Disclaimer – I do not own Teen Titans, Eragon, BloodRayne, Deltora Quest, Soul Reaver, Dark Stalkers, The Legend of Dragoon, or any of the other things that I took little tidbits from.

Hi there! I'm back with another chapter. Personally I'm considering stopping the story for the summer if I don't start getting some reviews. This story is twice as good as the original and people review it less. Do you know how hard it is to write a story? At least during the school year I'm getting a grade for it. This summer the only thing that will keep me going is reviews. So please show me if you care or not and tell me if you want me to continue throughout the summer.

Chapter 11: The Vampire's Kiss

The Tower

Raven woke up the next morning with a splitting headache and a large bump on the right side of her head. "Morning." Cri said cheerfully. "Sorry about the headache…I had to hit you over the head with a lead pipe to keep you from leaving and going out to feed unwillingly. Don't worry though…I won't have to do it again. Your 'beast' got the message."

Raven groaned and pressed her palms into her temples. Cri nudged the dark girl softly, exposing her wrist to her. "You hungry?" Raven seemed to cringe for a moment before nodding. She shakily brought Cri's wrist to her mouth and bit down. Her blood was just as sweet as the last time Raven fed.

Cri let her feed for a good minute before tugging her wrist softly, whispering in her ear. "That's enough Raven." It was Raven who surprised Cri who, after a few seconds, obeyed Cri's request. Cri nodded her approval. "Excellent display of control. It usually takes a full two months for a fledgling to gain enough self control to pull away of their own free will or when they are asked." Raven smiled weakly. At least she had done something right.

Cri left for her room to get an hour or two of sleep before starting the day. Raven slowly walked down stairs. As she entered the main room the rest of the Titans immediately stopped what they were doing to stare at her. The empath quickly pulled up her hood to avoid their stares and, out of habit, began making her morning tea. She had already mixed some honey inside her tea when she realized she wasn't at all thirsty. She shrugged and sat down with the steaming mug just enjoying its warmth.

Robin cleared his throat loudly. "Well…It seems you're feeling better…" Raven arched an eyebrow looking straight at him. Even though she wasn't showing it, she was still amazed at how much more detailed the entire world had become. "What do you mean Robin?" He faltered and smiled sheepishly. "I think everyone herd it when Cri knocked you over the head with that pipe…It sounded…Painful…" Raven shrugged. "I don't remember…" Cyborg nodded. "I'm surprised you even remember your own name. Cri broke the pipe when she hit you…" He walked over to the counter and picked up a piece of broken pipe and set it on the table. It had to have been a half to ¾ of an inch thick. Raven involuntarily rubbed the bump on her head. "I see…"

Raven finally took a sip of her tea. She stared at it for a moment before smiling and taking another. 'Vampires must have a more sensitive sense of taste…Figures…' Raven thought to herself. She quickly drained her mug and floated over to the couch before settling down with a mystery book Cri had loaned her.

After about 2 and a half hours, Cri came into the common room, her eyes a little bit more sunken than usual. She smiled sweetly, regardless of her tiredness and sat down next to Raven glancing at the book cover. "The Ruby Raven? How ironic that a girl named Raven would read it…" Raven peered over the top of the book glaring at her but Cri didn't even seem to notice. "It's a good book at that. I would recommend it to anyone who likes mysteries that the killer can't be identified until the end." Raven raised her eyebrows. "So the killer is in disguise…" Cri nodded.

Cri's expression turned serious and she looked Raven straight in the eye "Night and I are going out to feed tonight and I need to take you with us." Raven started to object but Cri raised her hand to silence her. "You don't really have a choice Rae…I'm sorry but I don't know how long you will be stuck like this so you have to learn the basics before I have to go back to the war. Raven lowered her head and Cri wrapped her cape around the dark girl sending a wave of comfort and security over her. "Hey, don't worry, everything will be alright…" Raven bit her lip. "But…What if there is no cure?" Cri thought for a moment. "Then you will never have to worry about blowing up the city again…" Raven looked surprised for a moment before realizing Cri was right. She felt her emotions had weakened and she could actually feel them without blowing something up. She smiled. "At least there is an upside to this."

The War

Cri woke up the next morning with a splitting headache and a very high bloodlust. The party had worn down her endurance and now she was feeling the effects. She groaned and slowly sat up pressing her palms to her temples. In an instant Soto was awake and holding her in his arms. "Are you alright Cri?" She smiled and nodded. "Just a headache…" Soto nodded and got up leaving the room. He returned a few minutes later with a large glass of blood. He offered it to her and she took it gratefully and chugged it. "Thanks…" She said wiping her mouth. "That helped my headache a lot."

After a quick shower and a breakfast of eggs and bacon, she walked outside. She took a deep breath of the cool air smiling. She loved dusk. Everything was still warm from the heat of the sun but the air had already cooled down. She jumped up onto the wall and from there jumped halfway up the search tower and began climbing. She quickly reached the top, dismissing the guard so he could feed and stretch his muscles.

Cri quickly sat down in his chair gazing across the landscape. "So peaceful…" She said to no one in particular. She gazed across the landscape before her smile dropped off. She stood up and squinted into the distance, her night vision activating. "Who…" Suddenly her eyes widened and she pressed the alarm button. She jumped out of the guard tower and confronted the one who approached her. It was a man. His name was Alkoroth He had to be at least 7 feet tall and his body was wide. His armor was black with silver and gold trim. His helmet resembled the skull of a great dragon. His cape flapped behind him as he rode his dark unicorn, adorned in armor, towards the base. He let out a primal roar and unsheathed his sword. It was a gold ruined black bastard sword with silver trim. Cri smiled at him. She knew what this man was. He was a paladin and a slayer, but he wasn't human. His mother was a half elf and his father was a shape-shifting dragon. He was one of the most powerful beings in this dimension. And Cri feared him.

