A/N: As mentioned before, warnings for OC character death, as well as depression and idle contemplation of suicide.

They told me that Simon died quickly and painlessly.

It was (stupid) brave of him, pushing Dee out of the way of a falling piece of ceiling. It didn't matter anyway. When they found her, her pelvis had been crushed and several organs had ruptured.

They didn't tell me that Dee died slowly and painfully. They didn't need to.

I didn't attend their funerals.

Instead, I found myself a place far outside the city limits and thought of coffins being lowered into the ground.

Power exploded outwards, grabbing, uprooting trees and snapping them while rocks were cleaved in two. Water boiled and exploded, spraying the ground, hissing into steam. Debris whirled as the world turned blurry and red and I felt the painpainpain I hate –

Bottling up emotions wasn't healthy, and I would feel much better after letting them out; every book I had read told me that.

When I came back to myself, I looked back on the broken landscape. I saw the jagged lines and harsh colors.

Everywhere you go, you cause destruction. This is what you were made for.

And I didn't feel any better.

-x-

I spent the days leading up to Christmas break in a haze.

The school was closed indefinitely. I had nowhere to be and no one to care.

I was numb.

This couldn't be sorrow, because sometimes I would forget myself and a bone deep pain lanced through me. These episodes were few and far between. It was mostly just numbness now. Things around me weren't breaking anymore, but this was hardly a better substitute.

An abyss of nothingness had taken over my chest. It rose up to swallow me if I let my guard down. I ate, sometimes. Mostly, I stared at a lot of nothing and tried not to get pulled under.

On Christmas Eve, I glanced over at the bird cage – briefly noted that the food dish and water feeder needed refilling – and saw a still form lying at the bottom of it. Mortimer was dead. It was fitting, in a morbid kind of way. I had killed him too, through my own inaction.

-x-

It hurt.

-x-

Sometimes I could hear someone whispering to me. Wallow in the depths that you have sunk to. Revel in this misery.

It sounded like him.

I couldn't bring myself to care.

Know your place. You are but an ant. Soon I will come for you and wipe all these petty concerns away, he crooned. Soon…

It almost scared me how easy it would be to accept what he was saying.

Your heart has already accepted this. Your mind will come to understand in time. Destruction is your future. Hatred is your destiny. Those two pathetic creatures were not worth the ground you step on.

…No.

No.

I wouldn't let him get to me. Not like this. Not while he was telling me such things and expecting me to go along with it. I still had a year let.

Not yet. Not this time.

Wretched, insignificant…!

But his voice was already fading away.

-x-

New Year's Eve brought with it no resolutions for me, no countdowns, no celebrations. It would have passed unremarked from one day to the next if I hadn't decided to go out. I meandered through the dark city, eventually finding myself at the dockside. I sat near the water and idly thought about jumping in. I wouldn't – there was no point – but there was no harm in thinking about it.

A splash of green stood out of the grey. "Raven?"

"Beast Boy. Why…" My voice sounded hoarse. "Why are you here?"

"Well, lots of New Year's parties mean lots of dunk people. Drunk people do stupid things sometimes, so we decided to keep an eye on things tonight."

"Ah."

"So you're back to one word answers now?" he teased. When I didn't answer, his gaze became concerned. "Raven, you okay?"

I jerked one shoulder.

"If you ever want to talk to me or whatever, you know where to call."

"Thanks."

"Um, I have to get back to my patrol soon, but I wasn't kidding about calling me, okay?"

"Mhm."

"Alright. I'll try and stop by later, if you're still here."

"Okay."

I ended up leaving before he came back, but I left knowing his offer was genuine, and that in my dull world, he was a spot of color.

-x-

I still continued with my fruitless quest for a sliver of an education. Maybe I felt like I owed it to their memory. To pull off this charade, to be at school every day so that something like that never happened again. I wasn't a hero – that was so painfully obvious now – but maybe I could make up for my past sins. My future was set in stone, as unchangeable as my past.

My half-formed ideas on translating obscure books shriveled up before they had really begun.

What was the point? As my father had oh-so-kindly pointed out again, the prophesy would be fulfilled in less than a year.

This was just the latest in a succession of incidents that served to remind me that I brought death to everything I touched. The future, which had never seemed particularly bright before, had at least grown a little less dark while I had been with my friends.

I couldn't stay there though, with all the remainders of the past. I just couldn't. So I transferred. Neither school's administration had a problem with my decision; they were all so understanding and there for me. I could stand their looks of pity if it made the process quicker.

