Authors notes: Updated 22/June/2020

Book 10

The Abyss Gazes Back

The Doctor has left Raven to investigating a mysterious creature, which is terrorising the forests around Devils End. While investigating Raven is starting to grow an attachment to her own companion, a boy called Russel Hopkins. However, three girls seem to share an intense dislike for the boy and have tried warning Raven away from him.

Does this drama mean anything? Possibly. Does it have a connection to the creature in the forest? Possibly. Does it mean nothing at all? Also, possibly. But Raven eventually thinks she's found out who the bad guy is, but is she prepared the Abyss?

And what the heck is the Doctor doing while all this is going on in her life?!

Chapter 72

Stalked

The floor boards above them creaked and groaned as the thing stomped across the main hall. Dust fell from the rafters in the ceiling as the thing moved around unseen. Whatever was upstairs it wasn't the Doctor, Raven was sure of that. In fact, she was also sure it wasn't human. No human made footfalls so big.

Cautiously, Raven and Russel got up and opened a door into the next room. It creaked a little, but not loud enough to be heard upstairs. The pair then froze as the stomping above came back. More dust fell from the ceiling. The thing was right above them!

Raven's heart began to beat faster. Her powers stirred, but she tried to keep them under control. She tried to focus her mind on something else. The room, what else was in the room?

There was an open cupboard, empty. There was a strange marking in the brickwork of the floor, which made it look like a room had once been there and had been torn down. The place was still dark and kind of creepy looking, but not in a way that put Raven's mind at ease.

She felt Russel's fear. He was frightened, moving very cautiously, breathing very heavily and slowly. She almost thought less of him. That was until the stomping brought home that she felt that way too. Subconsciously, the two teens stood closer to each other.

"We'll wait for him to go upstairs." Russel whispered, assuming it was human. "Then we break for it."

Raven didn't like that plan, it sounded too hasty and anything could go wrong. Russel looked at Raven's face for a second, and briefly looked confused, like he couldn't see her face properly or was examining her.

"Have you got any better ideas?" Russel asked.

Use my powers, phase through the wall and escape. Was Raven's suggestion, but because of her self-imposed rule of no magic she had few other ideas.

The thing moved over to one side of the room, near the entrance to the basement!

The way it moved around gave Raven the impression it didn't live here, nor was it familiar with the layout. It moved like it was deliberately searching for something, or someone.

Russel then moved over to the stairs and hid in a cubbyhole underneath them, he gestured for Raven to follow. She did. Presumably once the thing was down here it'd hopefully go into the next room with all the papers and once it was distracted they could rush up the stairs and be out of here. Hopefully, it didn't have the sense to lock the front door.

As Raven crossed over the remains of the once hidden room something strange began to happen to her. It was like a fog was closing over Raven's mind. She felt dizzy! She clutched her head. There was a massive psychic wound here and she was susceptible to it. Screams, she felt countless screams in her head! For a moment she was on the Titanic again, for a moment she was at the end of the world again. Children's screaming, it was almost unbearable. No, scratch that, it 'was' unbearable.

For a second the world came into focus. She was surrounded by wood. She was in a wooden crate of some kind. Laying down, with dirt falling between the boards.

She was buried alive!

Pain! Pain exploded in her mind!

Raven screamed in agony and utter terror.

Raven awoke with a start. She tried to move, but something was wrapped around her restricting her movements, and there was something tightly clamped across her face. She tried to struggle, but whatever it was had a tight hold on her. She was also, still in a wooden crate, still buried alive!

"Shhh!" hushed a familiar voice. It was Russel, his face next to hers. She now realised it was his arms wrapped tightly around her with his hand clamped over her mouth.

He has his arms around me! Raven was about to protest as he slowly removed his hand from her mouth, but that thought was put out of her mind when she heard the thing stomping around just outside their wooden hiding place, which she guessed was the cupboard in the corner.

The footsteps came towards them. Raven wrapped her arms around something for comfort. She heard the door fling open, but no door opened. She clearly felt the thing interacting with the cupboard, searching it for them. It banged the door shut and one wall of their hiding place rocked and it came away at the join a little so a small gap appeared. That's when Raven understood. This cupboard had a false back and they were hiding behind it.

The creature stomped around a little longer before giving up and retreating upstairs. Raven felt herself relax a little, releasing the breath she was holding. Russel did the same.

