Stupid… stupid, stupid, stupid!

He sat, hunched over in a chair, his eyes sore and his fingers fidgeting frantically.

He never had such a bad break out like that. But Raven…? How could she do that? How could she try to run away? Wasn't she happy?

He put his hands over his head, gripping it tightly as he pulled his face down. She hurt me… but I… I hurt her ever more. His tail was shivering uncontrollably as he sniffled and squeaked. The break out was trying to come out again. It was all because of this… heartache.

Raven… why would you want to leave…? But he knew why… He let out a shrieking cry as he withdrew his body tightly into a ball. He knew exactly why she wanted to leave. He gripped his legs harshly to the rest of his body, as if physically trying to hold this break out in.

You are not human. You are a freak.

"Raven… graaahhh… Raven!"

Dead Mau5, the rodent DJ continued to try and hold himself sane.

…

Raven sat in the empty stage room next to James. She had calmed down but her eyes were still puffy and red from the sudden fright. Daniel sat next to them both, talking frantically with Thomas on a cell phone.

"Yes, I realize that. And- No, no, we did not let her out of our sight… … I told you, she escaped out the window to the bathroom… … No… No, he's not… He's contained, don't worry… I'm sorry, no… we haven't been able to get him to tell us anything… … What? … Really? … Well, uh, I guess then, we will wait for you to get here… alright… okay… goodbye."

Raven looked over. "Daft punk are flying into London?"

"That's what they said…" Daniel sighed, putting his phone in the inside pocket in his coat. He rubbed his face roughly in his large, meaty hands. "What a mess…"

Raven sank low in her seat, feeling the guilt bubble up inside her. The whole incident was her fault. She did feel bad for causing Mau5 so much grief and anxiety, but more so… she felt bad that her chance of escape was gone. Because she had attempted it, they were probably not going to let her tour around again. Her head lowered as the very thought of permanat imprisonment made her eyes water.

Worst of all… I'm stuck with him. Now I've seen what can happen… instability… I have to live with that.

James stood up. "After all this chaotic excitement, I'm going to get something to eat," he looked at Daniel first. "Want anything?"

Daniel sighd again, before asking, "Where are you getting it from?"

"There's a kitchen in the back for the technicians. They told me to help ourselves since we'll be staying here. I'm guessing its just instant microwave food…"

Daniel thought a moment. "I'll be fine for now, thank you. I can grab myself something later."

James then turned to Raven. "What about you?"

Raven just slowly shook her head. With that, James walked off to the hallway and disappeared.

Suddenly, one of the technicians came in through another entrance.

"Oi, I'm heading home for tonight. I al'ready locked up all the doors 'cept the back enterance."

"Thanks, friend." Daniel said.

"It's not much, but we pulled out the coach in the lounge room and dug up three air mattresses. That's all we can offer for sleeping arrangements. The key to the ack is in the lounge, so make sure you lock up before going to sleep."

"That's perfect, thank you so much." Daniel said, nodding.

"G'night."

"Goodnight to you." Daniel waved to the technician.

He then turned to Raven. "You're coming with me, we're going to move into the lounge."

"Okay." Raven answered.

They both followed out where the technician left. Once in there, Daniel grabbed the key off the table. "Stay here," he commanded. "I'm going to go ahead and lock up for tonight."

Raven frowned but nodded her head slowly. She sat down on the large coach as Daniel walked back out the room. She sighed deeply, leaning back. She gritted her teeth. The image of the red eyed, black Mau5 lunging towards her with teeth bared came to her mind. It was quite an unpredictable shock she had just lived through. Some how there was a great chemical imbalance that was triggered in his brain for his appearance to change like that…

She blinked at the wall… she couldn't even convince herself that what she saw was really here. What if it was just her eyes playing with her? Did he actually turn black? The red eyes were much more believable.

She then stopped and laughed at her pathetic thoughts. Look at you… analyzing his appearance, when clearly wot is more important is that he almost killed you…

She almost jumped out of her skin when she heard a shriek echo down the halls. Her glance immediately turned to the exit.

…Mau5?

She wasn't sure where Daniel and James had locked him up, but that definitely sounded like him.

The hall fell silent again. Raven slowly stood up, keeping her gaze fixed for anything. She knew she wasn't technically supposed to leave this room… but her feet guided her to the doorway. She peaked out in the hall, and saw a door to her right. Her ears began to pick up soft noises, which kind of sounded like muffled cries. Raven walked over to the door to listen closely.

Mau5 was definitely in there. He was muttering some words through is high pitched noises, but she could not make it out. Perhaps it was just rubbish talk… hysterical blabbering.

Raven began to think to herself… Yes, I caused this. But perhaps I'm the only one who can calm him down? It was a very modest thought. But she was almost sure with herself. She had been able to get Psycho to calm himself before, and he wasn't much different than Mau5, after all. It could be dangerous, she considered. Her hand slowly reached out, her fingertips ready to grip the handle of the door.

Then she stopped. She heard Mau5 moan. Her hand came away from the knob and made a fist to her lips.

You have caused enough damage for today…

Raven's gaze fell down to her feet. Try not to fix anything, Mechanic… she told herself. This problem was a bit too fragile to touch. Best to leave it sit as it is.

…

Sleep was miserable. Raven hardly got any rest. She had horrible nightmares all night long.

