OHMYGOSHIACTUALLYREACHEDOVER 100REVIEWS! :DDDD *Is too busy freaking out about her major accomplishment to give a proper author's note, but ya'll know the drill, so just read the warning below and get on with the story*
WARNING: THIS CHAPTER INCLUDES VIOLENCE AND A BIT OF BLOOD, AS WELL AS A TORTURE SCENE! IF STUFF OF THIS NATURE DISTURBS YOU, THEN SKIP THE BOLDED PRINT IN THE CHAPTER! DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU, BECAUSE I JUST DID!
DISCLAIMER: Yeah…I don't own Jessie. *Turns around to hide my grief*
Ravi stumbled as his father roughly gripped his arm and forced him back towards their prison. If he focused less on the wooziness he was feeling from nearly being choked and more on his surroundings, he could make out the sound of Luke being dragged behind them. A jolt of fear went through the Indian boy's heart – what was his father going to do to them now? Surely whatever the man's sinister mind was plotting could mean no good for him or his adoptive brother!
A small, salty tear ran down the 10-year-old's cheek, but he didn't dare wipe it away for fear that his father would only worsen their punishment (he'd done it before with him and his biological brother back in India; why wouldn't he do it here as well?). Why would his older sibling suffer the consequences for an escape that was planned by Ravi and Ravi alone? It just wasn't fair!
His train of thought was rudely interrupted when his father kicked open the door of the house and forced both young boys into what Ravi assumed was the kitchen. The Indian boy grunted as he was unceremoniously shoved to the green tile floor, but winced in sorrow when Luke was tossed next to him. The freckled tween produced a strangled shriek when his busted foot painfully hit the hard floor and his back the wall. Ravi, alarmed, was at his brother's side in barely a second, attempting to soothe the abused appendage. However, the child froze when he saw his horrid father reaching for a cruel-looking object on the kitchen counter…
Ravi gasped in horror when he realized it was one of those short whips you tap horses with, only this one was stiffer and had something sharp at the end. The Indian man smirked at his biological son's expression and brandished the weapon mockingly at the children's cowering forms.
"I see you are afraid. Indeed you should be, but not for your own physical well-being." The man's brown eyes darkened menacingly. "I wish to see how much I can break you by breaking your brother."
"NO!" Ravi screeched and launched himself at his father, who went momentarily rigid in shock at his son's uncharacteristic sudden show of ferocity. The 10-year-old tackled the villainous man to the hard ground and attempted to wrestle the whip from his hands with surprising strength. After a few seconds, however, their captor recovered from his temporary stupor and violently shoved Ravi against the wall with an ominous growl. A barely stifled yelp escaped the Indian boy when his face was met by cold hard wall, but before he could react any further, a splitting pain tore across his back and ripped his shirt. Ravi hardly got the chance to scream as more flogs pursued the first, each one leaving a searing crimson line along his now half-exposed back.
The pain was nauseating. Even though he and his biological brother had frequently been subjected to beatings, they were never, never to this degree. The sharp object at the end of the stumpy whip cruelly sliced his poor back with every stroke, and the echoing sounds of his father's evil cackling, Luke's horrified and distressed cries, and what were likely his own agonized shrieks mixed together and began to fade in and out as darkness began to close in. The hits continued to fall, but Ravi's back was becoming numb (and sticky with something that soaked the tattered remains of the back of his shirt) with the abuse. With a small sense of dread (and an alarming amount of indifference) Ravi realized that if any more strikes fell, the hollow, black nothingness that was currently winding itself into his diminishing consciousness would consume him and force him into a deep, eternal sleep – one that he would never wake up from. Wounded and exhausted, the young boy slumped against the wall, allowing it to support his weight as his consciousness began to wane.
In his half-dead state, Ravi hardly noticed when Luke emitted his own version of a war cry and lunged at Ravi's father's leg as best he could with a broken foot. The man, too immersed in beating his youngest biological son to death to notice, released an enraged yell when his leg was knocked out from under him and the tall man came crashing to the ground. His hand abandoned the whip-like torture device as he brawled with the freckled tween on the ground.
