Other links:
Sapphire Angel, Superheroine (Book 1)
Power Play (Book 2)
Deconstruction (Book 3)
Savage Dawn (Book 4)
Savage Vengeance (Book 5 - this story)
VIOLENCE WARNING: The two stories in the Savage Gang saga, and especially the second story, involve a gang practicing extreme violence toward everyone — women, the elderly, the protagonist, etc. The stories contain mature sexual content and violence as well. I am placing this warning on all chapters, including those without such violence, so you can choose whether to continue.
CHAPTER 6
Tension hung in the air, casting a dark pall about the living room in Ethan Moore’s high-rise apartment. Ethan sat in an easy chair across from Beth Harper and her boyfriend, Conner Bennett. The couple faced each other from opposite ends of a sofa, but both looked at the floor. Their arms were crossed, and their faces were tight with anger. Beth had reappeared at Ethan’s apartment thirty minutes earlier, after the chaos at the rally, and she and Conner had started arguing the moment she stepped in the door. The argument was only winding down now.
The quarrel was a familiar one to Ethan, with Conner fuming over Beth’s life as Sapphire Angel. Conner despised the danger it brought to her, and the burden it put on their relationship. The Savage Gang’s first appearance had put a massive strain on the relationship, and only Sapphire Angel’s victory five days ago had saved it. Now the gang was back, and things had come to a head again. Conner had made his position clear, before folding his arms and waiting for Beth's response.
“I guess that’s it, then,” Beth said, her voice almost a whisper. She didn’t look up.
“If you’re going to go after the gang again, yes,” Conner said. “I can’t sit around and wait for you to get hurt, or worse.”
“I won’t get hurt,” Beth said between clenched teeth. “The fight in the snowstorm really helped me. Today’s fight was even easier. I’m getting better the more I do this.”
“Oh, brother,” Conner muttered, as he rose from the sofa. “The TV cameras might not have caught the gang getting the upper hand a couple of times, but I saw it. And even if I hadn’t, my feelings would be the same.”
Beth’s face twisted in grief as she bit her lip and clenched her hands in her lap. Ethan’s heart ached and anguish poured through his body like molten lava. He hated seeing her in pain, and he wanted nothing more than to comfort her — to envelop her in a hug and somehow make it all better. But now was not the time. He understood Conner’s position, because he felt it, too. The constant worry. The nightmares. Wondering if he was doing enough to help.
But, unlike Conner, Ethan understood Beth to her core. He understood why she didn’t relent. Why she couldn’t relent. As dangerous as it was for her to face the gang, it would be even more harmful for her to give up her life as Sapphire Angel. It was part of her now. It was an outlet for her endless flow of empathy. A necessary outlet. He wished Conner understood her the way he did.
And because Ethan understood her like nobody else, another thought crept into his mind. What if? No matter how hard he tried to repel the thought, Ethan couldn't stop repeating those two words in his head. What if he had been the one to ask Beth out on a first date, instead of deferring to her late boyfriend — and Ethan’s best friend — John?
Ethan had been there for a weekend visit at John's college, over four years earlier. Beth had shown up at John’s door to retrieve her backpack. John had found it in the school’s chemistry lab, while closing up as part of his work-study duties.
During that brief encounter, Ethan had connected with Beth, feeling an unspoken bond he hadn’t felt with anyone since. He discerned her empathy and her sweetness, but more than that, he sensed her feelings. And he knew she sensed him to the core, too. It was as if they had communicated with just a few exchanged glances. But Ethan had been heading home the next day, so he had urged John to ask her out.
Things had taken off from there, and Ethan had never looked back, always viewing Beth as a friend, first out of loyalty to John, and then because he didn’t want to harm his friendship with her. Perhaps this feeling had always been there, though, lurking under the surface, waiting to nag him.
But it didn’t matter. He wouldn’t jeopardize their friendship. He cared about her so much he wished he could bottle up the way he understood her — the way he connected with her — and infuse Conner with it. Then perhaps Conner would come to terms with her dual life and help her find the happiness she so badly deserved.
But what if?
What if he had been the one? Would this be playing out in front of him right now? Would Beth be in a better place if she were with someone who understood her? No, don’t even think about it! He couldn’t think about it. She needed him as a friend. Now and always.
Conner passed in front of Ethan, heading to the front door, jarring him from his thoughts. Ethan found Beth with his eyes, and the two locked gazes. He saw her pain — no, he felt her pain — and he reached out with his heart and eyes to comfort her. And then Conner was gone, slamming the door behind him.
