Ghostly World
Disclaimer: Nope, don't own Victorious now and never will
A/N:
Chapter 7 (An Uncontrolled Storm)
"Jade! Come on, can't we talk about this?" Tori called out for Jade as she chased her down the streets. She had told the girl everything that her father told her, which clearly hit her with shock. It was not exactly the reaction she'd expected.
"No! I don't believe you!" She didn't know what to believe. If Tori was correct, then that meant her mother truly did control the storm that took her life. She killed herself, and for what? To save her daughter?
"Jade, come on! We don't even know where we are yet!" Tori rounded the corner and ran down an alleyway that she was certain Jade ran into. Fear plagued her heart, confusion pierced her soul, but it was not her own. She pressed her lips together and halted to a stop, shifting her eyes from side to side. She'd lost Jade, where had the girl gone to. Panicking, she ran her hand through her hair and growled in frustration. If she was supposed to be Jade's guard, she was doing a horrible job at it! "Jade! Where are you! I'm trying to figure all this out myself, let's do this together!"
"No!" The voice came from above. Tori quickly glanced up to see Jade on the roof of a building. She raised her eyebrow, how had Jade gotten up there so fast? "Leave me alone, Vega! I want to find Beck." She frowned and glanced to the window on the building. It bore no reflection. So it was true, Sinjin and Danny removed them from their bodies. Ghosts could be anywhere, Beck, Andre, Cat, Trina, Robbie, who knew where they all were. She bit her lip and slowly closed her hands.
"Jade, we can find them together."
"Why am I stuck with you?" Tori narrowed her eyes, suddenly feeling a dark presence. What ghosts could be here? Another question that crossed her mind was whether there were evil ghosts around. Chances were very likely of that. If so, it was definitely a good idea to know where they were so they could know what they might run into. Thinking fast, forgetting about Jade for a split moment, she recalled some signs as she had run after Jade. One apparently said 'Whitechapel'. Where had she heard that before?
"Jade, don't go anywhere yet." Tori expected a response, but there was none. She looked up to where Jade had been and stress lines quickly ran along her face. Gone again, Jade had run off. "Jade? Come on!"
Then she froze, it hit her, what she had learned in history class. Whitechapel London, home of the most infamous, notorious, serial killer that ever lived. The serial killer that escaped every detective and mystery writer in history. Jack the Ripper.
That's when she noticed for the first time, the screams of anguish and agony. Murder victims, many of them roaming the streets and crying. A woman appeared before Tori, long braided brown hair and eyes streaked with tears. Tori's mouth fell open as she eyed the woman's torn yellow, 1800's style dress. On her chest was a bright red JR. Tori took a step back, her body tensing up as the woman's fear and helplessness started to hit her. Suddenly she began feeling a wave of nausea. She clenched her eyes shut and moaned as she fell to her knees. All around her, several ghosts with the same initials on their bodies began to appear, and soon it became clear that Jack the Ripper was still very much at large in the town of Whitechapel.
"You should know women everywhere avoid this particular alleyway for good reason." Tori's eyes widened as the ground vibrated beneath her to the tune of each heavy footfall made by a man in brown boots. Glancing nervously to her left, she saw a man, cloaked by an overcoat and a large top hat, slowly twirling a butcher knife in his hand. "How pleased to meet your acquaintance. Now, where did your friend go?"
"Y-You're…you can't be."
"Hm, can't I?" The Ripper chuckled sinisterly and lifted his hand to his thick, curly handlebar mustache and played with the tip. "I prefer a show, old chap. How about you run and I give chase?" Tori met his piercing, deadly eyes and her body tightened up. She wasn't going to back down, no matter what. She had no clue if her powers were awake or not, but it was worth a shot. She could be the most powerful angel one day, couldn't she?
"How about…you kiss my ass." The hardened criminal raised his eyebrow as Tori slowly stood up. He watched as her body trembled, the scent of her fear glorified his nose. He closed his eyes and hummed with pleasure.
