Chapter 4-Gears
She awoke not knowing where she was. Darkness surrounded her, engulfing her in its black flames. There seemed to be no boundary between the ground she lay on and the ceiling that was lost in the darkness, but loomed somewhere above. For a moment she was afraid to move—perhaps the floor would crumble beneath her and crash down around her, and she would fall forever into a pit of despair and torture.
Finally Raven mustered all of her courage and stood. Nausea rose within her as the sickly perfumes of sweat and blood tickled her nose. She staggered, the grogginess of the substance that had been on the cloth Beast Boy had covered her nose and mouth with still lingering.
"What happened?" Raven thought aloud. Only a mocking echo dared to slice the silence and respond.
"Is anyone there?" Raven asked, and for a split second she thought a mimicking echo would once more be her only reply. But then the air around her filled with an ominous and violent feeling, and she knew she had been wrong. Dead wrong.
"Ah, Raven. So glad you could join us," he said with a voice so toxic it seemed to be venom from a snake's daggery fangs.
Her eyes grew wide as the ocean is deep, and her legs quavered beneath her. His voice pierced her mind, chilling her to the bone. She whispered his name in horror—though it was difficult to manage even that due to her current state of terror. She fell backward to the floor, catching herself with her hands so that she stood in a position similar to that of a "crab-walk" (not really so much, but it's the only thing I can think of).
"What's the matter, child? You aren't—afraid, are you?" Slade half whispered, challenging her mind in attempt to provoke her to fight.
Raven stood, anger flaring in her eyes for a brief moment as she responded, "I'm not afraid of you. There's nothing in the world to fear but fear itself. I'm not afraid of you."
Bravely she advanced toward him, and pushed him backward; he tumbled in the cool depths of shimmering glass and splintered wood as he flew backward and shattered the boarded-up window. He leapt through the window, landing on his feet and glaring angrily at her. Again, she moved toward him, and this time he thrusted her away. She flew backward, hitting the moving gear. Suddenly, it felt as thought she was levitating. She attempted to run toward him, only to discover herself lodged in one of the gear's grooves. The moon outlined another gear churning in sync with the one she was bound to, and she frantically struggled to free herself. After her attempts failed, she decided the only way to gain enough time to free herself was to stop the gears using her powers.
"Azerath, Metr—" Raven began but was cut short as the two gears came together, and a loud scream slashed through the night, and a loud cracking of bones splintered the night. The gears separated, and the now broken body of Raven collapsed from the notch she had been lodged within. Through weak eyes, she could see the moonlight dappling the floor, distorting the color of her blood until it was a silver river of sparkling wine.
Suddenly, as though by magic, it seemed like she was being pulled down into the darkness, as though a demon was pulling her down by the ankles into the fiery depths of Hell. The world spun around her, going dim and fading away into a glancing memory of the past. Darkness ensnared her as everything faded into a blur.
Author's Note: This is my favorite part of the whole story—for now. I like the way it turned out. It's sad, though…Raven and Beast Boy are my favorite characters (next to Slade, of course!). I can only imagine Raven's pain…Oh, and don't even ask because there is not going to be an alternate for this chapter—it's as is! It'll play an important roll (if all goes according to plan). Don't hate me for this! I know Rae fans will, but I'm not doing this due to hatred of the dark gal—I'm a lot like her, though I can be a WHOLE lot like BB! And please, also read Crying Wolf—it's SOO much better than this…I really hope you enjoyed this anyway. RR.