The musicians looked at each other and smiled as if at their own nervousness and folly, and made whispering vows, each to the other, that the next chiming of the clock should produce in them no similar emotion; and then, after the lapse of sixty minutes, (which embrace three thousand and six hundred seconds of the Time that flies,) there came yet another chiming of the clock, and then were the same disconcert and tremulousness and meditation as before.
Beast Boy gargled the mouthful of warm water, allowing it to explore every area of his mouth. After the liquid tossed itself around for a good five seconds, the changeling spit into his sink, causing the spoiled water to go down the drain and out of his sight.
It had been a very rough day… Despite the numerous villains he and his team had confronted, he still took it upon himself to live the life of a normal teenage boy; playing sports, hanging out around the city, and interacting with his friends. Though many of them were busy, Raven being locked in her room and Cyborg working on his car, he still found the time to explain his videogames to Starfire, teaching her all the fundamentals, or training with Robin in the gym.
It was now eleven o'clock, and he was well-past ready for bed.
Opening his mouth widely to let out a yawn, Beast Boy felt the cold air of his room enter his windpipe, scraping against his bronchioles and cutting through even smaller tunnels. Jump City grew very chilly at this time of year, and though the temperature right now wasn't their lowest, it was still well below sixty degrees.
Most of the city's citizens enjoyed this drop in temperature. Even though it grew extremely cold in winter, it would only get blazing hot in the summer. Temperatures during July could reach several degrees over 100, causing a sense of misery to blanket the city. Winter temperatures could reach the lower twenties, making autumn and early spring the best times of the year.
Beast Boy, on the other hand, only hated the drop, despite how miserable he was a few months ago. His room was very prone to drafts, causing the bitter night air to bring his room to very low temperatures. In order to maintain a sense of comfort, the changeling used an electric blanket, allowing himself to adjust his warmth accordingly.
Beast Boy wrapped his arms around his body as his bare feet walked across the room. As soon as he reached his bed, he immediately grabbed the edges of his blanket and pulled them back, allowing him to slip in.
Beast Boy sighed in happiness as the artificial heat entered his body, causing any traces of cold in his body to vanish. He turned around and reached for his light switch, ready to call it a day. However, before he could turn the lights off, he noticed something black on his nightstand.
Raven's book he thought to himself, gazing at the rough black cover. He had put it there shortly after Raven gave it to him, not wanting anything to do with it. He assumed that if he kept it for a couple of days, Raven would go ahead and think he read some of it. His original plan, though, was to keep it untouched.
Something spoke to him in the corner of his mind, however. Though Beast Boy's conscious told him to stick to the plan above, a part of him wanted to read the book cover to cover.
Giving into his temptation, Beast Boy reached for the book with his right hand and gripped the rough book with his fingers. It was rather heavy, mainly because of the thickness of its pages, but he easily lifted it and brought it towards him with only a flick of his wrist.
Opening the book, his green eyes scanned the table of contents, eager to find out what was inside. Part of it was devoted to poems, the other stories.
Not really caring what he read, Beast Boy flipped through a couple of pages, only to turn to a gray picture of a resting woman. She looked quite at peace, her eyes shut tightly and a faint smile on her face. Looking at the title of the poem, Beast Boy then proceeded to read.
It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.
I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea;
But we loved with a love that was more than love-
I and my Annabel Lee;
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
Coveted her and me.
And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsman came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.
The angels, not half so happy in heaven,
Went envying her and me-
Yes!- that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.
But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we-
Of many far wiser than we-
And neither the angels in heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.
For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride,
In the sepulchre there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.
Beast Boy glanced at the picture once again. She wasn't resting… she was dead.
Quickly turning the page, Beast Boy began to read another.
Starfire entered the kitchen, greeted by the sunlight shining through their large windows. She smiled to herself as a small amount of heat met her skin, getting rid of any remaining chill from the night before.
As she opened a cabinet, Starfire noticed Raven entering the room. She looked extremely exhausted; large, purpled marks were under her eyes, indicating lack of sleep.
"Hello Raven," said Starfire, a little less cheerful than normal, due to concern of her friend. "Did you not get any sleep?"
"None," replied Raven, her voice seeming muffled. She headed over to the sink, grabbing her teakettle from the stovetop as she did so.
"What were you doing?" asked Starfire, slowly pouring cereal into a glass bowl. "Did you have a nightmare or were you just not able to sleep?"
