Me: Only nine people have read my story(to the second chapter)so far...NINE people! Oh well... I will continue to write for those nine. I WILL NOT LOSE HOPE! In this part, RAven awakens to find herself kidnapped and her 'evil' unchained. Temporarily at least. Read on, fair readers, READ ON!

Chapter 3: Abduction

I awoke, dazed and confused, in a dark room. The room was dripping and moldy, and the smell of rotten flesh stung my nose, making my eyes water. My wrists and calves were chained to the wall, and a chained metal band around my neck connected it to the greenish stones in the walls.

When my eyes had adjusted to the dark room, I glanced at my surroundings. A rotting skeleton lay in the corner. Charming. I was about to investigate my chains more thoroughly, when I heard an angry voice in the room next to mine.

"Why did you bring her here? Why didn't you finish her like Father demanded?"

I heard Raji's voice respond, with calm confidence. "She may be useful. Besides, she can't escape." Says him.

A third voice joined the conversation, sounding much like the first but softer and much more assured. "Raji, I think Marianna is right. It isn't safe to keep the girl alive longer than necessary."

"You two are both paranoid. And besides, Alethea, you would obviously take Marianna's side."

"Just because Marianna and I are twins, it doesn't mean we always agree."

"I'm sure."

I heard them coming through the door to my dungeon room. I leaned back, letting my hair that had come completely from it's bun spill over my eyes. I still looked through my hair to the door, however. I saw Raji, and I felt myself fill with rage. Behind him were two girls, seeming to be 17 or 18. I knew better than anyone, though, that appearances could be deceiving.

The two twins filed in the room, one leaning against a damp wall and the other standing calmly in the corner. "I know you are awake." Raji called.

"And I know you are a lying pawn."

"I see your humor in intact."

The one leaning against the wall stepped forward. "This is a waste of time. She's not going to cooperate." The girl, Marianna, gave me a scornful look and left the room.

The other girl, Alethea, smiled, and pushed away my hair from my eyes. She forced my chin up so I would look at her. I glared at her intently. She smiled again, her silver eyes cold and calculating, and stepped back again.

"Alethea, is it? The oldest, I assume."

"Indeed, you are correct. I see you enjoy intimidation."

"I enjoy not being in the presence of someone who is planning to kill me."

Alethea gave a soft chuckle and stepped towards me again, with a soft look on her face. I hated her for contributing to my hesitation in hurting them. "You can return with us and live. It doesn't have to end this way."

"I'd rather die."

"I assumed so. For your enjoyment, however I will let you watch this first." Alethea placed a mirror gently in my hands. It was a great deal like mine, but much less powerful.

"Your death is such a special event; I must sprinkle it with other, less important deaths to increase excitement. Such as your friends, perhaps?"

I spat at her feet, unable to reach her face.

"How vulgar." She left the room, leaving me the vital item I needed. A mirror of power. I turned to Raji, who was about to follow Alethea.

"Why?" I whispered, unsure if he could hear me. He stopped by the door, hand on the dank dungeon wall and head halfway between facing me and facing the door. "Why did you keep me alive?" Raji turned to face me totally. His face was blank of emotion.

"You remind me of someone I once knew."

Hours after Raji left, I pondered over his words. What was he talking about? And what happened to Starfire? I fingered the mirror Alethea had left for me. I hated her type the most. At least her twin was honest. Honesty was easier to manipulate.

"Stop it!" I whispered fiercely to myself. I hadn't thought like that since…

"Snap out of it!" I held the mirror tightly. I glanced down at it, remembering what I had thought earlier. A great deal like mine, but much less powerful. Could I…?

"Guys, this is important! This isn't the time to get flaky!" I growled.

"Oooo, but Raji is sooooo cute!" Infatuation squealed. She had been the most annoying lately. Any guy that wasn't butt-ugly was cute, regardless of what I felt. I turned to Knowledge. "Please," I begged, "Isn't there something you could do?"

Knowledge shook her head. "No. You can get out of the chains, I know, but how far after that is hard to tell. We could be anywhere, and we don't know how proficient they are. It could be easy to escape, it could be impossible. Besides, you can't escape with Starfire the way she is."

"Dammit, I know! But I have to try. They're planning to kill me anyway, right? I just can't let them kill Starfire too."

"I'm beginning to think that you want to die."

"Maybe I do. It's better than staying here, useless." With that last word and a final glance at Knowledge's despairing face, I walked out of the conference room. I walked as fast as I could to get out of this 'mirror world'. I was comatose when I was inside here, something they could take advantage of. Besides, this was not my mirror, where everything was safe and predictable.

No, this mirror was Alethea's, some unholy version of the one I had received in Azarath. Creatures unknown to my emotions ran free here. Who knows? Even my presence could have disrupted the balance and let something free.

Not free, exactly. A figure, blanketed in black jumped down in front of me. She looked up and smiled. I was face to face with my own smiling counterpart. No specific color, just…me. Do you remember me? I don't believe we've ever met in person.

I felt my eyes widen. It couldn't be! Not the creature I had locked away almost three years ago. "I thought…"

You can't kill me, Raven. All you did was lock me away for a while.

"I know you are only able to come out when I use this mirror, or when I accept you, which I do not."

But you could. I could help you, you know. With me comes power.

"And price. You forget to mention the cost. And where to you the cost is low, simply only a pain, the cost is high for me."

Only because you make it so. You do not need life, only blood.

I hesitated in the face of such logic. I could use the power she offered. And at such a price… Could I pay it without breaking my oath of years ago? Before I could reply, a yes or no, I had not decided, Knowledge walked up behind me, a comforting hand on my shoulder.

The thing, for I could call it no emotion, glared at Knowledge with smoldering eyes filled with hate. "Raven does not need power that feeds off the weak." She spoke softly. "You are free to go." I nodded, the spell that had been cast on me dissolved.

I walked forward, out of the White Palace hearing the creature's words behind me, giving me shivers down my spine, an echo of the words Father had spoken years ago.

Don't worry. My time will come. And there will be nothing you can do to stop it.

Me: So what'cha think? Review for me, please. I'd like to know how I can make my story better. And BloodCri, I NEED the information I asked you for. If you don't tell me what you like, I might have to go on without you. -sigh- By the way, what do you guys think of Raji? I like him.