A/N: I'm back, with a Rade story (what else is new?). And this is not an ordinary Rade one-shot, either. It's a Rade birthday present for ZenNoMai, who has stated in his re-post of his awesome oneshots that his birthday is tomorrow.
So, happy (early) birthday, Zen!
I've begun writing this fanfic a couple of months ago, but was unable to finish due to a lack of motivation. But I've at last found my mojo, so to say, so here it is.
Hope everyone enjoys, especially you Birthday Zen, lol.
Disclaimer: As usual, Victorious doesn't belong to me.
Walking in the Night
By GallaudetLurker
Bzzt! Bzzt!
Robbie Shapiro jolted out of the dreamless sleep that he had been having as of lately, the fog of sleepiness still hanging around his mind.
His eyelids heavy with tiredness, Robbie blinked and squinted a few times in an attempt to awaken himself, failing in doing so as he tried to crane his neck to the side to see his alarm clock.
2:11am, the glowing display of the clock said.
He groaned as he squeezed his eyes shut, feeling some relief course through him as his consciousness began to drift off into the darkness of sleep, his body comfortably ensconced in his warm bed sheets.
Bzzt! Bzzt!
Forcing his eyes open with all the might a tired and sleepy person could muster after two in the morning, Robbie reached out and groped blindly over his nightstand, succeeding in finding and grabbing his PearPhone - that infernal contraption that had so rudely interrupted his beauty sleep so early in the morning.
And on a school night too.
Bringing the PearPhone to his face, squinting slightly as the bright screens illuminated his face and made his retina throb slightly painfully, Robbie saw a notification stating that he got a text.
Scratch that. Two texts.
As if that was not the most surprising, given that Robbie didn't get much texts, and most certainly not this early in the morning, the name that appeared above the text certainly did much in dispelling the sleepiness. Well, most of it anyways.
Jade West
May 30, 2012 2:11 AM
U up?
Jade West
May 30, 2012 2:12 AM
if u are...can u come over?
Robbie stared at his phone, thinking that his slightly blurred vision, and sleep-addled mind, must be playing tricks on him. Surely, his dreamless dream had finally morphed into a strange dream where Jade West, the girl with a wicked sense of humor and who all but loathed him, was texting him at two in the morning and actually asking him to come over?
Why couldn't she call him instead?
He wondered what tricks a certain fanfiction write-um, deity was playing on him.
His fingers trembling slightly, Robbie felt paralyzing indecision grip him for but a moment as he wondered of whether he should dismiss it and go back to sleep or reply back.
Jade made the choice for him, for his phone 'bzzted' as another text, the impossible third one, appeared on the screen.
Jade West
May 30, 2012 2:14 AM
Shapiro u there?
Shock and disbelief still coursing through him, largely dispelling the tiredness that had once weighed upon him, Robbie propped himself higher on the bed as his nimble thumb glided across the screen unlocking it (he didn't trust passcodes) as his other hand reached over for his glasses. The now-clear text conversation screen immediately popped into view, displaying Jade's last three texts.
Before he knew it, his thumbs was typing on the glass screen, inputting words through the onscreen keyboard.
Robbie Shapiro
May 30, 2012 2:16 AM
yea I'm up...
He was surprised when Jade replied almost immediately (it was like, what, ten seconds? Fifteen? It was a new record, that's for sure).
Jade West
May 30, 2012 2:16 AM
about damn time...can u come over?
Robbie blinked, and blinked again. Yeah, someone had to be playing a practical joke on him. Perhaps it was that 'Lurker' that he was pretty sure was watching him at night. The Jade West he knew over the past four years would certainly never text him like that, indeed she never did, not even once.
This was quite uncharacteristic of her.
Robbie Shapiro
May 30, 2012 2:19 AM
come over to what?
His phone buzzed.
Jade West
May 30, 2012 2:20 AM
my house, what else?
Robbie's eyebrows furrowed. Ok, things were definitely weird. The girl who constantly tormented him every chance she got wanted him to come over at her house at nearly a quarter past two in the morning. Out of everyone else on the planet, she asked him. Him.
She would, and should, have asked Beck, or Cat, or Andre. Or even Tori. But no, she asked him.
Yeah, things were definitely weird. Robbie was snapped out of his thoughts as he felt his hands vibrate slightly.
Jade West
May 30, 2012 2:24 AM
dont tell me u went back to sleep
Robbie immediately typed out a reply.
Robbie Shapiro
May 30, 2012 2:25 AM
i didnt...on my way
Robbie swung his legs over his bed, now sitting upright. He still felt a little tired and sleepy, but he had this feeling that he should have to go over to Jade's house.
