Hi guys :D I'm glad you are enjoying this so far :) Two more chapters to go I think. Sorry it took so long to publish.

Disclaimer: I just own the plot. I own none of the characters.

Hint/Warning: Italics in this represent thoughts and dream scape. The dream is sort of based off of the events in the last episode of season 1 but I changed some things such as the dialogue.

Dreams can seem so real sometimes; especially if they are of your past or of your fatal mistakes. After making a connection between with the messages left behind by the murderer Barry had to stop a bank robbery, an armed stolen car robbery, and many other minor crimes non-stop for five hours straight. He began to wonder if all the crooks in Central City thought it was a field day to go rob and pillage. By the time he had rescued about twenty people from a burning building Barry realized it was already eleven o' clock at night. One reason he probably found out was when he tripped over a pot hole when running and slammed into a newspaper stand. After wrenching his broken nose back into it normal position (and struggling to keep his scream of pain contained) and cleaning up the mess he decided it was time to call it a night after hearing the clock at city hall strike eleven.

Barry barely managed to drag himself through Joe's front door before collapsing on his bed already snoring before he hit the pillow. And that was when the nightmare began. It was of the time he traveled back in time to save his mother.

He was standing in his old bedroom looking around in wonder at his old room. He saw his fish tank which was half empty and the planet mobile by his window. A sudden scream made him look at the door. Carefully he walked down the stairs and opened the door to see his mother on her knees screaming at a young boy to get back. Yellow and red lightning cackled and hissed as it spun around her.

"Barry!" she screamed, "Don't let him touch you."

Taking a deep breath he was about to start forward when one of the blurs came to a stop in front of him. It was a much older man at least in his early forties. He looked exactly like the man who was standing in the door frame except his suit was scarlet red and a white symbol illuminated the background of the yellow lightning bolt.

The older man held up a hand and shook his head to send the silent message 'don't'. The man standing in the door way shook his head in as shock as his older self saved his younger self. He backed away from the door way; unable to stand seeing the man in yellow stab his mother in the heart. After he heard the sound of the Reverse Flash fleeing from the scene cursing his luck of not being able to kill his foe as a child did he venture into the room. His father lay off the side with a knife inches away from his hand. His mom laid on the ground crying softly as blood slowly stained her shirt. She was dying...but he could save her.

The man walked over to her. His silent footsteps made the woman jerk her head up to look at him.

"Where is my son...my husband...are they.."

"They are safe..." he answered trying to keep back his emotions while he bent down to hold her hands, "I promise."

"Who are you?"

'I'm...," the man cut himself off to choke back a sob before saying firmly, "I'm the Flash. I know this won't make any sense...but it is me mom. Its Barry."

He removed his mask to display his face and rumpled brown hair. His eyes were brimming with tears...many of which trickled out and dropped to the ground.

"Barry?" his mom asked before she let out a soft cry of amazement, "Oh my beautiful boy."

She reached out and caressed his face as if she feared he would disappear at any moment.

"I came back to see if I could save you..." he explained his voice trembling, "And I failed...but I want to let you know that in the future that I am safe...and dad is safe. I'm so sorry I failed to prevent this."

"If this was my destiny then I will except it..." his mother responded letting out a shuttering cough, "Just remember...be a good boy. Follow your heart and nothing will go wrong."

Her hands shook slightly and they started to go limp and fall back to her side. She coughed again as more blood soaked her shirt.

"Mom?" he asked his throat constricting.

"Goodbye..." she breathed, "Good..."

Her eyes glazed over and she turned her head to her side. The man lifted a trembling hand and stroked her face gingerly. He knew in his heart that she was dead. He had never saved her. And he never would.

"Mom?!"

"Mom!"

Startled awake, Barry shot up from his bed so fast he set the covers on fire. Cursing he swatted the flames out before bowing his head down to bury it in his hands.

"Just another nightmare..." he thought grimly.

