The Rookie

Disclaimer: Don't own Victorious

Chapter 11 (The Warden)

Stifling her grunts, Jade counted mentally each push-up she completed. Her strength was returning, though she did feel a slight tinge of guilt taking advantage of Tori's rations. The girl was still eating at least, so it wasn't as if Jade would hang her out to dry.

Angry as she'd been at first towards the girl, she'd come to accept her role in their own imprisonment. Still, had it not been for Tori, they might've escaped this hell in the first place.

Shaking the thoughts from her head, Jade completed another pushup and glanced at her door. The guard responsible for Cat's death was still alive, though to her understanding he'd been ostracized by the other guards. There weren't that many of them, and what little group there was had been handsomely paid by their boss, which kept them loyal over the years despite them practically living in this hellhole and living in fear of what the executioner might do should one of them step in line.

Jade had a feeling they might find out soon enough, and while she hoped that time wouldn't be soon, she doubted it. Her initial plan was to use the guard that went after Cat to her advantage, to lure him to opening her door, where she could then take advantage of his weakness. She hadn't formulated a large plan outside of that quite yet, as she was working out the kinks to her eventual escape.

The guards rotated watching the cavern where the cells were, so while one was present at all times, she wasn't exactly sure what was beyond the entrance. In the years of captivity, she was confident there were six of them. If either their boss or the executioner discovered what happened to Cat, there might be less and it might be harder for her to escape if they chose to crack down on them.

After all, she knew from Mr. Sikowitz's death that the one in charge didn't appreciate anyone stepping out of line. After Andre's death, Mr. Sikowitz let it slip that he was thinking of going to the cops, unable to contain his guilt over the boy's untimely death. With that, his fate was sealed.

"Did you hear?" Jade lifted her head at a voice from outside the door. Pausing as she lowered her body to the ground to focus on the guard's voice; it was the dissenting guard from the other day. "You might be in some serious trouble from the other day."

A second man scoffed. "What are you talking about?"

"You got to control yourself, at least keep your shit outside of this place." Jade rolled onto her back, sighing heavily as she folded her hands over her abdomen. "The cops man, they found a body out there by the old reserve." Jade arched an eyebrow, then pulled herself to a seated position. "Positive identification, looks a shit ton like our girl, dumbass."

"Oh please, they can't possibly track that to us."

"To you, you mean; and do you really think the Warden won't know?" The guard's voice rose, filling with annoyance likely derived from the second man's arrogant attitude. "It was all over the fucking news. These guys have been missing for nearly a decade!" From what it sounded like, Jade would have to think of another plan of escape. She was glad the cops found Cat and could give her a proper burial; but this meant the one guard she wanted to take advantage of would likely be purged in a gruesome manner.

Almost as cue, a sudden rush of footsteps raced into the room. "They're here!" Someone cried out. "Both of them, and they don't look happy." Letting out a startled gasp, Jade scrambled to her feet. She rushed to the door, pressing her weight against it and gripping the stony walls with her fingertips as she peered through the window.

The two guards stood encircled by four more, none in this group had ever been recognizable to Jade. From her understanding, they were all a part of a motorcycle hit gang that was formed by the Executioner when she moved into town. All of them were being paid to keep Tori and the others imprisoned for a set time, a time that was likely going to start drawing near now that ten years had passed and the guards were responsible for yet another one of their deaths.

Studying the lanky man in his late twenties, Jade pondered how he could have possibly had the upper body strength to carry any of them off, much less Cat while she was flailing about. He had short cut blonde hair and a bushy mustache that seemed inappropriately placed upon his pale, shallow cheeks.

Beside him, a man shorter by half a foot. He was older, had a red handlebar moustache and long hair like that of a rocker. His belly protruded, showing off a bit of skin between his black shirt and belt on his jeans.

The other four guards were a mix of three men and one woman, each of them appeared panicked and anxious. "What the hell happened?" Asked one of them. The redheaded guard shook his head and jerked his thumb.

"This one got a bad appetite in the middle of the night and snuck one of the prisoners out after killing her." A silence fell over the group, so quiet that if silence could shout, it would.

The younger man groaned. "I got a thing for redheads." The older man turned and glared, clearly the case was not being helped.

Jade took in as much as she could while looking around the room. It was a round area with cells carved out of the rock, torches were between each door. There was one door out of the cell area; but what drew her attention was a small crevice at the far corner of the room where Robbie's cell door was.

The crevice seemed wide enough to slide through if she had the opportunity, but there was no way of knowing what lay on the other side of it.

Glancing back at the door, she watched as it flew open. A blond woman entered first, her piercing blue eyes glaring past the golden strands of flaming locks swirling out of her face in the rush of movement.

