Fan Fiction ❯ Embracing the Darkness ❯ Chapter 6 � A Faint Hope ( Chapter 6 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Chapter 6 - A Faint Hope
 
Once inside Dr. Lang's home I looked about my surroundings to gain my bearings and to determine where the doctor had run off. As derelict as Dr. Lang's home had appeared from the outside, I found it even more offensive within. A light fixture hung overhead and cast a faint yellow glow onto the flower-patterned wallpaper of the house's entrance. I stood upon bare floorboards with two passages, their doors long since removed, on either side of me.
 
Directly in front of me to the left a small almost slanted staircase rose up to the second floor, covered with a carpet so worn one could see through to the bare wooden steps. The steps themselves were curved slightly inwards on themselves from having to shoulder too much weight over the years. To the right of the stairs was an opening leading into the darkened kitchen where the sun cast a bright orange glow through the windows.
 
As I listened for a moment to the sounds of the house, I could hear him fumbling about with something above me. The sound intensified into a loud clattering noise that sounded as though he'd dropped several heavy items on the floor. When Dr. Lang cursed his accident I rushed towards the stairs climbing them in leaps and bounds until I reached the second floor.
 
The stairs stopped at a long unlit hallway that stretched over the full width of the house on either side of me. As I listened, I determined that the doctor was behind the first door I could see at the far left portion of the second floor. Instinctively I approached the door with a great sense of caution. A faint yet strangely familiar odor hung in the air as I drew closer. I couldn't determine at the time exactly what it was I could smell but whatever it was it had put me on edge.
 
Once I'd reached the closed door I stood still for a moment listening carefully to whatever sound Dr. Lang made within. I could hear labored breathing; the sound of the floor creaking as he nervously shifted his weight from one foot to the other. I was stunned by how well I could hear what was going on within. My ability to hear was so amazingly acute that I already had a picture in my mind of just what I would find in the room. Dr. Lang was standing as still as he could directly in front of the closed door I now stood behind. He was near the back of the room but not so far that he had his back against the wall.
 
I tried the knob only to find myself struggling against the lock while Dr. Lang cried out fearfully at the sudden eruption of noise. Not wanting to do anything too spectacular with my powers rather than blow the door off its hinges I merely brought a hand up to the lock. The power needed for the act wasn't so great that I needed to chant my mantra to summon it. A thin strand of black energy slipped gently through the keyhole and after a moment the lock gave way with a soft click and the door swung open.
 
The room, I found, could be best described as looking like Christmas morning at Titans Tower. The floor was littered with boxes, crumpled bits of packaging paper, styrofoam casing, and scattered leaflets of paper. Whatever money Dr. Lang had made he'd seen fit to spend on frivolous items rather than maintaining his home. While his house fell into decay he'd purchased a plasma screen television that now adorned the wall on the far left of the room, several out of place paintings hung from the walls, crystal wine glasses were accompanied by a vast assortment of bottles and packages like the ones I'd noticed at the front door.
 
The portion of the floor that wasn't covered with packing material was filled by the spilled contents of a box of ammunition that Dr. Lang had dropped while hurriedly loading the revolver he now held and pointed directly at me. The unknown scent I'd caught earlier I now knew to be gunpowder.
 
“Stay right where you are or I will shoot you!” Dr. Lang's hands trembled as he strained to keep the gun level with my form. A desk stood behind him littered with papers, whatever he'd been working on when I'd interrupted him. “Nice disguise but I know exactly who you are Raven!” sweat poured down his face and he shivered with all too obvious fear. “Come here to shut me down have you, well I'm not going that easily.”
 
There were any number of things I could have done at this point. I could have easily summoned my powers and cleanly knocked the gun from his hands. I could have rushed him and simply blocked the bullet if and when he fired. Instead I merely raised my hands in mock surrender. I didn't want to fight, that would have only worsened an already bad situation. Besides, despite the fact that I had no way of knowing how a gunshot wound would affect my body I was in no hurry to find out.
 
“Calm down,” I spoke pulling my hood back, “there's no need to fire that gun or to even aim it. I'm here for medical advice, I was told that you could help me.”
 
“I don't believe you!” he cried as his hands began to shake even more. “Your just trying to string me along until the rest of you freaks show up to arrest me. You're not gonna fool me.”
 