The only differences I could see about Murakami High School were the faces. Strangers, all of them. Perfect.

(And the building was structurally sound enough to withstand an earthquake, but what did that matter?)

It didn't matter. Nothing really did.

I was physically in class, but that was the extent of my presence. I didn't socialize. I glared at anyone who tried. I acquired a reputation for being standoffish. People feared my sharp tongue. And that was just the way I wanted it.

It wasn't helping me though. I wasn't forgetting

But it was routine. I knew what was expected of me. I didn't have to stray outside of my self-imposed boundaries. At this school, no one had any expectations that I would socialize, so I didn't have to put any effort into 'normal' behavior.

School was my haven.

-x-

Beast Boy was my other haven. In the weeks following Simon and Dee's funerals, we started talking to each other more. I told him what had happened, and he was there for me, alternating between humor and solemnity as the situation demanded it.

"If I had been there – "

"You probably would have died too," he interrupted. It would have been better if I had. I couldn't die though. I had tried.

I shrugged, not willing to voice my thoughts.

"Hey. Listen." He turned to me, suddenly close to me. His eyes were very green and very serious. "I'm glad you're alive."

That's because you don't know what I am, I thought. You don't know what my father is. I didn't press the subject though.

"The future isn't set in stone."

"I disagree," I said as calmly as I could manage.

"You think we all have a fate or something like that?"

"Something like that."

"Then what's the point of trying at anything?"

What indeed. "I don't want to debate with you."

"Yeah, I get it. Hey, I know just how to cheer you up." I was pretty sure I knew where this was going: a joke. "Lemme tell you a joke!"

"I'm sorry, I thought you wanted to cheer me up," I sniped.

"You don't know what you're talking about. Girls like funny guys."

"Maybe so. You're just not a funny guy."

"Ouch, Rae."

"The truth hurts."

The seasons passed into spring and I found myself once again sitting and talking with Beast Boy on a regular basis.

The world was beautiful, ever growing, ever changing. Life bloomed, again and again. To me, Beast Boy represented all those good things. When I looked at him, I saw chaotic optimism with noble perseverance.

All of this will be gone soon enough. Enjoy it while you can, though you don't deserve to.

I banished the thought and focused on the breeze on my face and Beast Boy's laughter in my ears.

-x-

Control Freak had hijacked the TV stations in Jump City at least four other times this month. If I cared, I would have considered writing a strongly-worded letter expressing my displeasure. But I didn't, so I didn't.

Instead, I went for a walk, far away from a couch potato with a supped up remote who refused to allow me to turn off the TV. When I returned, I saw that the paper had been delivered. There was also a little note on the door from Hezekiah which let me know that one of my old-as-shit books had arrived and he wasn't a damn delivery boy so next time I wanted to order something, pick it up myself.

When I went down to the store, I found that the book on the development of runes and their speculated uses in magic had arrived. I let myself feel a bubble of happy satisfaction. Dropping the paper on the kitchen table, I made myself a cup of chai spice tea to celebrate. I spent the afternoon immersed in my new book, before finally picking up the newspaper.

There on the front page was a picture of a thin blonde girl surrounded by floating rocks. There was a little article beside the picture, listing her hobbies (skipping stones), her favorite color (green), and many other pointless bits of information. Her name was Terra, the newest member of the Teen Titans, and her powers allowed her to…control earth.

The paper was suddenly falling out of my hands in shreds as slices of black energy rent it into pieces. Nearby, the toaster sparked and caught on fire. I managed to get the ugly fury in my chest under control just as the fire alarm went off. Great.

-x-

I was being irrational. Probably. Possibly.

Doing my meditation had shown me that blaming myself was counterproductive. I was slowly beginning to theoretically understand that not all of the blame fell on my shoulders.

But blaming others…

I generally tried not to dwell on my negative emotions; clinging to vengeance and hate tended to bring out my uglier side. But this time, I needed someone to blame. I couldn't accept that this was just some purposeless tragedy that had happened randomly. To find out that there was a person living in Jump who could control the earth…

I knew that my anger toward her wasn't only influenced by the deaths of my friends, though that certainly was a large part of it. I was well aware that my bias didn't make sense, but I wasn't feeling particularly logical these days.

It didn't help any that Beast Boy was taken with Terra. I could hear it in his voice, the way he talked about her. But I tried not to care about that.

And it shouldn't have mattered to me that she had been accepted into a team that hadn't ever been mine anyway.

