(Part Thirteen: Saving the Bad Boy (pt 2)

(Stephens P.O.V)

"You better be playing some horrible joke on us" Tracey warns me, her finger shaking as she points it at me accusingly.

"I genuinely wish I was" My words come out low and unenthusiastic, but loud enough for the girls to hear.

Zahbia frowns deeply from her spot beside Tracey, "what do you propose we do? march in there and get him back? "

"He's a dumbass" Tracey runs a hand through her hair, sending a pitiful look at Ava.

I broke the news to the girls just now and I'm not going to lie, I expected more of a reaction.

Well, it's not as if they haven't gone through a lot up until this point, so what's a little bit more, right?

Ava has her hands pressed tightly together on her lap as she stares down at them.

With a startling speed, she glances up, tears brewing in her eyes yet a determined look on her face.

She uses Zahbia's hand to pull herself off the couch, before wiping away the tears on her face and clearing her throat.

"What are we waiting for. Let's go. "

~ ~ ~ ~

I'm quiet certain Ava is having a mental breakdown, which is causing her to act rash, but nonetheless we're in a car, on our way to save Mr. 'Walk headfirst into danger'

I'm only slightly hypocritical, but that doesn't matter.

I glance back at Ava in the mirror, "are you okay AJ? " I offer a small smile.

She looks back at me, a serious look on her face.

"No."

Despite her answer, she continues to prepare.

"Did you call the police? "Tracey asks Zahbia, anxiety in her voice.

" Yeah, they said it'll be about 10-15 minutes, but they'll come as fast as they can. "

I'm not surprised by that answer, the place we're heading is far into the woods, and hard to navigate in the dark, which is the precise time we chose to go.

Clearly not out of convenience, more so, just being uneasy at the idea of leaving him there any longer.

He's still healing from his surgery, and I mean yeah... He's a tough guy, but he's only human.

I frown at the idea and clench my hands tighter on the wheel.

~ ~ ~ ~

(Avalon's P.O.V)

We pull the car to a stop a few blocks away from the house, behind where Xavier's car is parked.

"Okay game plan ladies, let's go over this" Stephen rubs his hands together and turns to face us all.

"Wait for the police? " Tracey pipes up, although joking, sounding afraid.

I look down at my hands, which hold my pepper spray, feeling angry at myself for letting him go do this, but knowing I couldn't have stopped him.

Zahbia speaks as well, in a similar tone to Tracey's, "I have to agree, I mean, we're not stupid, this could be some kind of trap. "

"I'm almost certain it is, but what happens if the police don't get here on time? What happens if Xavier and his grandpa are.... " Stephen trails off, clearly upset by where his thought process was going.

"Right, and if our horrible plan fails like it, inevitably will? " Tracey gives him a look.

"It won't, I'm far to genius for it too. "

~ ~ ~ ~

After discussing our plan further, we all get out of the car and quietly sneak up to the house, collectively squatting and shuffling in a weird manner.

I peak up through an open window and notice nothing but dark.

I shoot a look behind my shoulder to alert the others of our way in, but double take when I realize I'm alone.

Was this part of the plan?

No, somethings wrong.

I hear a noise from my right and quickly throw myself behind the nearest tree, only to land smack dab at the feet of a masked man with a golf club.

Shi-

~ ~ ~ ~

Pain shoots through every muscle in my body, but the pain in my head has to be the worst.

It feels as if hundreds of tiny woodpeckers have been chipping away at my skull for hours.

I groan slightly, making a move to touch my head, then grimacing as it feels wet and crusted over.

Was I bleeding?

I open my eyes and force myself into a sitting position, looking around me.

I can't see anything, which doesn't come as a surprise to me, I was probably rendered blind by whatever hit my head so hard.

Despite my fear of blindness, I notice there's a sliver of light coming from under a crack somewhere, allowing me enough light to find a wall.

I stumble over what feels like giant bags until I get to it, feeling along until a switch graces my fingers.

Without hesitation I flick it on, wincing in pain at the bright light, but thankful to see.

That is until I look around the room I'm contained in.

A blood curling scream escapes me when I see what I tripped over earlier.

Bodies.

I gasp for air and sob as I grasp onto the wall for support, unable to control my breathing.

I slide into a seated position on the floor and hug my knees to my body tight, afraid to look up.

All I smell is blood, and the scent lurks on my tongue as if I could taste it.

I guide my eyes away from them a moment too late as I feel bile come up my throat anyways, and I empty my stomach onto the floor.

I sit in my ball for a few more minutes, trying to calm myself down.

What's going on.

I'm shaking and trembling unable to relax or think properly.

If Xavier were here-

My eyes widen and I remember Xavier.

And then the mission.

How long have I been down here? It couldn't have been that long, the cops would have shown up and found me right?

Unless the same person who threw me in here managed to throw the cops off of our trail.

I clear my mind and try not to puke again.

