I Got this one done... Poor Karkat...
Chapter 2
Karkat's POV
I shoot up, hearing a loud screaming and a crash beside me. I haven't gotten enough goddamn sleep to be doing this. I look at the clock, 5:45. So I got about an hour and a half. My adrenaline is running out, forcing me to get up and face the day. I quickly dress and run a hand through my ashy black hair. Good enough. I grab an apple, my book bag, a gray hoodie and put on my shoes. I lock the apartment behind me and jog down the stairs, not wanting to miss my brother. My brother Kankri goes to Skaia University, usually referred to as Skaia Uni. Since it's my first day he said he would pick me up. I loiter in the lobby, waiting for is red truck to appear. Just as I see it, a girl with a braid runs past me, slamming into my shoulder.
"Watch where you're going fuckass!" I yell on instinct. She just keeps running, her black hair up in a braid that looks really complex and is still long. In all black too, but the top part of her shirt is wet, she must have showered... Or did she?
"Come back here you bitch, I wasn't done with you!" I hear from the stairs, and a heavyset man lumbers into the lobby, yelling at the girls retreating form. I head out to Kankri's car, which has been sitting there throughout this whole ordeal.
"Hey Kan..."
"Did you see that girl?" He asks me before I can finish greeting him.
"Yeah, she ran into me as she went..."
"She was running from him, the guy in the doorway." He states, cutting me off again.
"Why do you think..."
"Because that's how we ran from dad." He says softly, obviously bringing up memories that were unwanted. I put a hand on his shoulder. He turns to look at me.
"Don't let her end up like us. Be her friend, okay Kat?" He says, looking down at me with reddish brown eyes.
My father was abusive, and Kankri tried to take most of the hits, and that lead down a path I'd rather not take before school.
"I will."
"You promise?"
"Yes."
We pull up to the school about ten minutes later. I see the girl leaning up against a tree, using a flip phone. I put on my headphones, acting aimless as I can. I feel a tap at my shoulder. Kankri is looking at me.
"Try not to make too many enemies the first day, okay?" He says jokingly.
"Nope." I jokingly reply.
"Be safe Kat."
"Be safe Kan." And with that he pulls away from the school. I slowly start towards the girl, taking my time so she'll notice me. She hasn't looked up once, and I'm almost to her. Then she notices me, and starts to get up, but falls into the tree. I start over to her, and I see her check the back of her head. She starts walking, only to fall into me. Then I see the back of her head, which is covered with a mixture of black hair, dried and wet blood.
"What the..." I start, but she pushes away from me faster than someone with that severe of an injury should be able to. I lose her in the crowd of people entering the school. I'll have to try and find her later. I need my schedule.
After retrieving my schedule, I head to my first class, Geometry. I open the door and see the teacher staring daggers at the girl from the morning, who is leaning on another tall lanky guy. I immediately drop my book bag and look at the guy.
"Is she alright?" I ask quickly. He snaps one of his hands down, I guess it's no? He shakes his head when he sees I'm clueless.
"I'll help." I say, sorta of commanding. I wrap my hand around her waist and wrap her arm on my shoulders.
"Hey Teach, she's hurt." I say to the teacher.
"Is she bleeding?" The teacher asks. What the fuck?
"Yeah she's bleeding asswipe, we are taking her to the goddamn nurse before she bleeds out!" I yell, silencing the room. I help the guy get her out the door, but then she completely collapses. We help control her fall, but can't stop it. I immediately start raising her head above her heart, so she won't bleed as fast.
Shit shit shit... Can you get the nurse? If I don't keep her head up, she'll bleed out." I say to the guy. He nods, running in the general direction of the office. I look down at her, and see her eyes are closed. I lightly slap her and her eyes shoot open. She's scared, I can feel her heart racing. I need to calm her down somehow.
"Talk to me, tell me something." I say, trying to distract her.
"Name...Lynn." She says. Good, she can still vocalize.
"Good, hi Lynn, my name is Karkat, Karkat Vantas. I just moved into your apartment complex I think. I heard your dad yelling at you and a crash, but I didn't investigate." I feel tears coming without warrant, accompanied by memories that I hoped would stay locked up in my mind. The abuse, the torture, what he did to Kankri...
