Chapter 9

It started in a pitch black room. Rachel looked around to see nothing in every direction. Then, someone appeared. His face was shrouded in darkness, and his skin was a dark, blood red. When he spoke, his voice shook everything like an earthquake, including her, though she was already shaking.

"I see you've used magic, for the first time… good."

"W-who are you?" She asked. She'd meant for it to come out brave and commanding, but it was more like a kitten mewling. He chuckled, not like Santa or someone jolly, but the sound in a film when the villain's evil plan is coming together.

" I am the Devourer of Souls, the Enslaver of Countless Worlds, The Demon King. I am the monster under the bed, the evil eyes watching you, I reside in everyone's hearts, and I control the dark evil in yours, my little Raven."

Rachel's knees began to shake, but it was just a dream right?

"I-I'm not evil! You're l-lying!"

"Is that so? Maybe you need a little more persuasion…"

He disappeared, but his evil laugh still echoed around the room. Suddenly, broken mirror fragments coated the wall where He had stood, each showing some kind of memory, one of his memories. Rachel saw a woman, probably in her late 20s, lying on a king-sized bed. She had long inky-black hair and she was looking up at Him with a mixture of admiration and fear. She was completely naked under the covers. Another fragment showed Rachel's father, but younger, being given a large wad of money, which he greedily accepted, and then a baby in a cradle, which was received less enthusiastically, before nodding and leaving.

More memories of Rachel growing up with her father were seen, and each time someone new showed up, they would just climb out of the fragment, into the 'real' world until everyone Rachel had ever known was standing in front of her. Rachel couldn't see Dick though, and it worried her. They suddenly all changed, their skin getting darker until it was the same red as the man before. Their eyes also changed, going yellow, until the entire eye, not just the iris was bright, glowing colour. Then they started chanting.

"Evil child, devil child, scum of the Earth and below!" They continued to rise in volume until they were all shouting at her.

"NO!" She screamed, tears pouring down her face. Rachel began to run away, until she saw Dick, facing away from her.

"Dick!" she shouted, "Dick you have to help me!" She turned him around but wished she didn't. His skin was like everyone else's, and his eyes were an acid yellow, burning through her.

"No…" she whimpered, "No no no please…" Then Dick opened his mouth, and spoke in the same tone as the creepy man from before.

"Evil child, devil child, scum of the Earth and below, I should've let you bleed out in that alley," he snarled in a very un-Dick-like way, "I would've done us all a favour." Rachel's eyes widened in fear, and she sunk to her knees, crying.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Everyone was in Dick's room, chatting quietly. Rachel had already dropped off and was lying next to him, snoring softly. She looked so cute when she slept that Dick had to fight off the urge to kiss her forehead like he'd done before, but not with everyone else there. They were discussing the latest English homework they had to do for a while, and how boring and difficult it was when AJ asked,

"Uh hey Dick? Is Rache ok? Cuz she looks like she's havin' a nightmare." His usually calm and chilled voice now tinged with worry. Dick looked down at the sleeping beauty and gasped when he saw her puckered eyebrows and slightly thrashing head movements, a few tears streaming down her cheeks. He felt incredibly guilty. How could he have not noticed that sooner? He was supposed to be a detective for God's sake!

He scooched closer to her, and put a hand or her shoulder, trying to gently wake her up. Her breath got quicker and she murmured 'no!' before she started crying. He was shocked now, this couldn't be a normal nightmare. This time, he gently scooped her up so that her torso was in his lap.

The others had given them a bit of space which he greatly appreciated as he realised that she was starting to hyperventilate, crying even harder now.

"No…" she whimpered, "No no no please!"

"Hey," he said in a soothing voice, "It's ok Rache, just wake up, it's ok." After a minute of talking to her softly she gasped and her eyes snapped open, sitting up in in his lap. She looked confused for a minute before she locked eyes with him and crumbled into his arms. He hugged her back and felt her melt into his embrace. He knew from personal experience that the best way to comfort someone from traumatic nightmare was to hug them quite tightly, so that they know you're here for them.

After a minute or two, Rachel sniffled and mumbled into his chest,

"Did I wake you up?" Dick chuckled. Of course she would wake up from a terrifying nightmare and ask if everyone else was ok. He replied, telling her that she was the first to drop off, and they were all still awake. She nodded and muttered an apology before breaking away and smiling at him softly.

"Thank you." She said and he returned her smile.

After that, they just chatted for half an hour, Rachel still sleepily lying in his lap, until they all passed out from exhaustion.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The next morning, Dick woke up to sunlight streaming in from his bedroom window. He rolled sleepily onto his side to see Rachel curled up next to him, still fast asleep. He smirked at how peaceful she looked, but his face darkened as he remembered what she went through last night. All night long he'd wanted to know what she dreamed about, and whether it was connected to the strange gem, and her supposedly new telekinetic abilities, but he didn't want to press, so he hadn't mentioned it all night.

Once everyone had woken up, they wandered downstairs in search of food, and as they got to the kitchen they were greeted by Alfred, who was making delicious smelling pancakes. A couple of hours later, everyone was helping to tidy Dick's room when AJ asked which room the mattress had come from. Rachel shot Dick a glance that meant 'what do we do' before he said that they would sort it out later, but Barbara protested.

"Oh come on, that thing looks really heavy, I'm sure we can all lift to it together."

"Oh yeah, I remember!" Johnno said, "Dick said it came from the spare room next door!" Before Dick and Rachel could stop them, they had all taken a side, and were hauling it out the door.

"Wait! Guys!" Dick shouted at them, but they were already out the door. Dick heard a gasp and winced, knowing that they had just opened the door to Rachel's room. The two of them ran to meet them and Dick swallowed thickly, knowing that there was no way to lie out of this one.

The four had already dumped the mattress down next to the bed and Artemis was staring, mainly at Dick, with her arms crossed.

"Explain," she commanded.