Disclaimer: Everything recognizable belongs to Anthony Horowitz.
Chapter 6
Oh my god. They took Jack!
I stared at the tank in shock. I watched in horror as the scorpion scuttled around the bottom of the glass tank.
I heard Wolf speaking urgently into his phone but the words didn't register. When he got off the phone he turned to me, "Cub, I know you're in shock but we have to search the house to see they're still here. Backup will be here in 5 minutes."
I nodded, knowing Wolf was right but still not wanting to believe what was right in front of my eyes. "Do you have your gun?" Wolf asked me. I seemed unable to form any words so I nodded my head again and took the gun from the leather holster on my side. "Good, I'll start upstairs. You start downstairs," and with that he cautiously walked out of the room with his gun held in front of his body.
I proceeded to check the living room, there wasn't anyone or anything there; same with the study, the closets, the dinning room and every other room on that floor. I wasn't surprised though, Scorpia wasn't stupid. They took Jack so I'd try to find them and than they could kill me.
I quickly remembered my training and shout up to Wolf, "DOWNSTAIRS CLEAR!"
"UPSTAIRS CLEAR!" Wolf shouted in response.
&
Meanwhile
Nobodies POV
Unbeknownst to the commotion across the street Ty, Ky, Ben, Dylan, Riley, Blake and Tom were hanging out in Tom's bedroom, which happened to be practically right across the street from Alex's house.
"What's up with Alex?" Riley questioned from where she was sprawled out on Tom's bed.
"Who knows? He doesn't tell anybody anything!" Blake complained.
"Except Tom of course," Ben reminded them.
6 pairs of eyes turned to Tom, "Have you ever stopped to consider that he might actually be telling you the truth?"
"Yeah right," Ben snorted.
"And shouldn't you guys believe him? Or at least trust him enough that he knows what he's doing? But you should stop bugging him when he obviously doesn't want to talk about it!" Tom exclaimed, he was finding it increasingly harder to keep his friends secret.
"Fine than but…" Ben was cut off by the screeching of tires. The teenagers looked at each other curiously and shrugged. The sounds of slamming doors and shouting followed soon after.
"Uh you guys might want to see this!" Dylan exclaimed looking out of the window in Tom's room.
The group of friends rushed to the window and watched the scene unfolding across the street at their best friend's house in shock.
A black Hummer H1 screeched to a halt behind the black H2 already parker there. The car had hardly stopped when 7 men jumped out. They were all wearing black combat boots, camouflaged pants, black body armor shirts, bullet proof vests and helmets. Each man had a big, black military rifle strapped across their back.
The men stormed up the stairs leading to Alex's front door while drawing their guns from behind them and holding them in front of their bodies. They banged the door open and rushed into the dark house.
An eerie quiet enveloped the street as the 7 friends watched in fascination and horror.
"What's going on?" Riley asked the question that was on all of their minds.
The question was met with silence and everyone just shook their heads. None of them had any idea what was going on in Alex's house, not even Tom.
"Do you think something happened to Alex?" Blake asked sounding nervous.
At exactly that moment the saw a figure storm out of the house, they quickly recognized it to be Alex.
The late afternoon sun reflected off of the object held in his hand. There were gasps when they saw him shove it into the holster strapped to his side, "It's that gun!" Ty remarked.
Alex jumped off the 3 stairs leading to the sidewalk. They caught a flash of his face and saw a number of emotions mixed there, shock, horror and even… fear? Alex sat down on the 2nd step and dropped his head into his hands.
"Do you think we should go over and see what's wrong?" Blake sounded concerned; none of them had ever seen Alex like this before.
"No, that's not a good idea?" Tom quickly told them.
"Do you know what's going on?" Ben said accusingly.
"I have no idea, I swear, but I know going over there won't help him."
They watched their friend silently for a minute before a gleaming black Mercedes pulled up in back of the Hummer's. 2 adults climbed out of the car, 1 was a woman with curly black hair and she was wearing a black Italian pants suit. The 2nd was a man who had gray hair and he was wearing an expensively tailored gray suit with a white shirt and a gray tie. They walked down the sidewalk to where Alex was sitting and Alex stood up to face them. They seemed to have a short conversation and a minute later another man walked out of the house.
"It's Mr. Mackovic!" Ky exclaimed pointing to the man who was now shaking hands with the 2 new arrivals.
"It looks exactly like that guy Alex was with before!" Ty added after his twin.
"Yeah I know but he was our sub today!" Dylan said.
"Er guys I don't think substitute teachers carry guns though," Blake told them as she pointed down to the small group in front of Alex's house. You could see 'Mr. Mackovic' holding a gun loosely in one hand.
