Well look who's back. I could hardly leave you hanging with so many questions, now could I? Not even I am that cruel. Yes this is indeed the next installment of Shadow Creature, and I hope you will enjoy it...though I think I should warn you that, like the first, it will most likely be dark and distressing. If you like that sort of thing then, by all means, read on.

One more thing. If you want to understand anything that happens in this story, I highly suggest you go read Shadow Creature: Possession. If you like to be confused...well then, don't read it.

He felt his finger tighten around the trigger, gun hand leveled at Raven's chest. An earsplitting crack shattered the silence, ringing in his ears...all too real. Her body jerked with the impact of the speeding bullet, then she fell, the ability to fly leaving her...

Robin turned over in bed, blankets twisted around his legs, eyebrows drawn together and a frown tugging at the corners of his lips.

"R-Robin...stop..."

Eyes...black, deep coal-black eyes...

"To be quite honest, I pity you, Rob. That must hurt like hell, eh?"

He whimpered, jerking violently as one hand snatched blindly at the covers...Pain entirely seperate from the dream made him cry out, almost waking.

"You can't leave, Robin, not now...I love you! Stay with me!"

Raven...

"You are dying, young warrior... Your life will be...temporary. ...save yourself a great deal of suffering... But without you, ...pay the utmost. ...Raven."

A woman, gorgeous, beautiful, ageless...who was she?

A blade, gleaming red in the darkness, swung down on his head and cut straight through it. He was bleeding, dying, as four crimson eyes grinned at him from the shadows--

"NO!"

Robin sat bolt-upright, eyes wide and chest heaving as cold sweat ran down his face and his head throbbed blindingly. His room was still dark...a glance at the alarm clock revealed that it was still very early.

Realizing that the vision was only a dream failed to calm his wildly beating heart or sooth his racing mind. It was always just a dream...

For the past few weeks, he had been plagued with nightmares, one or two at first but increasingly frequent as time wore on. Not only that, but lately he seemed to be having the same nightmare...while he was awake. These...whatever's were always followed by blinding headaches, and he could never actually remember what he had dreamed, no matter how hard he tried.

It was disturbing, to say the least. Taking a long drink from the water bottle on his nightstand, he thought it all over in his head despite the aching and came to a much-needed conclusion: it was time to get an outsider's opinion.

And who better to ask about this sort of thing than the tower's resident empath?

But the problem was, Raven was a whole new can of worms. She was acting strange...well, more strange than was usual for her, and all of it seemed to be in relation to him. Her explanation for what had happened with Slade was shaky and full of holes, and she seemed uneasy while telling it. Ever since then, things seemed...strained between him and the rest of the team. He frequently caught them darting strange glances at him, full of an emotion he interpreted as concern, though he couldn't see what called for it. Starfire and Beast Boy acted almost afraid of him, making excuses to dash off whenever they were alone in the room together. Cyborg would jump in front of an enemy and finish him off, just to keep Robin from fighting. Things were different, but he had no idea why.

Raven was, quite possibly, the most confusing out of all of them. The way she percieved him had changed entirely, that much he knew, but when it came to how it had changed, he was at a loss. She sought out his company, asked his opinion on things, laughed at his ocassional joke...but strangest of all, she seemed... Protective was the only word for it. Ravn felt the need to protect him, but why? Surely their arguement about Slade hadn't shaken her that badly. But then...what had?

There was only one way to find out. He had put it off long enough. It was time to talk to Raven.

Raven watched the bird apprehensively, wary of the red-eyed crows that so often appeared in this place, but the closer she looked the more she realized that it was nothing like them. With a smile, she recognized it; a little robin, completely out of place amid the rock and stone of Nevermore. She watched it sympathetically as it hopped about on the cold ground, chirping in distress as it met with the same hardness in every direction. The robin grew more and more frantic as the minutes passed by, and Raven frowned deeply, kneeling beside it and whispering words of comfort. Tiny black eyes looked straight at her, and she felt her stomach lurch in a not entirely unpleasant way as she held its gaze. Giving one last hop, the robin brought its beak down hard on the stone, making a light tapping noise as it pecked vainly, perhaps digging for a worm. "Don't do that," whispered Raven. "You'll hurt yourself." The robin was persistant, however, and the tapping grew louder as it perservered in its pointless mission...

Tap, tap, tap...

Raven's eyes opened slowly, but the tapping didn't fade away.

"Raven?"

The whisper was almost inaudible, traveling through the metal door and all the way over to her bed in the silence. Yawning slightly, Raven swung her legs out of bed and slipped her cloak around her shoulders. A quick glance at the clock revealed the time: 5:32 AM. Why would Robin be visiting her this early? Dreading the worst, Raven drifted to the door and let it slide open.

"Um...hi." Robin smiled sheepishly, adding to what could only be called a comical appearance. His hair was somewhat poufy and matted, the spikes breaking free of gel's confining hold and poking up in any and every direction they pleased. He was wearing a bright red shirt that said "I had superpowers once, but my therapists took them away" over his green uniform pants, his feet covered in fuzzy red slippers, his mask askew. When you calculated that goofy grin into the equation, it was hard not to laugh.

Following her eyes, which were, at the moment, admiring his foot gear, Robin laughed nervously. "Guess I could have got dressed first..."

Choking slightly on surpressed laughter, Raven replied, "Not at all. Come in."

Robin sighed in relief, shuffling through the door as it slid closed, leaving them in darkness. A match struck itself, and before long several candles were lit and hovering in the air, giving the room an eerie glow. "So...I'm guessing you're wondering what the heck is going on?"

Robin blinked in momentary shock. "Well...yeah. Why is everyone acting so weird around me? Why are you acting weird around me? What...what happened between us?" His eyes widened, somewhat surprised that he had been bold enough to ask that last question. Not waiting for an answer, he rushed blindly onward. "I keep having these nightmares, only they aren't nightmares because sometimes I even have them when I'm awake, but I can't remember what they are and when I try my head hurts and..." He fell silent, breathing hard and staring at Raven as her face glowed softly in the candlelight. "What's happening, Raven? I don't understand, I have this weird feeling like I should, but..." he waved a hand in the air above his head, "nothing."

Raven remained completely silent, eyes fixed thoughtfully on his face as she replayed his words over and over again in her mind. Nightmares that weren't nightmares...he was remembering; she was almost certain of it. His confusion and exasperation was only to be expected. Perhaps a weaker mind could accept the absence of a large chunk of their life, but not Robin. He would fight tooth and nail until all the puzzle pieces were layed out in their proper order and location. It was the detective in him.

"I think it's high time that I tell you something, and when I'm through, if you can swallow your skepticism, you will have the answers to your questions. I ask merely that you keep quiet until I'm finished. Interruptions will only make this more difficult."

So how was that for a first chapter? Yes it's a little short, but give me a break, this is the prologue after all. Review and let me know what you think...the next chapter should be up quite soon if you guys like this. -Dusty