Chapter 40
She's only 16
She has dreams of a girl
She thought she'd be in love
She thought she'd have the white picket fence
Now she stands on the corner
She sold herself to the streets
When the world gave up on her
She gave up on herself
'Out of hell'-IN THIS MOMENT
For those curious, I see a lot of Raven's life through the lyrics of IN THIS MOMENT songs. Last chapter Raven had a chat with Dr. Leland and a real heart to heart with Pamela Isley. I kind of like that I've made Ivy as a mother figure. If you haven't already noticed that yet haha. And Harley's sort of a sister figure, which is why they fight a lot. I figured I'd make that clear here n now. Anyhow, uh to answer a reviewer's question, yeah, some people actually did side with the dad in that story. Course they also didn't mourn when he was killed either so it's sort of a meh moment for me. so yeah. ONWARD TO THE BATTLE FIELD!
Dreams. Dreams can be a wonderful place for the mind to escape to when the real world has turned to hell. However, for Raven, they were just as hellish. Nightmares, reminding her what she had done to people; to her parents, to Nancy, Rick…to Zatanna. The memories of all the things she had done, with Klarion. Parts of her enjoyed it, enjoyed the things she had done. She didn't care that she had hurt the people that hurt her first. But another part hated it, was haunted by all the things she had been through, the other world, the lies, the betrayals, the murder.
That night, in her dreams, Raven saw the people she'd killed. Only two of them she recognized, the others were nothing more than people in the wrong place at the wrong time. People caught in the cross fire of her rampages. They grabbed her and tied her to a post in the middle of a village she'd never seen before. They stood before her, torches in hand, shouting curses and angry things. They told her she would get what she deserved. She would be judged. Then, she saw a face she recognized, it was the college boy who had ripped to pieces. It was Rick, holding a torch and smiling up at her, like he was getting the revenge he wanted. Raven glared at him.
"I won't apologize!" She screamed, "You got what you deserved you bastard!"
Without another word, Rick dropped the flaming torch. It ignited a large pyre that surrounded her. Raven screamed. It was a dream, but she could feel the heat of the flames as they engulfed her. she screamed as she felt her skin burn, and melt the clothes from her body.
She awoke to the sensation of cold water being splashed on her. when she opened her eyes she saw three guards and Dr. Leland standing over her with an empty bucket of water. She gasped for air as she realized that the water was actually real. The guards glared at her as she stared back in confusion.
"Alright, punk start explaining!" One of the guards barked. Raven scowled.
"Explain what?! You throwing a bucket of water on me when I'm asleep!?" She shrieked, "You start explaining!"
"I wanna know how you set fire to your cot." The guard shouted back, ignoring Raven's anger. Raven scowled, then looked down at where she was sleeping. The blanket had been scorched, and there were burn marks on the concrete slab.
"Raven, I need you to explain to me what happened." Dr. Leland said gently. Raven looked up at her, confusion plastered her face. Doctor Leland nodded, clearly getting the answer. She turned to the guards behind her, "I do not think Raven was in control of what happened here."
"I thought those collars were made to suppress these freaks' powers." The first guard growled. Raven cut her eyes at him, not at all happy with the man's tone. She thought that these guys were supposed to be professionals. Calling the inmates 'freaks' wasn't exactly professional. Creep.
"The inhibitor collars are able to prevent meta-humans," Leland corrected sternly, "from consciously using their powers. However I don't think Raven was consciously using her powers."
Raven sat in silence as she watched Leland talk to the guards. She scowled as she became lost in thought. There was no way she could unconsciously use her powers, for one; she didn't use fire—that was Klarion's thing—electricity was her M.O. and two; that wasn't how magic worked. One had to consciously make the decision to use it. Otherwise the world would be overrun with subconscious spell casting, and probably a lot of dead bodies, due to the amount of flitting thoughts that go through the minds of other magic users.
"Raven." Dr. Leland's voice broke Raven from her thoughts. "I think we should have an early session today."
"O…kay?" Raven said hesitantly. The idea of having an early one on one session with the 'good doctor' wasn't exactly her idea of a fun morning—then again neither was waking up in an Asylum—however, it didn't seem as though she really had a choice. So the next thing she knew she was being escorted to Dr. Leland's office. Once there, Leland gestured for the guards to leave.
"No guards today? You must really think you're onto something." Raven said sitting down, Cherie curie sat on her lap. "You're even letting me keep Cherie with me."
"Raven you set fire to your bed. Aren't you even the least bit curious on how that it?" Leland asked. Raven scowled.