“Dr. Lang, I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that last remark of yours. Look around yourself, do you honestly believe that whatever you've been doing here is so big that the Teen Titans would be sent after you. You're giving yourself far too much credit. Sending the Titans after you would be like sending the military after a common thief.”
 
For a moment Dr. Lang's hand wavered as he held the gun in my direction, his resolve faltering slightly. Then an instant later the gun was again pointed at me if only a little more weakly than before. “Even if what your saying is true you're just as much of a threat to me as the police. You're not going to let me get away with all that I've done.”
 
I sighed, “As much as it galls me I will as long as you help me. Besides James Chang sent me.”
 
“James sent you!?”
 
“Yes. Apparently you owe him a favor. Help me with my problem and the debt is paid.”
 
For a time Dr. Lang seemed indecisive, his eyes wandering around the room searching for something, what I did not know. I spoke no more, I'd said all that needed to be said. If I hadn't convinced the doctor to help me at this point then there was nothing that would.
 
He looked at me once more, this time more sharply and with more confidence than before, took a deep breath, turned and placed the gun on the desk behind him.
 
He then reached a hand up to straighten what little grey hair he had on his head. “Care for a drink?” he asked cheerfully as he gestured to his wine collection.
 
 
I declined to take advantage of Dr. Lang's offer. Wine was not what I had a thirst for at that moment. Once things had calmed down somewhat he proceeded to lead me to the room across the hall from what I reasoned was his office. After unlocking the door he lead me in. This, I found, was the sealed up room I had noticed form outside. It was shaped like a rectangle and ran about half the width of the house. At one point it had apparently been two rooms but Lang had knocked down a wall to expand. One could still notice the spot, even on the freshly tiled floor, that marked where a wall had once divided the area.
 
The room was filled almost to the ceiling with medical equipment. An examination table rested in the center of the room and was surrounded by enough equipment to humble even the infirmary at Titans Tower. The room smelled of chemicals and a faint but all too familiar scent I knew to be medical blood stored somewhere within. It was there and to smell it in even the slightest made my stomach lurch with longing. I wanted so badly to find the source of that scent but did what I could to keep myself under control. While I hung back at the threshold, Dr. Lang walked right in, his overweight frame shifting with each step, and held up his hands gesturing proudly towards his surroundings.
 
“All this I owe to Professor Chang. If it hadn't been for him I wouldn't be where I am today. Well come on in, make yourself comfortable.”
 
Dr. Lang had once been a respected physician. I didn't know it at the time but he had once worked at the infamous Jump City State Hospital, colloquially known as an insane asylum. JCSH was a relic of the days when people believed they could cure a mental illness just like any other disease and Dr. Lang was one of the people who believed this. He helped perform electroshock therapy along with other despicable “treatments” for patients during his time there. This required him to be more of a physician then an actual psychiatrist. Budget cuts, however, meant the end for most state-run mental hospitals like JCSH while privately owned and operated institutions like Gotham's famous Arkham Asylum remained open
 
Years after the hospital closed several former patients filed a lawsuit against Dr. Lang for the suffering he'd inflicted on them. Apparently he'd done more than he could have or should have done in his attempts at treating them. They won the case and Dr. Lang had to pay reparations (most of which he was still paying by the time I'd first met him) and he lost his license to practice.
 
Luckily for him by that point Professor Chang, an old friend of Lang's, had already established himself as one of Jump City's leading suppliers of anything and everything illegal or hard to come by. He helped Dr. Lang get back on his feet and establish his new unofficial practice in Ashford. Apparently some of his old post-JCSH patients had the guile to take occasional trips up to Ashford rather than go through the trouble of finding new physicians.
 
“Yes,” Lang sighed speaking more to himself than to me, “it'll do me good to repay a debt to an old friend. So, what's the problem. It would have to be something serious if Chang felt it could ever pay for all this.”
 
The moment had at last come. I now had to reveal everything to another person. I said nothing and merely looked the man over for a moment. As I gazed upon the bulbous little man standing in front of me, watching me quizzically, I wished that I had simply told the others about this whole mess when I'd awoken the night before. I wished I had told Starfire when I'd had the chance earlier that morning. I wished for a lot of things in that moment and none of them involved telling the earth-shattering truth that I was a vampire to a complete and total stranger.
 
