Chapter 5: Run
It had never occurred to her how cold it would be, since she had not once left the safety of the Tower after dark.
Until tonight.
She hurriedly ran through the streets of the city- the colorful lights and sounds slowly fading away as she stumbled further and further into some of the darker parts of Jump.
A tangled mess of shadows and lucid wonder creeped slowly up from behind her. Houses stacked side by side lurked around her in a dim veil of vulgar enigma.
She wrapped her hands around her cold body.
She couldn't take it.
She was trying all she could to be good. To be cooperative. To be out of the way.
Raven needed help. Why wouldn't anyone do anything?
It was hard to be the only one. It was hard to be different. It felt like she was the only one that wanted to take action, to do something.
She felt an utter feeling of dread press heavily on her chest, the feeling of sad, sickly thick solitude.
She felt alone. She had never felt such a feeling, the feeling of being utterly lost and confused.
There was no one there to lend a hand, there was no warm shoulder to lean on, and there was certainly no one to stop her.
No one would stop her from running.
No one would stop her from asking questions.
No one would stop her from helping Raven.
No one could.
And so she ran through the cold fogs of Jump City, dark shadows lolling out of ally ways, lights becoming dimmer and dimmer, and the rest of the Titans following her.
They didn't understand.
She was going to find someone to help her.
Maybe a doctor.
Or…
Maybe…
Cough.
Her hair whipped sharply around her face, her feet becoming sore from the running.
She coughed again.
Her breath oozed out of her mouth and into the cold air, creating a ghostly white fog that clouded around her.
She turned to look back at Robin, only to be greeted by a loss of balance.
She fell hard to the ground, her face splintering against the cold, wet concrete of the abandoned ally.
She felt something jab at her throat- a loss of air rushing out of her nose. She quickly stood on an arm and grabbed her mouth, picking a sharp rock out of her chin.
She rubbed her throat, a sharp pain coursing up her jaw and to her ear.
Her lip quivered.
She held her stomach.
"Starfire!"
His voice echoed through her ears, she was ahead of him.
A churning pain stabbed her sharply in her stomach as she tried to stand.
She limped her way along the walls, her hand grasping for anything she could find.
Again she coughed, a hot wet cough that sickly winded up her throat.
"Star! You don't have to run; when we get home we'll do some more tests on her!" Cyborg's voice could be heard, they were catching up on her.
She didn't want to do tests. She wanted Raven to become better.
She didn't want to have to watch her lie helplessly in a bed, wasting her life away.
She did want to do one thing though, and that was find that Boy.
That Boy who had the nerve to pin Raven down, and…
She felt a sparkling black light fuzz seep from the insides of her eyes, losing balance again. The black engulfed her, and she fell into the cold hard wall.
"Starfire!"
She felt her stomach again; sharp pain shot around her insides as she felt an uncontrollable scream escape her mouth.
The scream seemed to travel all around her in waves, bouncing off the grimey brick walls and shattering in her ears.
She felt things fade away from all around her, thoughts fading as well, and everything slowly went black.