The Pain Of The Past

Chapter One.

It wasn't supposed to be like this.
Everything was supposed to be perfect.
So why did this happen?
First it was my parents.
Then it was them.

Everything, - Everyone, I ever cared about was taken away from me.

They came for me early in the morning.
3:27am to be exact. I was trapped. Locked in my room in the orphanage. - The door was jammed.
The place where I was able to forget about how I was beaten, hurt, broken. - Emotionally tortured.
The orphanage was my only home. I didn't want to leave it.
I had no where to go.
No where I can call home. No where to return to.

After my parents died, I was sent to a Juvenile detention, I stayed there for an entire year, before eventually I was sent to an orphanage.

I stayed at that orphanage for around 3 months. The best months of my life, since the accid- No. Since the murder of my parents. It may have only been a few months, but a lot had happened in those months. Everyone was so nice to me, and they treated each other like real friends, - Like family. They were the people who pulled me out of my darkness. They gave me faith, made me believe in humanity again. Until the incident... I'll never forget their smiling face, and everything they taught me. It was what they taught me that keep me hanging on for so long.

"The minute you think of giving up, remember why you held on so long!" Cherry's happy voice rung out in my head, as I jumped from rooftop to rooftop.

"And if you don't have a reason to not give up, Then think of me! I'm not much of a reason, but remember no matter what happens, we're friends! Now and forever!" Cherry Laughed, a massive grin on her face, - as usual. I actually thought for a while that she had some sort of sickness that made it physically impossible for her to not smile.

"Don't think crying makes you weak. All it really means, is that you were strong for too long. So don't be ashamed of it. Everyone will have a moment every now and then. Even if your immortal!" Daniel stated, his usual emotionless face becoming a frown as he thought about something.

"Even in death, We're still family! We will live on forever throughout your hearts! Oh, and Dick?" Cherry asked.

"Yeah?" I replied,

"No matter what, don't forget us, K?"

"I Could Never forget you!" I exclaimed, honestly shocked she thought I would forget any of them.

"Good! And even if we die near you, and you begin to think that it was your fault or that you could have saved us, Don't. Because there was probably nothing you could do! So don't go blaming yourself, or thinking that your weak! Remember, we'd want you to live on with a smile on your face! As long as you don't forget us, We'll be fine!" Cherry laughed, before spinning around, and jumping on me, crushing me in the death grip she calls a hug.

Tears burnt at my eyes, but I refused to let them down. I thought about how everything changed that night. How the fire burnt at the building, the smell of blood and ashes. The gleam of the moon as it glowered down on us... Their smiles on their faces as they died...

No! I shook my head in an attempt to clear my head, before jumping to the next rooftop. It was years ago. I will live on, just like you asked, and I will smile.

I was 10 back then, almost 11 when it happened. It was around 3 years that disaster happened, and I had been forcing myself to smile since. I had even gone around, trolling Batman in an attempt to lighten my mood. It usually worked, but sometimes I Had to force that smile. Sometimes it was painful to have to fake a laugh, or a smile. But I got used to that pain.

Pain was a regular thing for me. Emotional, and physical. I knew the pain of this world well. And it knew me. But to me, the worst kind of pain, is when you try to smile to stop the tears from coming out.

Don't get me wrong. I have moved on. But don't for a single second that moving on means you forget about things. It just means you have to accept what happened and live on. Just like they all told me too.

I will try to forget, or control my anger that I harbor to the people that hurt me so much, I'll try to get over it. But I won't try to forget the person, and what he has done.

My name is Dick Grayson, the Last Surviving Grayson. I am 13, and I live in Gotham. In the shadows. I refuse to get close to people, as it only seems to hurt me and gets them killed if I care about them. I dwell in the darkness, that I call my home.

"If that darkness is the monster inside of you, then I reason to fight it. Right?" Hannah asked.

"I...I guess so?" I replied, not really knowing what to say. Hannah gave me a soft friendly shove.

"Aw C'mon! That's all you gotta say! I'm basically saying I'm willing to fight your demons here!" Hannah pouted.

"We all are!" Demi added. "Because as long as we have our friends, we have nothing to fear! Even if we can barely even move, we will carry on, and keep on fighting! To protect those we care about! We're willing to fight till the bitter end for our family! We may live in a dark world, but its because of that, that we decided that we will protect those precious to us!"

Tears welled up in my eyes, but I blinked them away, a massive grin appearing on my face.

"Thanks! I'd do the same for you! Because your all my precious family!" I grinned.

"Yeah!" Willow announced, fist pumping the air. "We're all friends! Family! And we'll be together forever! No matter what happens to us! We're family till the very end!"

Sky nodded, watching the scene unfold in front of her. She was older then the rest of us, so she was more mature. I suppose that's to be expected from a 15 year old.

"But I Do agree with them. We're family till the bitter end." Sky smiled slightly.

Hannah raised her hand. "Although, actually I might just prefer to rip them out..."

"I wish that was true. Your end was definitely bitter..." I muttered, as I looked over Gotham, from a rooftop.

The black speeding car, that zoomed under me didn't go unnoticed. I grinned. I needed something to take my mind off my past anyways. Sprinting and flipping over rooftops as I chased after the Black car almost made me feel like i'm flying again, reminding me of my Flying Grayson's Days.

Time to troll Batman.