"Please, I can smell your fear. And you may call me Jack. Everyone else in the world does, dead or alive." Jack smirked and an evil glint shone in his eyes as he reached his hands into his overcoat. The women surrounding Tori let out a dangerous shout and she watched with wide eyes as he slowly revealed his blades. "It's so sad, we have just met, and already I must kill you. You know, the streets of London in the afterlife, it's kill or be killed. A very dangerous place if I do say so myself."
"So…" She swallowed hard and kept her eyes upon the shining metal. "How many have you killed after death?" Jack swayed back and rolled his head to the left, pondering the number of women that he had mutilated. There had been many, and death gave him several options to explore.
"Not enough. I've always got room for one more!" He chucked his knife at Tori's head and she quickly jumped to the side, letting out a sharp scream. Jack dashed madly towards his knife and gripped the handle, pulling it from the wooden fence it cut into.
"You know? I'm not in the mood to die here!"
"And I don't care." Jack moved menacingly towards his victim, his knives ready. He was going to start by surgically removing her lungs, perhaps she would attempt to breathe until she died, pure torture. "I think I shall remove your lungs one lung at a time."
"Actually, that's not the best idea." She began to back herself up against the building, trying to figure out how to use her powers. Why could there be no help? Jack laughed evilly as he lifted up his butcher knife and took aim for Tori. She panted and turned her head to her side. "Just make it quick…"
"You're going to give up that easily?" A voice asked from out of the blue. It sounded like Trina. Tori's eyes flew open in confusion and shock as a white light appeared between her and Jack. Jack's eyebrows lifted up in surprise as he slowly lowered his weapon. Trina and Robbie soon materialized, glaring down Jack. Tori's jaw dropped and she held back the urge to hug her sister, who she was extremely happy to see right now.
"Trina! How did you-"
"Angel blood." Trina turned her gaze over her shoulder and met Tori's inquisitive gaze. "We're sisters, any angel can instantly transport to another relative with angel blood. Unfortunately we can't do that with Dad, he's not a ghost…"
"Oh…well as happy as I am to see you, and I really am happy-"
"Yeah, yeah, let me guess…" Trina turned her head to the serial killer and placed her hand upon her hip. She wagged her eyebrows and let a soft chuckle escape her lips. "Jack the Ripper, I presume?" Jack frowned and lifted his hat up as a greeting.
"In the flesh." His frown turned into a sadistic grin as he took a slight step back, he was actually sensing a strong power from these two girls and had not realized they had angel blood in them. He'd love to be able to kill a couple angels, but chances were likely, they'd kick his ass. "I'll be around." Then as suddenly as he had appeared, he was gone. Tori slowly sank to the ground, looking up at her sister as Trina turned to her.
"T-Trina, can you explain what's going on? I think I talked to dad in a vision…"
"Probably, and yeah I'll explain, but first…" She looked around, frowning with irritation. "Where is Jade? I know she has to be with you."
"She is, but I…lost her…"
"You what?" Trina's eyes bugged out and she moved dangerously close to Tori. Her body was burning and her heart was beating ten miles a minute. "You lost your human connect? In this town? With that maniac out there!"
"Yeah…she ran off because I told her about me being an angel and about being her guardian, then about us all having powers as Dad said. That's a lot to handle, isn't it?" She was talking fast due to her shot nerves and her own confusion, but Trina's understanding and knowing eyes seemed to calm her. "And you already know about all that stuff, don't you."
"Yeah, my powers started waking a couple weeks ago, mom explained everything to me back then. I'm a bit past the denial phase…Time to move on to acceptance, and fast. Now we have to find Jade before the maniac does."
"Right…" Trina grabbed Tori's hand and pulled her up with a quick grunt. Tori hugged her sister, nearly crushing her bones. "So, about this whole angel thing, and apparently what you are, can you explain?" Trina shifted her eyes into the air and her lips began to curl downwards, there was already a specific moisture in the air. This wasn't a good sign at all. She grabbed Tori's hand and began pulling her, Robbie followed immediately after the two.
"I'll explain on the way!"
