hardy boys fan fiction
MAKE A WISH
hardy boys nancy drew fan fiction
by
Cherylann Rivers
Chapter 22
hardy boy fan fiction
THE CHAPTERS
Joe knew if he had been with Iola, or, at least, the old Iola, she would have tried to comfort him and get him to talk. He had never been good at that. Although Joe had always been an emotional person, he generally needed a little while to figure things out before he felt like talking about them. Vanessa, on the other hand, seemed to have sensed that, and she always had. As they had walked back to the others, she merely held his hand and squeezed it. That had been enough for Joe. Sometimes the deepest connections to him were those that were unspoken.
And here Joe was, in a terrible situation. Frank was missing, and Joe couldn't even begin to contemplate that Frank hadn't made it to safety. Then, there was Vanessa and Iola, the only two women whom he had loved It hadn't taken Joe long to figure out that Iola wasn't aware that Vanessa was anything more to him than a friend, and that Vanessa was painfully aware that Iola was much more than a friend. Add that to the fact that Callie was still nowhere to be found, and that he and his friends had to find a way to safety quickly, and the situation was beginning to look very bleak, indeed.
"Ok, guys, we need a plan," Joe finally came out with.
Biff ordinarily would've teased Joe about making such an obvious comment, but there was nothing remotely funny about this. Weighing heavily on all their minds was Frank's whereabouts. "Joe, at least we can probably sneak around here and try to get help."
Joe sighed. Help? That was a joke. Then it hit him. Goodness, I must have been tired, Joe thought. "Hey guys! I totally forgot! We have the rental car parked not too far from here. We can get to it, and then call for help finding Frank!" As he said this, he couldn't shake the feeling that still, something was wrong.
The others, though, looked excited. Joe realized how much they needed hope at this time.
"Wait!" Iola suddenly chimed in. "I don't know how we can help her, but we need to get Callie! We don't know if the guys in there were telling the truth. We can get her to a hospital. Come on! It's not very far. Then, we can all get help." Iola began to show them the direction of Callie's location, but Joe saw her wobble, and quickly steadied her. He realized how weak Iola still was after her ordeal, and he realized that he was jeopardizing her health by dragging her around.
Turning to the girls, Joe said quickly, "We'll go. Iola,Vanessa. You stay here. We'll be right back. Iola, you're sure Callie was straight ahead, about a 5 or 10 minute walk from here?"
"Yes," she replied.
"Let's go" Joe said, as Biff and Chet followed him. Looking back behind him, Joe turned to the girls. "Be careful." Under normal circumstances, Joe would never have let Vanessa and Iola have an opportunity to talk. These, however, were no normal circumstances. Somehow, Joe knew instinctively that, although Vanessa hadn't told her, Iola might get a clue as to the nature of their relationship. Despite this potential, he was not willing to have them hurt. He was also concentrating on the sick feeling he got whenever he thought of Frank, the horror he felt at Callie's predicament, if it was true, and something else that was gnawing at him. He still couldn't place it, but he was getting closer.
As the boys approached the area where Iola had instructed them to go, all three were alert to finding Callie. But, when they got to the spot, Callie was nowhere to be found.
"Is this the spot?" Chet asked.
"I... I think so. I mean, you heard Iola."
The boys searched for several minutes, and Joe was about to move on when he heard Biff's voice calling in the distance. "Joe! Joe! Chet! Come over here, quick!"
Chet and Joe raced to the spot, and stopped still when they saw Biff. Slowly, he held up a white tee shirt. It was covered in blood, and looked as it if had been mauled by some type of animal. Joe recognized the "Gap" label immediately and the size. It belonged to Callie Shaw.
*****
The three boys walked back to where they had left Vanessa and Iola in silence. No one wanted to be the first to speak. Whatever had happened to Callie looked to be unspeakable, and each boy was trying to block out the thought. Finally, Joe broke the silence, but he didn't speak of Callie.