"You can remove your arms from me now." Raven instructed to Russel.

"You first." Russel said, "seriously, you're hurting me." As her brain came back into focus she realised, yes, she did have her arms around Russel and she was squeezing him quite tightly. Slowly, they released each other from their embrace.

"Shall we get out of here?" Russel said at last, and Raven felt thankful that he did.

"Yeah, lets." And Russel pushed open a second door on the opposite side of the one the creature wrenched open. The cupboard didn't so much have a false back as it had two doors, like it was two cupboards put back to back. The two teens didn't get a chance to examine it further, their energies were too focused on getting away. They could hear the creature stomping around upstairs.

Was this the same manifestation as in the forest? Raven wondered. That one never made a noise in the forest as it came lumbering after Russel and Raven before. Unless it's starting to manifest and become more solid. Some psychic projections can do that, become more solid.

Slowly, Russel reached back for Raven, but she refused to take his hand. She didn't need comforting. Russel reached back again, fishing for Raven's hand. For a second, she was tempted to take it, but no.

"Let's move." Raven said, walking around him and taking the lead. Hey, she wasn't going to wait around.

Slowly, she ascended the stairs making sure not to make a sound which might alert the creature.

"You're not going to space out again, are you?" Russel asked as he brought up the rear. Raven, normally, would've said a rather snappy comment to that. But some voice in her head told her to stop.

It'll push him away. That's what you want, right? Her mind asked.

I don't know anymore.

Raven took the handle of the door and gently she pushed it open. She almost freaked when she saw a face staring back at her through the crack in the door. But she relaxed when the flat painting didn't move or blink.

It was a copy of one of those famous paintings. What was it called? The 'Scream?' Raven didn't dwell on it, she just pushed the door open and emerged from under the main stairs and back in the main reception.

She hesitated before moving forwards, holding Russel back. She was right to, as she watched something blot out the light from the windows as it stomped past. This wasn't like the invisible monster, this thing had a tangible substance to it. It was also big, and muscly and it stomped around like it was in a constant state of tension. It also had its arms crossed over itself like it was defensive.

It began stomping up the stairs. Again, more dust fell from the ceiling onto the teens heads. It then began to walk down the corridor they'd gone earlier towards the hole Russel had caused when he fell through.

When they were both sure it was gone they moved over to the main door and pushed. But it wouldn't move.

"Door knob!" Russel hissed.

"I tried it both ways!" Raven hissed back!

Russel ushered Raven out of the way and tried the knob himself. He then tried putting his shoulder to the door, once, twice, three times. All it succeeded in doing was making a noise.

The teen stood back and swung his foot at the doors. He yelped in pain and stumbled feeling his right ankle.

The stomping was coming closer, and it was hurried. The thing was coming back.

The only other place to go would be the kitchen, maybe there would be a back door. But before Raven could grab her companion he'd risen up and struck out again at the door with the flat of his foot, his face a mask of utter concentration. The door, surprisingly, burst open with such a loud splintering, followed by a rush of air blowing out. Raven didn't have time to question this as the two teens ran out of the house, down the porch and towards the gate, which looked like it had been ripped from its hinges.

Raven looked back and saw the lumbering, giant creature squeezing through the outer door to come after them. The pair just ran, and ran, and ran. The sky was a dull red with sunset and light was fast vanishing. Down the trail they went, their hearts beating a mile a minute, too scared to look back to check if they were being followed. Raven was too preoccupied trying to keep her powers under control, they wanted to break out and do something.

Russel was hobbling a little on his damaged leg, but his flight response was far greater than his pain receptors.

They were down by the river and still trying to outrun the creature they were sure was still after them until Russel pushed his way through a bush and vanished, straight down. Raven stopped herself and nearly joined Russel in falling down the steep hole in the ground, freshly dug. As Raven straightened herself up the soft soil at her feet suddenly gave way. She skidded down the incline with more grace than Russel did, only tripping up when she came to a sudden halt at the bottom.

The two laid in the dirt trying to catch their breath as their minds calmed down from the exertion of their flight from the Orphanage. There was no sign nor indication the creature was still after them. But still, they laid in the mud together and waited to make sure it was okay to move.

Any sense of the awkwardness of this moment, them being so close together, was lost on the pair of them since their brains were more focused on other things.

