Chapter 5: Dreams

Raven watched the scar from the mirror. Her right hand tracing the edge of the scar. Her mind flashed with the memories of what happened.

"Your day ends, hunter! You will bow to my feet like your team mates has before." Slade had yelled before their fight began. "Weak, yet stronger than other hunters." Was the last things she heard him say.

Raven cursed to herself, she knew better than to turn her back to a vampire. She was so confused. She was supposed to hate Jason and everything he was, but after he said he wasn't a full blood vampire she couldn't help but feel something. Something had grown in the depths of her black heart.

Raven had never acknowledges love. It was a waste of time, energy, and protection. Having someone who matter in life would just put them in danger. Love was out of her reach to grasp.

Raven sighed before dropping her arms to her side. When she had gotten back to her room she had removed the dress as fast as she could. Now, standing there in her underwear, she was looking at herself in the mirror. Scars were all over her body. Usually, Raven would avoid looking herself in the mirror, just for this reason. Her scars, her battle scars. They weren't fun to look at, no, it was painful. Reliving the memories and visions of what happened and what could have happened.

Raven shook her head and covered herself with a blanket. She didn't want to do anything, maybe just lie down and die. Maybe it was for the best, she had done all she could to protect Gotham from vampires. So many years of her life that she would never get back, years she could have gone studying to become… She didn't know what she wanted to do outside the hunting. It was a brief moment in her life when she picked up ink and paper to draw. It was fun, but it came in the way of her job. How? She became too passionate and sometimes lost track of time.

Raven sat down in the bed and looked out the open window. Her sleeping pattern had changed since she came. That night Jason brought her to his home, something within her just snapped into having her asleep in the day and awake in the night.

She looked out the window as the sun began to sink behind the fields. Jason told her how the castle wasn't visible during the day. At first she was confused, but she ended up understanding.

Raven turned her vision to her palm, the one she cut to make the deal with Jason. There was no evidence of the cut since it was a magic cut, but the feeling was still there in her palm. She remembered the slight pain, but also the slight comfort in it. The cuts in her and Jason's palms were under their skin. Magic had their strange ways, Raven thought to herself.

Laying down in the bed she locked her eyes on her palm, she wanted to see the cut again, but it wouldn't be visible for a long time.

xXx

It was a dream. It had to be. She knew it was a dream since she would never in her life let Jason this close to her body. She found herself in his chest, unable to move. They were both naked, which shocked Raven the most, but the fact that she felt comforted was strange. She wanted to pull away and yell at him, but her body refused to move.

"What are you thinking about, Little Bird?" He asked. His voice was lustful and dangerous.

"N-Nothing…" She whispered, her voice was timid, like something traumatizing had just happened and she was reliving the memory.

"You're lying. I can tell. You're shaking, are you cold?" He asked.

"No, I'm not cold…" Lie. She was cold, but there was warmth in his chest and she could hear his heart. At first she was confused by the fact that his heart was beating and that he had a heart. "I'm not lying either, I'm just…"

"Just what?"

"Confused."

"Oh?"

Raven was about to say that she didn't like to have him this close, naked of all things! But her body, yet again, said what she didn't want. "About us, we're not normal… You're a half-vampire… I'm a-" The word she spoke was somehow blurred and she couldn't make out what she said.

Jason turned, making her fall on her back, her hands moved to cover herself, but Jason stopped them. Kissing the back of her hand as he let it fall to the side of her head. "Raven, we're different, yes, but that's not stopping us." Raven's eyes travelled down his face, to his neck, to his chest, lower… Lower… She blushed. Jason's hand found her chin and lifted her head to meet his gaze. "I promise, I know when to keep a treasure."

He kissed her, Raven wanted to break it but, again, her body was not in her control. Her body grew warm and she felt a tingle in her lower stomach. Her legs began to shake underneath him. He kissed the top of her head as he muttered in a low almost faded tone "- love you…"

xXx

Raven hadn't been allowed to witness the rest of the dream. She woke up sweating, her heart beating, her skin burning. What was that? She asked herself. When did such a thought reach her mind? Why? Why and how did it reach her mind?

While Raven sat in the bed angry at herself for thinking about anything that had to do with Jason, Jason himself sat in his own bed angry and confused at why he had a sexual dream about Raven.

When did that happened? Jason asked himself. He shook his head, no, he couldn't think like that…. yet.

xXx

Jason looked at Raven from across the table, she was thinking about something. It bugged him. She was holding something back from him, the bond told him. "Raven?" She looked up and gave quite 'hm?'. Jason looked into her eyes, wanting to be able to tell if she lied. "You're hiding something from me, I can tell."

Raven swallowed a piece of the pancakes that laid on her plate decorated with ice cream, cream, strawberries, blueberries, and chocolate. "I'm not going to lie, since I know you would be able to tell." She lifted a napkin to her mouth and wiped away the remains of chocolate from her lips. "I am hiding something, but I will not tell." She spat out the last part with anger.

"I'm just trying to help." Jason defended.

Raven's eyes narrowed before she stood from the table. She couldn't handle being in the same room as him at the moment. "I will not tell, thank you for the food, I will be in my room." She stomped off.

Jason grumbled something under his breath, a few curses and a comment about women behaviour. Sighing he looked at the remaining food, he wasn't food hungry tonight. He felt his fangs with his tongue, they were blood thirsty. Jason's original plan was that Raven would fall for him much sooner, but no, stubborn as a goat. He knew that he couldn't go out to drink blood because of the promise, but how long could he hold himself.