"Nope. Just means that your collar things are stupid and useless." She said venomously. Leland scowled.
"They do work. When you try to consciously use your powers." She explained, "And yours had been working just fine until tonight. I think you cast a spell in your sleep without knowing."
"I've been using magic long enough to know how that magic doesn't work that way." Raven huffed, "I'd have to make a conscious decision to cast a spell."
"So then, you purposely set fire to your bed while you were sleeping on it?" Leland asked. Raven hissed.
"No. I mean…yaknow what, I really don't like you." She growled. Cherie mewed from her lap, probably agreeing with her. Leland smirked seeing herself the victor of the argument.
"Raven, why don't you tell me what happened up until you went to bed?" She asked. Raven narrowed her eyes.
"I didn't do anything. I sat in my cell, and did nothing." She said.
"So nothing happened in your cell earlier?" Leland asked.
"Nothing to do locked in a cell all day. So shockingly, no, I didn't do anything." She said sarcastically. Leland was silent for a while as she wrote down notes on her clip board. Raven scowled at her as the silence settled between them, the only noise being made was the sound of Cherie purring.
"Did anything happen while you slept?" Leland asked, breaking the silence.
"If anything did happen I was asleep." Raven grumbled with a tired smile, thinking she was clever. However, the sharp pain from Cherie's claws digging into her lap said otherwise.
"Alright then, did you experience any odd dreams while you were asleep?" Leland then asked. Raven frowned.
"No." she lied. Leland pursed her lips.
"You're lying Raven, I can tell." She said pointing her pen at Raven, who scowled at back at her. "So why don't you tell me about your dream."
"I'm good."
"Raven, you need help. I'm willing to give it to you, but you have to work with me." Leland said with a sigh, "Something happened tonight, something not even you can explain. Don't you want to find out what happened?"
"No." Raven grumbled. Then she remembered the conversation Ivy had had with her, about having a choice. There was no way Raven could be normal again, of that Raven was sure. She was a witch, she could conjure things no normal human being could.
"Raven, don't you want to get better? If you do this will make it so much easier for us all." Leland went on, "And then you could leave. Go home."
"I don't have a home." Raven mumbled unconsciously. That was the truth, her father had killed her mother, and she in turn, had killed her father. There was no home to go back to. No family, and no friends. No one, well there was Harley and Ivy, but Ivy wanted her to do good, and maybe…maybe she was right. Maybe it was time to stop complaining about what happened, and start reflecting. Maybe she could get better.
"Raven?" Leland's voice snapped Raven back to reality. She sighed, and looked up. It was now or never. Time to make a decision.
"Raven, not talking doesn't make this session go any faster." Leland then said.
"I had a nightmare." Raven said simply. Leland's brows rose.
"Oh? Would you like to expand on that?" she asked. Raven paused, and looked down at Cherie, who was purring and looking back at her. Coaxing her on.
"I…saw things…people." Raven mumbled.
"Did you recognize any of them?"
"Some I did. Others no."
"What happened?" Leland asked, urging her to go on. Raven paused and bit her lip, recalling what all had gone on before she had woken up. It was horrifying. Finally she took a deep breath and continued.
"They brought me to a place I didn't recognize. I've never been there before." She explained.
"Tell me about the place you were brought to." Leland urged.
"It was a village, like from….I dunno, during settler's time?" Raven thought aloud, "I don't remember much about the setting, just that it looked like an old colony."
"Go on…"
"I…was part of some kind of witch trial." She continued, "I guess I lost because I was tied to a post…and…."
"It's ok Raven, you can tell me what happened." Leland said softly, "Nothing spoken here will leave this room. You're safe here."
"…They set me on fire…." Raven mumbled looking down and hugging Cherie close to her. Leland's brows rose at this. It started to make sense now. Her dream must have been what triggered the fire. However, that still didn't explain the how. How was she able to do that with the inhibitor collar? It would have to be looked into before long.
"Is that everything?" she asked after a brief silence. Raven nodded. "Alright, we'll call it a night."
"Oh joy." Raven said dryly. Leland sighed.
"You've made the right choice Raven." she said standing up and motioning for the guards, "talking will help you make progress. Then, before you know it, you'll be able to leave Arkham behind."
Raven stood as Cherie moved to sit on her shoulders and the guards came in. She shook her head, "Right choice….we'll see."
This took longer than it should have to type. I'm sorry about that guys. I've been busy and really lacking the drive to do much of anything creative. So the next chapter might not be posted for a while. Sorry guys. Reviews are appreciated, and remember they also keep these stories alive.