It's Dark Inside (BbRae)

23

With Terra now back in the team, it made matters only worse for Beast Boy. He hadn't been able to sleep at all. He tossed and turned in his covers, his eyes burning. He was exhausted. His muscles ached, his head hurt, and he could feel his eyes begin to well up with tears.

His memories of Doom Patrol choraled his mind, and his memories of Terra didn't help either. He was lost in an endless abyss of despair. He didn't want to feel the pain any longer, it was too much to bare. His past had been weighing on him more than ever now.

Beast Boy gets up from his pile of filth, his head in his hands as he rubs his eyes. He walks over to his door, not even wanting to look at the clock he had near his bed. He looked anyways, curious. The time read 4:13 AM.

Of course it was four in the morning, Beast Boy hadn't gotten any sleep lately, and his hopes of putting his attention on Raven to keep away from his problems had only emphasized them. At least he was able to help Raven a little bit, right? Beast Boy's stomach growled and he sighed in reluctance.

The prophecy was within days now, and Raven had been on edge ever since her emotions had been getting out of hand. She had remembered back to when her demon side had become her father and had gotten lose, but with the help of her friends, she had been able to put it to rest. It was difficult to face these things alone, but Raven didn't want it to be anyone else's problem. It was hers alone and she had to face it.

The other day she had wanted to tell Beast Boy, but held back. She couldn't get the words out of her mouth. It was as if her mouth was glued shut. She felt hopeless. Could she ever tell a soul before the day her father would come and destroy the world?

She constantly thought of telling Beast Boy, but what could he do about it? It would just alarm him and tell the team, which will probably put the team in panic. Raven did not want that, besides, what could they do about it? Telling them wouldn't solve her problems, so Raven was set on keeping them to herself.

The last few nights Raven had dreams of the prophecy. She started having dreams of her father, but he never said anything, he'd just stand there with an intimidating, dark smile. She'd wake up in choking fits while sweat covered her body.

It was uncomfortable and she was extremely tired. How could she avoid her father? He was in every dream she had now it was getting harder to face him. At this point it was getting harder to face anyone. Raven felt isolated and it seemed like nobody noticed.

She was trapped in a dark forest with no way out and all she could hear were the muffled sounds of her friend's voices filled with laughter and joy while she sat miserably in silence.

Raven fell to her knees near her bed, her eyes filled with tears. Everything was becoming overwhelming. Raven held her head, scrunching her eyes tightly. Her father's face appeared once more.

"You can't get rid of me that easily." Trigon whispers.

Raven's eyes widen, still welled up with tears, Raven glances around her room, all she could see was a dark abyss in front of her. "St-stay away from me!" Was he really here?

Raven's heart begins to pound, objects fly towards her, and Raven senses the motion, holding her arms up above her head in an x shape to protect herself. Black aura now surrounds her hands. The objects fall to the floor in front of her. Raven now realizing it was her powers that had sent the books at her. Her emotions were getting out of hand.

Raven uses her powers to light all her candles, filling her drafty room with light. As soon as the scene is clear, Raven's eyes search the room for any hint, clue, anything that would indicate her father's presence.

Nothing.

Raven allows her muscles to relax, releasing her arms out of her fighting stance and slumping back down on her bed, her eyes were still quite wet. Raven assumed she was still dreaming, but it all felt real, too real. She could almost feel his presence with her still, it felt eerie and it scared Raven, she didn't want to admit it of course, and if anyone asked her, she would deny it angrily.

Raven exited her room in a hurry, not wanting to be in that space where her father's voice might echo again in her soul. Raven trudges angrily through the hallway and into the kitchen, she decided it would be best to drink some hot tea and read a book to clear her head and distract her from you know what. Raven was definitely not going to think about it again.

"Raven?" A voice says from the living room. Beast Boy blinked, the light was too bright for his dry, irritated eyes. But once his eyes start to readjust, sure enough, Raven was standing before him. Her incident earlier made Beast Boy wonder what was going on inside her head. "You okay?" Beast Boy adds after a bit of a pause.

Raven turns to face him, her emotions tucked away, she looks at him with a straight face, grabbing a hold of her arm with her hand, looking away. "What are you doing awake at this hour?" Raven croaks in surprise.

"I could ask you the same thing." Beast Boy chuckles, as his eyes are finally able to focus. He could now see all of Raven's beautiful features. Her cloak, the muscles and toned legs, her small frame, and then he saw her face.

Raven's face looked to be painfully holding back a frown. She looked as though she had cried earlier, her eyes were red and puffy, and she looked sick and tired. He could see the dark circles under her eyes and her fidgeting hands. He watched her with concern, she looked tense and a bit scared.

As soon as Raven had looked at Beast Boy, she could tell he was holding back his own emotions too. His eyes looked red and irritable, had he cried? He looked all tense and uncomfortable. He looked a bit defeated.

The two of them didn't need to say a word to each other. They knew, they had noticed. There was no more hiding. Raven wasn't forgotten and Beast Boy had finally been exposed, he had finally been seen in his crippling mental state. Doom Patrol had somewhat broken him, but most of all Terra had shattered him, and now she was back, haunting him.