"I should have, and I'm fucking sorry." I finish, hoping she doesn't notice my tears.
"Tell me something else and stay awake." I say, seeing her eyes drift.
"Special..." She says, but I can't make out anything else.
"Special what? What's special Lynn?" I ask desperately, seeing her start to fade.
"...me." She says, and her eyes shut.
"Lynn...LYNN!" Shit, she's going.
"Listen to me Lynn, open your eyes, stay awake." I feel a hand on my shoulder. It's the tall guy from before. I hear an ambulance too, and kids are peeking out of doors seeing what the yelling is about. Some even try to approach with their phone cameras.
"Get away from her!" I yell, scaring the students away. Then I see the paramedics coming. I pushed them away too, and eventually the tall guy pulled me away. This was my fault, she wouldn't be like this if he had investigated the sound. She would be okay if he didn't tune it out, like he did for Kankri every time dad got angry. I started tearing up again. And I fought him. She needs me, Kankri told me to protect her. He holds me in a bear hug. He starts moving his hands, I guess it's sign language. I look up at him, confused.
'Calm down. I'll talk to them.' He mouths. I guess he's mute. He brings me over to one of the drivers.
'Can he ride with?' He mouths. The driver looks from me to him.
"What's the relationship?" He asks.
'Best friend and boyfriend.' He mouths. Boyfriend?
"Alright, you can ride in the front with me. You can accompany her in the back." He points to me for the back. I quickly get into the back, and I see her hand is outstretched. I quickly grab it but it falls limp.
"We're losing her!" A paramedic yells. They start up the electric pads and shock her.
"We have her. We need..." They start listing a lot of shots. I try to follow along with what their saying, and I grab them things with the hand that isn't holding onto hers. When we arrive at the hospital, they push her into the ER and the guy holds me back.
"Why did you do that for me?" I ask him.
'I saw fear and knowledge in your eyes. This sorta thing has happened before.' He says, and I touch the scar on my stomach, the one father gave me.
"We'll just have to hope that she recovers." I say without thinking. "What's your name?"
"Zeke."
"It's nice to meet you Zeke." I say, and then the waterworks come. He hold onto my shoulders, tears in his eyes too. We just sit there for a while, holding each other together.
"Mr. Yangin?" I hear a voice call. Zeke taps my shoulder twice. That's us.
"Mr. Yangin isn't here, we are though." I say to the nurse.
"We contacted Mr. Yangin..."
"He's the one that inflicted those wounds, so I don't think he's going to come." I say. She just stares at me blankly.
"That doesn't matter right now, what about Lynn?" I ask her. Her head shakes slowly, and I assume the worst.
"She is alive and stable..." She starts and my heart leaps. She's going to be okay...
"But she's in a coma." The nurse finishes. My heart drops to the floor, as do I. Zeke looks at me, concerned. I didn't protect her...
"And your guardians are here." She adds, and I see Kankri out of the corner of my eye. He rushes over to me.
"Kat?" I don't respond.
"KitKat, say something."
"Karkat please, talk to me."
"I failed again." I say lowly.
"What?"
"I failed you, and now I failed her too." He looks at me and sighs, holding me close.
"You didn't understand then Kat..."
"I should have! I should have now, and I didn't. I heard the yelling and the crash, hell they were right best to my goddamn room. What did I do? I ignored the noises, I didn't help her. If I had stopped her running, then she might not be in a fucking coma now! I'm just as bad as dad..."
Slap.
Kankri slapped me right across the face. It stings a little bit, but I deserved it.
"Don't you ever say that you're like father, ever." Kankri says darkly. I look at him and he's crying. I hug him hard.
"I'm sorry Kanny, I didn't mean to. Fuck, I just..." He leads me slowly to a chair, calming me on the way. As soon as I sit his head is on top of mine, something he has always done to calm me down.
"She'll wake up, I know it." I say, feeling more and more tired by the minute.
"You need some sleep Kat, I'm right here." He says. He puts his arm around my torso as I drift off.
Well, Karkat's past is not much of a mystery, but what did their father do to Kankri? RR+R!