Silver Trickster ⚬ Barry Allen [1]

Prologue

Nightmares were always something that haunted me at night. They'd always leave me sweating and waking up with a startle, but I always managed to calm myself down. Waking up was always my escape. Usually they were about the monsters under the bed or zombies chasing me, but never did I imagine that I'd wake up one night and find myself still stuck in a nightmare.

I was only 11 years old the night my life changed. My nightmares had gotten worse after the particle accelerator failed and sent a wave of dark matter across the city, leaving me wide awake as I sat in bed, staring at the clock ticking beside my bed. It was only eleven thirteen, but I was too tired to sleep. My throat was parched, so I decided to go downstairs to get a glass of water.

My young mind flashed to my nightmares about the hands reaching out from under the bed and grabbing my ankles, pulling me under and not leaving a trace of me. I felt my heart start to race a little faster in my chest as I gripped the sheets at the end of my bed, closing my eyes before leaping a good three feet away. When I landed, I looked back and smiled in satisfaction, glad that the monsters didn't win this time.

As I walked out of the door and down the hall, my eyes skimmed the photos of my parents and I hanging up on the wall. I always stared at them and brushed my fingers across the wall when I headed downstairs; it just became a habit of mine. For some reason this time though, something felt different, and I didn't like it.

When I reached the kitchen, I found that my father was sitting there at the table still reading something. The reading glasses on his face reflected the cup of milk he had sitting there next to him; the mug being one I had made for him for father's day last year. His dark eyes watch me as I step inside, lifting his head to say something.

"What are you doing up, Raven?" he says softly, not angry. He knew that I had nightmares and frequently fought against sleep. "Another nightmare?"

I shake my head slowly. "No. I keep thinking about the particle accelerator exploding."

"It's all over now," he calmly says as he lowers his paper, staring at me. "Harrison Wells assured us that it was all a mistake and that it won't ever happen again."