Flashette(Book Two)

17

     Today was the day that I've been waiting for......Christmas eve....and what better way to spend it than with my family and friends. I invited Caitlin, Cisco, Jay, Henry, Iris, and Joe over for a Christmas eve party. The tree and all our decorations were already set up, so all we had to put out was snacks and drinks. Barry was glued to me the whole night. We decided to spend Christmas eve partying and open the presents we got on Christmas day. Barry and I found ourselves under the mistletoe so many times, people were starting to believe that it was staged. But we all laughed when Jay and Caitlin got caught: 
     "Well, a traditions a tradition right?" Caitlin asked before Jay got closer. Their lips met and they held the kiss for a few seconds.
    "FINALLY!" I yelled at them. We partied for a little longer until a knock came at the door.
     "I'll get it," Joe said walking up to the door. He opened it to a boy standing there.
     "Hi, are you Joe West?.......I'm Francine's son,"
     "Hi. Guys, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go out and talk with him," Joe said before he left. The party went on until it was late, and when everyone had enough. When the party was over, it was just Barry and I sitting on the couch watching: "How The Grinch Stole Christmas."  My head was in Barry's lap, and he played with my hair while the movie played. It was even later when the movie was over, so Barry carried me up to bed.
     The next morning like a little kid, Barry sprung out of bed and begged for us to go downstairs. I looked over at the clock and sighed.
     "Barry, it's 7:30."
      "Yeah, but we have presents to open....C'mon!" Barry said. After a few seconds of silence, I gave in.
     "Fine, but momma needs her coffee," I told him. Barry sped downstairs and came back up with a big cup of coffee. Barry helped me out of bed, I put on one of his sweatshirts, and we went downstairs.
     The first presents we opened were from Cisco. His present was a baby shirt that said: "Science Rulz". I laughed and put that present aside. Caitlin's present was a first aid kit and a set of bottles. After her gift, we opened Henry's. He had gotten us the biggest one of all. We opened it together and saw that it was a stroller. Lastly, Iris and Joe got us baby clothes that could be for both genders. I was now crying after seeing all this baby stuff we had gotten and how much our friends cared for us.
      Now came our gifts from each other. Barry opened his first, and saw that I had gotten him an ultrasound picture that was framed. He teared up looking at it, and I knew how special that moment was to him. I opened up my present, which looked like a very large book. But when I opened it....it was much more. It was a scrapbook of Barry and I. Starting in High School, from when we were best friends, to now being engaged. I flipped through the pages, and with every turn, a new tear fell. I felt like mine wasn't as thoughtful and that there wasn't much effort put into it. But Barry spoke after that thought and it's like he read my mind:
     "You may think that your gift was too easy or cheap, but you gave me the most important gift.....You....and this baby.....Thank you.....And though your gift may not seem as special to you, if truly is to me."
     "Well..this baby wouldn't be here without you, but I accept the gratitude," I said before I climbed over the wrapping and hugged Barry. I stayed in his arms for a while, with him rocking me back and forth slowly. It was time to get ready for work, so we cleaned up, got changed, and headed over.
    "Hey Cisco, anything?"
      "Sort of. There's been a series of attacks this morning right before you came in. I've already got witness reports and boy do they spell meta. Witnesses say that when they tried to call the police, they were going super slow. And when they returned to normal speed, the criminal had left, and the money was gone."
     "I know this guy. I fought him on earth 2. He has the ability to manipulate the energy around him, so it's like everything is slowed down, but he's in this little bubble," Jay said.
     "So he's like a turtle.......I got you. And he goes after money?" Cisco asked.
     "Not just money, but important artifacts, expensive jewels,..."
     "How about paintings?" I asked. "The museum is unveiling this expensive one tonight. Do you think he'd be there?"
     "I doubt he'd miss it," Jay said.
     "Than we're going to crash this unveiling. Barry and I could go together, and Jay and Caitlin could go to keep lookout. Therefore, it looks real, and we can keep an eye out for turtle."
     "Good thinking Chloe!" The unveiling starts in a few hours, so you may want to go find something that will fit.....that...." Cisco said about my bump. I grabbed Barry's hand, said goodbye, and we were off to the mall. We walked around many stores trying to find the perfect dress for me to wear. We were about to give up, until I saw the perfect dress in one of the windows. It was a black dress with a lacey like top. I brought Barry into the store, found it, and tried it on. I thought it would be too tight, but I found the right size and it was perfect. I also had a pair of black heels at home that would match. 
     When it was around the time of the unveiling, I got changed into my dress, put on my heels, and straightened my dark brown hair. Barry sat down on the couch waiting for me to finish changing. When I came downstairs, his jaw dropped and he wolf whistled.
     "Hello hot stuff," Barry said to me.
     "Not looking so bad yourself," I said to him, pointing out his tux. Barry stood up, shut the tv off, locked the house up, and we were off to the unveiling.
     It was full of well dressed rich people. Lucky for us, we blended in with the crowd perfectly, though we weren't rich or as well dressed as some of these people. After no signs of turtle, Barry and I decided to take advantage of this alone time.
     "May I have this dance?" Barry asked me before I accepted, took his hand, and he lead me to the dance floor. We rocked back and forth to the song, while my head rested on Barry's shoulder. Screams came from the other room during the middle of the song and we knew what was happening. Glass was shattered all over the floor, and people were rushing out of the display room. With all the distractions, Barry suited up and stood on the balcony overhead. The turtle came in and with the click of his watch, everything became slow. Barry couldn't even run fast. The turtle took a shard of glass that was on the floor and threw it at the chandelier that was above me. Barry must have saw it coming because he tried running to save me, but he was running slow. He managed to get to me in time, because he wrapped his arms around me and shielded me from the chandelier falling. He saved me and a few seconds after, the power went out.    
     After hearing faint screams and shrieks, I found myself in an unfamiliar place. I last remember being protected by Barry, but I was no longer safe. I was tied up in a chair and the turtle was over at his desk writing.
     "You have such a pretty face. Lucky for me, i'll get to look at it every day of my life just like this one," he said standing up from his position and taking a sheet off the corner of the room. In the corner stood 2 cases. One empty, and one with a body in it. The body was his wife, and she was dead, but looked so alive.
     "This is going to be you soon my dear. Too bad that little baby of yours isn't gonna last. I bet it would be just as pretty as you."
     "Let me go!" I yelled.
     "Why would I do that? Waste such a perfect little face for my collection?"
     "You're a psycho," I told him. I shouldn't have because he came up to me slowly with a needle in his hand. He was going to inject me with some kind of toxin that would do the same thing that he did to his wife. The turtle got closer and closer. Soon the needle was inches away, centimeters, millimeters, and then in the air and all over the floor. Just as the needle was about to go into my skin, Barry came crashing through the door with his one fist in the air. I knew exactly what he was doing. He went straight for turtle, and knocked him into the glass case with his wife. The case broke, and his wife's figurine fell to the floor and shattered. Barry then came over to me and untied me. He gave me a hug, and whispered reassuring words into my ear as he rocked me back and forth. After the hug, Barry sped the Turtle to the pipeline, and later came to get me.
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Thank you for 3K reads on the first book, and 400+ reads on this one. Thank you for all the Votes, Adds, Comments, and Reads. I plan to update more today. Thank you! -Flashette1
*I am also going back to my other book and updating previous chapters*