A now familiar figure became outlined in the fog. Out of habit rather than thinking something was going to happen she called out to it. As always it vanished, as if it was never there. But something different happened; this time the figure reappeared and started coming for her. Before she could distinguish any features, Raven woke up.
Even without her glasses she could tell it was only 3 am. She growled slightly and tried to get back to sleep.
***
The week had been passing slowly. It was only Wednesday and to say that Raven and Kris were jumpy would have been an understatement. At school they were on guard, at home they were suspicious.
On Sunday the front page had an article about the teenaged girls who had defended the pool. On Monday it was all anybody wanted to talk about. So by Wednesday Raven and Kris had had enough.
�I can�t take it anymore, let�s just go to the mall this weekend and pretend we�re normal okay?� Kris blurted at lunch.
Raven nodded absently fiddling with her sword charm.
Michelle looked at her friends like they had gone crazy. �We all know Raven�s not normal, but what�s your excuse,� she joked.
�Shove it, Michelle.� Kris snapped. Raven who had given up on eating that day was too tired and distracted to bother with either yelling at Michelle or playing referee, left for the library.
�PMS much?� Michelle smiled.
�Michelle,� Kris growled in a warning tone.
In the library Raven found another heated conversation. All she caught was�
�At least I�m working not waiting around for memories.� It was Violet; the only person she could have been talking to was Zeus. �What were they hiding?�
Zeus was about to respond when Raven cleared her throat. Their expressions matching annoyed frowns turned to pleased smiles, which sent Raven into a rage.
�Why are they keeping secrets, what do they have to hide?�
�Hey Raven, what�s up?� Violet asked unaware of the mood shift.
�Kris and I want to go the mall this weekend�� It was like asking a cute couple to join a bunch of singles. �Do you guys wanna come along?�
Zeus noticed the strain, but smiled easily shrugging it off as the stress and nodded. �Sure, we�ll be there.�
A low growl rumbled in the back of Raven�s throat that surprisingly escaped the two guardians notice. �See ya,� she tried to smile for them, waved and quickly took her exit.
�Is she alright, Zeus?� Violet asked after she left.
�I don�t know, but I�ll think she�ll be alright.� Zeus answered watching Raven.
Going back to the Cafeteria she found Kris and Michelle still bickering so she headed towards Collin�s table.
She took the seat in facing him and rested her head in her hands; a greeting not needed in these situations.
�Kris and Michelle fighting again?� Collin asked trying not to smile.
She nodded and closed her eyes. �Why can�t they just get along?�
�Don�t know. Question, what�s with Dante?� (AN remember Zeus uses this name in school)
�Dante?� She looked at him somewhat confused.
�Yeah, silver hair, white clothes, trails after you�� Collin explained.
�Oh yeah.� �Zeus� �What about him?�
�Do you like him?�
�Dante?� She laughed bitterly, �No we�re just friends.� She couldn�t believe how disappointed she sounded.
�Ah, I see. That�s why you look like you want to tear someone�s eyeballs out.�
�Look, I�m not in a good mood, I don�t need you to help it.� She snapped suddenly.
�Raven calm down ok.� He said with a soothing tone.
Raven folded her arms and frowned, �Will you go to the mall with us this weekend?�
�Sure,� Raven smiled and got up to hug him.
�Thanks.�
�This looks cozy,� I snide voice said from behind Raven.
She straightened up and turned around to find none other than Nicole.
�What have I said, Raven?� Nicole continued.
�About what?� Raven instinctively cracked her knuckles; this was the last thing she needed, an encounter with Nicole.
�I told you to stay away from him.� Nicole replied gesturing to Collin.
Collin stood up and put his arm around Raven�s shoulders. �What was that, Nicole?� He asked smiling. In a flurry of red she was gone.
Raven smiled up at Collin and hugged him again. She didn�t notice Zeus at the other end of the Cafeteria watching her.
***
The week finally came to an end and Raven woke up on Saturday feeling energized, no dreams had disturbed her sleep. Her good mood didn�t last long, when she looked around to find Zeus saw he had already left.
�Probably with Violet,� she said with a mixture of hurt and resentment.
�Hey, Rave, get a move on if you want a ride,� Chase called from outside the door.
�Alright,� she rolled out of bed and set about to getting ready, not noticing the note on her side table.
Raven-
We�ll see ya at the mall.
-Zeus
At Kris�s house she woke up by unceremoniously falling out of the bed. �Ow,� Kris grumbled, �Collin, stay away from the bathroom!�
The sound of running and a slamming door was her answer. She left her room and half-heartedly banged on the bathroom door. �Come on, Collin.�
�No way,� he was laughing on the other side of the door.
