Chapter Twenty-seven: Mental Machinations
I skulked in the alley beside Central City Police Station, heart beating like a rabbit being chased by the dogs. Deeper in the alley, it was pitch black, but I walked into the shadows all the same. It stunk of pee, garbage, and wet concrete.
"Took you long enough." A hand lands on my shoulder, and I squeak with a jolt of shock.
"I had to pacify Cara," I managed, the words tasting bitter in my mouth.
"You didn't tell her anything, did you?" Oliver asked sharply, and I turned around.
"Of course not, I'm not an idiot," I said, layering my voice with scorn. Sorry Cara.
Oliver grunted and gestured for me to follow him deeper into the alleyway. I did.
The darkness rose up and swallowed me.
Cara was anxious.
"It's not that I don't trust her, I just don't trust Layla," she argued with Caitlin, who had stopped the van a few blocks away from the police station, headlights off, so they sat in compete darkness bar the streetlamp which flickered uncertainly five metres ahead of them.
"Juliet has mind powers, and even if Layla tried to use her powers on her, why would she if she thinks Juliet is still on her side?" Caitlin said logically, but Cara didn't like the slight frown that adorned the older woman's forehead.
"You don't understand," Cara muttered, and sunk further into her seat. What was done was done, and she was wasting her breath.
"What don't I understand?" Caitlin said patiently, glancing at the dark-haired teenager.
"Layla doesn't…" Cara trailed off, looking for words, "Look, it's hard to explain, but she doesn't take chances. I once caught her subtly influencing a teacher months before she ever needed them to give her a better grade than she deserved on a test! I was there when she was discovering her powers and it takes her a lot of will power to just control someone, so she doesn't. She just influences them in tiny ways over long periods of time until…" Cara trailed off again, knees up against her chest.
"Until what?"
"Until all it takes is a look and they're wrapped around her pinkie finger. Something about force of habit and Pavlov." Cara didn't look at Caitlin, eyes unfocussed and mind a million miles away. Her hands were balled in white knuckled fists.
Suddenly, the radio on the dash roared to life. It was tuned to a police frequency.
"Help! We're being attacked by fire-breathing clowns-!" The voice cut off with a scream before it was replaced by another.
"All the prisoners have escaped and they're coming after us with axes! Please send back-up to the Station!"
"That sounds like my cue," Caitlin said, opening the door to the van and stepping outside. As she did, a cold fog floated around her, and her hair turned snow white. She turned around to slam the door and he face had completely changed. Caitlin's lips, twisted into a self-assured smirk, were frostbite blue and her eyes were ice-cold and diamond sharp. It was so un-Caitlin that Cara jerked backwards, head banging against the van's passenger window with a painful jolt.
"I don't suppose we've met," the other woman said, "I'm Killer Frost."
Then she slammed the door.
This was not how this was supposed to go. The thought was a thorn at the back of Juliet's head. A small thorn. The majority of her brain was working on conjuring this latest police officer's worst nightmares. It wasn't nearly as hard as she'd thought it would be. Layla had been right – practice made perfect! And it was so good to be exercising her powers, especially for such a good cause.
"Nice job, Jules," Layla said, smiling at her with those beautiful golden eyes. Jules felt all warm inside and smiled back as the officer ran screaming from the room. Having friends was the best. How had she survived for so long without them?
"Oliver, you and Jinn go and find their system and break it. The rest of us are going after the 'cure'." Layla put the word in quotation marks, rolling her eyes.
Isn't this wrong? The intrusive thought wriggled into the forefront of her mind, and Jules swatted it away in annoyance. She needed to focus. But the thought wouldn't go away.
"Isn't this…I don't feel right about this. Are you sure this is the right thing?"
"Hey," Layla took her by the shoulders and met her eyes, "Hey, you're doing great. I know you're worried about this, but soon you won't have to worry about Ms Ormond or anyone!" Layla's gold eyes burned into her, erasing every doubt and every stray thought. "We need to prove we aren't monsters! We don't need their stupid cure – we're perfect just the way we are. Don't forget everything they've done to you."