He got out from under the smoldering covers and wandering into the restroom to take a quick shower. Barry turned the water on so hot that it sent steam billowing up around him and scalded his shoulders. But he really did not care; the burns would heal soon anyways. After a couple of minutes he turned the water off and put on some everyday clothes that were comfortable. Water dripped from his hair and created puddles all over the floor. Glancing up into the mirror Barry was surprised to see how haggard he looked. Black circles were under his eyes and his cheeks looked sunk in. Anyone who did not know about his immunity to germs would probably be asking him if he was sick.

"Barry? Why the hell are you taking a shower at three in the morning?" Joe's voice came in through a crack in the door as he knocked.

Three in the morning? Barry checked his watch and found out that Joe was right. He contemplated phasing through the door to get back into his room before Joe could scold him but decided against it. His adoptive father would probably yell at him for setting the door on fire (which was what happened the first time he tried phasing through the bathroom door; a metal door on a car was entirely different from a wooden one). So he opened the door a crack and looked at Joe sheepisly.

"Sorry Joe..." he mumbled.

"Another nightmare huh?" Joe asked, "You really should be telling your friends about them."

"I already told you...they are probably a side effect of the singularity..." Barry huffed.

"Uh huh..." Joe rolled his eyes before walking back into his bedroom.

Barry stood in the doorway for a couple of minutes before shutting off the light. He crawled back into his bed and fell asleep hoping to find his mother in his dreams. But the rest of the night his dreams were pitch black and fluid.

"So let me get this straight...there is a murderous psychopath out there that is leaving behind messages of who he might murder next?" Cisco asked.

"Pretty much..." Barry admitted.

He laid the three pictures (now four) down on the table in the cortex in front of his friends. Another murder had occurred this morning but Barry had not been present for it as he had been busy taking care of a building fire in the downtown area. Fortunately he had managed to grab the police photographs and take the one that had a message 'written' on it. All of the messages were talking about some strange 'master'. There had to be a connection between the words.

"You think this guy knows Zoom?" Catlin asked.

Barry shrugged, "Not sure to be honest. Why would Zoom suddenly change his attitude from hell bent killing me to killing innocent people that I don't even know?"

"Good point..." Cisco admitted rubbing his nose.

He frowned as he looked down at the photos. Barry mentally ran through the messages that had been left behind.

Message Number 1 in an alley near Jitters

Five more days to all Hallows Eve

And six more souls I shall take

And soon my master's cell shall break

All mortals must beware

For that day will soon come here

Message number 2 found in a construction zone.

Four more days to Halloween

And five more souls I shall take

All mortals now shall quake

For my master will come on Hallow's Eve

When day and night shall break

Message number 3 found at the wharf

Three more days to Hallow's Eve

Just four more souls to take

And at Midnight his prison shall break

When that happens all mortals shall fear Harm

And the most recent one (number 4) which had been found at an abandoned building along with the deceased victim.

Two more days and three more souls

And Master shall rise at the stroke of twelve

I will receive an award for what I've done

To raise Him from his sleep

"I have to say this guy sucks at rhyming..." Cisco chuckled sitting down in his chair, "Should I nickname him Riddler?"

Barry groaned. That was a pretty lousy nickname for a guy who probably wasn't a Meta-human.

"I'm pretty sure he already named himself..." Catlin smirked.

Cisco pouted realizing she was right, "Harm is a lousy nickname to call yourself."

"Would you three please enlighten me on what is going on here?" Iris asked before he could continue, "Remember I was out of the city for a couple of days..."

She arched an eyebrow when none of them were forthcoming with information.

"Yeah sure.." Barry grunted when her gaze turned on him, "Some lunatic is murdering young girls, taking some of their blood, leaving behind weird messages, and doesn't leave any DNA behind at the scene."

He felt like telling her about the Greta but was uncertain how the she would take it.

"Odd..." Iris said scratching her head thoughtfully, "Considering we are dealing without a lot of crap right now but this defiantly takes first place for weird."

