Things end with a boom...
Chapter Ten: A Startling Bit of Info
Watson's POV
The sea was rough that night, and I wondered how the people at the church service intended to set their candles on it. It was rolling and rocky, and generally making Holmes sick in the back of the boat. I was only slightly amused and delighted when he leaned over the side of the boat and heaved.
"Not a sailing man, Holmes?" I shouted back at him. I heard a weak chuckle.
"I guess not," he shouted up at me. I grinned but shook my head. I had washed my hands of him. If I started acting this way around the man who left my friend for dead, I would fall in love again. That wouldn't be a good thing. I instead focused on the boat we were chasing.
It had a mile advantage over us, but it had a really crappy speed. It was too big to move fast, and with this tiny little zip-boat, we were on it's tail pretty quickly. It was only about a quarter of a mile away at this point. I hit the gas and heard my boat come to life with a cute little vrooom! I grinned and kept going. We were so close.
We finally reached the point where we were driving alongside it. I started looking for ways to get on to the boat immediately. If Ace could do it, so I could I. I wondered whose boat we were next to while searching. It was a very nice boat, actually, if bigger and more suited for leg room than for speed. It was painted a dark red which made it especially pretty.
I didn't get much time to admire it, though, as it suddenly changed course- and nearly slammed into my little boat. I screamed, Holmes screamed, and the boat screamed as I spun the steering wheel swiftly. We just barely avoided getting hit, but we did get drenched from the spray of water. Spluttering, I looked over to the deck of the ship.
To my complete surprise, Marie stood there, a gun in her hand. Her dark hair was drenched with salt water and she had a maniacal little grin on her face as she aimed and fired. I ducked just in time, and the bullet went whizzing past my head. I shrieked in terror but stood up again, intent on steering the boat. Looking quickly over my shoulder, I saw that Holmes looked furious.
"Marie!" he screamed over the roar of the boats. Marie looked over at him and smiled.
"Jealous, Sherlock, that you don't get your own bullet? Here, let me ease that jealousy!"
The trigger was pulled back again, but Holmes had been expecting it, and he ducked. The bullet fell into the water, harmless. I looked over at Marie, who scowled at her gun and tossed it into the ocean. I was surprised, and she could tell.
"No more bullets!" she yelled to me. I nodded slowly. Well, this was a good thing. She couldn't shoot at us anymore. I knew she probably had another gun on her somewhere, but didn't much care. If she killed me, all that it meant was I would never see Kline again, but Holmes would save her. As long as Kline was all right, I would be fine.
Suddenly, Marie killed the engines on her boat. I killed mine after driving about ten feet past her. The change of atmosphere was slightly scary. The moon was hidden behind the clouds, and the lack of sound... it was absolutely terrifying. I felt a shiver go up my spine. Marie stared at me in the darkness.
"So, you found me, did you Jennifer?" Marie called to me in the ebony velvet of night. I shrugged.
"I wasn't looking for you, Marie. I was looking for Ace, who would lead me to Kline," I informed her. Marie sighed and shook her head.
"And you think I wouldn't kill Kline?"
"I didn't know you would be here," I admitted. Marie smiled triumphantly.
"You're a little behind on the times, then. Ace, come and bring her," Marie said. A trapdoor in the boat flipped open and I saw Ace drag a bound and gagged Kline from the bottom. My spirits soared as I studied Kline- only to have them dashed upon the rocks.
Kline looked horrible. Her eyes were bloodshot, her hair was cut very short and limp, and she wasn't even resisting Ace. That wasn't the Kline I knew. She looked defeated, scared even. In the darkness I imagined I saw tears in her eyes, but I figured it was a trick of the light. Except that there was no light.
"So Ace led you here, did she?" Marie asked, glancing at the assassin. Ace still wore her sunglasses, much to my amazement. It was pitch black out already, and she was still wearing those things? I nodded, though, turning my attention back on Marie.
"Yeah, she did."
"So Ace, your little plan worked out!" Marie chuckled, turning to look at Ace. Ace's smile was a ghastly beacon in the dark. I heard Holmes stir uneasily behind me, and gestured for him to keep still.
