Chapter Four: Hostage

There was a beeping sound far in the distance. It was the first sound he could remember hearing in days. The pulsing sound was steady, happening every second or so. It was growing louder and louder. It was right next to him.

"Troy? TROY! He's awake! Nurse, nurse! He's awake!"

The voice speaking was familiar. He couldn't place it in his mind. He tried to lift his eyelids but they felt heavy and the weight kept them firmly closed. As he managed to crack one eye open, there was a blinding light, brighter than he had ever seen before, brighter than the sun, brighter than a flame. Everything was white. The glare began to dim and he groggily came about and took note of his surroundings.

Troy Bolton was lying in a bed of plain white, cotton sheets. The walls were white. The people around him were dressed in white. Everything was clinical – even the smell. He glanced to his left and noticed that he was hooked up to some kind of machine – this must have been what had been beeping, what had bought him back into the real world.

He glanced to his right. There was a woman sitting next to him. Although he was confused, there was no denying the familiar heart shaped face framed with long curly, brown hair.

"Mom?", his voice was barely audible. He cleared his throat and tried to speak again but he could not increase the volume of his voice.

"Shhh", his mother shushed him and put her hand to her forehead.

"Where am I?", he continued regardless of her request.

"You're in hospital sweetie", she replied.

"Why? There's nothing wrong with me?", Troy made to get up to prove the point that he was fine. As he made to move he felt a stabbing pain shoot through him all over. His head and shoulders were lashed in pain, his stomach cramped and his left ankle twinged painfully. He winced and gasped. His mother pushed him back down on to his pillow gently and returned to stroking his head.

"What happened to me?", he asked, confused by his apparent injury.

"You mean you don't remember?", his mother replied.

A Jamaican accent came from the far side of the room and Troy turned to see a large woman in a nurses uniform arranging some forms on a table as she spoke, "That is to be expected, don't worry about it. It will just be the concussion. It will come back to him soon"

"Mom? Tell me", Troy spoke.

"Honey. . ."

"Mom! I want to know!"

She looked down at her son with a mixture of sorrow and dread obvious on her face and opened her mouth soundlessly, she looked down and clasped her hands in her lap before speaking quietly.

"Honey, it's important that you don't get too upset by this. Now, listen to me, it won't be easy to listen to which is why I didn't want you to find out so soon, but I promise you it is being dealt with"

"Mom! Just tell me, already!", Troy was getting his voice back and was raising it as loudly as possible.

She continued, "You were beaten up, honey. You were found in a back alley after Sharpay's party. You didn't go back in and they were worried about you. They phoned the police and they found you pretty quickly"

"Sharpay's. . .", Troy repeated his mothers words trying to reinstate his memory.

"You were out cold. You were bleeding badly. They thought you might have been dead. They managed to get you to the hospital and they phoned us to say you were serious but stable. If they'd found you just that little bit later. . ."

"The back alley?", Troy was beginning to have flashbacks.

"They told us that it looked like human inflicted wounds mainly. You have bruising and cuts all over your body and your collar bone is broken. They said that your ankle bone is severely bruised and it might hurt to walk on it for a while but you won't need plaster. Someone took a bat to your head"

"I was with Gabriella. . .", he was remembering more and more. They had walked out of the door together.

"What would we have done if they hadn't found you?"

"There were two men", he saw the man grab hold of his girlfriend.

"You could've been dead. . ."

"They took her", he remembered the men beat him to the ground and hearing Gabriella's screams as they had driven off.

"You were so lucky, darling"

"They took Gabriella"

"I'm just so happy you're back with us, it was touch and go for a while"

"Mom! Shut up! They took Gabriella! Those guys took Gabriella!", Troy was screaming now despite how small the room was. He needed to find Gabriella, he tried to sit up but his mother pushed him down.

"Mom! I need to find her! Let me up!"

"No, Troy. They're dealing with it. The police are looking for her. There is nothing else we can do"

"Let me go!"

"Troy. . ."

"GABRIELLA!"

...

The two men threw Gabriella down on to the mattress in the dimly lit basement room. Banes bent down to her and stroked her face. He pulled the rag of material that had been gagging her from her mouth so that it hung loosely around her neck. She inhaled deeply before yelling.

"YOU BASTARDS! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? LET ME GO! LET ME GO! HELP! SOMEBODY!"

"Who are you calling to, sweetheart? Who do you thinks gonna help you? Your pathetic little boyfriend? Let me tell you something, darling, he's dead"

"HELP ME! PLEASE!"

"Save your breath, gorgeous. The room sound proofed", Turner laughed as Gabriella slumped back on to the dirty mattress, giving up the fight. Her hands were still bound behind her back and she was lying in an uncomfortable, odd position. She sighed heavily and looked up at her captors. She spoke one single word.

"Why?"

Turner laughed at her, "Why?", he chortled, "Why are we doing this, huh? Well, isn't it obvious! It's because. . .er. . .because. . ."

"Shut up, Turner", Banes spoke in a low voice, "The girl doesn't need to know anything"

"What difference does it make if I know? You've already made it clear that there's no way I'm getting out of here! Who am I going to tell? I may cooperate if you do", Gabriella said, shakily.

"She's a clever one, ain't she boss?"

Banes ignored Turner and continued to speak, "Money"

"Money?", Gabriella spat, "You kidnap me and kill my boyfriend? For money?"

"Basically", Banes spoke almost inaudibly but his tone remained strong and mirthless, showing how little he cared for the plight of his victim sitting in front of him.

Without warning, Turner moved over to the girl and sat next to her. He began to stroke her bare legs showing through the dress she had put on earlier that evening. She winced as his hand caressed her knee, willing him to get off but too scared to say anything. He continued to touch her body, running his hands all over her – her waist, her hips, her shoulders. When his hands came to rest on her chest, Gabriella couldn't take it anymore, she began to scream as loudly as she could. Turner grabbed her face and kissed her passionately on the lips. She did her best to keep her mouth as tightly closed as possible but he forced his tongue inside of her mouth. Through her heavy breathing she managed to cry out and pull away. In the brief moment that their lips were separated, Gabriella drew her head back and head butted him in the centre of his forehead, causing Turner to reel.

"Right, you asked for it", he growled. Turner launched himself on Gabriella, forcing her to lie back on her bound hands on to the mattress. He grabbed the material hanging around her neck and pushed it back into her mouth. He pinned her to the mattress with one hand on her neck while the other reached down to the hem of her dress and began to move rapidly upwards. As he reached her mid thigh, Gabriella screamed out, pleading wordlessly. She looked at the other man standing in front of them, watching the scene with emotionless eyes. He seemed not to care. He said nothing. Gabriella put her head back and closed her eyes willing whatever was about to happen to be over as quickly as possible. Suddenly as low voice sounded.

"Get off her, Turner", Banes spoke, "We didn't take her to do that"

Banes looked at Turner and back at Gabriella, glancing between the two, showing obvious malice towards both. He emitted a low growl and stood up, leaving Gabriella bound and gagged on the mattress, her hair ruffled and her dress torn, breathing more heavily than she ever had.

"There are more useful things to do with the girl", Banes spoke again, "But not right now. We shall see you later Ms Montez"

Banes walked across the basement room over to a ladder which had been propped against the entrance to the hatch. He climbed up and out of it as Turner followed, with one last leering look back at their captive, Turner slammed shut the hatch, removing what little light was left in the room and plunging Gabriella into complete darkness.

Lying alone in the dark room, she began to review the situation. She had been kidnapped. She was a hostage. Her boyfriend was dead or dying somewhere. No one knew where she was. Things had never seemed more hopeless in her entire life.