And in the dead of night, through darkened neighborhood blocks sparsely illuminated by street light poles, the thought of which began to unsettle him. He was never comfortable getting outside the house at night, even to throw out the trash into the bin in front of his house.
It didn't help that he sometimes had nightmares about the fateful Parade Parade, when he and his friends were trapped in a cupcake parade float, with a blown tire, in the middle of a dark street in a-
His phone beeped once again.
Jade West
May 30, 2012 2:31 AM
btw when u get there, come thru my window. and dont bring the puppet!
Something in Jade's text, along with his instincts, told him that he would have to brave the night and go over to Jade's house. And climb into her room through the large tree that was located next to Jade's room.
He wasn't the most skilled tree climber in the world.
Heaving out a sigh, Robbie got up from the bed, stretching slightly. He turned his head to see Rex's sleeping form.
'Lucky bastard.' Robbie frowned slightly, feeling envious at his best friend for getting to sleep while he, Robbie, had to go over to Jade's house against his better judgment. Why couldn't he muster up the courage to say no?
He was such a coward sometimes.
Sighing again, Robbie got dressed. Thank God Jade's house was only a few blocks away.
Robbie was trembling slightly, feeling his insides coil and re-coil as a combination of fear, discomfort, and panic begin to filter through him as he walked through a sidewalk at a brisk pace, constantly looking behind him.
He couldn't help but feel like he was being followed.
It was one of these times Robbie wished his convertible was working. Too bad for him, it malfunctioned on him for the countless time and so it was at one of these repair shops that seemed to take far too long than normal to repair vehicles. He would've had that bike that he'd brought from Sinjin, had the new principal not driven right through it. And on her first day.
Some first impression.
The sight of a bright street light pole helped to alleviate his feelings a bit, but still. He felt alone, so alone, in a darkened street and at a hour where someone could snatch him and-
'No! Don't think about that!' Robbie mentally chastised himself as the feelings came back with a vengeance, quickly walking across a sidewalk crossing. He swore he heard footsteps behind him, through a swift glance behind him confirmed that nobody was there.
Robbie really, really, wished Rex was with him. There was a reason he had Rex with him at nearly all times; Rex made him feel...safe and secure, despite his unending torrent of taunts and insults. It was a pity Jade completely and utterly despised him with a passion-
Wait.
Here it was again.
Robbie's eyes widened slightly as his heart began to double, triple, and quadruple the already rapid rate. He was sure that what he heard were footsteps, though he saw nobody behind him.
He was hyperventilating now, he was sure. He felt like he was in one of these horror movies that Jade had forced him and his friends to watch one time, where a psychotic killer stalked his victims on a darkened stree-oh no.
No! No! Why did he have to think of that!
Why, oh why did his good, reliable convertible have to break down on him? Driving through the streets at night was far preferable to walking, by eons.
Panic and fear coursing powerfully through his veins, Robbie began to pick up his pace, his brisk walk turning into a trot as he reached and crossed through another street crossing. Coincidentally (or not?), the footsteps quickened in tandem. A quick glance behind him showed that nobody was, once again, there.
Which did absolutely nothing to quell his fears. The saying that people was more scared of what they could not see as compared to what they could see certainly applied to the situation that Robbie found himself in.
Glancing himself behind him for what was an umpteenth time, Robbie's heart nearly stopped.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something...or somebody dart into the wooden corner fence some distance away. It was easy to miss, as furtive and subtle it was, yet Robbie's overactive eyes definitely caught some movement. He didn't know what, or who it was, but the heck he was going to stay around and find out.
Like the fearful coward he was, Robbie's trot accelerated into a light run. Jade's house was one couple of blocks away or so.
The footsteps accelerated too. Robbie didn't dare look back as he accelerated his speed into a full run, his feet thudding on the pavement in tandem with his heart in his steadily constricting chest, adrenaline coursing through him like a powerful current.
For some reason, the sidewalk seemed to stretch indefinitely on as Robbie sprinted, the street light pole off in the distance seemingly drifting away from him as the footsteps became closer and closer. This, of course, compounded his panic and prompted him to keep up his speed, despite the mounting exhaustion that was accompanied by a growing need for air.
But stopping for air was the last thing Robbie wanted at that moment. What mattered the most to him was getting to the sanctuary that was Jade's house.
Mercifully reaching the street light pole after what seemed like a maddeningly slow moment, Robbie darted past it, curving to the right as fast as his legs was carrying him. The dark, forbidding houses that lined the block seemed to be taunting him as he ran by, the footsteps gaining up behind him.
