Out of Time
Disclaimer: I own nothing
A/N: I know it has been a long while. My job's hours changed to daytime and I never had time to work on my writing, then I went through a big move to the Houston area away from a lot of toxic people in my life. Now my new district has evening hours and I find myself in such a positive place that I am gifting you with a brand new mystery tale. One of twists, turns, danger, intrigue and an organization that surrounds our characters in such a way that they must wonder who to trust and who is the enemy….enjoy
Chapter 1 (A Strange Feeling)
Inside a dimly lit room far underground lay a lightly tanned woman with her wrists and ankles restrained. Her long brown hair swayed at the sides of the stretcher she was on, coated in blood and drenched with sweat. The muscles in her body tensed as she screamed, pleading for anyone that could possibly hear.
Streaks of tears had stained her freckled cheeks, her lips were dried and cracked and the palms of her hands were bloodied from her nails. "Why?" She moaned as her head feel back to the cold steel under her back. "Why are you doing this?"
"Because," answered a callous feminine voice, "I can." The woman struggled to lift her head as she felt the vibrations along the ground of a door closing. A figure approached and bony fingers stung the woman's thigh. "You have no value outside, here you are given purpose."
The woman's chest expanded and fresh tears burned her eyes. "You can't get away with this." The figure smirked. "They're going to look for me, they will…"
"Oh sweetie, I've been getting away with this for a few years already, what's another few under the belt." The figure raised a hand, revealing a syringe in her fingers. The girl cried out in shock, her body quivering as she watched her captor sink the needle into a vial of liquid. "As for you? You're nothing but a street walker, a prostitute with dreams you know you'll never achieve. Here, you will be able to contribute to something far greater."
"No." The woman shook her head frantically. "No, this isn't what I want. Please!" Her captor lowered the needle to the woman's thigh, holding just inches above her skin.
Her eyes widened and her voice shook and rose. "No please. No, I just want my baby." Her gaze flickered to her captor, pleading at the malicious smirk. "Let me see my baby. Please. You're wrong! I'm not a prostitute, I'm not! I know I ran away from home, I know my parents were mad; but I'm somebody, I have a boyfriend-a family, a-"
"You won't be missed dear." The needle felt like the sting of a wasp as it sank into her skin. She arched her back, tensing her muscles and screaming as the fluid burned inside her veins. "Your parents will be dealt with and, no worries, your baby will be fine…"
"No." The woman's voice grew weaker, strained, and her arms fell limp at her sides. She let her head fall sideways and her pupils dilated. "Momma, Daddy, I'm so sorry." Her vision darkened as she thought of her parents and of the gamer boy she'd dated, her best friend. "Spenc…"
Nearly eighteen years later, Jade West and her boyfriend, Beck, chatted in the back of Mr. Sikowitz's classroom. The instructor was at his desk, having given his class a few minutes to relax at the end of the period.
Behind them, Cat Valentine swooned over Robbie Shapiro's latest ventriloquist act. In front of them was Tori Vega, happily studying her textbook. Andre Harris stood near her, arms folded and gaze drifting towards their instructor.
"Just a few more months to go," Beck said with a widening grin, "Graduation and summer trip." He nudged her playfully and wagged his eyebrows, causing a hint of redness to grow on her cheeks.
They were looking forward to summer more than any of their friends, because unlike the rest, Beck and Jade weren't focusing on heading directly to college. They wanted to take some time after high school to be with each other, tour the country with their parents and of course they joked about having a fling in every state.
"Don't forget our dads are going to be with us on our 'cross-country fling', Beck." She smirked at him and playfully shoved him to the side. "Besides, we've got five months to go, settle down."
He leaned back with a sigh and flashed a toothy grin. "Alright, alright." He glanced to Cat and Robbie, raising his eyebrows. "What's going on with you two, I haven't seen so much swooning coming from Cat in a long time."
