I appreciate reviews and I'll try to make the story better as time goes on. It's just really hard starting it, you know?
I raised the rating from Teen to Mature, just in case there's bloody violence and slightly graphic scenes in the future. Plus, there will be more kidnapping and I don't just want to upset anyone.
Please review and enjoy.
Wally looked away from the scene, not wanting to fully accept it as real. Something inside him twisted and he felt himself crying tears of regret and sympathy for the Kid. He wanted to get even, not kill him! Even Ace didn't deserve this! And Kuki- Oh God! Kuki would never forgive him for this. How could she love him after hearing he was a cold-blooded killer?
Wally found himself on the ground next to Ace's extended, still arm. He carefully lowered his own and took the bloody hand in his. "I'm s-so sorry," he choked quietly, gently squeezing the hand. "I'm so sorry. I'm sorry..." he trailed off, closing his eyes once more. 'What do I do? Oh God what do I do?' He thought to himself. He knew he should at the very least try to get him some help. Perhaps there was a way to revive him, save him. And maybe Kuki, and everyone else, would see him as a caring, responsible person and forgive him.
Unless Ace really was dead.
No matter how many times he apologizes, no matter how many times he tries to help, nothing could erase what he had done. No one would understand. All they'd see is a murderer trying to feel better about himself. In the end, he'd lose everything, and everyone. Even Hoagie would sever his ties with him, there'd be nothing left but jail. Prison.
His life was over.
Thinking about which path to take only make the decision more clear. Wally had never been one for rationality, or even honesty for that matter. He'd been to the juvenile detention center and jail so many times, and he's never been afraid of taking chances. He's kept secrets in the past, some darker than others. Just as long as no one saw what happened.
His head instantly shot up. Looking around, he silently scolded himself for not thinking there could have been witnesses. In a brief panic, Wally ran to the car to grab his book bag. After digging through everything inside, he managed to find what he was searching for: a dark red and black colored bandana. He threw his bright orange sweater into the passenger's seat and wrapped the bandana around his nose and mouth, leaving his blonde hair and disturbed green eyes uncovered. Wally leaned forward and pulled a small switch, resulting in a popping sound near the rear of the vehicle.
Running back to the hood, Wally grabbed the same arm he held earlier and pulled the rest of the boy out from beneath the car. He gave a grumbling sound as he struggled with the Kid's weight. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem for Wally. He was strong enough to haul a couch out a window for crying out loud. But his hands were shaking timidly and his fingers were beginning to stain with the warm claret coming from Ace's body, which was causing his grasp to slip several times. Inch by inch, Wally dragged Ace by his arms towards the trunk of the car, pausing only to catch his much-needed breath.
Wally opened the trunk and took a quick look inside to make sure there was enough room to fit his victim. He closed his eyes and breathed in to try to maintain his calmness, though he still had tears on the brim of his eyes. He knelt down and wrapped his now visibly bloody arms around the Kid's chest and lifted him up towards the trunk. He first plopped the Kid's face forward into the vehicle as he pinned his back against him to keep him from falling back out onto the pavement. Using what little arm space he had left, he quickly reached for one of Ace's legs and began lifting the bottom half. Wally successfully slid the remaining body parts into the car's storage releasing a held in breath in the process.
Wally reached up and laid his bloody hands on the trunk door. Sorrow and regret filled his frightened eyes as he gave one last look at Ace's bloodied, broken figure.
He forcefully closed his eyes and slammed the door shut.
"Hey, has anybody seen Numbuh 4?" Numbuh 2 asked entering the main room in the tree house. It was Monday night, but they always met at the treehouse after school. To not show was simply out of the question.
Numbuh 5 turned a page in her Pre-Teen Magazine. "Numbuh 5 hasn't seen Numbuh 4 since he stormed out of school today." She said, knowing Numbuh 4's dilemma with Kuki. If only he'd just admit to himself that he has a heart, he wouldn't be so stressed or angry all the time. 'Stubborn', she thought to herself.
"Oh! I saw him today at recess!" Numbuh 3 said raising her hand with an oblivious smile. The other two operatives looked at her with blighted hope.
"I don't think that helps." Numbuh 3 went back to playing with her stuffed animals. Numbuh 2 looked at the clock that read 10:45. It was late, and even Numbuh 4 had never been that late. 'I know he's probably just still upset. I really hope he's alright. I mean, how much trouble could Numbuh 4 possibly get into?' Numbuh 2's stomach turned slightly, making him feel uneasy about his missing friend. That is, until he felt the relaxing touch of a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry about it, Numbuh 2," Numbuh 5 said in a calm, hushed voice. "He's just got a lot on his mind, that's all. Besides, everyone could use a break now and then. Numbuh 5 can't blame him." She smiled at him and sat back to continue browsing her magazine.
