Chapter One – Initiation
As the blue and silver bus trundled along the road, Raven looked out of her window anxiously. Trees, hedges and plants lined the quiet road. She was in the suburbs, and she never had been before. Once again, she looked at the blue and white duffel bag by her feet, mentally checking things off as she remembered them. She hadn't packed much, a couple of changes of clothes, school supplies, the odd book and her new uniform. The only other thing was her school ID card. Her pictures was there, and her details were right, but her name was different. It wasn't Raven, it was Rachel Roth. Rachel, as she wanted something close to her original name, and Roth, in honour of her since dead mother. The girl inspected her image in the window. It was her alright, not much had changed, the only difference was her eyes, Gone was the long-suffering, calm eyes she'd had as a Teen Titan. they were nervous, excited, terrified and thoughtful all at the same time, and she'd finally grown her hair out, to reflect her new life. A shout from the bus driver suddenly brought her back down to earth.
"Next stop Redwood Boarding School!" called the round-faced middle-aged man.
Raven took a deep breath as the bus slowed, and grabbed her bag, making her way to the front. The vehicle stopped, and Raven found herself reluctant to get off, unsure what to expect. it had looked nice enough in the pamphlet, but it was often the case that images were exaggerated just to attract people. She thanked the driver as she jumped down, he drove off as she inspected the place where she would be spending at least the next two years of her life.
It certainly lived up to expectations. A tall wrought iron gate surrounded the grounds, so it was hard to see them until you stepped through the gate. As she did so, she stared, mouth open. The main building was magnificent. Four storeys high, and enough windows to light a small continent. It was made of some kind of golden brick, and there were two more buildings either side of it, only three storeys, and presumably the dormitories, one for girls, and one for boys. The grounds seemed to run for miles.
As Raven slowly made her way down the drive, she gathered a few curious and sometimes disapproving glances from students of both genders, and all ages. It had said that the school catered for people from nine to nineteen. They all wore identical uniforms, red and black tie, white shirt, red blazer with the school emblem on it. Black skirts for the girls, black trousers for the boys.
"So, it really is that old-fashioned…" Raven thought to herself.
She had been instructed to make her way straight to the Principal's office upon arrival. If only she knew where that was. Making her way up the stairs to the main building, she looked around for signs that might be helpful enough to let her know which direction she was meant to be going in. Inside the building the floor was black and white marble, the walls were dark wooden panelling. There were some polished white stone busts on the alls, and two corridors, a large one leading passed a spiral staircase that matched the walls, and another one veering to the left. Raven hesitated for a minute on which route to take, but as if on cue, a voice gave her instructions.
"It's that way." Said a British accent.
Raven turned, and suddenly spotted a group of three girls sitting on a dark red velvet sofa in a hollow on the right, The two on the side had their legs and arms folded in mirror-images of each other, and it was obvious it was the girl in the middle of them that had spoken. She stood up and walked over to Raven. She was wearing the given clothing, her shirt neatly tucked in to the skirt, long white socks seemingly fixed in place, thick soled heeled black school shoes polished, tie only about halfway down her torso. She had shoulder-length dark brown hair, layered, with lighter highlights, red and a gold-brown, and the bluest eyes Raven had ever seen. But one thing did separate her from the others she had come across, a pin on the left lapel of her blazer, a silver dragonfly with an amethyst where the head should be. Raven was enchanted by the gentle sparkle of it, but suddenly remembered she'd been addressed.
"Um, sorry?" she asked.
"You're new right?" asked the girl.
"Yea…" Raven nodded.
"Then you're looking for Principal Lockwood's office. It's that way." She pointed down the left hand corridor.
"Oh, right, thank you."
"Left actually, but you're welcome."
The slightly strange girl nodded and rejoined her friends, who were waiting patiently for her in exactly the same positions as before. Raven made her way down the corridor. It was so quiet, the gentle fall of her own footsteps unnerved her. The doors all seemed huge, matching the walls, with brass name-plates on them. Eventually she came to the one announcing 'C.M Lockwood.' Raven tentatively knocked on the door. She was startled as a loud voice called to her.
