The White Fox |book 1|

Chapter 23

By the time I return to The Nest, the sun has barely made its way over the sand dunes on the horizon.

I creep inside the door and sneakily make my way back to my room without anyone noticing I was gone. Luckily, everyone was still fast asleep. I breath a sigh of relief.

Although my mind was at ease that no one had spotted my absence, the memories of Flame sneaking into Jet's room and killing him with a bomb still hung heavy in my brain.

I creep down the hall towards Gerard's room. Cracking the door open slightly, I look inside. My heart melts when I see his sleeping figure curled up in his bed. His red hair hung over his eyes and his mouth is parted as he snores quietly.

I really hate having to wake him from such a peaceful slumber, but I have to tell him about Flame so he can stopped before he pulls a stunt like that again, or worse, kills Gerard.

Kneeling down at his beside, I brush a few strands of cherry-red hair from his peaceful, sleeping face and place a kiss on his forehead. Since I feel terrible for having to wake him, I decide to wake him in the most gentle way.

"Geebear, can you get up?" I whisper in his ear while running my thin fingers through his hair.

Before long, I am greeted by two soft hazel eyes opening to me sleepily. His lips curl up in a smile as he gently pulls me into the bed with him by my waist.

Gerard nuzzles his face into the back of my neck while spooning me in his bed. I swear, I could melt right now as his warm breath billows onto the back of my neck.

I blink a few times, realizing I had gotten distracted. Begrudgingly, I pry myself from Gerard's grasp and sit up in the bed, giving him a serious look.

"Babe, what's wrong?" Gerard gives me a puppy-dog face, something you wouldn't expect from the leader of a group of tough rebels.

"Gerard, I need to tell you something that I saw." I manage to get out, glancing at the door nervously, making sure Flame wasn't anywhere in sight.

Gerard sits up, leading his back against the black headboard of his bed. "What did you see?" His eyes were now fixed on mine intently awaiting an answer.

I lean closer to him. "I know who killed Jet Star." My voice was barely a whisper as I spoke.

Gerard's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "No one knows who killed Jet Star yet; I am going to send everyone to the testing room today, just for precautions." He reassures.

"No Gerard, I know who did it; I saw him put the bomb underneath Jet Star's bed!" I whisper-shout impatiently.

"Who do you think did it?" Gerard asks.

"I don't think he did it, I know he did it." I persist. "It was Flame Seeker."

Gerard's eyes flash with anger and he doesn't say a word at first; he just stares at the wall, speechless. I don't know if he's pondering my words or if he's thinking about how he's going to deal with Flame once he's proved guilty.

"Thank you for telling me, Jenna. I value your opinion more than anyone's because I know you're an honest girl." Gerard's voice was surprisingly calm, despite his clenched jaw. "But I know who did it. This is the work of Electric Skeleton. He hates me and he always has!"

"No Gerard, he doesn't hate you. You hated him!" I argue. But as soon as the words left my mouth, I regret them.

Gerard turns to me, grabbing my shoulders roughly and glaring at me dead in the eye. "How do you know that?"

I return his glare boldly. "The former spies told me. I also know that it wasn't Skeleton's fault that rose died; Rose sacrificed herself to let Skeleton, Blue Storm, Flame Seeker, and Wild Mustang escape! She was unselfish, Gerard. But you only saw what happened from your perspective and wouldn't listen when Skeleton tried to tell you of her kind act."

Gerard grips my shoulders so tight, I knew there would be a bruise. "How do you know that much information? Surely the former spies wouldn't have been able to tell you."

He's gonna find out eventually. I think to myself. I better just tell him now and get it over with. He may never love me again, but I'm sick of lying to him and hiding stuff from him.

"I've been meeting secretly with Skeleton the past few weeks because I wanted more than anything to train to be a spy." I pour out.

Gerard digs his fingernails deep into my shoulders, earning a low wince from me, as his face gets closer to mine. "You've been what!?"

Up until this moment, I have never been shaking from fear. Tears begin to form in my eyes. "I'm sorry, Gerard."

Gerard's hand comes across my face, slapping me hard and shoving me from the bed onto the floor. I lay there shaking in a fetal ball on the floor, crying.

Gerard looms over me with a dead expressionless face. I cower in fear, terrified of what he was going to do to me next.

I feel myself being lifted from the hard concrete floor and slung over Gerard's shoulder.

I don't try to struggle from his grasp because I know it would be in vain, and my body aches from being thrown on the cold, unforgiving floor, as he carried me up the stairs in silence and out the front door.

Gerard places me surprisingly gently onto the sandy desert floor, still cool from the night, but would soon be hot from the sun that was just beginning to rise.

"As punishment for betraying the Killjoys by associating with Electric Skeleton, you're banished from returning to The Nest for one whole week. If one of us catches you near The Nest before the week is over, we have the right to shoot you on the spot." Gerard kicks a cloud of sand at my face, causing me to cough wildly, rubbing my eyes to get the sand out.

I stand up weakly and begin to walk away. As I walk, I turn around one more time and get glimpse of Gerard standing in front of the door with a pained look on his face before dismissing himself by entering The Nest.

Tears continue to flow down my face as I trudge through the sand, wandering aimlessly.

Soon enough, I found myself at Skeleton and I's usual meeting spot. I find a rock to lean against and I bring my knees to my chest, crying into them loudly since no one could hear me.

"What are you doing out here crying, princess?" A sudden voice startles me. Lifting my head from my knees, I see Skeleton standing a few feet away from me.

The sight of him warms my heart. I somehow find the strength to stand on my wobbly and achy legs, stumbling towards him and wrapping my arms around him in a hug, crying into his jacket.

Skeleton pats my back sympathetically and kisses my forehead. "Come on, I'll take you to my hide out and we can talk about it there."

I nod into his chest, letting him carry me as he made his way toward his destination.

A/N: Hey guys!!!!

I've got school off for this week so party time!! 🎉🎉🎉

And I'm going to a Relient K concert in December!! (If you don't know who they are, look them up cause they da bomb)

As always, thanks so much for reading!!! I almost have 2k reads!!!! That means so much to me guys ❤️❤️

Stay beautiful
~Alex