Sticks and Stones (Sequel to Tough Luck) [CreatureHubAwards]

7

+EDITED+

Teagan

I can hear the blood pumping through my veins as a result of Aleks' sudden appearance; I can almost feel it rushing through my body.

Muffled shouting in the form of two very different voices carried into the room even through the tightly shut door.

I wince at the loudness of the yelling and place a hand over my heart to calm its rapid beating. Leaning my head back against the headboard, I hear a small crackle in my ears before the voice starts its usual torture.

Get rid of him while you have the chance.... Remember what he's done...

My hands remove themselves from my chest and place themselves over my ears. This had become a routine, almost too much of one. The voice falls silent for a tension-filled moment before starting up again.

I know where you are...

The icy voice hisses, which I'd never heard it do before. I break down in sobs and bury my face in the bed's comforter, crying myself to sleep.

~**~

I'm awoken by people whispering around me. My eyes quickly flutter open and adjust to the bright light to find a group of three people crowded around the bed. They all turned their attention to me at the sound of me stirring from my sleep. I recognize two of them as Zander and Monica, which makes me slightly relax, but instead of trying to ask who the third was I just stare at their shadowed faces.

Monica smiles at me before reaching behind her. "We're going to need to put you back to sleep, Teagan, only because you need some rest." There was a certain edge to her voice, like she was lying. I couldn't argue with her statement about me needing more sleep though, because it was true.

I suck in a breath at the sight of the needle filled with the same liquid as when she sedated me before, so I turn my head so I don't have to watch it enter my arm.

"There's gonna be a small pinch," she lightly says the same phrase she said the last time. There indeed was a pinch, and I count the number of breaths I take before I'm out.

I count three.

~**~

Aleks

I bite the skin around my nails out of nervousness, bouncing my leg up and down as I do so.

"You're certain that the AKs put something in her ear?" James asks, bending his hand so that it made a clicking sound.

I cringe at the sound. "Why else would she be acting like this? It's really the only logical explanation."

He nods in agreement, kicking his feet up onto the coffee table. "But how did you come up with that?"

I let my hand drop to my lap and shrug, not wanting to tell him I figured out her problem while stargazing. He stares at me for a few seconds before leaning his head backwards so it was hanging off the back of the couch. Four hours ago, I was a giddy as I was anxious after being told that Monica was going to remove the supposed 'speakers' from Teagan's ears. Nobody's ever bothered to mention that Monica had actually gotten a bachelor's degree in medical school, thus sort of giving her the position of the gang doctor. I'd always thought she was just really talented with everything relating to medicine. Kind of a stupid belief now that I was out of the shadows.

James crawls up the back of the couch so that half of his body is dangling over the back. A small gurgling noise leaves his mouth.

"What the hell are you doing?" I ask with a small laugh, positioning myself so my elbows were propped on the couch's back.

"Stretching," he replies whilst making more gurgling noises that I realized were laughs.

"Jesus Christ," Zander sighs, "you're such a strange dude." I turn toward her as she walks out of the living room, slightly shaking her head as she went. I turn back to James, whose legs were the only thing keeping him from falling. I deviously smile and pry his legs from their grip on the back of the couch, dumping him onto the carpet.

"Oomph," his muffled voice groans.

I clutch my stomach in laughter, falling back to the couch with giggles entering the air.

"Dickhead," James mutters, pushing himself to his knees and then his feet. He lets out another disgruntled groan as he brushes off his hoodie and jeans and straightens out his beanie.

Someone knocks on the wall across the room and we turn towards the noise. Michael - a gang member who didn't live here full-time - walks in.

"Operation: Successful."

I leap up and break into an even wider smile than the one that was on my face after pushing James onto the floor. I start walking to the doorway to go see Teagan, but Michael holds me back. "Whoa, she's had those things in her ears for a while. I wouldn't be expecting her to be all sunshine and smiles if she sees you right now. She's going to need some time to realize that we're not the evil gang she was convinced that we are."

I groan and tug at my hair. "It's always one thing after another."

Michael gives me an apologetic smile, "sorry, Monica's orders."

I sigh and make my way back to the couch. I had no doubts that Monica was right, but the suspense was killing me. What's stopping her from never being the same as she was eight months ago? Hell, she might be so far gone that she'll continue hating us -especially me- even after having 'mental therapy' as Monica calls it.

Nine months ago I'd probably be carrying out a hit somebody placed on their arch nemesis. Nine months later and I'm sitting in the living room that was empty other than James and I. The whole gang pretty much changed. Of course a few members were still carrying out their duties, but we - the main eight- only stayed inside the gates half the time. To be honest, I'm glad I don't have to constantly kill as many random civilians as I used to, but there was no way in hell that I'd trade the gang life for an ordinary one.

Turning to James, I scratch the back of my neck. "Listen, dude. I'm sorry for how much of an asshole I've been to you these last couple of months."

He looks over at me from his spot on the couch. "Don't worry about it. I know I could beat your chicken legs any day if you really pushed the wrong buttons."

A breathy laugh leaves my lips. "Yeah, you probably could."

~~~~***~~~~

I lightly pick the tiny chip up with my glove-covered hand, turning it over and studying it. "So this was placed almost right beside Teagan's ear drum?" I curiously ask.

Monica nods, picking up the second chip. "The AKs must've used a special kind of microphone and a speaker that was able to be adjusted to a very low volume to be able to speak to her without damaging her ear drums. In fact, I bet they're in the form of microchips because they're also trackers as well."

I shake my head in disgust of what the AKs did just to keep Teagan from trying to escape their grasp. Placing the chip back into the glass bowl, I pull off my rubber gloves and toss them in the trash.

"Should we destroy these things?" I ask as Monica picks up the bowl and begins exiting the conference room. She stops in her tracks and turns back toward me.

"If you want to, I guess. There's not much more to study about them." She says with a shrug, handing me the bowl.

I bite my lip and pull off my shoe, lifting it above my head before bringing it back down again and again, shattering the one thing tying Teagan to the AKs.

~~~~~~~~

a.n.

SoI read the Reddit post where Jordan says his marriage with Monica ended but I'm not eradicating her from the story as this is a work of fiction, therefore she shall stay :3 (plus I wanna write about little Jonica babies running around but that's off topic)

Thanks for 1.6 k reads and 100 votes!!! I wasn't expecting Sticks and Stones to get so much attention in such a short amount of time!!

Stay classy, sassy, and eat some taffy!

xo