As large as the room was it suddenly felt very small, almost claustrophobic. For the first time during that long day I started to wonder if I really wanted to go through with this, if this was really the way I wanted to do this. I still wanted a cure, there was no doubt in my mind about that, but now that I was standing at the threshold looking my answer straight in the eye I was overwhelmed by a great uncertainty about the whole thing.
 
But more than that, how could I even begin to tell someone about something so extraordinary that I even found it hard to believe at times. Vampires belonged in books and movies, which was how I'd always thought of them since the day I'd first heard of them. They were fiction, a work of fantasy. I now had to not only explain to Dr. Lang that vampires were in fact real but also that I had unwittingly become a member of their ranks in the past 48 hours.
 
“Come on now, out with it,” Dr. Lang spoke with the slightest twinge of impatience entering his voice that snapped me back to reality. “You're going to have to tell me what the problem is if you want me to help you. There's no need to be embarrassed. Whatever it is, I promise you, I will do everything I can.”
 
“Dr. Lang, it's not a matter of my being embarrassed. Its simply that my problem is…unusual.”
 
“Well, given the line of work your in, your lifestyle,” he said straightening his glasses, “I wouldn't be surprised if you came into contact with all sorts of unusual things.”
 
“Not this unusual,” my muscles tightened from the anxiety even as I tried desperately to strengthen my resolve to tell him. I couldn't reveal the truth outright, then there would be little chance that he would believe me or so I thought. No, I'd have to show him rather than tell him. I placed pressure on the muscles in my jaw trying to figure out how I'd done this the night before. Then I'd done it simply by relaxing my muscles during meditation so I reasoned that I could find a way to do it by tensing up those same muscles.
 
“What are you doing?”
 
I paid him no mind and continued my attempts until I felt that familiar friction of teeth rubbing against each other as my fangs descended. I played my tongue over them if only to be completely sure they were there, just as sharp as before and terribly real. Then, when I was at last ready, I bore them to Dr. Lang and held the pose long enough for him to get a good long look.
 
For a moment he squinted at them, as though they were some figment of his imagination. They were undeniably fixed into my gums and far too long to have been filed down from other teeth but despite all that he fixed his gaze with mine, “Just what in the hell is this, some kind of sick joke?” he asked incredulously.
 
“Dr. Lang, I know how ridiculous this must look to you but I assure you this is no joke,” I responded calmly surprised at how well I could speak with those damned fangs.
 
“Honestly vampires? Do you realize what you're asking me to believe?”
 
“Do you realize what I went through to find you? I now have to find a way to get your friend Chang's prison sentence shortened in exchange for sending me to you. Not only that but I now have to turn a blind eye to whatever illegal activities your involved in and I've done all this just so I can have a doctor find a way to cure me without the risk of anyone finding out.” I waited while he still had that unbelieving gaze fixed upon me. “Check my pulse, my respiration if you want more proof than this!”
 
And so he did. He checked my heart rate, my breathing; he even attempted to take a blood sample. Because there was no blood pressure I had to squeeze my finger to force out enough blood for Lang to check. By the time we were finished he acknowledged me with wonder as though I represented some monumental discovery, the answer to an age-old question.
 
“Vampires,” he spoke the word with a dreamy kind of reverence that made me feel sick, “to think that they actually exist. By all rights you should be dead but your functioning nonetheless just like a normal person…better than a normal person…”
 
“Normal people don't have to drink the blood of the innocent to function.”
 
“Without a need for normal respiratory function or for your heart to pump the blood throughout your system your body must then draw its energy from the blood itself. I'm merely guessing about all this but as long as you have a steady supply of fresh blood its possible that your body wouldn't be affected by exhaustion or the stress of physical exertion. If the stories are true you could very well be immortal. Just think of how effective a crime fighter you could be then. And who says that you have to drink the blood of the innocent when there are so many people in your life who aren't innocent? The blood of the sinner must taste just as sweet as the blood of the virtuous,” Lang reasoned.
 
“Dr. Lang, I'm a hero. When it comes to the well being of others I don't discriminate between the guilty or the innocent. Its not my place to decide who lives and who dies.”
 