"Come in!"
She did so, and a small squat man with snow-white hair; although he was balding; and a beard to match was waiting behind the desk for her.
"Miss Roth, please, take a seat. This shouldn't be too long. I trust you had a smooth journey?"
Raven nodded and sat down in a soft blue chair, which she practically drowned in.
"Your name is Rachel, yes?" Raven nodded. "I was most impressed by your application. Home schooled also? That's a bonus, I'd be very interested to learn about the process."
Raven could tell he was trying his best to be welcoming and friendly, but she still felt incredibly nervous in that huge darkly decorated room. Normally, she would approve of the colour scheme, but portraits on the walls gave her a feeling of constantly being watched.
"Now then, straight to business." He pushed an envelope towards her. "Those are the details of your classes, where they are, when they are, and who teaches them. You will also find a handy pocket-sized guide to the school, and your dormitory key. Now, you only need attend the last three lessons of the day. Use the next two to get yourself sorted out. I'm sure your classmates will be very happy to help you if you have any questions. Anything you'd like to ask me?"
Raven shook her head, "No, thank you, Sir."
"Very well then. You can change in to your uniform and get yourself settled. It's lunch in an hour, then you can make your way to the cafeteria. You are dismissed."
Raven gather up the envelope and her bag, nodding to the Principal. She walked out of the office, back the way she had come, wrestling with all the things she had to carry as she tried to get at the map. She dropped half of them, and grumbled inwardly, bending down to retrieve them. A shadow suddenly fell across her, and a foot stood on her envelope. She looked up fearfully, she was hoping to find it was the girl from before. What did she say her name was? Raven couldn't remember. Instead, she found herself face to face with a tall young man, slim and polished to perfection. He glared down at her with icy green eyes, his blonde hair gelled in spikes. He didn't move even when Raven tried to grab her envelope. He had three guys backing him up. One of them was huge, built like a tank, with beady brown eyes and black close-shaven hair. Another was his exact opposite, a short, wiry kind of boy, with bright red hair and cold blue eyes. The third was leaning casually against the wall, regarding them with emotionless hazel eyes, brown hair slightly messy. He wasn't the leader, that you could tell, but he did have some sort of authority, it was the air about him.
"Um, excuse me." Raven asked politely.
The blonde removed his foot. "Oh, I'm sorry, didn't see you there." He said poisonously pleasantly.
Raven reached for the envelope again, and his foot glided across it, skidding it away from her. "Oh, sorry, I tripped." He apologised.
Raven was blazing, but she knew full well she couldn't use her abilities on the gang. The whole point of coming here was to get away from all that. Sighing, she once again adjusted her position. She reached out once more, but this time, the heavy-set one stamped on her hand.
"My bad." He grunted roughly. "He pushed me."
Raven bit back a yelp, and tears stung the back of her eyes, much to her disgust, but she wasn't going to let them know they'd gotten to her, hurt her. She grabbed the envelope in her good hand, and stood up, holding her other one to her body. She was practically shaking, and she didn't like it. How on earth were these four, ordinary, everyday humans managing to terrify the half-demon Titan? The blonde motioned the others behind him.
"You're new aren't you?" He questioned coolly, Raven didn't move. Suddenly, the boy's eyes flared. "You don't fit in here. You should get going whilst you still can, witch." He hissed. He turned to the short one and the huge one, "Alistair, Jake, let's go."
The three of them stalked off, leaving a shaken Raven standing numbly in the corridor. The final boy, who hadn't said or done anything, was a few metres behind them. He paused briefly, eyeing their new victim, surveying her with the kind of look that would make someone feel as though he'd read their mind. A shiver went down her spine as he went to catch up with the others.