Jade had backed herself up against a small riverbed, and in front of her stood the menace that was Jack the Ripper. He had a mischievous grin on his face and his two knives gripped firmly in his hands. Jade glanced from side to side, trying to figure an escape route, but there did not appear to be any. "You should have stayed with your angel." Her eyes shot over to him and narrowed as she clenched her hands tightly.
"Tori's not an angel or whatever, I don't want to accept that! None of this makes sense, you died over a hundred years ago!" Jack closed his eyes and nodded politely.
"Correct you are, my death was by drowning. Maybe you can die by drowning as well, have you ever tried it?" He took a dangerous lunge toward her and she stepped back, nearly falling into the river. She screamed out and Jack grabbed her wrist and glared venomously into her eyes.
"Let me go!"
"You need to calm down, you're too tense!" Jade screamed as she felt herself flying towards the pavement. She bounced on the road with a crackling sound and a noise of clapping thunder above the two. She grabbed her arm and started screaming as she rolled off her side. Jack looked up into the air curiously and rolled his head to the side, he was watching the dark clouds beginning to form. "It isn't supposed to rain today."
Jade opened her eyes slowly and stared up at the menace, she could run while he was distracted! She pulled herself to her hands and knees, then quickly began running. Jack snapped his head towards her and quickly moved his body after her. "I don't think so!" Jade froze as she felt his calloused hand grab around her ankles. The second he touched her, lighting flashed down to the ground in a repetitive motion. Jack yelped as he felt the heat of one bolt within mere inches of him. "Jesus! What the hell kind of storm is this?"
She flipped herself over onto her hands and watched as the serial killer started dodging the lightning bolts. Her chest rose and fell with each weathered breath. She didn't know if she was controlling the storm or not, but it did appear that her anxiety might be the cause of it. "Where is Beck? Do you know where Beck is?"
"Who's Beck?" He looked at her and cautiously made his way over to her, grinning from ear to ear as it slowly dawned on him that this Beck person may be close to her. When he looked into her eyes, he saw it, a look of love, fear, confusion and concern. "Oh, I see. Beck, you love this person. Well…I killed him."
"What?" Her eyes grew large and her heart instantly froze with her trembling body. It couldn't be, she couldn't believe that Beck could be dead. "Y-You're lying!" The man laughed with malice dripping from each sound he made. "He can't be dead, I refuse to believe that!" Thunder roared and the man's hat was instantly blown off.
"What the…" He shifted an eyebrow as the clouds in the sky began to show hundreds of bolts flashing amid them. His coat started to blow along with sand and pebbles that were starting to hit him. He looked at Jade, who had her eyes closed and fists clenched, constantly she was protesting Beck's alleged death. "Are you…" He lowered his voice to a whisper and started to move towards her, shifting his hand to her, but was soon buffeted and swept onto his back by the wind. "Son of a bitch!"
The wind began to whistle and push him away slowly, causing him to scream out in fear as he gripped the ground with his nails. His body started sliding onto grass and past a metal bench, he grabbed onto the leg of that bench and looked back as his legs started to lift off the ground. "What the hell is going on?" His heart jumped and started pumping adrenaline throughout his body, doing everything to survive an oncoming storm.
He looked into the sky and his eyes grew large at what he was witnessing. The clouds were starting to circle and form hundreds of twisters that were speeding towards the ground, circling lightning bolts around them. "No!" He moved his eyes over to the river and started to pale, the water was beginning to spiral in two different places, one area had several tiny whirlpools while the other area was gushing upwards like a geyser. "Woman! Control this, please! Dear god, I don't want to die again!"
"It's funny how you beg for God's mercy in such a dire time of need when you don't believe, Mr. Ripper." Jack let out a frightened gasp and turned his head to see Trina and Tori making their way to Jade. Trina was glaring at him with a small smirk. She would let Jade's storm destroy him, but they couldn't risk destroying all of London, or worse, because of this asshole. She shook her head and looked over to Tori. "Tori, Robbie's psychic powers aren't awake yet, he can't go into her mind, can you?"
