Drama, Love, And Dangerous Weapons

“Phoenix, what’s going on?” Avery asked, completely shocked. She laughed, cruel and menacing.

“You’re coming with us. We can’t let you go to the islands. You’ll find things out that we can’t afford. James, Charles, arrest them.” Two of the stockier, stronger looking men came forward, and started to handcuff us. The handcuffs were strange, made out of something stronger than steel, and they felt plastic. I tried to kick my way out of them, but they grabbed me, and pushed one of my nerves that made me sink to the ground, unfeeling.

These guys were nothing to mess with.

They finished putting us all in handcuffs, and then they each picked up two of us, one in each hand, by the collars of our shirts. I couldn’t feel anything, and soon, I started to black out. The last thing I remember was them throwing us into helicopters, and then I blacked out.

~*~

I woke up, and I was in a dark room, so dark that I wasn’t even sure that my eyes were open.

“Is anyone there?” I whispered.

Silence.

“Hello? Is anyone there?” I asked, louder this time. A guard from outside the door rattled the cage door.

“Shut up in there!” I jumped back against the wall, and realized my room was very small. I tried standing up, but felt that my hands were chained to the wall, made with the same stuff as the handcuffs. I sighed.

“Do I get to eat?” I yelled, my stomach grumbling.

“Yes, just be quiet. I’ve got a horrible headache, and I don’t want to deal with you.”

I leaned back, trying to think of a way to get out of here. My thoughts drifted towards our last training mission. I had been trapped, but not as much as I had here. My thoughts moving fast, I reached into my pockets, and let out a relived sigh. They hadn’t checked our pockets, and PAC was still there, along with my glasses. I pulled them out, as quiet as possible, and turned him on.

“Go, PAC, go.” I pulled on the glasses, and immediately was looking from his point of view. He scuttled across the floor, and past the guard.

“Look at him.” PAC looked up, and I recognized the man from before. I think he was the one named James. He was around 6’2”, and he had broad shoulders. He looked strong, but not fast. I could easily outrun him, but if he caught up with me, I would lose.

“Keep going. Find Jazz.” PAC continued down the hallway. It was not well lit, and there were cage doors like mine lining the hallway. PAC started to turn into one cage, and then I heard Jazz’s voice from the speakers in the glasses.

“PAC, is that you? Pippa! Can you hear me?” His voice was frantic.

“PAC, nod.” The camera moved up and down, so I knew that he obeyed.

“Pippa, we need to get out of here. What else do you have with you?” I checked my pockets, and found MC and some knockout powder. I tried telling him, but I realized that the microphone only acted one way. I could hear him, but he couldn’t hear me.

“PAC, shake your head.” The camera moved, and Jazz understood.

“You can’t talk to me. Right. We need to find a way out of here. I think your guard has all of the keys, so you’ll have to get them from him. Have you found out where your mom is?”

“No.” PAC complied, and I noticed he didn’t ask about Avery.

“PAC, go find my mother.” PAC started to walk out of the cage, and Jazz sighed.

“I wish I could save you.” I heard him whisper, faintly, so soft that I didn’t believe he actually said it. Butterflies had a frenzied dance in my stomach, and I rolled my eyes. What a weird time to have a crush moment, sitting locked up in a cell, not knowing if I’m going to survive.

I turned my attention back to PAC, and saw that he had scuttled into another cell.

“What…what is that?” I heard my mother’s voice come through, and I sighed with relief. She was safe. I couldn’t bear the thought of losing her again.

“PAC, find a way to tell her it’s me.” He nodded, and started to write my name in the dust. When he was done, he used his built in lights to show my mother who it was.

“Pippa, Pippa darling, you’re alright! Oh thank God. How are we going to get out of here?” She started mumbling things incoherently, and I told PAC to find Avery. He started walking out of the cage, and I heard my mother say, “Be careful, Pippa. Save yourself before me.”

“Never, Mom.” I whispered, even though I knew she couldn’t hear me. I didn’t want to lose her, not again. I realized that I was over the fact that she had abandoned me. I didn’t care anymore, now that I had her back.

PAC went into another cell, but it was empty. He moved into the one next to it, which was empty as well. I started to get scared. Where was Avery?

When PAC finally went into the last cell, and it was empty, my heart sank, and I felt terror.

“PAC, go tell Jazz.” PAC went quickly, and when he got in the cage, Jazz asked, “Did you find your mother?” PAC nodded.

“Avery?” He asked, his voice slightly angry. PAC shook his head, and he sighed.

“Always causing trouble,” he muttered. “Listen, Pip, this is what we have to do. Do you have MC?” PAC nodded, and he continued. “You’ll have to use knockout gas, if you have any, and make sure your guard is out cold. Steal his keys, and make copies. They should be the same ones for every cell, but get a copy of every key, just in case. Then unlock your door, and push him inside, take his keys, and lock it. Then come get me, and we’ll get your mom.” PAC nodded, and scuttled back to me. I put him in my pocket, after thanking him, and took off the glasses.

