Beautiful Crime ※ DogNut

twenty nine

Back in reality, Adelaide slowly sat up and found herself surrounded by a medic and Hannah who was by her side, her hand over hers. She looked down at her hand for a moment before she slowly slid her hand out of hers, turning towards the medic. "Is the baby okay? Please, just tell me if my baby's okay."

The medic placed a hand gently on Adelaide's shoulder, trying to calm her down. There was a large scar running down her face, going from the left side of her forehead to her jaw on the right side of her face. She wasn't much but she was the best South London could offer. "Adelaide, relax. Your baby's fine, you were under a lot of stress from doing... well, you know what. And the drinking wasn't helping."

Adelaide sighed as she laid back down on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She was relieved to know that her child was okay, but she was also angry at herself for her stupidity, knowing that she could've been the cause of the death of her own child.

Jordan came into her tent then, causing Adelaide to sit back up. "Leave us," Adelaide instructed to Hannah and the medic, her eyes focused on Jordan's. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Hannah leave the tent as she was told but the medic stayed where she was.

"But Adelaide-" the medic protested, her eyes widening a little.

"I SAID LEAVE US!" Adelaide barked, her face distorting into a look of pure rage for a moment before it was replaced with a faint smile within the blink of an eye.

The medic took one look between Adelaide and Jordan before she reluctantly nodded once and left the tent, leaving the pair alone. Adelaide slowly and shakily stood up, resting her hand on her chair to level herself. Jordan almost rushed to her side, placing a hand around her waist and a hand on her arm to steady her.

"I thought I'd lost you for good back there," Jordan almost whispered, his eyes going over Adelaide face, taking in every small detail of her face from what he could see through his fading vision.

Adelaide shook her head, licking her lips. "I'm fine, just had a little hiccup."

Jordan moved a hand to Adelaide's cheek. "Listen, Addie, I know I'm not him and I will never try to be him, but I promise you that I'll fight for you and your baby until my heart stops beating."

Adelaide said nothing as she held onto Jordan's hand tightly, looking between Jordan's eyes and his lips, slowly leaning into him until their lips were just about to touch.

Adelaide's heart was hammering inside her chest, feeling her hands shaking a little – she was actually nervous. Something she hadn't felt since DogNut. She felt the butterflies in her stomach and they were hurting her a little, but it was kind of a good hurt.

Just as their lips were about to connect, the tent opening was almost forced open and Jackson, Achilleus, Ryan and Harper came in, causing Adelaide and Jordan to take a step away from each other, pretending like what was about to happen was nothing.

Jordan helped Adelaide to her throne and stood beside it, a hand resting on the back of it. Adelaide almost looked annoyed as she looked at the group, almost painfully placing her leg over the other. "Is there a reason why you came in unannounced?"

Harper took a step forward, her face a little pale. "I'm sorry, commander, but something's happened to Esme..."

Adelaide froze, the grip on her throne tightening. "What happened to Esme?"

Jackson said nothing as she slowly stepped towards Adelaide, holding out the palm of her hand to Adelaide – a ring placed in the middle of it. Adelaide took Esme's promise ring from Jackson's dirty palm and gripped it in her hand, silently understanding what had happened without anyone saying.

She didn't cry, no matter how much her heart was breaking inside her chest. She squeezed her eyes shut as she clenched her fist. "No more," she muttered, her eyes opening quickly. "This ends today; South London Crew officially declares war against the revenant. Tell the troops the party's over, this is some serious shit."

~#~

An hour later, the camp was in full war mode with not a single trace of alcohol in sight – the group deciding to keep the alcohol for both the victory party and for some Molotov's. Adelaide was still sat on her throne, but Jordan had returned to his side of the camp to prepare his own troops, leaving Adelaide to sort out her army on her own – not that she really minded.

"A 'Dylan' wants to speak to you, he's outside." Harper told Adelaide, nodding her head towards the entrance of the tent.

"Send him in," Adelaide sat up straight in her throne and Shadowman came into her tent, obviously distressed. "Harper, get everyone ready," she nodded towards the blonde before she left the tent to give the pair some privacy.

Shadowman looked like he was almost about to cry, he kneeled down in front of Adelaide's throne, almost looking like he was bowing down to her. "Addie, please tell me you'll protect Jester."

Adelaide grasped Shadowman's hand tightly, trying to calm him down. "Dylan, calm down. Jester will be under the protection of my personal guards; they won't let anyone or anything come close to him. I will make sure that nothing happens to him, do you understand?"

Shadowman nodded, his breathing still a little heavy. "Thank you, Addie."

Adelaide nodded as she licked her lips, looking behind Shadowman for a moment before turning her attention back to him. "Help me up," she told him as she placed her weight on the arms of her chair and tried to get up.

Shadowman rushed to his feet to help Adelaide to her feet. "What are you planning on doing?"

Adelaide shrugged her shoulders as the pair walked slowly out of the tent and into the daylight. "I need to talk to everyone, there's something I want to say."

A small group of kids crowded around a small table, waiting for an announcement – one that would be made by Adelaide. With Shadowman's help, Adelaide slowly climbed on top of the table and walked out in front of the crowd of kids, her demeanour calm and collected despite screaming on the inside. The crowd fell silent as they all stopped and stared at her. Licking her lips, Adelaide began speaking. "What happened here and across the country will not stand; the revenant will fall – the dead will be avenged!"

The crowd cheered and began chanting various things, their voices drowning out each other, making the voices just a wall of noise.

At the back of the crowd, Kyle and Sophie stood watching the crowd dissolve into pandemonium.

"I'm sorry, but who is she again?" Sophie asked, her eyes narrowing as she gripped her bow and arrow.

Kyle moved his head closer to Sophie's ear, so he could be heard over the shouts and screams of the kids. "Adelaide; the Commander of South London Crew. You thought Josa and Tyler and them lot were bad – that was child's play. In South London's case, you're dealing with all experienced killers."

Adelaide looked at the pandemonium before her, the pain in her legs slowly lessening. She felt someone stand on the table beside her and whisper something in her ear. "It's time," they whispered – it was Jordan. "I want you in your tent where you'll be safe."

Note

The battle is finally upon us! Stay tuned for that, dear readers! Sorry for the late update, I've started school for eight weeks and I'm three weeks into it, so I probably won't update properly until around Christmas. But I am determined to finish this story before the end of the year! Thankfully for you guys, I've written most of the next few chapters, so they should be out soon.