-x-

Lately, my thoughts had taken a turn for the worse. I was trying to fight the depression with meditation, but emotional numbness only worked for so long, and despite my determination to not let my father get to me, I would remember things. Usually, Beast Boy was able to pull me out of any dark recollections, but he had been spending time with Terra. And I found myself drawn into memories I would rather forget.

I remembered that Trigon first contacted me on my fourth birthday.

"Daddy's a demon."

I didn't know why I had said it.

Lies.

I knew why, but I never got a chance to finish the rest of my thought –"but I'm not like him" – because a voice had tolled in my head, many-layered and overwhelming.

And Mommy hates you.

"She doesn't," I had whispered, too breathy to convince anyone of my certainty.

She resents you, my Prophesy Child.

My head felt like it was in a vice. Blood pounded in my temples.

I can teach you control. I can teach you power. Together, we can be great.

But I heard the echo in his words (blood and screams and fire) and I didn't need that kind of power.

"No." The word was weak and tiny, just like how I was feeling at that time, and he knew it

You have no choice.

That night, I dreamed of horror shrouded in sulfur, but he didn't contact me for three whole years and I was almost able to convince myself that I had made the whole thing up.

-x-

Sometimes, I would hear things, cruel things, in Trigon's voice.

This is where you belong. Hopeless and useless, to all but me.

I had Daddy issues. And Mommy issues. Okay, so I had issues.

But Beast Boy helped. When he wasn't with Terra, we would sit and talk. "What do you do when you're…in a rut?" That was an inadequate description of my current state, but it burned a little that the question had to be asked at all, so this was the best I could do.

"I find a change of pace."

There was silence for a while.

"Beast Boy."

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

-x-

The city was taken over by an army of robots and a small blond girl.

Like many other citizens, I packed up and left for safer pastures, at least until the Teen Titans dealt with it in a suitably dramatic fashion.

The thought of rushing in to save the day didn't even cross my mind. Really.

Okay, maybe just a bit.

-x-

Living in Spearheart City wasn't so bad. It was like a bigger, dirtier, sleazier Jump City. Alright, so it wasn't really anything like Jump City. This shouldn't have bothered me, but somehow, Jump had become my home.

Spearheart. The imagery invoked by the name was violent and disturbing, which made it a perfect match for the city itself. Still, it was no Gotham, so that was something.

Spearheart was further than most people had migrated (because who wanted to make that much effort to exchange one crime infested city for another?) but with my powers, I was there by nightfall. I spent the first night in a motel. Large insects skittered across the floor of my room and there was a suspicious red stain in one corner.

Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep that first night. Instead, I meditated and tried to calm my churning emotions. I would take small breaks by focusing my energy into my chakra gem and zapping bugs. This routine was surprisingly good for relieving stress, and I successfully managed to avoid thinking about certain topics.

The next day, I found that there were a number of cheap apartments available short-term if I subtly informed people that I didn't care about any illegal activities that went on in the building. With an exchange of cash for a key, I found myself outside my new temporary lodgings. It might have looked bad from the outside, but rest assured, the interior was much worse.

Vulgar graffiti decorated the peeling wallpaper, lights flickered if they even worked at all, and it really shouldn't have surprised me that the elevator was out of service. I ended up having to use the stairs to get to the seventh floor – a minor inconvenience for one who could levitate, though the stairwells stunk overwhelmingly of alcohol and urine.

My next door neighbor was a sullen-faced, teenage boy that I had seen all of two times. The apartment on the other side housed a family. The parents were always yelling at each other, using very creative insults in Romanian that I tried to memorize.

Across the hall, there was an elderly lady who was also from Jump City. She had given me a pie and invited me to just pop in and visit her anytime. Her aura was terrifying; both the pie and the invitation were discarded. I was trying to avoid her at all costs, and it was working so far.

Other than that, it was like the rest of the people who lived in the building were ghosts. Actually, that was an apt comparison, because I was pretty sure that the fourth floor was haunted. The spirit didn't seem to be causing any trouble though. A few times, I had sensed her, a fog of melancholy and regret. Out of the corner of my eye, I sometimes saw a scraggly girl with short hair and a shorter skirt and a ring of bruises around her neck. I made a mental note to attend to her before I left, try to talk to her, maybe exorcise her if needed.

I meditated and listened to my temporary neighbors argue. Their lives were quite dramatic and far more interesting than my own.

Alone with only my thoughts for company, I began to dwell on what was happening in Jump. The Teen Titans couldn't be dead. Beast Boy couldn't be dead. It just wasn't possible.