She was right. This was the right thing to do. Jules didn't have to worry about anything when she followed Layla, because Layla always knew the right thing to do. It didn't matter that she could still hear screaming because they deserved it. All those people who hated her for simply being who she was deserved everything they got.
Cara had turned off the radio. The screaming and sobbing had not helped the rising tide of worry within her. But now it was quiet, and she could think.
It sounded like Juliet has used her powers to…Cara frowned. That hadn't been part of the plan. Juliet was supposed to telepathically warn the officers to act scared and run so then they could regroup and ambush the Pack. Only, it didn't sound fake.
Cara shuddered as her earlier words came back to haunt her. Until all it takes is a look and they're wrapped around her pinkie finger.
If Layla was controlling Juliet, then…Cara sat up, cautiously peering out the windscreen for anyone who might be watching. Then she left the van.
Killer Frost casually strode into the Central City Police Station for what felt like the hundredth time. I mean, after the first few times, the giant gold-gilded murals and marble floors were less intimidating than simply pretentious. At first the idea of covering Justice in gold was funny, but now it was just sad. Frost mentally shrugged. That wasn't her problem right now. What was though, was the three girls heading towards the captain's office.
"Now, what are three little girls doing here? Perhaps you should run along home and let the adults handle the breaking and entering."
They stopped, turning to face the new threat. Out of the darkness glowed a pair of golden yellow eyes from the girl in the centre, predatory and hungry. Frost almost took a step back before she remembered herself. They were just kids, and she was a blizzard.
"I think you'll want to stay out of this one," said the girl with the wolf eyes, meeting her gaze unflinchingly, "you have no business here."
What was she doing here? Why did she care that metas were breaking into the police station? Good on them! May as well leave and watch the chaos- No. Get out of my head!
Killer Frost snarled, flexing her fingers which were leaving visible cold trails in the air. Frost spread from around her feet, the temperature in the room dropping by the second.
Wolf girl's eyes widened in alarm.
"Jules, take her out. Dee, let's go finish the job."
"Oh, I don't think so," Frost said, throwing one arm out to stop them. But before she could do anything, the world seemed to dissolve around her, fading away like smoke and reforming. She was back at S.T.A.R Labs and it was daytime.
"I can't believe we did it." A familiar voice sounded from behind her, and she spun to see Caitlin, sitting on the table in the medical bay. She smiled, face lighting up. Barry and Cisco stood beside her.
"I can," said Cisco with a smirk, "I'm a genius. Also, you're too good to have a witch like that inside you."
"She's really gone?" Barry asked, a smile growing on his own face.
"I think so," Caitlin said, standing up, "I finally feel free."
Killer Frost scowled, "Free from who? Me? Yeah right."
They didn't even turn around.
"I know so," Cisco said, "so I hope you said your goodbyes because you're never going to see 'Killer Frost' ever again."
"I'm still here, idiot!" Frost yelled, but they couldn't hear her. So she raised her arms, trying to raise icicles from the ground, but nothing happened. She couldn't see her arm. She looked down at herself, but there was nothing but air. As if she didn't exist.
The panic began to set in, her heart pumping like a machine, adrenalin coursing through her veins.
"Frost?"
The voice was source-less, but Killer Frost would recognise it anywhere.
"Snow?"
"This isn't real."
"Feels real enough to me." Frost said flatly, "And don't try to tell me you wouldn't jump at the chance to get rid of me. How are you even talking to me anyway?"
A sigh. "Maybe once, but not anymore. But that's beside the point. I think maybe our consciousnesses are closer together? I'm not quite sure how her powers work."
"Whose powers?"
"Juliet. She can manipulate your sense of reality. She's showing you your worst fear but it's just an illusion. I think she's being mind-controlled herself-"
But Frost had stopped listening. Rage had replaced fear, and it gave her an icy clarity.
This isn't real.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
I exist.
Killer Frost opened her eyes and found herself back in the station, facing off against a short girl with long straight black hair. Green eyes glowed against the shadow-filled station.
Author's Note:
Sorry for taking so long! I am determined to finish this, and I've finished the school year, so I've run out of excuses :)
I know everyone says this (only because it's true) but reviews really encourage and help me, so if you feel so inclined, I'd love to hear what you think!
Trix