Sooo sorry about this guys! God, I was on writer's block for the longest time! Anyways, school just started like 2 weeks ago and I'm already swamped. I've had all weekend to finish an English report, but I spent all weekend working on this looong chapter just because I love you all that much! So yeah, this is longer than last chapter. Last one was 12 pages and this was 16 or 17 I think. Oh well...
Answers to Mini Contest:
Dylan - Zac Efron's little brother
Stella - Vanessa Hudgens's little sister
Brittany - Isabelle is played by Brittany Snow
Adam (which only 5 or 6 people got right) - Brandon is played by Joseph ADAM Jonas! Adam is Joe's middle name! Brandon is NOT Adam Brody. Check the trailer.
"Let me see that." Troy spoke up after a short second of silence. Brandon handed him the envelope and, turning to Ryan, said "Did you open it yet?"
Ryan, still pale as a sheet, stuttered "N-no. T-too scared."
Brandon gave an understanding nod and a comforting hand on his shoulder "Don't worry." He asked Troy "Can you open and read it? He's really shaken up."
"That's what I was planning to do." Troy ripped open the black envelope and opened the red paper, taking a deep breath, and read aloud "You never know what you could miss while blasting your earphone's Ryan. Could be a funny joke, a secret, or something more...hidden. If you catch my drift...'."
"Oh my God..." Gabriella whispered, covering her mouth with her hand in a gasp.
"Son of a bitch..." Chad growled, snatching the letter from Troy's hand and reading over it himself. His cheeks tinted to red as he seethed "I'm gonna kill him."
"Right behind you buddy." Jason agreed, his own face turning crimson.
"Wait a second," Brandon interrupted "Let's just calm down and talk this through before doing anything. We can get Brick back later."
"We can't talk here," Troy added, cutting into the conversation "Let's just go to Ryan's house and-"
"No."
"Huh?"
Ryan repeated "We can't go to my house. My parents are sure to be home by now and I don't want them to know about this. They'll throw a fit, call the police, and probably get the whole government to look for her. Besides, he'll probably only keep her for a few hours like he did with Gabby."
"Ryan, you don't know that." Kelsi said "She made him mad, so I think he just wanted to get rid of her."
Ryan argued "But Sharpay will probably do the same thing. You know her. She'll probably be shocked for a little bit and then sass him like she always does. Think about it."
The group stayed silent for an agonizing few minutes. Brandon finally sighed and nodded, saying "He's right. Once someone gets her heated, she won't cool down until you know how angry she is."
"I guess it makes sense," Taylor shrugged.
"If we keep quiet about this to your parents," Chad turned to Ryan "Can we kick his ass next time we see him?"
"I'll hold him down." Ryan replied with a grin. Chad was so protective of his friends, especially the females.
"So whose house are we going to?" Gabriella asked generally.
"Mine," Troy spoke up, stepping forward "My parents aren't home and won't be until 10."
Everyone nodded in agreement and stalked off to their respective cars, driving off to the Bolton house.
--
"Okay Ryan," Troy started, sitting down on his favorite of the three sofas in his living room. "Tell us what happened as soon as you got home."
Ryan sighed and started to explain. "Me and Sharpay both got showers since we were playing volleyball with our aunt and got dirt all over us. I got done first, so I figured that Sharpay would take forever to get ready since she's...you know."
"Concerned about how she looks more than anyone we know?" Gabriella held up an eyebrow.
"Exactly. So I started up my iPod to pass the time. I saw her walk out of her room and go downstairs, but I figured that she was just going down to get her purse because she forgot some of her makeup. A minute later, I hear this ear-splitting scream coming from downstairs, tore off my headphones, and ran downstairs. I looked around, but didn't see anyone. I was about to call out her name, but instead, I saw that," he pointed to the envelope on the coffee table "On the wall. After a few minutes of staring at it, I grabbed it and rushed to the club."
The room remained quiet for a few long minutes of everyone thinking through his story.
"I can't believe this..." Gabriella murmured, running a hand through her hair.
"This is insane," Troy sighed.
Brandon nodded "I know. This is the most abnormal thing I've ever been through..."
