Wow, I seem to
be in an updating mood today! I want to thank everyone who reviewed the last
chapter, it all meant so much to me that you’re still sticking with me even
though the updates aren’t as frequent as they were before, and school is just
simply kicking my butt! Hopefully the next chapter will be up soon, I don’t
have any tests for awhile the next few weeks, so I’ll be working on most of my
stories!
Don’t forget
to review!
Disclaimer: I
don’t own anything you recognize.
-x-x-x-
Three days
later…
She stared
blankly at the figure in front of her, tears stinging her eyes. Larissa was
confined to a bed, IVs and other things were stuck to her arm. Her forehead was
heavily wrapped and so was her stomach. It was a miracle that Larissa was even
alive.
Z tore her
gaze away from Larissa’s limp form and stared at the corner, choosing to focus
on that instead. But no matter what, the image of Larissa lying on the Academy
floor stayed with her. In her mind’s eye, she could see the pretty Asian
falling onto the ground and the blood everywhere…
Bridge had
immediately paged the infirmary once he saw Larissa sprawled out on the ground.
She was thankful for Bridge, he had been able to
remain calm when she hadn’t been able too. The sight of her friend all injured
had made her freeze… the horrific gashes, the bruises, the broken bones… seeing
Larissa like that scared her to no end.
Without a
doubt, Z knew that Giovanni had done this to her. At the moment, her friend was
still alive. But who knew when Giovanni would strike again? To make matters
worse, Giovanni had raped Larissa before letting her escape,
she shuddered to think what else he would’ve done. She was more frightened than
ever, who would be next? Caleb? Rosanna? Herself? Jack? She hated not knowing and all the unanswered
questions running through her mind. He had already gotten to Michelle and
Oliver.
Tears made
their way down her cheeks as she thought of Michelle Brown and Oliver McAden. Michelle had been like the older sister, the one
you went to whenever you had a problem. And Oliver had been her partner in
crime growing up; they had been the same age so they had often played together.
And now they were dead. The yellow ranger squeezed her eyes shut as the truth
sunk in even more. They were dead, gone.
Their bodies
had been slashed, bent in odd places like those corpses they had found on the
street a few weeks ago. She and Jack had thrown up when they had gone to
investigate. Seeing Oliver and Michelle that way, it had been too much for her.
The tears made their way down her face even faster as she relieved the memories
of their time together. Sure, they hadn’t had the best of life, but they had
had each other. And now they were gone.
Z brought her
gaze back to Larissa. She shifted in her chair; bringing her legs up and
resting her chin on her knees, her arms wrapped around her legs. ‘Please
wake up soon, Larissa. I don’t know if I can stand to lose another member of my
family.’
-x-x-x-
He rubbed a
gloved hand to his forehead, trying his best to block off all the negative
feelings surrounding him. He tried, but he knew it was impossible. Jack was
angry beyond belief, but under all that anger, there was a sense of sorrow.
Caleb and Rosanna were mourning for their friends and so were the various
people with them. Sky and Syd had disappeared off to who knew where, leaving
Bridge alone to deal with everything.
Well, at least
that was what it felt like.
Bridge sighed
softly, rubbing his forehead. For the past three days, things had been in
chaos. Everyone had been so emotional, and even though they had a right to be,
it was starting to take a toll on him. After Larissa had been admitted into the
infirmary, he and the other rangers had gone directly to where Michelle and
Larissa had lived.
And the sight
they had found had not been pretty. Z and Jack hadn’t been prepared to see the
brutal attack on their friends and had promptly gotten sick. And
rightly so. Bridge couldn’t even begin to imagine the pain they were
going through. It was obvious that all of Jack and Z’s street friends were a
wreck. He hadn’t been introduced to all of them yet, but Jack had briefly
introduced him to Caleb and Rosanna.
Grief. Anger. Sorrow. Confusion.
He felt
helpless. Usually, he’d be able to cheer a person up, but this time he
couldn’t. He couldn’t do anything to help ease everyone’s pain. His head was
pounding.
The doors to
the common room slid open and Sky and Syd walked with Commander Cruger. Syd
took one look at the green ranger and immediately took action. She headed over
to where he sat, Sky following. She sat down next to him and gently laid a hand
on his shoulder. “Bridge, go get some rest okay?”
“But…” he
protested feebly.
Syd shook her
head. “No, everything is becoming too much for you. Go rest okay? We’ll take
care of everything.”
“Yeah,” Sky
interjected. “You need a break.”
Bridge nodded.
