Fan Fiction ❯ Embracing the Darkness ❯ Chapter 8 – A Vampire’s Strength ( Chapter 8 )

Chapter 8 - A Vampire's Strength

 

 

At 5:00 A.M. I walked into the vacant main room of Titans Tower, thankful that the morning was overcast and grey. A gentle rain pelted the giant windows that dominated the room. If the weather held I'd be able to go out without having to worry about being blinded by the sun. I'd dressed in my uniform of a black leotard and my blue cloak in preparation for whatever training exercises Robin had in mind. It most likely would be hand-to-hand combat; that had been what he'd most wanted to improve about my abilities. To some degree I could agree with him. When I was a mortal if one were to find a way to disable my powers I'd be effectively useless in a crisis, at least as far as my fighting ability was concerned.

 

Somehow, it had felt strange to stay up the whole night. After Beast Boy had left and I had the chance to finish what little remained of my medical blood. Afterwards I really didn't know what to do with myself. I spent most of the early morning hours either meditating to catch up on the time I'd missed the day before or simply listening to the noises the Tower, and its occupants made as the night wore on. It was close to five o-clock when I decided that I could move freely about the Tower without much trouble, besides I had one hour left till I was to meet Robin.

 

As I moved about and sensed the coming of the day it became more and more apparent to me that vampire's were very much like any nocturnal creature. Although it wasn't their natural time, they were capable of moving about during the daytime, although in a weakened state. It didn't feel like I had the same inexhaustible energy that I'd felt the night before, and it only made my hunger all the more palpable. In those early days it seemed that it was always with me, only finding minor appeasement from my nightly ration of medical blood. If I hadn't trained myself in self-restraint I don't know what I would have done to myself or to those around me…I don't like to think about that very much.

 

Absent-mindedly, my actions being controlled by habit, I headed for the kitchen area and set to work making my usual cup of tea. It was something I felt I needed at that moment. I went through the motions: heating a kettle full of water to a boil and pouring it into a mug. I only remembered the events of the previous night when I went to get a teabag and found the box was missing. Cyborg had already thrown it away. The thought was shattering, that my life had been so altered that I couldn't even enjoy the simple pleasure of my usual cup of tea. In anger I brought my fist down on the counter top with as much force as I could muster, and it went clean through the yellow corian.

 

The hard material shattered under the force of my blow, it felt like I'd merely punched through dry clay or mud. My mug filled with steaming water fell over, spilling its contents all over. Bits and pieces of the broken countertop came clattering to the floor leaving a small but discernible hole at the spot where I had struck with small but noticeable cracks leading away from it. I could only stand there, horrified at what I'd just done. Although it had been an act motivated by emotion my powers weren't involved in any way.

 

It had been pure physical strength that had broken the same hard material that had been used to make the tower's bathtubs and sinks. For one long moment I looked fearfully at my own hands, stunned into silence. My mind wandered back to a reading I'd once done of Bram Stoker's Dracula and Van Helsing's description of the titular Count having “in his hand the strength of twenty men.”

 

“I hate surprises,” I whispered, having had my fill of surprises in recent days. As I looked down at the damage I'd caused a sickening feeling crept up my stomach. There would be no hiding this from the others. I couldn't pin this on some other entity or force; this was my own doing and no one else's. They'd ask me how I could have done this and I wouldn't have an answer for them other than the truth. Then, as I thought this new problem I realized that the truth would probably be the best thing to tell them, but just enough of the truth to satisfy their curiosity. My telekinetic powers were inherently unstable. I could simply tell them that I'd lost control of my powers for a moment and the ruined countertop was the result.

 

I smiled at my idea. It wasn't far from the truth at all. The countertop would need to be replaced; I would gladly pay for it myself. I calmed myself with ease. All I'd have to do was stay calm, think things through, and keep in control of myself. And at that moment I had just discovered something new and terrible that I'd have to get a grip on, my physical strength. At that moment, I could only be thankful that I'd discovered it through damaging something replaceable like the countertop rather than during my training session with Robin.

 

 

After cleaning up the mess I'd made of the kitchen as well as I could I quickly made my way to the gymnasium. I felt I needed to see just how strong I was, then work to control it. I didn't believe I could do it before six-o-clock but anything I could do would help my situation. The gymnasium was filled with exercise equipment, some designed specifically for the use of only one Titan. My eyes wandered intently over a weight-training device Cyborg used. I wasn't very comfortable with the idea of seeing how many gross tons I could lift and instead moved to the center of the room where a large sand-filled punching bag was suspended from the ceiling by a six-inch length chain.

 

The punching bag was still fairly new; Beast Boy had destroyed the previous one (along with some other pieces of gym equipment) during the “Man-Best” debacle. I already knew I had become stronger than I'd been before; I now wanted to know by how much. The moment I extended a hand to touch it I knew something was different. It felt lighter somehow.