"LEAVE MY LITTLE BROTHER ALONE!" Luke's exclamation was the last thing Ravi heard before his senses failed and he spun into blessed darkness…
Jessie and Officer Jenny rode in grim silence to the crime scene. While the blonde-haired woman drove, Jessie worriedly stared out the passenger seat of the police car and watched various trees and vehicles speed by. The houses began to spread further and further apart as they left New York City and began to approach a more remote part of the state.
As they drew closer to their destination, the nanny's fingers anxiously tightened around her coin purse before unfastening it and gingerly removing a small photo. The redhead sadly peered at the picture, which contained her with the entire Ross family in front of their huge Christmas tree from the previous holiday season. Bertram and Jessie were standing off to the sides while Morgan and Christina stood grinning in the center just behind their four children. Emma was standing in front of Christina, Zuri was next to her flashing a peace sign at the camera, and to their left was Luke giving Ravi bunny ears while Morgan had one arm draped around each of his sons' shoulders and shot the camera a goofy grin. Mr. Kipling sat right smack in between the two sets of siblings, flicking his forked tongue out at something just out of camera range. They all looked so happy together.
Jessie sighed dejectedly and slipped the photo back into her purse. If only Luke and Ravi were both safely at home, and that horrid man behind bars…Before now, Jessie wouldn't have been able to even imagine a human being so cruel they'd kidnap and possibly torture two innocent young children. Even more unbearable was the thought that it might already be too late to save the two brothers…
Officer Jenny's voice snapped the redhead back to reality. "Is everything all right, Ms. Prescott?"
"Yeah, everything's fine. I'm just worried," Replied the nanny with a weak smile. Turning her head to look at the policewoman, she added, "And you can just call me Jessie."
"Okay then, Jessie, you should be informed that we're approaching the culprit's hideout." Jenny gestured to an average-sized brown house with a tall barbed-wire fence surrounding it that was steadily getting closer. "Please remember to stay with the paramedics that will be arriving shortly. We don't know what this man may be planning, and we don't want you in the line of fire in case things get ugly."
Jessie solemnly nodded and directed her attention on the nearing building. If it weren't for the barbed fence, the house would appear completely innocent and commonplace. Then the nanny scowled angrily; this was the place where two of her kids were being held hostage. And once the police arrested that man…Jessie would give anything just to personally wrap her hands around his neck and choke him to death until he could no longer threaten anyone. Right after Luke and Ravi were safe, of course.
The police car quietly turned onto a short dirt road leading to the house and came to a stop several feet in front of a chained gate. The moment the ignition was switched off, Officer Jenny raised her eyebrows at something. Bewildered, Jessie followed the blonde woman's gaze and started when she noticed that a section of the thin metal fence was split open near the bottom. The fracture was directly beside the shut gate, and appeared to have been kicked open from the opposite side of where the police car currently sat. But what really made Jessie gasp was the sight of small, crimson splotches on the tips of the broken strands of metal wire. It looked as if there had been a struggle right in that spot not too long ago; one in which two certain boys may have attempted to escape and failed.
The moment the two women turned their gazes on each other, a silent understanding seemed to pass between them and Officer Jenny placed a hand on the nanny's left shoulder reassuringly. "Don't worry, Jessie. We'll get Ravi and Luke out of there safely and arrest that man as well as any possible accomplices. Everything will be fine, I promise." Removing her hand from Jessie's shoulder, Jenny reverted back to a professional tone of voice and added, "The rest of the police force and the ambulance will arrive within the minute. We had better be ready for the action to start once they're here."
Nodding in agreement, Jessie anxiously opened her car side door and stepped out. Jenny followed suit and the second Jessie's door clicked shut, three other police cars and an ambulance appeared. While the white medical vehicle turned around so its back was pointing towards the house, the three cars halted for a split second to allow one police officer (two for the last car) to hurry out of each. Once the doors had been shut, the three automobiles separated and drove off to the three other sides of the property, undoubtedly intending to surround it. Officer Jenny gently reminded Jessie to stay back, and reluctantly the nanny obeyed. Walking over to stand next to a waiting paramedic, the redhead anxiously watched as the action Jenny had mentioned began.
