Wicked

5

Gabriella Starr brushed her red hair to the side, humming as she carefully scrubbed her favorite china plate. She was almost done soaping it when suddenly, there was a crash at the door and Rafael, her husband, burst into the kitchen, gasping and out of breath.

"Gab! Gab, you won't believe this!" Surprised, Gabriella dropped the plate and turned to Rafael. "What, Rafael?" she demanded with a scowl. He'd made her drop her favorite plate. This had better be good.

"Gabriella," Rafael panted, raising his hazel eyes to gaze into hers. He took her hands in his own. "Gabriella, Alex is alive."

The words bounced around her skull. "Alex is alive. Alex is alive."

"Alex? Which Alex?" she asked numbly, unwilling to have her hopes crash and burn. Rafael met her gaze. "Gabriella, our Alex is alive."

Gabriella fell to her knees, and started to weep hysterically. "Oh, Lord," she sobbed. "Thank you, thank you so much. My Alex is alive. He's alive!" Rafael dropped down next to her and stroked her back, murmuring comforting words. "I have to see him!" Gabriella jumped up and started for the door. "Wait! Gab!" Rafael laid a hand on her shoulder. "You- you can't see him."

Gabriella's heart dropped like a stone. "Why? Why?!" she nearly screamed. Rafael looked down. "Because- Gabriella, he is the Striker."

Gabriella took a step back and swayed on her feet, gasping for breath. "No. No, he can't be. No, how can this be? No! It's not true! Rafael, don't lie to me!"

"I'm telling the truth," Rafael said gently. "Alex is the Striker."

Gabriella knew then, with a sickening certainty, that it was true. The Rattlesnake gang had been sending a cold-hearted youth with a snake mask to assassinate choice targets, even going so far as to send him after deserters and traitors. The Black Veil gang had nicknamed him the Striker, and had been attempting to capture him for months. It seemed that they had finally succeeded.

Suddenly, Gabriella realized something, and she grasped Rafael for support. "Rafael...they are going to torture him."

It was well known that the Black Veil gang loathed him, as he had killed many of their brothers. Even now, they could be torturing him to death, taking a perverse pleasure in it.

Rafael's eyes widened. "I heard that he was in the basement, Gabriella. We must fetch the keys."

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Jackson Stone was reclining comfortably in a chair with a nose-mask over his broken nose, when the door flew open. He bolted up, but then eased back down when he realized it was just Gabriella and Rafael. "Good evening, Mrs. Starr, Mr. Frazetti," he greeted them pleasantly. "What brings you here?"

"We want the keys to the basement," Gabriella said through clenched teeth. Jackson's eyebrows shot up. "Rafael told you already?" He'd wanted the man to prepare her for the shock, but clearly he'd just blurted it out. Gabriella ignored his question and waited for an answer.

"He's in the basement cell. The one with a window. I'll call Gaines to get the keys."

Gabriella cast a cursory glance outside, and gasped when she realized it was snowing quite heavily. "He's going to get frostbite!" Jackson jumped to his feet. "Shit, you're right. Gaines!" he barked. The door opened and a broad-shouldered guard came running in. "Is there a problem, sir?"

"Gaines, the Striker is in the basement cell with a window, and it's snowing really hard. I need you to fetch the keys," Jackson ordered. The man's expression darkened. "Sir, that monster killed Reagan and Turner. I'm not going to save his life."

Jackson fought back his rising exasperation. "You will if it costs you your job!" At this Gaines balked, and then he scowled. "Fine." He cast a sullen look at Gabriella and Rafael, and stalked out the door.

"And hurry! If you exceed thirty seconds I'll take every second off your paycheck!" Jackson barked.

The blond guard threw a glare over his shoulder at his superior and jogged down the hall. Gabriella was fidgeting worriedly. "What if he's already hypothermic? He could die!" she wailed. Jackson felt sympathetic for her, he really did, but he was not in the mood for comforting her right now. "Gabriella, he'll be fine. I have to radio down to Riggins for backup. I'm not letting that kid out of my sight."

Jackson fumbled for his walkie-talkie, and spoke into it. "Riggins?"

The walkie-talkie crackled to life. "Yeah?"

"Call for backup and meet me in cell two-oh-nine in the basement."

"On it, boss."

"You'd better be," Jackson muttered as Gaines strode back in and tossed his superior the keys. Jackson caught them and checked to make sure they were for cell 209. He wasn't taking any chances with the Striker's life.

"Let's go," Rafael urged. Jackson resisted the urge to roll his eyes and beckoned to Gaines. "Lead the way, kiddo."

"I'm nineteen, not six," the guard said snapped. With a snort, he jerked his head at them and headed out of the room. Jackson waited until the two guests had filed after him before taking up the back. Who knew what they would do unsupervised.

The small party moved through the Black Veil base at a sprint, and soon had arrived at the second-floor door. There were five floors in the heavily guarded Black Veil base, including the basement. Alex was being held in a basement cell, but the high window was just above ground, letting the snow pile into the cell.

Jackson stepped forward to unlock the heavy oak door, and they filed down the three flights of stairs one by one. Every flight revealed a different kind of side of the gang. On the third floor, the one that they had just vacated, it was mainly offices, paperwork, meeting rooms, and such. On the second floor, there was an armory, two training centers, a break room, and a few strategy classrooms. The first floor held a rec center, an enormous food stockade, various other recreation rooms. The fourth floor was the dorms, where all the members of the gang slept. There was a small girls' dorm, a massive boys' dorm, and private quarters set aside for Gabriella Starr and her remaining family.

The basement held the cells, the interrogation rooms, and the torture chambers lined with horrific instruments that were meant to inflict unspeakable pain on someone.

Jackson followed the party down into the basement. Immediately, Gaines took a left and jogged down the dimly lit hallway, where four gang members were already waiting, including Riggins. Jackson produced the keys as they reached the cell, and staggered back a little in surprise. The cell walls closest to the window were blanketed in fuzzy white frost, as was the floor, where great heaps of white snow were gradually collapsing towards the shivering boy in the corner.

"Stay back!" Jackson ordered Gabriella and Rafael. Gaines, Riggins, and the three other men kept a keen eye on the boy as Jackson fumbled with the key. "Hurry," Gabriella begged as she watched Alex shiver. She could only see his windswept jet-black hair and his blue fingers as they wrapped around his knees.

A/N: I gave you a really long chapter guysss please show your appreciation by voting and commenting if you like this story! Thanks for reading :)