Drive [h.f-t. & j.l.] (COMPLETED)

Chapter 23 - Monster (Under My Bed)

monster (under my bed) - call me karizma
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josephine's pov

They shove me back into the vault, where Stephen is wiping his fingerprints off the knife, not even looking at me as he calmly removes any evidence of him holding the knife that just took the life of a man.

"This one was outside listening to the whole thing." The man behind me shoves me forward so Stephen can see me clearly, making me fall to the ground. I hold myself up with my arms and look up at Stephen, and his eyes soften a bit as he looks at me, a small sigh escaping his lips.

"Oh.. oh, Josephine... Man, I told you to leave." He says, shaking his head as if I was the one who did something wrong in this situation. I look around, eyes wild as I look at the people around us. Even though they weren't in uniform I recognized most faces.

"They... they were all at the parking garage. They're your task force! You.. you're the Brotherhood!" I almost gasp, eyes snapping back to Stephen as the realization dawns on me. Stephen squats down in front of me, a kind look on his face.

"Josephine... Josephine, just breathe. I need you to calm down. This can all be fixed. I promise." He says, his voice soft and I pull away from him, wanting as much distance between us as possible but as I try to get up two pairs of arms pull me up, hold firm. "Don't struggle, Josephine. Let's just keep this simple." Stephen continues as he gets up. "This doesn't have to get any worse. I kept your secret, didn't I? Now you can keep mine." The world seems to spin. I can't even form words. Stephen takes a step towards me. "Do you know where Tanaka is? He wanted us all here for this. I'm guessing he wants a thank you for nabbing our rat."

I open my mouth to say something, anything but just then, I hear a shriek of metal as the vault door swings closed. Everyone's heads snap towards the noise and I see just a sliver of Gianchi's face as he throws something inside, just before it shuts. One of the people standing around, a woman, pulls on the vault's handle.

"It won't budge." She shouts and I look down at what Gianchi threw. Still rolling on the ground is a steel canister that starts spewing a dark, noxious cloud.

"Those bastards! It was a setup!" Stephen roars. The gas fills the room quickly, burning my lungs and causing me to cough and gag.

"I... I can't breathe!" Someone shouts, though I'm not sure who and where it came from as my eyes blur. The members of the Brotherhood start choking too and I drop to my knees, my breath coming in painful rasps. I'm barely able to see through the poison gas and an overwhelming fear clamps around my heart at the thought of dying in here. Frantically, I look around the underground casino vault. Stephens task force - the Brotherhood - are sprawled around me, clinging at their throats.

The one they called Foley is still sitting in a chair, slumped and almost looking peaceful in the middle of this chaos. This was Jax's endgame. He never wanted to buy them off. He wanted to lure them out. And now I am trapped in here with them. Clenching my teeth I try to gather enough strength to move. I fight my way through the clouds to Stephen, trying to pull him to his feet.

"Ste-Kff! Stephen! I need your help!" I cough out and something flashes over his face. "We.. Kff! Need to clear the chemical from the air." I look around desperately, my eyes stinging and tearing up. "We have to trigger the sprinkler system!" I point to a fire suppression system in the ceiling before turning back to Stephen. "Do you have a lighter? You could boost me up and I could-" Before I could finish, Stephen draws his pistol and fires, his shot breaking the sprinkler's glass bulb and setting it off. The water particles absorb some of the gas... but not enough. It won't clear the air in time. I struggle toward the vault door, dropping once more on all fours. I crawl, feeling lightheaded. I slam my fist against the thick steel in futile desperation and shout.