Here is the next chapter! I hope you all are having a lovely day today. As always, a big thanks for any reviews/favorites/follows and/or just simply clicking the button to check my story out. It means a lot.

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans.

Chapter 3

Now that she was alone, Raven felt her confidence begin to slip away. She stood in the middle of the staircase, wavering on the edge and wondered for the second time that day why she was doing this. There was no reward, no means to an end. All she was doing was biding time for her best friend and her new found boyfriend. Starfire was not the one feeling the chill from below.

Nor would Starfire be able to feel the rush of air that made her body shiver and her mouth frown. This plan was stupid; going into the basement of an abandoned house was stupid. She just could not think of a good excuse to get out of it. But she really did not want to admit her apprehension.

To say she did not want to go would mean that Beast Boy was right.

For even if there were no ghosts here, it did not mean this house was not haunted. There were sometimes echoes, auras of homes that lingered long after the residents moved on. It was in the furniture, it was in the pictures that stared down at her with the empty eyes of people long since dead. Memories were hard to kill; Raven knew that better than anyone. She could sense it here.

However, logic and reason had other ideas. There were no such things as ghosts and this house was just a dump heap scheduled for removal. There were no hauntings and thinking such things would only give motivation for Beast Boy to mock her for being scared of a dark, empty room.

Beast Boy would never let her live it down. He would pester her about it until the end of time.

That thought alone gave her shivers. So minding the steps and the darkness, Raven began her trek down below without a second thought. On reflex she trailed her hand to the wall for balance and it was not until she finally got to the bottom, that her foot gave way and she ungracefully tripped, ending up on the floor. Falling on her face did not help her bad mood and she scowled.

"Stupid house!" She spat, blowing a loose hair strand from her face. "I am so done with this!"

Raven got up and unceremoniously dusted herself off; trying to maintain what little dignity remained. On reflex she checked for intruders, half expecting a bunch of teenagers to be partying in the abandoned room but there was nothing. No sign of anyone and in her current mood, that was worse. She was more than ready for a fight or at the very least, a really good shouting match.

Harrumphing to herself, Raven started to investigate the room. She looked for break-ins. There weren't any. She looked for sudden movements in the corner of her eye. There was nothing. Now feeling a bit let down, Raven again flashed her light around and snorted. This was supposed to be a haunted house? It was empty and boring! There was nothing but dust and loads of boxes.

The contents of the boxes were ordinary too. They just contained little boy stuff. There were baby clothes, photo albums and a picture of a young boy with black hair, smiling up at the camera. In that same box, there was a bat and glove with the name "Adam" written on the side.

"I wonder when this was taken." Raven mused. "It's hard to tell but it can't be that long ago."

Shaking her head, Raven returned the picture to the box and closed its flaps. Getting up from her kneeling position, she dusted herself off and looked around. She was done. She was tired, she was dirty and she really, really wanted to get out of this place. But there was something weird.

It took her a second glance but when she looked closer, it still looked weird. It was metallic, about five feet tall and cylinder shaped. Partially hidden under the blanket, Raven could honestly say that it looked like a can of soda that was smashed halfway into the ground. Neither rhyme nor reason, but it was here all the same. It even had a door in the front, a heavily locked door.

Raven grabbed her communicator. "Cyborg? Beast Boy? You might want to come down here."

The communicator made a few static noises and there was a muffled question but most of it was unclear. "Boys? Are you there? Come downstairs to the basement. I think I found something."

Again, there was nothing but muffled sounds. Huffing in frustration, Raven put down her communicator and tried to focus her energy on the locked door. "Azarath, metrione, zinthos!"

It clicked open and Raven, glancing quickly behind her, stepped inside. This mission was beyond looking for teenagers now. What were those kids up to? Did they build this? Was it some sort of clubhouse? A secret lair? How could a house with no electricity be hiding a secret metal room that had actual lights lined up against the wall? It was impossible and the stench was unbearable.

Turning her flashlight off and wincing at the bad smell, Raven looked around. The boys were probably not far behind so she was not afraid. If anything, Raven was feeling more curious then she had in a long time. The room was going deeper and deeper. There were more boxes inside but there were also shelves of canned food and vegetables. Books and bunk beds lined the walls.

Then there was the blood. Raven noticed it the moment her boot stepped into something unpleasantly wet. Thinking it was water; she had cursed under her breath but stopped when she noticed how red it was. It was splattered all over her robe from the puddles on the floor. The smell was horrible, her breath caught in her throat. In the center of the floor a woman lay dead.

As a half demon, death was something Raven was accustomed to. She had often imagined death and destruction whenever she felt anger or fury; it was part of the reason why she meditated so much. When she fought evil, she was often faced with the urge to kill. To stop the thieves, the molesters and murders for good, that was what her instincts wanted but this...this was different.

The girl's blue eyes were forever staring up towards the ceiling. There were bruises everywhere and her head looked almost deformed it had so many concussions. There was no secret in how this woman had died, it was obviously head trauma. But, that wasn't the real answer. Who did it?

From behind her, a hand grasped her shoulders. Raven reacted on instinct; she summoned her powers and threw the person down before they could react. Her eyes met her attacker's with coldness, her hands were held up for self-defense but when she saw the person, Raven quickly stopped. She relaxed momentarily, her coldness now a glare. "Cyborg! Don't sneak up on me."

Cyborg winced and rubbed his arm. "Yeah…okay. I'm sorry. Dang girl, when I thought you were in trouble I didn't realize you would body slam me into the floor. What did I ever do to you?"

"My apologies" Raven said quickly. "Considering the circumstances, I thought you were this poor woman's murderer. It would not be an unlikely situation. Besides, when I summoned you and Beast Boy here, I was unsure if the message went through. I had presumed I was still alone."

She held out her hand and helped Cyborg up. The guy smiled gratefully and the two walked around. Cyborg studied the girl, taking digital pictures and began looking around the cylinder room. Being as tall as he was, Cyborg was bent down while he walked, his head barely missing the ceiling. When he left the room, Raven followed quietly behind. "So what do we do now?"

Cyborg looked at her in surprise. "We call the police of course. This is a murder case, not some old lady's stolen purse. We'll let the professionals take care of it. Besides, we need to find Beast Boy so we can tell Robin what's up. The dude sent us here. Obviously he was on to something."

Raven raised an eyebrow. "I was thinking this was more of a coincidence. Robin just wanted to go on a date with Starfire…remember? I seriously doubt he had any clue to what's going on."

"Don't be so sure Raven." Cyborg shrugged. "There's always more to the story. I mean sure he probably did want us out of the way but this? This is pretty big. I think Robin was maybe on to something. The guy has some great instincts, you know. I wouldn't put it past him."

Raven snorted. "Yeah, he has instincts all right."

Standing outside the cylinder room, it did not take long for Beast Boy to join them. He had tripped much like Raven on the last stair but he took it in better stride. Half running/half tripping over his own two feet, Beast Boy came over, panting when he got to them.

"Dudes! What's going on?" He asked. "You look like you saw the ghost and I…"

Beast Boy stopped and stared at the blood on Raven's boot. It was splattered along the hem of her robe and along her leg. His eyes widened and he got real pale. "Is that…is that really blood?"

Raven looked down at her clothes and shrugged. "Yeah, it is. Why?"

"Oh…no reason." Beast Boy sputtered. He put his hand to his head and wavered for a second before collapsing dramatically to the floor, leaving Raven and Cyborg staring at him with surprise. "Did Beast Boy actually faint?" Cyborg asked, dumbfounded.

"Yes, I believe he just did." Raven deadpanned.