"Neither," said Raven, bringing her teakettle back to the stove. "I was working on the clock."
"You have been working very hard," said Starfire, smiling faintly as her friend turned on the stove. "Is it almost finished?"
"Almost. I've just got to fix the head and clean the bells. …Do we have any tarnish remover?"
"Yes," said Starfire, pointing towards the sink. "It is under there."
Raven smiled as a thank you gesture as the kettle began to whistle.
"If it is too much to ask, Raven," said Starfire, "I would not mind seeing it."
"It's not. You can help me, if you want. I'm planning to start working on it again this evening."
"You do not mind?"
"Why would I? It's not like you'd mess anything up."
Starfire grinned as she left the kitchen, leaving Raven to think about what she said.
…Would she?
Raven's thoughts were interrupted when Robin and Cyborg walked into the living room, a tired Beast Boy behind.
"Hey," said Robin. "Keep in mind we have combat practice this afternoon. I'm expecting top performance from each of you."
"Good morning to you, too," said Raven, taking a sip of tea as she left the kitchen. She could feel his eyes fixed upon her, but she didn't meet them at all. Instead, she made her way to the couch and sat down next to Beast Boy.
"You look tired," said Raven, drinking more of her tea. "Long night?"
"I guess," said Beast Boy, leaning against his palm. "You look like you had one."
"Very. What did you do?"
"I read in that book you gave me."
"Really?" asked Raven, putting her mug on her lap and turning towards Beast Boy. "Do you like it?"
Beast Boy smiled faintly. "Yeah. It's very good."
"What all have you read?"
"Annabel Lee, The Conqueror Worm, The Raven…" Beast Boy began counting on his fingers as he named the works. "The City by the Sea, The Bells…"
"Good grief," said Raven, bringing the mug to her mouth again. "You really did have a long night."
Beast Boy nodded slowly as he began to shut his eyes.
"Are we almost ready?" asked Starfire, looking at an assortment of items on the kitchen counter.
"I think so," said Raven, looking once more into the cabinet under the kitchen sink. "I can't find anything else that we might need, and I know I already have the other stuff in my room." Closing the door, Raven stood up and headed towards the counter. "Lift the load."
Starfire giggled faintly as she scooped up a number of bottles. The two had previously been looking around the kitchen for things to help bring Raven's clock into completion. Having looked for several minutes, the two had found a gracefully large number of tarnish removers, polishers, and cleaners.
"Sorry that took a while," said Raven as she and Starfire headed down the hall. "I just wanted to make sure we got everything at one time."
"It is understandable," said Starfire. "I am just glad that you are allowing me to help."
Raven didn't respond.
The two girls walked in silence, Raven in the lead and Starfire closely behind. As the Tamaranian kept a small smile on her face, the empath remained unemotional. As the two stepped into an elevator, Starfire took a quick glance at her friend's face, only to find the same visage that was normally there. Starfire knew very well that Raven wouldn't be as excited as she was, but she had a feeling that something else must've been going on.
It is almost like she is thinking of something thought Starfire as she turned her gaze to the elevator doors once again. I doubt anything could have happened, though. Nothing out of the ordinary, anyway. But then again, this is Raven I am thinking about…
Starfire stopped the conversation with herself when the elevator doors began to slowly open. Raven briskly walked ahead, leaving Starfire to stay behind. A fraction of a second later, the Tamaranian caught up.
"What are we going to do?" asked Starfire, trying desperately to make conversation.
"Try to finish tonight," replied Raven, not changing her pace. "And then we'll set it. I'm just hoping that everything works…"
"I'm sure it will," said Starfire as the two stopped in front of the door to Raven's room.
Using her pinky finger, Raven punched in her password, causing the door to slide open. Starfire, who was very familiar with Raven's room now, walked in without difficulty.
The Tamaranian gasped immediately after she entered the room. "Raven…"
The clock was still lying on the floor but, unlike its previous state, was now in one piece. Despite the fact that it lacked a face and its chime was outside of the body, it looked almost new.
"You like?" asked Raven, standing over the clock. "It took me forever, but now I've almost got it."
"It is wonderful…"
As Raven took a seat on the floor, Starfire remained standing, too mesmerized by the black object before her. Despite its gothic look, it was still one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen.
"Here," said Raven, snapping Starfire out of her trance. "What I want you to do is get rid of the tarnish on this chime and polish it." Starfire looked down to see Raven pointing to a large brass bell.
"OK," said Starfire, sitting down.
