CHAPTER 3: THE PRINCESS BREAKS FREE

The Scorpion's Manor, outskirts of Sparkyville

7 PM

Gertie was still imprisoned in her nicely furnished dungeon. Luckily, the room had its own bathroom and shower for her to use. And the Scorpion's men kept her fed. They even provided a television for her to watch so she wouldn't go stir crazy while staying there. They never told her what their plans for her was or if she would live or die. One thing she did know was that she had to escape somehow.

The two goons that brought her there, Brody and Butch, were the main one's to watch her. Brody was the mean one, usually barking orders at her and even getting a bit physical when she talked back. The Scorpion even had to intervene at one point when he did make his presence known to her again, though wearing a mask so she wouldn't see his face. He warned Brody that nothing was to happen to her unless he said so himself. Butch, by contrast, was the nicer of the two henchmen, despite being bigger and stronger than Brody. And while he may or may not had been the man who killed Sam (Gertie didn't know if he or the Scorpion himself did it; no one told her), he did treat her with respect. While he gave her orders, as well, he didn't threaten her or be mean to her, though at times he was stern and to the point, especially if the Scorpion was around. Otherwise, Butch actually made sure she was comfortable while they held her there and never laid a finger on her. He even had to hold Brody back, when he tried to lunge at her after she told him that she didn't like oatmeal for breakfast.

This particular day, Butch was keeping an eye on her. Brody had to do business for the Scorpion in Sparkyville, so she was glad Butch was there and not his co-hort. They were actually playing a game of Uno in her room. Gertie drew her next to last card.

"Uno!" she shouted. Butch smiled, and drew a "draw four" wild card. "No fair, Butch!"

"You know the rules of the game, Gertie," he laughed. Gertie drew four cards. Butch dropped a blue card. And the game continued until the door opened. Brody was back from running his errands.

"The boss wants to see you, Butch," he said, not missing a beat. Gertie was disappointed. Now Brody would be watching her, and he wasn't nice to her at all.

"Okay, Bro," said Butch. "We'll finish the game later. Okay, Gertie?"

"Sure thing, Butch," said Gertie. And Butch went to see the Scorpion. Brody brought over a bag of food to Gertie. She looked and saw it was from Joe's Café.

"Now yous talkin', Brody!" said a happy Gertie, as she pulled out the food, which was a Joe Burger, a large French fry, and a cola.

"Eat up and get ready for bed," ordered Brody, flatly. And he left, and locked the door behind him. At least he left her alone, for once, she figured. After eating her meal, she took a shower and dressed in her pajama's, just in case the Scorpion, or one of his men, went to check on her. She had a stash of clothes waiting for her for the escape. Little did they know was that since the room was at ground level, she was loosening one of the bars on the windows so she could squeeze through with her slender frame. But she did it late at night when they thought she was sleeping. This particular night, she had successfully got the bar loose, but just waited for the right time to make her escape. As she turned off the lights and seemingly went into bed, she waited to see if and when one of the guards would check on her.

As midnight rolled around, Gertie was still up, but then she heard the door open. She laid down and pretended she was asleep. It was Brody checking in on her. After about a minute he closed the door and locked it, then went on his way. Gertie waited for a few minutes, then got up and got dressed. After getting dressed, she placed pillows under her bedspread to make it look like she was still sleeping. Then she went to the window and popped the bar off the frame. She managed to slide through the bars. Once outside she made her way towards the fence, hiding behind trees and bushes so she wasn't seen. When she got to the fence, she looked to see that if it was electric or had barbed wire on it. Luckily, it was a barred fence that looked fancy. After another look around the property, making sure she wasn't followed, she scaled the fence, went over and was outside the property. Even though she was successful at getting out, she still wasn't out of danger. She ran down the street far away from the Scorpion's compound. She managed to find a modest house a few miles down the road. She was tired and exhausted from running. She knocked on the door, hoping someone would wake up, or was even home. After what seemed forever, a light came on. An old man answered the door.

"What are you doing up this time of night, young lady?" he asked.

"Please, mistah," Gertie said, panting. "I wuz kidnapped by some goons a few days ago. I need t' get back t' Sparkyville an' get help!"

"Okay, young lady, I'll see what I can do," said the man. He invited her in and got dressed. He then brought her to his truck, and they headed for town.

Once back in Sparkyville, they drove past her father's junkyard. She saw it was still roped off with police tape, plus an outline of a body by the gate. She didn't let the man know that it was her father's place. They had made it to the police department. The man got out of the truck.

"Just you wait right here, dear," he said. "I will get an officer to help you out." And when he went inside, Gertie had other plans. She didn't want the police to know that she was okay, at least not yet. She wanted to get some other help from some people she knew. She got out of the truck and took off. When the man came back with a police officer, they were surprised to see the girl was gone.

Gertie made it to a house that she knew. She tapped on the window of someone's bedroom. The window opened to reveal it was former Lizard Lady, Komodo Dragon.

"Gertie?!" she said, shocked to see her there. "What the hell are you doing here?! Everyone's looking for you after your father was found shot to death at his junkyard."

"I know who did it, Komodo," said a tearful Gertie. "It wuz th' Scorpion and his men!"

"You've seen the Scorpion?!"

"Only in th' shadows. His face wuz hidden from me an' I don't know what he looks like. But I could recognize his goons, though. One o' them wuz real sweet to me, and th' other wuz a jackass!"

"Okay, come in, but be quiet. My folks are asleep, and I don't want to wake them. I think I know who we can get to help us." And Komodo let Gertie inside to figure out their next move.

NEXT CHAPTER: J.J. GETS HIS IN THE WORST WAY!