Thanks to IntoAnime, Guest, and Imtoolazytologin for the reviews! Will anyone ever review who's not a guest? The world may never know. lol, jk, love you guys ;) enjoy chapter threeee
Ghost town and haunted love
Raise your voice, sticks and stones may break my bones
I'm talking loud, not saying much
I'm bulletproof, nothing to lose
Fire away, fire away
Ricochet, you take your aim
Fire away, fire away
You shoot me down but I won't fall
I am titanium
- titanium - david guetta -
Three days. They had made it three days without killing each other. Not that Jade hadn't been forced to resort to violence seven or eight times. One could only handle being in a tight space with Cat and Shapiro for so long before they snapped.
Maybe it would have helped if they had something to break up the monotony of the days. That was the crazy thing. They hadn't been executed, or tortured, or even questioned. They hadn't even seen their captors yet. Meals were deposited by black-gloved hands through a hatch in the wall. The gloves had gotten significantly thicker after Cat had bit one of the fingers. Obviously "don't bite the hand that feeds you" had no meaning to her, literal or otherwise.
It was a simple ten by ten cement affair, the ceiling was a dark grating, too thick to move or cut through. Where the grate led was impossible to tell, sometimes voices drifted down through, other times they heard frantic, pleading screams, or sometimes it was the laughter of a little girl. They never saw anyone besides the guards. A roughly cut hole in the floor towards one corner was all that existed in the way of disposal. Cat disapproved of it, and made Robbie and Jade turn around and plug up their ears whenever she needed to use the little ladies room. Or, hole. Blankets with unidentifiable stains had been given to them on the first night. Cat preferred to keep warm by snuggling close to Shapiro, which both disgusted and amused Jade. Shapiro missed his puppet.
All things considered, they were actually being treated well. Jade had heard tell of some groups who took prisoners just to see how long it took a person to starve, or die of exposure to certain radiations. But instead of that, they were being kept alive. Well-fed, even. Although she didn't have much, Jade would have given almost anything to find out who it was that was holding them.
One morning, seven armed soldiers came into the cell. They were dressed in black, layer upon layer, so that it was impossible to tell whether they were men or women. Cloth wrapped around their faces, guns in hand, they led the three teens to a row of clear, glass boxes, about the size of a small shower. Then the teens were ordered to strip. They did so- Jade with cool, meticulous movements, Robbie with awkward, clumsy hands, and Cat with tears in her eyes. Finally, they were told to step into the clear cubicles. Jade considered throwing a few kicks and punches, but really, how far could she get? She highly doubted Cat or Robbie would be any help; the red haired girl was trying to keep from bawling, while Shapiro was desperately trying to cover everything at once. Sissies.
With as much dignity as she could muster, Jade stepped onto the cool floor of the glass box. She marveled for a moment at how clean it was, compared to the rest of the place. Moving only her eyes, she tried to quickly examine the inside of the box. Before she got very far, her eyes were suddenly blinded by a warm liquid. Water. The glass box that looked like a shower, was a shower? That's it? Jade glanced at Cat in surprise. Cat was busy sticking her tongue out to catch the drops. Turning her back to the soldiers who still watched from outside, Jade let herself enjoy the lukewarm water. All too soon, the water stopped. Rough towels were handed to the three, and then their dirty clothes were handed back to them. Robbie and Cat couldn't seem to get their clothes back in fast enough, but Jade dressed hesitantly. What was the point of the shower of they were just going to ruin themselves again with their bloody, dirty clothes? Anyway. When they had finished, they were led back to their cell without another word.
Robbie the Weirdo and Cat were usually asleep long before Jade was even tired. She has always been something of a night owl. This left her plenty of time to entertain her own thoughts. Thoughts about prison, about herself, about the war, yes, even about fluffy-haired Canadian boy. But mostly, she simply reflected on the world she lived in.
Her memories of childhood were not as vague and faded as she wished, but instead were sharp, 14.1 megapixel snapshots, voices over crystal-clear connections, footage in high definition. She remembered the behemoth of a house she once lived in. She remembered living in one of the largest cities in the entire world, looking out a dusty window, a hundred stories off the ground, and imagining that she could see the entire population of the earth from there. She almost could. Her father had been high up in the city's social and monetary networks. He had worked with weapons, at the time she had had no idea that they were illegal. She could remember her mother, and that little bundle of blue blankets and fuzzy black hair that had shown up the day her mother left forever. Jade had only been ten. Three years later she watched eleven men break into their house and murder her father. She and that bundle of blankets and hair, which had grown into an annoying, toddling, person, were passed from relative to relative, friend to friend, then to strangers, and finally to a place filled with unwanted, neglected kids. She had lasted just over ten months before she ran away. She had no idea what ever happened to her brother.