There had been an announcement, but that was exactly what Terra and Slade wanted people to think; it worked to their advantage to have a city panicking and vulnerable in its fear. And when the Titans hadn't stepped in to save the day…

No, I couldn't think like that. They could still be alive. They were still alive. Reports from Jump right now were vague at best, outright speculation at worst. It wasn't safe for reporters to collect information, and all communication channels were still hijacked.

But other superheroes hadn't swooped in to save the city, so they must have known something that the rest of us didn't.

Beast Boy had talked of Terra, sung her praises really. It was obvious that he liked her, even to me, with my lack of social awareness. He had been spending less time with me recently, due to her. Not anymore. She had shown her traitorous colors.

I knew she was evil. Knew since I saw her picture in the paper, when I realized that she could control earth, and there had been an earthquake that killed two of my best friends –

I calmed down, gasping for air against the feeling of drowning, choking in my anger and hate. I pushed it all away, into a little compartment in my mind to be dealt with later.

I looked around the apartment, taking in the damage. My suitcase had floated for a moment before colliding with the wall. The neighbors' yelling had stopped for a moment in surprise, but it quickly started back up again, directed at me this time. They banged on the wall and hurled abuse at me, for once united against a common enemy.

Other than that, the boxes of takeout I had planned to eat had exploded, splattering noodles everywhere. First, I needed to go out and get something else to eat. Then, I would read or meditate, anything to keep my mind off of topics like those. I had a book on ancient curses that had been written in code on top of switching between three different languages. That was exactly the kind of headache that I needed.

-x-

Two and a half weeks after I left, I was able to return to the newly liberated Jump.

The shortest villainous occupation in the history of the city, I thought with no small amount of satisfaction.

I wanted to talk to Beast Boy, ask him how he had survived, then smack him for almost making me think he hadn't – though I would never verbally admit my worry. But he was kept busy; there was still cleanup to be done. Getting a city back on its feet after a large scale invasion of giant rock creatures was a full time job.

Fortunately, there were measures in place in case of alien invasions, unexpected time travelers, villainous occupations, dimensional holes, large scale insect attacks (this last one had been added after Killer Moth decided to make Jump his base and many citizens discovered an heretofore unknown debilitating fear of giant bugs), etc. It appeared bureaucracy was good for something after all.

Weeks later, after all of the paperwork and general repercussions that came with reclaiming a city from the clutches of criminal were mostly finished, Beast Boy confided in me the full story of Terra's betrayal, from beginning to end.

She couldn't control her powers, huh? So she still could have started the earthquake, but by accident? That burned more than believing she had done it on purpose. The stupid girl should have learned control. I did.

At the very least, she should have tried to save them. I would have. If you'd been anywhere near there, Rage hissed gleefully, which you weren't. A deep chuckle echoed in my mind.

As Beast Boy continued, I found it easier to focus on his words than the mass of emotions my thoughts were stirring up.

My words tasted sour as I offered condolences and expressed happiness that Terra had seen the light and gotten rid of Slade, though sadly at the cost of her own life. Now she was immortalized as a statue. What a fairy tale ending.

-x-

I couldn't do this. I couldn't keep pretending.

I couldn't sit in a classroom and listen to someone drone on about something that wouldn't matter in another year.

One more year left.

One more year, and I wasn't going to waste it trying to fit in with people with their opinions that didn't matter, trying to learn things that I didn't care about.

There was no one here that was worth staying for. My decision was made. Tomorrow was Friday, so I would attend school one last time before dropping out and trying to decide what to do with the rest of my short life.

-x-

Terra of the Teen Titans (Terra the traitor) went to my school.

I found this out when she shyly stood in front of my – our now – class and introduced herself as Terra Markov.

"Take a seat anywhere you'd like," Mr. Wong said. Really, the only free seats were around me. That should have clued her in, warned her away, but no, she went ahead and sat down in front of me.

She would have been better off picking the seat next to me, that way I wouldn't be able to bore my eyes into the back of her head all period. If looks could kill…

If she noticed, she gave no indication besides a slight hunching of her shoulders.

-x-

I hadn't dropped out yet. This, this was a reason to stay. Somehow I made it through three weeks with Terra in my class.

Now it was time for the 'pop quiz' that Mr. Wong handed out every Friday. It really shouldn't have come as a surprise to anyone, but there were always a few groans every time he announced it.

Based on the material that we covered in the past week, it seemed that the topic of today's quiz was notable events in Jump City's history. Things like politics, meta-battles, natural disasters…

I wanted to make a comment about earthquakes (petty, Rage snickered; snide, Happy tsked) but I bit it back down.

