"The Night Pierced" (Chapter Four)
by Ennon
Disclaimers: "Degrassi:The Next Generation" and all its characters are properties of Epitome Pictures and I'm making no money whatsoever from this fanfic.
A/N- My thanks to bookdragon 14,about a girl,girl-with-a-halo,mannyfan,Angel Lily, ccc, S ( ), jewlz555 for your supportive reviews. Thanks,too, to lexish (and, yes, when the time's right I'll explain more what happened after Craig and Manny left).
This takes place mainly in the Summer of 2014 ( my bad that I initially said Fall in Ch.1) and Summer, 2004 (keeping in mind that 'Holiday' is the last episode I have to work with). Thank you everyone for your patience with these new chapter delays due to life happening but without further ado. . .
Summer,2014
"HAHAHA!" a blonde girl of seven laughed as she ran ahead into the Spike's Hair Haven.
"Linda, it's not funny!" groaned Emma as she desperately tried to wash out the perm solution from Angela Jeremiah's hair.
"I look like I've been electrocuted," Angela groaned.
"What are you doing back so soon?" Emma gulped.
"Linda sprained her wrist playing dodgeball at daycamp and they called me to. .Hey! You're the ones who owe me the explanations!" Spike insisted.
"Sorry, Mom," Emma groaned.
"Emma, what were you thinking?" Spike demanded.
"Don't blame her, Aunt Christy! I asked her to see if we could ask Ashley about Craig. .."Angela explained while putting her head into the wash sink.
"And I put her under a towel with perm solution to hide her,"Emma added.
"Ashley, I'm sorry. I thought motherhood would make Emma more mature than to. .." Spike groaned.
"It's okay, Mrs. Simpson. Craig was an important part of all our lives and none of us can really move forward until we find some answers,"Ashley conceded.
"But you've got all those platinum CDs. .." Linda Simpson insisted.
"And I was able to vent a great many of my feelings about Craig and Jimmy into those songs but that doesn't mean I'm over totally over them," Ashley groaned as she and Emma frantically rinsed Angela's hair again.
"Emma, since you've made all this time on your hands, you can watch Linda until I come home tonight. Angela, I'm going to do the best I can to rinse this out- and talk to your parents about all this," Spike insisted.
"No, please don't!"Angela begged.
"Mom, you know I think the world of Joey and Caitlin but bringing up the subject of Craig is still too upsetting to them, " Emma sighed.
"We all need answers," Ashley insisted.
"Okay, I'll hold off for now and try to make Angie presentable again but all of you need to be careful," Spike pleaded.
"Your styling's the baddest, Mrs. Simpson! " Ashley beamed as she left the salon with more streaks than ever.
"You and Angie be careful," Spike pleaded as they left.
"These braids will minimize the perm's shock value. So, you said that Craig used to hang out at the railroad yard?" Ashley asked.
"That's where he told me Sean saved his life that day!" Angela recalled.
"The detectives scoured there and everywhere else they thought Craig might have gone," Ashley insisted.
" I know but sometimes I sneak over there and feel . .. almost like he's there. Come on, let's go!" Angela insisted.
"That's not safe- even in daytime!" Ashley gasped.
"I guess you're right but. .." Angela sighed.
"I know what we could do! We'll get the best bodyguard in town to go with us!"Ashley insisted.
"Who's that?" Angela asked.
"You know him!" Ashley laughed as they walked towards her recording studio.
"Marco!" Angela shouted as they came inside.
"Bambina! You're getting to be more of a lady everyday!" 26-year-old Marco Del Rossi beamed as he put down his electric guitar in Ashley's studio and kissed Angela's right hand.
"Hey, Kid!" 27-year-old Dylan Michelchuk exclaimed as he gently shook Angela's hand after Marco kissed it.
"So this is what you do when the Maple Leafs are off-season!" Angela laughed.
"Yep! Dylan's the star player and I'm Maple the Mascot but then I play lead guitar in Ashley's band and he's our bodyguard," Marco laughed while he and Dylan nodded.
"And, eventually we'll retire to Key West," Dylan beamed.
"No, Amoré, Portofino!" Marco insisted.
"It's the only thing we ever argue about!" Dylan laughed.
"Guys, Angie wants to go by the railroad tracks later on and I was wondering if after our session. . ."Ashley explained.
"Say no more! We'd be happy to help!" Dylan insisted.
"Craig was my friend,too," Marco nodded.
"Now you see why these were my favorite babysitters!" Angela beamed.
" I thought I was!" Ashley laughed.
The four of them later were walking with Dylan carrying his hockey stick (in preparation for any trouble possibly encountered at the railroad yard).
"Hey, Michelchuk! What a great goal you scored that last game before the buzzer!"a short, bespeckled Asian 17-year-old boy exclaimed as the four of them were walking by Degrassi Community School
"Andrew, some manners!" Angie exclaimed as they walked by.