The four policemen who just arrived broke the chains locking the gate with a special tool and hastily threw the two doors open as they rushed inside the property and split into separate groups, two officers at both the front and the back house entrance. All the officers drew their guns, including Jenny and the other three police car drivers once they flipped on their sirens' lights.
As blue and white flashes flickered across the barbed wire fence, one deep-voiced officer banged on the house's front door and shouted, "It's the police! By order of the Supreme Court, we command you to drop all weapons and exit the building with your hands up! I repeat, drop all weapons and exit the building with your hands up! We have you surrounded; resistance is pointless! I repeat, drop all weapons and exit the building with your hands up and we will not shoot!"
No response.
Slamming his fist against the brown door several more times, the officer tried once more. "We know you're in there! I repeat, resistance is futile! Drop all weapons and peacefully exit the building NOW and we will not shoot!"
This time, a sort of banging noise as if someone was just slammed against the wall came from inside, and without warning the door burst open and a tall menacing figure sped out. The man punched the police officer in front of him out of the way and dodged another's attack, but within seconds the other two had the Indian man tackled to the ground. As the duo held the struggling and cursing criminal down, an older and more experienced grey-haired officer rushed over and handcuffed both the man's arms behind his back. The officer, apparently deceivingly strong for his age, yanked the kidnapper up to his feet and shoved him over towards the open back door of Jenny's waiting car. Just before he was roughly cast into the back seat, the evil man had the audacity to spit on the ground millimeters from where Jenny was standing. Glowering, the blonde-haired woman crossly slammed the door shut and locked it.
As they drove away to the police station, Jessie numbly stared after the car as it disappeared in the distance. She couldn't believe how swiftly Ravi's father had been taken down and arrested – it had almost been too easy. But now that he was out of the way, where were Luke and Ravi?
While the nanny was pondering, she realized with a start that the two paramedics in the back of the ambulance had somehow slipped out and entered the now secure house without her noticing. The moment the redhead saw Luke, assisted by a paramedic, sluggishly limping out, she grinned in relief and ran up to embrace the tween. The paramedic helping the kid stepped back as Jessie threw her arms around Luke.
"Luke! You have no idea how happy I am to see you!" she squealed.
"J-Jessie…can't…breathe…"
The nanny loosened her grip and gently moved back from Luke so she could inspect him, anxiously asking, "Are you feeling okay, sweetie? Is anything broken?"
"Just my foot," Luke honestly replied. He turned back towards the house, worriedly adding, "But Ravi's hurt real badly. He didn't respond when I tried to wake him up!"
Right at that moment, two paramedics came rushing out of the house with Ravi on a stretcher. The Indian boy was unconscious, with an air mask helping him breathe and blood trickling out of several nasty-appearing gashes on his back. Jessie gasped at the sight and gently pulled Luke out of the paramedics' way as they hurried to the ambulance.
"Luke, what…what happened?" The redhead inquired.
"Ravi's dad got really angry when we tried to get away. He was about to beat me up, but Ravi got in the way…" Luke fearfully glanced up at his nanny. "There was so much blood…what if he dies?"
"Don't say that! Ravi's stronger than that, and you know it." Jessie's tone changed from chiding to gentle as she added, "I'm worried, too, but Ravi will be fine. Just wait 'n see."
The redhead reassuringly patted Luke's back as she assisted him towards the last waiting police car, proclaiming, "While we're waiting, you need to have that leg checked. It looks pretty bad."
Well…this chapter could have been written better. :/ I'm sorry, guys, but I began to rush a little because I was very anxious to finish this chapter before my writer's block returned…and I also apologize that it's yet ANOTHER late update. I would've updated sooner, but it's been pretty hectic lately at my place (honor band, several reports for school, homework, a solo competition, y'know, typical middle school biz). I hope the extra-long chapter makes up for it. ;P That, and I just realized Luke could've left with the ambulance…yikes, I'm scatterbrained today…oh, well, just ignore that detail. XD Maybe I'll tweak this chapter a little bit when I have the time. And please excuse the lameness of the 'fight' scene (if I could even CALL it that)...I was having trouble writing that part of the chapter, and this was my first time incorporating a police arrest scene in my stories…Anyway (I just realized that I say that a lot XD), the next update will be the last chapter. Please R&R! Thank you for bearing with me all this time! You guys are the best! :D