Hey everyone! As usual, thank you for reading and reviewing and I hope you like this chapter! This is the last one, then the epilouge. I am thrilled, yet extremely nervous. But I'm glad to be summing this story up and moving on to only bigger and better things. This chap. is pretty action, drama and violence packed (well, nothing too gruesome) so if that bothers anyone, I completely understand. But I don't think it's too bad. I'd like to thank people for the support I have gotten with this story. I know it's not incredible amounts of reviews compared to some people, but I am content anyway. It's my first story on here, so having anyone review other than my best friend, who I continuely bribe to review, is a huge accomplishment to me. So thanks so much!
And I give you, the last "official" chapter of my very first story on this amazing website, and certainly not my last, Hostage.
Derek ran over to where Troy and Gabriella were sitting, full of rage. He had one thought and one thought alone on his mind: I am going to kill Troy.
And Troy knew.
It was just the way Derek's venomous eyes locked on Troy's with such hate and loathing without the intention of killing or seriously hurting that person.
He immediately pushed Gabriella behind him -out of harms way.
Derek grabbed him by his shirt and pushed him so he lay on his back. He then began to punch and punch and punch Troy with all his might. He was taking out all the anger he's ever had in this one rampage. The anger from when Ronald had killed his mother, to when he found out that Jack was the reason his mother was dead, to finding the pictures of him and Judy on this computer and learning that his plan had backfired on him.
He hit Troy and saw the blood rush out of his nose and lips. He saw the pain erupt on Troy's face. But he couldn't concentrate on anything but his own anger. He could vaguely hear Troy yelling in pain. He could half hear Gabriella's screams and pleads for him to stop. He could almost hear Alex telling him to quit.
But he didn't.
He kept on hitting him and hitting him. Wanting Jack to feel the same loss he did. But most of all, he just wanted someone to be punished for the wrong-doings in the world. Finally, his hands could not hit anymore; for he had to take a breath. He looked down and saw Troy a bloody mess.
He saw that his nose was bleeding profusely and his lips as well. He was bruised and battered very badly all over and was coughing up blood. Derek couldn't believe what he had done to a boy no younger than himself. But more than that, he couldn't believe he wanted to do more.
He panted and waited for the air to come back to his lungs and then he planned on grabbing Troys shirt again and knocking the life out of him.
But someone put their hand on his shoulder.
"Derek. Stop. Now." Alex told him firmly. His grip on his shoulder a warning.
Derek just looked at him with such hate that he could not control. "Don't you tell me what to do Alex." he spat at him. "I could kill you if I wanted to so just shut up and sit down." He then turned back to Troy, where he planned to continue his beating.
"No! Please stop!" a sobbing Gabriella begged.
"No, miss Montez, a lesson for you is that people don't get what they want." And with that he began to hit Troy shamelessly again.
"No!" she screamed and shook again.
"DEREK STOP!" Alex yelled.
He didn't and just hit Troy more forcefully. And with that hit Troy lost consciousness.
"Troy!" Gabriella screamed.
"DEREK!" Alex felt such anger at that moment. Here, this was a kid no older than them and Derek was going to end his life for no apparent reason. He felt intensely sorry for Gabriella, too. He knew what it was like to lose someone you loved, and he didn't want anyone ever-ever-to feel that type of pain. Such a sweet girl like Gabriella didn't deserve to feel that. She didn't need to watch him die, either. Without thinking it over-or maybe, he had thought it over and didn't know it yet, maybe he had always known that it would come to this-he grabbed his gun from inside the coat he was wearing and aimed it.
He aimed it at Derek.
And without -or maybe, with- thinking, he shot Derek in the head.
Derek's body wobbled for a moment, and then he collapsed, dead, on the floor. Alex stood in shock at the sin he had just committed. The two people in the room that were still conscious, and well, alive, didn't move a single muscle. Didn't breathe, didn't blink.
Finally, Gabriella broke the silence by letting out a sob she had been holding in. Alex turned to look at her, the gun still frozen in his num hands and pointed at Derek's lifeless body. "Oh... my... God..." he murmured to himself. I killed him... I killed him... I killed Derek. My partner in crime, my associate, my FRIEND. I killed him. Murdered him. He's dead. Dear God.
