𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐍































the black raven | THE 𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐍

β–‘ mara β–‘

None of us let go of the beam, even if it's burning the skin off of our hands. Tim and Dick on either side of it, me on the end, trying to haul this piece of shit off of Alfred.

It's not budging.

Not even with Damian's help, of which he must've gotten up and walked over here himself to help, who was trained by the League of Assassins to find ways out of these situations.

Situations like a beam on top of a family member won't budge. So we kept pulling upward until we can barely breathe. Before I can react, my hands give way, slipping out from the beam.

I stumble backward slightly, my hands reeking of searing skin, and I scrunch my nose trying to shake off the burning sensation from the beam.

But then the sensation turns to nothing, and I don't feel anything.
Not in my hands anymore-- they went numb.

It takes a second of staring at my hands for me to realize I need to get back up there, and so I take a step forward, and reach for the beam below me.

As soon as I touch it with my palms, I inhale sharply, almost gasping in shock, as I start feeling the immediate explosion of heated metal against my deteriorating hands.

It hurts ten times worse now than before, and all of my siblings notice, I can tell. Damian looks at me, and I try to give him a small smile, but it doesn't work. I can barely move my bottom lip.

His brows don't furrow deeper like I thought they would; they raise slightly, as if he were saying that it's going to be okay.

I blink, making sure I'm seeing this, and take a deep breath turning my attention to the pole.

Inhale, gripping the beam as tight as possible.

Exhale, lifting upwards with all of my bodily strength possible.

Inhale, relax my muscles.

Exhale, shift positions.

Inhale, exhale, one after another, just trying to lift this beam up. This goes on for a while, how long I don't know in minutes, but until Dick suddenly slips, falling back like I did. He hisses in pain, probably from his hands, which makes us all back off.

"Guys, this isn't working. We need to try something, do something," I plead, looking at my brothers.

Damian looks down, Tim at Alfred, and Dick directly at me.

"Yeah, alright, uh, why- why don't we, uh, no. No, we're going to push it, try and get it off that way..." he says, his shortness of breath prominent, and Tim grabs his arm, helping him up.

I nod quickly, stumbling next to Damian, who looks incredibly pale as compared to Alfred, who's under a whole beam. I grab under his arm to steady him, and he leans into me.

This just worries me more, more than Alfred and that my hands don't feel his clothing, just my wrists as they rub against it. But I won't let go, not with his state.

Tim is next to me, suddenly turning me to face him, "he needs to sit down, right now,"

"No, he needs to help us," I whisper back urgently, as Damian pulls slightly away from me.

Dick looks between me and Tim, then hits Tim on the shoulder.

"Ready?" He asks, and I let go of Damian, turning to face the beam. We nod. "Okay, Mara, push the beam with me from the top. Tim, Damian, pull upward from the bottom and push. As hard as you can. Ready?"

"One," Tim bends over, as does Damian. I look to Dick, and he clenches his jaw, nodding his head.

"Two," Damian rasps out, and I breath out shakily, preparing my hands for this.

I lower down, bending at the knees slightly.

"Three," I say, slamming my hands onto beam, pushing with all of my might.

My brain screams at me to stop, my arms start shaking almost immediately, and I let out a cry in pain. Damian's breathing becomes labored, and something starts wailing. Then, suddenly, I'm yelling, but not alone.

Something creaks and cracks, and I'm joined by Dick, as Tim growls, and the wails grow louder, louder, and louder until - BAM.

We all suddenly double over, falling towards the ground. My eyes catch what's below me and I use my hands to keep myself from slamming down into Alfred's chest.

The beam rolls over, off of Alfred. I gasp, dropping my elbows to the ground, arching myself over Alfred's body so mine doesn't touch his.

Our breathing is labored and loud, but not as loud as the ambulances that screech up the driveway, red and blue lights blasting our eyes.

I turn my head back to Alfred, and I study him for a moment, eyes wide as I move to shake his shoulder.

"Alfred?" I whisper out, "Alfred?!" I start to shake him some more, trying desperately to avenge my fallen hope of life. I repeat his name again, this time louder, and shake his shoulder harder, the tears suddenly flowing out from my eyes.

I can't lose him.

I just can't.

He means too much to me now, and he's the one who's really been here for me from day one. He was the first person I met when I arrived at the Manor, he was the first one to show me a sense of hospitality for the first time in my life.

His eyes showed me a sense of electric excitement for my arrival, contrasting the sharp, disgusted eyes of my mother.

His smile gave me a sense of warmth in my chest, like I actually was a lovable person and would be deserving of that kindness.

And now his eyes were shut, his lips pressed together, blood dripping from them.

It's horrific.

I start to shake, hearing the sounds of the world start to echo into oblivion around me. My eyes see a blur of Alfred's bloody, ash covered, lifeless face as my head finally starts to spin.

It beats against my skull as I try to push myself to sit on my knees, but feel another presence take hold of me.

And for a moment, I have a thought it might be the man who's tried to kill me.

And after that moment, I let whoever grabbed me, take me.

If Alfred's gone, and Damian's on the verge of seeing Jason too, and Dick and Tim won't defy our father for his actions, then your damn right I'll let death take me.

I didn't ask for this, but I sure as hell would rather death than live in a hell worse than what my mother made my life to be.

I feel light, and not just in my brain. I see light, too. The sky, just beginning to turn from a usually dark blue to the lighter pinks and purples of the sunset, is covered in jet-black dust and smoke. The red and blue lights blur between the black sky beginning to lighten, and I feel my eyes begging me to just let the light take over.

They tug at my conscious, telling it over and over to just let it go. Each time I blink, it gets slower and slower. I know I can't keep this up, that I can't stay awake much longer.

It's whether I ever wake up from the sleep or decide to stay asleep is my biggest concern.

But why should I be concerned?

Half my family is already there, and it's a shitload less stressful than life in Gotham.

And that thought is all it takes, as I see one last glimpse of a small patch of the dark blue Gotham dusk, before my eyes finally tug themselves closed, seeping deep into the dark abyss.




AUTHORS NOTE - my deepest apologies for not updating in so long!! but if you've seen, i've been giving this book a makeover whilst trying to keep up with my other books, so i'm so sorry for that!

i will try my best to update more often and really try to keep up a schedule, but no promises.

on a more positive note, this book reached 20k+! like wow, holy crap! that literally makes me so happy to see so thank you all so much!!!

i didn't even think that would ever happen (i just started to write this just for fun and to give some of my favorite fandoms a character of their own!), but it did get this popular (?), so thank you all!!

like i appreciate that so much because it keeps me on my toes, if that makes any sense, and keeps me motivated to write and try to keep a schedule as best as possible! so, just to reiterate-- THANK YOU! <3333

also, what do you guys think of this chapter?! am i that mean to kill off alfred?

and what about damian, do you think he'll die too? not to mention mara herself, but also bruce? where do you think he went?

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