She had fallen into a group of teenagers soon after, easily accepted as one of their own kind. She did whatever she could, whether that meant handling and repairing some of the most dangerous weapons known to the common man, or playing messenger girl between two sides of a fight. Nothing was off limits, not even her own body. Their group was fluid, no one was really in charge, new kids were always showing up, and every night a few of them didn't make it back. That group was where she first met Cat. The girl was lost, afraid, and trying to find her brother, who apparently was her only guardian. They never found him, and as time went on, they were glad. Cat's "my brother" stories were both laughable and terror-strickening. Was that even a word?
Beck was also part of that group. She wished she could say that she had never noticed him, but that would be a lie that even she wasn't comfortable with. She noticed him, noticed his hair, his smile, his calm demeanor, and the way he looked at her. Later on, she noticed his deep voice, his thin lips, his anger, and the way he still looked at her. By hanging out with him, she met Shapiro, Harris, Sinjin, and the rest of the guys. Beck gained status within their group, which in turn meant that she gained status as well, until it got to the point that people simply looked to him as their leader. He never complained; that had been his goal. Vega showed up two years later, and was a constant storm cloud of complaints and stupidity. Of course the rest of the gang thought Tori was practically perfect, and Jade was left to suffer by herself. Except for Sinjin. When he found out Jade didn't like Vega, he promptly decided he hated her guts as well. Creep.
That night, Jade, Cat and Shapiro listened to voices arguing in the air above their cell. The individual words were impossible to understand, but their tone was clear. They obviously weren't getting along. Sometimes, one of the voices would startle Jade with its familiarity, but when she tried to listen closer, the voice went back to its unidentifiableness. Was that a word? Either way, they fell asleep with the noise still overhead, a lullaby to the prisoners.
The next morning marked their sixth day in the cell. Or was it seven? Jade couldn't keep count. Sometime during the day a dozen or so armed soldiers opened the solid stone door at the front of the cell. They ordered the three once-again filthy teens out into the hallway. Maybe it was bath day? This time they were led down a different hall, it's walls covered in various tapestries that Jade assumed must have some importance. A door at the end of the hall led to the back of an armored vehicle. They were being transported. They rode in complete silence, their captors holding their guns loosely, but with an attentive glare on their prisoners. Again, Jade considered trying to take a few of them out, but, honestly, she was curious about where they were being taken.
An hour passed, maybe two. Cat had nearly fallen asleep, head resting on Jade's shoulder. The vehicle stopped suddenly, the doors were swung open, and Jade was suddenly lifted under her arms and deposited roughly on the ground outside. Unprepared, her face collided painfully with the pavement. Cat and Shapiro were given similar treatment. And then the truck drove away, tires squealing. Jade was aware of bullets flying after it, but none of them connected. Rubbing her bleeding cheek, she sat up too quickly and looked around. They were on a street, a street she recognized. A street in the outer city areas of Hollywood. Neon signs flashed in all directions, even though it was only evening, and the sun hadn't quite set yet. People stared at them, and Jade saw a none too friendly group of guys watching from the doorway of a brick building across the street.
She grabbed Shapiro and Cat, who were dazed after the sudden change of scenery, and dragged them to their feet. Glancing at the graffitied road signs, Jade realized they were only a twenty minute walk from Hollywood Arts. A beat-up pickup truck blasted it's horn at them, and they hurriedly jogged to the sidewalk. As they walked in a rather confused manner down the dirty street, Jade pinched herself. When that didn't work, she slapped herself. When that didn't work, she slapped Robbie. That didn't work either. Obviously she wasn't dreaming. But she still couldn't believe it. They get captured, which should have never happened in the first place, they're treated well, and then they get released? Something was wrong, but Jade was too relieved to care. The only thing on her mind was getting back to base. Well, that, and the fact that she was hungry. Too bad they didn't have any pizza money on them.
Seriously hungry for pizza right now. Or some good fries. Yum. Anyway. Sooo, what is up with all this, eh? Don't worry, I have like, seventeen percent of a plan thought out. Next chapter involves the whole gang, and probably a whole lotta alcohol. Don't say I didn't warn ya. Also, maybe some bade? Should be fun ;) new chapter out either this weekend or early next week, as I have RL writing assignments and I need to update my other fanfic. ;D Reviews are like the pepperonis on top of the pizza that I'm hungry for. Which means, I'd really love them. Thanks for reading! Peace out.