Sorry I took so long to update this, my writer's block was really getting to me. Thanks for the reviews last chapter and I'll need over 27 for an update. I'm really sorry, but I keep getting like 3 a chapter and I know more than 200 people are reading this, so it really bugs me. :/ And I really want to continue this story, but it's pointless if there's no feedback or anything like that.

Okay, recap of the last chapter: Jack was a little odd at school and he had to be taken out of class. Jerry followed and walked into the classroom he was in to find it empty, and a brief flash of red eyes.

Enjoy this chapter - I hope you like it, I spent ages on it - and remember to review. :)


Jerry stood, seemingly mesmerized, in the doorway, staring after the eerie red eyes that had since vanished into thin air. He started towards the large, jagged-edged gap in the window, seeing blood on a few of the spikes and a few of the shards that had spilled onto the ground below. He swallowed in horror; that was either Jack or Mr. Jones' blood, or both. And where in the name of Hell where they anyway?

Biting his lip, he hitched his leg over the broken window, then the other and started walking into the woods, following a surprisingly - and sickening - prominent blood trail.

He was more than nervous to be walking around in a forest when strange murders were happening, but he wanted to make sure Jack was alright, even after the way he had treated him this morning. He didn't know why, but he wouldn't turn his back on him; he seemed barricaded and closed off, in desperate need of someone to talk to.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he pushed through a thicket of bushes, stopping short with widened eyes at the sight of something crumpled further away from him, the bloody trail leading straight to it.

He shot towards it, not sure whether to be relieved or terrified as he found himself staring down at the mangled body of Mr. Jones; the latest victim of Seaford's mysterious serial killer.

The teacher's body was mangled beyond repair; his eyes had been slashed at - five deep gouges resembling a hand - and large chunks of his flesh had been torn at, ripping through his suit.

His tie had also been secured around his mouth, no doubt to keep him from screaming as whatever did this tore through his chest and pulled out his internal organs. His heart was half-chewed and still oozing blood as it rested on his throat, and his intestines had been half devoured too, limply strewn across his stomach and lower torso. Jerry reeled back, trying not to be sick, then his eyes widened again.

Jack was nowhere to be seen.

"Jack?" he called hesitantly, breaking the silence. He was half-expecting Jack to stumble out, bloodied, from behind a bush, but there was no movement. Only the sound of Jerry's breathing and the occasional rustle of an animal foraging in the undergrowth. "Jack?!" he called again, raising his voice enough to startle a nearby murder of carrion crows, causing them to explode out of the tree they were nesting in and fly off.

There was still no response from Jack, and Jerry didn't want to waste another second looking at Mr. Jones' body. Swallowing the bile back down his throat, he turned away and ran back towards the school, sneaking back in through the smashed window, having to duck under the crime scene tape that had been barred across the width of the gap.

He treaded carefully to the door, trying not to leave anymore evidence than he already might have done and opened it quietly, peeking around before he walked out, having to duck under more crime scene tape.

Several stocky-looking, ominous deputies were patrolling the hallways, talking to any of the lingering teachers or students. Jerry scanned the remnants, but Jack wasn't among them. He turned around and nearly collided with a teacher walking in the opposing direction. It was Miss Avril, one of the French teachers.

"Mr. Martinez?" she inquired, scanning him over the top of her horn-rimmed glasses. "What are you doing here?" she demanded sharply.

"Wondering what's going on," he retorted smartly, gesturing to the deputies and police tape, although he knew exactly what was going on.

Miss Avril breathed out heavily, before looking around to check who was in earshot. "Mr. Jones is missing and so is Jack Brewer," she whispered to him.

"I can save you the trouble about Mr. Jones," Jerry said with a slight shiver, unable to get that mangled sight out of his mind; he didn't think he ever would.

"Where is he?" she asked.

"Dead," he said bluntly. He was more relieved he hadn't found Jack's body than anything, some teacher he had barely spoken to throughout his time at school being killed didn't really affect him. "I found him in the forest when I was looking for Jack," he explained quickly, seeing Miss Avril go rigid.

It took a sudden start to get her to register again. "Thank you," she said hurriedly. "I'll alert the officer." Her voice shook slightly as she started to walk towards one of the deputies.

"Do you know where Jack lives?" he called after her, having to jog up to her. "I could go and look for him," he offered with a smile.