“With your line of work, dear girl you must have some provision allowing you to use lethal force in a fight. I don't see how you couldn't with the type of criminals you face regularly.”
 
He was right, there was just such a provision for us Titans. Even so it was something that we silently forbade. We never spoke it aloud but somehow we all knew that we should never kill anyone no matter what the circumstances. Realistically it was impossible to make such a promise but by that point we'd done an impeccable job of keeping it. Nothing seemed more offensive to me than having to kill in order to simply survive. I wouldn't hear anymore of what Dr. Lang was telling me.
 
“Dr. Lang, this is no debate. I came here to have you find me a cure for this condition. You have a promise to Professor Chang to fulfill and we both want you to come through on your end. Out of necessity I have thus far neglected my obligations to the law in regards to your fine medical practice here. Unless you help me then I may just start doing my job. Do I make myself clear?”
 
Dr. Lang sighed, defeated. “Yes, I understand. There's no convincing you. If I am to find you an antidote then I suppose the most viable place to start would be an examination of that blood sample I've just taken from you. I think its only fair to warn you that this could take anywhere form days to weeks before I find the answer. Will that meet with your approval, Raven?”
 
Weeks he said. My hands clenched into fists at the thought of staying that way for any longer than I already had. But, what choice did I have? I did not want people to find out about this, especially not my friends. I knew full well how fragile my humanity was and I wanted to hang on to every last bit of it for as long as I could. I was going to stay as normal as I possibly could right up to the very end.
 
“Yes doctor, that meets with my approval,” I spoke the words calmly.
 
­­­­­­­­­­­ ;­­­­
The steps still made not the slightest sound as I trudged uncertainly down them leaving Dr. Lang to his own devices. I couldn't shake the feeling that I'd done something I shouldn't have. I knew that I wanted a cure, I wanted to be Raven again more than anything else in the world but the manner in which I was reaching for that goal felt unnerving.
I was making deals with criminals, degenerates, lowlifes and all for what? Just so no one could ever find out? Brother Blood's weakness, that was what I concentrated on above anything else. That was a truly valuable piece of information that we wouldn't have had otherwise. If there was any one truly good thing I'd done that day then it was obtaining that small piece of information. All thoughts of this, however, were swept from my mind as I at last stepped outside and experienced the night for the first time as only a vampire can.
 
As the cool night air washed over me I felt refreshed by it, perhaps even invigorated. As with the morning earlier when I'd felt myself become noticeable weaker I now noticed that with the coming of the night I felt stronger somehow, as though I were weightless. I'd been on the move all day long without so much as a break. Robin, Starfire, Beast Boy, even Cyborg would need to recharge his powercells after everything I'd done and yet, in that moment, I felt that I could do it all over again.
 
But it was what I saw, or the manner in which I saw things that stopped me in my tracks. I…am uncertain as to how I should describe what it was that I saw but…I suppose it says something that what I saw was indescribable. I'd always walked in the dark but I'd always associated that very darkness with death.
 
That night the darkness was lifted from my eyes and I saw how truly alive the night was. It brought tears to my eyes. I wondered, if Dr. Lang's unkempt and overgrown front yard had this powerful an effect on me then how beautiful would the pine forests to the west of the city be to my eyes, or the darkness of the deep ocean. Unbidden, a smile formed on my lips at the mere thought of all these tantalizing possibilities. I was smiling (something I rarely do to this day) at the mere thought of being able to see things. That was how powerful that image of the night was for me.
 
Just as I had earlier, I found myself greatly enjoying myself. But…I couldn't…I couldn't allow myself to enjoy this. If it weren't for that damned blood thirst I would probably have just taken my transformation in stride. I realized that was all that mattered; it was the only thing that drove me to find a cure. The fact that I'd need blood, that I'd have to kill in order to survive.
 
Disturbing thoughts, I turned my attention to other matters. The day was over so I no longer had to worry about the sunlight affecting my vision nor did I have to keep up the appearance of a normal person any longer. So I took to the sky and flew off in the direction I knew home to be in. It was 10:00 by the time I reached the tower.
 