“Beth…” Ethan began.
She held up a hand.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” she said, her voice cracking.
Ethan stared at her, remaining silent. Beth looked down for almost a minute, and Ethan didn’t say a word, sensing her need for space. When she finally spoke, her voice was steadier, but still full of emotion.
“This whole thing with Conner is like a broken record,” she said.
Again she looked down, and again Ethan remained silent. After another minute, she looked up and spoke again.
“Just turn on the TV, please, to see if there’s any new information about the attack. I need to take my mind off of Conner.”
Ethan paused, but then found the remote on the end table and turned on the television. A local station, Channel 10, came on screen. A balding news anchor sat at an anchor desk, with an image of Sapphire Angel over his shoulder.
“We’re touching base with Megan Lawlor,” the anchor said. “Megan is still recovering from her abduction by the Savage Gang five days ago. Megan, how are you doing?”
The image cut to the view of a woman sitting in an easy chair in front of an eggshell white wall. Heavy makeup covered the woman’s face, but didn’t hide her red, splotchy skin — the effects of the frostbite Lawlor had suffered while in the clutches of the Savage Gang. Megan Lawlor was otherwise an attractive woman with a thin build and gleaming black hair, but the overdone makeup and dark circles under her eyes hinted at her recent past. Only the heroics of Sapphire Angel had saved her from an even worse fate.
“I’m getting better every day, Joe. Thank you.”
“That’s great to hear, Megan. I know all of us here, and your many fans, are pulling for you. But we’re here to talk to you about what happened downtown earlier today. You’ve seen the footage. What can you say about the attack? What does it mean for this city, for Sapphire Angel, and for the Savage Gang? You, more than anyone, understand the city’s heroine, and the methods of the Savage Gang.”
“Yes, I have seen the footage, Joe. And it is vintage Sapphire Angel. It reminded me of that harrowing night I spent tied up on the bridge, freezing in the snow, when Sapphire Angel saved me. Those Savage Gang brutes outnumbered her eight to one, and yet she prevailed, showing just how amazing she is. The encounter today was just like that night. Today, she sent the gang running — including Maximus Savage himself. After a display like this, the Savage Gang is probably reconsidering whether it wants to continue in Harrisburg.”
“Would the gang just turn tail and run like that?”
“We saw Maximus Savage do exactly that today, Joe,” Lawlor said, as a slim smile formed on her face. “So, yes, I think they would. They might be brutes, but they’re not stupid. They’ll know when they’re outgunned, and will cut their losses.”
“Let’s hope so,” the anchor replied. “Thank you for your insight, Megan.”
The view shifted back to the studio.
“We’ll be back after these messages,” the anchor said. “But if I were to guess, the Savage gang won’t.”
Ethan eyed Beth, who watched the screen with her mouth twisted in consternation. After a moment, she turned to him with a sigh.
“Such insightful analysis,” she said, sarcasm dripping from her words. “But Lawlor and that anchor are wrong. The gang will be back. There’s no way they’re going to end on a bad note. Today is just the beginning.”
“Are you sure?” Ethan asked, even though he knew the answer.
“I’m sure. I need to stop them now, before this takes off. It’s a good thing I’m set to go see Stanley. He’ll know what to do.”
“Actually,” Ethan said, cringing. “Stanley texted me a few minutes ago. He said he’s busy trying to find a lead on the gang, but he’s come up empty. So he wants you to sit tight for now.”
Beth scowled.
“Why didn’t he just text me directly?”
“I guess he figured when you finished at the rally, you’d have your hands full with… well, you know.”
“With Conner.”
“Yes,” Ethan said with a wince. “Anyway, Stanley said to hold off. He said things can wait. He wants to keep searching for something helpful on the gang, before you two get together.”
Beth raised an eyebrow. “He’s not even going to try to talk me out of going after them?”
“Oh, he’s going to try. We all are. But he knows you won’t listen. So he doesn’t want you running blindly into danger. He first wants to come up with something actionable — maybe a way to find them, so you can catch them by surprise. He said you should go over to his place on Monday.”
“Monday!” Beth exclaimed. “But today’s Saturday! The gang is out there! They won’t wait!”
“Stanley knew you’d say that. But he still wants you to sit tight. There’s no point flailing about without direction. He said it is important to do this right, not fast.”
Beth wrinkled her nose.
“Something tells me the gang won’t make that distinction,” she muttered. “Stanley has been acting weird lately. Maybe he has another reason he wants to wait.”
“Maybe,” Ethan murmured, and tried not to look away.
