Temptation
Disclaimer: I do not own FOP though if I did I'd probably let my imagination run wild which is both a good and bad thing depending on the said imaginative circumstances.
Chapter 4
The hallway doors of the hospital flew open as a group of nurses hurried through them, pushing along a gurney that an unconcious Tootie laid on. Timmy, Vicki, and Chester followed closely behind the nurses until they pushed the gurney into a section of the hospital that the three of them weren't allowed to enter. Timmy half expected Vicki to punch the nurse that denied them access to go further into the hospital, but she was still caught in the horror spell since seeing her sister in such of dire state. Vicki only silently followed the two teens back out into the waiting room and sat in a chair. Timmy pulled Chester to the side, though made sure it was out of ears reach of Vicki.
"What happened?" asked Timmy.
"I...It all happened so fast. One moment Tootie was fighting him and then the next she was...she was lying on the floor...bleeding." said Chester, as his mind faded back to the dreadfully events that transpired in front of him.
: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :
Flashback
After Tootie's try-outs, which took longer than normal due to the fact that not only was she auditioning for the squad, but also unknowingly for the part of being the cheerleading captain, Chester walked her home. The two of them walked up the sidewalk that led up to the front door of her house.
"Ugh." Tootie said, angrily as she hung up her phone.
"Marcel still not picking up?" asked Chester.
"Not showing up for school is one thing, but ignoring all of our calls? That's a new kind of low. Even for him. You don't think anything happened to him do you?" asked Tootie.
"Wow. I didn't know you cared so much about him." Chester answered, with a sly smile.
"What's that suppose to mean?" She asked, as she shot him a glare.
"Nothing...just um...nevermind. He probably had something important to do 'Or someone to do' which is probably the reason why he didn't show up for school and not answering any of our calls. Getting onto a positive subject though..." Chester trailed off.
"So let me see if I have this correct. The school booted out Trixie from captain of the cheerleading squad and gave the position to you, after one try-out?" He asked Tootie, who was feeling around for her house key.
"Yeah, apparently just standing around and looking pretty isn't part of the cheerleading regulations. Shocker. Who would've thought?" Tootie asked sarcastically, as she finally found her key.
It then dawned on her that Vicki was probably home now and would've left the door unlocked for her or their parents, assuming things didn't go over well with Timmy and he really didn't have some kind of crush on her or she said or did something that was Vicki of her to muck it all up. She didn't really understand why she was okay with the whole Vicki and Timmy dilemma since it wasn't that long ago that she herself had a stalker-ish crush on him, and most people would've probably been down their sibling's throat for even considering what she suggested.
She finally decided to turn the door knob and find out, but to her amusement the door was locked meaning that Vicki hadn't made it home yet. She unlocked the door and walked inside, not noticing a figure that was barely contained in the shadows that Chester immediately saw, causing the blond teen to freeze up in the doorway.
Tootie, still none the wiser, trailed over to the couch and fell onto it with a tiring groan before arching her head up to stare up at the ceiling as she stretched her arms out along the couch.
"You know, I think I can handle this heavy responsibility that was given to me. I might not be a cheerleading veteran like Veronica, but I'm sure I can whip the rest of the squad into shape. What do you think?" Tootie asked Chester, who was still frozen in the door with his eyes locked onto the figure that remained in the shadows.
"What are you lo..." Tootie started to say, but began to trail off as she turned her head in the direction in which Chester was looking and immediately spotted a glimpse of the figure out the corner of her eye.
She quickly jumped to her feet, getting into a defensive stance as she faced the figure, who had begun to walk out of the shadows once they found out they were fully noticed. The figure turned out to be a male who's only distinctive feature that was visible to Chester and Tootie, due to him wearing all black from head to toe, was his dark grey eyes.It was obvious that this guy was a burglar, or was he? The guy seemed relaxed, even when he was spotted by Chester. Was he waiting there for them?
The burglar's eyes slowly kept shifting from Tootie to Chester as a wicked smile played its way onto his lips and before the two teens knew it, he made a dash at Chester as he drew a knife. Tootie, who was fortunate enough to make it to Chester before him, kicked the knife out of the burglar's hand before delivering a quick punch to his face, causing him to stumble backwards a foot or two.
"Well that's going to leave a mark." The burglar said, in a deep monotonous voice that wasn't his own, as he rubbed his eye. "Isn't the guy suppose to defend the girl not the other way around? Guess we know who wears the pants and skirt in your relatonship."
"We're not dating and it's none of your concern if we were. I hope you know you broke into the wrong house and this can only end badly for you, but unlike my sister who would've snapped you in half like a twig, I'll show you mercy this one time if you leave right now and never come back." said Tootie.