The "This is Crazy" game was played for a series of confusing minutes before they all heard a faint whisper of "It's all my fault..." Ryan whispered to no one in particular.
"Ryan, don't blame yourself for-"
"It's my fault!" Ryan exploded, standing up "If I had heard her call the first time, I could've prevented this from happening! Now she's probably hurt and it's my fault!"
"Ryan," Gabriella said softly, pulling him back down to the couch by his shoulder "Calm down. Just calm down. It's okay. This isn't your fault. If you had gone the first time she called, Brick would've gotten you too."
Ryan took a deep, shaky breath as he held his head in his hands and whimpered "I know. I...I'm sorry about that. It's just that she's my sister and it hurts knowing that she's in trouble and I could've prevented it."
Taylor spoke up "Ryan you didn't know this was going to happen. Even if you weren't listening to your iPod, Brick would've gotten away with her before you got there."
Ryan hung his head while he let his friends' words sink into his system like a sponge. He was just too confused to say anything after that.
"Would it help if we went to go look for her?" Jason shrugged sweetly.
Ryan shook his head "No. Brick's probably got her locked up in some closet underground or something. He wouldn't kill any of us so there's no point in looking. She'll turn up sometime."
Chad, after moments of pondering the situation, slowly asked "Sooo...we can't tell your parents and we can't look for her. Is there anything we can do?"
Troy sighed "I guess we just have to sit back and hope for the best to come."
Kelsi added "Yeah, we need something to take our minds off of it. What's on TV?"
Troy picked up the remote and pressed the on button. He surfed through the listings and shrugged "Scrubs?"
"I won't be doing any laughing, but it's worth a shot." Zeke mumbled, holding his head in his hands.
For the next 3 and a half hours, the worried gang made quiet small talk and watched, but didn't pay attention to, different shows including Scrubs, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Family Guy, and another hour of Scrubs.
"Elliot is so stupid," Brandon rolled his eyes "She has sex with J.D. how many times and she's still getting married to Keith?"
"I'll never understand women..." Troy muttered.
"Oh that reminds me," Brandon piped up, turning to Troy "I left my phone at home and I need to call Izzy. Can I borrow your phone?"
"It's out in my car. Be right back." Troy stood up from his spot and stalked over to the door, opening it and not looking down at his feet. As soon as he took the first step, he found himself almost tumbling down the steps due to tripping over a large mass of something on the first step. He looked down and his heart skipped a beat, his face paling. It couldn't be...
"Oh my God..." he whispered to himself, bending down and eyeing the beaten creature before his eyes. Their blonde hair covered in bloody dirt and their eyes bruised and closed, signaling that they were unconscious if they didn't acknowledge Troy tripping over them. The girl's pink tank top was almost ripped off her petite body and her she didn't buy her denim shorts destroyed. Her nose was bleeding from both nostrils and her lip was torn down the middle, still bleeding heavily and flowing down her bruised chin. She looked dead.
Troy pressed two fingers to her neck to check for a pulse and thanked God that he found one beating softly against his fingers. He carefully picked her up bridal style and, shaking her slightly, whispered "Sharpay?"
No reply.
"Shar, come on. Wake up." Troy tried again, panic rising within him. She had to wake up. She just had to.
Suddenly, the beaten blonde in his arms groaned and stirred, shifting her position slightly. Her brown eyes just barely lifted, revealing pain and shock as she mumbled "Get away from me..."
"Sharpay, wake up." Troy said a little louder this time.
"Leave me alone. I didn't do anything..." Sharpay was now frantic in Troy's grasp, squirming and struggling to break free.
"Sharpay, it's me!" he exclaimed loudly, careful not to scare her but loud enough for her to shriek "Leave me alone Marissa!" She looked up and as soon as her eyes connected with Troy's, she said weakly "Where is she?!"
"Shh, it's okay Sharpay, just calm down." Troy soothed, stepping back towards the front doorway to enter the house again "Just calm down."
"What happened?" she whimpered, grabbing his arm and digging her head into his chest, as if afraid of something.
"We'll explain inside." Troy whispered, trying to calm her down the best he could. He could feel her chest rising and falling rapidly against his own and her entire body trembling in his grasp. Whoever did this to her truly scared her to death.
