+ marks the grave {Completed}

Chapter 67

Kent was separated? From the others?
Kent was separated from Drew and Jason?
What did that mean?
Was he safe?
Where were they?
How did he become separated?
Many new questions arose.
But the previous ones were still answerless.
Why were they involved in all of this?
How could high school seniors pull off such a stunt?
Why did they have guns?
Why did they attack the gang base?
That could only mean... that these boys...were part of a gang also.
That would explain the shady behaviour and why the gym location was so important to Kim.
This was all gang rivalry.
And I was somehow in the middle.
Luke was the only thing that connected me to the Vipers.
But now that he was dead, and my brother belonged to whatever still gang was called,  I would probably have to join this one.
That would mean that, the deal Kent kept secret, all those years ago, was the fact that I had to join his gang when I was sixteen.
That would also mean that Kent ran away, abandoned me, to join a gang.
And that the place he had taken me was that gang's base.
But by the sound of it, nobody was allowed to tell me anything.
Tom and Tyler walked behind some vans and disappeared out of sight.
I took that quiet time to process all the new information.
But I always kept stumbling on the same point.
Luke was dead.
He was really dead.
My brother's gang killed the boy I loved.
The boy I loved gang almost killed me.
It was all messed up.
I should've probably held Luke more accountable for his actions...but he was dead.
Blaming a dead man was surely a crime.
He shouldn't have died.
He could've lived.
I should have forgiven him.
It was all my fault.
But I wasn't the one that pulled the trigger.
It was undoubtedly Tyler.
His thick voice made him the only one compatible.
His words were the last words Luke heard.
I wish I could've done something more.
Luke had done so much for me.
And yet I held a worthless grudge for so long.
I looked down to my arm, marking my gaze onto the watch that laid there.
The strap was a dull lilac from the blisters on my wrist.
The face was cracked from the meeting with Rebel.
But still, the small gems inside glistened brightly.
The minute hand was ticking by.
The hour hand stuck inbeween the broken void of one and six.
I didn't know if it was daylight or nighttime.
That was the least of my concerns.
My yawn begged to differ.
As I raised my hand to instinctively cover my mouth, I felt pain, but also a bit of relief.
The shackles loosened.
So much so that I realized that it wasn't even locked to begin with.
Maybe they forgot to lock it.
But their downfall was something I was grateful for.
I attempted to sit up, only to fall back into the chair.
My legs were considerably weak from either lack of food or injuries, maybe both.
But still, I needed more information.
So I crawled off the chair and onto the floor.
I made my way, slowly to where the guys disappeared.
Behind the van had nothing but an open trap door.
Not suspicious at all.
Nevertheless I set one foot down the ladder.
After the first step, I made another.
But I didn't meet a ladder step under my  feet, I met nothing.
Within seconds I came crashing onto a soft carpet, but once my head made contact with it,
It didn't seem to soft after all.

•~••~•~•~•*change in POV*•~•~•~••~•
"We need him off of that ship now."
"Drew we can't pull an extraction in the middle of the transit stream. It's too heavy guarded. I'm sorry my boy."
He hung up.
As both my boss and my father I couldn't defy his order.
We couldn't go for Kent.
And he couldn't send anyone via the waterways to retrieve him.
Kent would have to fend for himself in enemy territory.
I've been calling his cell from since we left the port.
No answer.
When he docked the reception would be from a different provider.
Which meant that I still wouldn't be able to make contact with him.
He was his own.
There was no way to help him.
He was more of a friend than a subordinate to me.
We were very alike.
I couldn't fathom the pain he felt seeing that his sister couldn't be located.
First his fiance, and now his sister.
He was probably trying his best to control his feelings so that he could make a valid contribution to this mission.
I needed to do the same.
As Jason and I walked through the iron door, it cried in rust.
Brad didn't answer when I called so I decided to stop by the garage before we went back to the base.
I could only hope he got my message.
The garage looked just like a garage.
Vehicles of all sorts littered everywhere.
The hatch to go downstairs was open.
Jason didn't follow me down.
This was a lot for him to take in.
Kent and Jason's were best friends since before they joined the gang.
Jason obviously had feelings for Amber but he refused to let them manifest because he knew what was in store for her in the near future.
He was visibly worried about her whereabouts.
But he was trying his best to stay composed.
I was grateful for that.
Once I was done climbing down the ladder I surveyed the room.
The conference room was empty but talking could be heard coming from the kitchen lower down the hallway.
Brad was at the stove and Tom was on his phone.
Probably talking to his girlfriend, as usual.
Tyler was most likely sleeping.
"Report on the extraction."
Brad stirred the pot of curry and pointed to the chair.
I took a seat.
"It successful. We recovered both Maggie and Amber. But L-"
"Amber was at the base?"
He stumbled on his words.
"Yeah, I tried calling you to let you know but you didn't answer..."
I waved him off.
"Where is she?"
"Both girls are in pretty bad conditi-"
"Where is she???"
"The vans split up so Maggie is at the base and Amber is in the main bedroom."
At least they were safe.
"Is she awake? Has she eaten? Did you tend to her wounds?"
"Shes unconscious..."
"Still?"
"Well she woke up and then she fell do-"
"How did she fall? Where did she fall? You were supposed to watch over her."
"Bro she fell on her own accord. I called the guys to talk about Kent being separated and she crawled off the chair and fell down the hatch."
Maybe I was overreacting.
Everything was getting to my head.
"So you got my message after all,"
He nodded.
"Shes in your room so go check on her."
He signalled to down the hall before going back at the stove.
For some reason I knocked the door.
Maybe I was hoping that she'd say 'come in'.
So when I saw her cold, pale figure, wrapped in bandages, I felt something inside of me tug.
It was like my organs were all twisting together.
I couldn't imagine how much pain she had to endure.
I should've saved her earlier.
I wasn't even the one to rescue her.
She wouldn't have even been captured if it wasn't for that damned Luke.
Speaking of which, Brad didn't mention him.
It didn't bother me much.
The further away he was from Amber the better.
He did give us false information about Amber being moved.
He served his purpose.
I had Amber,
And that was all I would ever need.