Chapter Twenty-Nine: Choices

"…But you'll do just as well," Layla told someone, and I looked up to see her eyes focus on someone beside me. Cara, I realised belatedly.

I turned to see Cara's features, so tight with rage and worry, go slack. Her dark eyes were flat, the spark in them dulled. I reached out, trying to catch her attention, but it didn't waver for a moment. She was entirely focussed on Layla.

"Cara?" I asked, waving my hand in front of her face, and then grabbing her shoulders. No response. I tried shaking her. "Cara!"

I was suddenly grabbed from behind, strong hands closing over my biceps and pulling me away from Cara. I cried out as they put pressure on my wound, flinching away. Dee, I now turned to see, didn't let me out of her grip, but she shifted it to put less pressure on my right arm. She must've snuck up while we were talking to Layla. Caesar's ghost, I thought cursing myself for not paying attention.

Layla strode towards us, stopping inches away from me. Turning my chin so I was forced to look her in the eyes, she said, "I thought you were my friend, Jules. I thought you, of all people, would understand why we need to do this! Do you want to be expelled and sent to some government program where they'll experiment on you?"

To my surprise, her eyes were their regular amber, and they were full of betrayal. And I had betrayed her. I'd told her I would do this, and I lied to her, tried to set her up so Killer Frost and the police would catch them red-handed. Guilt rose up in my chest like vomit, or maybe that was actual bile I was tasting in my mouth. A green spot burst into being, and I would've reached up to rub at my eyes if not for Dee. I blinked, hard. And swallowed. Come on, Juliet, get a grip! Once she'd caught the barest hint of my hesitance, Layla had immediately coerced me using her powers. Cara was right; friends didn't force their friends to do things they didn't want to do. Did I want to be expelled? No, but I had a choice. I got to choose who I wanted to be, and I didn't want to be someone who hurt others, even when others hurt me.

"Better that than turn myself into a monster," I said challenging her with my eyes.

The hurt in her eyes abruptly turned to cold, calculating anger.

"I see. I didn't realise you thought so badly of me." She sighed, clearly coming to a decision. "Unfortunately, you know who I am, and you know who the others are. If I just let you go, you'll tell everyone, and I can't have that."

I started to struggle against Dee. I need to get out of here, I thought desperately, If I can get Dee to let go of me, I can grab Cara and we can run. But Dee's hands were tight, and as I resisted, she tightened her grip, fingers digging into my wound. I cried out again, my knees almost buckling and spots swimming in front of my eyes.

"Sorry," she muttered under her breath, easing up a little. I took in deep breaths, fighting to keep them steady. I stopped struggling.

"…oh, nothing like that," Layla was saying with a quick smile, "But I think you'll find that you're about to have bigger problems than me. You won't have the chance to tell anyone," she chuckled, "your powers are so recognisable, and it's hard to deny that you committed a crime when you're caught red-handed. I don't think many people would be surprised to learn Illusionist joined the Pack. When you're arrested, you might lie and say we were here too, but we all have alibis-"

"What? I never joined the Pack! And why would they arrest me? This was your idea – we were trying to stop you!" I was disbelieving. Why would anyone believe I had done all this?

"Really? That's not how it looks to me. How I see it, you were the one who used your powers on police officers to send them screaming." She smiled, "You can't deny it; you did."

I stayed silent. She was right, I had done that. Not under my own volition, but still. Taking my silence as agreement, she continued.

"You were the one who fought Killer Frost and won. And, when we're gone, you will be the only one left, so you will be the only one who could have destroyed the CCPD meta registry database and the last remaining cure dosages." Layla said it all so calmly, but I still couldn't believe it. How could she be so casual? She was talking about framing me for a crime I hadn't committed. Well, all things considered, hadn't I committed it? I had sent the officers running. And I had helped her. I shook my head. No! I told myself fiercely, she was controlling me! I wouldn't have done it if not for her. The ludicrousness of the situation struck me. Here I was, getting framed by someone I would have called a friend no less than a day ago.

I would have laughed if my head didn't feel like a meat grinder. Well, Layla clearly hadn't thought of everything. I clearly couldn't fight her, but I could wait for her to leave and then run before the police got here. Or I could stall for time and wait until they caught her instead.

"Please don't do this," I pleaded. Surely the girl who had invited me to sit with her was still in there somewhere. But the Wolf was an entirely different person, golden eyes gleaming in the dark.

"You left me no choice," she said bitterly, "So now you'll get your wish. Better than becoming a monster like me, right?"

Behind her, Jinn and Oliver reappeared. Oliver had a piece of hardware in his hands which was trailing wires, and Jinn was carrying the spray-paints and paw stencil.

"Registry database and CCTV tapes destroyed!" Jinn announced happily as they approached. Oliver put down the hardware, swapping it for a spay can and stencil. He bent down, red paint filling in the image of a paw-print. The air began to fill with fumes, making my head spin.

Meanwhile, Jinn took in the situation. He turned to Layla, "Everything okay?"

I was about to tell him that, no, everything is not okay, but Layla beat me to it.

"No, but it will be." She smiled grimly, "Jules has had a change of heart. We're in the middle of a discussion about her options. You two should go get the bikes, we'll meet you there in a minute."

For a moment, he looked at me, and I could see sympathy for me in his eyes. Or perhaps that was just pity, because then he shrugged and walked away. Oliver, picking up his stencil and spray can, followed without even glancing at me. The worst part was that I didn't even think Layla was controlling them. I was left dizzy by the realisation. Or that might just have been the fumes. I was almost glad Dee was still holding me, or I might have fallen over.