"You might say that," I heard Ace say softly, with that characteristic Bulgarian accent. Marie smiled and turned back to look at me.
"Ace has been so good at following commands thus far. I commanded her to kill all of you, did you know? She was planning on killing you tonight. She already killed Christine just to prove how good she was," Marie sighed in pleasure.
I froze in terror. Christine was dead? I heard Holmes gasp from behind me and stumble backwards. I imagined I was doing the same thing. I grasped for something to hold onto and ended up falling back into my seat. Marie laughed.
"Yes... days ago. Shot her in the head, but only after torturing her for a while. Poor little Kline was so distraught, did you know? She attacked Ace here, but didn't win. In fact, Jennifer, I do believe you're the only one who has gotten the better of our master gunmistress here. Did you know that she has two cracked ribs because of you? She was so upset that she decided to kill you at sea. But with gun or card, I wonder?" Marie mused, studying Ace, who was devoid of emotion. I choked back my anger and sorrow at Christine's death long enough to ask her a few more questions.
"And Miss Gardens? What did she ever do to you, Ace? Why'd you kill her?" I screamed. Ace turned her head towards me slowly.
"I did not kill her," she said simply. I snorted.
"Your calling card. Murder weapon was a razor sharp ace of spades," I reminded her. Ace sighed.
"I did not kill her," she repeated. Marie cleared her throat.
"I'm afraid that Ace is telling the truth, Jennifer dear. Ace did not kill Miss Gardens. I did. I grew tired with her. She was, after all, part of my elite forces. And she was no longer elite and was ready to tell the police. I merely used Ace as a cover up," Marie explained. I buried my head into my hands. This was getting too confusing. Ace didn't kill Gardens, but she did kill Christine... I choked on my tears and stared up at Marie.
"I hate you, Marie. You must have been horrible when you were Holmes's mother," I snarled, hitting her where I knew it would hurt. Marie recoiled, as did Ace and Kline. Apparently neither of them knew that Marie was Holmes's mother. Marie's hand flew to her face, which still had those horrible scars on them.
"I was a very good mother to Sherlock. I loved him," she said softly.
"Yeah, and then promptly turned to crime. Good thing you abandoned him. You're a really crappy role model, Marie. Holmes told me that he wishes you were dead," I informed her. In all actuality, Holmes had said no such thing, but maybe she would get so blinded by rage that Kline could escape...
"You vile little girl!" Marie shrieked. Holmes winced as she took a step forward. "That's it! Move, Ace."
Ace moved to the side as Marie studied Kline quietly. I could see Marie's eyes burning with passion and rage, and I wondered if I hadn't pushed too far. She grabbed Kline's face in one hand and stared at it intensely. Kline held her gaze. Finally, Marie looked back at me.
"She's your friend, isn't she?" she asked. I nodded slowly.
"All friends must say good bye at one point and time... say good bye to Miss Kline, Jennifer."
I screamed as Marie shoved Kline backwards into the water. She was still bound! She would drown. I watched as she fell and barely heard Marie chortle and turn to Ace.
"Use your gun, Ace. Kill her when she hits the water," Marie commanded. I looked back at the two, tears streaming down my face. Ace didn't even hesitate to pull her gun off her hip. I closed my eyes. I didn't want to watch.
"Are you insane? I don't even know how to use this thing!" Ace snapped. But it wasn't Ace's voice. It was more melodic, and it didn't have a Bulgarian accent. I opened my eyes in time to see Ace throw her large gun to the ground and dive into the water after Kline.
Marie gawked at Ace. I gawked at Ace. Holmes did not. Holmes took the opportunity to leap at Marie's boat, which we had continually been drifting near, and climb on board. Marie must have said something, because suddenly the engine was back on in her boat and they were driving into the ocean. I saw Holmes tackle Marie and Marie hit him, hard.
I didn't know what to do, though. Did I leave Kline and Ace to die in the water and follow, or leave Holmes to possibly die as I stayed? It wasn't a hard choice. Holmes might possibly die, but Kline would die if she didn't get on a boat.