Mr. Wong started handing out papers. "Remember, pen only," he told us, as if we would have somehow forgotten the reminder he gave us each and every time we had a test.

Terra cursed quietly.

Of course.

"Hey, um," and suddenly she was turning around, "can I borrow a pen?"

I handed her one, refraining from stabbing it into her hand.

The rest of the period was spent in silence, save for the scratching of pens on paper. I finished quickly and flipped my paper over. I hadn't been able to help myself; a lot of my answers had to do with earthquakes. Mr. Wong might think that I had some kind of obsession. Which, if I was honest with myself, I did.

"Five minutes left everyone," Mr. Wong announced. Just like always, the sound of pens sped up as half of the class tried desperately to finish. After the quizzes were handed in, Terra turned back around with my pen in her hand.

"Hi. Thanks for the pen."

I took it. "Yeah."

She scratched at her head nervously and ran her fingers through her hair, looking startled when her fingers hit air. She hadn't gotten used to the new length then. "I'm Terra."

"I know."

She flushed a bit. "I'm new."

No duh. "So I've noticed."

"Um, what's your name?"

She sounded almost desperate now. I pondered staring at her until she had to look away, but dismissed the idea as too inane. "Rachel."

"Cool. Nice to meet you."

And what was I supposed to say to that? I'd be lying if I said 'likewise.'

"Uh-huh."

"So…how about that project?"

Our conversation was stilted and awkward, despite Terra's inane attempts at the contrary. When I found out that we had two other classes together, I didn't hold back my annoyed sigh.

-x-

"Hey, want to hear a pizza joke?"

"No."

"Nevermind then; it would be too cheesy."

I groaned as Beast Boy snickered and tried not to think about the fact that his supposedly-dead girlfriend was alive and going to the same school as me.

-x-

Terra cornered me on Wednesday during lunch break.

Maybe I had been acting a little more disdainful than usual today or maybe she was just sick of my thinly-veiled insults. Whatever the reason, she finally snapped.

"Look! I don't know what your problem is with me, but –"

"If you don't know 'what my problem is,' then you're stupider than I thought," I said flatly. My Energy was vibrating beneath my skin, but I forced my muscles to relax. I tilted my head in a calculated movement that suggested derision. "I didn't think that was possible actually."

"What is your deal? I don't even know you!" And she was looking at me with her holier-than-thou eyes, waiting for an answer. So I gave her one.

"That is true. If you knew me, you would know that I used to go to Ferdinand M. Livingston High School. Sound familiar? No? Well, if you knew me, you would know that I transferred here because my old school was hit by and earthquake where fifteen people died, including two of my closest friends." Two of my only friends, I added silently, but she didn't need to know that and if I spoke those words, I might not be able to control myself.

Her face had been growing pale as I spoke, probably because I knew what she was. For a long moment, we stared at each other. She shakily took a breath. "Everybody deserves to get a fresh start."

Easy for you to say, you weak-willed traitor. You killed my friends. If not on purpose – which I have serious doubts about, considering your track record – then certainly through neglect. You could have at least tried to save them, but you didn't. Where were you when Simon and Dee were crushed? You could have saved them, but you did nothing.

All of this and more was on the tip of my tongue, ready to be spewed out in a venomous tirade, when I came to an awful realization. I was just as bad as Terra.

I immediately wanted to reject the notion. I was nothing like her. But I forced that thought to its completion. By listening to that side of me that told me it was pointless to fight, to hope, to try, I was becoming everything I stood against. Without hope, what would be the point of containing my demon heritage?

Somewhere along the way, I had forgotten an integral part of me. I had fallen into complacency. It was much easier to go to class day after day, and tell myself that I couldn't change anything. That didn't mean that was what I should do.

My life wasn't supposed to be based on what was easy, but what was right.

I abruptly walked away from Terra, ignoring her calls. I would deal with the necessary paperwork later; I wasn't going to be a student for even one more day.

I left the school and didn't look back.

-x-

I would have liked to say that was a new beginning of my life, in which I packed my things up and suddenly showed up on the Teen Titans' doorstep. They then accepted me with open arms and I became a Titan. Various hijinks ensued.

It was a nice fantasy, but that wasn't really what happened.

-x-

Instead, I retreated to my apartment and spent my days translating documents into different languages. I was making quite a name for myself in certain circles, under the pseudonym R. Beast. Even if the name had been made in a flight of ridiculous fancy, it had stuck. It also served as a reminder of my other nature and told me to never forget that part of me that I was trying to control.