"Oh, I'll be seeing you alright." whispered Raven in warning to their retreating backs. They had a new enemy, and a new enemy that was no pushover. Suddenly, Raven heard fast-paced footsteps coming towards her. She took a deep breath, wondering if they were coming back for something. She practically keeled over with relief as she recognised the three girls from before walking briskly in her direction. The same girl who'd given her directions was in between the other too, both, she noticed, taller than her. The one on the left had long blonde hair and brown eyes. She was tall and willowy, like some kind of runner up in a beauty pageant. The one on the right was a couple of inches shorter, but still taller than the middle one, with black hair and blue eyes, framed by slim rectangular glasses, silver frames. The direction girl took one look at Raven's throbbing hand, already turning slightly bruised, and stiffened with anger.
"I see you've come across the welcome committee." she judged bitterly. Raven nodded.
"If that's what you call them." replied Raven, in much the same tone.
"Unfortunately, I also call one of them my brother."
Raven jumped as the girl took her hand, her fingers were cold, and Raven wasn't one for contact. The girl noticed the flinch and looked up at her, even the new student was taller than her.
"It's ok, I know what I'm doing. Training to be a doctor." She assured.
Raven nodded, and, all be it begrudgingly, let the girl examine the damage. She turned to the darker-haired girl, "Sydney?" she instructed, "Get her some ice will you? We'll meet you in the courtyard."
Sydney nodded and hurried a few paces ahead of them. Raven found herself being directed back the way she had come, and as they reached the main entrance, she saw Sydney jogging down the corridor she hadn't visited. This was a wholly new experience. In the school an hour, and she'd already been picked on, and was now being escorted by two girls who, although she didn't know their names, had in effect adopted her in to the group. It reminded her of how quick the Titans had been to first accept Raven as a friend, and she wondered wistfully what her friends were doing, and if she'd made the right choice. Snapping back to reality, the girl had completely neglected to pay attention to the direction they were going in, as she found herself in a small courtyard with a fountain in the centre, and two lions back to back in the centre of that. A few students were sitting around and talking on the pale wooden benches. However, as soon as they spotted Raven, they all shut up, and glared at her. It would appear that as long as she was the gang's new play thing, nobody wanted to be anywhere near her, except this group of three.
As if reading her mind, the nameless brunette spoke up, "Word travels fast. Those four boys you met have a kind of anonymous power over the whole damn school. People are terrified of them, and daren't do anything against them."
Raven noticed that the girl returned people's glares with a scarily dark one of her own, and all the student immediately stopped staring at her.
"You don't seem afraid."
The girl eyed Raven with the same mind-reading sort of look as the silent boy. Only this time, Raven wasn't worried about it, a sort of calming relief took her over. Strange really, she'd not met the girl longer than about ten minutes in total, but she had that kind of presence about her. It was the 'model' that spoke up.
"Our girl here ain't afraid of anything." She declared proudly, and Raven noticed a heavy Southern accent, "As long as you're with her you're ok. I'm Phyre by the way. I don't believe we got your name?"
"Ra….chel. Rachel." Rachel acknowledged. It was official now, she wasn't who she was before. The other girl came sprinting up, bag of ice in hand. Rachel took it gratefully and held it in her painful hand.
"And this is Sydney." Added Phyre.
"Hello." Sydney greeted shyly.
Rachel suddenly noticed that the leader of the group was reading the contents of that troublesome envelope. She read through it so fast, you couldn't even tell which part she was reading. She nodded thoughtfully, then handed it back over.
"You should be fine Rachel." She smiled, the first smile she'd seen from the girl, who didn't strike her as the happy-go-lucky type. "You have at least one of us in each of your classes, and you're my new roomie."
"Lucky!" exclaimed Phyre, "Everyone always wants to be with her."
Sydney nodded in agreement, "She's a real life-saver."
Their friend blushed furiously, and looked down rather suddenly, seemingly very interested in the ground. Rachel couldn't help it, she laughed, a small laugh, barely audible outside the group, but a laugh none the less. She hastily stood up from the bench the four of them had subconsciously been drawn on to.
"You need to change. We'll show you where our room is." She walked off, and the others followed.