Slowly, Raven raised herself up and crawled up to the edge of this hole and peered over the side. They were in the clear. They both crawled out of the hole, but the tension was still there. The sun was going down, making the forest less inviting, but that didn't mean the creature wasn't still out there, looking for them.

Russel moved past and tried to urge Raven on with a gentle shove on her shoulders. She didn't mind that he was ushering her forwards, but something in his expression suggested something. Raven looked back just in time to see a mound of dirt dug from the hole vanish behind the bushes. A mound of dirt with an empty wooden crate propped on the side of it, the lid missing.

The two teens walked on. Russel now had his hands to himself and they had found a road that would take them back to Devils End. The pair were now filthy, covered in dirt and muck. They were still on high alert in case that creature came for them again, but at least they'd have even ground to run along and plenty of opportunity to duck into any of the trees either side of the road to find a hiding spot.

"What was that thing?" Russel finally asked, breaking the silence.

"I think it's that thing we saw yesterday." Raven said.

"But we could see it, the monster from yesterday was invisible."

"I think its a manifestation, and its becoming more solid by the day." Raven explained. Russel questioned further and Raven had to continue explaining. "It's a psychic imprint." Raven said, not sure how to better explain it. What would the Doctor do? Come up with a simple explanation. "It's like someone pressing their foot into the sand and leaving a foot print. Press again and it becomes deeper and deeper."

"So, you're saying something is pressing that creature into our reality?" Russel suggested. Raven came to a stop and looked at him. He seemed to have caught on quite quickly, though his tone suggested ridicule. Raven told him this, as well as calling out his tone of voice.

"I said I used to watch science fiction TV shows. You know, Professor X, Star Wars and all that." Russel explained.

Perhaps TV does some people some good. Raven thought, if it could get someone to understand the complexities of multi-dimensional psychic anomalies then maybe... Oh God, I'm becoming the Doctor!

"So you believe me?" Raven asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No." Russel said rather bluntly. "I mean, it is a fantastic story." He was a sceptic and an atheist so she knew he'd doubt her. She couldn't fault that thinking. Remain neutral until you could prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Raven didn't know why she did what she did, but she reached out with her powers, took Russel by his torso and lifted him up. It took him a couple of seconds to register what had just happened, but he was astonished to find himself floating in mid-air, a dark shimmer gripping his torso. Raven moved around into his point of view, her hand held out to indicate she was doing this.

"No strings attached." Raven said as she made the teen do a somersault in the air. Before putting him down again. The look on Russel's face was honestly a relief for Raven to see. He began feeling his body for something, anything to explain this rationally. Raven's frown straightened a little with satisfaction.

"Do it again." He said. This time Raven spread her arms and began to levitate off the ground, her feet dangling as her core lifted her up. With her left arm she reached down to Russel and called him up to her.

"How are you doing this?" Russel asked as his feet dangled in mid-air.

"Because I'm a witch." Raven said, she disliked the word, but it best described what it was. "I have powers you can't comprehend." Russel looked around as they floated a good five meters above the road.

"But… why didn't you use these powers on the creature?" Russel asked, his attention back on her. He looked up at her floating form that hovered a few heads higher than he was.

"Long story, explain later." Raven said simply as she lowered the pair of them down to the ground again. "Convinced?" She expected him to be stubborn, he wasn't.

"What else can you do?" He asked, he sounded utterly fascinated now. Raven shrugged.

"Lots of things." She said, "I like to experiment."

"I bet you do." Russel added laughing. He was taking this all in his stride, or appeared to be. Raven could sense in his brain that he was freaking out over this revelation. His brow then dropped.

"You're not controlling my mind, are you?" Strange thing for him to ask.

"Why would I do that?" Raven questioned. Russel shrugged and shook his head.

"Never mind." She looked at him for a good few seconds trying to read him, but his body language was strange in a kind of way she couldn't read. But she did notice him rubbing his fingers together roughly, a sign of nervousness?

"If I'd wanted to hurt you I'd have done it a long time ago." Raven reassured him. "You see, I don't need your protection."

"Then why did you let me come along? You could've stopped me." Russel asked.

"Long story."

"We've got a lot of time." Russel said nodding at the long road ahead, but Raven stayed numb lipped as they began walking together again. Russel was walking even closer to Raven now. She didn't mind. She just expected that revelation to push him away, mortals usually didn't like what they couldn't explain. She could tell Russel had other questions, but kept them to himself, which she appreciated.