"Not to mention you are losing it officially by claiming to see a girl that no one else can..." Cisco started to say before Barry shot him a dirty look, "And forget what I was just saying."

"Anyways...what should we do?" Catlin asked before Iris could ask Cisco about the 'girl', "I really don't think we should allow another girl to um...be murdered for God knows what."

"What should I do?" Barry asked sarcastically, "Check every single house in Central City for some weird creepy guy standing in front of it?"

He got to his feet and started to pace back and forth in front of his suit. It irritated him that he could do nothing to stop this murder.

"It would be really helpful to have a clue as to where the next murder will be right about now..." Cisco drawled spinning his swivel chair around slightly.

"Hey! We are trying our best..." Joe scowled.

Barry sighed deeply and leaned against the display case. Emotions were so tightly sealed up in him that he did not know how to expel them.

"Damn it kid..." he thought about Greta, "I know you know something about what the hell is going on here...so why won't you tell us? At least give us a clue."

He felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle. Startled he turned half expecting to see Greta standing behind him but she wasn't there. But his friends were frowning and shivering.

"Why did the temperature...d-d-d-drop...al-l-l-l-l of a s-s-s-sudden?" Iris shuttered rubbing her arms.

Barry frowned just noticing that the temperature in deed had lowered dramatically. The windows in the cortex had fogged up; which meant that the windows were warmer than the air surrounding them. That was odd because fogged up mirrors and windows occurred the opposite way of what they were doing right now; cold windows and hot air.

"I'm n-n-n-ninety p-p-percent s-s-sure it w-w-wasn't my f-f-fault," Cisco shivered.

After everyone gave him a hard look he grinned sheepishly through chattering teeth, "S-s-s-s-sorry...j-j-j-just t-t-trying t-t-to m-m-m-m-make the m-m-m-mood l-l-l-light."

Barry shook his head at his friend and felt something cold touch his back. He jumped startled and found no one there. But he noticed that one of the fogged up windows had a small patch that was see through and not cloudy. Narrowing his eyes suspiciously he started toward the window. There were four words written on the window by a small finger.

5219 Willthrow Avenue

Danger

"Guys?" he called.

When his friends looked over they noticed the message.

"Ok...can...someone please tell me that we did not just see a message that was not there seconds ago?" Joe pleaded.

Apparently even a seasoned cop could get scared. Not that anyone could blame him.

"I sure wish I could..." Catlin gulped.

"Cisco..." Barry managed to say in a deathly calm voice.

He knew everyone was freaking out right now and couldn't blame them. Whoever had left the message (and he had a sneaking suspicion it was Greta even though he did not see her) had already left but had left behind a chilling reminder of their presence. Pun intended.

"On it man..." Cisco promised racing over to the computer, "Whoa...there was a call for 911 from that area about thirty sec-"

He was cut off by a gust of wind as Barry vanished from the room along with his suit.

"Please tell me he will make it in time..." Joe sighed, "That boy is always late even though he had super speed. Drives Singh bonkers."

"He says that the super tardiness neutralizes it..." Cisco put in, "Or at least according to Ol-err-Green Arrow."

He managed to cut himself before saying Oliver's name knowing the vigilante (even though he had eased up on his pain factor towards criminals) would follow through with his threat in shooting an arrow at him.

"Barry knows the Green Arrow?" Iris arched an eyebrow looking at Catlin.

"Long story..." Catlin shrugged.

"Come on...come on," Barry groaned as he zigzagged down the street, "Please don't let me be late...for once! Come on Barry...focus man. Get there...this is different from being late for work to uphold your secret identity."

He phased through a car that suddenly swung into his path and managed to ruin a lady's hairdo just as she exited the barber shop before turning a corner into a residential area. Concerned he wasn't going to make it in time he picked up speed until he was just below the speed of sound. The very air popped when he skidded to a stop in front of the house. The window on the first floor was shattered and glass littered the ground.

