I stood on the roof of Titans Tower.
Again.
I smoked a cigarette.
Again.
This was starting to become a habit.
I exhaled smoke.
Everything I do is habit.
I'm on a thinker or an intellectual. I'm not saying I'm stupid...I just don't spend a whole lot of my day in thought. I am who I am. I don't think before I react to things. I just react and hope that the person I am does the right thing. It usually works out okay. Once or twice it's almost gotten me killed. And then, the other times...
It gets me in trouble.
I toked another drag from my cigarette.
In retrospect, the fight Raven and I had was pretty stupid. I should have just stood up and given her the darn couch...but still. She had commanded me like a peasant with no respect at all. She didn't even say please or nothin'!
I had a feeling it was going to be tough for me and Raven to get along. We were totally different and our first real one on one meeting hadn't gone so well. But, then again, I'd seen many a relationship start that way. Lordy, Raven and I would probably end up falling madly in love with each other.
I pondered some more.
Maybe not.
I nursed my cancer stick, screwing up the will to go apologize to her. If Popeye had been a cowboy and not a sailor, the guy would have been smoking away instead of chowing down spinach.
The sun had risen over the horizon now, but I knew it would be pitch dark down in the tower. You'd think the guy that made it would have designed it with more than two windows.
I threw my cigarette over the side of the roof and squared my shoulders.
Time to face the music.
Knock! Knock!
I rapped my knuckles against Raven's door, leaning on the wall beside it.
"Raven! It's me, Bard."
She didn't answer.
"Look, I'm sure you're still mad at me. I just came to apologize."
Still she didn't answer.
"Giving me the silent treatment is just a little juvenile, don't ya think?"
Silence.
I started to lose my cool.
"Look, I'm gonna come in there and say my piece. If you're still mad and don't wanna talk with me, I reckon I'll have to live with it. All right?"
No answer.
I hit the control panel beside the door.
Nothing happened.
Oh...right. No power.
I tried to get my fingers into the groove between the sliding doors, but they were too big. I reached into my cowboy boot and brought out the switchblade knife I always kept there. I flipped it open and stabbed the blade into the groove.
SKKRTTT!
Just as I started to work it open, the doors popped open on their own. The knife flew out of my hand and down the hallway. That wasn't exactly how I planned it, but it got the door open. I shrugged and stepped into the room, looking around.
It looked like Dracula's apartment...if he had an apartment, of course. Or a witch's lair, only Raven wasn't deformed and ugly with a boil on her nose.
Or something.
The room was dark, just like the rest of Titans Tower at the moment, but I could see it was dark by design. A few archaic-looking lanterns hung from the ceiling. They were lit, but they seemed not to make it any lighter. It seemed their only purpose was to make the shadows look creepy.
I blinked.
The shadows did indeed look creepy. I turned away...and nearly jumped out of my skin before figuring out the white face in front of my nose was part of a statue: One smiling and one frowning. It looked like a satanic ode to bipolar disorder or something.
The bed was covered with a simple purple blanket with a headboard that looked liked Raven's hood overshadowing it. There was a sharply angled, asymetrical mirror on the wall, a dusty chest with a demon's head for a lock and goblets on the dresser that looked more useful for drinking blood than anything else.
...Definitely creepy.
I quickly saw that Raven wasn't here, though, so I was under no obligation to stay, thank goodness. I turned to leave.
SWOOSH!
The sliding doors slammed shut. I started to worry, but then I shrugged. I'd just open it again with my knife like I did last time.
...Wait. My knife was out in the hallway.
Damn it.
I looked around quickly for something to use to pop open the doors. The room was starting to freak me out a little. I opened the top drawer of her dresser and was met with silky, frilly clothes that I'd never seen Raven wear before...and never would.
Ahem.
Second drawer. I had better luck there. I took a small hand mirror out of it. My reflection looked a little foggy and off kilter in it and the border had a dozen faces carved in to it. But all I really cared about was the narrow handle and the sharp point at the end. I slammed it, carefully, into the groove of the doors.
PHOOSH!
The mirror was suddenly engulfed in fire. I dropped it quickly and flinched away, holding my burnt hand. The faces on the border of the mirror suddenly started to move. They laughed at me hauntingly.
I was freaking out.
"What's the matter?" A demonic voice asked me from...somewhere. "Don't like fire? Afraid you're going to get burned?"
"R-Raven!" I stepped back and only stopped when I hit the far wall. "Y-you got your laugh, all right? This isn't funny!"
Apparently I was wrong, because the faces on the mirror continued to laugh.
Suddenly, the flames spiraled at me like fiery tentacles. Before I could even think about dodging or fighting back, they already had me.
Pulling me.
And the faces laughed.
