New chapter up for the New Year... WARNING! Violence/Swearing.

You've been warned...

Chapter 33: Criminal

Gabe jogged down the street towards Alyson's home. He was trying to rationalize everything that happened to him this evening. He knew that, above all, Alyson was a wonderful person and an amazing girlfriend. He didn't think that she would cheat on him. She felt that she wasn't that type of person. But as he jogged, he had that little bit of doubt. He wanted to talk to her. He knew that he'd get his answer.

Meanwhile…

Alyson hummed to herself in the kitchen, making a thermos of hot cocoa. She smiled that she'd get to see her boyfriend before the holidays would start. She wondered what Gabe wanted, but she may have had an idea what he wanted to talk to her about. The sad part was that she had been spending a lot of time with Jem on a music project. She hadn't wanted to, she liked Jem. She knew that she didn't want another boyfriend. She was happy with Gabe. She just wanted to know what he wanted and in turn, maybe suggest what her needs were as well.

She capped the thermos and walked out of the kitchen into the living room and entryway. She put down the thermos and prepared for the cold night air. She laced up her combat boots, making sure her cold weather tights were tucked into them. She took the knitted stocking cap off of the hook and placed it on her head. She grabbed her heavy coat and buttoned it up, taking the gloves out of the pockets and placing them on her hands. She stood in front of the full-length mirror in the entryway; smoothing out the wool knee-length skirt out. She did a full turn and smiled brightly, picking up the thermos and walking out the front door.

As she shut the door behind her; the city night seemed quiet. Almost too quiet for a weekday evening this close to Christmas, she thought. She shrugged the feeling off and walked across the street to the park. She sat down on the bench and was surprised that Gabe wasn't here already. She knew that it took about fifteen minutes between her house and his by foot. She took out her phone and glanced at the time. Twenty minutes had passed from his text…

Something was wrong…

She sighed as she sat there, not knowing what to do. She reached into her pocket and took out a cigarette, lighting it. She took a deep inhale, blowing the smoke out. She didn't do this often, especially if they were going to meet up. But for some reason, it helped. It took the edge off this evening for some odd reason. She took another drag…

"Boo."

Alyson jumped off the bench in fright. She was about to yell at her boyfriend for scaring her, but the sight she saw from the nearby street lights made her feel even colder. It was the vision of Juliette Hogart in the flesh. Juliette looked wrong to her eyes. Juliette stood tall behind the bench; her head cocked to the right. Her right arm was hanging down, like it was weighted down. She was dressed in clothes that looked like what she would have worn back at Degrassi.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Alyson growled. "Shouldn't you be in jail or something?"

Juliette slowly circled the bench; her eyes never leaving Alyson. Juliette was different; almost feral in appearance. Alyson glanced down to what was in her right hand; a heavy looking wrench with a couple of dark spots on it.

"Well, I finally found you." Juliette whispered, an evil grin spreading on her face. "Looks like you're all alone out here."

"I'm not alone." Alyson stated, trying not to sound frightened. "My man will be here any second. He'll be here."

Juliette started to giggle, turning into a deep laugh. "Your man?" The laugh started to turn sinister. "Your man has been taken care of." She lifted the heavy weapon and showed it off. "These stains? It's his blood. I had to hit him several times to keep him down." She lowered the wrench. "It's a pity that I had to hit him about a dozen times for him to stay down."

"You hurt him?" Alyson growled again. "You're dead."

"Aw, you actually care for that poor mutt." Juliette stalked closer to Alyson. "Trust me, he's down like the dog that he is, I made sure of it."

Alyson felt the tears slip from her eyes. This woman, his former best friend; had dispatched him like a suffering animal. She slowly backed away from Juliette.

"You're crazy."

Juliette leaned in towards Alyson, scaring her again. "Maybe, but it's all your fault."

"What? How do you figure?"

"It's simple. I figured it out." Juliette swung the weapon at Alyson, which she dodged. "That first day, you simply bewitched him. When we had that talk, in the bathroom. We all sat and talked. I could see you working him for your purposes." Juliette swung again missing on purpose. "You couldn't let me have him."

Juliette growled. "HE WAS MINE!"

Juliette seemed to show some kind of emotion. Alyson could see tears form in her rival's eyes. Alyson couldn't tell if it was real or not.

"You...you took him from me. You turned his sister against me." Juliette shouted. "You turned them all against me. So I did what I had to; get even."

Alyson shakily lit up again. "That's why you were bullying the niners."

Juliette grinned through her tears. "Most of them fell in line. My own brother was easy, as was little Emily Cameron. The twins were a little harder and that dark haired little bitch weren't as easy. But I had them terrified enough."

"Veronica..."

Juliette laughed hollowly. "As stubborn as her older brother, she had too much fight in her. She wouldn't stay down either. So with Tricia's help and a little something else, I was able to do the right thing." She looked up to the dark sky. "She was the message to her brother. Unfortunately, she talked. Had me sent away."

"How did you do it?" Alyson asked, Juliette looked at her.

"A little help from an ex-boyfriend. This past summer, he helped and got me hooked. Between the sex and the drugs, I was in bliss." Juliette brushed her hair back with her free hand. "Then I met you. You turned them against me. All of them. You took what was mine."

"He's not property!" Alyson shouted. "Gabe told you that! That one day we had that fight! He told you that he wasn't your property! He is your friend and you pushed him away!"

"FUCK YOU!"

"You're not listening to me! Just like then!" Alyson yelled. "He loved you and I think somewhere deep down, he still does! But he knew that whatever happened this summer messed you up something fierce! He wanted to help you and you pushed him away! You kept pushing him away by what you were doing!"