I peered into the water, searching desperately for any sign of my friend and her surprising savior. I had no clue why Ace wanted to save Kline, but I was willing to accept her as an ally for now. I didn't see anyone, though. No pale faces, no hair, not even an article of clothing. I was on the verge of panic.
"Kline?" I called to the water. No answer. "Kline?" I tried again. There was still no answer. I began shaking uncontrollably. Were Kline and Ace already dead? Had I pretty much sealed Holmes's death? I turned away from the edge of the boat and sat in the middle of it, feeling warm tears leaking out of my eyes. They soon became full-fledged sobs.
Then something miraculous happened. I heard something break the surface of the water, followed by coughing and no small amount of choking. I turned and saw a pale, thin hand grip the edge of the boat and tilt it somewhat. Kline came tumbling into the boat, unconscious. I shrieked and ran over, ripping the gag out of her mouth. She didn't move. She was breathing, though, so I let loose the breath I had been holding. Then I looked over the edge of the boat.
A very wet, unhappy looking Ace was floating there, struggling to stay afloat. Except she no longer looked like Ace. Ace had black hair. The girl that I saw had auburn-hair, sort of sparrow brown. Also, her sunglasses were gone. And in the very dim light I could see dark blue peering at me. I gaped at the girl. It was Christine.
She offered me the smallest of smiles before she sank underneath the water again. I screamed and grabbed onto her. Christine gripped my hands and pulled her head above water. She grinned again.
"Dear Lord! Help a girl up, will you? Do you know how hard it is to swim in thigh high boots and a trench coat?" she said quickly. I noticed that I was losing my grip on her, so I tugged her onto the boat as quick as possible.
She landed heavily and began coughing and choking immediately. I stared at her. She looked so different. Her hair was much shorter, only about ear-length, or so. When she was dressed in The Matrix ensemble, she looked three times more intimidating. The black trench coat engulfed her petite frame and bent with her as she coughed. Finally, after she stopped, she rushed over to the controls on the boat and stared at them helplessly.
"Jenny! Get over here and steer this thing towards Sherlock and Marie! We have a criminal to catch!" she yelled at me. I stumbled over Kline's prostrate body and flipped the engine on. It came to life with a dark purr, and I gunned it. Christine fell backwards as we raced over the waves. Marie's boat had a lot of distance on us. I could barely see the outline in the distance.
I drove like a madwoman towards the boat. If Holmes was dead, it was all my fault. Just because I was pretty angry at the boy didn't mean I wanted him dead, after all. And if we caught Marie, that would be quite possibly the best thing ever. I heard Christine struggling to sit up straight in the back of the boat and grinned a bit. Christine was still alive. I was a bit confused about how Ace was Christine, but now was not the time to ask. I was content with no answers right now.
We reached Marie's boat within ten minutes, much to my pleasure. I also saw that Holmes was still fighting. This was also a good thing. However, he was outnumbered. Bad thing. I saw Christine stand and steered towards the boat. I knew what she was going to do.
She stumbled towards me in the swift moving boat and grabbed something from her leg, handing it to me. I looked and saw it was a deck of razor sharp cards. I looked back at her in confusion.
"Cut Kline's bonds off!" she shouted. I nodded briefly at her before she jumped off the boat and managed to cling to Marie's boat. She scrambled upwards and pulled out her silver gun. Her big gun was still gone, I realized. I saw her run over to where Holmes was fighting and kick a few of Marie's henchmen down. She wasn't a good fighter, but she could be downright scary if she wanted.
With Christine fighting the henchmen, that left Holmes with Marie, who was running over to the boat that 'Ace' had secured to her own boat earlier. A speed boat. If Marie got on that, we were screwed. Holmes followed her as swift as possible, but I knew he would never make it. Marie jumped into the boat and lowered it to the water. I could barely see her swift hands hitting buttons. And then the boat roared to life, and was released from the larger boat.
Marie sped around the big boat and off towards the middle of the ocean. I saw Holmes look after her in despair, and heard Christine yelp in surprise, and realized that I was NOT going to let Marie escape one more time. I drove around to where Holmes was standing.