"We don't usually disclose students' personal information to other students," she informed him, walking closer. "But under the circumstances, I think I can make an exception," she said with a thin smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

Jerry followed her through the school's building until they came to the main office. She sat at the desk and switched the computer on, pulling up the student's records and scanning down them to find Jack's name. She tapped the screen with her fingernail when she did, and Jerry peered over her shoulder.

"He lives at 366 Oakwood drive, on Chemley street," she told him.

Jerry walked out from behind the desk and pushed open the door, before calling back over his shoulder, "Thanks."

"Let's hope for the best," Miss Avril said softly and Jerry turned to look at her.

"I'll let you know tomorrow," he said with a nod, then he practically burst out of the school and ran out the gates. For once, he and a teacher were in agreement.

Half an hour later, he made it to Oakwood drive, having to trust the directions given to him by complete strangers. He scanned down the door numbers until he came to the 300's, then he looked more carefully, finding 366 cosily nestled at the end of the street.

He walked up to it and knocked on the door, hearing quiet, almost timid, footsteps before the door opened and he was greeted with Jack's confused face. He nearly passed out with relief.

"Jerry?" he said with confusion as he poked his head around the door, keeping it close to his body and blocking any outside view of the interior. "How did you know where I live?" he asked suspiciously, eyeing him strangely.

"Your last name's on the mailbox," he offered with a sarcastic smile, half expecting to get an earful about being here.

Jack's eyebrow shot up in disbelief.

Jerry sighed and gave over. "I asked the school and they told me," he admitted, trying desperately not to bite his lip. "Wanted to make sure you're alright," he added gently, feeling like he had to tread carefully. "The police found Mr. Jones' body and you were gone," he said, twisting the truth slightly. No-one but him and Miss Avril needed to know he found Mr. Jones.

Jack's face softened considerably, but he still looked like he was trying to keep some barrier up, like he wouldn't let himself accept or be humbled by Jerry's concern. "Well, I'm fine, so..." he trailed off with an awkward-looking smile, making to close the door.

"Do you wanna go do something?" Jerry asked suddenly, surprising himself.

Jack opened the door slowly, looking at him through narrowed eyes. "Do I wanna what?" he asked in surprise.

"Go out?" Jerry offered with a smile.

"Uh..." Jack looked back inside his house, briefly retreating his head. "Sure," he said brightly, grinning a grin which didn't suit him. "Where?" he asked.

"The Arcade," Jerry replied.

"Sounds fun," Jack smiled, then he looked inside again, biting his lip. "Lemme just go grab a jacket," he said, slipping back into his house and closing the door.

Several moments later - Jerry tried to ignore the mysterious sounding thuds and quickening footsteps that would fade before quickening again - Jack opened the door again, closing it behind him. Just as he said, he was wearing a black leather jacket.

"Took a long time to get a jacket," Jerry teased with a smile. Jack didn't anything back and put his hands in his pockets, shrugging.

The two of them walked out of the drive, Jack becoming a tag along as he lost the familiar ground he was used to seeing when Jerry began walking towards the mall's courtyard. He honestly didn't think Jack would have said yes, and he couldn't think why he asked him to come with him. It was like he owed him something, but neither of them owed either anything like this.

"I'm sorry," Jack blurted suddenly when they were crossing the threshold of the courtyard, making Jerry stop in his tracks.

"Huh?" He turned towards Jack in surprise.

"For this morning," he emphasized with a guilty look. "I didn't get much sleep last night," he added gently.

Jerry chuckled. "Can tell by your eyes," he said, pointing to the dark circles under Jack's slightly baggy eyes. "Don't sweat it, man," he smiled and Jack smiled back at him, one that looked relieved, almost.

They turned around to continue walking, but Jerry felt something hard jam into his side. Jack had too from the sounds of it.

"Hey!" he hissed, rubbing his side as he stared at the man. "Watch where you're going!" he demanded, standing up tall as the muscles under his shirt bulged a little.

The man smiled, revealing crooked yellow teeth and Jack's angry demeanour instantly dropped. "Do I know you?" he asked, pointing a finger towards Jack, eyes narrowing like he was trying to remember something.

Jack had gone very still and very quiet, reminding Jerry of their Science class when Jack had been staring at a bottle of blue chemicals like they were coming alive. "No," he mumbled quietly, shaking his head.

