"Secrets and lies kill relationships. No matter how careful you are, you will get caught. What's done in darkness, always comes to light."
~Anonymous

–•–•–•–

I lied.

I lied to then right from the start. At least partially. Some of the story I told them was true. But a lot was also a lie. This is what actually happened.

2 years ago

I left my mother at the house after that small argument. That much was true. But afterwards I didn't go to the park.

I went to the local cemetery at the edge of town to meditate. It was pretty much abandoned, so I could use my powers freely. I'd take a different route pretty much every day, so nobody could really track me.

I'd float off the ground and chant my mantra to myself whenever I could get out of the house. But that was my 16th birthday, so my magic was especially strong. I had visions of my father and my mother battling in my home, Azerath.

For some reason it scared me. I knew it could never happen. My mother gave up using magic spells. She wasn't very strong to begin with. After all she was only a human.

I must have been causing a lot of problems at the cemetery, because somehow they found me. They had grabbed me by the shoulders and broken me out of the trance-like state I get in when I meditate.

That made me angry. They didn't know it was the day of my birth, so they couldn't have know the mistake they made.

Long story short, I had killed at least three of them in my demon state by simply impaling I them.

I didn't even glance back at the ones running away as I was going after the one I was most angry at. I teleported to my doorstep and opened the door. I locked it when I got inside.

"Oh Raven, back so soon?" She called to me from the kitchen, not knowing what I was.

I went into the kitchen, unlike what most people like me at the time would do, I didn't grab the kitchen knife.

"Raven?" My eyes were red. I stared at her devilishly and angrily at the same time. She knew what was happening, but by the time she did it was too late.

I grabbed her and stared straight into her eyes. That was one of my most powerful attacks. When I do that, I go into your head and your subconscious, and drain you from the inside out.

She went brain dead as she dropped on the floor like a rag doll. And for some reason, I was feeling extra sadistic that day.

I...don't want to go into details. I'm just going to say that there was a lot of blood.

Then my powers were cruel to me as my demon form "deactivated" and I saw what I'd done.

Then the police came in. Somebody had reported very gruesome noises coming from the house.

It was dark by then.

It all happened so fast.

Before I knew it I was in custody. I was questioned. I obviously couldn't tell them what actually happened. They wouldn't believe me.

"Oh sure I'm a demon with demonic powers and I got really mad and killed my own mother." Would you believe me?

They did a background check on me and nothing. No birth certificate. No records. Nothing. Then they got suspicious. They did a few verbal tests on me and found out I was lying pretty quickly.

The evidence was stacked against me and the trial took for-freaking-EVER. But upon bringing in doctors, they found out I had "a multitude of mental problems". My sentence was to stay in the mental institution until I was legally an adult.

I went to the mental institution a few weeks later. All they knew was that I was sixteen and my initials were R.R.

After I was dropped off nobody saw me. The person who was supposed to meet me at the entrance was late, so I took the opportunity to change my visual appearance. I quickly tied up my hair and stood waiting. For some reason they trusted my by myself.

"Ah you must be R.R. The orphan right?" They were the most polite people I've ever met.

"Yeah."

"Don't expect us to be nice here." The doors shut. I'm not sure what was scarier. Killing my mother or being locked in the place.

They brought me to the warden's office (yes they called her the warden) and strapped my wrists to the chair like it was protocol.

"What's your name dear?" Her voice was nice and soothing, but I could tell my looking at her eyes that if I slipped up, I was going to regret it. So I straightened out my face and told her.

"Rachel Roth." I told her my made up, fake name. I was a completely different person there. To all but one.

I met him on my 17th birthday oddly enough (which the institution didn't know. Idiots didn't keep tabs like that). I had seen him around every once in a while, but I hadn't spoken to him until then.

"Hey, aren't you Rachel?" I nodded.

"You know about the rumors right?"

"No."

"People keep saying you can use magic. I keep telling them they're ridiculous assholes."

"Because they are." I replied. I ate my crap-on-a-plate. We talked for a while after that. We talked till the end of lunch. I liked it. He was the first decent person I had met there.

"I like you Rachel. Catch ya later." That wasn't the last time I saw him.

I liked him. His name was Mikah.

Mikah'd sneak into my padded cell through the skylight every night and we'd talk. I don't know how he did it. But he was handy.

By the time I had actually got permisson to walk around the courtyard he already had.

We had grown really close after that. That's when I finally decided to tell him. To show him.

"Hey Rae!" He knocked in the skylight.

"Shh! You're gonna get us caught." I say letting him in.

"Have I gotten caught yet?"

"Nope. But I don't intend to start."

"You said that tonight would be special? What for? Just because it's a pink moon? You're actually into that crap?"

"No you idiot. Well, sorta, but that's not why it's special. I'm going to tell you something that you have to swear to keep secret."