Jason grumbled under his breath. He knew Raven wasn't about to give him her blood, he didn't have any of his spare, so either he would have to convince her or steal from her. Both he knew was impossible. Raven hated him too much to just give him her blood. He couldn't steal from her because he knew she would put up a fight, a hard fight.

Deciding that he was not going to take her blood, he went down to the wine cellar of the castle to look for a rat or two, it would have to do.

xXx

Raven pushed the curtain separating the bedroom from the living space. Her nine year old form looked around in the darkness. She had heard something from the outside of the house, Raven and her mother lived on the go, in a small carriage like house pulled by two horses. The house was two roomed, the bedroom and the living room with the small kitchen combined.

Raven walked to the back of the house and carefully opened the door. It was a foggy night, she knew what that meant. Looking back in the living room she pulled one of the silver knives from underneath the small sofa. She held it shakingly in her hands, she really didn't have any experiment with killing. Her mother had promise to train her when she turned ten. Which wasn't until a few months.

Raven stepped outside in the fog, there was a little light coming from the candle hanging next to the door. She noticed that the carriage wasn't moving, which was strange since her mother usually moved at night.

"Mom?" Raven whispered, something could be out there and she didn't want to put attention on herself.

There was a low muffled scream nearby a tree. Raven yelped and looked towards the tree. "M-Mom?" She asked again. Stupidly she began to walk towards it, the knife held tightly against her chest. She rounded the thick tree and found someone holding her mother's mouth while their teeth were digged into her throat.

Arella looked Raven in the eyes, begging her to run. The vampire was busy holding her mother to notice that the little girl was sneaking around him. One of his hands were holding her mother's and the other was locked over her mouth.

He gasped and released Arella as Raven's silver knife cut into his back. The vampire fell to the ground next to the two girls. Arella fell to her knees, drained, her eyes were clouded and her hand was holding the still bleeding wound.

"Mom?" Raven asked as she helped Arella lie down in the moss. "Mom, what happened?" She asked.

"He attacked…" Her voice was almost gone, it was weak and begging for air and healing. "Raven… You need to listen. I know I will not survive much longer, you will have to stay strong, stay strong for me… And whatever you do in life, if you choose to follow my stupid path, or if you choose to become a doctor… I will always love you…" Arella kissed Raven's cheek as tears began to fall from her eyes.

"Mommy," She was desperate, she usually didn't call her mother 'mommy' it was always 'mom' or 'mother'. "Don't leave me." Raven's eyes began to tear up.

"You're strong, Raven…" Arella gasped for air as she pushed some of Raven's hair behind her ear. "Go to Gotham, you will find something there… I will watch you, I will protect you, I will be by your side… Even though you cannot see me. I promise, Raven… I will be with you…" Arella's eyes began to roll to the side and her chest stopped rising.

"Mom?" Raven asked, tears were falling from her eyes. "Mom!?" She yelled. "Mommy please!" She begged before she lost it. She fell to her mother's chest and cried. She cried. She cried her heart and soul out.

After what felt like an hour of crying, she looked up at the dead vampire next to her mother. Her eyes filled with hate as she looked at the disgusting creature. She growled before looking at the bloody silver knife in his back. Leaving her mother for a second she walked up to the monster, she pulled out the knife. Her aim had been at the monster's heart, but she hadn't reached it. Her senses told her to slit the monster's throat for something told her that if she left now that monster would come back.

She turned the body with her small hands. The monster had his eyes closed. Raven placed the knife at the monster's throat and cut. She didn't even flinch when the monster jumped before falling limp. Her senses had been right. She dug the knife deeper, the blade reached the neck bones and almost forced her to stop. She knew it was dead by now, but she didn't stop. There was a snapping sound and the sound of blood dripping to the ground.

"You deserve it…" She whispered. "... All of you do…"

Rising from the ground, she felt weak for a second before she found strength. She pulled her mother's body towards the carriage. She was NOT going to let her mother rest next to that monster, she deserved a proper burial. Or at least somewhere she could be in peace.

It was just six weeks later that Raven stood in front of the wooden cross under a willow tree outside Gotham. She didn't have money to buy her mother a gravestone, she needed the money for food. She apologized for the poor grave but it was better than just leaving her with a monster next to her.

Raven had parked the carriage next to her mother's grave. For a year she killed vampires around Gotham, she did take good care of things, she knew how to survive. It was that year later when Maribelle found her. Raven had killed a vampire in the city, and the woman had followed the black hooded girl to her home.

The woman had knocked on the wooden carriage door after seeing Raven enter it. She had thought she needed to talk to her parents, but when the girl opened the door she asked and Raven pointed to the grave. Raven didn't like Maribelle at first. Maribelle came by every day after that, she wanted to take Raven home to herself. That only made Raven hate her more.

"You don't have to be here, I can handle myself." Raven had said.

"Dear, you are only eight." Maribelle said as Raven stuffed another piece of meat into her mouth.

"Nine, ten in three months." She commented. "My mom taught me how to survive since I was able to walk. I know what I'm doing."

"I came back here with you wounded, your leg was half off." Maribelle argued.

"It will heal." She turned away from the woman. "I'll be fine."

Raven had always been that stubborn. It was her second nature. Of course Raven had ended up in Maribelle's care, as long as she lived that is.

xXx

It's late and I'm bored… Maybe writing crap can help…