Five hours...

It had been five hours since his cousin and friend had disappeared. Granted, that wasn't a very long time, but to Rudy, it felt so much longer.

Rudy never felt so guilty in his life. The horrible feeling kept tugging at his gut, filling him with nausaea. He tried his best to cope with it. He tried to clear his mind and focus on just getting stuff done rather than sit and worry about it. But it was hard and the thoughts just wouldn't leave him. Even with Penny's attempts to comfort him, it just wasn't enough.

Of all the stupid things he had done, this was definitely one of the worst. This wasn't a case where he had been alone and just wanted to visit ChalkZone real quick. No, this was a time when he was supposed to look after his cousin Sophie. His family had wanted him to keep an eye on her as she couldn't go with them to this restaurant they went to. They entrusted him with her safety. Tilly often brought Sophie here to be babysat if she couldn't go with her somewhere. And Rudy had always been good at keeping her well behaved and safe, especially with Snap's help.

This time around, things were a little different, as he had to find out more information regarding Cosmo's partner, Jenny. And while they did find out some worthwhile stuff, that was more or less overshadowed when he realized that going into ChalkZone, at least at this time, had been a horrible mistake. There was nothing he could do to turn back the clock. He was stuck with this mistake and it might have cost him more than he ever could have imagined.

Because of his mistake, because he went into ChalkZone and left Sohphie behind, though she had Snap, they both got kidnapped. He wasn't sure of the circumstances or why they were taken. All he did know for certain is that both of them are gone, taken in broad daylight, and no one knows who took them and where. There was a general direction, but without the license plate number, it was very hard to track down the kidnapper. The description the eye witness gave was too vague to pinpoint any suspects. They had almost nothing to go off on.

They had very few chances. The police might turn up something as they were already performing a search as they spoke. Or maybe someone would find them and inform the police or call the hospital. Rudy hoped that, when they find them, they call them over immediately. If Snap were hurt and taken to the hospital, he could die the moment they inject him with any kind of fluid. And he hoped that, when they did find those two, it wasn't too late. He hoped that they weren't injured. If they were, he was going to feel even worse about disobeying his family.

To pour salt in the wound, Tilly was not very happy with him. She wasn't really mean towards him, but whenever she'd look at him, she'd glare and turn her head away. She had hardly spoken since Sophie's kidnapping, even to her sister. She kept to herself, preferring to be alone, at least for the time being. She was lost in her thoughts, no doubt trying to think of everything in her head and try to see if there was anything she could have done differently. He had a feeling that 'leave Sophie with him' was the thing she was having second thoughts on.

And his mother...she was disappointed in him as well. She was not as hostile as Tilly, but the way she spoke to him and the way she acted around him strongly suggested, no, confirmed that she was angry with him. She hadn't spoken to him since the kidnapping, not that he talked to her either. He felt too ashamed of himself to try to speak to her. Besides, she and Tilly both had good reasons to get angry at him. Tilly's daughter was gone and it was all because of him. If he had just watched her like he was supposed to, none of this would have happened. He felt like such an idiot.

His dad was more talkative and understanding towards him. He understood that Rudy never meant for this to happen and, out of the three, he was the only one who didn't do anything that made him feel guilty, except for that initial outburst from when they first found out about the kidnapping. Like Penny, he would try to comfort Rudy, but nothing he said made him feel any better about the situation. It didn't help that, whenever he saw his mom and aunt, regardless if they looked at him or not, he'd feel his guilt grow even stronger.

He felt so foolish... He thought that by leaving Sophie in the real world, she'd be safer. The place where he and Penny had to go was likely too dangerous for her, and she wasn't to be allowed to wander off in ChalkZone alone. But he had been so wrong. Her being in the real world put her in greater danger. She had not only been kidnapped, along with Snap, but taken somewhere with no clues as to just where they were now. No trail to follow. Trying to find her in the real world was so much harder than in ChalkZone. There were multiple limitations the real world imposed on him and the others. He couldn't just draw an airplane or something and try to find her that way.

At least in ChalkZone, he could do something to help. He had the power of the magic chalk there. He could create. He had a lot of friends there who would all be willing to help him. Forming a search part would be faster and he could be more efficient at finding someone. He had more options there. If Sophie had been lost in ChalkZone, it would have been much easier finding her. He should have just brought her into ChalkZone with him. That would have been a safer bet than just leaving her in the house. Even though she was with Snap, he should have realized that something like this could have happened.

