Hey guys, So here's a little something I came up with. I might put it in a story somewhere, so if you see it again...yeah...

Anyway...This is kinda scary...Here it goes...

Jessica Arnold

Michael Whiteside

ENG 102 B05

3 September 2014

The Nightmare

I had been awake for the past seventy two hours working on cases and paperwork. The normal for me. Robberies, random villainous attacks, a few murders…most were closed cases. I was just trying to finish the evidence forms and police reports. I was tired. Exhausted, actually, and I kept telling myself I was going to bed after I got one done, but that never works. Thus, I continued on working into the dead hours of the night. I moved some files from my desk to my bed and sat down to organize them. I considering setting an alarm to go to bed, but decided against it. I relaxed on the bed, with my legs out in front of me, crossed at the ankles, and a pillow propped up behind my back. I kept sliding down on my pillow trying to get comfortable. I looked up for a moment, just to get my eyes away from the paper work, to focus on something else. Just for a minute…

A single light shone above my head. A high wire was strung across the tall ceiling. How did that get there? I got to my feet and stood in the center of the room looking up and the mysteriously placed wire.

"Hello?" My voice echoed through the silence, bouncing off the white walls. There was no answer.

"Hello?!" I said again. louder this time.

"Hello, my little Robin." Came a sweet, familiar voice from all directions. I couldn't pinpoint her location, but I knew without a shadow of a doubt who that voice belonged to. It was unmistakable.

"Mama?" I asked, anticipation rising within my voice, "Mama, where are you?"

"Richard!" Another voice bounced off of the walls. I quickly scanned the area.

"Papa?" I looked up to see two figures on either side of the high wire silhouetted against the light.

My heart was beating wildly as I began to climb the ladder to my beloved parents. How long had it been? How many tears had been shed since I had last seen them? Here they were, right above me, just out of reach. They jumped from their platforms simultaneously as they began their mid air act. They smiled proudly at me as they flew through the motions they knew so well. The crowd below went wild. I was half way up the ladder when a quiet hissing sound filled the room.

"Come, my little Robin! Fly away with us!" Mama trilled in her beautiful accent.

I always loved Mama's accent, something I hadn't ever had in my own speech. It was light and airy, like a bubble as it dances on the breeze.

"I'm coming Mama!" I cried excitedly as furiously raced up the ladder.

The hissing grew louder.

"Come on, Dick! Hurry, you'll miss your debut!" Papa urged. I reached the platform and looked blissfully out to my parents. But something was terribly wrong.

They were covered in blood…their bodies were twisted and mangled at impossible angles.

I screamed in horror at the gruesome sight that lay before me.

"Come on, Dick, join us!" They said simultaneously, "We miss you!"

The hissing was louder. Unbearably louder.

"We love you, Dick! Come join us!" They cried happily together.

The rope snapped while they were running and flipping over one another.

Time seemed to stop as I watched their deadly decent to the cold dirt floor below.

"Come on, my little Robin! Fly away with us! We miss you!" Mama called happily, as if she had not a care in the world.

"Come on, Richard! We love you!" Papa called.

"No! Mama! Papa!" I screamed from the platform as I watched them fall, smiles shining brightly on their faces.

"Come on, Dick! Fly away with us! We miss you so much! We love-"

There were two dull thuds as their bodies hit the dirt floor of the circus tent.

A scream tore through my throat, making it raw as it passed. I tried to get up and go to them, but I couldn't move. So, I sat on the platform and tore my eyes away from the scene below me and cried every tear I had ever held back since they died.

"It's ok, Robin." Mama voice echoed. "I'm here for you."

"Robin?" Papa called. A picture of Bruce flashed through my mind.

"Robin?" He asked. I looked across the way to the other platform. Bruce stood there wearing his cape and cowl as he looked at me with pity. "It's ok, Robin. I'm here for you."

The tight rope had somehow been replaced. Bruce took a step out onto it and began making his way toward me with little effort. I tried to call out to him, tell him to stay back, but the words stuck in my throat, leaving me to watch him in horrified silence, carefully observing his steps. He was almost in arm's length reaching out to me as he walked. The rope underneath him gave way just before I was able to take his hand. Finally, another blood chilling scream ripped through my raw throat.

"Robin!" He yelled as his cape followed him, flapping in the wind. His body hit the ground, right where my parents were.

I couldn't scream anymore. He was gone...He had been so close. What kind of hero was I if I couldn't save him when he had been mere inches away from me?

"ROBIN!" Another voice echoed off the walls. I covered my ears and curled into a ball. Someone grabbed my arm and pulled me up. I stood and looked at the ground. There, laying in front of me was the bodies of everyone I knew and loved. Screaming voices filled my mind. Everyone was screaming for me. They needed me, and I wasn't there for them-I couldn't save them….

Mama, Papa, Bruce, Alfred, Jason, Damian and Tim…All of them laying in a sea of blood.

The he appeared. He's the one responsible. He killed them.

"Looks like I missed one…" He said venomously as he pulled a gun from the waistband of his pants. He smiled down at me almost kindly, with bright white teeth and eyes that begged to see blood glistening off the earth.

"NO!" I screamed again.

He pulled the trigger.

"ROBIN!"

The shot rang out, and my vision went black.

I shot up in bed, sweat pouring off my face, and panting uncontrollably. My body shook as I swung my legs over the side of the bed. My heart was beating violently as I held my sweaty head in my hands. It was just a dream….

I kept telling myself it's just a dream, nothing more, nothing less. I couldn't hold back the deluge of tears that fell down my face and soaked into the soft carpet.

Stupid. I knew better than to fall asleep filing away murder cases. I looked around the room from the newspaper clippings on the wall, to the poster of the Flying Grayson's...I took a deep, shuttering breath in attempts to calm myself down. I waited a moment, listening for sounds of anyone coming to my room, although I knew no one would. There was a reason my bedroom walls were soundproof. I looked at the clock. Only a few more hours until sunrise. I pulled my scattered papers back together and moved them back to the desk. Better to get up and finish my work than go back to sleep and let my past memories come back and haunt me in a delusional dream. After all, when the bird is asleep, the demons come out and play.

Alright, that's it. Leave a review and let me know what you think! Thanks for reading! Have a good day!