grace under pressure • jerome valeska

CHAP.32: Breaking News

  After my little chat with Selina, a police officer led me to my cell and roughly shoved me in. I didn't care, I was too in thought to notice. Selina. A sister. Such a strange concept. 

  I sat on the metal thing in my cell and look down to my feet. Wow, this whole family thing was moving fast. Although, everything seemed to move fast for me lately. 

  I sighed, leaning my head back on the wall behind me. Smiling slightly. I knew Jim would be coming up to me shortly, asking about my information about the whole "me giving up my cult" thing. I wasn't planning on telling him. Not yet. I didn't want to give up people who would break their own necks just because I say so! They are wayyyy to fun for me to give up. 

  Some police officer's were looking at me and I look at them.

  "Quite the view right?" I say. They snap out of it then turn away. I chuckle and turn back in front of me. I wait for them to walk away before I slowly reach into my back pocket, my hands still handcuffed. I look down at a small flip phone and then went to messages. I started to type.

"COME GET ME." I then hit send. I shoved the phone back in my pocket and then crossed my legs. I then started to hum the tune to Paint It Black by the Rolling Stones. I quite enjoyed that song. I would probably listen to it when I got back to the warehouse. 

  While sitting there, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I knit my brow. I looked around me before opening the phone again. I look at the message. 

  "WE GOT A PROBLEM." I growl as I read Mark's message.

  "WHAT?" I text back. A second later. 

  "ONE OF YOUR GUYS WAS PLANNING BEHIND THE SCENES. HE STOLE JEROME'S BODY. HE TRIED TO BRING HIM BACK TO LIFE. IT DIDN'T WORK. LONG STORY SHORT, HE CUT OFF JEROME'S FACE AND RALLIED UP EVERYONE TO LEAVE YOU IN PRISON AND THEN BROKE INTO THE NEWS STATION. WATCH THIS VIDEO." 

  The next thing to come up was a small video of what looked like the news. I look around once more, hiding the phone with my body before pressing play.

  I saw one of my men, I think his name was Dwight or something, with a mask on. The Breaking News headline was Ha Ha Ha and many signs from spray paint had been sprayed behind him on a wall. When I peered closer at him I realized it wasn't a mask. It was a human face. He lifted his head up. 

  "My name is Jerome." He stated. I hold back a growl. "History will call tonight, the night of redemption. People will fear our name and our legacy. We will reveal ourselves to the city of Gotham like never before. Today is a day that Gotham will remember."

  The video continues but I sort of blank out. I turn off the video and type madly on the phone. 

  "GET ME OUT OF HERE NOW!!!" 

  "TRYING MISS SKY BUT IT'S HARD TO STEAL A TRUCK WHEN EVERYONE IS SCREAMING AND THROWING THINGS." I roll my eyes. 

  "FINE. I'LL DO IT MYSELF." I turn the phone off and stick it in my pocket again. I look behind the bars and see a little man in a police uniform sitting at a desk drinking coffee. Bingo. I stand from my seat and walk over to the bars. 

  "Psst. Psst, hey Mr." I say. The man turns to me and I give a sweet smile. "Hi." He sets down his mug. "Hey, can I talk to you for a tiny second." 

  "I'm not supposed to talk to the prisoners." He says. I nod. 

  "Oh I know that. Your trying to do your job. I understand that. But, I was just going to say that there is a very large rat in here that keeps biting at my foot. I don't know what to do about it and you look like a man who could help me." I say as feebly as I could. He looks into the cell. 

  "It's hiding now." I whisper. I clutch onto the bars. "I was just wondering if you could shoo it away from me for a bit then I can sit down again. I hate to bother you but I simply can't take it anymore." He stands. I nod and point. "Its just right there behind." 

  He walks up to the bars and I glance at the gun on his hip. As soon as he is close enough, I suddenly grab him by the scruff of his collar and turn him around, taking out the gun from it's holder and pointing it at his head. I wrap my arm through the bars and around his neck so he doesn't move. 

  "You try anything and I blow your head off." I hiss. He starts to breathe heavily. "Now...scream for help." 

  "Help!" He yells, not hesitant to do so. Every head turns to me and I smirk. 

  "Now that I have all of your attention!" I call out. "Which one of you has the key for this shitty cell?" Nobody says anything, people reaching for there guns. I shake the man in my hand and he whimpers. 

  "I said...WHICH ONE OF YOU HAS THE GODDAMN KEY!" I scream. 

  "Grace." I hear a voice say and I turn to see Jim walking towards the cell. I press the gun to the guys head a bit more firmly. 

  "One more step Gordon and I blow buddy boy here's head off." I growl. He stops. "Now...who has the key?" I look around. "Hmmm?" Jim speaks again. 

  "Grace, we can talk about this..." He says and I laugh.

  "Your not listening to me Jimbo. I want to get out of this cell. Now." I tell him with a smile. He looks to a guy to his right and he nods. The man puts his hand behind him. I jerk the guy in my hold. 

  "Careful." I sing-warn. He slowly down and then brings out a key. He walks towards me and unlocks it. 

  "Now back away." I say. He does so and I smile then kick the door open, my hands still on the guy, leading him with me. I move my hands out of the bars one at a time so I can still have a gun on him. I wrap my arm around his neck again and I slowly start to walk with him out the front door. 

  "If anyone tries anything, you will all have pretty boy brains to clean up!" I shout as I back up towards the door. I look behind me. Almost there. I look to Jim once more then grin before shoving the guy away before hauling ass out the door. 

  I walk outside then start to run as fast as I could down the road, away from the police station laughing. I still had the gun in my hand and I pumped up my legs to give me more speed.

  Once I ran away and down the road, cut several corners, and was basically going to die from how much my legs hurt, I finally slowed down and came to a stop. I was still chuckling and breathing heavy at the same time, leaning over to let air come to my lungs. 

  Once done I stood up straight and went over what just happened. I just got out on my own. I didn't expect that. But what I did not expect was that one of my men went behind my back and cut my dead boyfriend's face off. Yeah. Definitely didn't see that one coming. 

  I shook myself out and then took out my phone, ready to call Mark when I heard a crazed laughter up the road. I rose a brow and then turned behind me, peeking around the corner. I don't see anything for a moment before a cop car cuts from a corner and sped down the road. 

  God, I didn't know they wanted me that bad that they would break there precious speeding laws. But as I peered closer at the car speeding up towards me, I saw, in the drivers side of the car, it wasn't a police officer. 

  His face was bandaged up and I could see the flash of teeth stretched out into a wide grin. I felt myself gasp as I saw him then shook my head a bit, thinking my mind was just playing tricks on me. I opened my eyes to see the car much closer now. While trying to get a clear glimpse of the driver, a man walks in front of road, not looking where he is going. The cop car runs his over.

  "Sorry!" I hear the driver that. "Didn't see ya there." The cop car then speeds past me with lunatic laughter trailing with it. I watched it as it drove down the road and out of sight. I still continued to stare at the space it was just in. 

  I don't know if I was right. I didn't know if my mind had officially broken. I didn't know if I was seeing things. But I was certain that I had heard what had just happened. My ears have never failed me before and I didn't think they were now.

  That laugh could only belong to one person and to one person only. 

  The son of a bitch did it. 

  He brought Jerome back from the dead.