Teen Titans: The Eternal vs. Mortal Love Story - Book One

Chapter 18

I couldn't stop running.

Fear dominated me, embedding the anxiety of what was to come in a moment. I was running in the middle of the street in the city. I was in a ghost town, and I had absolutely no idea why.

"Cyborg? Beast Boy? Raven? Starfire?" I screamed for them as I ran. I lost my balance, and fell down hard enough to scrape my body. My eyes were too moist, my throat was heaving and dry, and all I could do was scream for my friends.

"Cyborg? Beast Boy? Raven? Starfire?"

The silence rang in the air, a silence that could deafen me.

"ROBIN!"

"AMBER!!!"

My head rose and saw him in the distance, trying to run towards me. As I was about to get back up, I was suddenly flipped on my back, and a crushing amount of pressure hit me square in the chest. The feeling of it felt like I was being crushed by Kryptonite.

I shot up, panting heavily. A thick layer of sweat covered my face and neck. I looked at the clock by my bed and read the time. 3:45 a.m. 

"Amber? What's wrong?" He hovered over me, possibly trying to get a clear view of my face. 

"It was...a bad dream...That's all," I explained in between pants. 

"What happened?" I looked into his face to see a worried expression planted on it. 

"I was running from something. I called for you guys. You were too far away,"  I admitted to him. 

"You're not alone," Robin's arms snaked around me, pulling me to him. I relaxed, feeling a little better. He tilted my chin up and brought my face closer to his with one hand, while keeping the other around me. His lips met mine, and the warmth washed over me once again. It felt so effortless, but something wasn't right. Something was off about this.

Robin pulled away, with a smile on his face. 

"You know I care about you, right?" he asked me. My heart clenched in happiness, feeling the emotion radiating off of him.

"Of course I do. You know I care about you too."

"And you know I'd do anything for you, right?" Robin asked yet another question. I nodded, but confusion hit me. Why was he asking me this? He knew I knew how much he cared. I cared so much for him.

"Robin, what are you trying to-" I started, but my own gasp of fear cut me off. Robin's neck had a huge bite wound on it, and it was gushing blood. He paled rapidly in color as I tried to keep pressure down on the wound.

The blood. There's so much blood!!!!

My screaming forced me wide awake, and I tumbled off my bed and hit the floor hard. My body protested painfully. I let out a scream as everything literally pounded to life, like muscle cramps gone haywire. I was face down on my bedroom floor, unable to get up with ease. My limbs felt as if they were aflame as I tried to move, and my torso wasn't helping much. I was as limp and sore as I could get for someone who doesn't exactly experience that kind of thing.

I scanned the room for anything abnormal. Nothing's wrong here. Everything looks fine...

Wait...wasn't Robin in my bed last night?

After a few excruciating attempts, I managed to get myself standing up, and limped very slowly to the bathroom, shutting the door. A full length mirror was on the opposite side of the room, and I finally saw what last night's damage had done to my body.

Bruises and cuts covered my face and my arms, along with a few on my legs. Both of my eyes were bloodshot at the whites and a bit swollen. My lip was busted, and my face was overall bruised and cut up.