 

I set it in motion by pushing it away from me with my left hand while I balled my right hand in a fist. As the punching bag swung back at me I struck. The side of the punching bag seemed to compress in upon itself from the blow as the bag itself was launched backwards. It reached close to if not an exact 45-degree angle to the floor at its farthest point before coming back at me.

 

I struck again and again, each blow knocking the punching bag back farther than the last. I finally had to stop, fearing that if I hit it any harder the chain would send it crashing into the ceiling above, providing the chain didn't break first from the stress. After gently bringing the punching bag to a stop I stood there in the center of the gymnasium, going over what I'd learned. I'd learned that I was dangerous, perhaps too dangerous. If I was capable of such displays of raw power during the daytime, how much more powerful would I be at night? How much more powerful would I be when using this strength in conjunction with my telekinesis? My powers were unstable enough already. How could I control it? Could I even control it?

 

“Hey Raven. Good to see you're up already,” Robin called from the doorway behind me. I turned suddenly, having been so deep in thought at that moment that I hadn't even sensed his presence. He was dressed in his full uniform much in the same way I was, in preparation for our training session. Despite the seemingly pleasant morning greeting he'd given me, I could still sense an anger about him. Whether or not I was still the undeserving object of that anger I did not know.

 

“Good morning Robin. How did you sleep?” I asked plainly, calmly.

 

“Not very well.”

 

“If it's any comfort to you I didn't sleep very well either.”

 

“I'm sorry to hear that, you need as much rest as you can get,” he spoke in a quiet tone. “Raven, I'd like to apologize for the things I said last night. What I said was wrong and I just…” he paused as if trying to find what to say. “The past few days have been insane with everything that's happened first you and now this whole thing with Mr. Frid and…this sort of thing isn't supposed to happen,” the anger again slipped into his voice.

 

“Robin, as I told you last night, you weren't at fault, I wasn't at fault, none of us were at fault. Given the kind of villains we face, the manner in which some fights can escalate, this was bound to happen eventually.”

 

“Raven, how can you resign yourself to it like that. I understand that you're not the most emotional person but doesn't it bother you that this is the first fatality we've ever had in three years of protecting this city? Doesn't it bother you that we're sending this man home in a box? Doesn't it bother you that you could have done something but weren't there to help? Why are you the only one of us who isn't upset about this?”

 

I didn't answer, I couldn't. I simply didn't know what to say. For the first time during my ordeal I couldn't come up with a lie to protect myself from his questions. How could I force myself to shed a tear over the death of a person who effectively destroyed my life? Although I didn't say anything, I didn't avert my gaze from Robin's form. I may not have felt the same outrage Robin and the others felt over the death of “Mr. Frid,” but that didn't in any way validate Robin's aggressive desire to assign blame. This was an unforeseeable circumstance, but he either couldn't or wouldn't see that. After a while Robin gave a sigh and turned to leave.

 

“This morning you and I will be fencing. I have all the gear set up on the roof. I left a fencing sword and protective clothing outside your door. I'll be waiting.”

 

And with that he left me. It wasn't the first time we'd had a fencing match. Robin had reasoned that the matches would help improve my reflexes, possibly even supply me with a form of weapon I could use in a fight if necessary. In any event, I couldn't help but be relieved that this “training session” would be weapons based rather than straight hand-to-hand. I felt I'd have a better chance of controlling a weapon in a fight instead of my own hands.

 

As he told me I would, I found all my equipment in the hallway outside of my room. All the protective clothing was made out of tough white nylon and was stacked in a neat arrangement next to my door. However, it was the fencing sword that caught my attention most of all. It wasn't the same type of sword we'd used in previous matches. I picked it up and was surprised to find myself holding an épée, the modern version of the classical dueling sword. Unlike the normal foil, the épée was a heavier weapon with a more rigid blade.

 

A dueling weapon, I thought. If Robin's intentions for this match hadn't been clear before, they certainly were now. He had a point to prove, and I would be more than happy to prove my own.

 

 

By the time I had dressed and reached the roof of Titans Tower the rain had stopped leaving only a grey and troubled sky in its wake. The masked Titan stood waiting for me on the helipad. All I could hear were the sounds of water washing against the shore and the occasional sound of seagulls soaring either overhead or somewhere below. At that height, the wind was relatively strong as well as bitterly cold.

 

Once we were standing opposite each other on the helipad, Robin took up his fencing sword, another épée, and pointed it towards me.

 

“I thought about it and decided a fencing match would be the best means to see just how capable you are, Raven. Depending on how you perform, I will decide whether or not you are ready to return to your duties. We can start whenever you're ready.”

 

I smirked as I lowered my face guard and took up my fencing sword, signaling my readiness. He wanted to prove through this fight that I could have fought in the previous day's battle and thus assign blame. I'd be proving his point for him if I were to fight and hold my own against him. But, as I saw it whether or not I was capable of fighting was irrelevant. It didn't change the fact that none of us knew anyone was going to be killed that day.

 

Seeing that I was ready Robin lowered his own face guard and came at me.