I stood up, and then realized I was still chained to the wall. I let out a groan. Just my luck. I sat back down, and scrambled through my pockets, hoping that something would be there that could help me. My fingers curled around a thin tube, and I grinned.

Hooray for laser lip gloss.

I opened it, and aimed it at my chains. I caught them, not wanting to disturb the guard. I gently put them down, and pulled the knockout gas out of my pockets. I opened it, careful not to sniff some myself, and walked up to the guard.

“Nighty night, mister.”

“What?! Hey, you can’t be out here-!” He tried struggling, but he just slumped over. I grinned triumphantly.

“Ha!” I took the keys from his back pocket, and opened my cell. I pulled him by his chair into the cell, and locked the door.

“Not so tough now, huh big guy?” I laughed, glad to be free. I turned, and ran down the hallway, until I reached Jazz’s cage.

“Look who’s saving their partner’s butt now!” I said, unlocking the door. He laughed, and pulled me into a hug. I was shocked for a moment, but hugged him back. He pulled away too soon, and stood back.

“I was worried. Now come on, let’s go find your mom.” He walked out of the cell, leaving me glad that it was dark. I didn’t want him seeing my cherry red cheeks.

I followed him out of the cell, and we ran towards my mother’s cage. I hurriedly opened it, and she enveloped me a giant hug.

“Pippa, I was so worried.” She whispered, kissing the top of my head.

“I was worried about you, too.” She stepped back, and then grabbed my hand. “Come on, we shouldn’t stick around here. Someone might come and check on us.” We nodded, and ran out of the cell, and down the hallway. We dashed up a staircase, and came to a brighter hallway. We froze, silent.

“Just talk! It won’t be that hard!” I heard Phoenix’s sharp voice coming through a door down the hall. She sounded angry.

“No. I won’t let you get to them. They’re more of a family to me than you are, Phoebe.” Avery’s voice drifted out next, and he sounded tired and worn out. I bit my lip, hoping he was okay.

Phoenix shrieked. The noise hurt my ears, and I cringed into Jazz. He put a hand on my shoulder, and he grabbed my other hand.

“Avery Johnson don’t you ever talk to me like that-!”

“That’s not my name.” He whispered.

“What?!” She shrieked again.

“My name is Avery Becker. Not Johnson. Becker. That was my mother’s name, and it’s my name. Don’t ever call me Johnson again.” I was confused. Becker was the last name of our headmistress at the Academy. It seemed so long since I had been there, but when I brought up her face in my mind, Miss Becker and Avery did look a lot alike.

“Do you think he’s talking about Miss Becker?” Jazz whispered. I shrugged my shoulders, and nodded.

“Don’t you dare correct me!” I heard a loud crack, and I realized it was her slapping him. I winced, more scared now than ever.

“Just tell me what I need to know! You can go home to your precious little mommy.”

“No.”

“Just because you love the stupid girl doesn’t mean that you should try to protect her.” I froze. Was she talking about me? I felt Jazz’s hand clench my shoulder, and I leaned into him.

“I wish we had never come here, that none of this had happened,” I thought, biting my lip harder. I tasted blood, and stopped. I noticed the hallway had grown silent. The door at the end of the hallway creaked open, and Phoenix stepped out, all business.

It was apparent that she had lied about her age. She must have been at least 17. She was wearing her curly red hair down, and on her face were a pair of sharp black glasses. She was in a gray pencil skirt, and a white button up with a gray blazer. Her feet were in a pair of black stilettos, and as she turned down the hallway, her green eyes slanted.

“Agh!” She shrieked louder than before, and I cowered away from her, deeper into Jazz’s chest. He held me close, and tried to step in front of me and my mother to protect us.
“You little witch.” She screamed, pointing a long fingernail at me. “You must die.”

She ran towards us, her hair ragged, her eyes burning with hatred. She screeched, and then fell over, fainted.

“What happened?” I asked, nearly hysterical.

“Pippa, Pippa, calm down, please, Pip.” Jazz pulled me in, and I could feel my tears staining his shirt. He hugged me close until I stopped, and then he let me go. My mom was already checking Phoenix’s pulse.

“She’s alive, she just fainted. From what, I’m not sure.” She stood up, and dusted her hands. “I think she’s going to be okay-”

And then my mother fell over.

A pool of red surrounded her head, and this time, I knew it wasn’t paint.

I would have screamed, but my voice had left me with my mother.

I leaned back into Jazz, screaming.

Phoenix stood up, her eyes glowing red with fury.

“Demon, I told you, you needed to die, and now you will.” She raised the gun up, and pointed it towards my heart, and she pulled the trigger.

There was a loud bang, and then-