"Shut up. Shut up!"

"You're not in the right headspace." Alyson tried to speak calmly to her. "Whether it's whatever you're on, or its the withdrawal; it's making you do this. You don't want to do this! You need help, let us help you..."

Alyson knew that the words were having an effect. She watched as tears rolled down Juliette's cheeks. Alyson moved closer, trying to comfort her. She realized almost too late what was going to happen. Juliette roared as she dropped the wrench; lunging at Alyson. Alyson felt the air leave her as she was tackled to the ground. Juliette pinned Alyson down, Juliette's left arm in her throat. Juliette started punching her in the face with her right fist.

"He's mine! You'll be dead and he'll come back to me!" Juliette pressed her body weight into her left arm, choking Alyson. Alyson tried to get Juliette off of her, but was failing. She reached out and took a handful of snow; throwing it into Juliette's face. Juliette fell off of her rival, trying to get her vision back. Alyson gasped on the ground as she felt the escapee get off of her. She knew she needed to get away. She needed to find him.

Juliette stood up, brushing the slush out of her eyes. She found where her opponent lay and kicked her hard in the stomach. Once, twice and a third time; knowing she caught the bottom of Alyson's ribs on the third one. Alyson grunted in pain on all three kicks. She knew there was at least one, if not two ribs were broken.

"Cheap tricks won't save you tonight." Juliette grinned.

Alyson chuckled. "Even with those boots on, you kick like a sickly cow."

Juliette sneered at her. She stalked over to where the wrench was dropped. She grunted as she picked it up, stalking back to her fallen foe. Alyson was trying to get up, but couldn't get her air. She leaned against the bench as Juliette moved closer, menacingly.

"Any last words before I release you from this mortal coil?"

Alyson thought she saw movement from behind Juliette. "Yeah. Go fuck yourself."

Juliette started to lift the wrench. She was going to aim for Alyson's head. Alyson shut her eyes, thinking these were her last moments.

I love you Gabriel Joseph...

Juliette never saw Gabe, in a full sprint; tackle her into bench. He hit her with such force, the bench splintered as the two of them went through it. Gabe rolled through with the tackle into a standing position. Alyson assessed her boyfriend's condition as she ran to him. His left shoulder was in an awkward position, like it was either separated or broken. She could see he was bleeding freely from a gash on the left side of his forehead. His hoodie was torn here and there. He was holding his stomach with his good arm and wincing each time he breathed.

"Baby, are you alright?" Alyson wanted to hold him, help him.

Gabe shook it off. "Not now babe." He pulled her close to him, giving her a tight one-armed hug. "Ally, you have to call the police. She escaped from that school." His eyes grew wide as he grabbed Alyson; pulling her close. She felt him turn and the heavy collision that he took in that injured shoulder. He grunted loudly.

"Did that hurt?" Juliette said in a sing-song voice. "Bad dog. You should've stayed down." She hit him again, harder it seemed to Alyson. Gabe pushed Alyson away, falling to one knee from the brutal impact. Juliette swung the heavy wrench again; landing a few blows to his stomach and ribs. Alyson looked on, trying to figure out what to do. She knew that she wasn't going to leave him out here on his own to fight this monster. It was when she saw it. She got up and ran.

"Serves you right, following that cunt around." Juliette kicked Gabe in the ribs. "I wanted you in my life, but you had to go out with HER!" Another kick. "So now you've been sullied by her taint and if I can't have you; then no one WILL!" The last kick caught Gabe in the face. He groaned in pain. She leveled the wrench over her head.

"Hey trick!" Juliette turned to the voice behind her.

Alyson opened the cap of the thermos as she spoke, tossing the scalding cocoa into Juliette's face. The burning caused Juliette to drop the wrench behind her. She tried to get her eyes to open, but couldn't. Juliette stumbled away from the two of them, heading towards the street. Alyson dropped the thermos.

"Juliette! Stop! The street is right there!"

Juliette didn't hear Alyson or see the car coming down the street. Sadly, the driver of the car didn't see Juliette until it was too late.

The impact of human on car made Alyson turn away. She wanted to throw up, but she had other matters to attend to. She reached into her pocket and called the emergency number. She gave as many details as she could to the operator. As she spoke, the owner of the car was doing the same thing, explaining what had happened to him. Alyson had hung up her cell and dropped it in the snow. She dropped to her knees and crawled to her boyfriend; down, but not out.

She didn't move him. She merely crawled in front of him, turned her back to him and scooted as close as she could to him. She pulled his good arm to her; making him pull her closer. She felt the adrenaline leave her.

"Shh." Alyson whispered as Gabe tried to talk. "Stay with me love; help is on the way." She let him hold her as they both heard the sirens coming to them.

Intense? Brutal? Yeah. I know...

I know a lot of writers and authors have a hard time doing things like this in their stories. No writer wants to kill off their creations. However, I feel that this was a necessary evil. I'll try to explain...

In the world of Degrassi, much like any good story; not everyone is safe. Something that Robert Kirkman had said that sometimes, in any good story; people die. It's not always for shock factor or plot twist; it just writes itself that way. And this is how I was able to get through this and the last couple of chapters. I needed to do something; something to get the writing juices flowing again.

Unfortunately, it led to a death.

This happens all the time in soap operas. Characters will go through something; whether it be abuse, violence, drugs and yes; even death. Deep down, Degrassi is a soap opera; an educational one at times, but a soap opera nonetheless.

I know I might get a lot of hate for what I did, but I accept that.

With this death; it will have serious ramifications in my universe. It will affect a LOT of people and what paths they go down in the future.

Thanks for reading.