Cat's eyes flickered up and her cheeks turned as red as her hair. "We're going on our first date this weekend." The girl's pitch rose to a squeal as she shook her hands in the air. "Finally!"
Robbie flashed a proud grin that stretched from ear to ear. "She finally decided to go out with me." Cat had always been incredibly shy, and it was no secret the two had eyes for each other; but up to now she always turned down his advances. Jade was happy for them, especially because she was tired of the constant late night phone calls with Cat asking her why she was lacking in confidence.
Tori looked over from her book, cheering on the pair. "Glad to hear you guys are actually going to try dating. It's a bit early to talk about summer, but do you guys look forward to doing anything together?"
"Not annoying her roommate would be one idea." Robbie laughed. Cat's roommate was someone they'd all met before, Sam Puckett formerly of iCarly fame. She didn't interact much with the group, and Cat mentioned Sam had grown a bit more private. This was due to Sam having taken some college internship with a private detective. "She's either busy with college, busy with her internship or her new hobby with a biker group."
"Biker group? She's working with a detective and she's a part of a biker group?"
"Not all biker groups are bad." That was true, there were plenty of good clubs out there. They got a bad rep because of the gangs that actually were criminal gangs. Most bikers were just biking enthusiasts.
Robbie leaned back and raised his shoulders up. "We're only going on a first date, summer is pretty far away." He glanced to Tori, his brows rising. "What about you, Tori? Any plans?"
"Mom and Dad say they have a vacation planned." Tori threw her hair back over her shoulder and started to smile. "We haven't talked much about it, but they're planning something huge, I'll bet. A getaway, just the four of us."
Andre frowned. "Hope your sister doesn't hog all the attention on that trip." Tori rolled her eyes and sighed.
"I don't know, she's not so bad at home. You guys just never see her acting normally because, for whatever reason, she's always throwing herself into the picture when you guys are around."
"Because she's insane."
"No she's not, she's just-" The classroom door swung open and the group looked to see Trina striding into the room. The woman looked around at the group with a smile that faded the instant she spotted Beck and Jade.
A sudden shudder came over Jade, a feeling that she could never describe which had always been present. It was the reason she always acted so harsh towards Tori and her family. Beck often asked her about it but she told him simply that she could never explain it.
"Tori, let's go home." Trina pulled her purse strap over her shoulder and turned around slowly.
Before Jade could stifle herself, she spoke her innermost thoughts on the matter. "Tori's almost eighteen, and you're just her sister, you shouldn't boss her around. She doesn't have to answer to you." Trina paused and looked over her shoulders, narrowing her eyes.
"It's a family matter, you don't need to be getting in the middle of someone else's family."
Tori collected her things, threw her backpack over her shoulder and started for the door, waving at the group. "Bye guys, see you tomorrow!"
As the group left, Andre walked over, shaking his head at them. "Seriously Jade, sometimes you need to keep your mouth shut." Jade flinched at his words and looked to Beck, offended. Beck furrowed his brow at Andre, who threw his hands up. "I'm just saying, you piss that family off enough, they might make Tori cut you off." Andre's shoulders fell and his eyes moved to the side. "Or worse, I mean the Dad's pretty high up in the police force and the Mom's the director of the hospital, that family has influence like you don't know. They could destroy our careers before they even started if they really wanted to."
Sikowitz arose from his desk with a huff. "I doubt that very highly." The group glanced to their instructor, now walking across the classroom. "If anything, they'd just get tired of having you around treating them the way you do and would simply be done with you."
Jade crossed her arms and scoffed, she didn't believe a word of it. "Tori's in control of her own life. She can have whatever friends she wants to have." Beck nodded in agreement while the others simply stared oddly at them, leaving Jade with a tinge of discomfort. "What?"
"Sometimes," Robbie began, "Family is more important." His voice was slow, as though he was being careful with his words. "If family doesn't like someone's choice of friends, then those friends quickly leave the picture. We don't know what their lives are like at home, we don't know how close they are as a family, so it isn't your place to get between them…"
"We can joke all we like," Andre remarked, "But to tell them how to treat each other?" He started for the door with Cat and Robbie quickly in tow, pausing only to look back. "Not our place man. Be friends with Tori, but don't start mouthing off at her family."
