Stage: Me - Cards: ac110807
- Chapter 8 - Saving Stage -
Warning: Soaking, Abuse
Third Person POV
Cards paces the living room of the Manhattan Lodging House.
Her hands were in her hair, pulling almost hard enough to rip the hair out of her head, but she wasn't gonna do that.
"I don't care how dangerous it is. If we don't start going to get her, I'm gonna storm into the Refuge myself" Cards snaps. She was frustrated.
Getting people out of the Refuge was not easy. Ask anyone who's been in there before, they'll tell you that.
"Cards, we need you to calm down. We're gonna save Stage, but we can't just stomp into the Refuge. We have to be sneaky" Jack calmly tells Cards, trying to calm her down.
"I get it Jack! But Stage has already been in the Refuge before, and she can't survive it long again. Crutchie's in there, I get it, but Crutchie is stronger than Stage. He can survive for a little bit until we can get him out. Stage can't..." Cards trails off. "How would you feel, Spot, if Race was in the Refuge? How about you Davey, if Les was there? You Blink, if Mush was there? And I know, two out of those three people could survive, but think about Les, Lucky, Tumbler. Heck, I'm pretty sure Tumbler would be fine in there for longer than Stage, if, and only if, he had Skittery."
At the end of Cards rant, everyone was silent, and Cards was biting her lip to stop her from crying.
Stage is her best friend, her sister. She couldn't let something happen to her.
Spot sighs. "Fine. Come on, if we want to do this, we have to do it now. Guards change at 1am, and it'll take us fifteen minutes to get there."
He points to the clock. It said 12:30am. They had a few extra minutes, but they needed that in case they ran into a problem.
Cards nods, along with everyone else. Cards, Spot, Ace, Smokes, Jack, Specs, and Race was going.
At the Refuge
Stage laid on top of Crutchie, where she always was unless she was getting beaten by the Delanceys or someone.
She didn't talk. At all.
The only sound that Crutchie and the other kids in the Refuge heard from her were soft sobs and whimpers.
Stage hadn't eaten since before the fight, and two days had past.
Crutchie was getting worried, to say the least.
Stage didn't sleep either.
If she did 'sleep', she was half conscious, still a bit aware of her surroundings while she cried, and half unconscious.
She rarely stopped crying. She was scared, Crutchie knew that, and she was worried she'd have nightmares.
Crutchie was in his playing with Stage's hair, trying to calm her down or even get her to fall asleep once, when there was a knock on the 'window'.
Crutchie turned to look at the other kids, who were quietly playing games. They shrugged, and one of them, Scratch, walked over to the window.
"Ey, Jack Kelly, what are you doing back here?" She asks. "With Racetrack Higgins, and Specs Willis? And Brooklyn boys?!"
Scratch and the other kids in there were shocked at that, but Crutchie wasn't. Crutchie smiled.
"Heya Scratch. Is Crutchie in here?" Jack questions. Scratch nods.
"I'm here, Jacky! Stage is here, too" Crutchie informs Jack, not that he could see Jack or Jack could see him.
"How is she?" Cards questions. Crutchie sighs.
"She won't stop crying. I'm pretty sure she's zoned out right now, hence why she isn't responding" Crutchie informs Cards, who swears her heart shatters a bit.
"We're opening the window" Spot states. Everyone nods.
They remove a few of the loose bars on the window. Snyder really should check the place better.
Jack, Cards, and Spot climbed into the Refuge through the window.
Inside, Stage and Jack immediately went to Stage, while Spot kept an eye out to see if someone was coming.
"S-Spot?" A soft voice squeaked from beside one of the bunks.
Spot and Cards both turn to the voice, it sounded familiar to both of them. Then if hit them.
"Rider" They breathed in unison, eyes wide as they stared at the corner.
"Red's brother?" Jack questions. Cards and Spot nod, as Rider crawls out of his little corner and they see how bad he looked.
"Red's been looking everywhere for you Rider. Is this where you've been this whole time?" Spot questions, picking the little up. Rider was Les, Lucky, and Tumbler's age.
Rider had gone missing when he strayed too far away from Red one day when selling. That had been a month ago. Red was broken, he didn't know where Rider was.
"He grabbed m-me. Knocked me- me out, and the n-next thing I know- I'm in this darn place" Rider explains, trembling in Spot's arms.
Spot clenches his fists. He hated this place so much.
"Let's get out of here before someone finds us." Jack decides. Cards and Spot nod. Rider had fallen asleep in Spot's arms and Stage was still zoned out. "Crutchie, are you sure you don't want one of us to get you out?"
Crutchie shakes his head. "I'll only slow you down, plus, I'll be okay. These kids need someone else here."
Jack looked sad because of this response, but he knew it was coming. Crutchie hated people carrying him and he couldn't walk well at the moment.
Jack picks up Stage, after Crutchie kisses her forehead.
The three of them head back over to the window, climbing out. Jack hands Stage to Ace and Spot hands Rider to Smokes.
The Brooklyn boys' eyes widen at the sight.
"That's where he disappeared to?"
Spot nods, confirming Ace's worst fears.
Spot, Cards, and Jack climb out the window, promising the kids in the Refuge that they would win the strike and shut down the Refuge, before putting the bars in, but not too much that they couldn't take them down again.
"They look terrible" Race breathes. The others nod.
They run to an alleyway a bit away from the Refuge, before they stop.
Specs gently shakes Stage's shoulder, shaking her out of her trance.
Stage slowly opens her eyes. Her eyes widen as she stares at Specs through her blurry vision and tired eyes. "Hey Stage."
"Oh my God- Specs" Stage breathes. Specs smiles, stepping away and pointing to Cards, who was behind him.
Stage's eyes widen. She literally falls out of Ace's arms, causing some of the boys, including Ace, to cringe at the fact that she hit the ground and literally rolled out of Ace's arms.
Stage forces herself to get up, but she was in pain.
She stands up and wraps her arms around Cards' neck, as Cards hugs her tight.
Stage starts crying again and Cards let's a few tears slip from her eyes. "I missed you."
"You're okay, Stage. We're all okay."
"I wanna go home" Stage whispers to Cards, who nods.
"I know. We're gonna head to the Manhattan Lodge right now okay" Cards informs Stage, who nods.
"I feel sick, and tired" Stage whispers, leaning more so on Cards.
Cards feels Stage's forehead, she definitely had a fever.
"Can someone pick you up Stage?" Jack questions. Stage shoots him a look, weakly.
"I don't know Jacky, can someone?" Stage responds. A few of the boys laugh, while the others groan or roll their eyes.
"And here is how you can tell that she's Cards' best friend" Spot mumbles. Cards and Stage roll their eyes.
"I don't want someone to pick me up. I feel bad" Stage whispers. Jack looks at her confused.
"Why? We're helping you?" Jack questions. Stage weakly shrugs.
"I don't know, I feel bad" Stage repeats, her eyes starting to get heavier.
Spot and Specs send Jack a look. Jack nods, picking Stage up.
Stage zoned out again, she wasn't fully aware of anything anymore. Sleep was catching up to her.
1356 Words
I'm really stating how weak I actually am lol. Yeah, Stage is me for a reason. :)