Roses are Black

Prologue

The bell that signaled the end of the day rung throughout the school, and kids poured into the courtyard. Some were getting on the bus home, some were walking home, and some were lingering behind to chat with their friends. A young girl named Rachel strolled outside and went in the direction of her favorite spot, under a giant oak tree that provided the perfect shade. However, the sun wasn't the only thing the tree provided protection from. Not long after she sat down, she heard the snickering of a few peers.

"Come on! Let's go," They whispered to each other. Rachel tensed up as they headed in her direction. Not this again. She defensively rose to dher feet, taking a firm stance as they approached.

"Hey, it's the crazy redhead! You still haven't been dragged to juvie yet?" Christina sneered. Rachel felt a pang of fear at the mention of juvie. She hated that place. She reminded herself
that no one knew about her mother though, or that she had been to juvie before. The crazy redhead thing came from stereotypes and some... moderate anger management issues that she'd unleashed upon others a few times before.

It was one of the things that Cristina seemed to favor spreading. She was easily pinpointed as the leader of the pack, always calling the shots. No one in her little posse ever tried to challenge her. They were too afraid.

"Nope, sorry. You still haven't found anything better to do than gossip and brag about your rich dad?" Rachel shot back immediately. Christina was a loose cannon, so her face immediately radiated with anger. She took big strides to close the distance between the two and shoved Rachel up against the tree.

"What was that you said? It sounded a lot like the kind of crazy talk inmates at Arkham use," Christina growled. Rachel didn't respond to the insult, but instead kneed her opponent in the stomach. She grabbed Christina's arm and ducked out from her position against the tree, swinging around to hold Christina's arm behind her back. She may not have powers, but her mother had still made sure she got the training she needed to protect herself.

The bully squealed in pain, so Rachel let go, but not before elbowing her between the shoulder blades as she let did so. Christina stumbled forward and put her hands out to stop herself on the tree. Rachel took a few tentative steps away from the tree. Christina seemed to recover and started to step towards her victim again, when something stopped her.

Roots from the tree had wrapped tightly around her ankle and kept her from moving. Rachel's eyes widened. How did that happen?! Christina tugged at her foot when there was a loud crackling noise coming from the tree trunk. Before Christina could free herself, the tree fell over and landed on top of her.

The girl shrieked but after a moment passed out cold. Silence fell upon the courtyard like a thick blanket as the rest of the posse stared at Rachel, wide-eyed with fear. As teachers started to come outside and other students took notice, Rachel bolted, dashing across the street and almost knocking people down in her haste to get home.

She ran up the steps to the house her and her mother owned; well, at least until they got caught again. Once inside, she slammed the door behind her, sinking to the floor. Rachel buried her head into her knees, feeling herself shaking.

"What just happened?" She didn't know how it happened. How the tree fell. It made no sense... Unless her mom had been watching her, but even then she wouldn't have interfered because they needed to keep it a secret that she was Poison Ivy's daughter.

Maybe it was a coincidence, or hitting it so hard caused it to fall, but Rachel doubted it. Of course any plant of her mother's would have protected her like that, but Ivy rarely ever came to the school, so it wouldn't make any sense for the tree to be protective towards her. And Rachel couldn't have caused it because she didn't inherit any powers. Unless they were just now showing up...

She looked up and found the closest plant to her; a venus flytrap that guarded the door. She held her hand out the way she had seen Poison Ivy do before. Taking a deep breath, Rachel flexed her hand into a straight position. The plant stayed still, but after a moment, mimicked the movement.

"Awesome."