"I don't know how just yet."
"Try! I'll take care of this guy…" Trina tensed her legs firmly, making sure she wasn't swept away by the storm. She then made her way over to Jack and grabbed his shirt, glaring into his eyes with a dangerous smirk. "Hello Jacky, how are you? Frightened? You should be."
Tori jumped and screamed as a lightning bolt shot at her, it seemed the closer she got to Jade, the harder it became. This girl was protected by her own mind, and an uncontrolled storm was highly dangerous. She knew that from having seen news reports during her life. Evidently psychics could communicate telepathically, but could Angels? She had to try.
She watched the lightning bolts striking randomly around Jade and swallowed hard. Her heart raced and her body was trembling. Sweat rolled down her hands, enough to feel like the rain that was falling hard was coming from her. If it hadn't been for Jade's storm, they might not have found her, but now if they did not calm her storm, they might all die. "Okay if there was ever a time to tap into these damn powers…now is the time…"
She took another step towards Jade when Robbie called out for her. Hastily and with frustration, she hurried her gaze towards him in time to see him pointing to a burning building. Her mouth fell and her eyes reflected the twenty story glass building that Jade's lightning had hit multiple times, it was now beginning to fall over. The tornadoes were also starting to move through the town without aim or direction, destroying anything in its path.
"Tori, how devastating can she be without controlling her own abilities?" Robbie looked at her as he asked the question, his voice shaking from fear and nervousness. Tori slowly shook her head and closed her eyes. Uncontrolled or controlled, Jade could likely destroy the entire world with her powers, it was an amazing responsibility. At least if she could control her power, then she wouldn't destroy the world without meaning to, and surely, she would never want to destroy the world.
She turned her head to Jade and slowly closed her hands. She realized she may not be able to communicate telepathically with her mind, but because she was an angel, she could definitely talk to Jade's soul. She looked to Trina, who was standing over a bludgeoned serial killer, but he was still fighting to get up. Trina lifted her eyes to her sister and shouted. "Any time now, Tori!"
"Right…" Tori took a deep breath, calming her own mind and filling it with one mission at the moment. She began walking towards Jade, the rain started to threaten her vision and the lightning began striking at her. She ignored the lightning bolts and let them fly by her. The path of the lightning was difficult to determine due to its uncontrolled state, however, Tori did know how to combat it. "Okay…just clear your mind, Tori." She slowly closed her eyes and took in a deep, long breath, relaxing her nerves and her muscles. Her heart rate started to slow and the sounds of thunder, lightning, roaring wind, all began to cease within her mind as peace started to flood her heart. Her veins and arteries began to glow with a pure light that came from her heart. Trina, Robbie, and Jack all paused and looked to Tori.
"Oh my god…" Robbie's voice was now hushed as his legs started to give out. "She really is an angel…" Trina rolled her eyes and looked at her sister with a small smile. A radiant, pure light was piercing through Tori and giving her a pure angelic glow. Lightning seemed to bounce off of her as she continued to the source of the storm.
Finally, she braved the dangerous storm and had reached Jade. Carefully, she knelt beside her and wrapped her arms around her in a hug. Jade's eyes flew open and all weather ceased movement, as if frozen within time and space. Tornadoes remained within the middle of buildings, dropping whatever debris they had, lightning bolts hovered inches from the ground, whirlpools lost their suction. "Please Jade, let me talk to you." Jade slowly closed her eyes with Tori and opened her soul up to Tori.
Tori could see Jade's inner soul, covered and battered with wounds that she'd experienced in a lifetime. A tear rolled down her cheek as it became just her and Jade, seemingly in Jade's mind. There Jade's soul stood, broken and confused, a scared child just four years younger than she was today. Tori felt genuine concern for her and slowly made her way to her, but Jade recoiled and held her arms defensively. "What do you want, Tori."
"I want to talk to you. Why are you so afraid? Are you lost? Is it the town? Is it the powers, or maybe the ghosts?"
"I don't know!" Jade shouted and tears ran down her reddened cheeks. "Mommy's dead and that man claims Beck is dead too!"
