𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐓𝐄 ━━ 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘩

⠀⠀𝟮𝟴. ❛ THE THING OF NIGHTMARES ❜

     Barry crouched down, placing a hand on her knee as he stared at her worriedly. "What happened? How did you get away?" he asked, watching as she shrugged shakily.

     "He let me go. I didn't think he would, but he said it was too dangerous for me to stay with him, so he let me go." Caitlin answered quietly, biting down on her lip.

     "Dangerous?" Iris echoed, her brows scrunching together.

     Caitlin nodded, tears sliding down her cheeks.

     "Snow," Harry began, "Hunter's not here. You're safe."

     The woman shook her head frantically, looking around at everyone else. "It's not him I'm worried about. It's Aureolin. She's going to overrun the city with Zoom. You can't stop her." She placed her head in her hands as more tears fell.

     Barry turned to look at Cisco, who was just as lost as he was. Jesse opened her mouth but then closed it, frowning. Iris raised her brows and looked at Harry, who had reacted the same way.

     "Aureolin? Who— who is that?" Barry questioned, a sinking feeling beginning to weigh down his heart.

     Caitlin looked up, and her bottom lip trembled. "She's the speedster that killed Piper's parents. Zoom works for her and has been for months."

     "He only wanted Piper because Aureolin wanted her." Cisco gasped.

     Barry pushed down the lump in his throat, feeling his eyes begin to water. Based on what the purple speedster had told them about her parent's killer, she was ruthless and careless. She didn't care about anything or anyone. The only thing she cared about was hurting Piper, which meant...

     "Caitlin, where is Piper?" Barry choked out, his voice sounding like a hoarse whisper.

     Looking at one of her best friends, tears began to pool in her eyes again. "I-I don't know," she whispered, gulping. "The last time I saw her, she was with Aureolin and two other men from Earth-Four."

     Barry stood and pressed his lips together, turning around and running his hands through his hair. He squeezed his eyes shut and breathed in heavily.

     "How long ago was that?" Harry asked, glancing at the brown-haired man who was on the verge of another breakdown.

     Barry had been extremely susceptible to emotional and mental breakdowns during the past two weeks. When he was out as the Flash, he wasn't running as fast as he normally did and wasn't as motivated to save people as he was when he was with Piper. He frequently took breaks from team meetings and had called out of work several times. All he did was pace, worry, and cry. Nobody had seen him in this state of stress and brokenness before.

     Last week, Joe called Henry Allen, asking him to come back and help with Barry. Since he arrived, Barry had improved but not by much.

     "A little over two weeks ago..." Caitlin murmured, looking down at her hands guiltily. She felt like it was her fault. She should have said something when Aureolin and her henchmen inspected Piper's body. She should have said something instead of sitting there quietly— a bystander. Maybe if she had spoken up, things would have gone differently, but she would never know now.

     Jesse stepped forward, crossing her arms. "Do you know if she's still alive?" she asked hesitantly, her eyes trailing over to Barry. Her question hit the speedster like a tsunami, and he turned around.

     "Piper's alive. She's alive." Barry shook his head, and the brown-haired girl frowned.

     Harry opened his mouth to speak, but Cisco shot him a look. There wasn't much left that the scarlet speedster was holding onto. If they took away his hope, what would be left?