Beneath The Mask

Chapter 9: Voices In My Head

  It had been two days since the fight with Tylaia Valinque. Grayson, Todd and Drake had decided to stay a couple days later at the Manor to wrap up the case of the odd villain, and had left as soon as possible with their girlfriends. Damian had been secretly relieved, except for Grayson leaving. They'd said their formal farewells, ending with Grayson – Damian cringed at the thought– hugging him. Everything had gone back to normal, or as normal as a life in Gotham could be. But something was bothering Damian ever since the fight with Tylaia. She'd done something to his mind, and the effects were beginning to take place.

He'd woken up that morning, feeling slightly dizzy and nauseous. But, him being him, thought nothing of it and proceeded to prepare for school like the stubborn son of a Wayne he is. He'd packed his bag already and was making his way to the car when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He spun around in the heel of his foot and looked up into the eyes of his father.

"Remember, no beating people up this time," Father warned, but there was a twinkle in his eye.

"Yes, Father," Damian replied, offering a lazy salute.

Father just shook his head and opened the car door for him, and Damian climbed inside, Father shutting the door behind him. 'Stay safe,' his father mouthed. Damian rolled his eyes and returned his attention to Titus by his side, scratching in between the Great Dane's ears. Alfred started the car and drove off, all the while Damian dreading the inevitable attention he'd receive.

"Welcome back class," Mr Webs welcomed. A chorus of half-hearted groans of acknowledging echoed around the room, and the dark-haired teacher laughed. "Yes, I am aware that it is quite early. But be excited! Today we have a bit of study to do. Because soon, we're gonna have a test on the World Wars."

Another chorus of groans echoed around the room again, and Mr Webs simply laughed. "Hey, its not that bad. Open your textbooks and start studying guys."

Damian half-heartedly reached out to open his textbook, but stopped when a sharp burst of pain lanced through his skull. He winced, biting his lip to avoid any sound escaping him. He reached for his textbook again, but the small movement sent another sharp stabbing pain through his skull. He began massaging his temple in an attempt to ease the pain, but now it was just getting worse. It was now a dull throbbing pain in the edges of his conciousness, draining his energy and breaking his concentration.

Damian.

Damian jerked slightly in his seat, freezing on the spot. He glanced briefly around to see who had said his name, which was quite ridiculous, because he knew very well that the voice had come from inside his mind. He realised his heart was beating rapidly, and he took deep breaths to attempt to calm himself. It wasn't working.

Damian.

He sucked in a sharp breath, then put his head in his hands as the pain throbbing through his temple increased. There was an occasional hiss from the strange voice which constantly sent sharp spikes of pain shooting through his skull, but the voice itself was terrifying. It was almost that of his mother's, if his mother's sounded more like a viper hissing. His head was pounding, and his heart rate accelerated. He didn't know what was happening. And that wasn't good. Because he was beginning to panic.

He abruptly got up from his seat, causing a sharp jolt of pain to lance through his skull. He moved to exit the classroom, clutching his head and ignoring the voice of his teacher calling his name. He exited quickly and walked down the hall, clutching his head in his hands. He didn't know where he was going. He just had to get away, make the pain stop, make himself calm down...

He slid to the ground in an unknown hallway, clutching his head and gasping for breath. In the back of his mind he knew what was happening, but he couldn't calm down well enough to stop the symptoms.