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CHAPTER XV- Instinct Kicks In

The rest of the day went along normally, there wasn’t any trouble whatsoever in the city; it was almost boring. The clock on the nightstand now read 11:56 PM, it was almost midnight.

Raven’s arms hung loosely over the edges of her bed, she couldn’t sleep. It wasn’t necessarily restlessness; she just couldn’t close her eyes without waking up again two minutes later.
“This sucks, what’s wrong with me?” she mumbled to herself, as she turned over on her side facing the bookshelf. There was no point in reading or anything else, she really was tired . . . but she couldn’t get to sleep. She could sneak out to the beach . . . it was always so mesmerizing at night. Her subconscious told her it was dangerous, but she simply ignored it. After a minute of debate, she hopped out the open window and carefully maneuvered herself to the water’s edge. “No problem,” she told herself as she took light steps across the beach, her hands in the pockets of her sweatpants. The night sky was littered with stars out to the horizon; the moon stuck in the corner of the scene like a fly in a spider’s web. The waves lapped at the sandy shore higher than normal; Raven guessed high tide was still in effect. She trotted slowly along the deserted edge of Titan’s Tower, where the water met with rocks instead of sand. “It’s so beautiful . . .” she sighed when she looked out to where the water reflected the moon’s spherical shape. Lost in thought, she didn’t hear the faint footsteps behind her.
“Only when you’re still alive to see it . . . right Raven?” a voice growled harshly. Raven turned around sharply with her fist up by her chest, a figure lumbered above her on a large boulder, it was crouching slightly. Raven heard claws clicking against the hard sandstone, and a pair of ruby-red eyes stared out at her from the dark. “Don’t be afraid ----- it only speeds up the effects,” the silhouette snorted, and instantly the figure jumped forward into the light of the moon, Rage was paying her a night-time visit.
“Haven’t you caused enough damage for one day!?” Raven snarled; her hands instantly clenched into tight fists. Rage grinned slightly, and whispered
“Here’s you chance to redeem yourself Raven, one shot is all it takes . . .” Raven quickly noticed that Rage had driven himself into his second demonic-stage already. His nails were now clawed, his teeth had turned into fangs; his eyes shined a brighter red than usual. Luckily he still hadn’t used his curse-mark, his skin was still a light tan; there were no glowing red symbols on his body yet.
“I’m not interested playing as your pawn,” Raven spat, her teeth grinded together, she needed to keep in control.
“Oh really, are you sure about that? What about your friends Rae? It would really be a shame if there was suddenly blood on the carpet . . .” Rage smirked; his fangs glinted in the moonlight. Without a second-thought, Raven burst forward to attack him, he quickly side-stepped out of the way. Raven half-turned around and lunged at him again. “That’s it girl, let your anger free . . . it’ll be your downfall,” he jeered as Raven took another swipe at his face. His fast moves around the rocks made it look like he wasn’t even touching the ground; he dodged every attack Raven threw at him. “C’mon, you’re better than this-----are you afraid of me Raven?” he mocked her as he took another leap backwards up onto a vacant boulder.
“Shut up Rage,” she roared, her fist curled back with a dark aura surrounding it.
Rage sighed with a quick smirk, “It’s no wonder that Beast Boy’s terrified of you.” An abrupt burning sensation suddenly pulsed through Raven’s body, she fell to her knees, the pain was even worse this time. She screamed out in agony, her body felt like it was on fire.
“Damn it Rage, I’ll kill you right now!” she growled, and she struggled to get up on one knee, ready to take any consequences worthy of hitting his smiling face. Rage grinned once more, and cackled with a wicked grin,
“Well then Raven ----- welcome to stage two.”

“You’re all talk, I thought you would have moved forward by now,” Raven scoffed; she noticed that her brother hadn’t even moved a step. He simply stood there with that same wicked grin plastered on his face. Raven’s self-control just slipped by faster every time she looked into his death-obsessed eyes; it was like he was messing with her with every blink he took. “Make a move ----- or I swear you’ll be sorry,” Raven declared, she knew she didn’t have much time left; Rage obviously knew as well. The wind suddenly kicked up again from the outer coastline, it seemed colder than it really was. The instant that the air blew toward the east, Rage shot forward with unbelievable speed! Before Raven could even blink again his hand was around her throat.
“Yeah, and you think I’m all talk . . .” he muttered as Raven tried to break his tight grasp around her neck. She coughed as the grip grew tighter than before. Glowing red marks that shot up like flames from a bonfire crept up to Rage’s neck. “If you’re ready to get serious, I’ll spare you the trouble of killing yourself,” he smirked, Raven’s last tie between control and insanity instantly snapped after he spoke. She grabbed Rage’s muscular hand against her throat, and pulled back, her nails digging into his rough flesh. Rage’s eyes suddenly showed a spark of surprise, and he dropped his hand to his side. “That’s right ----- let your hatred loose, I’m not stopping you,” Rage laughed as Raven threw a fist to his head; he slid out of the way with no effort.
“C’mon Rage ----- or are you afraid of me now!?” Raven cried out, her body was literally engulfed in a second-skin of dark energy. She charged forward again, practically slamming Rage’s body into the rocky sea cliffs that the water drummed against; again he slid out of the way. This sequence went on for a few minutes, Rage was never hit; he decided to step it up a notch or two.
“This is fun . . . don’t you think?” he asked Raven with a slight grin. Raven quickly threw a kick to his right shoulder; he slid out of range and reacted with a quick push against Raven’s left shoulder, holding his hand against it. She grimaced; there was now a sharp blade shoved halfway into the skin by her collarbone, and blood poured down the length of her arm. The energy around Raven’s body rapidly subsided, her face was in shock. She crumpled to her knees, the pain was unbearable.
Rage’s gaze shifted to the starry sky and he shouted “Are you watching Mother!? Come and see the pathetic soul that is your daughter!” and he pressed on the visible edge of the blade, sinking it into his sister’s skin. Raven attempted to grab his free arm; he held it out of reach. Now the blade’s shape had penetrated through the back of Raven’s shoulder, she screamed in unbearable pain and rage. Rage loomed over her crouched body, her limp shoulder hanging loosely, her right hand curled over the bloody wound. She coughed blood as she tried to breathe steadily, if she hyperventilated or even took an extra breath, she knew she would die even sooner. Rage twisted her wounded arm back behind her head; she heard it crack and her eyes welled up with tears, she actually thought she was going die tonight. “Had enough?” Rage asked her, she shook her head numbly; she wasn’t going down unless she died right on the spot. Rage growled “You always were the competitive one . . .” and he swiped his foot across her head; she fell into the sand . . . but she didn’t get up; she was out cold. “The clock’s ticking ----- you’ve got one more day of sanity . . . if I were you I’d get stronger,” Rage snorted. He quickly slid the knife out of Raven’s shoulder, cleaned it of her dark blood, and without a second look back walked into the dark that lay before him.