wondering, the end of this story is very near!

A Thing of the Past, Chapter 8

I can't believe this is where Terra is staying, I thought as I landed on the sidewalk and morphed back into my human form.

I was standing outside an old abandoned house located in the more rundown part of town. Houses around it had been torn down years ago, yet for some reason, this one still remained. Though it was a beautiful day out, there was no beauty to be seen here.

The outside, once a bright yellow, had faded nearly to white in some areas along with chipping and peeling paint. All the windows had been broken from vigilantes tossing rocks and other debris at them. The yard was nothing more than dirt with a few dead trees.

Some boards were nailed over the entrance since the front door was missing. I assumed somebody was hoping this would discourage intruders. I changed into a mouse and easily scurried under, changing back on the other side.

The inside was much worse than the outside. The room I was in made my room look clean. It was, for lack of better words, a living room. Since the electricity had been cut years ago, the only light in the whole house came from the broken windows. Garbage was strewn everywhere. There was a foul odor that was beginning to make me nauseous. Wallpaper was peeling and torn with profanities spray painted in its place.

I cautiously made my way over to the staircase on my left, knowing that Terra would be upstairs. The banister had already fallen off, leaving me nothing to hold as I ascended. The stairs, ready to collapse at any moment, creaked and groaned with every step I took, yet I was able to make it safely to the top. I sighed with relief.

I found myself in a small hallway with four doors: two on my left, one on my right, and one straight ahead where the hallway ended. They were all closed. I decided to try them all.

The first door on my left opened noisily to reveal a bathroom. Tiles were missing from the once white floor. There was an old-fashioned chipped sink with rust stains sitting on a pedestal. A rusted, broken mirror/medicine cabinet combination barely hung above the sink. The toilet had been tipped over, cracking the tank cover, and leaving water stains all over the floor.

I closed the bathroom door and tried the other doors. Two of them were locked which only left me with the door at the end of the hallway. The door opened easily and I found myself in a large bedroom. Compared to the other rooms I had seen, it was relatively clean. There was no garbage on the solid wood floor or graphite on the pale green walls. A large five-drawer dresser in the corner had been reduced to a three-drawer dresser. An armoire, scratched beyond repair, stood beside it. A cracked mirror hung precariously on the opposite wall. A queen sized bed sat in the middle of the room, and, snuggled under the covers, was Terra.

I tiptoe over and sit gently on the edge of the bed, cringing slightly as it squeaks under the new weight. She stirs, but does not appear to awaken. I smile affectionately and push a stray piece of hair off of her face.

"You know," she mumbles, opening an eye and smiling mischievously at me, "in the fairy tales, a prince will kiss the princess in order to awaken her."

I chuckle and lean over, kissing her gently on the lips. As our kiss begins to deepen, I remember why I came and abruptly pull away. She gives me a questioning look.

"What's the matter?" she asks quietly, pushing herself up into a sitting position.

The sheets slide off and show that she is wearing a rather revealing black camisole. My eyes stray downward towards the exposed flesh. After a few moments of staring, she giggles, snapping me out of my daydream. I bring my head up swiftly, my eyes as wide as saucers. She was looking at me flirtatiously and I could feel my cheeks begin to grow warm. I rise from the bed and begin to wander, trying to look anywhere but at her.

"Am I making you uncomfortable?" she asks sensually.

I gave a small laugh. "No, of course not," I said sardonically, still not looking at her.

"Mm-hmm," she murmured. I heard the bed squeak, which I hoped indicated that she was getting up to get dressed. "So why are you here?" Her voice had taken on a serious tone. I heard her open one of the dresser drawers. "I thought we already made plans on when we would be meeting this week."

I had made my way over to the cracked mirror and could see that Terra was standing in front of the dresser. She had already thrown on a pair of khaki shorts and was now removing the camisole. I stood there, staring hungrily at the reflection of her bare backside.

"Enjoying the view?" she asked knowingly after a few moments of silence. She looked over her shoulder at me and smiled.

I turned my head downwards, finding my boots incredibly interesting at that moment, as my cheeks began to grow warm again. I cleared my throat as I tried to get my thoughts in order. "I only came here because it's an emergency," I said hastily. "Raven's been kidnapped and I think Robin thinks you might have done it"

I flinched, expecting Terra to blow up at me about Robin finding out, but she didn't. Did this mean she was more concerned about Raven? I chanced a glance behind me to make sure she was decent and turned around. She had gone back to the bed and sat down to put on her boots. There was a dispassionate look on her face, almost as if she were bored. I took a few steps slowly towards her.

"Terra?" I asked cautiously. "Did you hear me?"

"Raven's missing and Robin thinks I did it," she said carelessly and looked at me apathetically. "Yeah, I know." She went back to tying her boots.

I could only stand there, staring at her dumbly as her statement sank in. "You know? Like, you knew before I came here?" I asked confusedly.

"Is this really news to you?" she asked as she put on her gloves and rose from the bed.

I took a step back. "What are you saying?" I asked fearfully.

She looked at me, her face void of any emotion, and crossed her arms over her chest. "I think you know what I'm saying," she said unconcernedly. "You already know where Raven is because you were there when I took her. Or rather, we took her."