Bloody Brilliant

Chapter Thirty-Five

(A/N: CLIMAX. In Alexander's POV. Sorry if this greatly disappoints some people, but I told you it would be CHEESE-LICIOUS.)

I sped down the winding streets of Romania, until I got to Jagger's place. I'd been here before, back when Luna and I were preparing to be bound together. I can't believe I still remember this place.

My Raven is in there, somewhere. I need to get her before she does something drastic. Like, you know, getting killed by Jagger. Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's drastic.

I thought that Jagger's place would have some security measures against me. I was right, but it was easy to get through; his outdoor guards were sleeping right against the exterior walls. By the looks of it, they wouldn't wake up if we knocked this place down with a bulldozer.

"Raven!" I yelled, pounding my fists against the front door. "Raven!"

The door didn't open. I tried kicking, punching, and beating down the door, but nothing was working. I was beginning to think that this whole thing was useless, that I would never save Raven, when...

"Dude, chill."

I turned around. Valentine Maxwell, the prepubescent vampire brother of Luna and Jagger, stood there, swinging a keychain around his index finger.

"Don't break the door. Mom'll freak out." He strode right past me and, in one swoosh, opened the door.

I grinned. The two young Maxwells were helping me so much today.

Speeding past him, I headed for the first place that I thought Raven would be: Jagger's room. But I opened the door to a ghastly room, empty of my love and my enemy.

Gritting my teeth, I barked at Valentine. "Where's Raven?"

Valentine shrugged. "Don't ask me. I just got back here."

I screeched angrily, loud enough for Valentine to cover his ears and yell, "Holy. I bet they're just down in the basement." He pointed to a set of stairs right beside the front door.

Oh.

I ran down those stairs, almost tripping on my combat boots, while Valentine followed after me. By now, my Raven could be gone forever. By now, Jagger could be laughing over her dead body. Hell, this is Jagger. He could be doing things to her-

The black door at the end of the staircase wouldn't open. I slammed my fist angrily against it, shouting, "Raven! Raven!"

The door opened, and I nearly punched the hell out of Raven's little brother.

"Alexander, relax," he said slowly. "Raven's fine."

"Where is she?" I nearly screamed. I was so built up on this anger inside of me, from her betraying me to that godawful book to Jagger planning on destroying her, that I forgot how to control myself.

Out of nowhere, Jagger patted Billy's head and gently pushed him away. "No worries, Alexander. Your Raven is absolutely fine." He gestured to the brick wall.

Raven was chained there, her eyes forcibly opened via Clockwork Orange. She was crying, but the tiny mechanical arms holding her eyes open wouldn't let her blink the tears away.

I turned to Jagger and demanded, "Let her go."

He chuckled. "Don't you see, Sterling? This isn't about Raven. This is about you. I wanted you to come here. And you did. My plan worked."

He grinned.

I swung my fist at his face.

"Let her go!" I yelled. "Let Raven go!"

Valentine, who was standing at the still-open doorway, said, "Jagger, just let them go."

Jagger turned to his little brother. "Are you feeling all right, Val?" He made a show of pressing his bony hand to Valentine's forehead. "I'm sure that if you're defending them, you must be sick."
Valentine slapped away his hand. "Let 'em go, or I'll tell Mom."

Jagger laughed. "Mom doesn't scare me anymore, Val. Besides, they deserve to die."

"They brought me back to you," Valentine responded. "Sure, Alexander declined Luna. Sure, they were mean to me. But they resolved those issues. What do you have against them that makes you want to kill them so badly? What, are you in love with Raven or something? Or maybe you've gone on to the other team."

I stood there, stunned by Valentine's words. Was he really accusing Jagger of being gay?

Jagger laughed. "Trust me, Val, I've shagged all the girls waiting upstairs. I'm not gay."

Valentine grinned. "Good to hear it. Now that you've clarified it, let them all go. If you don't, well, I guess we can assume that you really wanted Alexander here."

Jagger seemed at a loss for words. Then, after five minutes of silence, grudgingly snapped, "Go."

Billy, Mrs. Madison, and Mr. Madison bolted out of the door. Which I thought was pretty stupid, considering it was open this whole time. If I'd been chained up for a while, I would have left as soon as that door opened just a bit.

With one swift motion, I unlocked Raven's chains and pulled the mechanical arms off her. She wrapped her arms around me, apologizing into my shoulder.

"I wouldn't've done it if he hadn't threatened to kill my family," she said. "I'm so sorry, Alexander. I love you so much, and I thought I was going to die, and-"

"Shh," I whispered. "I love you, too. Let's go get your family and go. I think it would be great if my parents hear about what happened tonight."

We turned, happiness spreading throughout my body. But just as we left the basement-

Raven let out a shrill scream. I turned to look at her, only to see a thick wooden stake protruding from her thin stomach. I stared at it for a few seconds before turning to look at a smug Jagger.

"I let you go. He didn't tell me not to kill her," he said softly.

Raven started sobbing. I wiped away the tears and, as gently as I could, pulled out the stake.

"Stakes don't kill us, Jagger," I yelled.

Jagger's expression didn't fade. "But they hurt a lot, don't they, Raven?"

Through gritted teeth, Raven told Jagger where to shove his words, before I picked her up and carried her up the stairs, where we came across an old woman in a tight lace dress. She was somewhat recognizable, but I'm not sure where from.

Geez. I thought we were done with the sluts.

She looked at me, and immediately said, "Alexander Sterling? Is that you? Wow, you've grown up."

"Thanks," I said. I remembered her instantly. She'd forced Luna and me together several times, to swing on the swings at midnight, back when we didn't know how important the ceremony was. Mrs. Maxwell.

Just then, her perky eyes caught onto Raven. "My dear! What happened?"

Weakly, she responded, "Jagger . . . stake . . ."

Mrs. Maxwell sighed. Then, in the loudest voice I've ever heard in my life, roared, "Jagger Maxwell! You get your scrawny butt up here and tell me what the hell you've done!"