Gathering up the courage the best a utterly terrified person could muster, Robbie dared to glance behind him...
He could now see a shadowy figure a distance behind him. He couldn't see clearly who or even what it was, its features were completely shrouded in the nighttime darkness, only that it was definitely trailing him and appeared to be carrying-
Robbie's eyes widened. He really had to get to Jade's house, and fast.
By then, he was feeling exhausted, his legs steadily feeling like lead. Still, he forced them to move forward as he crossed the street diagonally (there were no incoming cars in sight, why couldn't there be one when he so desperately needed it the most?), nearing yet another street light pole in the corner ahead. He was surprised that he didn't trip over his feet or anything.
His fear and panic had gone to such an extent that he barely noticed the glowingly bright street light when he passed by it and sprinted down the street.
One block to go.
The footsteps were relentlessly pursuing after him. Robbie saw what seemed like an alleyway behind an apartment block near to his right, and despite his mind and conscience screaming for him not to go through it, he went through it anyways. For some reason, he'd thought that he could try to lose his mysterious pursuer in the alleyway.
Apparently, logic mattered little when one was running for his life.
The alleyway was narrow, Robbie noticed, scattered with various trashcans and assorted junk lying about, the obstacles that Robbie somehow, miraculously, managed to evade or sidestep. Off in the distance, Robbie could dimly see that it turned to the left. He hoped that it would provide a way out, preferably to Jade's house...
A dead end.
His mind reeling from disbelief, Robbie skidded to a halt. He was trapped, obstructed by the dead end that spelled the end of his panic-addled escape. Exhaustion and adrenaline still coursing through his body, his legs, thighs, and feet throbbing, Robbie felt frozen in place, paralyzed by fear, disbelief, and indecisiveness. Finally, after an indeterminable period of time, he managed to find it within himself to move. He began turning around...
The shadow struck.
He let out a pained scream as a cold, sharp blade was rammed through him, intense pain coursing through his-
Robbie shot up from his bed screaming, his heart thudding heavily in his chest, feeling awash with sweat. Instantly, his hands shot up all over the area in his stomach where the...knife had gone through, seemingly not aware of a dark presence next to him.
For some strange reason, it ached.
Feeling a sensation of relief wash over him, Robbie began to slowly take in his surroundings, his eyes adjusting against the encompassing darkness. He could see that he was on a bed in a darkened room, with a blank screen of a TV facing him from the front, a window off to the side as moonlight trickled through it, and assorted stuff all around.
5:37AM, the bright digits from a clock on a night desk next to the bed indicated.
Something shifted. Robbie stiffened up.
Turning his head slowly to the side, his heart beginning to accelerate up a tad bit for an unexplained reason, Robbie could see a lump beneath the crumpled sheets-
Suddenly, he felt an arm and a leg wrap around him and pull him closer. Robbie barely held back a shriek, his heart lurching painfully in a way reminiscent to the dream.
However, now that he could now make out the presence right next to him - her flowingly long hair that was crumpled up against the pillows, adorning a pale face that was resting on his chest, Robbie felt relief settle over him once again, his lips curling up in a small smile.
Jade could sleep through anything, even his loud girlish shrieks, Robbie thought as he looked at his girlfriend lovingly, pecking her on the forehead.
Placing his head back on the pillow, and wrapping his arm around the sleeping girl lying next to him - thus making her snuggle up more closer to him, Robbie's mind turned to the dream-nightmare that he had recently woken him up.
He still couldn't believe it. The dream had felt so...real, so lifelike. It was like he had been transported back in time, years ago, when he went over to Jade's house in the middle of the night when she'd texted him.
Of course, the trip to Jade's house was as terrifying as he remembered - as the dream had so helpfully reminded him - and he'd thanked God that he had made it safely to Jade's house.
And without some mysterious prowler/stalker following him.
Robbie suppressed a shiver that came through him.
He didn't know how he got so lucky, lucky to have this nice apartment and to have a beautiful girlfriend. If anyone else had told him that he would get a girlfriend, one in a girl who he had thought utterly hated him with all her essence, at Hollywood Arts a few years ago, he would have dismissed it (and Rex would have a field day). And Jade would probably have killed the messenger in the most grisly way.
Robbie felt her move slightly and pulled her close. He smiled as he let sleep slowly overtake him, his eyelids closing, knowing somehow that he would have good dreams.
He felt like Zen.
A/N: All right, the ending sucked, but at least I did my best. How's that for a birthday present, Zen? :)
- GL