Hey guys! Happy Tuesday! It's been a few days since the last update. I had plans to finish up this past week, but I was dealing with the loss of my grandfather. It's been rough, but I'm feeling better now.
Anywho, it's time for the next chapter of JAS. We'll see what happens when Theo and Arnie collide with Gabe holding Alya hostage. It's gonna get crazy. So enjoy!
Warning: Contains allusions and attempts of sexual assault, and character death.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC's.
Chapter 31: End of a Nightmare
"If we go through this door right here, we should be closer to the exit," Arnie said as he continued to lead Theo through the entrance. The two had been walking for a good little while now, and it didn't appear that they were any closer to freedom.
The only good thing is that they haven't run into Reagan, but there was no telling if that would be preventable. Still, Theo was unsure if Arnie was trustworthy. So far, the man has helped him and his family, but it could still all be an act for all he knew.
"Are you sure you know the way out? Cause we've been walking for almost ten minutes now." The boy asked.
Arnie sighed a little, "Okay, I'll admit I don't know the ins and outs of this place that well. But I do know that we're on the third floor. Just as soon as we get on the bottom floor, we'll be home free... I hope."
"Yeah..."
They continued to make their way through a long hallway. At the end was another door. Curious, Theo approached it ahead of Arnie, "Maybe this leads to a staircase... or an elevator." He spoke.
Suddenly, before he could even reach for a doorknob, they both heard what sounded like a muffled scream on the other side of the door. It sounded like... a girl?
Arnie walked forward to stand in front of Theo, "Let me handle this. Could be a red herring..." Carefully, he twisted the knob, before swinging open the door. It revealed an empty room. And two occupants. An older man holding a little girl tightly in his grasp.
Theo gasped when he saw what was going on, "Alya!" He wanted to reach for her, but Arnie kept him shielded.
"Damn. Should've locked the door." Gabe grumbled, before smirking down at Alya, "But no matter. I don't mind having an audience."
"What are you doing, Gabe?" Arnie asked with a frown, "Don't you see that everything is over? We lost."
The older man scoffed, "Maybe for you. But I ain't giving up until I get my vengeance on those pathetic boys. Especially Rudolph. His little daughter and I are gonna have some fun right about now." He chuckled as the poor child continued to struggle in his hold.
"Seriously? What did that kid ever do to you?"
"Nothing. But I'm looking forward to doing her..."
Theo gagged in response to that sentence, "Leave her alone, you creeper! I won't let you hurt her."
Gabe laughed, "And what do you intend to do, little boy? You're not strong enough to defeat me."
"This kid is more clever than you think." Arnie countered, "C'mon, man. Just give it up and turn yourself in. The cops are already here. It's time to face the music."
"Like hell, I'm going back to jail. Those boys took everything from me. Now I'm gonna take everything from them. Starting with this angel." Gabe tightened his grip to Alya, nearly choking her, "And what about you, Arnie? You haven't turned yourself in. Kinda hypocritical of you to tell me to do that."
The other man tightened his fists, "I'm gonna turn myself once I help these kids. And I advise you to do the same thing. Don't make things worse."
Before Gabe could say anything else, he felt a sudden pain in the groin. Alya had kicked him hard enough to make him let go of her. The girl quickly made her way to Theo and Arnie, who put her behind him. She clung to Theo, who quietly started to comfort her.
The evil man recovered as he growled at the trio, "You little... get back over here!" He demanded.
"You'll have to get through me first!" Arnie shot back, "You ain't gonna put your hands on her!"
Gabe then grinned as he advanced towards the other man, "Is that so...? Well, how about we put that to the test?"
"I see you're looking for a fight, huh? I guess I have to knock some sense into you somehow."
Sensing that some action was going to go down, Theo and Alya moved out of the way. Just as Gabe charged at Arnie. The younger man dodged the attack, causing Gabe to crash headfirst into the door of the room. The impact was enough to make a hole in the door, but not enough to subdue the evil man as he tried to attack yet again. Arnie was once again ready, this time with a direct hit.
POW!
He sent a hit right into the other man's face. Gabe stumbled but was still not fazed. An all-out brawl began between the two men, as the kids watched. Punches, kicks, and even slaps and bites were exchanged, and it only got more intense by the second.
