Instincts: A Roven Story

Chapter 11: Revival

I ran to her body. Tears fell from my eyes as I clutched her to my chest. "Raven..." I mumbled over and over again. "Raven come back..." I heard a throat clear behind me. One of Raven's sisters, the oldest, stepped forward. "I-I.. I'll replace her." She stuttered before holding her head high. I was about to scream at her that no one could ever replace Raven when I caught a glimpse of her father and sibling's faces. "You will do nothing of the sort." Vlad, Ravens brother's voice was cold and commanding. "But-" Vlat cut her off. "This is best Evangeli. It's the chance we've been waiting for. Finally our family name dies." Vlad said with a small smile filled with sorrow. He then began walking towards Raven. "No." The monster spoke up for the first time. "I must save her." Vlad and his father stood eye to eye glaring at each other. "There is another way." They looked at each other a bit longer before with a movement so quick I couldn't see it the beast had grabbed his wife and sunk his fangs into her neck. She barely had time to call out before the blood drained from her body and her pale skin became paper white. As quick as her father another daughter called Devera pulled a small vial containing a glowing purple liquid from her pocket. "Faster!" Vlad hissed at his sister. In a flash she had bit the new corpses finger and squeezed a few drops of the little blood left in its body into the vial. She corked the top and began shaking it violently. The liquid began to glow brighter and turned to a shade of magenta. Devera almost had the vial to Ravens lips when he appeared.

"Get out of here Slade." I hissed. He gave me a smile. "Sorry Robin but I cannot allow you to undo my work." A fight broke out. In the chaos the vial went flying. Seconds before it shattered against the ground a black light of sorts caught it. I'd seen that mystical force before. Everyone turned to look at Raven's dead body but it remained cold, still, and lifeless. Standing behind her stood a figure in one of Raven's signature deep blue cloaks. Her face was covered so her identity was unknown. The vial made its way to her hand. Slade dived for it but the monster caught him by the throat. "It's time for you to die. And this time you'll stay dead." He growled. He snapped Slade's neck like a doves and dropped him to the ground. I could now turn my attention back to the figure holding the vial. Evangeli had already run to her and was examining it while Devera held the others back. Something was clearly wrong if Devera wouldn't let anyone know what was going on. The beast was at his oldest daughters side in a flash.

"This isn't happening..." I heard him mumble. "We can try Slade's?" Evangeli had tears in her eyes. "No... It wouldn't work. He had died once before already..." The monster sighed. I caught a glimpse of the vial. It was no longer glowing. Once it interacts with the blood it must only last a small time. The cloaked figure cleared their throat. "If I may interject." A female spoke in a clearly false accent. "What?" The freak hissed at her. She remained calm and walked over to me. I backed away slowly. "Don't be afraid." She caught my arm and held the vial to my cheek. That's when I realized I had tears falling. Once a few dripped into the vial it began to glow with a brighter intensity than before. She immediately turned around and walked back to Raven's corpse. "A little trick she had shown me... Honest tears can reactivate the serum. But for a very short time only." She poured every drop of the liquid into Raven's mouth.

We were back at the large castle. Raven lay on the couch, still unconscious, but breathing, alive. The cloaked figure stood guard over her. Her identity was still unknown. She rarely spoke and when she did she used a fake accent.

I began to feel a surge of energy and the urge to vomit. That's when Raven sat up and began to hurl all over the floor next to her. The unknown woman brought her a glass of water. "Thanks Natasha." Raven smiled up at her. Slowly the figure removed her hood. "Not a problem Rave." A very real Russian accent left the figure- Natasha's mouth. "Ah I should've known." The monster walked in with a smile on his face. He then turned to me. "You know Robin. If you really trained your connection with Raven you would be able to use some of her powers. Just like Natasha can." I was more shocked by his kind tone towards me than the fact that I have access to power.

It was mid afternoon the next day when everyone went to bed. Everyone except Raven and I. Death really energized her and I fed off that energy. "So Rave... Do you know how Slade found you?" I asked her. She remained quiet just staring out at the surrounding forest. "Raven?" I prodded her. Finally she nodded. "I just can't believe they would be that cold hearted towards me... I'd been nothing but nice to them... And they stabbed me in the back." She turned and looked me in the eyes. Tears rolled off her cheeks. "It's someone you've met Robin."