Take me home

Chapter Nine - The Conspiracy

July 16, 2013. 19:35 p.m.

Reina Karev sat under a light bulb in the living room. Her father had fallen asleep on the armchair beside and she had her mind lost elsewhere. What am I doing? She thought to herself. For the first time in her life, she was feeling so much guilt. So much guilt that she had never felt before. Turning her head and looking at the direction of the basement that Judy was locked in, she sighed. Maybe I should check on her... No, she could not. She held onto the arms of the wooden rocking chair she sat on and gripped tightly. What was going on? What was this sudden feel of concern? What was this sudden urge of seeing Judy? Get a hold of yourself. Closing her eyes and settling back into the chair, she told herself. She pictured herself when she was a child, sitting on the edge of Judy's bed and watching her sleep. A smile formed on her lips. She looked so cute while sleeping. Looking all cozy and comfy. She wanted to lie down beside her and hug the little girl. She did love her. After everything, she still loved her. JG may have replaced her in their mother's heart, but she was still her sister. Maybe not biologically but there was a sisterly bond. She felt love and concern for the little one and so did she for her big sister. Reina could picture the little and adorable Judy Grey blinking and opening her eyes wide to look at her big sister sitting on the edge of her bed, staring at her with a little smile on her face. "Ray-Ray?"

The noise of a car pulling up nearby interrupted her memories. What the fuck? She jumped up from the chair and rushed over to the window. Peeking out, she could clearly see car headlights from a far distance. Not close but not that far. She could see shadowy figures moving around but they were too far to see that openly. Shit! Reina rushed over to her father and hit his arm hard. "Wake up!" She said softly. "What the fuck, Reina? That hurt –" "Shut up!" She whispered, covering his mouth with her hand and pressing tightly. "Mmm mm hmm!" Her father kept blabbering. Reina took off her hand and put a finger to her lips. "Shh!" "But what's the problem?" Richard snapped angrily. "Hear that?" His daughter asked. They remained silent for a while and then he asked, "Hear what?" "Shh!" Voices. They could hear several voices from a distance. Richard's eyes grew wide. Reina picked up her gun and the mask figured like Judy's face off of the coffee table. She then put the gun in her jacket pocket. "We got company."

"Do you really think she's here?" Theo asked as he took out a baseball bat out of the trunk of his car. "Here." He handed it to Ida, who stood nearby, observing her surroundings. "This place looks like no one's ever come here for ages." He took out another baseball bat out the trunk. This one was for himself. "I'm sure she's around here somewhere." Said Ida, eyes still going round. Her whole focus was on the city that was abandoned ages ago. "She's gotta be." Taking a step forward, she narrowed her eyes in order to get a better view of the empty streets and houses. "C'mon. Let's start searching." She was interrupted by another car pulling up right next to Theo's. Out walked Niall, his hair all messy and his jacket half off his shoulder. "Niall?!" Ida's eyes grew wide in what she was seeing. Sure enough, she was in shock. "What are you doing here?" "You know exactly what I'm doing here, Ida." Snapped Niall. He spoke seriously enough to send her the message that he was angry. He's angry. Ida took a step back, realizing that he was not in a good mood. Then she stopped. Well, guess what? She was absolutely not in a good mood either. "You know exactly what I'm doing here, Niall." Ida walked up to him and looked straight in the eye. "And you can't stop me." "I knew you'd still come back here." Niall snapped again. He shook his head stubbornly as he spoke. "I'm glad I snuck around your backyard to keep an eye on you." "Wait, wha –" Ida let out a little laugh. A laugh of disappointment. "You've been spying on me?" She asked angrily. Niall shook his head and rolled his eyes. She took a few steps back and started clapping her hands. "Wow, Niall Wesley. This time you've surprised me for sure." She smiled as tears formed in her eyes. "You deserve a good applause this time." She was still clapping her hands when Niall suddenly jumped up on her and attacked her. "Oh, just shut the fuck up, you slut!" He pulled onto her hair and pressed her cheeks so tightly that Ida groaned with pain. "Hey, stop! Stop it!" Theo tried to intervene, but Niall shoved him onto the floor. He got up to his feet and tried to intervene again, but this time, Niall shoved Ida onto the floor and held Theo by his jacket collar. "You!" He said through clenched teeth. His eyes had grown wide and he looked wild, as if he might just eat Theo up any minute. "You're the reason for all of this! You stole my girl from me!" "Niall?! What the fuck are you talking about?" Ida said as she sat up on her knees. Niall punched Theo two or three times and then, as Theo fell onto the floor, he jumped on him and held onto his throat. "No..." Ida watched in horror as the guy strangled her friend. Theo struggled and suffered to breathe. He tossed and turned to break free, but he could not succeed. He was at a point of giving up when Ida suddenly attacked Niall from behind. She hit him on the head with the baseball bat as Niall screamed out in pain.