All night she struggled to find her way through twisting alleyways; Alleyways that were so dark and hazy. It felt like being lost in a giant maze. She could see no source of light or text or signs to guide her way. But she heard some sounds... Sounds that were echoing behind her. They were not noises that she wanted to be caught up to… and yet, the more she ran into dead ends, she could hear the sounds getting closer. Panic was swelling in her body, her feet were sliding on the wet ground and her breath was becoming raspy and desperate. The sounds were turning into bellows, and screams and wails. Something out of control. Something angry. Something painful.

She panted and pushed on, hoping she was close to that freedom that was promised somewhere ahead… I need to make it. I need to.

A shadowy figure (every time) grabs her before she can continue on any further. Each time, she wakes up with a start, sweating and gasping before she can make out the figure in the darkness.

The next morning wasn't any better. Daniel and James took Raven into the kitchen in the back to scavenge for breakfast. Daniel told Raven that he checked on Mau5 and found that he had significantly calmed down… So they were going to cautiously bring him in so that he could eat and hydrate too.

Were they bloody mad? Raven thought. Sure he was calm by himself… but what would happen when he saw Raven again? Raven didn't like this idea at all… her gut was clenching tightly at the very thought of it all. But she really didn't have much say in this.

James had left and came back into the kitchen. When he opened the door, Raven saw he was gripping Mau5 firmly by the arm and leading him in slowly.

Raven felt a tear at her heart when she saw Mau5. He looked… awful.

Though he walked in with his gaze held very low, she could see patches of missing fur around his eyes as well as the sides of his head where his circular ears connected to his skull. His fur color appeared to be red again, and his eyes were white. They were not the usual bright, glowing white eyes… they looked dull and hazy. He had torn a giant hole in the front of his dress shirt he had worn to last night's concert and his coat was missing. The red tie around his neck had almost completely come undone and was laying limp around his neck.

Raven tried her best not to stare as James guided him over to the corner of the room.

Mau5 sat down in a single chair away from Raven. Daniel came over to him. "Mau5? We found some carrots in the fridge. Would you like some?"

Mau5 simply shook his head, refusing to open his mouth, or even look up.

Raven stayed seated at the round table in the kitchen, barely touching the instant microwave steak Daniel had given her. She watched from the corner of her eye to see if Mau5 would keep control.

"Here, have some water at the very least…" James said, offering a cold water bottle. Mau5 didn't even acknowledge his gift, just kept his gaze fixed on the ground at his feet.

"Mau5… c'mon.." James said softly. "You need to stay hydrated." He attempted to ease the bottle into Mau5's hands, which were rested in his lap. In that instant that James touched the water bottle to Mau5's skin, Mau5 looked up and growled. James jumped a bit in defense, but Mau5 had no desire to attack or fight; simply just warned his friend that he should not be messed with. Raven could see his upper lip still curled up as he bared his large, rodent teeth even after James gave up and walked away. Daniel sighed again, taking a bite of his own microwave food and pulled out his cell phone. He messed with the keys on it to pull up an old text message.

"Daft Punk's flight won't be in until 10:15 PM. Which means they won't be here 'til eleven."

James looked up, his face reflecting much frustration. "What! Why the hell so late?"

"They said all other early flights into London were sold out."

"Wait… they're flying locally?" James asked astonished.

Immediately, Daniel's eyebrows fell down. "No, no! A private jet."

James shock his head with disbelief. "Why couldn't their flight leave like… now? Or before noon?"

"Don't ask me, someone else is wing the only other available private jets."

"But this could be labeled as an 'emergency.' There's seriously nothing that Marie or another government official could do?"

"Again, I don't know. You can ask them when they get here."

James grumbled, returning a seat next to Raven. "So we will be stuck in this building all day?"

"Yep, sure looks like it…" Daniel said. Both of them did not seem to happy with this situation. Raven wasn't particularly happy about it either. She stared down at her soggy stake, both her hands holding up her head. This whole situation felt sickening to be in… why the fuck couldn't she have gotten away? She could have been close to home by now. Her eyes saw Mau5's face in her peripheral vision. She glanced over at him, seeing that he had looked up from his trance and was starring directly at her. She felt her whole body go tense. To her partial relief, he did not look unstable, hostile or angry… rather, his gaze reflected sorrow and pain.

Raven continued to stare back at him, finding that she could not look away. She was very much afraid to… Afraid that when she does, he would be at her throat in a second, either with binding hands or teeth. Her gut told her that she couldn't put her full faith in just two men to hold back this overgrown rodent.

Raven could feel the gaze of both Daniel and James as they watched back and forth between Mau5 and her. They were ready to act in case something were to happen. They were completely expecting something to happen now. To all of their surprise, Mau5 did not move from his place. Instead, he opened his mouth and uttered one statement. "I'm sorry I hurt you, Raven." With that, he hunched over himself and returned his gaze fixed back to the floor.

Raven blinked and then looked to both Daniel and James. They too, exchanged looks to her and to each other. They all seemed very relieved that Mau5 had stayed calm. Guilt came rushing through her again. She wanted to apologize too… Sorry Mau5, that I hurt your feelings and tried to run away. But that just didn't seem appropriate. After all, she still wanted to get away. She still wanted to leave and be home. What was the point in apologizing if she meant exactly what she did? Still… she did feel bad, but not enough…