Numbuh 2 wanted to argue, as it was against the rules to skip out on meeting at the treehouse after school, but decided Numbuh 5 was right. 'Numbuh 4 is just being Numbuh 4 I guess.' He made a mental note to confront him about it at school the next day.
Numbuh 4 drove in deafening silence. His face was still covered, but you could still see the hardened fear in his eyes. He was stiff as he drove, and he was forcing himself not to look at his hands on the wheel. It was bad enough he could still feel the wet, he didn't want to look at it, too.
'Oh my God! What am I going to do?' His thoughts were racing. 'Where am I even going? Where can I take him and not get caught?' He tried to avoid unintentional speeding caused by the stress. 'I could throw the entire car into a lake... No. I'd have to walk all the way back and someone might see me and get suspicious.' He turned another corner. 'I could leave it in drive and send it off a cliff... No! There's a cruddy old man who lives out there!' He was frustrated, and noticeably so. 'I could dump the body behind someone's house and frame them for it... I don't know how to do that! My hands have been all over this stupid thing!' He became angry, but the rage that was previously aimed at himself now targeted Ace for trying to take Kuki away from him, for being in the way all the time, for causing this mess. Now, Wally was out of options and couldn't seem to find a way out.
With no other place to go, Wally drove into the driveway of his own house.
The front door to the Beatles' residence slowly and quietly slid open, the owner's oldest son's head peaking in. Wally tip-toed into his home to make sure his parent's or brother wasn't awake. He also needed a few things to aid him in taking care of Ace. He quickly rushed out the back door and crossed the yard to his dad's storage shed. hurriedly, he shoved several things into his backpack, several trash bags, two brand new rolls of duct tape, a long piece of rope, and a lighter. Then, he used both hands to lift a large container holding gasoline and dragged it through his back yard to the door of his gate, pausing only to unlock it from the back. He made his way back to the car when he heard it.
BUMP! It was faint.
Wally's heart, as well as every other part of him, stopped. In a panic, he completely froze. He tensed up, readying himself for someone to call out to him. 'Oh God! Someone's coming! Someone's here! I'm caught! I'm caught! Oh God! It's over!' He looked around to see if he could determine where the sound came from. All he saw was night.
Confused, he slowly began dragging the gasoline tank with extra caution. He was listening for the noise when he heard it again.
BANG BANG BANG! He looked for the source and found that it was coming from the car. The back of the car!
'What?' Wally thought to himself, relieved but surprised that Ace could still be alive. This made his stomach briefly flutter with happiness, but it quickly died down. His mind had already been made up. Before Ace was even in the trunk, he had decided what he wanted to do and he thought he had a decent plan to get rid of the evidence and body. He was going to drive out to the middle of nowhere and set the entire car ablaze.
"But if he's still alive..."
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!
Wally had a chance now. A chance to not be a killer. 'But even if I let him out, he'd know what I did with him instead of getting help. He would make sure I paid for this.' He didn't know what to do.
BANG BANG BANG!
'I don't to hurt him!'
"Help!"
'But then Kuki would never love me...'
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!
Ace woke up in a dark box of some sort. "... Wha-What the hell?" His arm was broken and his back and knee hurt worse than anything. "Where am I?" All he could manage to do was kick and pound on the wall in front of him and hope he wasn't also buried alive. "How did I get here?" He was terrified and very confused. All he remembered was getting beat up by Numbuh 4 and watching his new stolen model...
"Numbuh 4 couldn't have done this. He's better than that." He shifted in the tight space and hit the wall a few more times hoping someone would hear him.
"HELP!" He tried calling out but all he heard was silence and his own fluctuating breaths. And it was beginning to ail him. He unwillingly began to whimper from the fear of being locked in a small space presumable by someone who wanted to kill him. He began to sob as tears began to fall down his dirt and blood covered face. He couldn't protect himself in this condition. In a last attempt to save himself, he began pounding and kicking the walls around him.
Then something clicked.
Ace stopped kicking and crying and looked at the small light that was pouring through the cracks. It wasn't any brighter than a normal street light. With his good arm, he tried to push the door open all the way. This could be the only chance to escape from wherever he was trapped. He wanted to get out and run away, but froze when he realized there was someone standing there opening the door for him.
When the trunk was all the way open, Ace was met with a dark masked figure who was holding a sharp knife pointed towards his face.
Ace tried to recognize his kidnapper without prevail. His face was hidden and his hair was covered by a dark hood. The assailant lowered his knife to Ace's throat, making the Kid swallow hard.
"Hands... Now." The stranger demanded in a low, deep voice. Ace wasn't sure what he meant, but slowly moved his good hand closer, cautiously. "Both of them," He added impatiently. Ace could tell the guy was rolling his eyes.
"I can't," He tried his hardest to explain without sounding weak. "M-my arm, it's broken." He held his bad arm to show the stranger he wasn't lying.