After the initial first day, things got better, and worse. Rachel was fine, playing the part of happy new girl with the group of girls she now regarded as friends. All three of them, even the shy one, Sydney, would stick up for her if anyone gave her trouble, and trouble they gave. It was only little things, the icy stares, whispers following Rachel down the hall, the occasional too-hard nudge. It was those four boys; Alistair, Jake, their blonde leader, and the brooding one she came to know as Killian, her original helper's twin; who sometimes took things further. Pushing her down or tripping her over when her 'bodyguards' as they'd dubbed them weren't around. Not a one person bothered to do anything about it. Although, being an empathy, Rachel partially pardoned them. They all wanted to help, to get them to stop, but they were paralysed with fear. On the other hand, all she got from Phyre and Sydney when they were in the immediate vicinity, was blazing anger and confidence directed at the four, and willingness to protect her. From the other one however, she got nothing. Not even when she deliberately tried to get a read on her.
It was exactly two weeks after her arrival at the school. Rachel was fast asleep in the dorm she shared, as it was about 2.30 in the morning. She sunk in to dreams, sometimes silent, sometimes deafening, sometimes dark, frightening, other times, warm, protective. This particular night, she was back at Titan's Tower with her four friends, plus Phyre and Sydney. It was some kind of party or other, and she seemed to be the centre of attention. They were all talking and laughing, telling the two newcomers about the deeds they had done during their time fighting evil. Although she got the just of the words and feelings that flew around, there was no sound, not even the dripping of a tap. Her dream flickered, like an old television would. She frowned in her sleep, desperately willing to return to the happier event, but the 'screen' suddenly went black and white, the picture died. Then her roommate's face burst in to her mind, at the same time as a piercing shriek, and a huge explosion. Rachel shot up, pale and sweating, but she couldn't get the sound out of her mind. There was another loud crash, and her arms were suddenly seized. In the faint light of the moon, she saw the menacing faces of Alistair and Jake, and it was all very real. She cried out, but a hand clamped around her mouth, silencing her. She was dragged out of bed against her will, and in the dark she saw a third shadow leaning by the door. She recognised the pose, it was Killian. She frantically snapped her head round to the other bed in the room, it was empty, and made. Then all she could see was darkness as a cloth covered her eyes.
She was roughly dragged who knows where, having lost all sense of direction. Rachel suddenly felt cold, and it was evident she had been carried outside, helpless to do anything, still not daring to use her abilities. Tiny little pin-pricks suddenly fell on her bare legs and feet, her neck and her face. Freezing cold rain. She shivered in her pyjamas of choice, a plain navy t-shirt, and plain black shorts. She heard the trickle of water, outside of the raindrops, and realised she was in the courtyard. She screamed as she was thrown in to the fountain with a splash, and there was a collective gasp. It was then she realised the little wave she'd created had gone on to other people. The blind-fold was removed, and she stared in disbelief at the scene in front of her. She was kneeling in the white marble fountain, soaked and frozen. Around her was a ring of students. All the student from about eleven and up she guessed. All half in pyjamas and half in rain clothes. Umbrellas over every head but her own, and two very familiar people. Sydney and Phyre were being held by some of the older boys, and looked at her desperately, unable to help. They too were soaked, and in their night clothes. They'd obviously been grabbed as well, to stop them supporting her. Still no sign of the trainee doctor.
"What's going on?" she demanded through chattering teeth.
"Initiation." Came a chilling voice she knew all too well. The blonde boy.
He was on the edge of the fountain, looking down at her, and in much more weather-durable dress, a long-sleeved red t-shirt, and black swimming trunks, just passed his knees. Although his feet were pair at least. He peered down at the kneeling girl, and she stood up, trying to get away, but her shoulders were grabbed, one by the muscle-bound Alistair, and the others by Killian, who had still not said a word.
"I don't believe we've been formally introduced, Rachel Roth." He sneered at her name, "My name's Ciaran Knight, and I'm your one-way ticket to hell."
"What is it, Ciaran." shot Rachel, sounding a whole lot more confident than she felt. "What do you want?"
"I told you, initiation." He looked to Killian, who in turn looked down at Rachel, expressionless.
"You have to fight him."
The first words Rachel had ever heard him say, and it was that? Rachel lost her cool, looking around desperately for her normal rescuer. Killian noticed this and grimaced.
