The Darkness Within《TITANS》

Chapter 1

For eons, a darkness had seeped into the earth. Eloped itself with the very grains of produce. An invisible source inhabiting the shadows. Growing with every minute. Growing inside its own. Something it made for a single purpose.

"Did you have another nightmare?" Blue highlights hung over the girl's slender shoulders, watching her sister eat a bowl of Trix, a cup of coffee beside her. The purple-haired girl nodded, avoiding her sister's eyes.

"Did you girls get breakfast?" Their mother asked as she entered the kitchen, removing the cup from Rachel's reach. "You shouldn't drink coffee"

"You shouldn't smoke," the short haired girl retorted, earning a snort from her sister.

"I quit."

"No you didn't," the two said, Jordan rolling her eyes as she skipped a page through her comic. Captain America was one of her favorite classics. Melissa sighed exasperatedly, turning to the teens.

"I'm going to. Darn it. I forgot to get cream," she said, closing the fridge.

"You forgot to get everything." Rachel raised the empty bottle of orange juice. The woman buried her face in her hands, distressed for her lack of keeping up.

"Okay, I'm late. Can you girls take the bus to school again today?" The woman shuffled to get her coat.

"Sure."

"Okay." Melissa gave Rachel an appreciative glance, eyeing the nonchalant girl beside her.

"You never sleep anymore." Concern etched into her voice, Rachel watched her mother attentively, waiting for a reaction.

""No, not often," the woman chuckled, trying to ease the obvious rising thickness.

"Is it because you're scared of me?" Jordan shifted in her seat, sensing where this was going. She knew her mother was terrified of Rachel. Even she feared her. The blackened eyes always stuffing a cloud of terror over Rachel's own head. But she knew the girl would never have hurt them intentionally.

"I'm not scared of you, honey." Melissa smile, trying to be reassuring.

"I can tell when you're lying. I can feel it. You know I can." Hurt dangled in the girl's voice. Jordan sighed, closing her comic and grabbing her bag by her foot.

"I'm just gonna walk." She took her coat, halting at her sister's words.

"Even you're scared of me." The blue haired girl glanced at her sister, biting the inside of her lip.

"Barely," she said, a playful contemplation on her face, trying to ease the air. "I'll see you at school."

"Pray with me," Melissa urged to Rachel as the girl closed the front door. Prayers never worked. Not with Rachel. The troubled girl was born with a curse. A darkness over her soul. A soul damned to the devil.

***

"Ay, J-Dog." The girl was greeted with the heavenly scent of weed and perfume. She laughed, high fiving her friends, modelling on an invisible catwalk.

The rickety car creaked as she leaned on it. Graffiti and other mysterious substances splattered the rusty vehicle and the concrete walls that surrounded them. Grass grew almost to their knees, leaving the girl thankful for her cargo pants.

She took a hit from the blunt she had rolled up, looking around at the rundown building.

"How'd you even find this place?" She looked over at Victor, the latino boy laying relaxed on the hood of the vehicle. He didn't respond, simply looking up at the sky through the open floors, drool running down to his ear. She laughed, bringing the other two to look at the boy. Their stomachs hurt from laughter, taking pictures and telling him they respected his stance.