Hey guys. So it's been six years.
Since publishing this story, I've graduated high school, went to college, graduated college, and gotten a job. So.
I actually can't believe I'm continuing this, as it's been this long, but one of my friends told me that I should.
Do I remember where I was going with this story? No. Do I have a plan? No.
But I'll figure it out, hopefully.
I re-read the last five chapters of this story, and thankfully I'd like to say I've grown in my writing, so I might go back and make some minor edits on a few things I cringed at.
I don't even know if anyone is active here anymore, but I love the Hardy Boys too much to let them suffer this eternal cliffhanger.
I'm going to be very honest, I'm definitely rusty, so bear with me as I slowly scrape it off.
Apologies for any continuity or writing changes. Six years is a long time.
xXxXx
"It is time for one last choice, Joseph. You have three minutes."
Everything around him sounded dull in comparison to the blood rushing in his ears. Vadim placed the gun he had killed the dog with beside him on the cot, Joe barely registering the movement. His throat was tight, the air not getting to his lungs fast enough, not enough for him to really breathe.
The young woman on the floor next to Vanessa had dark hair and wide, terrified eyes. She was crying, tears spilling over her cheeks and soaking into her gag, staring at him. His stomach churned.
He still wasn't breathing right, he knew, and the corners of his vision were going white, a ringing in his ears covering the sound of the sobs of the other woman. Joe could feel his legs shaking, involuntarily taking a step backwards, his back hitting the wall. He could hear his own gasping breaths through the ringing in his ears, the pounding in his chest.
He refused to look at Vanessa.
"That's a minute gone, Joseph. If you run out the clock, I kill them both."
Egorov's voice sounded miles away.
Blinking repeatedly, Joe tried to clear the white from staining his vision, desperate to return to his body. This was not the time for this sort of panic.
A good detective can steel his nerves, remain calm under pressure. His father's words rang in his head.
"A minute and a half, Joseph. Tick tock," Came a muffled voice, not breaking through the heavy blanket of panic around him.
"Joe."
Any choice he made here made him a murderer. Was it better to pick up the gun and choose, or let both die?
"Joe."
How could he even make that choice? He had known this was going to happen, had played it over in his head, but nothing could have prepared him for this. He didn't want to be a murderer.
"Joe!"
Vanessa's voice snapped him back into his body.
He hadn't been breathing, he realized belatedly, and he gasped for air, filling his lungs as his vision returned to him. Vanessa was staring at him, a grim look on her beautiful face. Joe wanted to run to her, to hold her. He met her eyes.
"Baby, pick up the gun," she told him, softly, voice too calm for the situation.
"A minute left, Joseph."
His trembling hands found the gun. It felt heavier than it had been the day before. Joe turned to face the two women.
"Joe, look at me,' Vanessa said, voice still steady.
He did. Her eyes were just as beautiful as the day he met her, even here.
"Baby, you don't have to choose. Shoot me."
"No," he replied immediately, voice gruff. He wasn't going to kill Vanessa. He didn't think he could.
"Joe, please," she said, her voice taking on a hint of desperation, "I'm making the choice for you. There's no other way. Both of us don't have to die."
Joe scoffed. "Neither of-"
"Forty-five seconds. You're running out of time."
Think. Think. Calm your breathing, settle your mind. Just like dad.
Breaking his gaze from Vanessa, he stared at the gun in his hands. Only one bullet, he knew. He didn't see if Vadim had a gun on him, but he also knew he couldn't overpower him with pure force. He could shoot Egorov, try to grab his gun, and take on Vadim, but it was risky at best. And if it turned out Vadim did have a gun, he was ensuring all of their deaths.
"Thirty seconds."
Joe took a deep breath, his hands stilling. He knew his choice.
Glaring at Egorov, he lifted the gun, placing the barrel beneath his chin.
"No, Joe-" Vnaessa's words were cut off by a slap from Egorov.
"Silence," he hissed, narrowing his eyes at Joe. "If you kill yourself, Joseph, I will kill both of these women. Your sacrifice will be for nothing."
"Really?" Joe asked, his voice rising, "Because then what game would you play then? We'd be the first break of you M.O., a failure. You won't risk me dying, will you?"
He was stalling.
Egorov curled back his lips into a smile, removing the barrel of his gun from Vanessa's head, and took a step closer to Joe.
It was working.
"Nothing I do is a failure, Joseph. Here, if the stakes aren't high enough already, listen to me now. If you kill yourself, I won't kill Vanessa. I'll make her life a living hell. I'll do so much worse than anything I have planned for you."
Egorov took another step towards him. Joe watched the gun in the man's hand out of the corner of his eye.
"Are you listening to me? She will be nothing when I am done with her. She will wish she died here, she will hate you for what you-"
Joe lunged for the gun in Egorov's hand, letting his own skitter underneath the cot, fingers closing around Egorov's. Ducking his head, he slammed his shoulder into Egorov's chest, sending the man tumbling backwards, both of their hands still wrapped tightly around the gun.
Vadim hadn't moved. Joe didn't have time to question why.
Egorov wasn't giving up easily, rolling to the side as he hit the ground with a grunt, causing Joe to stumble forward, losing his footing, slamming into the ground beside Egorov. He needed to pin him, get the gun away from him, get the upper hand.
Next to them, Vanessa lifted up her foot from where she sat and slammed her foot into Egorov's back, the man grunting in pain, trying to rip his hands from Joe's.
Swinging his leg around, Joe pressed his knee into Egorov's stomach, hoisting himself upright with the momentum. Egorov countered immediately, shifting his weight to throw Joe off, forcing the gun down, the barrel dangerously close to Joe's face.
