Damian and Raven - One Shots

#10 - Stay

Dark.

Complete and utter darkness. Raven tried to yell but no sound was heard, it was as if her voice was ripped from her body. The air was different, thick. She struggled to get wisps of it, feeling her lungs burn with an excruciating heat with each breath. A strange sense of terror flooded her as a scarlet light materialized in the seemingly endless darkness. Raven felt herself move towards it without her consent, it felt wrong. Somewhere, she knew that she should be as far away from it as possible, but her body trudged on of its own occurrence. There she stood, catching a glimpse of herself bathed in the burning light.

Blood.

She was covered in blood. Panic seeped into her veins as she violently tried to wipe the gleaming liquid off her arms, but as much as she tried it continued to conceal her flesh, which she came to realize, was red.

"Raven"

A voice so soothing, so familiar called out to her. Suddenly, she was bathed in a different light as a comforting smile appeared in front of the empath. Her heart stilled as she faced a woman she had held so dear to her heart, her mother. Pale arms reached out to Raven attempting to embrace her, tears formed in her eyes. Something in the back of her mind knew this wasn't right but was silenced by her desire to be held by her mother again, to feel safe and loved like she had been so long ago. Raven reached out to her, desperate to feel her mother's love again, but it was wrong. As soon as she touched her that feeling dissolved, replaced by an emotion Raven knew so well...guilt.

"It's your fault, you did this."

Her mother's voice had changed, it was darker, tinged with hatred. Raven felt herself back away to look at her mother's face again. It was the same beautiful face she remembered but different somehow, her eyes held no light, her smile replaced by a fowl snarl as she stared at her in...in disdain? Raven felt pain pierce her chest, her lip quivered as she tried to apologize, say that she never meant to hurt her. But nothing came out, her voice was gone.

"You're a burden, Raven." Her voice now completely changed, it was inhuman, almost...evil, "You never mean to hurt anyone, but you can't help it. You are a part of him. You can't fight it, it's in your blood, Raven. You will hurt them, just like you hurt me."

The scene changed, her mother's face distorting before she disappeared into the darkness. She was looking at herself, watching four eyes gleam in a vile way as she stood over...bodies? Horror burned every cell in her as she recognized every one of their faces, Kori, Jaime, Garfield, Dick....Damian. It felt as if her lungs collapsed and her heart stopped entirely.

Dead.

This scene engraved itself into her mind, the blood on her hands, their lifeless bodies scattered in front of her, the evil radiating from herself as she looked at them in...disgust. Her teammates, her family. "You will be the death of them, Raven. You can't stop it."

Violet eyes burst open as she jolted awake, breathing heavy and sweating onto her sheets. She stared into the darkness of her room, You can't stop it. Tears pooled in her eyes as images replayed in her mind. Raven pulled her knees to her chest, tears burning down her face as she thought about their blood that stained her hands, his blood. No. She would stop it, she wasn't going to let herself hurt them, hurt him.

"I have to leave.''

She whispered it to herself, something about saying it aloud made it seem all the more real. She quickly pushed herself off the bed, afraid that if she didn't do it now her thoughts would change her mind. The old bag she had in the back of the closet was harshly thrown to her bed. It was ironic really. That same bag carried what little belongings she had when she first came to the Titans. Now, it was going to carry her belongings as she left. Where will you go? What are you going to do? She hadn't the slightest idea, all she did know was she couldn't stay and put them in danger.