"Oh. It's that serious huh? Alright." He sat on my cot with me. I closed my eyes and when I opened them they glowed. He jumped back as I took on my actual appearance and my hair fell just below my ears out of my ponytail. "Woah."

I told him my story, and I told him what happened. I trusted him enough to not freak out. My prayers were answered when he replied with,

"That's so badass!"

"Mike, my name isn't Rachel either. It's Raven. Raven Roth. I need you to help me."

"With what?"

"Help me escape."

"What's in it for me?"

"We can escape together. We can go together. Just teach me how to survive out there. I wouldn't want to be a burden."

He agreed. He taught me how to drive, hide, physical combat, keeping a calm head in a high stress situation, and all the other techniques I know.

We escaped 2 months ago. I made sure I grabbed a bandage that day.

But as soon as we got to civilization, the thugs were all on us.

They killed him. That was the first time I could remember crying in my life. I don't know exactly how I felt about him, but he was really my first friend.

I never got on the train. I always teleported from town to town.

By the next dawn I met Moone.

That happened, and I left there. Word of my past got through to every thug on the west coast in the network. In the underground tunnels, I was so well known.

Why didn't I change back into my disguise?

When I got to Jump City, it was 2 days after Mikah and I had escaped. They had already let out a warning to every town in a 500 mile radius. Somehow the institution knew of my demon side and knew of my magic although I never displayed it. So maybe they weren't as stupid as I thought.

I wasn't sure how many cities had gotten it yet so I didn't want to assume anything.

It was about a week until I heard people talking about it, so I figured it had gone out by then.

The thugs were already after me. I had to change my clothes and keep to the shadows.

I felt like this place was perfect for me to stay in for some reason. At least a little bit longer than I usually stay.

I had finally decided to use the bandage upon my decision to stay. It didn't block out all my powers, but it was pretty effective.

I was only in the park because I was curious about the birds. I don't know why. I was feeling abnormally happy that day. No matter how hard I tried the darn bird wouldn't come down.

Then a boy with blonde hair came and helped me bring it down.

–•–•–•–

It was quiet. Raven's friends were slack-jawed. The highly intimidating men behind her were smirking.

"You all look suprised." They don't answer him. "You shouldn't be. She can kill all of you if she wanted to." Raven turns herself back to normal as he talks. "I'm suprised she hasn't. The girl and her power is worth millions. Now that we got her, were gonna be rich and sell her to power hungry people. Ever hear of Lex Luther?"

"Raven doesn't deserve that! Leave her be!" Gar shouts.

"After all that you heard, you still defend the kid? She's a murderer. You want to be friends with a murderer?" Another one if them asks.

Gar wants to believe that Raven is a good person, but like she said, all the evidence is stacked against her.

"Let's go kid. There ain't nothing they can do anyway."

She looks at the men behind her, and she looks at the people she's spent almost a month with, then focuses on the one of them she's known the longest.

"I..." They move closer to her. She looks at her friends who are still in shock for help, but they provide her none. "I..."

"Grr. Azerath Metrion Zinthos!" With an explosion of black energy, she changes into an interesting outfit. A black leotard with a long indigo cloak with a hood and a gold belt with red gems on it. "Go away." She makes the thugs disappear. Right into thin air.

She looks back at her friends.

Dick steps forward after a long session of hard thought.

"Raven, leave."

"Dick!" Kori and Gar say his name, but he pretty much ignores them.

"What?"

"You heard us. Go or we'll calling the police." Vic says stepping forward.

"Vic!" The two say again.

Sadness and anger engulf Raven. She thought she could trust them. But they backstabed her.

She lifts him up and slams him into the sand.

"The one time I find people who don't go and die on me they make me leave instead! You're terrible people! I hate you! I hate you all!!" Raven literally rips her precious necklace from her neck and it breaks into pieces. "Damn your stupid art project." She crushes it in a ball of black fire. Gar feels like his heart just broke.

"Azerath Metrion Zinthos." The four jump as all their beach stuff explodes behind them.

Raven pulls up her hood and leaps into the air. In a few seconds she's disappeared from their sight with a swipe if her cloak.

"Raven! Wait! What the hell is wrong with you Dick?!" Gar punches Dick in anger. Kori looks like she is about to cry. "And you too Vic!"

"You heard what she said. She's dangerous. And if we got caught with her we could go to jail for harboring a fugitive." Dick explains.

"She was our friend!" Kori says.

"Gar, c'mon. You saw what she did to them. She can just make us disappear like that." Vic snaps his fingers.

"She could've done it just now too! But she didn't! She's right. You two are terrible people."

He walked over to the bits of the necklace in the sand.

You're terrible people! I hate you! I hate you all!! Her words repeat over and over in his mind.

You're terrible people! I hate you! I hate you all!!

She was gone.