Joe could feel the fatigue of his muscles, the lack of sleep, the lack of substantial food, and the maybe-concussion getting to him. It was now or never.
With a yell of exertion, Joe slammed his knee into Egorov's side, simultaneously yanking the gun out of Egorov's hands, tumbling backwards.
"Vadim!" Egorov shouted, scrambling to stand.
Before Vadim could take a step, Joe was already moving, sprinting across the small room to push past Egorov and shove Vanessa back, shielding her where she sat, the gun he held now out in front of him, brandished at Egorov and his brother.
Egorov wasn't smiling anymore. "What do you think you're going to do, Joseph?" The man was breathing heavily, holding his side.
Joe shrugged. He could feel Vanessa pressed against his back.
"Probably this."
He pulled the trigger.
The gun clicked.
Egorov grinned.
Eyes wide, Joe blanched. "Wha-"
"Joseph, really, let's not get ahead of ourselves," Egorov lifted his hands, revealing the gun's magazine. "I've always been three steps ahead."
Joe lunged with a shout, colliding this time with Vadim, who wrapped his arms around his neck, ripping the gun from his hands and tossing it to Egorov. Vadim squeezed harder around his neck, and Joe gasped, hands coming up to claw uselessly at Vadim's arm. He brought his leg back and kicked, slamming his foot against the brick wall of a man. Spots were appearing in his vision.
"Vadim."
The bulky man abruptly pulled his arms back, Joe hitting the ground hard, gasping for air.
"We will have time for that later," Egorov continued, "First let me extend my olive branch."
From his place on the ground, Joe could see Egorov clicking the magazine back into the gun, already back at his usual place besides Vanessa. Vadim's large hand grabbed the top of his hair, practically tossing him back to the other wall, Joe gritting his teeth in pain.
"That was brutish and stupid, Joseph, and a part of me wants to just kill your little friend here now." The barrel of his gun once again found Vanessa's temple. "But I don't want it to end this quickly. So you get a second chance. The same choice. Vadim, please recover Joseph's gun, and assist him so he doesn't make a fool of himself this time."
Joe clambered to his feet, Vadim fishing out the gun from under the cot. He turned to look at Vanessa, helpless. There was nothing he could do. Her eyes were bright with tears as she looked at him, eyebrows drawn up in both fear and what looked like determination.
She still wants me to kill her.
Cold metal was pressed into his palm, the towering man this time not leaving his side.
Egorov nodded his head toward Joe. "Turn the gun on yourself, and I kill them both. You have three minutes to decide. Choose."
There was no running out the clock this time, he knew. There was no escape plan, no smooth talking, no way to get them out of this. Vanessa was looking at him, nodding.
'Do it,' she mouthed, the steeled look in her eyes a stark contrast from the tears sliding down her cheeks.
Joe lifted the gun, his hand trembling. The barrel pointed between her eyes. He couldn't stop staring into them.
"Two minutes."
A choked sob interrupted Vanessa's next breath, and Joe could feel his heart breaking.
Something cold gripped his chest as she smiled. "I love you, Joe. I love you so much. I love you so much, baby," she said, spilling out each word as if she couldn't say them fast enough–
"A minute and a half."
"You can't blame yourself, Joe. Do you hear me? Don't you dare blame yourself. And don't you dare forget how much I love you."
He didn't know how to tell her he couldn't live without her.
He didn't know how to tell her that–
"I'm gonna marry her, Frank."
As always, his brother gave him a disbelieving look. "Joe, you've said that about almost every girl you've dated. You've said it after a first date!"
Joe sighed, throwing up his hands in exasperation. "But I've never meant it before. I mean it this time." Rolling his chair over to where Frank sat on the edge of his bed, he looked his brother in the eyes. "I, Joe Hardy, am going to marry Vanessa Bender."
Frank stared at him for a moment, and Joe squirmed under the scrutiny, narrowing his eyes.
"Okay, no need to be weird, I was just-"
"I believe you."
It was Joe's turn to stare. "Really?"
A smile took over his brother's face as he spoke. "I've never seen someone compliment you just as much as Vanessa does. She makes you so happy, Joe, and I can tell you make her happy. You've both grown so much, and you each bring out the other's best side. Of course I believe it."
Joe couldn't help his grin, leaning closer to Frank.
"Good, because I already picked out the ring."
He didn't know how to tell her that if the choice was between losing the whole world, and losing her, his choice would never be her.
"Thirty seconds."
Vanessa's eyes were closed, a soft smile still ghosting her lips.
Slowly, he ripped his eyes away from Vanessa. The dark haired woman had been watching the exchange silently, her eyes widening as she saw Joe look at her.
"Twenty seconds."
He could hear his own heartbeat pounding in his ears.
"Ten seconds."
He took a shuddering breath. "I'm sorry," he rasped to the woman on the ground, the barrel of the gun flicking over from Vanessa to the unknown woman, "I'm so sorry."
Vanessa's eyes shot open, lunging forward as she screamed, "No!"
Joe closed his eyes and pulled the trigger.
xXxXx
Haha…well.
I hope you all (if there is a you all) enjoyed this chapter.
No Frank this time guys, but don't worry, he'll be back soon.
I'm ever so thankful for all the reviews on this story, definitely another motivation for me to return to this story.
I'm determined to finish this now, so enjoy sporadic updating until it's over. I don't know how long it will be, because as aforementioned, I don't really remember what my plan was.
It feels good to be back. Shout out to the real ones.
-Lee
