grace under pressure • jerome valeska

CHAP.26: Cult

  "So your telling me, while I had been in that stupid fucking asylum I had a group of followers who would die for me?" I ask and the guard nods. Actually his name wasn't guard, it was Mark. He had dark brown hair and deep brown eyes with pale skin. He was tall and buff and looked like he was on some serious steroids. He nods at me. 

  "You and Jerome, you are like gods to us. The chaos you wreaked onto Gotham was something out of the fucking holy bible." He explains. I nod and make a face with a laugh. 

  "That doesn't sound half bad!" I chuckle .

  We were now driving away from Arkham and I sat in the front seat of a large black van with Mark steering and other cars following behind us. I looked out the window and watched as the dark building faded away from my view. It was wonderful, seeing that horrible asylum going behind me. A part of me thought I would never escape. I smile to myself. 

  "Your smile is really what they say it is. Wonderfully twisted." Mark says and I look at him. I tilt my head.

  "What exactly do they say about me? What even made you start this?" I ask. He makes a face.

  "Oh so much. Wow where to begin. Well, it started when Jerome was killed on live television, people went haywire. We couldn't let someone who had done so much die in vain. We started to talk about him and you and what we could do to avenge you both. 

  "We put together this group to celebrate all that you had done for people like us. We came from the shadows to join together to basically worship you both over your greatness. We speak of you as our savors. You really are like our guardian angels. We then had a plan to break you out of Arkham.

  "I got a job there to map out the ways to get in and know the grounds. I made sure no harm came to you in there. It did surprise me that you had seemed to shut off in there. But it even surprised me more when you smashed that girl's head it. I had to stop myself from clapping. I knew then and there it was time for us to finally take you away from there." 

  As he finish's I listen. Only halfway though. As soon as he had spoken the word 'Jerome' I had kind of dazed out. I looked out the window, watching the street lights pass by as we sped down the street. I missed him so much it felt like my heart was breaking in two.

  I had forgotten about him for a year. A year of my life wasted. And now it was all rushing back so fast I felt unstable. I felt like I was falling and I would never stop. I remember all the good times we had together. He made me feel alive. He made me feel special and loved for the first time in my life. I may have snapped out of my daze, but I was still numb inside. 

  "Grace?" I hear Mark say and I snap to him. 

  "Hmm? Yes?" I say quickly. He looks to me an knits his brow. 

  "Are you alright? It looks like your crying." He says. I crease my brow and then feel something wet sliding down my face. I wipe my cheek with my hand and bring it to my face. I chuckle. 

  "I guess I was." I mutter before giving my head a little shake. I look ahead of me. 

  "Where are we going?" I ask. He straightens up.

  "To our base to hide you from the police." He explains. I nod. I didn't know how this would turn out but at the moment, I was just happy I was out of Arkham. 

                                    |TIME SKIP|

  We arrived at the base and it turns out it was a hidden away warehouse. Mark parked outside and the other cars followed suit. I opened the door to the van and walked out, scanning over the building. I saw other people, other members of the cult, walk out and point and gasp at me. Mark comes next to me and raises a hand to the building.