"Sorry, babe! It's not everyday we get celebs stopping by here,"Andrew exclaimed.
"Guys, my boyfriend Andrew. .."Angie started to explain.
"It's okay! I'd rather have them cheer us than dump on us!" Dylan laughed as a large group of summer session students at lunch cheered them on.
"Show us that goal!"Andrew shouted.
" I know I'm carrying the stick but I don't have a puck. ." Dylan pondered.
"Here's a juice carton!" Andrew insisted as he handed it to Dylan.
" But. .." Dylan tried to say.
"Michelchuk! Michelchuk!Michelchuk!" the group cheered on.
"He gets this all the time," Marco half-laughed.
"OK, here goes!" Dylan shrugged as he swung the hockey stick and slammed the juice carton so hard against the building that it exploded.
"Dylan!"Mr. Armstrong exclaimed as he came out the front entrance.
"Sorry, Coach. .I mean Principal Armstrong," Dylan groaned.
"Andrew, what have you done?" Ms. Kwan asked as she approached the group.
"Sorry, Mom," Andrew groaned.
"We were just walking by here when these summer session students insisted he repeat that goal against the Bruins!"Ashley explained.
"I'll pay for any clean up,"Dylan insisted.
"Nah, apple juice won't stain and we're at lunch so no harm done but if you want to practice slicing. How about slicing some of those weeds in the side court by the East Entrance?"Mr. Armstrong asked.
"Oh, I forgot to pull them up yesterday,"Andrew groaned.
"You've been distracted quite a bit lately, young man," Ms. Kwan chastised as she gave Angela a knowing look which Angela avoided.
"Hey! These kids could use some venting so I'll see about those weeds!" Dylan insisted as everyone but Mr. Armstrong and Ms. Kwan cheered.
Ellie Nash (still wearing one of her alternative outfitand with her red hair in braids) approached Mr. Armstrong and Ms. Kwan from inside the school before happily waving to Marco, Dylan, Ashley and Angela before Dylan started slicing up dandelions, clovers and thistles.
"Dr. Nash, I don't want a lecture from you about my son," Ms. Kwan snapped.
"Shrink degree or no, I wasn't going to say anything. .. now!" Ellie gritted.
"Look at how many bottlecaps under that clump of clover!" Andrew exclaimed as Dylan sliced up a large clump with soil attached.
On Dylan's fourth slice- at the bottom of a two inches of roots and soil something hit the cement court and made a tiny clinging sound which made Marco momentarily shake his head.
"It looks like a chain of some kind," Ms. Kwan pondered as she joined Mr. Armstrong and Ellie to walk up towards Dylan.
"A charm bracelet actually," Ellie added.
"It looks like it has tiny. .. ice skates on it," Dylan said in puzzlement as he put down the hockey stick and walked over to pick up the object.
"That's Manny Santos's!" Angela exclaimed with a start.
"She's right!" Ashley gulped as she saw the object.
"Don't touch it!" Mr. Armstrong insisted as he whipped out his cellphone.
Dylan stepped back just before he did so.
"Hello, police! I'm at Degrassi Community School and we think there's something you should investigate!" Mr. Armstrong exclaimed.
"According to the original police report on your brother's disappearance in June of 2004, you did mention last seeing Miss Santos with him wearing a pewter bracelet matching that description but we'll have to test it," 40-ish Toronto Police Detective David Patel exclaimed as others in his crew carefully placed the dirt-caked bracelet into an evidence bag while digging around the spot for any other items.
"Yes, sir!" Angela nodded as all the witnesses were being questioned.
"We'll send emails and mailgrams to Manila to notify the Santos Family for a confirmation. ." Detective Patel added.
"I doubt they'd know about the bracelet. She kept just about everything dealing with Craig a secret from them- among others," Ashley groaned.
"Miss Jeremiah, Ms. Kerwin, Mr. Michelchuk, everyone, we're going to need to have your co-operation in this so, until this has been confirmed, we're going to insist you keep this under wraps!" Detective Patel insisted as they cordoned off the small yard by the East Entrance while everyone nodded in agreement.
"And last in Sports News. Police sources tell us that a decade-old mystery may have a new lead- thanks to the Maple Leafs star scorer Dylan Michelchuk who inadvertantly sliced dirt on the Degrassi Community School grounds covering a bracelet believed to have belonged to Manuela Santos who disappeared along with her boyfriend Craig Manning on June 10,2004!" the sports announcer breathlessly exclaimed on a Toronto television station that evening.
"Cameron, they found Manny Santos's bracelet!" 26-year-old Jay Neely snarled as he bumped Sean while passing him in the Maximum Security Ontario Prison hallway.
"Yeah, I heard!" Sean growled as he shoved Jay back.
"Not good for you! We'll have to put Operation Annihilation into action!" Jay growled.
The Dot Grill at night - Thursday, July 1,2004.