It was the Executioner, a woman Jade had always recognized. She thought the woman dangerous whenever they first met long ago; but never could have imagined the sheer extent of what she might be capable of. The same could be said of her boss, who was also strangely referred to as the 'Warden' at times. It seemed there was a penchant for prison terminology with their captives.

"Focus." Shouted the Executioner with a bellowing tone. The guards all turned to meet her sneer. "Just to make this easier, what we are paying you is about to be decreased all because of one of you." Jade watched the guards shuffle and give side glares to the man responsible for Cat's murder. "Let's not make this harder than it needs to be. I expect a name, I expect you to grovel."

"No." Stated a voice, firm and laced with venom. Jade's eyes grew wider as she watched a woman emerge from the doorway. She was tall, with luscious brown hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. Her right hand clutched some kind of club that, upon further inspection, Jade identified as a spiked mace. She could guess the Warden intended to use it. "I don't expect groveling. I want to know who the fuck is responsible." The woman's voice, deep and mellow, started to rise with fury. "What the hell do I pay you for? Do I pay you to watch over my prisoners or do I pay you to assault and murder them?"

The woman stepped forward as the tension in the room thickened, she was truly the center of all attention as she commanded it with just the flick of her devilish glare. She raised the mace, pointing it at the group. "Give me a name."

Without remorse or regret, the red-headed guard motioned to the man next to him. "It was him. I tried to tell him not to, but he didn't listen." The Warden's glare narrowed upon the second guard, who was now glancing nervously in her direction.

"Todd Williams. You're a relatively new addition to this group of merry fucks. I recognize your name, I think the police are looking for you in regards to some other murder. Also a redhead." Jade cringed and watched as the Warden, without lowering her mace, looked to the Executioner. "Did you form a group of a bunch of serial killers by chance?"

"It would seem when I added some hitmen to the crew, one of them wasn't exactly forthcoming with their urges." The Executioner folded her arms and shook her head. "I thought I hired a tough bunch that were able to follow orders and control themselves; but I suppose I was mistaken."

The Warden gave a curt nod before lowering her voice. "It would seem so. We shouldn't have tried to hire someone else, I was wrong thinking we needed to inflate our numbers to look after a larger group." Turning to face Todd, the Warden let out a low growl. "Since it would appear we've lost a prisoner, we don't need such a large crew. Am I correct?"

The Executioner locked her wrists behind her back and bowed her head. "You would be correct." Dropping her shoulders, she motioned with her head at Todd. "Step forward."

Swallowing heavily, the man took a trembling step. "I'm sorry," he muttered, "I just couldn't control-" In a single, smooth flick of her wrist, the Warden slammed the mace into the side of Todd's face, sending him falling to his knees. The guards looked away momentarily before the Warden commanded them to watch.

Blood had splashed out across the room and Todd held a hand to his face, now gushing with blood as the Warden towered over him. "If there's one thing I can't tolerate, it's people who can't keep it in their goddamn pants. Or rather, follow orders and simply watch the prisoners. The end of their sentence is my choosing and mine alone." The Warden brought the mace down, and sound of bone cracking echoed in the room. "You feed them, you watch over them, you make sure they don't escape; but you do not, ever, fucking touch them." She crashed the mace once more into the side of his head, throwing his body across the floor.

Jade felt a surge of pain and fear; yet couldn't take her eyes off the Warden. She knew of the woman's brutality, her anger, her ability to take matters into her own hands. Hell, they were all here because she saw fit to be judge, jury, and of course executioner when her own Executioner wasn't doing the task. At the same time, she'd never witnessed the brutal rage and destructive force before.

Glancing to Todd's body, she saw to her great horror and shock that he was still breathing. His face was no longer recognizable, blood soaked every pore and hair of his head.

The Warden's slow walk brought a menacing aura to the boy's impending demise, one that Jade never wanted to be on the receiving end of. However, she was certain her time would be coming. After ten years, Tori's 'sentence' was almost up. Cat and Andre were likely going to be among the first to eventually die for the girl, but they'd been robbed from the Warden. At the very least, it seemed the Warden saw fit to make an execution in the stead of the lost prisoner.

"Excuse me." The Executioner stepped alongside the Warden and Jade watched as all the remaining guards tensed and held their breath. "If you would allow me, I'd like to have the final blow." The Warden turned to her, pursing her lips and furrowing her brow. "It is my error, allowing filth like this to slip into the gang that I formed."

Yes, Jade recalled how the Warden pulled off the great abductions. It was the Executioner who stepped into the black market, selling her services as a hitman. She created a business out of it, forming a small gang of hitmen and giving jobs to released convicts that couldn't get a job.

The hilarious thing was the woman actually approached her before the abductions, wondering if Jade might be willing to do such virulent things; but she refused the offer. It turned out for the best, in a twisted kind of way; because had she accepted, she would be on Todd's side of this violence.