"Holmes! Jump!" I told him. He didn't even ask, he just did. My boat rocked as he landed, and I glanced back to make sure he hadn't landed on Kline. He hadn't. I offered him a smile, and he smiled back. Leaning forward, he pulled Kline to sit next to him and began working on her bonds. I tossed him the deck, which he caught carefully and set to work.
Immediately after catching him, I moved around to the side that Christine was standing on. She was struggling to fight and barely holding her own. The only thing that stopped the henchmen from killing her right there and then was her silver gun. To my surprise, I also saw two henchmen helping Christine, a man and a woman. Probably another reason Christine wasn't dead yet. Christine glanced down and saw my boat speeding alongside the large one and I gestured for her to jump. She paused and said something to the two henchmen helping her, and then jumped. The boat rocked on her impact also, but I ignored it. We were going to catch Marie.
With Holmes taking care of Kline in the back, Christine moved to the front to join me. I glanced over at her and realized how very scary she looked, with her pale face grim and her black trench coat flying out from behind her. She looked like Death's Angel. The fact that she had a silver gun in her hand had nothing to do with it. She stood next to me, looking as determined as I felt.
"How much of a head start does she have on us?" she shouted. I barely heard her.
"A good three minutes!"
"How fast?"
"We're going seventy... I think she's going eighty."
"Can you speed up?"
"I'll destroy the engine," I warned her. Christine thought about it, then nodded. I sped up while she disappeared to the back of the boat, presumably to check on Kline. I kept my eyes on where Marie was headed.
Christine appeared again moments later, a small smile on her lips. I looked at her questioningly.
"Kline's awake. I think I scared the crap out of her!" Christine shouted her answer. I rolled my eyes. Christine was such a drama queen. I didn't think it was a good thing for Christine to be the first thing she saw when she woke up, but I didn't say anything. I was busy.
"What'd you go back there for?" I asked. Ok, maybe I did say something.
"I put a life jacket on Kline. She's too weak to swim if she falls in."
I thought that was a good idea, but this time I really didn't say anything. We were going ninety miles an hour at this point, and I could feel the engine practically dissolving on me. Still, we were getting closer to Marie. I could see her clearly at this point. I could clearly see as she swiveled her boat around and headed for the mainland. I screamed in frustration and heard rather than saw Christine slam her hand on the dashboard in frustration. I turned the boat as well, which just about murdered the engine, and followed.
It was a tense silence for the next five minutes as we followed Marie. We passed the large boat and I saw the two henchmen that had been helping Christine wave at her as they went by. Apparently, they had won. We were getting pretty close to the mainland now, so I really stepped on it.
Next to me, I heard a click. I looked over and saw, to my astonishment, Christine loading her silver gun. I gaped at her, and she must have felt it, because she looked at me.
"Just get me close enough to the boat to shoot, ok?" she shouted. I nearly choked. Christine was going to kill her! I agreed anyway. I didn't dare refuse Christine. Marie was only ten feet away or so at this point, so I sped up again. We were soon side by side with her. Marie looked up and shrieked in horror. Christine took aim- but not towards Marie. Towards the gas tank on Marie's boat. I also noticed the candles that were currently lit and floating in the water. If the gas touched those candles... I grabbed her arm.
"If you hit the gas tank, both of these boats are going to get blown to kingdom come!" I screamed. Christine fixed me with an icy glare, a glare that the old Christine could never have pulled off. Then she smiled quietly.
"After I shoot, jump. Holmes already knows. He's ready with Kline. Trust me," she said gently in my ear. I barely heard her and couldn't see her through my tears.
"I trust you!" I screamed. Christine grinned.
"You're a hero, you know that Jenny? You've done everything the rest of us couldn't do. I'll see you again soon."
I wondered what she meant, but didn't have a chance to think about it as Christine focused on her target. I winced and turned away, ready to jump.
But I couldn't do it. I turned to look at Christine as she aimed. Marie looked at Christine as she aimed and her mouth dropped open in horror. Marie left the controls and got ready to jump. Christine pulled the trigger. Marie tensed. I tore my eyes away from Marie and Christine, and instead jumped over the side of my boat. I could just see Holmes and Kline do the same thing. I was underwater when I heard the explosion, muffled by the water around me. I looked up and saw a dark shape sinking slowly. Part of the boat.