"Am I in the right place?" he asked touching the side of his mask.

"Yeah...just be careful man," Cisco cautioned.

As if he wouldn't be.

"And hurry..." Iris added nervously.

Barry smiled wryly even though they couldn't see him. He rushed into the house and came to a stop on the second floor. Everything was quiet. Frowning he raced throughout the entire house. Nothing was missing and no one was in the house. A broken window in the main room on the second floor was evidence that the intruder had fled.

"Damn it...he's not here..." Barry cursed.

He had stopped in one of the rooms which must have been a teenager's room judging by the amount of posters plastered on the walls. Instead of them being of popular band groups they were of science achievements and one was of a diagram of the different parts of an atom. A first place trophy for the Central City Science Fair sat on a table in the corner. It pleased him that the owner was into science as much as he was.

"What about the person who called?" Catlin asked in a watery voice.

"No one is in the house..." Barry huffed, "I checked top and bottom."

That was when he heard something shuffling outside, then a crackling noise and then screaming. He barely had time to rush outside to catch the teenager from hitting the ground; he had to buckle his knees and cradle her in order to match her speed to prevent further injury. Her eyes were literally popping out of her head when she saw who had prevented her from breaking both her legs. She was shaking and in her trembling hands she held a phone. Her wrists were badly chaffed as if she had broken a rope with them.

"You ok?" he asked disguising his voice.

The girl managed to nod her head slightly before she started trembling again. Barry could feel her heart hammering against her chest and worried the girl was going to go into shock.

"I'm going to drop you off at the hospital..." he said getting to his feet, "You're probably uninjured but I still need to get you somewhere safe."

He frowned when he felt something wet drip onto his foot. Glancing down he found it was a red liquid. Barry glanced at the girl who was awkwardly clutching his arm while cradling her right arm close to her chest.

"Let me see it..." he said.

The girl bit her lip and drew back away from him as best she could even though he was holding her; watching him warily.

"Look...everything is going to be ok? Let me just see the wound..." he sighed.

She stared at him for a couple seconds before putting her arm out slowly. He grasped it and looked down at the wound. It was similar to what he had seen on the other murder victims. Deep wound that ran the length of the arm made by a small knife.

"He got you before you escaped out the window?" he asked turning to the girl.

She nodded and managed to croak," H-h-h-he t-t-tied m-m-me u-u-up a-a-a-and c-c-cut m-m-me. I-I-I b-b-broke f-f-free a-a-a-and c-c-crawled o-o-out t-t-the w-w-window. H-h-h-h-he w-w-w-was c-c-c-coming a-a-after m-m-me b-b-before y-y-y-you s-s-showed u-u-up."

"What did he look like?" Barry asked but at this point the girl was shaking so much she was unable to answer.

So he had her wrap her good arm around his neck and he raced her to the hospital.

Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick

Barry banged his head against the wall of the hospital waiting anxiously for Joe to come out. Five hours had passed and there was no sign of him. It was already early morning for October 31; Halloween.

"Does it seriously take this long to question someone?" he thought glumly.

He perked up as the door opened. Joe stepped out long enough to beckon Barry in before disappearing. Sighing Barry walked into the room and saw the teenager huddled on the hospital bed. Her arm and wrists were bandaged with white tape. She glanced up when he entered and quickly looked away from him.

"Kid is scared stiff by whoever attacked her..." Joe breathed into Barry's ear, "Nurses say she hasn't slept a wink since the Flash brought her in. "

He called Barry by his code name as the girl was in earshot.

"Did you or her parents get anything out of her?" Barry questioned back.

Joe sighed, "Barely anything...I figured since you are bit friendlier looking than me or them you could ask her."

One of the disadvantages of looking younger than you really were.

"Gee thanks..." he grumbled.

He sat down in one of the nearby chairs by the hospital bed with Joe. After he didn't say anything his adoptive father elbowed him in the ribs hard.