He skidded to a stop in front of her and dismounted. Most of his face was hidden in shadow but from what she could see his eyes were glowing a brilliant emerald green and his skin was a sickly grey color. He glared down at her his glowing eyes burned into hers. "Greetings lady Cri…" His voice was deep and ominous. "What do you want?" She said. His mouth turned up into a smirk and she noted that most of his teeth were sharp as if he ate only meat. "I just wanted to say what a great job you did ending the war…It was a rather clever treaty…I myself couldn't have done better." His words startled Cri and she narrowed her eyes. "Alright…What do you want?" He chuckled. "Nothing but for you to join The Peacekeepers…" Cri almost laughed but stopped herself when she saw how serious he was. "I…I will think about it…"

Alkoroth nodded and unclasped his helmet slowly lifting it off his head. Cri stared at him in shock. Half of it was that Alkoroth NEVER took off his helmet, second was his features. His face was surprisingly round and flawless. As she had guessed, his skin was ashen grey. If she squinted she could see that his skin was made up of billions of tiny scales. His eyes were a shocking green, his pupils slit vertically like a snake. A stripe like a tiger started at his eyes and streaked down his cheeks giving him a predatory look. His ears were pointed and extended up back out of his hair like a pair of horns. And his hair. His hair was raven black, streaked with metallic sliver highlights.

Cri just stared at him for what seemed like hours. She was woken from her trance upon hearing the click of a crossbow's safety going off. She turned waving her hands. "Don't shoot! He isn't here to make trouble!." They looked at her skeptically for a moment before lowering their weapons." She nodded at them and turned back to Alkoroth. She was surprised to see him riding off in the distance his cape flapping in the wind.

Alkoroth wasn't sure if Cri would accept or not. If she accepted it would make his spying job that much easier…If she refused…Well…He would have no choice but to kill her as quickly as possible. He kicked his unicorn making it run faster. 'She better hurry…The council doesn't have much patience when it comes to recruiting new members.'

The Tower

That night Cri led both Raven and Nightingale outside. Cri took a deep breath of the cool night air. She loved going out to hunt around this time. She motioned for them all to gather around the coastline. Cri floated in the air without her wings. She picked Nightingale up smiling. "Let's go…" She took off across the river Raven hot on her tail.

Raven cupped her hands over her mouth shouting. "Cri, I didn't know you could fly without your wings!" She smiled back at the dark girl. "They take less energy to fly with and I am more stable when I fly without them." Raven nodded. That made sense. They landed in an alleyway a few minutes later. "I will teach you how to feed now…Although you still need to avoid humans and animals for now you will soon be fully developed and you will be able to do what you want."

Cri snuck off into the shadows. Her steps were very light and she moved with an incredibly fast grace that made her seem to flicker in and out of the shadows. Nightingale followed her imitating the power almost perfectly. Raven quickly followed them, rather clumsy in her movements compared to the more experienced dhampirs.

Cri soon spied a small gang. They were laughing, pushing a boy who was half their size between them. Cri nodded at Raven to stay put and she and Nightingale sneaked off. Cri seemingly appeared behind the first man and kicked the back of his knees hitting him on the head as he fell to the ground. Nightingale hit another over the head with a pipe. The remaining two looked down at their fallen friends then quickly up and around searching for the attackers. The man whom they were picking on quickly fled down the alleyway and hid behind a dumpster. He didn't see the 'finale' but Raven did. Cri and Night pinned the two on their stomachs and they were drinking their blood before the thugs even knew what was going on.

The thugs soon passed out from blood loss and Cri climbed to her feet licking her lips. Nightingale followed her example but had to kick the thug to keep him knocked out. It seemed that Night could not drink as much blood as her mother even if she was more of a vampire than she was.

Raven stood in shock. Half of her wanted to run and hide. The other half wanted to join Cri and drink the rich, sweet smelling, humans' blood. The empath leaned heavily against the wall for support. She had seen enough. Cri walked over to her. "They will be fine in the morning…" Raven nodded and turned her back to leave. Cri placed a hand on her shoulder. "Here…" Cri held out her wrist to Raven wincing slightly as the dark girl sank her fangs into the dhampir's wrist. Cri waited patiently for her to finish before she walked off again motioning for them to follow. "You just have to remember to avoid the jugular and you will be fine." Cri smiled at Raven. "Now you can defend the city without fearing most injury." Raven nodded numbly. "I'm not sure controlling a bloodlust is easier than controlling my emotions…" Cri shrugged. "Stay well fed and you won't ever have to worry about loosing control."

They trio stayed out for a few hours, searching for and destroying infected humans. Along the way Cri taught Raven how to use her strength and speed to her advantage and how to avoid letting it be used against her. She also explained how each vampire has a 'dark gift' and how each one is slightly different. She taught Raven how to use her aura sense, a type of thermal vision mixed with the ability to show a vampire to see how healthy a target is and if they are aware that the vampire is there or not.

After a very long night, the dhampiric trio returned to Titan's Tower. They bid each other goodnight and went their separate ways hoping to get at least a few hours sleep before the rising of the sun. Unfortunately for them, this would not be the way things went. They were just settling down in their beds when an explosion shook the city and the Titans Tower alarm system blared, shattering the silence. It was a matter of minutes before every Titan, including Spike and Nightingale, had gathered in the living room. "Dude, what's going on?" Beastboy asked. Robin looked on the monitor screen typing in a few commands. "It seems that a large part of a main subway tunnel has exploded. Titans GO!"

I'm so evil aren't I? Leaving you on a cliff hanger like that…evil laugh Remember, please review. I need your help if you want me to continue this story and not just stop over the summer which is a VERY long time…