Demons (Damirae)

Chapter Thirty

A.N:Prepare yourselves...
Just to make you scream a little before reading, there may be some scenes ahead that aren't suitable for very young readers... mwahahaha

Raven pulled her knees up to her chest, tilting her head back against the door.

"Are you sure that's what you saw?", Damian asked, sitting besides her, resting his forearms against his knees.

She nodded, "There's no doubt about it. We'll have to look further in to it though- just to be certain."

The boy next to her dipped his head, "Of course. But I don't believe that fathe-Bruce,", he gritted his teeth, "should know more until we're absolutely certain."

Regarding Damian thoughtfully, Raven sighed, overwhelmed by the need to offer her help to him. Sitting up straighter, she turned around fully to face him, crossing her legs in her usual meditation pose.

"Damian.", she began soothingly.

He raised an eyebrow, feigning unaffectedness.

"Damian, look at me,"

Exhaling, he unfolded his knees, looking to her and imitating the way she was sat. Much to his surprise, the demoness shuffled slightly closer, placing her palms on top his, which rested above his crossed legs.

It was so...right.

Her hand clasping his. So, so warm. So secure. Comforting.

A reassurance.

Damian's eyes found Raven's.

She sighed, "Don't lie to yourself, Damian. Please.", the pleading edge to her voice shattered his resolve. "You're not okay, are you?"

Eyes now, downcast, Damian struggled with himself. Should he remove those barriers stopping him from confiding in her. In Raven. In the person whose hands he was holding on to for dear life.

"Just answer...please. You know I've placed a silencing charm on the room. The door is locked. It's only me here. Please."

His eyes flitted up to hers, and just like that, his walls crumbled to no more than rubble. The shift was obvious in his aura: it was no longer the chaotic mass of undeveloped power, but a thunder cloud on the verge of releasing Zeus' fury upon the mortal realm.

Gripping her hand tighter, he breathed, "I'm not. I'm really not."

"Talk to me, tell me what's wrong.", she tried, "It will help, trust me."

He bit his lip, contemplating for a moment before confiding everything... almost everything.

About how he struggled with the urge for blood. The internal battle against his assassin's training and demonic nature. The compulsion to defy his father's no-kill rule. The loss of the Titans Tower. Blaming himself for the incident. Bruce having another child.

The difficulty in talking to his father.

"It's ridiculous. I can decapitate a creature without a second thought, but when it comes to speaking to my own father,", he chuckled bitterly, "I can't even face him."

Hands still intertwined, Raven and Damian shared a clear moment of silence. What he had just told her, nobody else in the world knew. Raven was his sole confidant, that was because he trusted her.

True, he trusted Grayson- regardless of how much he was loath to admit it- he also trusted Jaime and Jon -they were good friends- and Donna (despite her eccentricities) of course Koriand'r too, Jason, Steph, Tim and Cass in their own ways as well.