"You look like someone I know..." he continued, staring up at Jack and making him increasingly uncomfortable. Jerry could have sworn he heard him whimper, but it hadn't been loud enough. Either way, this man was beginning to creep him out too.

"Hey, man, you got the wrong guy, okay?" he cut in when it became clear that the man wasn't going to let up any time soon.

He turned his head slowly towards him and dipped it. "My apologies, Sir," he muttered, limping away with Jack staring after him like he had seen a ghost.

"What was all that about?" he asked, watching Jack watch the man as he walked out of view.

He turned back towards him and shrugged. "You heard him, I look like someone he knows," he said, repeating what the man had said. To Jerry, it seemed like there was something else there, but what, he didn't know.

Jerry brushed it off and walked further into the courtyard, turning towards the door with the large neon green and yellow flashing sign that spelled out "Seaford Arcade" in tall letters. He walked inside, holding the door open for Jack.

"Well, here we are, the heart and soul of the Seaford Mall," he said over the sounds of the games and chattering at the snack bar.

Jack seemed nearly overwhelmed by what was going on around him, as if he hadn't been outside for his entire life. But Jerry couldn't blame him, it sucked being the new kid and some of the games - life-size version of Angry Birds, Tower of Terror, Slasher and a bunch of Flappy Bird knockoff's - were pretty awesome.

"What's over there?" Jack asked, pointing a large, cinema-esque like screen in front of two motion pads that had a column of steam occasionally shooting out of it.

"That's Immortal Slayer," Jerry said.

"Looks fun," Jack said, looking at the flashing footage previews as they popped up on the screen.

"You wanna play?" Jerry asked.

"Sure," Jack said brightly, nodding slightly. "What do you have to do?" he asked as they walked up to the plate's, each taking one.

"Make an avatar and fight," he said simply, receiving a bemused look from Jack. "That's pretty much it; you can try and destroy the Wasabitron 2000 in a boss battle, but it's really hard." Jerry was speaking from experience; he, Kim and Milton had all tried. Kim came the closest, but she had lost when the robot's life perseverance pack kicked in and shot the last of her health.

The two of them made their avatars - Jerry made some adjustments to his avatar's outfit and Jack made his into a surprisingly alike version of himself - and Jerry started the game up, seeing the usual graffitied alleyway background with a billboard of Bobby Wasabi flashing behind it.

Jerry attacked first with a light kick and Jack countered it with a much harder back kick that had Jerry's avatar, and him, stumble onto the ground. It automatically flipped itself up and Jerry looked at Jack, smirking at how concentrated he was. He swung a few more kicks and Jack blocked some with precision and countering with some that took large chunks out of his health bar.

He stood up and smashed a hand into the bottom of the pad, watching his avatar pull up a purple, neon beam that he started attacking Jack with. He sliced it towards his head and Jack stepped back, straightening sharply to dodge it. He cartwheeled himself to the side, his avatar doing the same, twisting through the air and landing on his hands, kicking the weapon away from Jerry's avatar.

Jack then spun off his hands and spun in the air with a hard kick that smashed into the side of Jerry's avatar's head, knocking him into the ground. He tried to make it stand up, but Jack quickly backflipped, taking the rest of this health bar out.

'GAME OVER' flashed across the screen and Jack was smirking to himself, folding his arms.

"Woah! How'd you do that?!" Jerry asked in surprise, staring at him in awe.

Jack grinned cheekily and shrugged. "I'm awesome," he said brightly.

"Ha-ha, you're hilarious," Jerry said dryly, trying not to grin back. "Air hockey?" he suggested, walking off the plate. Jack didn't say anything, but followed and stood at one end of the hockey table, holding a putter, watching carefully as Jerry picked the puck up and dropped it into the middle of the table.

Jerry smacked the puck towards Jack's goal and he returned it with ease, batting it away before it came within inches of his goal. The game went on like that, even though Jerry managed to get two points, but he suspected Jack had let him win so he didn't feel bad. Jack's reflexes were nothing short of amazing, it was safe to say that.

A few minutes later, Jack smacked the puck one last time and it flew into Jerry's goal, ending the game with a score of 2-10.

"Damn you're good," he whistled in appreciation and Jack smiled at him. He caught sight of the clock on the wall and his eyes widened slightly. "Oh man," he groaned, walking around the table, past Jack and towards the door.

"What?" Jack asked, looking around.

