•Iris' Pov•
NINE MONTHS LATER...
I came in to see Barry at S.T.A.R. Labs since dad was keeping Rose company.
"How is he?" I ask Caitlin. "He's doing better. I think he could wake any day now. How's your sister?"
"She's hanging in there?" I say with a forced smile. "Well I'll leave you alone with him." She leaves the room and I walk in to see Barry still in his coma.
"Hey, you look better.." His monitor is the only thing in the room that communicates back with me.
"Rose is doing fine. The doctors says she won't have any brain damage when she wakes up and she'll be able to walk with a little bit of therapy." I go to hold his hand and a shock hits my finger tips. I snatch my hand back and wipe a tear away.
"Barry, please wake up. I need you, dad needs you. Rose-" I wipe the tear away.
"Rose, needs you...she loves you. You know I think she loved you the day I brought you home to get your lip iced. Remember that day?"
His monitor keeps beeping so I continue with the memory.
"I remember you had stood up for that kid who was getting bullied and he Robbie punched you in the face. I saw what you had done and I just couldn't leave you standing there so I offered to help you. But the moment you stepped foot into the house Rose was the one who took care of you. She was only six but she made sure you were okay. After that day I think she always looked for you to come home with me so she could fix you up." I smile at that memory.
"Please, wake up." My phone vibrates and I go to answer it.
"Hello?"
"Iris, we need you at Jitters."
"I'll be right there." I give one last look at Barry and leave the room feeling guilty...
•Rose's Pov•
I keep having the same dream.
I'm six years old and it's thunder storm...
"Daddy?" I call out his name but then I remember he's working late.
I look over at Iris' bed but she's sleeping over a friends house.
So I take off running down the hall and my little hands bang against Barry's room door.
He opens it just as a clap of thunder sounds and I grab him.
"Rose, it's just a little storm."
"Scary..can I sleep with you?" He nods and takes my hand as he leads me to his bed.
I scoot under the covers and he lays beside me.
"Don't be scared Rose. I'll be here okay?"
""Okay..." Thunder sounds again and I grip Barry's hand under the covers.
"You're tough right?" He says in a soft voice.
"Yeah..." He smiles at me and pokes my nose.
"I won't leave you, Rose."
"Promise?"
"I promise." I feel myself about to fall asleep like I always did in the dream but something different happens.
The closet door in his room opens and I sit up.
"Barry?"
No answer.
"Barry?"
No answer.
I look beside me and Barry was gone.
"Barry don't leave me!"
A figure steps out of the closet and I yank the covers over my face.
"Ring around the roses, a pocket full of posies, ashes, ashes..."
I feel something hover over me but I don't dare take a look.
"...We...all...fall..."
The room suddenly is quiet.
"DOWN!" The figure yanks the sheets off of me and all I see are white eyes...
"Ahhhh!!!!!"
"Rose! Rose calm down!"
I start yanking at cords and three nurses came running into the room.
Two of them holds me down while the third one injects me.
In the matter of seconds I calm down and the two nurses lets me go.
I look around the room and everything came into focus.
"Dad?" Ugh my throat feels raw.
"I'm here." He brings a cup up to my lips and I take a sip.
Why does that taste funny.
"What's going on?" I ask as I look around the room again.
"Why am I in the hospital?" I feel something around my neck but I yank it off.
A neck brace?
"You should really keep that on."
"Dad I'm fine just please tell me what's going on."
My dad gives me a grim. "Sweetheart you and Barry were struck by lightening."
"Is Barry alright? Where is he?" My father places his hands on my shoulders and looks me in the eye.
"He's alright, he's just in a coma just like you were."
"For how long?" Why is my heart beating so fast?
"Nine months..."
My monitor beeps like crazy and I start to hyperventilate.
"Why isn't the medicin-Rose calm down."
"I am calm."
"Your heart monitor is-" The heart monitor blows a fuse and we both jump.
"I'm getting a nurse back in here to run some tests on you." He leaves before I can tell him not to.
I sit there trying to think of what happened that night of the particle accelerator explosion.
I remember that I was about to help him but then a thunder clap came and...
I wince as I feel this sting in the middle of my back.
I twist my arm a bit to see if there's anything on my back. As I go to touch it I feel something poking out of my back.
I yank my hand away for a moment.
"What the hell..." I reach again and it feels like something soft. I pull at it and the object gets longer.
I keep pulling but stop the moment my dad came back with a nurse.
"Miss West, I'm going to take your blood pressure okay?"
"Okay." My dad gets a call on his cell phone and he steps out the room for a moment.
"Can I have a glass of water before you do that? My throat feels dry."
"Sure thing hun." She leaves the room and I yank at the thing in my back.
When it's finally out I gasp looking at it.
It was a grey feather.
"Here you go." I put the feather down beside me, where the sheets were ruffled and give a quick smile as I accept the glass of water.
"Thank you." She starts to take my blood pressure and my dad came back in the room.
"Rose, they need me at the station. But I'll be back as soon as I can."
"Okay, dad." He gives me a kiss on my temple and leaves.
"Do you think I can be discharged today?"