Sharpay didn't say anything else. She was too busy trying to recover from the shock that had taken over her body and wouldn't let her shake it off.
Troy closed the door with his foot and, slowly walking down the hall, announced "Uhh, guys?"
"Yeah?" Ryan called from the living room.
"I've got a surprise for you..." Troy called uncertainly.
"What do you mean?" Taylor asked, turning around.
Troy didn't need to say anything more as he walked into the room and all eyes fell on him and the body in his arms. Gasps and shrieks filled his ears as feet ran across the room and over to Sharpay, whose eyes had closed but was still conscious.
"Sharpay!" Gabriella yelled, running up to her boyfriend who had the blonde in his hold. Troy walked over to the couch closest to him and set Sharpay down gently, shifting the bangs out of her closed eyes. The first person to sit down beside her was Zeke, who was frantic in worry that his girlfriend might still be unconscious.
"Shar," he cupped her face in his hands "Baby, wake up. Come on, just open your eyes and tell me you're alright."
Surprisingly, Sharpay seemed to hear him. Groaning, she shifted in his arms and let her eyes flutter open, revealing anxiety, hurt, and...anger?
"Oh thank God." Zeke sighed, pulling her into a tight, but not too tight, hug. Sharpay hugged him back and whispered "Why are you shaking?" She could feel the goosebumps on his skin while he was trembling and shaking from his core. It was almost as if he was afraid of something.
"Why wouldn't I be?" the dark skinned teen replied, stroking her hair "You were gone for 4 hours. You scared us all to death."
"Really?"
"Of course," Brandon piped up, stepping forward and looking down on her "We were scared that he might've hurt you."
"And from the looks of it," Taylor growled through gritted teeth "He did a damn well good job of it."
"Guys..." Sharpay started in a sigh.
"I swear to God, he's gone too freakin' far this time." Ryan seethed.
"Guys..."
"Brandon, can you give me your dad's number? I wanna know if he's still up for the whole gun and knives thing."
"Yeah, it's-"
"GUYS!!" Sharpay finally screamed, taking everyone by surprise. They all jumped and looked at her with alarmed eyes, wanting to know why she was probably defending Brick.
"What?" Gabriella broke the short silence "He beats you to a pulp and-"
"Brick didn't do this." Sharpay cut in.
"Huh?" The whole group, minus Sharpay, said in unison.
The blonde sighed and started to explain the last 4 hours. "Brick barely did anything to me. He just sat back and watched."
"Then who did this to you?" Kelsi asked "His friends?"
"Close, but no." Sharpay answered. She turned to Troy and said "Do you remember when Izzy was telling us that Sarah's worst enemy burned down her house?" Troy nodded. "What was her name?"
"Uhh...Marissa, I think. Why?"
"Did you know that Marissa is Brick's niece who has very strong, violent friends?"
"Wait, Marissa did that to you?" Brandon gasped, getting the feeling in his gut that told him the name was very familiar...
"Yeah. Her and her 3 friends beat me for about 10 minutes at a time. Then they would take turns. The last time Marissa beat me up, she said something like 'This is for being friends with the cousin of a heartbreaker!'."
"What the hell does that mean?" Jason asked, totally confused.
Brandon tuned out his surroundings, feeling the memory flooding back into his brain.
Nick answered "This guy named Brick wanted me to die for breaking up with his niece Marissa or whatever her name was..." (God's First Nightmare, Chapter 23)
"Marissa..." Brandon whispered to himself, his eyes widening in recognition.
"What?" Troy asked, hearing him.
Brandon explained "Last year after the dance where I saved Izzy, my mom called my cousins Nick and Kevin and asked them to fly into town because I was depressed. Nick said something about how Brick targeted him because Nick broke up with Marissa." He also thought back to how Nick said that Brick was after someone else now. He now knew that it was him for breaking up with Samantha. Wow, that family takes breakups hard...
"So that's what she meant..." Sharpay nodded. "Wait, Marissa is only 13. How old is Nick."
"He just turned 16. He only went out with her because he felt bad for her. She only has about 3 friends."