Starfire looked at the assortment of bottles in front of her, taking the tarnish remover and brass polisher. She had only done this once or twice, but it was not hard. Soon enough, Starfire had the bell coated with tarnish remover.
"I need a rag," said Starfire, looking at the bottles in case she brought some.
"You can use a couple of washcloths from my bathroom closet," said Raven, working on something else. "Just throw them away when you're done."
Starfire got up off of the floor and made her way to the bathroom. Once there, she opened the closet door and removed several blue washcloths. Making her way back to the bell, she sat down once again, took a washcloth, and began to wipe the tarnish off.
The brass bell had been darkened by years of tarnish build up, causing it to turn a sickly blackish green. Now it was back to its golden hue, but even though it looked new, Starfire tossed the cloth away, closed the bottle, and opened the bottle of polisher.
Though Starfire proceeded to polish the bell very thoroughly, it didn't look any shinier than it had after she removed the tarnish. Now done, Starfire tossed her second rag to the side and closed the bottle of polisher.
The two girls continued their work in silence, Starfire now polishing the clock's wooden frame with wood polish and Raven working on the clock's maintenance.
"Where is your trashcan, Raven?" asked Starfire, observing her work. "I believe I am finished."
"Right over there," said Raven, pointing to the back right corner of the room.
Starfire smiled as she picked up the dirty washcloths and stood up. Making her way towards the trashcan, Starfire also noticed that Raven's fire extinguisher was located in this corner of the room as well. The Titans had one in every room and were hardly used, but were still kept just in case.
As Starfire stood over the trashcan, she noticed an old, yellowed circle sitting on the bottom. It looked very much like a clock's face, with Roman numerals circling its edges as the numbers one through twelve. As she got a closer look, she noticed that there was only one thing that kept it from being perfect, and that was a red stain near the number two.
Starfire lowered her head, almost to where her nose was sticking inside the trashcan. She reached out her hand and, with her index finger, moved forward. As soon as she was about to touch the stain, she was broken out of her trance.
"Starfire."
Starfire immediately became upright, returning her hands to her side. Quickly turning her head, she noticed Raven, still sitting on the floor and doing something else to the clock.
"Yes, Raven?"
"Get over here, would you? I need your help on something."
Starfire gave a nod, knowing very well that Raven couldn't see it, and made her way to the empath.
The five Titans sat on their couch in the living room, eyes fixed on the flashing television in front of them. It was Friday, and that meant that they were to watch a movie of their choice. They were no more than thirty minutes into it when their VCR clock struck ten, immediately followed by a loud, dull chime.
The five lost their deep focus upon the television and sat there in silence as nine more of the same chimes followed. The tower was once again quiet, despite the television, which also seemed to have stopped to listen.
"What was that?" asked Cyborg, shifting his eyes towards his comrades.
"That was my clock," said Raven, giving a faint smile. "I finished working on it today."
"Really?" asked Robin. "It's done?"
"Yes!" said Starfire. "And I helped!"
Robin and Cyborg congratulated her, while Beast Boy continued to sit in silence. Out of nowhere, the changeling got up from the couch and muttered "I'm going to bed", causing the other conversation to stop.
"What?" asked Robin. "Are you sure? The movie's not even halfway through."
"Yeah…" Beast Boy made his way to the back of the room, where he stopped and turned around. "I'll see you guys in the morning."
As Beast Boy opened the exiting doors, he could feel the eyes of his friends staring at the back of his head. He didn't know what caused him to get up, but out of nowhere, he had an urge to get up and get as far away from them as possible. Of course, now he would have to go to his room.
As he made his way down the gray halls, his footsteps echoed throughout, giving him an odd feeling. It would be best just to turn in for the night… tomorrow would be a new day; a better day.
As he opened the door to his room, he noticed his warm bed and gave a faint smile. He was rather tired and he was quite ready to go to sleep, despite how early it was. He took off his clothes and changed into his soft pajamas, then made his way over to the bed.
As he sat down, he noticed a black book in the corner of his eye. Raven's book sat on his nightstand, its covers opened but its pages lying facedown, as if Beast Boy was keeping his place. Picking it up, Beast Boy turned it over to see the picture of the horrible corpse he had seen not to long ago.
The image filled Beast Boy's mind, and, right as his mind was filled to its maximum, he turned a few pages back. There, in large red letters, was written The Masque of the Red Death.
Beast Boy lay back on his bed and began to read.