"Go, Arnie! Kick his butt!" Theo cheered, before he looked at Alya, "You okay?"
"Yeah, I think so..." Was her response.
"He didn't hurt you, did he?"
"No... I mean, my arms are a little sore from him holding me. But I'm fine... anyways, your Daddy's okay. He woke up."
Theo sighed in relief at that. That was one worry resolved. But there were still plenty of more worries to think about. A loud groan was heard, as the kids paid attention to the fight again. Arnie was knocked to the ground, holding his face in pain. Gabe stood over him with a smirk, "Had enough, bitch?"
The former pool shark coughed as he glared daggers at the other man, "I'm just getting started, fucker!"
He got up again and attempted to send a kick to Gabe's leg, only to miss and fall to the floor again. He groaned again at the laughter that erupted from his opponent, "You're pathetic, Arnie. I can see how Rudolph was able to beat your ass before."
"First of all, he didn't beat him. I just ran away to avoid his friends." Arnie shot back, standing back up, "And second of all, I heard Rudy actually kicked your ass all those years ago. All way down that train track."
"He just got lucky! But I can't say the same for you."
Before Arnie could attack again, Gabe grabbed him by the wrist and twisted it, making him cry out. That was followed by once again being sent to the floor thanks to the karate chop to the neck. To finish it all off, a devastating kick to the head knocked him unconscious.
"No, Arnie!" Alya gasped.
Gabe laughed again, "That was almost too easy." He then set his sights on the kids again, "Now then, where were we...?"
Theo moved in front of Alya to shield her away from the madman, "Don't even think about it, dude. You're gonna find yourself in a whole lotta trouble." He warned.
"Your weak threats don't phase me, boy. Now, just kindly step aside so that I can make this girl a woman."
"No! I'm not going anywhere. You, however, are gonna go straight back to jail. My dad once told me about a guy who kidnapped his friends when they were kids, including her Dad." He gestured to Alya when saying that, "So I figure that guy was you. And I'll be a monkey's uncle if I let you hurt us."
The man's smirk started to slowly turn into a frown, "I guess you'd better prepare to be an uncle, kid. You wouldn't want to wear my patience. And besides, this isn't just about Rudolph... it's also about that fucker, Reagan. Bastard thinks he can double-cross me and get away with it. Well, let's see what happens when I fuck the girl before he does. He'll be so salty!"
He made a sudden grab for Theo, effortlessly tossing him out of the way. Alya tried to grasp for her friend but failed. All she could do now was whimper with terror as the wicked criminal backed her into a corner, towering over her, "Now, baby girl. You ready to have some fun?"
"NOOO!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, "I want my Momma and DADDY!"
They can't help you, hon. But I'll be willing to return you to them after we're done."
Again, Alya screamed as she attempted to hit the man. But Gabe just grabbed her by the wrist and forced her to the floor. Theo recovered from being thrown, yet he landed on his face, making his nose spill more blood. However, he tried not to focus on the pain as he once again attempted to save his friend. He jumped on Gabe's back and started to beat on his head, "Get away from her!"
"Get the hell off me, you piece of crap!" The man growled, trying to claw the boy away.
Alya got up and moved away, "Get him, Theo! Don't let him get away!" She cheered.
Theo kicked at him once in the back, but that was enough for Gabe to throw him off again. The man glared at him, "If you value your life, you won't try that again!" He snarled.
The boy stuck his tongue out in response. Gabe turned back towards Alya but was caught off guard when the girl ran up to him and gave him a devastating kick in between his legs yet again, "AHH! FUCK!" He held his parts in pain.
"That's what you get for being so mean." She retorted, before moving towards Theo again.
"You little bitch!" He growled, "So you don't wanna feel good, I see. Alright, how about I make you feel bad by cutting you!"
The criminal reached into his pocket and pulled out that knife again. Theo jumped in front of Alya, "You can cut me up all you want, but you better stay away from her! I'm serious, man." He warned again.
Gabe just laughed, "Why do you even bother acting tough? You're just a kid."
"Maybe. But I'm tougher and stronger than I look. I mean, you know who my Dad is, right?
"Your Dad ain't as heroic as you think. He couldn't even protect his friends from me. In fact, I gave him a bullet straight in the belly when he dared to confront me."