"Hey," he cleared his throat. "Something is bothering me here."
"Gee, ya think?" Biff interjected.
"Listen, Biff, I'm not in the mood for this. We...we can't do anything for Callie, not now. And, if you'll recall, my brother is also missing. So please- shut up and listen!" Joe was angry, tired, and grief-stricken at once, and to have to argue with his friends was not something he was currently prepared for.
Biff shut up.
"No- something's missing here. I mean, yeah- there was the fire. And yes- there was the room. But I don't understand WHY..."
And then, Joe understood. Standing right in front of the boys, not 50 feet from them, were Iola and Vanessa. And they weren't alone. Jeff Wellington stood there, along with two other armed men. They had their guns set on the girls, who looked at the boys in horror.
THAT was what had been bothering him. Despite the alarms, the cameras, the fire, and the noise they had made, no one had chased them. None of the Assassins were around. It was as if they had disappeared. At that moment, Joe also recognized that, in the distance, the many vehicles he and Frank had seen coming up were gone. Somehow, in some way, these guys had gotten away, again. Well, almost all of them.
As the two men in the distance kept their rifles on each girl, Jeff kept his focused on Joe, Chet, and Biff. Stunned, the boys froze.
"Now, that's good, boys. I don't want any trouble from you. To be perfectly honest, my patience has just about run out with you. Who'd have thought that you could escape from the room of death? Clever, boys. 'Course, you couldn't have done it without the help of the girls. Very interesting."
Joe spoke up. "Let them go."
"Oh, Joseph!" Jeff snapped. "Like I said, I have had it with you and your pesky friends. As you can tell, most of us have escaped and will relocate. You can never get rid of Assassins. A few of us have remained behind for cleanup. You may have won the battle, but you have not won the war. Fenton Hardy will see his sons die. But, not before you make a decision, friend."
Joe looked up.
"Which one? Vanessa here, or Iola? You choose. One will die."
Joe felt his breath stop, and his face became white as a ghost. Oh, God. Anything but this.
Jeff smiled for the first time in a while, a smug, slimy sort of smile that made Joe want to throw up.
"YES, yes. This is very nice. Come now."
With that, he signaled for one of the goons to do something. In the next instant, Iola was pushed hard to the ground by the end of the rifle. Joe instinctively ran to help her, but a shot in the air stopped him. Joe felt Chet right behind him.
"Well, Joe. Shall it be Iola? Let's see. Your first love. You were responsible, after all, for sending her to us. Wouldn't it be nice to have all the time in the world for her to forgive you? Let's face it. You're not getting out of here alive, either, but one of these girls will. The other will be joining you. Will it be lovely Iola?"
Iola cowered on the ground.
"Then, of course, there's the leggy blonde. Cute- different from the pixie-like brunette. You loved her, didn't you Joe? She made you forget all about your little Iola."
Iola stared up in confusion, and then in horror as his words finally made sense to her.
The thug then pushed Vanessa to the ground.
"So, Joe? Who'll it be? Blonde or brunette? Petite or tall? City girl or country girl? Choose."
"No!" Joe shouted.
"Oh, but yes," Jeff countered. "Or, they both die."
"I.. I can't. No! No!" Joe felt himself lose all control. He could not imagine a worse choice than this.
"Joe?!" Iola pleaded with him. "Help me, Joe!"
Oh, God.
"Joe, save yourself! Please. I'm scared." Vanessa stammered.
No!
"Stop it!" Joe screamed.
"You have to the count of three to make up your mind."
"One."
"Wait! Vanessa, I can't choose!"
"Two."
"Iola! God, I can't let you die."
"Three."
Stillness. And then....
A shot rang out.
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The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The Hardy Boys Fan Fiction authors of the Hardy Detective Agency have just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The authors promise to put the boys back when they are done with them. The authors do claim copyright to the original characters in this story. Please do not borrow original characters without express permission of the authors.