The Warden, without batting an eye, pushed the mace towards the Executioner. "You may."

The Executioner took the mace in her hands, letting it rise and fall into her free palm as she moved towards the groaning man. "Please." Todd sputtered, coughing blood. "Please."

"You told me stalking was your great crime, and only stalking. Because of that, I felt you might be good at hiding and keeping a watch for any indication of trouble. What you did not tell me, what did not pop up, was that you were a sex offender."

"Please…"

"Had I known that, I might never have approached you. Our Warden would never have allowed you here. You abused one of our prisoners, sexually assaulted her, and as a result you have been sentenced to die." The Executioner raised the mace, her knuckles white as she clasped her hand around the mast. "Your execution is now."

No further words were spoken, all eyes were on the pair as the mace fell, crashing deep into the front of his head. Jade flinched away from the door, cupping a hand over her mouth to stifle a scream of surprise.

The executioner gestured the mace at the five remaining guards, growling softly. "Crimes. Now. They better be exact and truthful."

They each listed what they'd seen time for. Jade heard armed robbery, shoplifting, and even arson. These were the dregs of society, homelessness was their likeliest fate. Perhaps they feared the Warden and Executioner; but they were being provided a shelter of sorts and were paid well.

After shuffling the guards out, the Warden and Executioner stopped by Jade's door. Jade was seated beside the door, not wanting to reveal she'd been watching. though it wasn't likely it would matter, she just didn't want to attract undue attention.

"I wasn't planning on her dying." The Warden let out a sigh, brushing her forehead with her fingertips. "I was trying to come up with a plan, I've just been so fucking distracted lately."

"I personally liked the idea of tearing out the vocal chords and forcing memory loss somehow."

"Would've been difficult to do that last part. Of all of them, she was deserved the lightest sentence."

"So, who is up next?"

"Shapiro." Jade gasped, her hands trembling as she raised her head and turned it towards the door. "Assuming something doesn't happen to him like Andre or Cat."

"We'll make sure it doesn't. How will Shapiro's execution go?"

"Execution by hanging. Punishment to fit the crime. Vega will watch." Jade furrowed her brow, turning her head back to stare blankly at the wall in front of her. She knew this wouldn't end well, and now time was surely of the essence. There was no telling when they planned Robbie's execution, but the fact that they'd been considering Cat's time coming up before she was murdered confirmed the sentencing was coming to an end. Once Robbie was gone, there was little question that she'd be next.

"How did it go with Oliver?" Her pulse quickened and she raised a hand to the base of her neck, curling her fingers gently. The Executioner growled.

"He got a phone call. I was initially thinking of something more subtle; but I got the feeling he was rather uncomfortable with my presence."

"Why?"

"I think he got a glimpse of my purse. Regardless, I thought you didn't want to be too obvious? I could've poisoned his coffee if he hadn't gotten up. Considered pulling out a syringe to inject him with it; but his partner called him to a crime scene…Cat's crime scene…" There was an odd tone to the woman's words that Jade couldn't place; but at this point she couldn't focus on the conversation.

"They tried to kill Beck." The words were hushed and quick, her body was trembling as she raised her hands to hold her head. "Why?" Beck was supposed to be there with the rest of them originally, he only escaped because he was off doing something else that he'd been rather secretive of. Either way, she figured they'd long given up on him, so now it was just random in her mind that they would go for him again.

Her answer came swiftly, however. "If he didn't join the damn police force we wouldn't be having a problem." The Executioner growled again. "Now he wants to try and investigate? Is there really a risk he'll get close?"

"I didn't think so until he found Cat. It is what it is." The Warden crossed her arms and leaned her head back, closing her eyes slowly and breathing in deep. "I request something of you, Samantha."

"Anything."

"You will be my executioner."

Jerking back, Jade arched an eyebrow and turned fully towards the door, holding back her shock while the Executioner replied with her own astonishment. "I'm sorry? I mean, that is my title, but…"

"The punishment fits the crime. I am not unaware of my own. I never expected to live this long. I'm already dead. When all of this is said and done, when Vega and her friends have served their sentence, it will be my turn. You will perform my execution. Pick something long and painful."

"I'm no torturer. Still, I know some poisons. You know, California's still anti capital punishment."

"That's the fucking problem. Pick any death penalty state. Like Texas, for example, I'd be executed in a heartbeat."

"About thirty years at this point." The Executioner chuckled, but the Warden did not respond. "I understand though. Still, as much as I agree with you. If the punishment fits the crime, life imprisonment certainly fits…But as your friend I won't argue. If you wish for a, well, painful execution, I can provide."

What thoughts do you have here? Seems more questions than answers are raised, and now we know a little more about the kidnappers themselves especially a certain one that may have just exposed them.