As they left, Jade felt Beck's arm around her waist. She leaned into him, her lips pursed and brow furrowed heavily. "What was that all about, Beck?" His shoulders lifted and he shook his head.
"I don't know, Andre might have a point."
"Huh?"
"Well, I mean he's known the Vegas longer." Beck scratched his head and paced to the right, confusion etched clearly on his face. "Even Robbie and Cat, maybe they know more about Tori's family than we do. Maybe we just think they're not close and they are?"
"I guess…" Technically Beck and Jade weren't originally part of Tori's first group of friends, it was a mishap when Jade ran into Beck. He'd been friends with Andre a little, so Andre was the one to bring Beck and Jade into the flock, hoping to ease tensions between Jade and Tori. After that, they all just hung together, almost always as a group. With the exception of Trina, who somehow always seemed to be around regardless.
"Whatever." Beck hugged her, giving a bit of warmth and comfort to her strangely frazzled nerves. "Just one of those days, let's go do something else."
Jade nodded at him and quickly kissed his lips before turning her gaze towards Sikowitz. The instructor was still staring at them, his index finger sliding smoothly over his upper lip.
Quietly they left the classroom, moved past their lockers and towards the doors of the school. Jade couldn't help but to rub her arms, feeling uncomfortable as if someone was staring them down.
"I feel so weird, Beck." She looked up at him as he placed the palm of his hand on the pushbar of the door. He turned to her, gently pushing the door forward. "I can't explain it, I just feel like…something's not right."
"Yeah." His voice lowered to a whisper and he looked up, gazing at the school hallways with a serious expression. "I'm getting a similar feeling, kind of like I just want to get the hell out. This school's always felt a bit off, I'm just glad we're graduating and getting out in a few months."
"I'll be glad to be done with it too." They made their way out and hurried towards the parking lot where they nearly ran into a boy their age. He was tall and lean, like Beck, and had a similar haircut with sandy brown hair. His soft brown gaze fell to them as he collected himself.
"Sorry," he replied, "I wasn't paying attention." Beck, who was now on the ground after tripping while trying to avoid colliding with him, started to push himself up. The man reached down and pulled Beck to his feet. "My name's Ian, I was just passing by."
Jade furrowed her brow and smiled politely. "Ian? I haven't seen you around, do you go to school here?" Ian shook his head and furrowed his brow at the building
"No, I was just checking it out. I used to know someone that goes here."
"Is it anyone we might know?"
Ian studied them carefully and then shook his head. "I don't know." He frowned at them and looked over his shoulder. "I should go though, looks like the office is almost closed." The staff were on their way out of the building, so it was unlikely anyone would be there to help him out.
"Okay, well I'm Jade." She put a hand to her chest, then gestured to Beck. "This is my boyfriend, Beck." Dropping her hand, she looked at the parking lot with a casual glance. Her speech paused for a moment when a peculiar vehicle in the lot caught her eye.
It was a dark green sedan which two familiar people were seated. Gary Malone, the officer that visited the Vegas on occasion, and Cat's roommate; it looked as though they were scoping the place.
She nudged Beck and his gaze followed hers. At that moment, Ian said goodbye and walked off, but they were still focused on Sam and Gary.
Shrugging it off, they made their way to Beck's car and left the parking lot much faster than they often did. Perhaps they were just being anxious for no reason, but neither could shake the feeling that today was far stranger of a day than normal. Either that, or they were noticing an eerie feeling in the air for the first time since they'd been at the school.
Something strange is certainly going on, it seems Beck and Jade are noticing something that maybe has always been there, or are they just being paranoid? Who were the people at the beginning? Why are Gary and Sam at the school? And were the friends acting strange or were the couple just having an off day? What are your thoughts?
