WARNING: Later chapters can and will contain depictions of character death, violence, and possible gore. Please TURN BACK NOW if you aren't okay with any of that.

Chapter 1 | Karkat Vantas

He had a roaring headache when he woke up. Immediately, he brought his hand up to his forehead and squeezed his eyes shut. It was typical for Karkat to wake up like this on most days, so he didn't think anything was out of the ordinary. That was until he had opened his eyes to find the room he was in was nothing like the one he had fallen asleep in.

The walls were a color that he couldn't see as being anything other than baby shit green; far different from the grayscale walls of his own room. His trashy romantic comedy posters, TV, computer, and everything else weren't there either. There was just an oak writing desk with a few pieces of paper on it, a matching chair, a bed with some simple white sheets, a closet on the other side of the room, and a small rug with the same coloring as the walls. The floor itself was wooden. An overhead light was on the ceiling above. Other than that, there wasn't much to the room. Not even a window.

Despite how terrified he was, the only expression he could manage was wrinkling his nose up in disgust at what he saw. Next came anger. Where was he? Who brought him there? He wanted to shout out in frustration. No. You've heard of shit like this before, Vantas. You're not that idiotic, are you? Karkat paused, taking what his subconscious told him into thought. No, he would stay quiet for the time being.

Instead, he carefully got up from the bed and walked towards the desk. The sheets of paper were blank. Wonderful. What the hell was he supposed to do with them? The brown-haired boy grunted and made his way over to the closet to investigate it instead. He opened it to find a set of clothing eerily similar to what he had at his own house. No, wait, they were the same. Oh great, so this fuckhead kidnapper or whatever not only brought him here, but went through his belongings as well? That made him feel all warm and cozy inside. He slammed the door to the closet shut just a little too hard.

Okay, he needed to stop wasting time and get the hell out of his situation. There was another door in the room, one that could only be the exit in his mind. Carefully, he opened it and examined his surroundings before stepping foot out the door.

There was nothing special about the hallway the door led into. There were a few other rooms around his, and then abrupt turns cut off his vision from there. The walls were a faded orange and the carpeted flooring was an off-white. A few lights were hung along the walls.

Once he made sure there were no obvious traps, he stepped out onto the floor. He started down the path on the right, walking slowly and paying close attention to what was going on around him. He knew he'd be fucked if he let someone get the better of him, so he decided keeping an insanely high guard was the best for his own safety. He looked down the hall once he reached the turn. There weren't any doors, but the lights and path continued on until they reached a stop and opened up into what appeared to be stairs.

This was great! In Karkat's mind, the stairs meant he'd make it to another floor, which could lead to an exit. He was about ready to make a dash for it until he heard a pair of voices. His eyes widened and he stepped closer until he was able to make out the conversation going on.

"I can't get it to budge, Kanaya! God damnit," A young girl's voice hissed. The sound of irritation was strongly present in her words, and Karkat couldn't blame her. Then a loud bang erupted. It was something akin to the sound of a fist banging against a door.

"Calm down, Vriska," Another girl said in a much more mellow voice. This had to have been the voice of the one the first girl had mentioned. "The problem isn't going to fix itself if you injure your hand."

"What are we supposed to do, then?" The girl, who was apparently named Vriska, asked. "Sit here and rot away? I'm not going to stand for that!"

"Hush," Kanaya demanded. "We don't know if we're alone here or not. We don't know if we're in danger or not."

Vriska sighed. "I guess you're right."

"I suggest we keep moving," Kanaya offered. "If we can't get out through this door, maybe there is another where we can."

"Well, I hope so."

"Alright, come along then."

At the sound of footsteps, Karkat let go of the breath he didn't realize he had been holding. Once he was sure he would be out of their line of vision, he made his way downstairs. As Vriska had mentioned, the door wouldn't move, even though he could turn the handle. It was like the thing was locked from the outside. This brought forth a hushed groan from the boy. If he wasn't sure that this place was incredibly creepy, he was now.

He rested against the door for a moment, trying to wrap his head around his current situation. Given how his headache hadn't went away, he wasn't sure what to make of it. If he had seen where those girls were heading, he could have tailed them to possibly figure some shit out. Though he wasn't able to completely gather up his sense of direction at that time. Even if he could, the obnoxious echo of their shoes walking against the tiled floor of the room had made it completely impossible for him to pinpoint anything.

Eventually, he stood upright again. He needed to do something, and standing there all day wouldn't help his situation in the slightest. Karkat glanced in the two directions he could go. One led to a large, arched doorway. The other, a couple doors. He opted for the open area and was about to start walking when he heard another voice.

"Karkat?"

Oh shit.