The Wolf turns back to me, golden eyes glowing, boring into mine.
"Now, where were we?"

Suddenly, I can hear sirens wailing in the distance, coming closer. My heart speeds up, and my feet start to itch. It was time to run, but Dee was keeping me in place, and I didn't feel strong enough to run in any case. And besides, how could I leave Cara and Caitlin here? I sucked in a breath.

"What's going to happen to Cara?" I ask glancing at my still-motionless sister. Her face was now twisted into a scowl, and she glared daggers at Layla, but couldn't seem to say a word. She was only here because of me. She had warned me about Layla, but I hadn't listened. I couldn't let her take the fall for this.

"As long as you behave, Cara will be just fine. It'll be like she was never here," Layla said, smiling reassuringly at me. It was cold comfort, made all the worse when she said, "Cara, come here."

Cara moved to stand beside her, still scowling fiercely. I hated seeing her like this. She was so independent, being controlled must have been infuriating, and so violating.

"You won't get away with this," she gritted out. It was clearly an effort to even do that. There was no way I was leaving my sister with the Wolf. So, despite my pounding headache, I closed my eyes, lowering my wall and trying to pinpoint her mind amongst the group. Maybe if I found it, I could remove Layla's influen- the voices suddenly swarmed me, dark whispers coming from all directions. Each one was a dagger point, driving into my mind, and I screamed. Dee was so surprised that she let go, and I fell to my knees, hands over my ears.

I couldn't even make out what anyone was thinking, the words dissolving under the white hot pain which accompanied them.

Stop it! Stop it stop it stoptitstopit – Focus! I dragged myself out of the spiral just in time, desperately trying to rebuild my wall as my mind seemed to be trying to rend itself apart. I whimpered, feeling fresh hot tears flow down my cheeks. Finally, the pain subsided back into manageable levels, and I opened my eyes. I don't think I had ever overdone it so badly. It was all I could do not to pass out on the spot. Speaking of, or thinking of, I supposed, the black spots were back and bigger than ever. That was probably bad. My breaths came in hitched gasps, and I couldn't seem to get enough oxygen. With some effort, I managed to steady it as I finally let myself hear what was going on around me.

"Layla, let me go over there and help her, or so help me God-" Cara was shouting, and I looked up to see her still beside Layla, who was gritting her teeth, clearly having to use all her effort to keep Cara under control. Seeing me raise my head, she forced a smile.

"See? She's fine. She just over did it." Layla glared at Cara, who had fallen silent, but didn't look happy about it. Layla turned to me.

"You're hurt, your powers are spent, and you're in over your head. More importantly, I have control of Cara. You are going to wait here while Cara and I wait across the street. If I don't see you coming out in cuffs with a confession, Cara will confess for you. It's your choice."

There was no choice. And she knew it. I had gotten myself into this mess, and if this was the only way out, then I wouldn't let Cara take my place. She deserved better than that. She deserved better than a sister who ignored her advice, broke her promises, and got herself involved with political activists resorting to criminal activity. She deserved better than me.

I turned to Cara, "I'm sorry."

"Don't you dare, Juliet!" Cara shouted, but Layla had already began walking towards the door, dragging my protesting sister behind her. Dee sighed, trailing after her friend, but giving Killer Frost, who was still frozen, a wide berth.

Killer Frost, who is still frozen, I slowly realised, feeling stupid, because of me. And what I can do, I can undo. I took a deep breath, steeling myself. I just hope I have the strength.

It didn't matter. It was this or letting Layla escape justice.

"Hey wait!" I cried, but as they turned, I was already lowering my walls. This time, I was prepared for the pain, but it didn't make it any easier. Every whisper was like a sledgehammer, pounding and echoing and bruising every nook and cranny. White hot flashes accompanied every impact, and I resisted the urge to curl into a fetal position and cover my ears. I reached out to the first mind I came across. Being so close to it felt like a thousand tiny needles poking me, and I hissed out a breath. It wasn't Frost. I retreated, blindly reaching for another, all finesse lost in my desperate attempt. This one had teeth, tearing into my mind before I quickly retreated for a second time. The third one burned like dry ice, and I knew I had found Frost. I felt like my head was going to break open, but I pushed through it. Her imagination had caught hold of the perceived paralysis I had forced on her and was perpetuating the illusion, freezing her limbs in place in the false belief that she couldn't move them. But it was only an illusion.

"You are not paralysed. It's not real," I told her, biting back a scream, "I'm so, so sorry. Please help."

And then everything went black.

Author's Note:

HA! As it turns out, 9pm-1am is my most productive time for creative writing! Who knew, right? Two late nights in a row = two chapters. Now, if only it wouldn't leave me so wrecked the next morning...hmmm.

Anyway, I think I've learnt a lot about characters and arcs this time around. I don't think I thought through the plot of pt 2 enough before I started it, and, of course, once you start backing yourself into a corner by posting something that, in hindsight, wasn't quite right, it's hard to fix it properly. Moral of the story - "don't rush in" like Halt is always telling Will (Ranger's Apprentice, a different fandom I love).

Thank you, reviewers! You're my favourite readers, but don't tell the others ;) Some of you could afford to be a little nicer, but your feedback is treasured all the same!

Trix