His Trophy | Jerome Valeska

one

Jerome clambered onto the bus with a malicious smile on his lips; it was the kind of smile that held no real emotion; the only thing it conveyed was madness. He was carrying a handgun and a small, worn-out piece of paper, as he stalked down the central aisle of the school bus. He checked every girl's face, well he checked the first row of faces, he then managed to spot her from the back of the bus because of her hair.

"Rory, Rory, Rory," he cackled as he slowly stalked towards her, slipping the paper back into his pocket.

She didn't move or say anything, just watched as Jerome crouched down next to her.

"You should have left when you had the chance," his grin that was already hanging from ear to ear, grew wider as he said the words.

Rory glared at him and spat, the glob of saliva hit the side of his cheek. The evil smile fell, and she could feel the whole bus tense in fear and anticipation. He looked away from her, wiping the spit off of his face before letting out a low and insane chuckle.

"You shouldn't have done that," he warned, meeting her eyes with a deadly glare, his tone becoming low and aggressive.

"Bite me," Rory snapped back, her wrists struggling against the handcuffs.

There was a moment of silence before Jerome started laughing, his low chuckle became a more deranged high pitch shrill. He stood up and smiled, turning around and looking at all the girls who were surrounding them. He pointed the gun at Lauren Junes who was sitting in front of Rory. Lauren let out a small squeak of terror when their eyes made contact.

"Now listen, baby," he looked back to her as he pointed the gun at Lauren, "if you don't cooperate with me, blondie here gets her pretty little head blown off," Jerome threatened as he pulled back Lauren's long ponytail and put the gun to her temple.

Rory did not want anyone to die, but she knew she had to stall for a few minutes longer before the police arrived.

"Cooperate in what way, Jerome?" her words burned her mouth as she spoke, her mind screaming with the terror of putting Lauren's life at risk.

Jerome giggled again at Rory's comebacks and pulled Lauren's hair tighter.

"All you need to do, is get off the bus, and we'll let these lovely ladies continue on their way to cheery cheer camp," his voice was smothered in a sly and mischievous tone as he explained.

"I just need to get off the bus?" She confirmed, her heart racing faster than it had ever done before.

"Yes," Jerome beamed as he readjusted his grip on the revolver.

Rory took a moment to try and think about what could happen, the different consequences, different alternatives: if she got off the bus, she would be immediately taken to wherever Maniax! was based and forced to deal with Jerome's wrath. She could try and escape when getting off by legging it- the police could arrive at any moment... but knowing Jerome, he'd still kill Lauren without a second thought, and if she refused to cooperate, he would end up killing each girl one by one.

She only really had one choice, comply with his orders.

Rory met his eyes before glancing between his face and Lauren's. She stood up with her hands, still tied behind her back. Again Jerome's smile widened as he watched Rory step into the aisle.

"Good girl," he praised, his voice was tainted with insanity and pride. He'd finally managed to get her, his trophy and this time there would be nothing to get in his way.

She waited for him to remove the gun from the side of Lauren's head, but he didn't move, the gun stayed firmly against her head.

"I'm complying, Jerome, a deals a deal, leave her alone," Rory snapped, nodding to Lauren.