Theo paled a little when hearing that. That was very shocking to him. He knew his father wasn't indestructible despite being overweight, but he could be very durable. The idea of him getting shot was kinda hard to believe. Though, if he wasn't immune to getting injected with some sort of drug to knock him unconscious, then getting shot wasn't far behind. But how he survived was also a miracle in and of itself.
Gabe could see the surprise on the boy's face and grinned at it, "Yeah. The almighty Fat Albert isn't so almighty now, is he?"
"I knew that..." Theo muttered, "But just because he can be vulnerable sometimes, doesn't mean he isn't strong. And that goes for me too!"
"Let's test that theory!"
Suddenly, the man raised his knife and brought it down quickly. But Theo was fast as well, catching his big fist with his smaller hands. From there, it was a struggle to keep from getting stabbed. Theo found that maybe he really was stronger than he looked, as he was able to hold enough strength. Even Gabe looked surprised, "Maybe I doubted you, kid. You definitely have some fight in ya. Eating right?"
"Every day, dude." Was the preteen's response.
While they continued to struggle, Alya happened to look around to see something on the floor behind Gabe. Upon closer inspection, she saw... that it was a gun. It must've fallen out of his pocket when Theo tackled him, and he didn't notice.
She wondered...
Looking around carefully, the girl crawled from under Theo and towards the weapon. Neither he nor Gabe noticed as they were too focused in their struggle. Once she made it to the gun, she carefully picked it up and observed it. The only other gun she had ever seen in person was her father's pistol which was only used for protection in case of a break-in at home, and of course, the mess with Reagan last year, where she was on the receiving end of a bullet.
Alya stared at the firearm. She thought about using it to shoot Gabe, but she was afraid to. Not because she thought she'd fail, because she didn't want to use it to hurt anybody. For most of her young life, she had a strong disposition against hurting or killing using a weapon or object, regardless of the person deserved it or not, whether it was for self-defense. And while this man trying to hurt her and her friend was definitely an evil person, she felt that shooting him wouldn't make her any better of a person than him.
So what else could she do?
There was a chance that if Gabe found it, he could use it. So perhaps... she could hide it. Looking around again, Alya saw that the door was slightly ajar. Carefully, she made her way over, placing the gun just outside, hoping the criminal wouldn't look there.
There. Safe and sound hopefully. She thought.
Back with the struggle, Theo's arms were starting to hurt from trying to hold the knife back from stabbing him. Gabe was getting tired too, but he still had some stamina. Suddenly, he let go and used the handle of the knife to smack the boy across the face, causing him to fall over in pain.
"I'll admit that you are tough, kid. But it's still not enough to really defeat me."
Theo rubbed the spot when he was slapped, as he frowned at the man, "Who said that I have to be the one to defeat you? Maybe your downfall will be because of someone else."
"Miss me with that bullshit kid. This ain't some stupid superhero movie."
"Maybe not. But a villains' defeat can come in more ways than one."
At this point, Gabe's patience was almost all runout, "Enough of this!" He pinned Theo down, grabbed Alya when she tried to come close to get to Theo, and pinned her next to him, "How about I just have fun with both of you?! That should make you shut up."
Theo cringed in disgust. Alya started to hyperventilate, to which her friend took her hand and rubbed it softly. Gabe saw that and chuckled, "Aww, you're holding her hand? You like her or somethin'?"
"N-No! Not like that. She's just a friend." Theo quickly defended.
"Uh-huh. Sure... now then, let's get started."
Both of the preteens started to struggle and scream as the wicked monster above them grabbed at their clothes. But before he could continue...
BANG!
A loud boom of a gunshot rang out. Gabe's head snapped around to see what was going on, "The hell? But..." He then searched his pockets, only to find them empty, "Where's my gun?" He scowled at the kids, "Do you have it?"
Theo looked confused, and so did Alya, but she was pretending to look clueless, but also secretly hoping that he wouldn't look outside.
The criminal growled as he stood up and turned towards the door, "I swear when I find it, you both are so-"
BANG! BANG! BANG!
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"
Another gunshot was heard, but also the sounds of the man screaming in pain. Theo and Alya looked up to see the man crouching down, holding something in front of him. Looking around him, they could see the door was open, and a hand holding a gun from outside. A second later, the person holding the gun walked into the room, with a glare of death on his face.