"He's not really Mr. Mackovic is he?" Ky asked.
"Mackovic could be his real last name, but one thing's for sure, he defiantly isn't a substitute teacher," Ben said while the watched the 2 adults get back into the Mercedes and 'Mr. Mackovic' and Alex follow in the Hummer H2.
"Tomorrow," Riley said suddenly, "Tomorrow we find out what's going on with him."
The rest of the group all nodded and murmured their agreement even though they weren't sure if it would work. Alex had made it perfectly clear he didn't want to talk about it. They thought about this as they watched the 2 vehicles drive off down the street. They all secretly doubted that they would ever find out what Alex was really up to.
None of the 7 teenagers would have ever thought they would actually find out the very next day and they would never have imagined finding out the way they were about to…
&
The next day
Alex's POV
I still can't believe it, can't believe they took Jack!
After Blunt and Mrs. Jones left Wolf and I followed them back to the 'Royal & General'. They decided that it wasn't safe for me to stay in my house anymore and I was given a room in the basement of the 'Royal and General' where MI6 frequently housed their operatives. The room had a bed, desk, dresser, bedside table, TV and an adjoining bathroom. All in all it was pretty comfortable but I didn't plan on being there for long, there's no way I'm not going into Scorpia now. I don't even care if I'm walking right into their trap; I just want Jack back and safe.
I was sitting quietly in the leather passenger seat of the Hummer. "Hey Cub we're going to get her back," Wolf tried to reassure me from where he sat next to me driving the car.
"Yeah," I replied lamely, I think I was still in shock and was just waiting for the anger to hit.
"Just… don't do anything stupid okay?"
"Yeah," I said again.
"And don't try to find Scorpia yourself, wait till MI6 tells you something."
"Sure," well I'd wait till I found out where Scorpia was located exactly.
"You can't do it by yourself Alex, I know you want to get back at Scorpia but you need help."
"I know," I sighed, "I promise I won't do anything."
"I hope so Cub, I really do."
"Thanks Wolf," I said gratefully, "It's great to have someone who cares about me."
"You're like my little brother Cub."
"That's how I feel too."
"You have your gun, right?" He asked me.
"Yeah," I patted my side where the gun was safely hidden under my sweatshirt.
We pulled into the school parking lot and exited the car and walked into the school. It was still about 15 minutes before school actually started so not many people were here yet, which was fine with me since I didn't really feel like talking.
I parted ways with Wolf at the office where he had to sign in; no matter how down I was I was still able to laugh at the idea of Wolf being a teacher.
When I reached my homeroom class I was glad that only a few people were there, some girl was reading a book and some others were studying. Hey it was better for me. I doubt they even heard me walk into the class room.
I dropped my bad onto the floor with a 'thud' and sank down into the chair. I think I kind of zoned out since the next thing I knew I heard chatter by the door and when I looked over I saw my friends standing there. Well at least they don't know what happened last night… I hope. But than again Tom lived right across the street… oh damn.
They walked over to me and sat around me. "Hey Alex!" Blake said cheerfully, to cheerfully since she and mornings don't exactly mix.
"Hey guys," I said softly.
"Alex what was going on at your house last night?" Ben demanded jumping right to the point.
"Oh… you saw that?"
"Uh yeah!" Riley exclaimed
"Come on Alex something's defiantly going on and we want to know!" Blake said.
"I can't tell you."
Obviously that wasn't enough for them though, "Alex what's going on?" Blake repeated sounded concerned.
"Nothing," I tried to shrug it off.
"Oh yeah nothing, that's why guys with guns stormed into your house!" Ty said sarcastically. Thankfully he lowered his voice so no one else heard.
"And we saw Mr. Mackovic there too," Ky added.
"I wasn't him," I tried to protect Wolf's identity, "It was someone else."
"Okay whatever Alex."
"Come on Alex were your best friends, you can tell us!" Blake urged.
"Yeah we used to tell each other everything!" Riley said.
"That was before…"
"Before what Alex?" Dylan tried to persuade me in a caring voice.
"Before my uncle died okay? That's when everything got fucked up." Damn I should not have said that.
"But how?"
"Yeah that's all we want to know Alex," Riley seconded Blake.
"I can't tell you! Don't you get it? I can't tell you!"
"You can tell your friends anything Alex," Ben tried to reason with me.
"Not something like this you can't!" I exclaimed.
"But…" Ky began.
"No! Don't you get it? I don't want to talk about it!"
"Alex we're just concerned," Blake said softly.
"I know and I'm sorry but if you knew things would be worse."
"How would things be worse?" Ty asked.
"Look can we just please drop it?" I pleaded, "I can't tell you anything."
