Tricks of Fate

Chapter 22

[Iris]

I felt like I'd been punched in the gut by a train at full speed. The nightmare came back more vivid than ever and with it a crippling fear spread over my every nerve. I could see Barry's lips moving as he talked to his mother but all I could here was an insesent ringing in my ears.
"Iris!" he yelled snapping me out of it and I turned to him dazed.
"We need to go." he said.
"I'll follow you in my car." I said as I rushed up to the house to get my car keys and my phone. The jog eradicated the fear and replaced it with a pulsing adrenaline that had my heart racing through out the whole drive back home.
When we got to the house, chaos seemed to have taken over. Nora and Henry sat on a couch with my Dad and Cecile across from them, no doubt in the middle of some sort of interrogation. There were people from all departments of the police force spread across the house, taking statements and collecting evidence. Two familiar faces came rushing towards me when they saw me and when they had me in their hold I broke down completely. It all became too real the moment I saw the on going investigation.
"Come here little sister. Let's get you inside." Jenna said as she and Wally took me in.

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[Barry]

Throughout the whole drive back I had this weird need to run. My pulse had risen and occasionally everything seemed to slow down around me. I willed myself to believe that it wasn't true. That this was all some huge misunderstanding and that Nora was hidden in the house somewhere. She had to be. She just had to. But then we got home and there were police cars parked outside and suddenly the little fantasy I'd made up in my head started to fade. We both rushed in and took in the scene. Iris broke down as soon as her siblings came to get her. I felt tears spring into my own eyes as I looked at my mother who was inconsolable. Cecil seemed to barily be holding it together and Joe's face was a mask of steel, cold as ice and unreadable.
My mother realised that I was there and came rushing to me.
"Barry. I'm so sorry. I don't know what happened." she sobbed out as she held on to me. I hugged her back, sencing how distraught she was and tried my best not to break down too.

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[Iris]

"You need to try to calm down Iris." Wally said as he rubbed my back in a soothing manner. Jenna came back into the room with a glass of water but my hands shook so violently that I could barely hold it without spilling the contents. She set it down instead and held my hands while kneeling before me.
"Come on little flower. Time to open up." she said and I looked up at her. It was something she used to say to me when we were younger and I was upset but wouldn't tell anybody why. The first time she ever said it to me was after our mother's funeral. I was five at the time and hadn't shed a single tear. I was trying my best to be a big girl, problem was that my attempt to be strong became all to real and I couldn't cry no matter what. I locked myself in my room then as the people downstairs gave their condolences and offered us pastries and home baked goods of all sorts. When they had all gone Jenna came looking for me with a brownie and some milk, but still I wouldn't budge. I'd grown close to her when our mom first got sick and she matured beyond her ten years taking on the responsibilities of the matriarch.
"Iris, my little flower," she said.
"You know, a flower needs light to grow and bloom into something beautiful. But if you keep all the dark feelings buried inside, you'll never let enough light through for you to grow and it will hurt you. So come on little flower, open up and let the light in." she said to me. Her words made something inside me click and I hugged her and said,
"Mama's gone." before the tears flowed down my cheeks like water for a dehydrated plant.
I looked up at her at that moment, feeling like the world around me was falling apart.
"Jenna, my baby...She...she's gone." I felt like I'd been stabbed in the heart and I screamed. I screamed out of pure frustration and exhaustion, but most of all I screamed out of agony.
My father and Cecil both came rushing in as I yelled bloody murder, wanting my every sob to be heard around the world.
My father held me and buried my face in his shoulder.
"Shhh baby girl. It's ok. We're going to find her." he said.
Cecil ushered the twins out of the room then came back and sat down next to us.
"We're doing everything we can to find her. The one thing you cannot do now is lose hope. She'll be back in your arms before you know it." she said.
"I should have been here. I could feel that something was wrong but shook it off as paranoia cause it was the first time I'd been away from her for so long. I should have known. I should have come back." I cried.
"This is not your fault Iris. I've seen how you are with her, you're an amazing mother. So don't you blame yourself, not for a single second." my father tried to calm me down, but nothing could make me feel better then. Nothing but having my daughter safely back in my arms.

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[Barry]

My dad took my mom inside and I walked out to get some air. I could still feel a strange energy coursing through my every cell. My mind buzzed with thoughts, all of them about finding Nora. I closed my eyes and focused, trying to come up with some sort of idea as to where she may be. A hand on my shoulder brought me back and I turned around to find my father's solemn face staring back at me.
"You OK slugger?" he asked and I shook my head.
"I knew dad. I knew that I shouldn't have left but I did it anyway. I could feel that something was wrong but I ignored it. I let her down. I lost my daughter." I said, the realisation feeling like a slap to the face. That's when I heard Iris scream. I focused on the house, preparing myself to go in and help her but my father stopped me.
"You won't be able to help her in your current state." he said, no doubt referring to the grief written on my face. I started crying then, too weak and guilt stricken to hold on, and my father embraced me.
"None of us could have predicted something like this Barry, and that gut feeling you have to protect your kid? All parents have it, but if we let that alone govern the way we parented none of us would ever let our kids out of the house. It's hard being a parent Barry, it's a constant game of tag between your gut, your brain and your heart, and though with time you learn which one you should listen to at what point in time, it's not a sure science. You're bound to make mistakes, it's normal and your human, but don't let the hard times consume you son. Learn from them and try your best to make things better." he said. A wave of relief washed over me as his words sunk in and a new sense of hope emerged. I got up and he wiped my tears, giving the side of my neck an affectionate tap.
"Thanks dad." I said, feeling the guilt lift from my shoulders.
"Any time slugger." he smiled.
"I know you want to find her but there's nothing you can do at this point besides let the police handle it. For now, there's another special lady inside who needs you."