But he couldn't think of such things right then. It was too much for him to handle; too much to process, right there, in the dimly lit, cold and uncomforting basement of the Bolton mansion.
"A-are you okay Gabriella?" he asked the still shaking, pale as a ghost, girl.
"Yes," she shakily replied. She went over to where Troy lay unconscious and unknowing of all this that had just happened. Gabriella thought the gunshot would wake him up since it was right next to his head that the gun went off, but it didn't, and that scared her.
"Troy?" she asked, leaning down to oversee his face. He was pretty banged up. He had bruises on the sides of his face and a cut on his lip as well as a bloody nose. But he was still breathing. He was still breathing and that's what mattered.
"Troy? Baby? Wake up. Troy... please, please wake up. Come on..." She silently cried and quietly begged her boyfriend while running her fingers through his matted hair.
Alex took a deep breath and went to sit on the other side of Troy, just inches away from where Derek's dead body sat. He gazed upon the once full body of his old friend. Friend... such an abused word. Was he ever really Derek's friend? Sure, Derek had called himself that countless times, but when worst came to worst, Derek had threatened to kill Alex. And in the end, Alex had killed Derek. No... no, they had never been friends, not even accomplices. But that didn't make the lump in Alex's throat go away or the giant knot in his nauseous stomach.
Alex examined Troy's body, the boy that Alex had just possibly saved from the likes of a potential murderer. Yet, he wasn't a murderer. Alex was now, wasn't he? How had that happened?
He's still breathing; he's alive. He'll be okay," he told Gabriella.
She nodded, gripping Troy's hand. She didn't know what to say now. She knew for a fact she had to get Troy to a hospital pronto. But would Alex let them leave? Was he going to keep them hostage here still?
"You can take him to a hospital now, if you'd like." He spoke, as if reading the dark haired girl's mind.
She looked up at him, surprised. "Re... really?" she asked, her voice still sobbing.
He nodded, "Now go before I change my mind." Such harsh words, from such a soft man. But Gabriella knew he didn't mean them. He didn't meant them one bit. He didn't want them to have to suffer the same pain he was. He owed that to himself, Gabriella figured, to do one last good thing. She had seen a side of him that day that no one ever had seen before... and she didn't think anyone would see again.
Unfortunately, Alex would never open up to anyone again, why? Because it was the classic case. He opened himself so freely before. To the love of his life. And she left him. Unwillingly, of course, but nevertheless, she left him. He would never forgive her or himself for letting that happen. Now, maybe the odds were against Alex. For lots of different reasons. But, maybe, the odds would be overcome and something would work out in his favor. It doesn't happen very often, but maybe Alex is an exception, Gabriella thought. Maybe he'll be more than he ever thought he could be.
"Thanks," Gabriella told him sincerely through her tears, and tried her hardest to pick up Troy's asleep body. Then she turned to Alex.
"You're a good guy," she told him. "Don't let anyone tell you differently. You saved Troy's life. Thank you so very much Alex. I know that's what Rebecca would have wanted you to do."
He nodded humbly and looked down.
Just then, she heard a loud thud come from upstairs and lots of walking and yelling. She clutched Troy tighter in her arms, even though they were both still seated on the ground, Troy's unconscious head rested on Gabriella's shoulder as she struggled to pick him up. Alex whipped his head around and looked up to the ceiling. "What the hell?" he asked, bewildered.
Suddenly, it hit Gabriella. Just like a big cloud had popped in her mind. Of course!
She didn't know whether to be alarmed or happy. It was good for her, fantastic even, but bad for Alex. How would he explain himself? How could she help him explain himself?
"The police," she told Alex solemnly.
The police department from Albuquerque arrived on the scene swiftly and promptly. Right after Sharpay had crashed her car into the fence that allowed them to have a clear entrance into the Bolton estate. Sharpay had done a very good job of getting the job done.