"My sister won't be helping you. She doesn't even care enough to be here."
"That's not true!" shouted Phyre.
"Shut up Barbie." growled Alistair. "I don't see her, do you?"
"First impressions aren't always what they seem." Announced Ciaran. "You probably fell in to her sweet and innocent guardian trap. Just like her two lackeys. Shall we begin?"
A whistle was suddenly blown by a younger student, most likely a trainee henchman of Ciaran's. Before she knew what was happening, Ciaran pounced at Rachel and hit her, sending her sprawling in to the water, banging her head on the side. She dragged herself up defiantly.
"Aren't gentleman supposed to avoid hitting ladies?" she spat.
"You're no lady." he retorted sourly.
He aimed another punch, and again she went sprawling. But this time, as he came at her again, she ducked around him and pushed him face-first in to the murky depths. He yelled in rage and lunged at her again, and she kicked him in the side. Unfortunately, she slipped, and also went down in to the fountain, underneath one of the stone lions that regulated the flow. This time, he kicked her so hard round the side of the head, she saw spots. Reaching a hand up to where he'd struck, she found it was wet, and it wasn't the rain. Aiming blindly, she right-hooked in his direction. Fortunately, she hit him, in the eye, and he fell back in pain. Letting her rage consume her, she attacked him again and again, landing right on the mark about 60 of the time. Unexpectedly, something grabbed her ankle from behind, and she went flying. Dazed, she turned her head just in time to see that it had been the sneaky little Jake that grabbed her ankle. She was knocked flat on her back, and the impact winded her. Rachel gasped for air as she tried to scramble up. However, Ciaran was faster. Within second, he was on top of her, pushing her head down in to the water. There was another intake of breath from the crowd as she tried to breath, with the combination of Ciaran's knee on her chest, and hands on her face. A fight hadn't gone quite so far before. Most people took the fall, knowing it was for their own sake.
"Stop it! Stop it!" shrieked Sydney.
"You'll kill her!" cried Phyre.
Ciaran was mad with rage, and didn't let up, even when a suddenly panicked Jake and Killian tried to talk some sense in to him. Even Alistair was dubious about the whole thing. Rachel felt woozy, and the roars from the alarmed crowd were drowned out by the roar of water in her ears and blood rushing to her head. With one last effort, she kicked, and hit Ciaran in his most sensitive spot. Ciaran was taken aback, he wheezed and curled up in the water as Rachel pushed him off her, desperately trying to catch oxygen. Three sharp blasts from the whistle signalled the end of the fight. Rachel heard the faint whispers and cries of disbelief and relief from the crowd, but the voices were getting fainter.
"She won!" cried a younger girl.
Killian was gawping like a goldfish, "But…no-one's won since…"
He was cut off by a unanimous cry from the only two friendly faces in the area.
"Aisling!" yelled Phyre and Sydney.
There was complete silence as Sydney and Phyre struggled out of their captor's arms, and the crowd parted. They ran towards the one person everyone in the school was relieved to see, the girl with an attitude twice her size, and the confidence to match it. She was hugged by her two best friends, and her eyes widened as they desperately choked out what had gone down. In a split second, the newly named Aisling was sprinting through the pathway that had been created for her courtesy of the respect of the students. She dove in to the fountain, and Rachel smiled as she passed out, right in to her friend's arms.
"Are you all totally insane!" roared the surprisingly loud small girl, "Together the lot of you half-killed her! You complete imbeciles! You should all be ashamed and horrified at what you did! I want all of you back in your own rooms, this INSTANT!"
In a bustle of movement the crowd immediately dispersed, running like naughty little children who had just been found out by mother. Once they had gone, the only people left were Rachel and co, and Ciaran and co. Ciaran struggled groggily up. In one swift movement, Aisling punched him under his chin, and he fell unconscious, back in to the arms of Alistair.
"Fight's over Ciaran. You lose." She growled. The three of them quickly departed, dragging Ciaran between them.
Rachel's eyes momentarily flicked open. "Better late than never." She croaked.
"And I'll never be late again." Promised Aisling as her friend once more closed her eyes.