"Hun, you just got out of a nine month coma after being struck by lightening in the spine, I'm surprised you're even sitting up."
"So does that mean no or...?" She shakes her head.
"Well can I visit Barry? You know the guy who came with me?" Wow that didn't sound right out loud.
"Oh, Mr. Allen was taken to S.T.A.R. Labs, guess Dr. Wells felt guilty, but if you asked me he shouldn't have set that damned contraption in the first place."
Barry's at S.T.A.R. Labs?
I need to get out of here, and this hospital isn't going to stop me.
"Hmm, that's strange your pulse is faster than normal."
"I feel perfectly fine. In fact I think I'm fine enough to leave today."
"You hold on tight I need to get the doctor." She leaves and I throw the sheets off of me.
I step off the bed and fall down, my legs feeling like jello. I hold on to the bed and slowly the feeling in my legs start to come back.
I look around and see my belongings in a bag. I grab them and carefully slip out the door.
I see the nurse and the doctor down the hall so I go the other way.
I hope there's a bathroom somewhere, cause this holding the back of my hospital gown is getting ridiculous.
I soon find one and change into my clothes in one of the stalls.
"We have an emergency. We have an emergency...."
Crap I need to get out here now.
I leave the hospital clothes on the floor and put my hair down so it's covering my face.
As I walk out I make sure my face is down and I walk a steady pace.
Dad would always joke about how criminals always gave themselves away when they just suddenly bolt from the crime scene.
"Just a few more steps..."
"Miss!" I freeze.
Stay calm, Rose.
A doctor walks past me calling after another patient and I let out my breath I didn't know I was holding.
As soon as my feet hit the pavement outside I take off running.
Dad and Iris are going to kick my ass for this, but I'm perfectly fine and I need to make sure Barry is alright.
Now where is S.T.A.R. Labs again?
Maybe I can ask Iris, that way I can see her to. I walk down to jitters and just as I go to touch the door I see her hugging Barry.
My heart stops for a second.
I thought he was in a coma too?
Why is he hugging her...
I shake that negative feeling away and step away from the glass door.
My back spasms for a second and I hold myself.
Okay maybe I'm not okay.
I look at my reflection in the glass and I see that my eyes are pure white.
What?
I blink and they look brown again.
Trick of the sun maybe?
My spasm stops and I feel better again.
"Guess it's time to face the music." I push the door open and Iris lets go of Barry.
Thank God...
"So is anyone going to hug me or should I leave the hugging party?"
"Oh. My. God." Iris grabs me and hugs me tight.
"I'm so sorry." She whispers.
Is she sorry I got hurt or sorry about hugging the man I love?
"It's okay." She lets me go and I look at Barry. "Well you look like you had a nice nine month rest."
"You do too." He hugs me and I close my eyes.
Please, don't let me go just yet.
All my worries I had about Barry were gone the moment he touched me.
"Are you sure you two should be walking?" Iris asks. Barry lets me go but keeps his hand on my arm.
It's not a kiss but that'll do.
"I'm fine. What about you Rose?"
"I'm perfectly fine, though I'm really thirsty."
"Oh! Let me get you something to drink. Is Water okay?"
"Can I have some milk? Strawberry?"
"Sure thing. You two sit. I'll be right back." Iris walks off and we get a table.
"So, when did you wake up?" I ask.
"About an hour ago. You?"
"I wanna say, a half an hour ago." I reply. We sit in silence for a bit and Barry reaches over into my sleeve.
"This is a huge feather. Where'd you get it from? There aren't many birds with a feather this big in Central City"
My back...
"Off the street. I wanted to see if I can make a pen of something out of it." I take it back from him and Iris came back with a cup of strawberry milk.
"Rose, I just got a text from dad. He asked me if you were near me." My eyes widen as I drink my milk.
"I kind of played jail break from the hospital. But tell him I'm fine. Really. See?"
I get up and had bumped into Cindy, one of the servers, causing her to spill her tray of drinks. Or so I thought.
I snatch the tray up quick and she just looked at me.
"Whoa, that was...whoa." I hand her the tray back and feel this tingle in my spine.
"Iris, um I'm going to go to the house and shower."
"You sure you don't want me to take you home? I can ask my boss an-"
"No, it's okay. Walking will clear my head. See you later Iris." I kiss her cheek then turn to Barry.
"Later Barry." I kiss his cheek and run out.
Wait did I just?
No?
My spine tingles again and I decide to think about the Barry kiss later.
About twenty minutes later I was running up to my room ripping off my shirt.
The skin on my back begins to crawl and I freak out trying to look at my back in the mirror.
I grab Iris' hand mirror from her room and go back to look in my full length one.
I look and freeze.
I have another feather sticking out of it.
I go to reach for it but my back jerks and I fall in all fours gasping for air.
I grip my carpet as I feel my back split wide open from the middle.
I smell blood and all I can do is grip my carpet as the pain rapes me.
"Ahhhhhh!" I scream and hear the things on my dresser fall.
From the corner of my eye I see more grey feathers. When I turn my head towards the mirror I scramble away as I see two big sets of grey wings spread wide.
I close my eyes and rock back and forth.
"Go away. Go away. This isn't real. Go away. Go away..."
