"Hey Biersack, have you checked it out? We found a limited edition Batman coffee cup online." Danny's voice could be heard through the entire store as I flipped through a rack of old Batman comics. I looked up the moment I heard limited edition.

"No way man?" I said, leaving my normal spot, and walking towards the counter. My friend, and a worker in my favorite store, Danny Wornsnop, stood behind the counter, polishing a case with a special Green Lantern figurine in it. He had a smirk on his face, telling me that I would obviously never achieve this Batman cup. "...how much?"

"At least two-hundred. It's signed by Lewis G Wilson."

"No way!" I exclaimed, my eyes widening. "He died in 2000!"

"Exactly." Danny winked. "It's been in some museum in another country since Lewis died, and they just decided they could make big bucks. Two-hundred is a rough estimate, it's probably much more."

"Fuck, I'd never be able to afford that, I-" My eyes moved from Danny to the piece of crap TV right behind him. The news was on, and there was a lady talking like she was worried. Another missing kid.. I thought automatically. I don't know how I knew. In fact, I'm not sure how I'd known every time another one of these kids went missing, but I did. And I knew it wasn't just kids running away, like the news and their parents stated. It was much more... They were being taken. I don't know how I knew, I just did... "Turn that up." Danny obeyed, grabbing the remote and turning it up to high volume.

"There has been yet another case of a teenage runaway. This time, seventeen year old Ashley Purdy of St. Louis, Missouri, was reported missing after not coming home from school Thursday afternoon. We're live with the boys parents."

The camera went to another newscaster standing with two adults, both looking horribly sad and disfunctional.

"When he didn't come home after school, we just thought he'd gone to a friends house. We'd gotten into a little argument that morning, so it was understandable if he'd gone somewhere to cool off. But he didn't come home the next day either. We contacted one of his friends and said Ash hadn't even gone to school. I think a lot of the music he listens to provoked him to runaway. Ashley, if you're watching this.. Come home, we're sorry."

The next thing to flash on the screen was a picture of a boy with long black hair, a smile on his face, a cowboy hat, and a star necklace that really stood out to me. I felt my body go tense and pushed back the impulse to cry. I sighed and looked away from the screen, my eyes automatically going to a guy with a black hoodie on, staring blankly at the Avengers rack. I shot Danny one of those who is he looks, but he just responded with a shrug.

My phone began to ring violently in my pocket. I quickly pulled out my iPhone and answered. "Hi, mom." I knew who it was. I didn't have friends besides Danny to call me.

"Andrew Dennis Biersack, why in the world aren't you already home? It's 9:45PM!"

"Sorry, mom. I got caught up in Batman. I'm heading out now." I waved to Danny, who waved back slightly, and walked out of the door.

"Well you better be home in fifteen minutes, or you're grounded."

"I know, I know." I groaned and rolled my eyes, wondering what she could possibly ground me for. I didn't go out or use social media. I only went to the comic book store.

"Be here. I love you."

"You too, mom." I sighed and hung the phone up quickly, stuffing it back into my pocket. I continued onward into the dark night, my stomach growling aggressively. I hadn't eaten since earlier, and that made me want to rush home just to raid the fridge; but no, I'd enjoy this walk, ignore my stomach, and listen to some music. I went ahead and put my headphones in both ears, ignoring my mothers constant warning, "Have at least one ear open so you can be aware of your surroundings," and turned my music on high volume.

I walked for a straight seven minutes before something caught my eye. I was passing by an alley way next to an abandoned restaurant when I saw a little white kitten looking up at me from behind a dumpster. I slowly pulled out my headphones, and walked over to the cute thing. As soon as I got close enough to grab her, she whimpered and ran off. I began to chase her down the alley, a mistake on my behalf. Just as I got far enough into the alley to know it was a long alley, I watched Snowball(I'd named her while chasing her, fuck you.) get stabbed violently with a shiny black dagger. I listened to her whimper once more, blood pouring from the wound and making her once beautiful white coat turn brownish-red, my whole body frozen. "N-no...!" I exclaimed, but it was too late. Snowball took her last, painful sounding breath. I looked up to the holder of the dagger and gasped. It was the hooded man from the comic book store. How did he get here before me, if he didn't leave before me? I asked myself, fully confused.

"Hello, Andy." The man said with a sly smile on his face. With quick movement, he extended his fist out, punching me hard in the face, knocking me unconscious.

And I couldn't, for the life of me, figure out why.