"Daddy!" Alya exclaimed.
Indeed, it was Rudy, as he sneered at the man he just shot, "In case you didn't hear me before, Gabe. I'll say it again. Step. The. Fuck. Away. From. My. Daughter." He said in a low, dark, and sinister tone.
Gabe grunted as he grasped his privates, which were heavily bleeding, "F-Fuck you, Rudolph! You're a s-slut!"
BANG!
The rich man fired another bullet, this time in the criminals' left arm. This sent him to his knees. Theo then noticed that he could see his Dad and the other men standing just outside the room. Did they all come to save them?
"Y-You k-know it's true!" Gabe continued talking, "You used to be a damn pimp."
BANG!
Another bullet was sent straight into his right arm. Rudy chuckled dryly, "You're right... I was a pimp. I was a bastard back then who could care less about most things. But now... I'm a better man than I used to be. I used to think I deserved most of the shit that happened to me. But you know what? That's fucking life! Life throws so much crap at you, but you gotta keep going. And I still keep going! And it's all thanks to a special little girl I'm proud to call my daughter!"
Alya smiled sweetly, "Oh, Daddy..."
"But as for you..." Rudy glared hard at the man who raped him when he was a teenager, "The reason shit happens to you is that you're just a piece of shit. You always were, and always will be. You really broke me back then. But since then... I've become stronger, tougher, and I'm no longer afraid of you!"
BANG! BANG!
Two more bullets drove into Gabe's legs, as the man fell over from all the pain he was suffering. He could barely even focus on Rudy's words anymore, "So with that said... I have to bid you a farewell, Gabriel. But not because you're going back to jail."
The rich man leaned down and stared at the other man with the most sadistic smile he could give, "It's because you're going someplace much worse... Hell..."
BANG!
With that, one final bullet was shot... this time in the man's head. With a final breath, Gabriel Young fell over... motionless...
"Let that be a lesson to you!" Rudy warned the body, "Don't fuck with Rudolph Davis!"
He spat on the body with disgust. Both Theo and Alya were rendered speechless by the sight before Alya got up and rushed to her father, "Daddy! Daddy, are you okay?" She asked.
"Yes. Yes, sweetheart. I'm fine. Oh, my baby..." Rudy embraced his daughter tightly, "Are you alright?"
"Yeah... but..." She looked over at Gabe's bloody form, "You... killed him..."
"I know. But he had to die, princess. You see, he was a sick man, so I just put him out of his misery..."
That's when the other guys walked into the room to view the scene, all of them feeling some sort of relief that their past nightmare is now gone. Theo embraced his own father, "Dad! You're awake!" he exclaimed with happiness. Albert chuckled, "Hey, hey, hey. Everything's gonna be okay." He then frowned when he noticed the swelling and cuts on his son's face, "Son..."
"I had a bit of a disagreement with Reagan." The boy shrugged, "But I'm okay."
Harold looked over to see Arnie still knocked out, "Dude... is Arnie?"
"Oh!" Alya broke away from her father to approach the man, "That mean man hurt him. He tried to protect Theo and me. He really did. He's sleeping now..."
That surprised the men in the room. Arnie, a former pool shark who swindled Rudy, and now had a hand in kidnapping them... really did turn over a new leaf in such a short time. That surprised Rudy himself the most, "Damn. Guess I don't have to beat his ass after all."
Suddenly, before anybody could do anything else... slow clapping could be heard. Everyone turned to the entrance... to see Reagan there, clapping, and an amused smirk on his face, "Clever... very impressive." He said, "I never liked that fucker anyways. And now with him out of the way... it's time to finish what I started..."
The man set his gaze upon Theo... who glared right back...
"Let's settle this once and for all..."
Now that was intense. Gabe has paid for his sins at the hands of Rudy, and now the nightmare the guys faced when they were kids is over. Arnie tries to help, and we'll see how it all pays off in the next chapter. And props to the kids for trying to defend themselves any way they could. Next chapter, we'll see how this all ends with Reagan... or does it? Well, we'll see. In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'll see you guys later. And as always, don't forget to review, please. Thank you.