"Um...-cough-..." Barry cleared his throat awkwardly, "So your name is Veronica?"

The girl nodded slowly and rubbed her bandaged arm. She swallowed hard.

"Can you tell me what you like?" he asked.

Damn he should have become a physiatrist.

"Science..." the girl responded hoarsely.

"Yeah...I figured as much. Joe told me about the amount of posters you had in your room," Barry gave her a slight smile trying to coax her out of her shell and give them the information they needed.

She gave him a grave smile back but didn't say anything else.

"Look...I don't know if you know about the rash amount of murders occurring right now..." he started, "But the man who attacked you...we think he is the one responsible. Can you please tell us what happened?"

Veronica took a deep shuttering breath. Barry expected her to say something but when she didn't he asked gently, "We'll make sure nothing happens to you. The police force will contact the...um...Flash if necessary. In fact right now he is out there looking for the murderer."

The girl turned her head to look out the window across from her as if hoping to catch a glimpse of the famed red blur.

"And he needs to know who to look for..." Barry continued.

He swallowed hard and mentally cursed himself for even bothering to stay in the hospital in the first place. He glanced down at his feet and waited for a response. One minute passed, then two...then three.

"Alright..." Barry looked up when he heard the girl speak, "Alright I will tell you."

Joe shot Barry a quick grin before his face turned serious again.

"What can you tell us?" he asked.

Veronica looked at the two of them moistened her lips before saying, "I was at home...alone. My mom was out shopping while I got some homework done."

Her face fell and she glanced at her bandaged wrists before continuing, "Thirty minutes after she left was when I heard a window on the first floor shatter. Before I could even run to get a phone...a man entered the room. He must have knocked me out or something because I came to ducked taped to a chair. He started talking to me."

Here the girl paused and she fell silent.

"What did he tell you?" Barry asked.

The girl shook her head in confusion, "I-I-I-I can't really remember exactly what he said but it was something along the lines of 'your blood shall be my key to unlocking Beowulf's sword'. Then he took a dagger out from somewhere and slashed it down the length of my arm."

She paused again and swallowed hard, "H-H-H-He then put the knife up to my throat. Before he could...kill me the phone rang. It was my mother calling me to see how I was doing. He walked over and silenced the phone. While he was doing that I broke the bonds on my arms and pretended to still bonded up."

So that was why her wrists were chafed,

"Smart...where did you learn how to break through duck tape?" Joe asked evidently pleased.

Veronica smiled slightly, "My uncle works for the CIA. He picked up a whole lot things in training."

"Continue..." Barry put in.

The girl nodded, "He stopped in front of me and drove the dagger down. I managed to dive to the side and the knife ended up in the chair. While he was struggling to remove it I fled from the room -grabbing a phone along the way- and dialed 911. I managed to make it up to my bedroom and kick the screen on my window down. I crawled out onto the roof and held onto the rain gutter. H-h-h-he entered the room but cursed and left when he heard police sirens."

She bit her lip before continuing, "Then a few moments later someone else entered my room. A gust of wind almost made me lose my grip on the gutter but I managed to hold onto it. I heard the bolts coming undone and I fell. The next thing I knew I was on the ground -not dead- and the Flash was asking me a couple of questions. I'm embarrassed to say I couldn't say much on account of blood loss and shock. Then I ended up here and that's all I can tell you."

"That's plenty..." Joe said, "Now can you describe this man to us?"

Veronica shuttered before answering, "Yes...he had long brown hair tied into a pony tail, cold brown eyes, jeans, brown shoes, a jacket that was open displaying his chest -gross-, and on his right eye he had three blue scars etched into his face. They were puffy and looked liked someone attempted to claw his eyes out."

Joe shot Barry a triumphant look before getting to his feet, "Thank you miss. We'll make sure we'll get him."

Barry gave the girl one more quick smile before exiting the room. He was happy. Now they might have a chance to catch whoever this guy was before he murdered someone again.