asdfghjkl: Thank you. I have updated – but it appears this story isn't very popular any more. ):

Wintress: Sorry it took so long to update, I kinda lost interest when I had a sudden drop in reviews. Maybe it'll pick up. Anyway, thanks for the review.

Chapter 6

With heaving tears and ragged breaths Raven scrambled up the stairs, her voice hissed and gasp her sobs. She stumbled into her bedroom, shutting the door with a heavy slam behind her. Her back rested against the wood as she leant there listening in to the silence of her room. But below she could still hear her mother's distressed sob, her father's voice angry. Raven pressed her hands to her face and she unhappily let out a moan. What was to become of her after all this?

The next day, Raven had stayed firmly in her room, only exiting very briefly to use the bathroom; she hadn't even had anything to eat. Her parents avoid her room, staying out of her way and moving elsewhere if they came into proximity. However, as Raven was sat on her bed staring out of the window, she was surprised to see her door open. Her mother walking in. For the first time in days Raven smiled gently, had her mother come round?

But alas, her mother walked straight past Raven as if she weren't there, shutting the windows in the girls room and drawing the curtains. Raven was perplexed, "Mum?" she asked quietly.

"Don't ask questions," replied her mother sharply as she walked out of the room. "I will bring you some food later. Don't open the curtains, don't answer the phone and don't come downstairs." The door was then shut.. and her mother disappeared.

Raven stared at the closed door. What was with all the rules? Did her mother not want anyone to contact her?

Of course..

She didn't want anyone to contact her.. Raven lowered her head gently. Her parents had actually gone to such lengths to make sure no one knew of what their daughter had become? She was only a mutant! Surely she still deserved a life of some sort!

The next few days came by, and Raven hung by the door to her room, waiting for her mother to bring her lunch. When the door opened, Raven quickly grabbed onto the side of the door, prising it open fully. Her mother gasped as the door was yanked open, and she stared face to face with her blue skinned daughter, "What are you doing?" cried Gemma as she stared at her angry daughter.

"Mum, why are you keeping me in here?" cried Raven, "Why can't I come and sit downstairs and watch TV with you both?"

"You are not allowed!" hissed Gemma, taking the handle and attempting to slam the door shut.

But Raven held on, "No! Mum! You can't do this to me!" Raven pushed forward, running out of her room to her mother who was backing away.

"Get away from me!" she gasped, pinning herself back against the wall, "Get back in your room!"

"No! I don't want to stay cooped up like some animal!"

"Why not?!" came another voice, "That's what you are!" her father had come up the staircase, glaring venomously at Raven, "Step away from my wife and get back in the room."

His wife? Her mother!

"I don't want to!" shouted Raven, glaring at her father, "Why should I?!"

"Because you're a freak of nature.. and I don't want anyone finding out about you.. you're only here because your mother is too soft for her own good."

"She our daughter," whispered Gemma, "No matter what I cannot turn her on the streets to die.."

"I could," growled her father, spinning to Raven, grabbing her by the shoulders and throwing her in the room. Raven screamed loudly, thrashing in her fathers grip, determined to not be shut in. But he slammed the door instantly, grabbing a newly forged key and locking the door.

Raven sat back in her room, crumpling upon the floor, staring in disbelief at the new keyhole in her door. When had that been installed? She gasped softly, her breaths shaking. Her head moved forth and she rested her forehead on the door with a defeated sigh.

And so the weeks passed by, Raven growing quieter by the days, reserving herself and drawing herself away from her parents, no long complaining and just accepting her fate. Her room remained locked, she was only let out for bathroom uses, and she had to wait for permission to have the door unlocked.

As Raven went quietly to the bathroom one day, she heard her mother talking on the telephone, crying and saying how Raven had run away without a trace since she had turned into a mutant and that they had no hope in finding her. Raven paused in her steps, blood running cold at her mother's words.

Run away? That was their excuse? They couldn't do that.. one day someone would see her.. wouldn't they? It wasn't like she was going to be locked in there for the rest of her life.. was it?

A few months later, and Raven awoken by no aid to see her dark room greet her as it always did. The curtains forever closed, the lights never allowed to be switched on. The only time her parents came near her was to bring food, and their visit was so quick Raven began to not notice their quiet arrivals, for they always departed as quickly as possible. Raven rolled off her bed gently, collapsing down to sit upon the floor against her wall with a soft sigh. She raised her blue skinned hands, watching them sadly. She let out a small moan, clasping her hands to face as she wept softly, body rocking slowly in desperation to comfort herself. The usual ritual of every living day.

She needed to talk to someone, someone who wouldn't fear her and run away from her.

But there was no one around.. she was locked in her room.. and her parents would never let her out..

She could feel her anger and distress building up inside her. There were voices in her head urging her to do wicked things, some things thought impossible to get out of the room. The voices always taunted her, mocking at her helplessness.

Her fists clenched gently as she sobbed some more, shaking her head. She was going to crack one day.

It wasn't right, no human, or mutant for that matter deserved to be locked up like this.. it was mental torture..

It was destroying her inside.

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