The water churned violently and I struggled to get to the surface of the water. I clawed desperately around me and kicked. I was going to drown! I couldn't see any light! I was going to die! I nearly screamed before remembering that if I did that, I would surely die. I was running out of air and began to go numb.
Finally my head broke the surface, slamming into a floating candle. I coughed and spit out some water and began to struggle to stay afloat. A pair of hands grabbed me and thrust a life jacket into my hand. I pulled it on instantly and turned to look at Holmes and Kline. Both looked like waterlogged rats, and I couldn't help but grin at them. I grabbed onto Kline and began sobbing into her hair.
"I thought I would never see you again!" I cried. Kline patted me awkwardly.
"I know. I felt the same way," she sobbed. We clung together and sobbed for a bit, Holmes floating nearby. When we were done crying we looked over at him, a bit embarrassed.
"Ok. Now that we're done crying, what do we do?" Kline asked softly, her voice scratchy. I didn't really know. Apparently neither did Holmes, who looked at us fearfully. I think it was the only time I've ever seen Holmes utterly terrified. Maybe because he might have just witnessed his mom's death and maybe because he didn't want to drown to death.
Our questions were answered quickly, though, by the sound of a boat. Even quicker when the boat ran into me. I yelped in pain and the boat stopped.
"Jenny?" I heard an accented voice ask. I sighed in relief.
"Zeke, thank God you found us!"
"Us?"
"Yeah, my friends Kline and Holmes are here too," I told him, knowing he would catch the significance.
"You found her?" he said happily. I nodded, even though he couldn't see us.
"Yeah... could we get into you boat, please? Ours seems to have exploded."
Zeke grabbed me and hulled me into his little row boat. We must have been closer to land than I thought if he was using a row boat. "We saw it explode. We were lighting our candles right when it did," Zeke said. I squinted at him and realized he must have meant the candles for the people who died at sea. He lifted Kline into the boat, and then Holmes. We sat quietly for a few minutes, breathing heavily.
"What happened?" Zeke asked. Kline looked away and Holmes shook his head slowly. Zeke looked at me expectantly.
"Um... can we wait until we get to your house?"
Zeke nodded and grabbed the oars. Kline, though, shot up suddenly, looking furious.
"What about Christine?"
I nearly swore. I had completely forgot about her. I looked sharply over at Holmes, who was propping Kline up against his shoulder. He glanced down at our friend, who after her revelation had sunk back down again. She looked atrocious. Hideous. If we didn't get her wrapped up and in a nice bed soon, she would probably get sick. And then there was the matter of her mental issues.
"Holmes, did you...?" I trailed off. I prayed he had seen if Christine had made it or not. I couldn't bear to lose another friend. Not now. Not when everything was together again. Not when we had found Kline. Not when Holmes and I were talking again. I didn't want to have to tell Christine's mother, who was one of the nicest people in the world. A little absent-minded, but so nice.
Holmes looked into the water, a bit uncertain.
"I didn't see it exactly. I was... preoccupied. But Watson, she made it. She has a fighter's spirit. She knew what she was doing," he said gently. He reached over and grabbed my hand, trying to soothe my spirits.
I didn't want to acknowledge the obvious. She knew what she was doing, yes. But what if part of her plan involved a sacrifice?
"Let's go home. I'm sure she's fine. She's a really strong swimmer, and we're not too far from land," Holmes whispered. I looked over and could see the mainland. Holmes was right, it was very close. And Christine knew where Zeke lived, most likely. St. Ives was a small town.
"Ok. Yeah, she's fine. I think we would know if she was really gone."
Zeke turned the boat around, and we headed towards shore.
Well... what is there to say? I know it's a little late, but consider it a New Years present. Christine is NOT dead, I just couldn't bring her back into this chapter. She needs a break. Running around as Ace takes a lot out of a person. Just as a note, Ace is one of my original characters, one that's been running around in my head for years. She's actually my Evil Muse. I wanted to stick her in a story, but I don't have the time to write her her own series, so I stuck her here... kinda. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll try my hardest to update sometime next week. I have midterms, though, in two weeks, so it all depends...