 
The scent of pizza was the first thing that reached me as the elevator reached the main level of Titans Tower. I reasoned it was in celebration of the recent victory against Jinx, Mammoth, and Gizmo. That and, I thought, a convenient alternative to leftovers from Starfire's celebratory feast from the night before. I strode eagerly into the main room thinking that a slice might have some effect on my ever-present hunger. If anything it would keep me away from the medical blood stowed in my room for a time.
 
“Hey Raven. Was wondering when you'd get back,” Cyborg called from where he was seated on the curved couch at the television. He was the only one there; the others had gone to bed some time ago. Cyborg had the television on, I'd gotten home just in time for the news.
 
“Cyborg,” I nodded in greeting, “why are you still up at this hour? I didn't expect to find anyone awake when I got here.”
 
“Decided to wait up for ya. Besides, we all thought it was a good idea to have someone up to make sure you got home ok.”
 
“How considerate of you,” I spoke trying my best to hide the sardonic streak in my voice, “would you have done this for me if I hadn't had a near death experience?”
 
“Of course,” he spoke so simply that anyone could tell it was the truth. That at least allowed me to relax to a degree. The last thing I needed was the other Titans constantly reminding me of what had happened by giving me an excessive amount of attention, by worrying and fussing over me. I knew they meant well but I suppose all I wanted was for things to progress as though nothing had happened. I didn't want them to think of me any differently than they had before.
 
“May I have a slice of pizza?” I asked as I made my way towards the kitchen.
 
“Um…how'd you kno…help yourself its in the fridge.”
 
So I set to work. I filled my kettle with water and placed it on the stove to boil. A cup for the tea as well as a plate for the pizza was soon retrieved from a cupboard. I set the timer on the microwave for a little under five minutes and joined Cyborg on the couch while the pizza heated.
 
“So, how did the fight go today?” I asked.
 
“Oh you mean with Jinx and the rest, yeah we came out of it alright. Gizmo let loose some missiles that caused some damage but other than that we won.”
 
“But they did get away.”
 
“Yeah, well…we'll catch them sooner or later.”
 
“So, I take it I wasn't missed then?”
 
“Of course you were missed. Hell, if you were there they wouldn't even have had a chance of getting away. Besides, its not like you weren't doing anything important today.”
 
“That's true…I guess.”
 
“You guess! Raven you found us an easy way to take down Brother Blood, put him back in jail. As I see it, that's important.”
 
Cyborg was to Brother Blood what Robin was to Slade. Both had undeniable fixations on certain major villains. But I couldn't really fault Cyborg for his interest in Brother Blood as much as I could Robin for his Ahab-like obsession with Slade. The headmaster of the HIVE Academy had taken the life saving technology of cybernetics from Cyborg's own internal blueprints and perverted them, twisting them to his own intentions. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't offended by his actions.
 
“We'll put him back in jail and he'll stay there for the rest of his life,” he said more to himself than to me.
 
“Yes,” I began, “it could very well end that way providing he shows his face sometime in the future. And I'm pretty sure they won't fail to notice a tracking device like they did last time.”
 
“Well, even if he doesn't show himself all we have to do is catch one of his students and find out from them.”
 
“Yes, but because of this deal Professor Chang, a man who tried to destroy the city with a laser cannon, is going to have his prison sentence shortened,” I insisted.
 
“Raven, Chang already has one foot in the grave. I don't see the harm in letting him out before he has both feet firmly planted. You didn't when you made that deal with him.”
 
“No,” I sighed, “I didn't. But that doesn't change the fact that I feel that I've done something I shouldn't have.”
 
“Well then I think you need to ask yourself if the ends justify the means. Does catching someone like Blood, a man who willfully disfigured himself and whole heartedly intended to do the same to others justify letting someone like Professor Chang out of jail so he can enjoy what time he has left.”
 
“I guess you have a point,” I said becoming more and more uncertain as I considered my actions in their true context.”
 
“See Raven, even when you can't fight with us your still an incredibly valuable part of the team.”
 
I smiled at his words as the timer finally went off on my pizza accompanied by steam blowing out of the teakettle in a soft whistle. I headed for the kitchen and retrieved my reheated pizza from the microwave and finished preparing my tea. I then returned to the couch outfitted with a napkin, knife, and fork. I had to use my powers in order to carry the whole set.
 
