Second Chance

Chapter 8

Hey everyone! Thanks to lindz4567, EasilyDistractedBookWorm, and NightwingPercylover for reviewing. So, trying something different and responding to reviews in the story.

NightwingPercylover: I know, but I decided, my story, I can robinglare if I want. Also, everyone likes it when Dick almost gets killed. Even if they say they don't. Personally, I revel in that particular branch of insanity.

Lindz4567: Glad you like it! Thanks for reviewing so much, by the way.

EasilyDistractedBookWorm: That's a great idea! Thanks!

Alright, this is part 1 of the nightmare sequence, written from bird boy's POV, and this part was suggested by EasilyDistractedBookWorm. I'm serious about needing ideas people! Not trying to blackmail, sorry if it sounds like it, but I literally can't continue without ideas. I did get something from a story by Thaliag.2 that said Robin has autophobia, which is a fear of isolation or alone. Hope you don't mind me using it, it just suits him so well! That'll show up in later chapters. Italics are Robin's thoughts, bold italic is Romani, because a lot of this chapter is in Romani and I don't have time to translate. On with the show!

Lost part 1

The Circus

When I opened my eyes, for a second all I could see was darkness. Then it faded, showing the inside of a striped circus tent.

Haly's Circus? But... why do I have the feeling something's wrong? I... I'm scared...

A familiar voice rang out from below, causing me to look down.

"Put your hands together for...The Flying Graysons!"

I looked to the opposite platform, seeing my mother and father standing there, about to jump off. I smiled.

See? Nothing to be afraid of. Just an ordinary performance...

If only I could shake that lingering sense that something was wrong...

My parents leapt off the platform and swung through the air. I loved watching them almost as much as I loved performing myself. Then I heard a faint rattling sound.

What's that? P-p-probably nothing... Keep it together, Grayson!

Then I looked up. The wires were badly frayed. The rattling sound was the different strands rubbing together! Even as I watched, the wires snapped, sending my family into oblivion.

"MOM! DAD!"

My mother screamed my name, holding out her hands as if begging me to catch her. I tried, I really did, but it was too far, no way I could reach them without jumping off the platform.

"N-no..."

Suddenly, I had nothing. In the course of a few seconds, my whole life was ripped away. I ran to the still forms of my parents, shaking them and crying, as though I could wake them up.

"Mom, Dad, please, wake up! I need you!"

In a way I knew it was useless, that they were gone, but I couldn't let myself believe it. No, they would wake up, and then I'd have a great story to tell my children one day. But they didn't get up. They never would again.

"Please..."

I curled into a ball, sobbing desperately. I couldn't control it, couldn't stop it, all I could do was wail. Somewhere in my mind I could hear the crowds screaming, but I couldn't see anything except my family falling, arms stretched out as though they could fly back to me...

Then something changed. The wounds healed themselves, the bones slid back into place, and my parents sat up, somehow alive again. I didn't care about the how. My family was alive! I wasn't alone!

"Mom, Dad, you're alive!"

But they only glared at me.

"No thanks to you, you little brat."

I was scared now. It wasn't my fault... was it?

"Mom? Dad?"

And then my father slapped me.

"Dad?"

"How dare you? All we have ever done was care for you and love you, and when we needed you most, you turned away. You are not our son, and you do not deserve to live when we died."

"B-b-but... I tried, I really tried!"

"Not hard enough, you little brat."

And then my father pulled out a long knife, and stabbed it into my chest. I screamed, even as the room dissolved around me, until it was just me and my father, standing together in the darkness.

"You do not deserve us."

Then the only other person in that horrible darkness began to dissolve.

"Dad! DAD!"

My entire body began to shake, pulling me deeper into the nightmare my life had become.

"Tati..."

And then everything faded, and I blacked out.

How was that? Next chapter will be part 2: Juvenile Hall. If you don't know what is, it's basically a juvie center where Dick was sent after his parents died. Horrible place. Next chapter will involve child abuse. Oh, by the way, I've got a poll on my profile, it would be great if you guys could vote in it. Also, I just made a community, so if you know any good Chalant stories with Robin getting injured in them, PLEASE TELL ME! Until next time, and,

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-Bird