Strange things did happen here

by readwritebeawesome

They would always play under the old tree. That tree watched them grow up. And it will watch them all die.

This is what happens when I have the song "Strange things did happen here" stuck in my head at ten o'clock at night and I can't sleep. My mind can be so dark at night.

Since they were kids, Karkat and his eleven friends would always hang out together under an old tree at the back of the park. They laughed and played and yelled and cried and made many memories there.

It was under that tree that Karkat asked out his crush Terezi when he was sixteen. And it was under that tree that she said yes. They shared many hugs, kisses and tender moments and had a happy year. It was when they were all seventeen that things started to fall apart.

Vriska killed Tavros, then Aradia, and attacked Terezi. In the end Terezi killed her, but Vriska had blinded her in the fight. Karkat and the others grieved for their dead friends.

Aradia, Tavros, Vriska.

Then one day Eridan and Sollux got into a fight. In the middle of it Eridan snapped and killed Sollux. Then he killed his girlfriend Feferi and attacked Kanaya. Kanaya managed to kill him, but she was so badly injured that she died. Karkat and the others grieved over them.

Sollux, Feferi, Eridan, Kanaya.

Then Karkat's best friend Gamzee went insane. He killed first Equius, then Nepeta and then Terezi. In the end Karkat was forced to kill him. It was the only way to stop him, and the only way to save him. Karkat had never cried so much before that night.

Equius, Nepeta, Terezi, Gamzee.

So now Karkat has returned to the old tree where he and his friends used to meet. It looks different in the dark of midnight, but to Karkat it will always look the same. He feels the tree has absorbed the blood and memories of his friends. It has seen all their deaths. And it will see his.

Karkat walks up to the tree, rope in hand, and climbs it. He sits on a nice strong branch and ties the rope around it. Then he ties the noose around his neck. He and Terezi used to do this to her dolls, so he knows how to tie the knot.

Karkat stands up and looks up through the branches at the stars in the night sky. He stares at them, because it's the last time he's going to see them. Then he looks away, takes a deep breath, and steps off the branch.

Karkat.