�Collin,� she whined tiredly, went back to her room with thoughts of revenge in mind. She found a note saying�
Kris-
Left early� meet ya there.
-Vi
She shrugged and waited for Collin to give up the bathroom.
At the mall Collin trailed behind Kris and Raven as they headed for the Hot Topic. He could tell that the longer Dante and Violet chose to be gone the shorter Raven�s temper got.
She was forcefully thumbing through a comic when they decided to show up. Shoving the comic back onto its stand she was about to stomp over to the entrance of the store when someone grabbed her from behind.
�Kris!� She knew it wasn�t one of her companions since they had all crowded at the front of the store. She screamed fear taking over her anger. A hand clamped over her mouth.
�Now, now dear. Screaming will get you no where.� A deep voice hissed.
Everyone called out to her, but the only one who made a move was Collin. From what he could tell, it was someone no older than 16 in a white tank top, green nylon sweats, and a tie around his short dark brown hair. He had light gold eyes and smirk to match.
�Let her go!� yells of fear could be heard in the background, but Collin�s focus was on the shorter boy that held Raven.
�Leave this alone, you don�t know what you�re dealing with.�
�Collin, don�t.� Kris shouted.
He didn�t heed the warnings and lunged himself at the other boy. The boy�s eyes closed for a split second and reopened to shoot out twin shadowy rays the blasted square into Collin�s chest, the force of the blow caused Collin to fly back to a nearby wall; he slumped down unconscious and unaware of the t-shirts falling on top of him.
Raven struggled against her captor, tears streaming down her face.
The only people who had stayed: Zeus, Violet, and Kris, ran to him. Kris was about to transform when a sailor-suited girl ran in. Her blue eyes narrowed and locked with the boys. The boy suddenly became frightened; he dropped Raven shoving her to the floor and faded like a shadow.
Raven didn�t even look at her savoir she just crawled over to where Collin laid buried in t-shirts. She ignored her friends and pulled him out and held him. Fresh tears fell onto his shirt. Raven continued to cry until she felt a hand stroking her hair. She looked up to find Collin smiling. �Are you okay?� Words couldn�t describe her happiness as she gasped and clutched him closer. �You�re okay, Collin, you�re okay!!!�
Kris wiped away the tears that had been forming and patted Raven�s back. She looked at the girl who had saved their lives and found in her place Michelle.
�Michelle, you�re a sailor?� Kris got to her feet to face her friend. Raven�s ears perked at Michelle�s name and separated from Collin and left Violet and Zeus to distract him.
Sure enough it was Michelle, �Yeah, I�m one of you guys.�
�Welcome to the team,� Raven whispered before Zeus or Violet could protest.
***
Later at Raven�s house Zeus was lecturing Raven that she couldn�t trust Michelle, because she wasn�t who she said she was.
�Where�s Cameron if it�s Saliky? And Saliky had numb chucks not a staff as I remember. You can�t trust her Raven.�
�If she says she is, I believe her. We need all the help we can get.� Raven answered angrily, they had been arguing on this subject for an hour.
�I know Marina, and that was no reincarnation of Marina.�
�Maybe the real one died and the powers were transferred. Tell it to someone who cares. Go find Violet; I�m sure she gives a crap . . .�
�I have,� he realized too late that he had said the wrong thing.
�Well, good for you.� She stormed out of the house and proceeded to run to Kris�s house. She needed someone to talk to.
When she arrived Kris directed her to Collin�s room or better known as The Dungeon.
She walked in to find him asleep and turned around to go out only to find Kris blocking her way.
�If you leave this room before you talk to him, you�ll be sorry.�
Raven stared at her blankly before she protested, �Come on, Kris, for God�s sake he�s sleeping.�
�Do it, Raven.� Kris left then and Raven turned around to wake up Collin, �I hope he doesn�t hate me for this.�
She shook him awake and he sat up and motioned for her to take a seat on the bed, �What�s up, Rave?�
She sat there not saying anything for a long time, �I am� was scared, Collin.�
�Raven,� he stroked her hair and she started to cry. He pulled her into a hug and kissed her hair. �It�ll be alright, it�ll be alright.�
�I was scared and all Zeu� Dante could do was yell at me about it.� She mumbled between sobs.
Collin let her go and wiped her tears away with the edge of his shirt. �Raven, we�re okay right?� She nodded and looked down embarrassed. �Hey,� he lifted her chin with his hands, �I�m here, you can cry, it�s okay to cry.� He leaned into her and kissed her lips softly. Emotions stampeded through Raven as she returned the kiss and wrapped her arms around him.
~to be continued~