Five officers now walked up to the estate, with police cars parked out front and Sharpay and Chad standing begrudgingly behind them. They waited for the five officers -two of them bulky men, one woman, and the other two slender young trainee's -to approach the door. After three sets of knocks, they decided to knock the door down. They did so and the five officers walked inside, there guns aimed and pointed and ready to shoot.
"You three upstairs," the Chief of the Albuquerque police department said, pointing to two bulky officers and one slender one. "Me and Bleu will take the basement." They all nodded and went their separate ways, taking their orders.
Bleu and the Chief walked down the basement stairs, guns pointing, taking slow, cautious steps as they walked down the cement stairs that lead to the cellar. They called "Police!" one time before opening the basement door. What they saw they would have never expected.
There, standing before them, was a tall, blonde haired boy who looked no older than his early twenties, holding a gun pointed at them. Next to him was a pretty yet petrified brunette, with tears coming down her cheeks and an unconscious boy in her arms. Right on the other side of the room, there lay a motionless body of another boy.
"Put the gun down son," the officer instructed him firmly.
"Why? Why should I listen to you? I'm going to prison for homicide anyway, why not go there with a few cops to my name too?" The light haired boy asked, his hands shaking making the gun shake as well.
"You don't wanna do this, son," the officer told him once again.
"Put the gun down kid," the female officer ordered him.
"Who says I don't?" the kid asked.
"Alex..." Suddenly, the brunette stood up on her knees. But not letting go of the boy's body that was in her arms. "You don't want to do this. Remember Rebecca? Rebecca... she wouldn't want this. You know that, don't you? Don't hurt yourself even more, Alex. It wont do any good."
"Yeah..." the kid said, looking down, troubled. "Yeah, Rebecca wouldn't want this."
"You're right." the brunette said again. "Now put down the gun and go peacefully with them, and I promise things won't be so bad anymore."
"Okay Gabriella." He slowly sat down and laid the gun down on the cement floor of the basement. He got back up again and held out his arms to the officers. They took his arms and immediately put them in handcuffs.
"Uh, Gabriella?" he asked turning around, making the police officers turn with him. Now other officers were running in and people were calling for back-up. The paramedics that had just arrived were picking the other boy up off the girls lap and placing him on a bed while the girl watched in horror and nervousness. But she looked up when Alex said her name.
"Yeah?"
"Will you uh.... when I.... when I'm in prison... will you come and visit me?" Alex asked vulnerably. And Gabriella just couldn't say no.
"Of course I will."
Alex nodded. "Okay."
And they took him out of the Bolton estate and into a police car waiting outside. Gabriella followed after Troy out to the waiting ambulance that would take him to the hospital and treat his wounds.
Sharpay walked around the Bolton estate, well, paced is more like it.
She had never been more nervous in her life. Not even when she preformed at the white house dinner when she was seven. She looked around the swarm of police cars and ambulances. Then she saw them.
Gabriella came rushing out of the house holding Troy's hand as he was rolled on his stretcher. She had blood all over her shirt and tear-stained, puffy eyes.
"GABRIELLA!" Sharpay screamed and ran over to her, engulfing her in a huge hug. Chad followed suit. Except he didn't scream, "Gabriella!" at the top of his lungs.
"Oh my God, Gabriella, we were so worried! What happened? Are you alright? Is Troy alright? What happened to him? Why didn't you answer my phone calls? Why are you crying? WHY IS THERE BLOOD ON YOUR SHIRT?!" Sharpay screamed at Gabriella, all at once, letting out the questions she had been wondering about since this morning.
"Whoa, there Shar. Take it easy. Let Gabriella have a moment of peace. Who knows what she's been through in the last twenty hours." Chad said.
Gabriella took a long, deep breath and slowly exhaled. "You guys seriously have no idea. But I'll tell you later, okay? Right now I need to be with Troy."
She walked over to the ambulance and hopped on board, despite what the paramedics told her. She had been through enough that she decided that no damn paramedic was going to tell her what to do. She grabbed Troy's hand and squeezed it. She knew somehow everything would work out alright. Somehow. After everything they'd been through the previous night, she and Troy deserved everything to work out.
But right now, she just needed to be with Troy. She could deal with the stress of everything else tomorrow. Because tomorrow, just has to be better than today.