"Beck?" Tori closed her eyes, her chest rose as she breathed in slowly. She had a connection to each of her friends, so she should be able to see how they were feeling at the time. If they died, she would know, that's what Trina said. Angels could feel that stuff, but if someone died, it was like someone ripping your skin off with a whip, like someone being torn from your soul. She tapped into her line with Beck, what was he feeling right now? Confusion, lost, yet he had a fighting spirit. He was fighting right now, fighting to figure out where he was. She slowly opened her eyes and smiled. "Beck is alive and well. I can sense him, I can sense everybody."
"He's alive?" Jade was skeptical, but she knew Tori would not lie to her, especially if it was true about her being an angel. She slowly took a step towards Tori, her lips trembled as her eyes lifted into her friend's gaze. "I'm…I'm so cold, Tori. I'm cold, I'm lost, I don't know what's going on. My mom controlled storms, I have her power I think…"
"You do, but you have to learn to control it. You don't know the destruction you're causing out there right now." Jade's eyes bugged out as Tori stepped in front of her and carefully took her hands. An impulse said to tear away from her, but she didn't. She wanted to keep looking into Tori's calm eyes. "I wish I knew this was you, this was who you were…I would never have fought you. I know why you've been so mad at me, and I promise I never wanted to try to steal Beck away from you and I never will."
"He's my life…" Jade felt her heart lift at the mention of her love's name. The words Tori said felt as though a weight was lifting away. It hurt her greatly when Tori had decided to flirt with Beck that day, and then the stage kiss.
"You didn't deserve some girl to come in and kiss your boyfriend in spite, and I'm sorry. Also, I know losing your mother is hard, but that's what we're all here for, we're your friends. I'm not asking you to open up, but I'm asking you to try and be calm. You have a big responsibility on your hands…and if we all work together, we can return to our actual bodies…"
"I'm scared."
"I know." Tori moved her hand up and brushed Jade's hair back, tucking it behind her ear. She was scared too, terrified of having to face Sinjin, but ultimately, it would be necessary. "We have to be strong together, work together, okay? We have to find the others. We can stop this, we can head this off. First, I need you to clear your mind up, calm down and relax."
"That guy…I can't control my powers, I can't stop that guy."
"Well one…" Tori smiled kindly, which let Jade relax her body a bit more. Her nerves were starting to be less chaotic and her mind was beginning to clear up just a bit. "Trina's out there taking care of Jack. Two, you can stop him, but again, you need to learn to control your power. You could kill anyone with or without control, but control is better. Do you understand?" Jade slowly nodded her head and closed her eyes, they were still wet with her tears.
Outside, Trina kicked Jack into the river and looked over at Robbie, who was still watching the girls curiously. They had been surrounded by a bubble of light, an angelic light nonetheless. Absolutely nothing could touch them. Trina was proud, her sister was already beginning to learn, but when she grew in her power, she could do so much more.
The bubble of light started to evaporate downwards as the two girls opened their eyes. Jade was confused about what had just happened and the storm had died down. She looked at Tori and felt a surge of irritation as she pushed Tori away. "Get off me!"
"Ah! Okay!" Tori jumped up as Jade quickly rose, dusting herself off. She looked up to see Tori smiling at her and narrowed her eyes.
"What are you looking at?"
"Nothing. I just, I think I saw you for the first time."
"Oh shut up. Let's just get out of here and find Beck…" The three raised their eyebrows as Jade turned away and started walking off. She was currently trying to take in all the damage her storm had created. Buildings were toppled over, the streets were drenched in water and blood, fires had spread everywhere, people were lying in the streets drenched in tears and pain. "I can't believe I did all that…" A tear fell from her eye and she quickly brushed it off. She turned her attention back to the three and let out an angry shout. "Well what are you waiting on? Come on! Let's go!"
Hopefully you've enjoyed this chapter. Next we're going to get to see two duke it out for the title of Angel of Death. Remember, there can be only one. I'm just surprised no one said anything about it being Sinjin.