"I'm late for practice," Jerry said hurriedly. It wasn't a huge deal if he was a few minutes late, since he, Kim and Milton were the only students, but he knew Rudy would still drill a punctuality lecture he'd gotten off the back of a fortune cookie into him.

"Practice?" Jack repeated, bewildered.

Jerry grinned and grabbed Jack's wrist lightly. "Come on," he said, walking with Jack through the exit.

"Where're we going?" he asked once Jerry let go of his arm.

"You'll see," he responded cryptically, walking towards the Dojo, watching Jack stop hesitantly when he saw the Dojo's sign.

"A Dojo?" he said in confusion. "I've never done Karate before," he said, shifting somewhat nervously, but Jerry found it hard to believe he was, or hadn't gone near a Dojo, since he was able to beat Frank and Brian, two Black Dragon's. Granted they weren't a very high belt, but sill.

Jerry walked inside and Jack followed him. Kim and Milton were already there, helping each other stretch. Rudy came out of his office, smiling when he saw him.

"Just in time, Jerry," he said with a smile, putting a stack of papers on the side. "Who's this?" he asked when he saw Jack.

"I'm Jack," he introduced himself, extending a hand that Rudy shook. "Not sure why Jerry's brought me here though," he added with a light chuckle in his direction.

"He's got mad skills, although he says he's never done Karate before," he said with a disbelieving glance at him.

At this, Kim and Milton got up from the floor and walked over, eyes brightening in agreement. "Yeah, he took down Frank and Brian all by himself at school," Kim pitched in and Jack licked his lips, looking down.

"Really?!" Rudy asked in surprise, his eyes nearly bugging out of his head.

"Yeah." He nodded.

"Do you want to join?" Rudy asked him in a serious tone. "'Cause we haven't been doing so well, lately," he added, looking around at the spacious Dojo with only three students.

"Okay," Jack agreed and they all smiled at him, Kim and Milton high-fived each other and Jerry lightly nudged his arm.

"Jack's too good to be a white belt though," Jerry added

"How about he just spars all of us so I can assess him?" Rudy suggested and Jack nodded in agreement.

"Milton, since you're the lowest grade, you'll fight Jack first," he said and Milton's eyes widened as he froze on the spot. "Then you, Jerry, then Kim, then me," he finished, going to stand at the side with Kim and Jerry.

"Tell my Mum I love her," Milton squeaked as he stood in front of Jack in a fighting stance, who mimicked the same.

Milton attacked with a front kick that Jack easily shuffled away from. He batted the second one down, using Milton's recoil to send a kick to his stomach, that had him wheezing out a breath. He spun downwards as Milton threw a punch at his head, taking his legs out from underneath him, stepping back as he fell on the floor.

Jack offered Milton a hand and pulled him up to his feet, turning around as Jerry stopped being able to hold in his laughter. "Please, don't tell me that you'll be that easy," he said hopefully.

"No," Jerry said with a shake of his head. He was a belt ahead of Milton and wasn't as brittle, so he wouldn't fall down as easily. "Make sure you don't damage my face, it's where the goods are," he said with a grin that made them both burst out laughing.

They squared up to each other, and Jerry couldn't get this strange feeling out of him. There was much more to Jack than he let anyone see, and it was why he didn't let anyone see that intrigued him.

He shook himself out of his thoughts and sent a push-kick to Jack's stomach, that he blocked easily. Jerry then attacked with a frenzy of punches, trying not to let his eyes widen as Jack blocked them all. His wrists were throbbing and he barely had time to see the front kick that Jack had aimed at his shoulder.

Jack then followed up with two more, one to Jerry's thigh and one to his shoulder again, that he managed to block, although it hurt him much more than it usually did. He took advantage of the way Jack was stood slightly over him and made to grab his shoulders, but his fingers curled around his wrists and locked their arms together.

Jerry didn't need to be a genius to know what was coming; Jack used all his weight to throw him to the side, and he landed on the mat, tumbling until he was able to stop himself. He made to scramble up and keep fighting, but Jack was stood over him with a foot lightly resting on his chest, smiling slyly down at him.

He held his hands up in surrender, trying to get the air back into his lungs where Jack's hard throw had expelled it. Jack took his foot away and helped him up with worried expression on his face, but Jerry smiled at him and brushed him off gently.

He walked past Kim and watched as she squared up to him. By the look on her face, she didn't know what to expect from him.

