Silver Trickster ⚬ Barry Allen [1]

2. Flashback

14 years ago

"What is happening to me?" I say as I stare at my hands, thinking back to what had happened before this man in front of me had taken my parents. My mind was spinning too fast for someone my age, and I could hardly handle it.

Jay kneels down in front of me, his dark mask in his hand. "I'll teach you, Raven. You just have to let me."

I look up at him, unclear of what to do. My mother's voice was ringing in my ears: run Raven! I wanted to turn and run far away from here, but something was making me stay. "Teach me what?"

"How to use your gifts," he states, his eyes locked on my own. His gaze almost had me hypnotized, and I assumed that that was the reason why I was still here. "What you have, Raven, is something that everyone would kill for. You have to use what you're given."

I shake my head. "What if I don't want it?"

His gaze turns sour, making me wince. Something about him was compelling, but another part of him scared me half to death. "I know you don't get it now, but you will. What you have can change the world Raven; that's all that I'm trying to do."

Change the world.

"I can change the world?" I breathe, thinking about how I had seen superhero's rise lately in Central City. I always wondered what it was like to be one of those people, and now I had the chance.

Jay nods his head. "Yes, you can with me. We can work together; we can make things right again."

I nod my head, sure of what I wanted now. "I want to help you."

"Great," Jay smiles, that smile hiding a story that I wanted to know. "But you have to promise me something first."

I was always great at keeping promises. "What?"

His eyes stay on my own, darkness behind them. Blue lightning continued to dance around his skin, but it didn't seem to bother him one bit. "You have to stay here with me. You can't go back to the life you once knew, do you understand?"

I started to nod my head, but after I thought about it for a moment, I stopped. I didn't want to leave my life behind. I wanted to feel my mother's embrace after coming home from a long day at school. I wanted to remember that joy I had felt every Christmas when I opened a new present, my parents basking in my excitement. I wanted to be Raven Black.

A single tears runs down my cheek. "I miss my parents."

Jay stares at me for a long moment, trying to figure out what to do with me. I could tell by his face that he was heartbroken to see me cry, but then with a swift hand, he rubs my tear away with his thumb. His skin grazes against my cheekbone as I sniffle, managing to keep myself under control the best that I could.

"You parents are gone, Raven." Jay lowers his hand. "You and I are similar, you know. I lost my parents too. I watched them get ripped away from me."