"See I can't do that, not until I'm sure I'm leaving satisfied with the objective I set out to complete this evening." said the burglar
"Can't say I didn't warn you." Tootie said, as she popped her neck and started to roll her body into a fighting stance.
The burglar quickly held his hands up in a surrendering motion.
"Hold on, fighting you isn't part of that objective I'm trying to achieve and besides, I don't hit fem-" The burglar tried to say, but got cut off mid-sentence when Tootie decided to try and land another punch on him.
He swiftly deflected the punch with the palm of his hand before maneuvering his other arm around to hit her with a vicious forearm to the middle of her face that sent her tumbling sideways onto her hands and knees.
Tootie had felt the blood run from her nose before she seen it drip onto the floor. She used the back of her hand to wipe the blood from her nose as she slowly got back to her feet, staring coldly at the burglar who had once again held his hands up in surrendering motion.
"I didn't mean for that to happen. My reflexes kicked in and got the better of me and I just d-" The burglar tried to explain, but was once again cut-off by Tootie as she ferociously screamed and charged at him.
The burglar didn't know what to expect as Tootie closed in on him, but it wasn't long for him to get an answer when she started viciously throwing a barrage of punches, which she managed to land some hits to his face the few times he wasn't able to dodge or evade in time.
She quickly ended her aggressive attacks on him and then leaped into the air, causing the the burglar to lean out of the way, thinking that she attempting to knee him in the face. He didn't count on her twisting her body around while in mid-air to bring a leg around so that her foot connected square with his jaw, stunning him as he got sent flying over the couch.
Tootie perfectly landed on both feet before falling to a knee, panting heavily as she looked over toward the couch and then to Chester, who was still quietly frozen in the doorway.
"Don't just stand there, call the cops." breathed Tootie, as she pushed herself back to her feet once more. "I need to go find something to tie him down with."
As Chester began fumbling through his pockets to get his phone, Tootie walked over behind the couch expecting to see an unconscious burglar, but to her surprise he was already getting back to his feet. Before she could react, he leaped over her and made a beeline for Chester, who had by now found his phone and begun to call the cops. The burglar quickly snatched the phone out of his hand and smashed it against the wall before grabbing Chester by the collar of his shirt as he stared him down intimidatingly. He then turned to look at Tootie, who had leapt at him with a flying side kick.
The burglar quickly pulled Chester aside out of harms way as he quickly slammed the door closed and ducked out of the way of the kick. Upon hitting the door, Tootie used the momentum of her kick to twist her body around while in mid-air and latch herself onto the burglar as he stood. She then proceeded to wrap her legs around his waist as she looped an arm under his before grabbing the wrist of her other arm and locking in a kimura lock.
The burglar grunted in pain as he fell to a knee, but then quickly stood back up. He knew that if fell to the floor that Tootie would be able to fully lock in the hold she had on him and that would be bad. Tootie once again looked over to Chester, who hadn't gotten up from being pulled safely to the ground by the burglar.
"Chester! My phone is on the table. Grab it and call the cops, I've got this handled." said Tootie, as she slowly started applying pressure to the arm of the burglar's.
Chester quickly made his way back to his feet before racing for the phone that sitting on the table.
"I can't allow him to do that..." thought the burglar, as he started slowly shuffling towards Chester.
Tootie applied more pressure to the burglar's arm to prevent him from reaching Chester, which slowed his pace down, but didn't stop him from continuing his ongoing path. The burglar then took a deep breath as he gathered up the last of his strength to charge the blond lad head on. Chester, who was focused on Tootie's phone, didn't realize what was going on until the burglar slammed into him, using Tootie's back. He fell onto his back, dazed as he watched the burglar then slam Tootie's back into the wall a few times, causing her to release the hold she had on him and fall painfully to the floor.
The burglar, not wasting anytime, held his arm in pain as he trailed over to Chester. The blond lad thought that he was done for when the burglar appeared on side of him and lifted his foot high in the air so he closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable. He flinched when he heard the burglar's foot come down and smashed something loudly next to his ear.
When only the deafening sound of silence could be heard thoughtout the house, Chester finally slowly opened his eyes again and seen the burglar's foot on top of Tootie's now smashed phone. The burglar shook his head at Chester before turning his attention back to Tootie, who was once again back to her feet.
She attempted to try another flying side kick, but the burglar once again evaded it which caused her to have to kick off of the wall and twist her body around towards him to pull off the same maneuver she did before. The burglar was surprisingly ready for her though. He swiftly caught her out of mid-air, before using the momentum of her force to effortlessly fling her over his shoulder, not calculating the surrounds behind him.
