Disclaimer: Victorious is not, nor will it ever be, mine.
A/N: Okay, you guys were a little off-base about the cliffhanger. I wrote this chapter directly after it and finished last night, but because I realized that the alert system was down and some of you didn't get to read it until today, I decided to wait. I haven't started the next chapter, but there's a flashback as to how we got to Jade's part of this chapter. But I hope those of you that were on the edge of your seat with the suspense...hope you didn't fall out of the seat. xD
For the record, TORI is the FIRST half, JADE is the SECOND half. I'm just too lazy to actually put it.
Enjoy.
Chapter 24
"Something isn't right."
"Calm down."
I glare at Beck and stab my salad with a fork, pressing redial on his phone. Jade isn't picking up, which isn't like her, especially since she told me to call her at lunch. Where in the hell would she possibly be to miss my calls. "Beck, she told me to call. She's never ignored my call before." Something unfamiliar flashes in his eyes and I realize that he knows exactly what Jade's doing. "Where is she?"
He sighs and shakes his head. "She went looking for Andre. I told her I had no idea where he was, and she skipped school so that she could find him." Running a hand through his hair, he took his phone out of my hand. "Calm down. She'll call you back when she gets a chance, Tori." And I hope to hell he's right because if Jade is in trouble, I'm going to kill someone.
"Why did you even bother telling that you didn't know where he was? You knew she would go after him, and what if she gets hurt? Did you even think about that, Beck? Do you even care?" I don't think he does, otherwise he wouldn't have said anything about it.
"Of course I care about her, Tori. She's my best friend, my ex-girlfriend, and she's your girlfriend. Do you really think that I don't think she can take care of herself, that I probably directed her to her own death? It's Jade, for God's sake. She knows what she's doing. And you shouldn't worry about her."
Cat grabs his wrist and they share a glance, conversing in silence. I don't know what it is between them, but they've been close lately. Before I can ask them, Trina comes running to our table, and I'm about to tell her to go away, but her panicked expression shuts me up. "Tori, we have to go. Mom just called…something's wrong at home."
"What? What happened?" And the only thing I can think of is that the house caught on fire or something. Maybe the garden wasn't enough for Jade's flames. She doesn't say anything else, just grabs my wrist and begins dragging me toward the parking lot. I glance behind me and Cat and Beck join us. I thought Trina's driving was horrible before, but now we're narrowly missing cars as we pass them, Trina swerving in and out of traffic. "Are you going to tell us what happened?"
She glances in the rearview mirror, catching sight of Beck and Cat for the first time, but she doesn't comment on them being here. "Mom called and said that something's going on at home. She mentioned Jade and Dad and that's all she told me. I swear, I don't know what's going on, Tori. She didn't tell me."
The cops are blocking our street, so Trina parks in the grass at the corner and we run toward our house, pushing through the crowd of nosy neighbors. And I hear a gunshot, my heart seizing in my chest. Please don't let it be Dad or Jade…
BREAK
I hold the pistol steady, my finger loose on the trigger. The man before me pleads for me to think about what I'm doing. And I am. I'm thinking clearly and if this is the way to save Tori, then I have to do it. "I'm sorry," I whisper, and I pull the trigger, sending a bullet straight through his right shoulder. He grunts in pain, falling to his knees, and holds his shoulder, trying to keep pressure on it. I turn away from him, shooting again, this time a bullet going through a skull on the other side of the room. Before anyone can react, I fire again, catching another skull, and a third, and my arm explodes in pain as I pull the trigger for the fifth time, killing my fourth victim.
The door opens and, fighting the searing pain, I release another bullet, taking my fifth and final victim before dropping the gun at my feet and falling to my knees. I don't know how long I'm kneeling before I'm being pulled to my feet, handcuffs being snapped around my wrists. I don't even struggle as I'm escorted out of the house, and the first person I see is her. She's being held back by two cops, and she's struggling in their grip, calling out to me.
There's nothing I can say to her to make this better, and once she sees the bodies inside, she'll never want to speak to me. As we near the police car, Tori breaks free and runs to me, throwing her arms around my neck as she cries, repeating my name. "Tori…" She looks at me and I can barely speak, but I manage. "What I've done…I did it because I love you. But you don't want me anymore. You won't after this."
She's confused. "Jade, what are you talking about?" Her eyes widen when she sees the blood and the hole in my arm. "You're hurt. Why aren't they helping you?"
My eyes lock with hers. She needs to understand what I did, what's happened here. "I ended it," I say flatly. "All of them…They're dead, Tori. Even…Andre's dead." She frowns. "I killed them, every single one of them, and I shot your father." She lets go of me and for once I can't read her expression. It's somewhere between concern and disbelief, but there's no identifiable hatred or anger. She doesn't believe me.
The cops are trying to drag her away from me, but she refuses to go. "My father's a cop!" she points out. They exchange glances because they know she doesn't know. She won't fucking listen. "I just want to talk to her. Give us a minute." They reluctantly let go of her.
I shake my head. "You really don't want to, Tori. And I can't talk to you if you aren't going to listen to me. I'm trying to tell you what happened, and you need to believe it. You'll hate me and I'll deserve it because I'm not a good person…"
"Fuck you, Jade."
I stare at her, mostly in shock because she's never spoken to me like that. She needs to know the truth. "Tori, I'm being serious. Would I lie about something like this, considering I'm in handcuffs and being escorted out of a house that is now a crime scene? There are five dead bodies inside, all with a hole in the head, and your father, who's been shot in the shoulder by a pistol. If you don't believe me, wait until your father is brought out."
I can see Beck, Cat, and Trina across the street, Beck trying to calm Trina. Cat's eyes meet mine and I sigh, Tori's hand grabbing my chin and forcing me to look at her. "You wouldn't do any of that, Jade. I know you wouldn't. Please…tell me you're joking."
I wish I could say that this was all a joke, that I was trying to worry her to death, just so I could say "just kidding", but I'm not. I can't say any of that. I shrug. "If I could…but I can't." And even though I'm expecting it, when she slaps me it shocks us both. I pause before I speak. "Tori, I'm sorry. It's just…if I didn't, they would hurt you."
"They didn't have to. You did that by yourself." I watch as she stomps away and the cop opens the door to the police car, pushing my head down as I slide into the backseat. And the last thought running through my head as Tori disappears from my sight is that she's never going to forgive me.