"Wow I guess she doesn't mind older guys." Gabriella shrugged. "So you got beat up by a bunch of 13 year olds?"
Sharpay rolled her black eyes "Shut up. Brick tied up my hands and legs so I couldn't move. But if I could, let me assure you that I would've opened a can of fresh whoop ass on them."
"Wow, good to see they didn't do any brain damage." Zeke smiled "You're still the sassy princess we all know and love." Sharpay smiled and laid her head in his chest.
"Shar, you need to tell us everything you can remember." Brandon stated seriously, watching Ryan sit next to her and put an arm around her shoulders.
Sharpay sighed and nodded "Fine. Okay it started when I was getting ready for the pool..."
FLASHBACK (4 Hours)
"Hola Ms. Evans..." Brick grinned, grabbing her by the wrist and covering her mouth after letting her scream bloody murder.
This couldn't be happening to her. Sharpay thought that after Brick kidnapped Gabriella, he would see how much that put a strain on the group and that would be the end of it. Obviously not.
Suddenly, there came pounding footsteps on the stairs, clearly belonging to Ryan since he was the only other one in the house. Then again, Brick appeared out of no where so who knew what other surprises he had up his sleeve.
"Too late Ryan," Brick whispered to himself in satisfaction, pulling Sharpay towards the closet next to them and closing the door to keep them hidden.
"Sharpay?!" Ryan yelled, looking around frantically. "Shar, where are you?!"
Sharpay made a move in Brick's arms, but the brunette prevented her from moving any further. She was trapped.
"Sharpay!" Ryan screamed one last time before setting his eyes on the black envelope hanging on the wall in front of him. He walked up to it slowly and pulled it from the tack it hung on. "No..." he whispered, running to the kitchen, grabbing his keys, and dashing out to his car.
"That was quick." Brick shrugged, stepping out of the clean closet and, pulling Sharpay with him, walked over to the door saying "I'm gonna have so much fun watching you."
Sharpay seethed wobbly "W-watching me d-do what?"
"You'll see." Was all Brick replied before opening the door and heading off east to his car, which was parked down the street behind a tree so that Ryan had no chance of seeing it. He still kept a firm hold on her wrists behind her back as they walked the short 30 second distance to his car.
Sharpay had the same reaction to Brick's car that Gabriella had. "You stole this?"
Brick nodded "I see she explained everything. Get in."
"And what if I don't?" Sharpay replied, sass and anger spilling out of her voice.
Brick raised an eyebrow and chuckled "Wow, you are sassy! That'll just make this all the more fun to watch."
"Make WHAT fun to watch?!" The blonde was now getting extremely impatient with him.
"Like I said before, just wait until we get back to my place. Just get in the car and I won't have to do to you what I did to Gabriella."
Sharpay gave a deep-throated growl as she looked him deep in the eyes, searching for a sign of what he was up to but found nothing. She sighed angrily and stepped forward, putting her hand on the car door, only to be pushed up against the car with her wrists still held behind her back. "What the hell are you doing?!" the blonde screeched, feeling her wrists being cut from Brick's unclipped nails.
Brick laughed as he dug duct tape out of his pocket and wrapping it around Sharpay's wrists. Once finished, he whispered "You didn't expect me to let you get in without having your hands tied, did you?"
Just as Sharpay was about to retort, she felt him slap a piece over her mouth. She mumbled and complained into the tape before Brick shook his head, muttering "Very rarely do I have to do two layers Evans..." With that, he ripped off another piece of tape and layered the first strip.
Brick opened the door and shoved Sharpay in, laughing a bit as she struggled and kicked to let herself free. "Oh yeah. Definitely gonna have fun with this one..."
--
When Brick arrived at his house, he parked the car and exited the vehicle, slamming the door and strolling over to Sharpay's side. He opened the door and said "You ready to have some fun?"
"Mmm mmph!" Sharpay tried to speak through the tape but other than her failed speech, she jumped in her seat and kicked her feet, trying desperately to break free.
"I'll take that as a yes." Brick grabbed her waist and dragged her from the car, shutting the door afterwards. He threw the blonde over his shoulder and ignored her heels that were kicking him in the face violently, begging and demanding that he let her go that instant. Again, he just pushed her actions to the back of his mind and walked up the steps to his front door, taking out his keys and unlocking the door.
