Stage: Me - Cards: ac110807
- Chapter 22 - It All Goes Downhill Again -
Warnings: Kidnapping.
Third Person POV
Cards had been right about Stage refusing to leave her side, for a while at least.
It's been a few weeks, and Stage is still freaked out about what happened with her and Smokes.
Rightfully so.
Cards didn't mind this. She loved spending time with her best friend and it was better if she could keep an eye on her.
But that didn't stop them from running into trouble with the Harlem leaders.
They were having so many problems with them that all of the drifters were split among boroughs.
Cards sent some of the drifters to the Bronx, Richmond, and even a few to Woodside and Brooklyn.
Stage and Cards stayed in Manhattan.
Stage wanted everything to go back to normal, though she was making a huge mistake right now.
Walking alone in New York City at night was never a good idea, especially not when you were Stage and in the start of a Borough War.
She had needed some air, to get away from everyone, so she snuck out when everyone wasn't looking.
She knew that if someone found out, Cards would be really mad, since Cards wasn't even in Manhattan.
She didn't realize how much trouble she would get in.
Stage backed up, eventually hitting a wall.
She clung to the stick in her hands.
Zip stopped in his tracks. "Stage. Please put the stick down, sweetheart."
Stage shook her head, her eyes squeezed closed.
"Stage," She could hear Zip start to get angry. "If you don't put the stick down, I'll send someone to hurt Cards."
"Don't." She squeaks, tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Stage, sweetheart," Zip starts, slowly inching towards her.
"Don't call her that." A voice from the entrance of the alley snarls. Their voice was very familiar to Stage.
She couldn't figure out if it was familiar in a good or a bad way.
Zip turns around, scowling. "And who are you to tell me, a leader, what to do?"
"One of her good friends, who isn't going to let you do something to her and Cards." The voice responds, their arms crossed.
Stage's vision was clouded with tears. She couldn't see anything, and her eyes burned. Her head hurt from crying, and she needed water and a hug from Cards.
She could feel Zip's intense glare on her, causing her to want to shrink into the ground and disappear.
"I suggest you get out of here before I soak you," The voice threatens.
Zip scowls, but leaves the alleyway.
"Stage!" The voice exclaims, running over to Stage.
Stage collapses, as he catches her, pulling her to his chest as she drops the stick.
"Shh, Shh, Stage," He whispers, cradling her in his arms. "Where's Cards? Why is Zip after you?"
Stage couldn't speak, she was crying too much.
The boy, who she knew as Wisk, hugs her closer, whispering comforts into her ear.
After a few minutes, Stage could speak again, but barely.
"Cards-" She hiccups. "She's- in- in B-Brooklyn."
Wisk nods. "Why are you walking alone? And why is he after you?"
"He-" A sob escapes Stage's throat. "He wanted- to- to hurt h-her!"
Wisk rubs her back. "I know, I know. Not everyone in the world is kind."
Stage hiccups again.
"Just breathe, Stage. Don't worry." Wisk whispers. "It'll all be okay, soon."
Stage felt her eyes grow heavy. She didn't know why, but she started to get dizzy and her head was pounding more than it had been before.
"Wisk-" She whimpers, leaning against him for support.
"Stage, you look terrible." He whispers, something in the concern in his voice making State uncomfortable.
Stage whimpers, her eyes closing without her consent.
As she slowly lost consciousness, she realized why she couldn't figure out if he was familiar in a good or a bad way, and why his sense of safety wasn't very comforting either.
Wisk was a Newsie who had gotten kicked out of the Drifters' borough by Cards after being found a spy from Harlem.
Stage tried to push away from him, trying to warn Cards, but she couldn't.
She felt her eyes close fully, and everything went black.
"Why'd we have to do that?" Switch questions, jumping down from the roof. "Knocking her out would've been so much easier."
"We don't want to hurt her, yet." Wisk responds, as Zip walks from around the corner. "Besides, part of our plan was to let her think that she was just in our borough, without knowing you two were there, until Cards could come get her, not that she was kidnapped."
"How well did that work?" Zip scoffs, arms crossed.
"Besides, did you really want to get hit with the stick again?" Wisk shoots Zip a look.
Zip cringes, shaking his head.
"She's innocent, like it's crazy." Switch mutters. "She's 13. I was not that innocent when I was 13, and she gets overwhelmed easily."
"I mean, I'd be overwhelmed if I was getting kidnapped by someone who my best friend kicked out of the Borough because he was a spy, and I'm being used as bait because I'm weak and best friends with three leaders." Wisk scoffs.
Zip and Switch laugh, causing Wisk to join in a bit.
Wisk slips an arm behind sleeping Stage's back, and his other arm under her two legs, picking her up.
Zip goes to the front of the alley, immediately running back, grabbing Switch and Wisk, and hiding.
They heard shouts from what sounded like Race, JoJo, and Albert. "Stage! Where are you?!"
Wisk covered Stage's ears as she stirs a bit. "They're already looking for her."
Switch frowns a bit. "How?"
"Because she left a while ago." Zip responds.
Wisk and Switch nod.
After a few minutes, they couldn't hear the three Manhattan Newsies anymore, so Zip checked again.
When he gave them the all clear signal, they started running towards Harlem, Stage in their arms.
1004 Words