Chapter 52
Due to some more technical issues, I lost nearly every single piece of writing I've done with this story and everything else I've ever written. Including future stories, I was toying with. My external hard drive crashed and until I can save up the money to get it fixed, I'm rewriting a lot of stories from scratch, like this chapter. Luckily, I wasn't too far into it before everything went south, but it is a pain in the ass getting the ideas flowing again. I'll be honest it really tampered my creative flame. However, I'm back on the horse and I present to you; the new and improved chapter 52. ONWARD TO THE BATTLE FIELD!
Raven sat on her bed in the room she shared with Sue-sue, scribbling away in a composition notebook she was given by Dr. Leland. It had been the third one she'd been given as she had filled two very quickly, filling it with a sort of fictional story she'd concocted. As she wrote Cherie slept sprawled out on his back, next to her purring away. It was nice and quiet until her roommate Sue-sue came in holding a large carboard box.
"I'm baaack!" She sang happily, Raven looked up as she shut her notebook. She smiled to her cheerful roommate.
"What cha got there Hec?" She asked as she stood and walked over to help her. Sue=sue beamed as she set the box down, reached in, and pulled out a record player.
"I was at this garage sale and this guy was practically giving it away!" She exclaimed happily; Raven's brows rose.
"That's pretty sweet actually." She said making sue-sue smile bigger, "I didn't know you liked vinyl." She then looked to sue-sue and added jokingly, "You're not secretly a hipster, are you?"
Sue-sue laughed, "No. I just love old records. How bout you?"
"I used to listen to old records at my Nini's house, I love them."
"Nini?"
"Uh…. that's what I call my grandma." Raven explained, embarrassed. She then cleared her throat, "We used to listen to old Beethoven, and Manheim steamroller."
"That's so cool!" Sue-sue said sweetly, "Wanna see the records I got?"
Raven nodded as Sue-sue began pulling out record after record. Raven couldn't really say she was surprised when she saw it was a lot of older music like the Jackson Five, a Brady Bunch soundtrack, and a bunch of other inoffensive 70's music, there was a few 80's albums as well, but nothing in the realm of music Raven would prefer to listen to. Although she was kinda excited when she saw and Ertha Kit record in the mix. Sue-sue was particularly proud of an old signed copy of Michael Jackson's Thriller album.
"Do you like Michael Jackson?" She asked Raven who shrugged.
"I like the title song. Though mostly because Vincent Price does some voice over work for it." She admitted. Sue-sue tilted her head.
"Who's Vincent Price?" She asked. This made Raven's slam on her mental breaks. Inside her head she could hear Cherie's voice as he let out a chuckle.
'oh dear. It seems she has really done it now.' He purred. Raven glared over her shoulder at him, only to return to Sue-sue and repeated her question back at her, "Who's Vincent Price? He's only like, the absolute BEST horror actor and narrator to ever be on screen!"
Raven then went into a rant about how much she enjoyed the late actor's work, listing off everything she'd seen him in and how it was her Nini who had introduced her to the actor. "I remember being a little kid and wanting nothing more than to meet the guy, but my Nini told me he died the year before I was born. Tell you what I was one depressed little eight-year-old when she told me that."
Sue-sue stared at Raven with an astonished look.
"What?"
"I don't think I've ever seen you get so passionate about something." She said honestly. Raven felt her face grow hot from embarrassment.
"I have a lot of things I'm passionate about." She admitted, "You just never asked."
"You weren't that passionate when I asked you about your favorite bands." Sue-sue pointed out. Raven shrugged.
"Kinda hard to share the music I like when I can't actually show you what it sounds like." She explained, "I mean the computer has one of those timers that logs you out after a while, and even if we could use it, youtube's on the list of blocked sites."
"I guess that's true." Sue-sue sighed, "It really sucks you can't go anywhere."
"Tell me bout it." Said Raven flatly.
"We could go to the music store and get new records together." She continued, "Oh and we could go clothes shopping! And junk stores! Oh oh and we could….um…Raven?"
Suddenly Raven didn't feel so chipper, the reminder of all the things she wanted to do but couldn't really sucked the wind out of her sales. The reminder that she was on a super strict probation was really depressing, there was nothing she wanted more than to go out and at the very least get some clothes that she didn't have to borrow from her roommate, thankful as she was to Sue-sue for still letting her borrow them. She sighed as she stood up and walked over to her bed where she flopped down onto her pillow.
"I'm sorry Raven, I shouldn't have said all that." Sue-sue apologized as she realized what caused her friend's sudden gloominess. "That was mean of me…"
"It's ok." Raven said as she hugged her pillow and rolled over onto her side. Cherie purred and nestled against her back. Sue-sue frowned as she looked at Raven from her side of the room. A long awkward silence settled between the two before Sue-sue spoke again.
"Um…. hey Raven…"
"Yeah?"
"Why can't you go out?" she asked. Raven was silent for a while.
"It's…. it's a long story." She mumbled, "I…really don't want to talk about it."
Raven wasn't ready to open up about what all she had gone through. She wasn't ready for the inevitable judgement or pity that would no doubt come if she told anyone. And while Sue-sue was very nice, and would no doubt understand, but she didn't feel like dealing with any of the sympathy Sue-sue would no doubt give her. Much as she'd appreciate it.