Megan Lawlor’s jaw tightened as she stared at the television screen, which showed footage of Sapphire Angel’s victory at Market Square. The scenes were familiar to Lawlor, as they had filled the airwaves all day. When the footage ended, Ryan Addington, a local television reporter for a competing station, appeared on screen. His dark, wavy hair bobbed as he leaned his slender frame toward the camera.
“What a treat to have this footage of America’s heroine,” he said. “Sapphire Angel has built upon her legend and displayed how invincible she is.”
“This is bullshit!” Lawlor snapped, before using the remote to turn off the television.
“Uh, what’s bullshit?” a twenty-something man asked from a few feet away. He was plump with sagging cheeks and wore a black cap with a Channel 10 News logo on it. He stood over an open plastic case, into which he was cramming camera gear.
“That I’m stuck here doing these lame twenty-second pieces, while that nerd is out there stealing the limelight from me,” Lawlor replied.
“Nerd?”
“Yes! Addington! I’m the expert on Sapphire Angel, not him! People should be watching me.”
“Just because you’re stuck here doesn’t mean people aren’t watching,” the cameraman replied. “That last bit went well. Everybody hangs on every word you say. Sapphire Angel saved you. You’re the expert on her, not him.”
“It won’t last long,” Lawlor replied with a dismissive wave of the hand. “News 6 is trying to turn Addington into the authority on Sapphire Angel. He was the first one to get her on camera, remember? And the first one she saved, remember? In that alley, back when she first appeared in town. They’re playing that up for all its worth. And now he’s out there, covering her heroics, while I’m stuck here at home recuperating. I can’t imagine what our ratings must look like compared to theirs.”
“Bah,” the cameraman said. “She saved him from what — two muggers? She saved you from the Savage Gang. Ten or twenty of ‘em, right? And that was after the gang snatched you away on live television! You’ve got nothin’ to worry about. People love you, Megan. You’ll always be the one they turn to when they want to know about Sapphire Angel.”
Lawlor stared at him with a pouty expression before speaking.
“I hope you’re right, Doug,” she replied. “But I won’t count on it. I’m getting back on the job by Monday. I’ll be the one to shine a light on Sapphire Angel.”
Other links:
Sapphire Angel, Superheroine (Book 1)
Power Play (Book 2)
Deconstruction (Book 3)
Savage Dawn (Book 4)
Savage Vengeance (Book 5 - this story)
Okay, did.....did I just witness a breakup or something? 'Cause it sure felt like it. I mean.....part of me hopes that least Conner knows why Beth does what she does, and that he's willing to give her more chances than usual because of that, but I don't know about this time; it sounded pretty decisive to me. And I can kind of relate to Ethan in a way, with how he feels about Beth. Growing up, I was a pretty dang introverted kid; I barely branched out to anyone, and had a few crushes that I never acted upon. I get that Ethan's case is more out of loyalty to the people he cares for rather than shyness and introversion, but I somehow found myself somewhat in his shoes nonetheless.
This whole "safety for the people VS. safety for yourself" situation between Beth and Conner (with Ethan infrequently mediating) has gone on for quite a bit, and I understand why; it's such a central topic, after all. But, even now, I'm mostly still on our heroine's side. One of the only major failures she's had thus far is the ambush at Lockheed's room, and that wasn't even related to the Savage Gang. She defeated them when they made a shot for the prized violin. She survived Rocco Lynch's attempt to murder her at T.L. "Tip" Grim's gun shop. She got away (with the help of her car) from another previous ambush attempt by Lynch and his crew. And she defeated them (with Stanley's help) during that devastating snowstorm and saved Megan Lawlor. If she gets handed a devastating loss against the Gang later, though, that might sway me.
Speaking of Megan Lawlor, the whole segment with her reminded me of how certain corrupt newscasters tend to downplay something that's very clearly dangerous in a misguided attempt to "not cause a panic", completely oblivious to the fact that they're practically lying to the public. The Savage Gang is dangerous, and people need to know that......but apparently all they're concerned about is just putting people at ease without actually doing anything to fix stuff. And I didn't expect Megan Lawlor to become such an important character here, as we were brought into her rivalry with Ryan Addington. Honestly, anyone who can give Sapphire good publicity is cool in my book, but with Megan Lawlor having just tried to falsely reassure the populace.....I'm not sure how I feel about her efforts.
We'll see what goes on next! Maybe Ethan can make a move while Conner's away......? Or Conner could get killed by the Savage Gang? It'd be so amusing if Larry Oberkfell or Benjamin Drummond got the final blow.....