My nights were devoted to cleaning up crime in Jump. The city's criminal population soon learned to fear me and crime fighting on a regular basis was surprisingly satisfying. It felt nice knowing I was helping people. I also got to exercise a bit of aggression every now and then.

My new duties kept me busy. I still made sure that I had enough time to meet up with Beast Boy, not the least because I knew that if I tried to avoid him, he would hunt me down. He was persistent like that. Being able to take the form of a hound certainly helped.

Sometimes it depressed me immensely to know that all my work would eventually be for nothing. I would go through crippling periods of shame and hopelessness, which would only be made worse on the occasions that I thought of Simon and Dee. Those days (or weeks, as the case might be), I went outside of the city's limits and secluded myself so that my fluctuating powers wouldn't hurt anyone.

I still hadn't told Beast Boy about…well, me, and all of the issues that entailed. The resolution that I had made when Terra confronted me wasn't strong enough. I was working on it, building up my courage to tell him the truth but it was difficult going. It was far simpler to keep busy with translating and crime fighting.

I knew him. I knew how he thought and I knew his personality. Because of this, I was aware that he probably wouldn't hate me, but that didn't make it any easier. It actually made me feel worse, knowing that he would forgive me.

-x-

I also started traveling, visited exotic locations. Before, I hadn't traveled because I had thought that it would only make me grieve for the vast expanses of the world that would be no more when Trigon decided to destroy once again. It was true that I felt remorse over what would come to pass very soon, but at the same time, I was determined to enjoy what little time I had left.

I met many people, ate all kinds of different foods, learned about new languages and cultures. I spent time at tourist resorts and ancient ruins, saw the wonders of the world and mourned their incoming demise.

Then I returned home, surprised to find that I thought of it that way. I resumed translating old documents when I could, but I found that much of my time was taken up moonlighting at a superhero, though I still felt an old bitterness at using that term.

It was my penance, too little and too late, but I tried to do my best. I had let myself become consumed with hopelessness, and while in some ways, the despair was worse now, it was also better too. At least I was doing something, small as it might be.

I didn't often let myself wonder about how my life would have turned out if I had stepped out to help the Teen Titans two years ago. It would do me no good to dwell in the past. All I could do was make the present as good as it could be while preparing for the future.

I had thought that my last few months on Earth would pass by slowly, but time seemed to race forward in its inevitable march as my self-made burdens kept me busy.

All of my work, all of my traveling, all of my heroics, couldn't stop the unavoidable day.

Before I knew it, my sixteenth birthday was right around the corner and I still hadn't told Beast Boy.

-x-

It was my birthday and I felt sick.

My heart felt like it was trying to pound its way out of my chest.

My leg had a nervous twitch, which I couldn't seem to stop. Staring at my clock wasn't helping, but there was nothing else I could do. Two hours and twenty-seven minutes left. A trickle of sweat slid down my hairline.

"Why can't this thing go any faster?"

I looked back at the clock. A minute had passed by.

"Ugh!" I flopped down on the couch.

I had tried meditation earlier, but after the vision, I hadn't dared.

What you have concealed, you shall become. You have no other choice. Your destiny shall be fulfilled. The portal must be opened!

These terrible words kept running through my mind. My dread had been mounting throughout the day, and now it felt unbearable. They day had dawned bright and clear and so deceptive.

It felt like a premonition. Certainly, it was only a prelude to the horror.

"I won't ask for anything again, if I live through this. I'll become a Teen Titan. Anything. Just…" I didn't know who I was talking to. I stopped talking. Glanced at the clock. Four minutes had passed. I twitched.

"I'll tell Beast Boy the truth."

I hadn't told him and now it was too late. I was alone in this. I felt a sudden, sharp regret shoot through me. A coward to the end.

The hairs on the back of my neck rose. Before I had a chance to do more than stiffen, an explosion of fire propelled me forward. I hit the wall hard and my body crumpled to the ground. Flames crackled and licked at the room. I could smell sulfur in the air.

My eyelids fluttered as grey encroached on my vision. Through the ringing in my ears I heard a low, smooth voice – unfamiliar, but speaking dreadful words that resonated in me.

"Hello, Birthday Girl. Ready for your present?"

A/N: Yes, this is the end. Yes, it is quite open-ended. It's up to the reader's imagination as to what will happen with Trigon. Maybe he takes over the world, maybe the Titans come to help Raven again, maybe it's just Beast Boy who does. You decide.