"And the police still don't have any leads about Craig and Manny?" Spinner asked as he was consuming his 3rd cheeseburger.
"No, and we've scoured everywhere we could think of," Marco insisted while he and Dylan were sitting with Spinner.
" So what's Jimmy's plan?" Spinner asked- as he looked around.
"Why are you looking around?" Marco asked.
" Hey, everyone knows about Marco and me!" Dylan shrugged.
" I know but I don't want folks thinking that I'm. .. "Spinner groaned.
"Neither Marco or I would ever get that desperate!" Dylan laughed joined by Marco.
"HAH! HAH! Very funny, dudes!"Spinner sneered in a funny voice.
"Guys! Jimmy thinks that if we stage a concert, we could raise more money for posters, flyers and move the telephone center out of the Jeremiah House into its own building," Marco explained.
"Yeah, Mr. Jeremiah and Angie have been totally consumed their lives with finding Craig! They could use a refuge!"Dylan groaned.
"I got that but. ..um, why do we need to have . .him here?"Spinner asked.
"You guys have two guitars and a drummer but, without Craig, no singer so I could do it!"Dylan insisted.
"Not without Jimmy's OK!" Spinner insisted.
"Um. . where is Jimmy anyway. He said to meet us here at 8 but already 8:30!" Marco asked.
"I thought you'd know," Marco pondered.
"How about calling him on the cell?"Dylan asked.
"I'll try but. .. it's not been working too well tonight," Marco groaned as he speed-dialed Jimmy's number.
After Marco let it ring four times, he was about to press the Off Button when. .
"MARCO!! SHOT!!" Jimmy was heard to scream a second before a gunshot rang out that Marco could hear both on the cell and in the distance before the connection went dead.
"JIMMY!!" Marco screamed in a panic and ran in the direction of Degrassi Community School with Dylan then Spinner frantically running with him.
"Police! I was talking to Jimmy Brooks on my cell and heard a shot! I think it came from Degrassi! I'm Marco Del Rossi! Please hurry!" Marco exclaimed as he kept running.
After another two minutes (but what seemed to the three to be an eternity) they reached the school at the same time as several police cruisers arrived and surrounded Degrassi Community School.
"Which one of you is Marco Del Rossi?" one officer asked.
" I am! We have to find Jimmy!" Marco screamed.
"We don't see anyone on the grounds. .. " another officer exclaimed.
" The East Entrance door's been propped open!" Spinner exclaimed.
"JIMMY!" Marco yelled as he ran towards it with Dylan and Spinner.
"Stay behind us!" the first officer yelled as two policemen and one policewoman ran ahead with guns drawn and kicked the door open further.
"Police, OPEN UP!" the second one exclaimed as they ran inside.
"Oh, my GOD!" the 1st police officer exclaimed.
Jimmy was sitting slumped over with a gun in his right hand, a large hole in the right side of his head and blood gushing out- surrounding him were several large plastic bins, buckets and tubes.
"JIMMY!!" Marco, Dylan and Spinner exclaimed in horror as the officers held them back.
"I'm sorry but he's dead and it appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound!" the police woman exclaimed- as the three of them tried to break the other officers' hold to reach Jimmy.
"NO! He wouldn't kill himself! Someone murdered him!" Marco exclaimed in hysterics.
Toronto, Summer, 2014- Penthouse Apartment of Dylan Michelchuk and Marco Del Rossi.
"JIMMY!!!!" Marco screamed at the top of his lungs.
"Wake up, Hun! You're having a nightmare about him again!" Dylan exclaimed as he turned on the light switch next to their bed and held the sobbing Marco in his arms.
"Forgive me, Amoré!" Marco exclaimed as he burst into tears but hugged back.
"It's been almost ten years,"Dylan quietly said.
" I know but Jimmy was there for me when I got beat up why couldn't I have saved him?" Marco sniffed.
"If you'd been there, whoever did that would have gotten you,too. And my life would be meaningless and empty right now!" Dylan insisted.
"You make me so happy still I can't help but wish Jimmy had lived to see our happiness- and it makes me very angry to think the police think he could have done such a terrible thing to himself! They soiled his good name!" Marco boiled.
" I know. It makes me angry,too but they found no other fingerprints or any signs of anyone else there," Dylan groaned.
" And for them to say he was going to set up . ..a meth lab? Jimmy would have laid down his life to have prevented such a thing being brought to Degrassi!" Marco insisted.
" I know. .and I think he actually did do that!" Dylan exclaimed as he and Marco hugged again.
"Oh, it's been so long since last I had a nightmare of that hideous night! I don't know know why I. .." Marco sighed.
"Marco, remember in your statement how you told the police that you heard a tiny chain fall in the background?" Dylan asked as he patted Marco's shoulder.
"Yes, but I don't see how. .. Wait. .. it wasn't a chain. . .. .It was a charm bracelet! Oh, Mama Mîa, Manny Santos!"Marco said with a start.
To Be Continued. ..