The loud sound of glass shattering echoed throughout the house, causing the burglar to quickly spin on his feet to the source of the noise. What he came upon wasn't a sight he was hoping to see. Tootie had unfortunately landed hard through a glass table, and now laid there on the floor lifelessly as blood spilled from different lacerations her body undertook from going through glass.
The burglar took a wary step toward Tootie as though he was concerned about her well-being, but the immediately stopped and turned to look at Chester out of the corner of his eye. He then proceeded to slowly back away from Tootie while still eyeing Chester until he reached the shadows where he was able to turn and runaway, leaving the two teens where they were.
Chester quickly scrambled to his feet and rushed over to Tootie's side when he realized the burglar had left them.
End of Flashback
: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :
"It wasn't long after that, that you and Vicki showed up." said Chester, before dropping his head and looking down at the floor. "This is my fault."
"What? How could this possibly be your fault?" asked Timmy.
"I just stood there like a dog with its' tail between its' legs. Afraid to even move a step. Had I been brave enough, then maybe I could've helped Tootie take him down and she wouldn't be hospitalized right now." Chester explained, shrugging as he shook his head.
Timmy placed a hand on Chester's shoulder, causing the blonde teen to lift his head a bit to look up at him and sigh.
"This isn't your fault, it's the burglar's fault. He was the one that did this to her, and if he could do this to her then there was no telling what he could've done to you had you attempted to help take him down." said Timmy.
Chester slowly nodded, before dropping his head again to look back at the floor as he sighed once more.
"I know this may look bad, but she's going to pull through. She's just as tough as her sister, she wouldn't let this be her downfall." Timmy said, as he looked over at Vicki.
"Vicki doesn't seem to think so." Chester said quietly, as he followed the brunet's gaze to the distorted redhead.
"Vicki is just...she just need some time to gather herself." Timmy said unsurely.
"It seems more like she needs some comfort, like a shoulder to lean on, or someone to tell her that everything is going to be okay." said Chester.
Timmy apparently didn't pick up on what the blonde teen was hinting at causing Chester to have to nudge him in the side to get his attention, before motioning over to Vicki, indicating that he should go and talk to her. Timmy's eyes widened as he fearfully shook his head. Chester once again motioned over to Vicki, though this time in a more irritated notion, causing the brunet to finally give in and go over to where she was sitting at.
Timmy sat in the chair next to her, and silently looked around the hospital. He wanted her to speak to him first to prevent himself from saying anything that would either make her lash out at him in a blind rage or make her burst out into tears. Both were bad, but one is less deadlier than the other, but still he didn't want either of those scenarios to happen. After some time had went by, Timmy finally shot a glance over a Vicki, hoping that she eventually made some kind of progress of snapping out of the trance she was in, but disappointly that hope died when the brunet looked at her just staring blankly at the wall on the other side of the room.
He shook his head as he got back to his feet and went to walk back over to Chester when suddenly Vicki quickly grabbed his wrist, yet still continued to blankly stare at the wall ahead of her.
"Don't...go..." She said, in a faint voice.
Timmy looked at Vicki and nodded as he sat back down in his seat. He thought she was going to release the hold she had on him once he sat back down, but she didn't, she just continued to firmly hold onto his wrist.
Silence once again took over the pair as they sat there looking at opposite things but each other. Timmy knew that Vicki would once again drift off into her trance if they just silently sat there not saying a word to each other, so he bit his lower lip before gathering up the courage to speak to her.
"She's going to be okay." said Timmy.
"How do you know that?" Vicki asked, faintly.
"Because she's tough, and she has an amazing sister and friends that's here to give her support and wish her back to good health." Timmy said, with a small smile.
Vicki didn't know what came over her when she suddenly pulled Timmy into a hug, but it was too late to go back now and besides, she needed it. Timmy was just glad that he could get Vicki out of that spell? Trance? Whatever it was she was under and back to her partially normal self again.
It suddenly occurred to the both of them how close they were considering how things escalated back at the arcade, before this whole ordeal. The two of them slowly peeled away from each other and slid to the opposite ends of their seats as they straightened themselves up.
"Thank you, for talk...and the hug." Vicki said, as she cleared her throat.
"You're welcome." said Timmy, even though he didn't have much choice in the hug, but he wasn't complaining about it.
He looked away for a brief second and then looked back at her. "You know who did this don't you? The guy in the mask, you know who he is, that's why you're afraid isn't it?"
"First off, I might be turning over a new leaf, but that doesn't mean that anyone or anything can put fear into my heart. Secondly, a mask?" asked Vicki.