Kim shuffled forward in an offense and Jack flipped himself backwards, using one of his hands to push himself back to a standing position. He caught Kim's punch that had been coming for his face and smirked at her surprised face.

She regained her composure and followed up with a double turning kick, one to Jack's waist and one to his head. He blocked them with ease, twisting around and extending his leg towards Kim's head. She narrowly missed having her jaw taken off and looked at Jack in amazement, who grinned and threw another kick, an inner cresent kick.

She ducked once more, throwing a punch that Jack blocked again and shifted away from, swapping his position so his right leg was behind him. He jumped in the air and twisted himself in a gyroball and three spin-kicks sailed over Kim's head. Jerry felt his jaw drop open in amazement and Milton was cheering beside him.

Another one of Kim's punches was streamlining through the air, straight towards Jack's face. Jerry was nearly wincing prematurely, readying himself for the crack of bone that would be his face, but it never came. He heard Milton and Rudy gasping beside him in amazement, and everything came into focus.

Jack barred his right arm underneath Kim's punch and stepped to the side slightly, allowing her to close the gap between them a little. He then put his left hand down on the top of her head and used the momentum from Kim's punch to pull her forwards and flip her onto the ground, his muscles rippling from the weight strain.

She landed with a slight crack, wincing and rubbing her thigh. Jack helped Kim off the ground, looking concerned as she walked off, still rubbing where she had landed. Usually, if she had lost, Jerry would tease her, but nothing came to his mind, he was too focused on Jack.

Finally, Rudy stood in front of Jack, looking apprehensive about the boy in front of him.

Jack made the first move; his foot swinging for Rudy's face in an inner cresent kick, and Rudy raised his arm and blocked the kick with his wrist, grabbing Jack's leg and throwing it backwards. He used the momentum to backflip, and he landed, squatted on his knees. He straightened up, and raised his fists while Rudy stepped back in surprise.

He made the indication that the ball was in Jack's court to make the first move. He came forward with a jumping front kick and Rudy ducked just in time, aiming a punch at his middle section, which the younger boy blocked effortlessly.

Rudy did a 180 turning kick to Jack's head, and he countered it by kicking his kick with a back hook kick. It was obvious Rudy was getting frustrated, especially to those watching, but it had been his idea to assess Jack this way.

He came up again with a back kick, Jack cartwheeled out of the way and did a few backhand springs away from him, and kept his guard up. Jack raised his leg for a chopping kick which Rudy blocked and was underneath Jack's leg in record time. He grabbed his wrist and flipped his body over his shoulder.

Jack landed on his back and he quickly pushed himself back onto his feet with his hands. Rudy had to duck very quickly as Jack's double spin kick came for his head. He tried to sweep Jack's legs out as he landed, but he backflipped just as Rudy's leg was coming for his, and dodged it expertly.

He came forward with a punch and Jack grabbed his wrist with lightning fast timing and effortlessly flipped Rudy over onto his back, signalling the end of the spar with an arm lock that he tapped out of. Jack let go and stepped back.

"Woah!" Rudy exclaimed as he scrambled up from the floor, adjusting his headband. "Are you sure you've never done Karate before?" he asked again.

"Positive," Jack nodded knowingly. "Although, it seems like a lot of fun," he said with a grin at Jerry, who's back still hurt from when he had been thrown.

"Well then consider yourself the newest Wasabi Warrior," Rudy said proudly, patting him on the back.

"A what?" Jack asked, bemused.

"It's from the name of the Dojo's founder, Bobby Wasabi," Rudy explained, gesturing to the face at the center of the Dojo's floor. "And the warrior's part just sounds cool," he chuckled.

"Alright, so we'll be doing grabs and throws for the rest of the session," he said, regaining his Sensei composure. "Jack you can go with Kim, since you're about the same skill and Milton, you can go with Jerry," he said, pointing them to their designated partners.

"Jack, you can put your stuff in my locker," Jerry offered and the two of them walked over to it.

Jerry opened it and Jack stuffed his jacket and shoes inside, going back to join Kim. Jerry pulled his shoes off and threw them at the back of the locker, a piece of paper from Jack's jacket, by the looks of it, catching his eye.

Jerry picked it up and unfolded it, turning around to see if Jack was behind him. He stared at the paper and became confused. There were faint words that had been scratched out by something. He squinted and barely made them out, not knowing what to think.

"...est ...bject ...66."