"You don't…." Raven began to speak after a while, "you're not…" she didn't quite know what she wanted to say, "You don't think I'm 'weird'?"

"Oh no, you're definitely weird." He said with a smile.

"Not that kind of weird!" Raven sighed, "I mean like repulsive." Russel's head cocked to one side like he didn't understand. "I'm different. I have magic. Doesn't it scare you that I have the power to crush you like a bug?"

Russel thought for a second before answering, "Is that something you're likely to do to me?" Raven looked down, she didn't know. Russel's head entered her field of vision as he lent over at an awkward angle.

"I promise to stop making stupid jokes." Raven shook her head as her frown straightened.

"Why aren't you scared?" She asked as Russel straightened back up again.

"You saved my life when you didn't have to. Why should I be scared of you?" He asked. Raven looked away.

"You will be." She said ominously. "You will be."

"Whatever you say, Master Yoda."

Who? She questioned in her head, but didn't say anything. She was so used to mortals being frightened of her power. But now that she thought of it, the Doctor wasn't scared, Armstrong wasn't scared, Kasey wasn't scared, and now Russel. So maybe she shouldn't always assume people are going to be scared of her. After a little longer walking in silence Raven found herself questioning her own actions. Showing her powers to Russel.

I won't use my powers to protect myself, but I'll use them to show off to a boy? Raven thought, What the hell is wrong with me? If her powers flew out of control at the wrong moment she might have hurt him. As Raven thought, she realised she hadn't done it for the sake of impressing him. But why? Why did she want to show him her powers? What would be the point of that? She felt like she already knew the answer to that, yet consciously it remained elusive. All she knew is that it wasn't for the sake of showing off, yet showing him did set her mind at ease. God, I must just be a hypocrite. She thought.

"So," Russel started again, "How does it work? Your powers?"

"I don't know." She really didn't and she wanted to stop speaking of it, but her mouth continued. "It's something to do with drawing power from the soul."

"So the soul is a real thing?" Raven forgot the guy was an agnostic atheist.

"Or what we call a soul, at least. It's where my power comes from. Everybody has one. A spiritual essence that lets you interact with the fabric of reality. But most can't tap into that power and use it."

"So I have one?" Russel asked.

"Yes." Raven said simply. Russel looked totally blown away. But not in a world shattering way. It was like a child had just discovered there was a larger world beyond his own understanding.

"So, is there a God?" He asked. That was a bit of a tricky question to answer from Raven's perspective.

"I know you're an atheist, so I won't insult your intelligence. I think there is one, but I don't have any real, tangible proof. Just a feeling." Raven had read books by atheists and did think that their doubt was reasonable. "But Satan, the Devil." Raven stopped and looked directly at him with a dark look to her eyes. "He certainly is real."

Raven could swear that Russel's face was turning white with worry. "Are we talking literally, or figuratively?"

Raven sighed in a way that released tension in her lungs. She honestly felt her father truly was Satan, though that technically wasn't completely accurate. Russel was looking at her, wanting an answer. She could lie, keep him scared.

"No, not really." Raven said, "But he's close enough." She added ominously. But it didn't have nearly the same reaction on Russel. They walked in the dark in silence for a good few minutes before Russel asked another question.

"if you can do magic, what was with that naff 'penny behind the ear' trick?"

It wasn't long before a shape loomed out of the darkness ahead of them, parked at the side of the road. The familiar back end of that bubble like purple car parked by the side of the road. Raven was almost relieved to see that purple VW beetle. That was until it's engine fired up, its lights came on and it began driving away into the darkness. Raven wanted to call out to the Doctor, but she breathed in some black smoke that fired out of the back of the car when it started up, so rather than shout she ended up in a coughing fit. There was no way that car was good for the environment.

That was the Doctor's car alright, but something odd caught Raven's eye. There appeared to be a passenger in the car, on the backseat with him.

What the heck was the Doctor doing?!

To Be Continued...

Authors notes: I am still updating the story. If the next chapter doesn't say it's been updated after 22/06/2020 then the rest of the arc won't make narrative sense.

Please bare with me while I continue to update the arc. All updates will be finished when I post a brand new chapter to the story.