"Yeah, Chester said that the would-be burglar had a mask on and the whole burglar get-up, but even after doing what he did to Tootie and smashing both of their phones, he left without taking a single anything." said Timmy, noticing the change in her emotions.
"That explains why this doesn't add up to any of his M.O. because it wasn't him that did this, it was someone else. I don't know whether to be relieved that he haven't made it to Dimmsdale yet or pissed off that some guy broke into our house and tried to kill my sister. Then again, what if he is here and made someone break into the house to throw me off his trail?" thought Vicki.
Timmy snapped his fingers in front of her face, which brought her back to reality. She looked over at him, and from the look she gave him, Timmy could tell that from what he said, it changed everything that Vicki once thought and felt before he clued her in on the details.
"I need to go make a quick call. I'll be back." Vicki quickly said, as she stood and then reached into her pocket to take her phone out.
"But you never answered my question." said Timmy.
"I promise, I'll answer it when I come back." Vicki said, as she started walking towards the exit of the hospital.
That wasn't a suffice answer for the brunet. He stood up and quickly walked up behind Vicki and before she knew it, he spun her around on her feet to face him.
"No. I seen you Vicki. I seen that terrified look in your eyes and know that there is only two reasons for it. Either you went soft and fell apart from seeing your sister in her recent predicament or you're afraid of the person that did that to her, so which is it, because that whole 'No one puts fear into my heart' gist is just a front to hide how you truly feel and I know fear when I see it." said Timmy
Timmy seen Vicki's face turn red, but it wasn't from blushing or embarrassment, it was from rage or deep anger...both were still bad in his case. Vicki grabbed Timmy by the collars of his shirt and lifted him off his feet.
"Is this me going soft for ya? You don't know nothing about me twerp, and you sure as hell don't know what I am and am not afraid of, so don't act like you do." growled Vicki.
"So this is something or someone you're afraid of." said Timmy.
"And there you go still thinking that you know me. You know what?" Vicki asked Timmy, as she released him and shoved him away from her. "Continue on thinking that you know me, be my guest, but stop wasting my time."
"Back at your house you said that that out of all the people, you hoped that I'd be the one to see that you've changed. You wouldn't have placed your hopes in someone that didn't know you unless they actually did know you more better than anyone else, which I do. I know right now you're trying to push me away by bringing out parts of your old self to keep from showing anymore signs of weakness than you've already showed, but you don't have to do that with me. I'm willing to talk to you about anything at anytime and keep it between just us if I have to, because how else are we going to become friends and overcome this bad blood between us?" Timmy asked, as he fixed his clothing.
Vicki was speechless. She didn't know how to respond to that. It was her words, but she only said them out of an emotional outburst. Maybe she was finally going soft. Maybe she was trying to bring out her former self to push away people that could bring out her weaknesses, what good that did. Timmy saw straight through her without even a little doubt or fear, even when she lifted him off his feet. That's strange come to think of it.
"Can I ask you something?" asked Vicki.
Timmy nodded.
"How are you so calm? Your two best-friends were attacked and one of them is hospitalized. How can you act as if you're not phased by the events?" She asked.
"Because, you're barely holding it together and Chester is trying to hold it together, but it's not falling in his favor, which leaves me to have to be the strong one of the group to comfort those around me since we're lacking a plus one who isn't here to do it." answered Timmy.
"But you're entitled to some kind of grief, because she's special to you as well." said Vicki.
"No. I'm not, because if I fall apart, then that means that neither of you gets to." He said, in a rather distant tone. "I won't hold you up on making that important call, I just hope that once things settle down you'll tell me what's really going on."
"I promise." She said, as she watched him walk away from her and back over to Chester, who was sitting silently in the corner of the room, looking distantly out the window.
She quietly cursed under her breath as she turned around to walk toward the exit, but then suddenly accidentally bumped into two cops that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. From the looks on their faces, Vicki could tell they were there for her.
"Can I help you?" Vicki asked the two cops.
"Victoria Singleton?" asked one of the Officers.
"Yes?" responded Vicki.
"We have orders to place you under arrest." said the Officer.
: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :
AN: I'd like to apology ahead of time for the long wait only for a short Chapter. I can't say the waiting time will improve since I have a job now and working various hours. I didn't intend for this Chapter to be short, but an idea came to me as I was typing this Chapter that would make good for an additional Chapter and cliffhanger with more perspectives. I guess I can say this Chapter was to mainly focus on the flashback of what happened while Timmy and Vicki were away though I feel that some parts might've been rushed and/or sloppy but I still stand behind my work/story regardless. Just hang in there, there's more to come.