"Hey." Sue-sue said as she placed her hand on Raven's shoulder. Raven didn't even notice she'd moved. "Whatever you've gone through, it's ok. Yaknow?"
"You wouldn't say that if you knew." Raven said flatly. Sue-sue was quiet for long time.
"Yaknow, a lot of people have gone through a lot of harsh stuff around here." She said finally. Raven rolled over and looked up at her, "There was this one girl I knew, she was dropped off from Star City. They brought her here because her brother did some pretty bad things to her."
"That…. sucks…." Raven said awkwardly, she didn't really know how to respond to that. Sue-sue looked down at her and smiled.
"But yaknow? She got through it." She said, "I'm sure you will too. No matter what it was."
Raven cocked an eyebrow at her, though, she'd be lying if she said it didn't make her feel a little bit better. She smiled to Sue-sue, "Thanks. That…that actually helps a lot."
Sue-sue smiled and hugged her, something the young witch was starting to warm up to. "Glad I could help."
"I think I'm gonna go take a shower." Raven said, "Wash all this dread off me before we listen to some really cheesy 80's pop music."
Sue-sue beamed, the idea of listening to the Jackson five with Raven seemed to be best idea she'd heard all day. Raven laughed as she got up off the bed and headed towards the communal bathroom. Cherie perked to follow, but was overtaken by Sue-sue who showered him in affection. "I'll just keep Cherie company. You can borrow one of my pajamas if you want."
Raven smirked; it wasn't as though she really had much choice in the matter. She grabbed a pair of brightly colored shorts and a pastel colored shirt and left the room.
~0~
Raven sighed as the hot water washed over her face. It never failed, a hot shower always helped melt away every negative emotion she had, and while it annoyed her that the inhibitor collar around her neck was water proof—although if it wasn't, there was no doubt that the shock from something like that would probably kill her—it was still better than being in Belle Reve. She clenched her fists as she let the water wash away the dreadful feeling of what her life would be like if she was ever sent there. She didn't want to think about it, but it was always on the back of her mind. All it took was one slip up. Just one, and she'd be sent there. No Arkham, no therapy, no chance at a normal life. Raven took a deep breath.
"I just have to keep my head above water for a little while longer." She said to herself. "After that, I can be normal…well as normal as someone like me can be."
She turned off the water to the shower, and had just gotten dressed when she was suddenly engulfed in darkness and she heard a girl scream. it wasn't until she was out of breath that she realized it was her. she began to hyperventilate as she closed her eyes, hoping somehow that the lights would come back on. that's what usually happened when she had nightmares; she closed her eyes and she'd be back in her bed, with Sue-sue standing over her, reassuring her everything was ok and Cherie promising her that it was just a bad dream. However, no matter how hard she closed her eyes she was still in the dark.
She heard laughter coming from the darkness. She wondered briefly if it was a real person, or one of the monsters she'd come to expect when in the dark. She shut her eyes tightly, "It's not real." She said allowed over and over again. it wasn't real, she wasn't back in the shadow dimension where those soul eating monsters were. Klarion had gotten her out. She was safe now. She wasn't in the other world. There were no monsters.
"Well would you look at this." A sickeningly familiar voice laughed, "The big bad Raven really is afraid of the—"
Raven didn't let Brit finished as she launched at her from her spot on the floor. The two fell to the floor outside the bathroom with Raven on top of her. Brit held Raven by the wrists as she tried to keep Raven from clawing at her face.
"You think you're funny!? You fucking psychotic bitch!" Raven screamed as she fought against Brit who was staring up at her in fear.
"Get off of me, you crazy bitch! It was just a prank!" Brit shouted back. Raven wasn't listening; her body burned with rage. There was a voice in the back of her head that was telling her to just end the superficial bitch, that all her problems would be solved if she just killed her and moved on. "Somebody, get her off of me!"
Raven felt someone pull her off of Brit. She kicked and screamed as she tried to get them off and go after Brit again. she felt her elbow make hard contact with something. She didn't really know who was holding her and she didn't care. All that mattered was getting back at Brit for making her think everything she'd worked hard to deal with was fake. For making her feel like she had dreamed everything. For making her feel small.
Whatever was holding her, however, refused to let go and held onto her tightly as they both fell backwards. Raven could hear a voice, "It's ok Raven! You're ok!"
She recognized it. It was Sue-sue. Raven snapped out of it and saw her roommate holding onto her tightly, her nose was a bloody mess where Raven's elbow had hit her. she suddenly realized that they weren't alone. All the girls at Haven were gathered around them, and Brit across from her and Sue-sue staring at her with terror in her eyes.
"What on earth is going on here!?" Giselle asked as she pushed her way past all the other girls to see the trio. A sudden wave of panic washed over Raven; it was over. She felt the sting of tears in her eyes. She knew what this looked like. From Giselle's point of view, the crazy girl from Arkham had just attacked one of the other girls, and injured another in the process. She sobbed; it was over. She fucked up bad. She'd never get another chance to prove herself again. it didn't matter what Raven said to anyone, she was going to be sent to Belle Reve and would never see the outside world again.