Once again, too lazy to say anything. I hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans
Ch. 13: Nightmares
"How does it feel Raven?" The Slade asked mocking her as she held Robin's corps in her arms. Her eyes blazed with anger and she turned to attack Slade, But when she turned to face her enemy she faced not Slade but herself. She stood facing herself, covered in her friends' blood. Then she plunged her blood stained hand straight into Raven's gut. "You can't stop me now…"
Raven shot straight up in bed, cold sweat running down her face. Her breath came in heaves and her heart pounded in her chest. She looked down at her stomach to make sure it was really just a dream. It had felt so real this time. She could actually feel the hand, her hand as it broke through her belly. She was starting to feel sick. She crawled out of bed and made her way down the hall to the bathroom.
What did this mean? Normally when she had these dreams Trigon was the one she faced. Never before did she face herself. What could this have meant? Was she going to kill herself?
She took the towel from the rack and wiped the sweat from her face, then looked deeply into the mirror. She was herself, luckily. Pale skin, piercing eyes, but the image frightened her. At first she figured that it was the dream. She was afraid of her own image because of the dream, but that wasn't it. She realized that she had always been afraid of what she saw in the mirror, even before the dream. She was actually afraid of herself.
She shook these thoughts from her minds and turned to leave. Flicking the light off, she turned the corner and ran straight into someone. Her breath caught and she stumbled back wards. Her foot slipped on the stairs and she began to fall. She flailed about frantically, and her hands caught an arm. The arm quickly grabbed hold, and another came around to wrap around her waist.
"Whoa, are you ok?" She couldn't see the face, but could recognize the voice. She had been so absorbed in her own thoughts, and had not felt Raph's presence. As her breath caught up with her she began to speak.
"Wha… What are you doing here?" Her words came between breaths as she asked.
"Well I heard someone walking around out here, so I figured I should go find out who it was." She looked quizzically up at him.
"But your room is all the way down at the other end of the hall, and I barely made a sound." Her breath came easier now, and her balance returned. Raph helped her to her feet, and steadied her. She stood up straight, but Raven still clutched his arm.
"Yeah, ears like a fox, ya know? It's a real bitch sometimes…" He moved slightly closer, enough so she could see his face in the light. "Are you ok? You look pale..." She looked up at him, giving him that no shit look. "I mean you look paler, than usual. Is everything alright?" Images from her dream flashed across her mind, but she shook them away again.
"Yeah, I'm fine," She nodded her confirmation "Just a bad dream that's all."
"Wow, must have been one hell of a dream." He said chuckling. "Ya know what helps with a bad dream?"
"No I don't. What?" she asked, genuinely curious. Anything that could taker her mind form her troubles would be good.
"A good movie. Come on. I'll even let you pick." He nodded in the direction of the living room, and began to walk down the stairs.
"Ya know, that sounds like a real good idea." They made there way down the dark stairs, to the living room, still clutching his arm.
"FOOL!" The voice boomed. "Why did you not kill him?" Slade cringed under the sheer magnitude of the voice.
"I thought that he might be useful to our cause. I am sorry master." Slade bowed down lower, onto his hands and knees, preparing for the verbal beating that never came. He looked up at the voice in front of him.
"Very well. You are my hand, and if I cannot trust my own hands, then I am doomed to fail. I shall trust your judgment, but should he even hint at giving us problems, I want you to eliminate him. UNDERSTOOD?" The voice questioned, and Slade sunk even lower to the ground.
"Yes my Master. I shall be your hand, and I will kill him if he poses a threat." Slade assured, and the presence clamed.
"Very good. Now, tell me, in what way could he be useful to us?" The voice questioned. Slade smiled deviously behind his mask.
"I'm happy you asked sire…"
"See, now this is the reason why you have nightmares. You watch these scary-ass movies just before you sleep." Raphael looked at the cover and shook his head.
"Hey, I happen to like these scary-ass movies," She snatched the cover from his hand sat back down next to him on the couch. "So fuck you."
The Titan's collection of movies had consisted of mainly chick flicks and action movie, neither of which really seemed appetizing. So the ventured to the video store, where Raven picked out several Horror movies. They proceeded to watch them one after another. They'd just made it through their third movie, aptly named "The Blob."
"Besides, that movie was more like a comedy than an actual horror, anyway." She tossed the cover onto the table, grabbed the popcorn bowl, and pressed play.
"Yeah that's true. Who'da thought that a giant purple blob, that moves at rate of one foot per year, could kill so many people."
"Yeah, it's like, when the stupid dorks follow the blood trail or say 'hey look, it's a strange blob from outer space. Let's poke it with a stick'." They laughed.
The bowl of popcorn turned black and exploded, and Raven blushed with embarrassment.
"Heh, looks like we're outta popcorn." Her cheeks reddened even more and she smiled shyly. A sudden chill ran down her spine and she pulled her legs up to her chest
"Are you cold?" He asked.
"Just a little."
"Ok," He looked around and found the blanket draped over the back of the couch. "Here ya go." He wrapped the blanket around her, and pulled her closer to him. You know, for warmth, right?
Raven looked up at Raph's face as he watched the movie. The slightest smile graced his lips, as he watched the young woman be devoured by the putrid zombie. He had a morbid streak. Although he tried not to show it, he enjoyed watching people get torn to shreds.
Raven let out a long yawn, and smiled sleepily up at the TV. Raphael looked back, and lightly nudged her to draw her attention.
"You tired?" He asked. She dazedly looked up at him, eyes slowly drooping.
"Just a little."
"Should we call it a night?" An overwhelming feeling of dread swept over Raven as she Her breath caught, and she looked up at him.
"No!" She clutched his arm for dear life, as though to hold him down. "I mean, can we stay up for a little while longer? I really don't want to be alone." The thought scared the life out of her. Raphael smiled reassuringly.
"Absolutely. Hell, we'll stay up all night if we need to." Raven breathed a sigh of relief. Just the thought of being alone was enough to make her shudder.
"Hey Raph?" Raven asked.
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for staying with me tonight. I really appreciate it." He chuckled at her, and smiled.
"My pleasure." She wiggled up closer to Raph, for warmth of course, and went back to the movie. Raven tried her best to watch, but her eyelids were growing heavier by the second. It became a task all it's own to just keep her eyes open, and despite her greatest efforts not to, she slowly drifted off to sleep. For the first time in weeks, her dreams of fire and pain didn't come. Instead, she dreamt of someone else.
Ok I'm goen to bed now. Don't forget to review. C'ya