Cyborg watched me with a certain interest as I gently placed the unfolded napkin in my lap, set the plate down on top of it, and knife and fork in hand proceeded to cut off a small piece at the very tip of the slice.
 
“Hehehe…y'know Raven, that's not really how your supposed to eat pizza.”
 
“Cyborg, I could reprimand you and the others for eating pizza with your bare hands just as easily as you reproach me for my table manners.”
 
“Hey, I'm not `reprimanding' you,” he said with a laugh showing he meant no harm, “it just seems like too much work just for one piece of pizza.”
 
I smiled as I impaled the piece I'd cut with my fork and brought it to my lips. The moment it passed my lips and came into contact with my taste buds I spat it out as though it were the most horrid thing I'd ever tasted. My eyes were tearing from the intensity of the flavor. The rush of flavor was simply too strong and it came at me all at once. Out of instinct I took up my tea and took a sip, not caring about how hot it may have been at the time. But my favorite herbal tea only made matters worse.
 
Feeling as though I was going to vomit I rushed to the sink at quickly as I could all the while Cyborg chased after me trying to figure out what was wrong with me, after all he'd had the same pizza just hours earlier.
 
“Raven, what's wrong! Are you choking! It that it!”
 
“No,” I managed with a strained voice, “the pizza…my tea…tastes terrible”
 
“Alright, alright just relax,” he spoke soothingly to me as he took a glass from the cupboard and filled it with water from the sink. “Here, drink this.”
 
I reluctantly took a first sip from the water and finding the taste mild enough for me to continue quickly drank the whole glass, washing away the impossibly strong flavor of my tea and that piece of pizza I'd tried to eat. Nothing I experienced was the same anymore, not even food.
 
Cyborg seemed somehow impressed by how calm I'd become so quickly after my violent reaction to the food. By all rights I should've been breathing heavily, sweating from the exhortation but I stood there as placid and calm as I had been when I first stepped out of the elevator. For a moment I considered acting as though the experience had a lasting effect on me but decided against it. That would've seemed even more suspicious.
 
“I'll throw the pizza out, there must've been something wrong with the piece you ate,” he said as he walked towards the refrigerator to retrieve the pizza box. Before reaching the fridge he stopped in front of the counter where I'd left my box of teabags out. “Might as well throw these out too if there's something wrong with them.”
 
I rushed forward and stopped him before he to up the box. Something just didn't add up. “Cyborg, I had tea this morning with my breakfast and it was alright then. Starfire made me a cup.”
 
He looked at me strangely as I finished speaking. “Um…Raven, you do realize that Starfire only gave you a cup of boiled water this morning do you? She didn't put a teabag in with it. One of us would've said something but after last night we thought it would be better to just let her be.”
 
My resolve weakened as Cyborg took the box from the counter and promptly dropped it into the trash. “We'll get more tomorrow,” he assured me. “Now for that pizza.”
I didn't have the heart to stop him as he was about to throw out a perfectly good pizza that only I couldn't enjoy. No…he stopped himself as the dialogue from a special news bulletin reached his ears from the television.
 
Breaking news from the downtown electronics district where a fight broke out between members of the HIVE Academy criminal organization and the Teen Titans. A body has been found in the rubble of one of the buildings damaged during the fight when the criminal known as Gizmo launched a barrage of missiles to cover the escape of himself and his partners Jinx and Mammoth. Manslaughter has now been added to the list of charges that the diminutive felon will face when and if he is caught. The body has been identified as that of a Mr. Jonathan Frid, owner of a shipping firm based in Maine.
 
The pizza box Cyborg had been holding fell to the floor as the impact of the news hit him. I was just as horrified by the news but there was something else that had a far greater effect on me about the report. A picture of the victim, who they called Jonathan Frid, was shown onscreen along with a date of birth and death. But it wasn't Jonathan Frid that I saw. I recognized the man in the photograph immediately.
 
He was only slightly taller than myself, his hair styled in a conservative fashion. He wore a dark overcoat over his business suit while his gloved hands gripped a silver wolf's head cane. His face had the appearance of a man who had aged considerably and probably didn't want to age any further. His eyes were slightly sunken into his skull yet it wasn't so prominent that it was grotesque. There was not a trace of doubt in my mind. The man in the photograph was Barnabas Collins.