I open my eyes and expect to see myself back to normal but instead I see those big grey wings that had sprouted from my back.
"What's happened to me?"
My hand trembles as I dial Iris' number on my phone.
She picks up on the second run.
"Rose, you do know you kissed him right? I mean it was on the cheek but it's a start."
I sniffle as I drag my dads tool box out in the garage.
"What's wrong?"
"I'm scared, Iris. I don't know what to do."
"Where are you? I'll come and get you." I look and find my dads hand saw.
"I'm scared. I just...please don't tell dad or Barry."
"Rose, where are you?"
"Home..." I hang up and sit in the middle of the floor trembling as I bring the hand saw to one of the wings.
I remember a few years ago, watching one of the x-men movies and the little boy was cutting his wings off in the bathroom.
I thought how crazy that would be, but look at me now.
I bring it down and saw but scream as I feel the bone in the wing bend the wrong way.
It hurts but I don't want them.
I want to be normal.
I want to be Rose West not some freak of nature...
•Iris' Pov•
I park the car in front of the house and run up the steps ready for whatever was about to jump out and spook me.
"Rose?"
No answer.
I go to the kitchen and grab a butchers knife.
"Rose?"
Still no answer.
I check her room and see all of her things that were on her dresser were spilled out on the floor.
Also I see a small pool of blood.
"Rose?" I call out more urgently.
Still no answer.
I walk down stairs and hear something fall in the garage.
I take careful steps and walk towards the garage.
I don't know what I expected.
Maybe some jerk torturing my sister.
Or even a mugger.
But instead I saw my little sister laying in the middle of the garage cold ground wrapped in a grey feather jacket.
"Rose what are you do..." My words die on my tongue the moment I see she has dads sharp tools and they're all bloody.
"Rose, what did you do!" I put the knife I had down and run to her.
"...I don't want them...I don't want them..." I hear her mumble over and over.
"Rose, look at me." She turns to me and I see tears in her eyes.
"Iris, they won't come off."
"What won't? Why were you cutting yourself?" She sits up and the feather jacket looks weird and it's covered in blood.
"I was trying to cut these off..." The feathered jacket moves causing me to fall flat on my butt.
The feathers uncurl and I just stare at how huge the wing span is.
"How did?" I look at Rose and she had another sharp tool ready to cut again.
"No!" I slap it out of her hand and she cries hard making my ears ring.
"I don't want them, Iris! I can't be like this! I just can't!"
I grab her and just hug her because what else can I do? They don't cover this in big sister 101.
"You're going to be alright."
"No I'm not, I'm a freak. What's Barry going to think now?" I hold her face in my hand and look her right in the eyes.
"If Barry doesn't accept you like this, then fuck him."
I wipe her tears away and she just hugs me.
"Don't ever do this again okay?"
She nods and I kiss her cheek.
"You are not a freak of nature. You're my beautiful baby sister. And if this concerned you so much then maybe you should go to S.T.A.R. Labs so they can check you out?"
"Okay, but don't tell anyone about this." She says as she wipes her tears with the back of her hand.
"I won't I promise."
"Pinkie promise?"
"Pinkie promise. Now let's clean this up an-"
"I got this. I'll clean up. Then can you drop me off at S.T.A.R. Labs?"
"Sure thing." My sister gets up and starts to pick up the tools and puts them in a bucket. I stand there for a few minutes just to make sure she doesn't break down again.
As she bends down picking the tools up I notice her wings start to disintegrate.
All I could do was just stare...
•Dr. Wells Pov•
SIX MONTHS EARLIER...
As the doctors take Barry to S.T.A.R. Labs I stay behind and look for room 696.
I know her father left and her sister will be here in twenty minutes so I have time to spare.
I go inside of her room and she was laying there.
As the door closes behind me I stand up out of my chair and walk over to the side of her bed.
I scoff at her.
"You look so young, and full of promise.." I go to touch her but an electric spark shocks my finger tips and I take my hand away.
So close yet so far.
"But fate, Rose...but fate, it's tricky isn't it? At least in your future. I have to say it was educational to watch you always come to Barry's rescue, and watch him from afar. Though I never did see a hint or a sign, nor trace of the twisted woman you will become one day."
I see something grey by her neck and I carefully pick it up without shocking myself again.
It's a grey feather.
I take a deep inhale as I smell it.
"..I can not wait for the day of reckoning, Rose. The day you kill the man you love." I see a pained look on her face and I smirk.
"Oh, don't worry. When the day comes you'll revel in it..."
...
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HEY GUYS! SO THIS CHAPTER WAS MORE JUST EXPLAINING WHATS HAPPENED TO ROSE AND I CANT WAIT TO DO THE NEXT CHAPTER! PLUS DR. WELLS SAID SHE WAS GOING TO BE TWISTED AND PAUSE...KILL THE ONE SHE LOVES?!? SAY IT AINT SO BARBRA! TOO MUCH? HAHA WELL LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK OR HECK TELL ME IF YOU LIKE THE CHAPTER SORRY THE ENDING IS A BIT BLAH BUT THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL MAKE UP FOR IT UP UP AND AWAY!!! ;P