His head was pounding way too much from all the negative energy in the room. He
smiled gratefully at his friends and stood up. “Thanks guys.” He made his way
towards the doors and as soon as they slid shut behind him, his headache began
to lessen. He breathed a sigh of relief.
He made his
way to his room, and flopped down onto his bed. The green ranger stared at the
ceiling for a minute or two before rolling over to his side. His gaze caught
sight of a framed photo on his nightstand and he sat up and reached for it. The
gold frame lay in his hands, and he smiled, the memory of the day coming back
to him.
He was
positioned right in the middle. Syd and Sky were on his right and Z and Jack
were on his left. They all had their arms around each other and were grinning
widely for the camera. The picture had been taken on a day that had been one of
celebration. They had, had a picnic in the park, with Sky’s and
It had been
the day he had discovered he was in love with Z.
Bridge placed
the photo back on his nightstand and stared down at his hands. These gloves…
these gloves were his prison. He would never be free from them. Would he ever
be able to feel someone else’s soft skin in his hand? Sometimes he hated being
a psychic. Being a psychic had brought him lots of pain, and lots of
loneliness. And yet, being a psychic had brought him lots of joy as well. His
gift had brought him friends, gave him the joy of helping people. But the
downside was that he was still isolated. He would never truly belong.
He stared at
the photo and his eyes landed on the smiling faces of Syd and Sky. His best friends. The two people in the world
that knew him the most. They had been the first to not run away at the
sight of his powers. His eyes landed on another photo. This time it was one of himself and Z. Syd had taken the photo at the picnic. The
green ranger grinned. He and Z had potato salad on their faces from their
little mini food fight. It was his favorite picture of all time. His eyes
reverted back to the group photo, back to Syd and Sky’s smiling faces. Would he
ever be able to hold Z’s hand the way Sky held Syd’s? Would he ever be able to
just pop up out of no where and kiss Z’s cheek like Sky did with Syd? Would he
ever be able to do anything normal?
The questions
were pointless, he knew. He stared down at his gloved hands once more. These
leather gloves were his prison and he knew that. He would never be normal; he
would never be able to hold Z’s hand. As long as he had these powers… he
wouldn’t be able to experience all the wonderful things that Sky and Syd were
experiencing. Sighing sadly, he laid back down and
slowly fell into a wistful sleep.
-x-x-x-
He set his pen
down and yawned. Glancing at the clock off to the side, he saw that it was a
little over past midnight. It had been a long day and he was tired. Sky
stretched and glanced at his girlfriend sitting on his left. Syd was still
writing furiously in her notebook as she had an hour ago. The blue ranger shook
his head. He stood and moved to where she sat and gently snatched her pen away
from her.
“Hey!” she
protested.
“It’s time to
take a break now,
“But Sky,
we’re so close!”
“I know, but
we need a break. We’ve barely had any sleep the last three days, what with
Giovanni attacking Z’s friends, Grumm and our regular duties. We need our rest
too.”
Syd sighed and
nodded. “You’re right.” The pink ranger stood up and began gathering their
things together. “It’s just that we’re so close, I can practically see the look
on Bridge’s face when we tell him!”
“I just hope
all our researching is going to pay off,” Sky sighed as they began walking back
to their rooms. “I’d like to see Bridge truly happy for once.”
“Me too.”
They stopped
right outside Syd’s bedroom doors. Sky smiled softly and pulled Syd close.
Leaning down, he kissed her lips softly. “I love you.”
“I love you
too.”
Casting one
last glance at each other, Syd turned and headed inside her room. The pink
ranger gave a happy sigh and then yawned, the past few days’ events were
finally catching up to her. Her room was semi dark, and a quick glance at the other
side of the room told her that her roommate was asleep. Syd sighed softly and
shook her head. Poor Z. That girl had been through so
much the past few days and it was starting to take its toll on her. Syd smiled
softly, knowing that Bridge would do everything he could to cheer the yellow
ranger up. The pink ranger changed into her pajamas and climbed into her bed.
She turned off the remaining lights and slowly fell asleep.
-x-x-x-
Giovanni
grinned with delight as he sat down. Three down, a couple
more to go. Larissa wouldn’t survive the night, he knew. He stared at
the wall, his next plan forming deviously in his mind.
Michelle was
gone. Oliver was gone. Larissa wouldn’t survive much longer. Mentally he went
down the list.
Ian and Kathleen Corgan.
Keegan
Wallace.
Caleb Welling.
Rosanna
Thompson.
Elizabeth
Delgado.
And Jack Landors.
His eyes
narrowed and he licked his lips in anticipation. Ian and Kathleen Corgan would be next.
-x-x-x-