"Okay but you can't keep it a secret for ever Alex," Dylan said.
"I can try."
&
Alex's lunch period
Mystery Guys POV
Today's the day! Soon Alex Rider will be taken down for good.
Fucking MI6 had to go and delay it a bit because they had to send their precious golden boy with his own personal body guard! Fucking 'substitute gym teacher' my ass, why the school believed he was actually a teacher I have no idea, just shows what idiots Burk and Davis really are.
I'm fucking pissed off I'm not allowed to participate today in the capture of Alex Rider. But I will get my revenge on the little shit, the little shit who killed my brother, Nile.
Soon the whole school will know his secret and see their fucking golden boy in a new light, as a killer. Soon the world will be free of Alex Rider…
My watch beep, it was almost go time.
12:16
"CODE RED CODE RED!" blared the loud speaker.
Ah right on time, it is only a matter of minutes before Alex Rider is in the clutches of Scorpia once and for all.
A single gun shot echoed through the empty hallways, that was my signal.
Soon we will have the last piece of the puzzle… after 15 years our plans will finally be in motion. Soon the world will fall to their knees at the feet of Scorpia.
Soon…
&
Lunch room, 12:00
Alex's POV
I was sitting at my usual lunch table with my friends. They were talking about something pointless but I wasn't paying attention. Something felt wrong, in my bones I felt like something was about to happen… something bad.
My hand was slightly inside the bottom of my black sweatshirt fiddling with my 9mm that was strapped to my side. The cold steel felt reassuring under my hand. I unconsciously checked to make sure that there were bullets in the gun.
"Alex?" I was broken out of my thoughts to Blake's voice. Everyone else was watching me expectantly.
"Er sorry what?"
"Do you want to hang out after school with the rest of us?" She asked me.
"Er I dunno. I might be busy," I tried to say casually.
"Doing what?" Ty asked me suspiciously.
"Oh you know…"
"CODE RED CODE RED!" Mr. Davis's frightened voice blared out of the loud speakers. The cafeteria immediately silenced. "I REPEAT CODE RED! THIS IS NOT A DRILL!" some of the students were looking at each other nervously. The next sound heard was a gun shot, just 1 shot.
Some people screamed when the cafeteria doors burst open but it was only Mr. Jenkins, "Everyone put your heads down and cover them with your hands and be quiet! They have guns! Don't move and be quiet and hopefully they won't hurt you!" he shouted urgently.
Everyone immediately followed Mr. Jenkins's orders and covered their head with their hands. I however didn't move, "Alex, just do what he said!" Tom hissed to me while he pulled me down.
I put my head on the table but put one hand inside my sweatshirt and was gripping the gun. It was Scorpia, I just knew it. They didn't want to wait for me to find them, they wanted me now. I was scared, not for me but for my friends and everyone else in the school who were completely innocent.
The doors burst open again and I discreetly watched the men enter. There were 3 of them, they were dressed all in black and was each holding a black military rifle across their bodies. One of the men stood slightly in front of the other 2 who were standing one on each of his sides. "We're not going to hurt anyone!" a cold voice thundered across the room, "There's just 1 person we want!"
I saw Tom tense a little next to me; he knew they were here for me too.
"He will come to us willingly!" The steely voice roared, "If he ever wants to see his precious guardian again!"
Tom turned his head towards me a little and I saw his eyes wide in horror, I shook my head slightly.
"There's no need to cover your heads! Only 1 person is leaving here today with us and he knows who he is!"
Most everyone lifted their heads to look at their schools attackers and than look at each other questioningly wondering who it was they wanted.
"You can't hide from us! We know you're in here!" The cold eyes scanned the room and fell on me, "We see you! Come out now before someone else you care about gets hurt!" He smirked evilly.
I took a deep breath in a futile attempt to calm my pounding heart. I slipped my hand out of my sweatshirt and pulled back the safety on the gun. Even though a 9mm was pretty useless compared to the military guns the men from Scorpia were holding the cold steel of the weapon gave me a little more confidence.
I slowly stood up and shook my head sadly at the shocked looks I got from my friends. I walk between the tables into the middle of the center aisle so I was only about 10 yards away from the men. There were a few gasps and whispers as I walked but I ignored them. I lifted the gun up so it was pointing at the front man. In turn the 2 men in back raised their guns so they were pointing at me. The front man held up his hand as a signal to not fire.
"Alex Rider, we meet again."
"What do you want?" I asked in a loud, confident voice.
"You're due for a little visit to Scorpia."
"Do you have Jack?" I demanded in a hard voice.
"We do," I blanched as my worst fears were realized. The man continued, "Don't worry she's not hurt… much. Put down the gun Alex and come with us."