As soon as he reached the other side of the green door, he whistled and called into the building "Lucy! I'm home!"
Sharpay lashed out once more and mumbled "Let me go!"
Brick sighed "As you wish blondie..." With that, he threw her off of his shoulder and she landed on the ground with a great thud.
The brunette kneeled down to Sharpay's low level and whispered "I guess you'll be wanting that duct tape off, huh gorgeous?"
Sharpay made some kind of growling noise and glowered daggers into Brick's eyes, not making any attempt to answer him than with the actions. "I thought so." Brick shrugged. Taking hold of both layers of the tape, he teased slowly "One, two..." and then ripped it clean of her face.
Giving a howl of pain, Sharpay flipped over onto her stomach from the impact of the rip. "Go to hell Wolf!" she cried angrily.
Brick shrugged "I'm already there Evans. Oh yeah," he bent down again and whispered in her ear "Now the fun can begin."
"Oh yeah, 'cause God knows that wasn't fun enough." Sharpay spat back sarcastically, turning ever so slightly to face him.
"Haha, funny," Brick leaned forward so that Sharpay could feel his breath on her cheek "If you thought that was fun..."
"Then this'll be the time of your life..." came another voice in the room. Sharpay turned around and confusion coated her face as her eyes landed on the owner of the voice. In the doorway of the room stood a little girl who looked to be about 12 or 13 years of age. Her brownish-green eyes bore holes into Sharpay's as her hand propped against her hip, trying to intimidate the blonde. Her long, brown curls lay down her back like a waterfall, reminding Sharpay of the hair she had before Gabriella moved 2 years ago.
"Who are you?" Sharpay asked, confused. Why would Brick bring another girl here? Unless he wanted to beat her too...
"Evans, meet my niece Marissa," Brick answered for her, having Marissa grin evilly and scaring Sharpay for a little bit. "She's going to be my little assistant for the evening."
"Assisting you with what?" Sharpay asked, not tearing her eyes away from the young brunette across the room.
"You'll see..." Marissa grinned and, dropping her hand from her hip, slowly walked over to Sharpay, swaying her hips and keeping her head high the whole time. When she finally approached the blonde, she studied her face for a few seconds before freezing. Suddenly, she glared at her and slapped her hard across the face.
Falling back with a scream, Sharpay seethed "What the hell kid?!"
Marissa giggled viciously "Oh yeah. We're definitely ready for her."
"Good," Brick grinned, staring at Sharpay with anticipation in his eyes "Bring 'em out."
"Bring who out?" Sharpay asked, her voice cracking slightly.
"Gladly," Marissa smiled, turning around to face the doorway and calling "Guys!" Sharpay gulped at the tone of her voice. She sounded so mysterious, so threatening. She had to squirm a little to reduce the flipping of her stomach.
3 new faces appeared in the room, each one the same age as Marissa. And they looked pissed.
"Evans, I'd like you to meet my friends, Amanda," Marissa pointed to a tall brunette with mild acne and piercing green eyes. Hate filled her eyes as she glared holes into Sharpay's face, her arms crossed and leaning against the wall.
"...Anna," the short, dark skinned girl had large round eyes and a tight frown on her face. She looked ready to snap at any minute.
"...and Courtney." Courtney scared Sharpay more than Anna. She owned blue eyes that were just a little paler than Troy's, but not nearly as beautiful. Long, shiny blonde hair that fell a few inches above her backside and bangs that hung in her eyes, framing her pretty face. Her lips were naturally pursed and her nose stuck up in the air like she owned the place. She reminded Sharpay of the way she used to be when her and Troy dated.
"W-what are t-they doing here?" Sharpay's voice wobbled as she spoke, making everyone in the room laugh at her fear. That confirmed it. She was gonna get the shit beat of her.
"Just here to help out a friend..." Anna's high pitched voice answered. Sharpay cringed.
"H-help her do what?"
Courtney stepped forth and punched her head on the nose. "Anymore stupid questions you want to ask?!"
"N-no..." Sharpay looked down on the hardwood floor and saw two drops of blood make their way out of her nose.
