When She Wakes

Iris heard voices above her, again. She was freaking out, trying desperately to make out the voice above her, praying that it wasn't Dr.Anderson.

"We can't kdfrwope djnffeofe jokd her." She tried to concentrate on the voices around her but found the darkening grip of silence clamp down around her.It was so peaceful, without the fear of yet another experiment. She started to let herself slip deeper into its calming darkness. It called to her.

'What's fnufon her andrfjeo now!" She heard a different, lighter voice say. She tried to shake off the darkness but didn't know if she could fight it anymore.

"Iris!" James! That's James. She tried to open her eyes, to shake off the darkness but couldn't. It was too late, she felt herself slip deeper and deeper, his muffled pleas falling silent.

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'Iris! Iris, can you hear me? Please Iris, please. Don't leave me. Hold on, just hold on a little longer." James franticly reached into his bag and pulled out another syringe. He slid it into her wrist and pushed the plunger.

"James! It's not working!" Lilly sobbed from beside him, keeping a hand on her sisters wrist.

"Give it time Lilly, everything going to be just fine." He told her, but deep down, he had no idea. He didn't know what that machine in that room was used for or if it had been used on her. And if it had, just what would happen when she woke up, if she woke up.

"Thank god." Lilly whispered beside him when Iris took in a deep breath and continued breathing normally, not raspy and uneven.

James slumped down and dropped his face into his hands. "Oh Iris, what did they do to you? Please hang in there, Please come back to us, to me. We need you." He placed his lips down near her ear and whispered "I need you."

"Well, we need to get moving in case they're out searching for us, which they must be, and have gotten closer to us." Lilly stood up and stooped down to grab ahold of Iris's frail body.

'No." James jumped up and went to grab I res from her. "I mean," He answered her questioning gaze. 'let me take her, save your strength incase we come up to a fight."

'Okay." Lilly said as she stepped back and gave him a skeptical glance. She was worried, worried for her sister, laying lifeless in her best friends arms, and she was worried about her best friend. He had never looked so exhausted in his entire life, and the way he looked down at her sister, with a longing and worried gaze.

"Come on, lets get moving." James took the lead and started walking back towards the woods. Pretty soon the slight pathway they had to walk on was replaced with an encroaching forest that seemed to get darker and darker at the same time that it got smaller and smaller.

"do we really have to go through here? Why not just take her through the underground passageways? Wouldn't that be safer?" Lilly questioned, glancing past James shoulder only to see the woods closing in around them.

"Lily, they are going to find out pretty quickly that our forces didn't just walk up main and into the front door. They're going to figure out that we must have some kind of underground system. They'd never expect us to go through the Damned Woods. They'll be sending more people down through our tunnels than out here. Trust me." James continued walking through the thick underbrush, using his arms to shield Iris's body from the eager branches that reached out to try and have their turn at poking and prodding her.

"Okay..." Lily whimpered as the woods completely enclosed around them, swallowing them up into its empty darkness.

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Iris saw flashes of things forming behind her eyes. A tall man in a white coat, bending down to give a little girl  a hug. The smell of alcohol and chemicals burning her nose hairs. The feeling of his scraggly beard rubbing the top of her head. Father! The little girl jumped up and down, showing him a drawing she had made for him. It's beautiful sweet heart. But I need you to come with me real quick, okay? Can you be a good little girl for daddy?  The little girl and the man both seemed so familiar to Iris and she couldn't figure out why. Daddy, where are we going? Iris saw the man take the Childs hand and lead her down a long, dark staircase and into a hallway. Okay, now you're going to have to be very brave for daddy, you hear? You have to be brave. A single tear slid down the mans cheek as he stared into the eyes of the child. The images started to blur and slid together until Iris was left with the same nothingness she had found earlier.

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"Iris? Iris can you hear me? Please, please Iris. If you can hear me, please open your eyes. We can't keep you safe much longer." James pleaded to Iris as he set her down gently to give lily a break from watch.

"Why are we stopping again?" Lily asked as she sat down beside her sister and brushed Iris's damp bangs from her forehead.

"Because her fever is getting worse. She needs to rest, we can't risk continually moving her in her condition. who knows what that would do to her." He left them to go walk the perimeter. He was about half way through his check when he heard screams.

"Lily!!" He went running back towards camp. Every possible scenario popped into his head as he ran: wolves, bandits, or, even worse, Dr. Anderson and his goons. He dropped to his knees when he arrived to find Lily laying on the ground and iris nowhere in sight. He reached for Lil's hand and realized that she was nearly unconscious, her pulse was strong. 

"Oh Lily." he sobbed. "what happened to you and where has Iris gone?" He drug his hands down his face and looked down at Lilly, who began to stir.

"Iris!" Lilly sprang up and trapped out for someone.

"Hey, easy there." James reached a hand out to steady her as she threatened to topple over. "You're okay, what happened? And wheres Iris?" He was panicking, but tried desperately not to show it.

"She woke up." Lily started to say something else when James interrupted her.

"what!! What happened? How?" He was talking on over drive now.

"She woke up. And freaked the f**k out. she hit me across the face before running off." She reached up and winced as her fingers came into contact with her swollen cheek bone.

Jason slid back onto his heels before jumping right back up again. "We have to find her before any of Anderson's goons do." He put a hand out for Lily to take and pulled her up to her feet.

"Thanks." She brushed herself off before jogging after Jason.