"No."
"You sided with us once I'm sure you can do it again if the life of someone you care about is in hand!"
"You lied to me before! You were going to kill me anyway! I'll never go with you!" I yelled at him.
"Well either way you're coming with us. Do you want your whole school to know your secret?" My eyes widened in horror.
"Why do you want the boy?" a voice asked from the back of the cafeteria, somewhere behind me. I recognized the voice but didn't fell this was the best time to ponder its owner.
"Alex Rider is not who he says he is! Everything he has told you about his injuries and his absences has been a lie! Alex Rider works for MI6 as their super star teenage spy!" This earned some gasps but I kept my head up and glared at the man who was steadily ruining my life as he continued, "Have you heard of Harold Sayle and the Storm Breaker computers? Point Blanc Academy? General Alexei Sarov? Damian Cray? He's the ass who brought them all down!" I'm betting every student gasped at this news. I knew that finally they were connecting my disappearances to all the events that had been in the news, "He betrayed us! Scorpia took him in when he came to us in need and he turned back to the miserable scum at MI6! We sent our best sniper after you and you survived!" he yelled accusingly.
There was a moment of silence before he continued, "I know the bullet just barely missed your heart! Tell me Alex, how does it feel to be in so much pain and to feel so helpless and to be praying for death?" He thundered at me, "That's how you'll feel before we're done with you! You'll be begging and crying for us to give you the sweet luxury of death!"
There wasn't a sound in the vast room that was normally filled with the laughter and happy chatter of students, "No one's here to save you this time!"
"I don't need saving! I've saved myself tons of times before without help!" I roared back at him. I was mad, mad at Scorpia for coming into my school, for taking Jack, for killing my family, for telling everyone about me!
"You're not getting out of this one alive; the only way you'll ever leave us is in the box we'll send your mangled and dead body to MI6 in!"
I saw people around me cringe. I cringed inwardly. I wished that this was a bad dream and I'd wake up tomorrow, I'd be home and so would Jack. We'd have breakfast together as usual and maybe go see a movie.
At exactly that moment the doors crashed open and I turned around to see Wolf running through them. My eyes met his for a second and I saw fear there, fear for me. He pointed his gun at the front mans chest and fired it. There were screams as the gun fired. The front man staggered a bit but than stood back up with an evil grin on his cold face. He raised his gun to Wolf and fired it once. The bullet connected with Wolf's arm and he growled in pain as blood soaked through the sleeve of his shirt.
"Wolf!" I yelled as his face contorted in pain.
I started to move towards him but he said in a low raspy voice, "Cub don't, I'll be fine," I started at him, "Don't you remember your training Cub! Don't turn your back to the enemy!" He yelled at me.
I was in mid-turn when I felt something knock against me and I stumbled backwards a few steps. I turned back around and saw Wolf struggling against one of the front mans back ups. Wolf was already weak from the blood loss and the man quickly had him stilled. He shoved the muzzle of his gun against Wolf's temple. Wolf's eyes pleaded with me not to do anything stupid as I saw the finger begin to tighten on the trigger…
"STOP!" I yelled so loud I felt my throat go hoarse.
The front man motioned for the other man to stop, I watched in relief as his finger released the trigger.
"I'll… I'll come with you if you let him live!" I shouted at him.
The front man smirked coolly and said, "Yes, I didn't think you'd turn us down when we were about to kill you adopted big brother in front of you. Drop the gun Alex," he ordered me.
"Let Wolf go first." I said as calmly as I could.
"Very well, release him!" He ordered the other man. The man released Wolf but gave him a swift kick in the gut that caused him to crumple to the cold tile floor. Wolf looked at me in horror and opened his mouth slightly; I just shook my head at him. Wolf closed his mouth and looked at me sadly.
"Drop the gun Alex," the front man warned me, "Or the man you call Wolf will be no more."
"Cub…" Wolf began but was silenced with another kick and groaned.
I released the safety on the gun and it fell to the floor with a clatter. I saw the gun fall and flip a few times in slow motion.
Wolf struggled to get up but was pushed back to the ground when the man's heavy combat boot slammed into the small of his back. I heard some screams and started to turn around but it was too late; I felt something heavy smash into the back of my head and the last thing I saw was Wolf's horror filled face and the scared faces of my best friends before everything went black…
&
Author's Note:
I had way too much fun writing this chapter! I've been playing around with this scene in my head since I read Scorpia last year and had to put it in! I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it! Review! The next chapter will be up by Monday, probably before.
Missmeliss4251: Thank you for the review! I agree with you!
Lil Lupin: Thank you for the review! I'm glad you liked it!
sophiajisu: Thank you for the review!