Where are Stephen, Zahbia, and Tracey? Are they alive?

Suddenly an idea strikes me.

If I'm down here with all of these...

Whoever hit me must have thought I died when I was clubbed over the head, and then they threw me in here as an afterthought.

I force myself to look around, not necessarily at the ground, but at the room in general.

No windows as expected, but there is a steel door on the opposite side of the room, slight cracks in the bottom and sides revealing where light had previously shown through.

Directly next to the door, a poorly made wooden table sits.

My eyes widen when I see what's on the table.

Weapons.

Weapons used to most likely kill these innocent, or so I assume innocent, people.

And I know my way out.

~ ~ ~ ~

(Stephens P.O.V)

"Wake up Zahbia" I mutter to the still unconscious girl next to me, attempting to kick her chair with my tied foot yet failing.

I've been awake for a day now, waiting for the other two to follow and stressing about Ava and Xavier.

Tracey woke up today as well, panicking as much as I did and not becoming calm in the slightest when I explained our dilemma.

But Zahbia remains asleep.

My thoughts are quickly interrupted by the door to the room opening and revealing an annoyed Gage.

It closes quick behind him, two people flanking his sides.

One I recognize as Lillith, who sends me a wink and the other one, with the same mullet and beard as the first time I met him.

Vinny.

I should have trusted my gut, I knew the guy was suspicious.

"Well at least two of you are awake, if I had known that you'd be unconscious so long, I'd have lowered the dosage they gave you. It's annoying waiting two days for anything" Gage spits out, throwing me a glare.

"What do you want with us Gage? " I seethe at him, pulling against my restraints in a failed attempt to break free.

He lights a cigarette quickly, nodding to me, "glad you asked. "

After a moment of silence and smoke being blown in my face, he answers, "I didn't want anything and I still don't, but now that I have you and I've killed your friend, there's no way I can just let you run loose, no matter how much we have no use out of you three" He sighs, blowing more smoke out into the air.

I freeze when he mentions 'killing my friend', what's he talking about?

He could have killed Xavier, but if it was Ava that would explain her missing.

"What did you do?? " I gasp out, feeling tears spring to my eyes.

Lillith cooes at me as if I'm a child, walking forward and wiping at my tears, I pull my head away from her in disgust "fuck off. "

She giggles and just stands next to me instead, messing with my hair as Vinny and Gage ignore her antics, which pisses me off more.

"Not my fault her head was so weak, so easy to break; oh and don't worry about your pal Xavier, he's next, for breaking our deal, the bastard almost had the cops on us" Gage let's out a little chuckle and blows out another puff of smoke.

My neck isn't restrained yet it still feels like I'm choking; not physically, but his words wire themselves into my brain and I start to hyperventilate.

"Stephen don't listen to him, he's lying! " I come back to reality when I hear Tracey's urgent voice coax me.

Gage gives her an annoyed look before walking over and back handing her across the face, hard, without a second of thought.

Her head whips to the side and she let's out a loud whimper.

"Why don't you shut the fuck up? " Gage gives her another look before returning to his previous position.

"Leave her alone!" I yell out at him, feeling my skin burn and break as I pull against the restraints again.

"Here's what's going to happen, " Gage ignores me and addresses both of us while Lillith runs her hands down to the ropes around my wrists and pokes at them as if to mock me.

"When your little friend in the middle wakes up, I'm going to kill each and every one of you slowly, don't believe me? Remember what happened to your other friend, Goldie. "

He stops for a moment and smiles.

"But before then, I have to deal with a little rat, so if you'd excuse me" Gage grins again before turning around and leaving the room, the door slammimg shut behind him.

We'll never make it out of here.

~ ~ ~ ~

(Avalon's P.O.V)

I've never held a gun in my life, never mind shooting one, so when my trembling fingers pick it up off of the desk, my anxiety spikes higher than it already is.

I know enough to turn the safety on in any case when I'm not planning on shooting it.

But that's not the plan.

I turn off the safety and aim at the doorhandle, counting down.

3...

2...

1

I quickly pull the trigger, gasping as my arm jerks back due to my bad positioning and my ear starts to ring.

But, it works and the handle falls off of the door, causing it to swing open ever so slightly from impact.

This gun packs a mean punch.

I hold it close to me, praying I'm too far for anyone to hear the gun shot.

And, as the rest of my month been going, my prays aren't answered as I hear a shout and footsteps coming towards my direction.

I notice a steel, blood covered bat resting against the side of the table and pick it up with my other hand.

There's no way I'm murdering someone, but I can attempt to knock them out.

Consider it pay back.

I shake slightly as the footsteps come to a halt by my door, causing me to grip the bat harder and press my body  closer to the wall.

When the door opens, I don't hesitate and swing as hard as I can.

A loud thud echos through the room as the guard falls to the ground, and his helmet rolls off.

My eyes widen as I stare down at the man on the floor.

I gasp and kneel beside him quickly.

"Noah? "

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