The masked stranger let out an impatient sigh and turned to something beside the trunk. A mere second later, he was back in position with a wooden bat. Ace's eyes widened the very moment the bat was raised. He let out a loud gasp before everything went black.
"911, what's your emergency?"
A Latino woman sat in her living room. She had been waiting all day for her son to return home, but now it was after midnight and he hasn't been seen by anyone. She even called the school and some of his friends. She was in tears as she spoke to the operator on the phone.
"My son never came home after school today. I am very worried." She tried pronouncing every word correctly in her grief.
"What's your son's name, miss?" The woman on the phone asked.
"His name is Simon Alcantar, but he is known to his friends as Ace." The worried mother sniffled as she patted her eyes with a tissue. "He is very talented and loves to play with his friends," She sniffed again, "But he never stays out late and he is always home by sundown. Please, is there anything you can do?" She cried into the phone.
"Yes, ma'am. I'll have an officer over right away. He'll have you write down everything we need to know on a written report sheet. Do you think you can find a picture of your son to give to the officer?" The operator remained calm.
"Ok," she tried to stifle her hiccup, "Ok, I'll find a picture right now." She hung up the phone and held it in her hands as she looked to her husband who was angrily sitting in his chair. "She say we should give the officer his picture and they will find him." She tried to mimic the woman's calm, but her emotions got the better of her.
"Ese niño aprenderá no llegar tarde otra vez!" He harshly ignored her desperation.
"¡No! ¡Hay una razón para esto!" She defended, not wanting her son to endure anymore of her husband's wrath.
Mr. Alcantar rose from his seat and walked over to stand face-to-face with Ace's mother. "Yo le enseñará a no salir de casa como esto otra vez." He spat coldly, quietly. Mrs. Alcantar lowered her face into her palms as her husband stormed out of the front door, slamming it behind him.
Ace began to peel his eyes open, moaning at this new pain shooting through this temples. His vision was blurry, but he could make out a small light hanging above his head. Around him were empty, colorless walls. It seemed as though he was the only thing in the small room at that moment.
That is until he heard a faint shuffle from behind him. He jerked his head in the direction only to be met with more pain in his head and his arm. That's when he realized his arms and legs were strapped to a chair with duct tape.
He was now officially a captive.
Ace struggled against his binds in a brief panic, careful not to inflict any more movement or pain on his broken bone. "Why are you doing this?" He shouted after giving up. "What do you want?"
The figure didn't speak. He walked around the Kid to look at him one last time, inspecting the splint he made for his arm. He had cleaned the Kid up, wrapped his wounds, and even picked a comfortable reclining chair to tie him to. Sure, he wanted to get him out of the way, but he didn't want to hurt him. He didn't want to hurt anybody, unless it was a fair fight. He felt like such a coward doing this behind a mask, but he couldn't bring himself to take it off. Doing so would make Ace believe this is what he really is and it isn't. It just isn't.
Of course he planned on letting him go... after the dance. He planned on covering his face and taking him somewhere he could easily find help for himself, and maybe even get off scott free. All he had to do was make sure Ace doesn't know who he is and he'll be able to-
"Numbuh 4..."
Nothing but Wally's heart beat could be heard. Ace wasn't struggling anymore. He wasn't yelling, or panicking, or even angry it seemed. He had his face down trying to hear the person behind him, closed his eyes and sighed disappointed at his kidnapper's confirming silence.
Wally stood frozen in place. 'Great,' He thought. 'Now what am I going to do?' With plan A and Plan B both out, Wally now has yet another decision to make. He couldn't burn the body, though he was still planning on burning the car and the other evidence. Now he couldn't release him because now he knows his identity, which will lead to being caught. Wally was overwhelmed by the circumstances at hand. Nothing he did could fix anything at this point.
But it wasn't over yet.
No one knew about what happened tonight. No one, except Ace and himself. He still had a chance to get away with everything he's done. Ace might know the truth, but nobody else does. So if he can't let him go... then he'll just have to keep him.
Numbuh 4 gathered his thoughts and put on a hard face. With one hand, he removed the mask and stepped in front of his captive. Ace quietly looked up at his hooded face, unmoved by his presence. The two boys exchanged glares before Ace broke the silence.
"Why are you doing this?" He asked more sternly than before.
Wally turned to pick up his bag and walked up the stairs. "You just... wouldn't understand." He said with his back turned. He was done here.
The door to the basement slammed shut with a locking sound.
End of Flashback
Wally sat on his bedroom floor looking at his ceiling, tears dried on his face. He hadn't quite thought his situation through. He never planned on hurting the Kid he currently held captive in his basement, but now he was sure he couldn't let him leave either. All he wanted was a chance to be with Kuki, and now he has one. Wally swore to himself he was going to ask her to this dance if it was the last thing he ever did.
But first, to change out of these bloody clothes...