𝐒𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐭: ᴢᴇʀᴏᴘᴏɪɴᴛ ² − b. allen ((editing))

∟ 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐲-𝐨𝐧𝐞.

alchemy
part one

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EVERYONE KNEW THAT the first 48 hours in any type of investigation was the most crucial and if clues couldn't be discovered within that time, there probably wouldn't be any clues to find no matter how long you searched. The first 48 hours were filled with anxiety, guilt, pain and hopelessness despite how hard the police worked to find someone. Despite everyone telling you it would be okay and your loved one would be found, there was something inside you that told you the complete opposite.

          The problem, though, was that Anna didn't need 48 hours to find out where her father was because she knew what happened and she knew who took him. Anna had told the cops that she had seen a red blur take Nathan Carter from the dining room the night before, but there were no clues inside the house that proved her statement. While the cops in Central City were all aware of Swift and the Flash, they seemed doubtful at the thought of another speedster in their city.

          By now, Anna's statement about a "red blur" had been tossed into the public by a news anchor and had appeared on television and even made the front page, claiming a "Young Woman Sees The Impossible? An Evil Speedster?" — it was truly enough to make someone sick. She had specifically asked that her family's statements remain private until the case was close to being solved but, of course, the cops and media could never keep something like that a secret. Anna's name along with Kathleen's and Elena's had been broadcast throughout the city along with their "suspicions" of a new speedster in red called Alacrity. Getting slander from the public about "making up lies" was easy enough for Anna to handle, but now that her statement about Alacrity had been made public, she knew the Woman in Red was going to come after her again and take someone else she loved.

          On top of the fear of what Alacrity was doing to her father, Anna couldn't shake the events of what had happened the day before from her head. Every time she closed her eyes, she could hear Elena's screams as she fell off the roof of CCPD and behind her eyelids always brought back the nauseating, fearful feeling that had clenched at her stomach while she was frozen in place for a moment while Elena fell. On top of it all, Anna could hear Alacrity's shrill, disguised laughter echoing in her head as Elena fell toward the concrete below, mixing in with the fifteen-year-old's deafening, bone-chilling scream

          Anna's body stiffened and her hands curled into fists at her sides, the colour draining from her already pale face. Her fingernails dug into the inside fabric of her gloves as she gritted her teeth. While she knew she couldn't talk Alacrity down, she had to try. "Just let her go, Alacrity," she demanded, her words shaky.

          "If you say so." Alacrity shrugged her shoulders and released Elena, taking a step back. The Woman in Red rested her hands on her hips and kept her eyes on her as she wobbled and teetered on the edge of the building. "Down you go," she added and lifted her foot, using the toe of her black book to push the young blonde backwards off the building and send her plummeting toward the concrete below.

          Elena's scream ripped through Anna's chest like a knife and the speedster froze solid for a moment. Anna stared with wide eyes and her mouth went dry, her heart shooting up into her throat. The sapphire speedster bolted forward as fast as she could and in the corner of her eye, she saw Alacrity disappear in a blur of red lightning. "I'm coming, El!" She exclaimed and darted down over the side of the building, running as fast as she possibly could. The wind bit at her skin that night like it never had before and made her cold even though she was always warm when running no matter what the weather was like. Anna ran in sync with her sister as she fell and pushed herself off the side of the building.