Trembling, she lifted her head with large puppy dog eyes and whimpered to Brick "Why did you bring me here? I thought you just wanted Troy and Brandon."
Brick rolled his eyes and answered "I thought it would be obvious by now. What's the best part of making fun of someone?" Sharpay shrugged.
"Answer him!" Amanda lashed out her fist and hit Sharpay right in the cheek. She fell back with a yell and shouted "Okay!!" She turned back to the male in the room and whispered "Their r-reaction?"
"Bingo," Brick grinned "And what do you do if they don't react?"
"S-stop making fun of them."
"Or..."
"K-keep making fun of them until they d-do react?"
"Exactly," Brick nodded "Bolton and Montez's reactions to them getting harassed are good, but I've come to notice something." He squatted down in front of Sharpay and whispered "They're just like me. They see someone they love and care about and react to it. They either get hurt or they get mad. Simple as that. You got it now?"
Sharpay nodded briskly and closed her eyes, not being able to handle his staring eyes.
"Good. Ladies," Brick snapped his fingers and the other four girls in the room came to his side in an instant "You know what to do?"
"Definitely." Anna grinned, her eyes growing even larger and making Sharpay back up a little.
"Excellent. If you need me," he walked a few feet to the left and sat down in a big green sofa "I'll be right over here."
"Let the games begin..." Marissa said excitedly, cracking her knuckles.
"Showtime." Courtney grinned, rolling her neck back and forth to prepare her bones for what she was about to do.
"Please, please don't..." Sharpay sobbed, curling into a ball the best she could with her legs and wrists tied.
"Sorry Evans. Nothing personal." Brick teased from the sidelines. He looked to his left and gasped "You guys made me popcorn?"
Amanda shrugged "Every good show isn't complete without it. Enjoy."
Brick grinned "You're too kind." He popped a kernel into his mouth and, holding up his three fingers, announced "3...2...1..." The girls surrounded Sharpay, Amanda in the back of the shaking, crying victim.
"Sic her."
As soon as those words left his mouth, Sharpay felt a knee come in contact with the back of her head, sending her straight to her side in pain. She tried to cry out, but was stopped by someone kicking her in the head another punching her face to muffle it. She felt a heavy weight being laid on her waist and hands holding her head down to the floor. Sharpay looked up to find Amanda's brown hair and Marissa's stone cold, unforgiving eyes begging "Please stop, please I'm begging you! Have mercy!"
Marissa just laughed in her face and growled "Sorry bitch. All out of mercy." With that, she curled up her fist and socked Sharpay in her left eye repeatedly, not hesitating for a second and feeling superior.
The next 3 hours and 40 minutes were all a blur to the blonde. The foursome beat her for 30 minutes at a time and then took a 10 minutes break, only to come back and surprise her with more torture. Every time they left her with her misery, she would just sob her eyes out and wish that Zeke or Ryan were sitting right beside her, telling her that everything was alright and that she was getting out of here safely. But she knew that miracles only happened in fairytales. And this most definitely wasn't anything that she enjoyed hearing about as a kid.
After her fourth and final beating, Sharpay was wavering in and out of consciousness fast. The girls had destroyed her shorts, ripped her top, ripped out two handfuls of her hair, ripped her lips down the center, and possibly broke her nose. She had blood dripping from her skin everywhere she looked and bruises covering her tanned skin, making her look like an alien.
Courtney threw one more punch at Sharpay's stomach before Brick called "Okay guys, it's almost 6. We're done here. Good work."
Marissa nodded at her friends to stop beating Sharpay and walked over to Brick, sighing "Okay, we beat up your little bitch. Pay up."
Brick rolled his eyes and reached down into his black pocket, pulling out his wallet. He drew 4 fifty dollar bills and handed one to each girl for their work. "Gee Marissa. Can't you just do one thing for me just because I'm family?"
The brunette scoffed "Yeah right, like that's ever gonna happen. We just did this to go shopping. I wouldn't care if she beat you up, just as long as you paid us to get her back. Now hurry up and get her in the car so you can take us to the mall that you didn't blow up."
Brick rolled his eyes and sighed. "As you wish, 'princess'..."
"And don't you forget it Wolf." Marissa snapped her fingers and walked out the door with Amanda, Courtney, and Anna behind her.
As Sharpay felt Brick take her into his arms to dump in the back of his car, she could've sworn she heard him mumble "Spoiled bitches..."
--
"...so that's when they drove me here and dumped me on your doorstep." Sharpay finished her story with a sigh. She felt Zeke's grip around her tighten and Ryan's hand stroke her hair a little harder.
"So he just sat there and watched them beat you senseless?" Jason gawked, his eyes wide.
"Yeah, pretty much." Sharpay sighed again, letting her head fall into Zeke's chest while Ryan rubbed her arm in a comforting motion.
"For the love of God!" Chad growled, tightening his grip on Taylor's hand. Taylor just stroked his back in an attempt to calm him down.
"I second that," Brandon raised his hand "This is getting ridiculous."
"What are we supposed to do?" Gabriella shrugged "We don't know who he's gonna go after next."
"No one if I have anything to do with it," Chad warned.
"It's gonna be us going after him next time." Kelsi angrily said, much to everyone's surprise. She hardly ever got mad.
Troy stopped them "Guys, guys calm down for a second and let's answer one question at a time. Now we don't know who he's gonna go after next, but I'm guessing it's gonna be one of the girls."
"He's right," Taylor nodded "First Gabby, now Sharpay. Me or Kelsi could be next."
"Which we won't let happen!" Chad defended, him and Jason pulling their girls as close to them as possible.
"Hold on a second," Jason spoke up, turning to Brandon. "Brandon, does Brick know that you're dating Isabelle?"
Brandon shrugged "I guess. His family probably mentioned it to him when they told him to..." His voice trailed off to nothing as he realized what Jason was implying. "Oh my God..."
"Brick could go after Izzy too." Gabriella worried aloud, her eyes widening.
"And we can't protect her if she's all the way in California." Troy gasped, scared at the thought of Isabelle getting hurt again.
"Wait, does he even know where she lives?" Sharpay asked hoarsely, her throat scratchy from a beating.
"I don't know, but it's possible that Brick might've followed her home the last time she was here." Jason thought aloud.
"Wouldn't she have called us if he did?" Gabriella asked.
"Probably not," Taylor replied "He could've told her to keep quiet about it."
"She wouldn't even if he told her to," Troy disagreed "Isabelle can't keep a secret to save her life, much less a threat. She told me who dragged her into the janitor's closet when she almost got raped, she told me that she was dating Brandon on the night of their first date, and she even almost called him when I told her to surprise him 2 weeks before the end of school last year. Trust me, she would've told us if he did something to her."
"Well I'm not taking any chances," Brandon angrily said, grabbing Gabriella's phone that was sticking out of her pocket. "I'm calling her right now."
"Brandon," Troy tore the phone out of his hands "Just trust me on this one. She would've told someone, especially you. And if not, Sarah or her mom would've noticed something different going on with her and told me or you."
"Brick could've told her to act like nothing was going on." Brandon shot back, reaching for the phone again.
Troy threw the phone over to Chad and repeated "Brandon, just listen to me! Brick didn't do anything to her yet, trust me. Plus he would've warned us about it with a letter or something. Remember, he wants us to worry about her and if he told us that he did something, we would worry. Okay?"
Brandon sighed, closing his eyes and nodding. "Yeah, I get it. Sorry."
"It's okay man, you were just worried about her. At least you care about her." Troy patted his shoulder and gave him a light smile.
Sharpay stated generally "Guys, I think me and Ryan are gonna head on home, but I just wanna say thank you so much for helping me out with this. It really means a lot to me that you guys care about me."
"Of course we do. We love you." Zeke leaned down and kissed her nose affectionately, avoiding her lip because of the tear.
"Yeah, I think the rest of us are gonna get home too." Troy said "Glad that you're okay Shar." Sharpay smiled at him.
Ryan helped his twin to her feet and helped her to the door. After saying one last goodbye, the two disappeared through the door and shut it behind them.
--
...Brandon Later That Night...
Brandon stirred awake and, with blurry vision, looked around at his surroundings. It took a few seconds to realize that he was back at Lava Springs, sitting in front of the pool. His eyebrows knitted together as he tried to stand, only to fall over on his side in a heap. He looked behind him to find his hands tied behind his back with layer after layer of heavy duty duct tape. Same with his legs, his ankles stuck together to prevent any movement. Trying to say "What's going on?" he realized that he couldn't. A thick layer of tape stretched across his face, around his head, and back to his face. He was trapped.
Suddenly, a deep laugh erupted from someone's throat behind him. Brandon flipped over and froze as he stared into the most frightening pair of brown eyes that he had ever seen. Brick.
Brick stepped over to Brandon and still smiling, grabbed him by the throat, lifting him off the ground effortlessly.
As Brick's hand tightened around Brandon's neck, Brandon just realized what was about to happen. He struggled and squirmed, but nothing made a difference. Brick wouldn't let go.
Brick neared the edge of the pool. Brandon looked down and screamed into the tape in horror. Brick was about to drop him into the deep end. He was about to be dropped into 9 feet of water with no way of getting above it with his hands and legs tied.
Brandon's head snapped back over to Brick and shook it vigorously, begging him not to drop him in. Brick's eyes gleamed in the moonlight as another chuckle filled Brandon's ears.
Brick's grip loosened. Brandon struggled more than ever now. A few tears escaped his eyes as he shook his head again, trying to tell Brick to let him down on the ground.
Brick leaned into Brandon's ear and whispered "Aint déjà vu a bitch?"
Brandon's eyes widened.
Brick let go of his neck.
Brandon splashed into the pool, flailing his arms and legs around wildly in ultimate desperation. But it was no use. He couldn't swim like this. He was drowning.
His lungs burned. He had forgotten to take a breath before he was dropped and exhaled as soon as Brick let go of him. His oxygen level was running too low. He needed air.
He felt something underneath him. The bottom of the pool. He looked up at the top of the water and whimpered into the tape. He could see Brick's black silhouette hovered above the pool, watching him float to the bottom. His eyes pierced through Brandon as he watched him die slowly.
Brandon could feel his chest tightening and his heart stopping. His vision blurred to black and his eyes fluttered shut.
The last sound he heard was Brick's merciless laugh, lulling him into a dark, painful death...
Brandon shot up of the couch, awakening himself from the nightmare. His shirtless body covered in a cold sweat, showing his fear. The television light glared into his wide eyes, but he didn't notice. He was too busy trying to regain his lost breath, but couldn't. He heard heavy footsteps running down the steps and turn into the living room. "Brandon!"
Brandon could just barely feel Gabriella's hands gripping his shoulders and shaking his panic ridden body. "Brandon, snap out of it!"
Brandon tried to reply, but all air escaped his throat. He couldn't breathe.
He was choking.
Dun dun dun!! Okay, so what's wrong with Brandon now? REVIEW and find out! Thnx :)
Rachel :)
OH YEAH!! I made banners for most of my stories! I made half of them sometime last year, but I couldn't upload them onto PhotoBucket with PhotoShop. I have a program called PhotoFiltre. Go to my profile, under the Links section, and under each story's part, there's a link that says Banner. Click on it and tell me what you think :)
Mini Contest:
I used another JB song in this chapter. Sentence starter: His lungs burned. Clue: It's not on any of their albums, but it was recorded around the time of their second.
Sneak at Next Chapter:
- More fear from the trio
(Can't tell you what happens without telling what happens to Brandon, sorry)
- It's back to school for East High!
"Wow," Troy smiled, looking around the bright building. "It's like we never left..."
"It's still amazing," Brandon shook his head "Anyways, who do you have for homeroom?"
"Uhh, room 1116. You?"
"Same! Who's the teacher?"
Troy and Brandon looked down at the spot beside the room number and gasped. They looked at each other and screamed "NOOO!!"
Trivia:
- Amanda, Courtney, and Anna were named after some of my friends at school, but they're not bitches.
- The line Marissa says (All out of mercy) is from the movie Ghost Rider
- Scrubs, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, and Family are three of my favorite shows. All of drop dead hillarious!
REVIEW!! Thnx :)
Rachel :)