Rudy went up into his room about twenty minutes ago. He wanted to be alone for a little while. He wanted to get away to be by himself so he could think about what happened. Maybe, if he searched his memories, there would be a clue in something that happened that he didn't think about. Something that would provide a hint as to what happened. Being alone in his room allowed him to clear his thoughts some.

He sat down on the window sill and leaned back, pressing his back against the wall. He stared out the window, towards the road and street, and tried to think of the earlier events that happened. As he thought, the only thing that came into his head was that the attack was related to ChalkZone somehow. It was a bit of a stretch. But then it made sense. Anyone who got a very good look at Snap would take notice of his outline, indicating he's a drawing. Zoner outlines weren't always so obvious and Snap's could be missed if someone wasn't looking hard enough. But it was there. That would give some scrupulous people reason enough to capture him.

Why would Sophie be kidnapped then? Probably the connection. Those two were obviously together as they were both gone. Both captured. Perhaps Sophie had been trying to protect Snap, and the kidnapper just nabbed her, too. Maybe they were going to blackmail Snap into explaining what he is and where he came from, and was using Sophie as a means of making him talk. Rudy shuddered at the thought of his little cousin being hurt all just to make his friend, Snap, crack under the pressure. It was cruel... But he had already met those in the past who would do such a thing.

He tried to think of who might have done this sort of thing. His initial thoughts, years ago, would have been Terry Bouffant, but she had changed since the Bardot incident. She had been true to her word and she hadn't attempted to do any reports regarding ChalkZone. They don't see her too much, but when they do, she was usually pretty friendly. They were, by no means, buddy-buddy, but it was a nice change compared to how things were before.

But there was still Vinnie Raton. He was still more or less the same. He didn't really care that Terry decided not to expose ChalkZone. He more or less preferred to work on his own anyway. He hadn't been able to do much lately. Last year, he did try to free Boorat from jail, but it had completely failed, since he was not as intelligent as Terry. So he wasn't really a huge threat, but the potential of danger was still there, and Rudy wasn't simply going to dismiss him.

Vinnie was still obsessed with his 'chalk world theme park' idea. He had been going on about this for years. Rudy would have liked to find a way to get him arrested, but since everything he does bad just so happens to be in ChalkZone, there was nothing he could do. The only time he could get him arrested was when Vinnie had his bag with the portable chalkboard and he managed to get him to crash into the water fountain. And even then, he wasn't in jail for very long as what he did was considered a 'mild felony'.

As annoying as his obsession to profit off of ChalkZone was, Rudy would be lying if he said he didn't feel somewhat relieved by that. Rudy's worst fear isn't someone trying to profit off of ChalkZone, but someone who would try to destroy it or drain it of its resources. There were many people who would be afraid of ChalkZone and the idea of drawings coming to life. It was a foreign idea to most people's minds, and people tend to fear and hate what they don't understand. Ms. Saffron herself had confessed that she had been afraid of ChalkZone until Snap helped her realize her fears were unfounded. His parents were afraid, too, until they saw Snap fight to protect them.

But not everyone was going to be so convinced. There would be people who would regard Snap's behavior as 'just a way to trick them', and they would want to have ChalkZone destroyed to 'protect the innocent' or whatever. It would be even worse if they found out that the serial killer that attacked the town two years ago was a zoner. They might take that and say that all zoners were like that and should be destroyed. If ChalkZone were exposed and everyone learned that water kills zoners and washes away anything that was chalk, he could be sure that there'd be an army of people armed with fire hoses going in there to 'wipe the abomination off the face of the earth', as some of the extremists might say.

So he was glad that, when Vinnie came into ChalkZone, his reaction wasn't to run away screaming and bring in his bulldozer to demolish the world. He had been excited about ChalkZone and really did seem to like it. If it weren't for the fact that he wanted to expose ChalkZone and exploit it, he could be considered pretty harmless. He hadn't even tried to hurt any of the zoners; the worst he did was just annoy the heck out of them. Even when he tried to free Boorat, he hadn't used any methods that directly harmed any zoner. Though it might have been in part due to him wanting them to be in good condition for working.

Still, Vinnie was a threat to ChalkZone, and still wanted to expose it even after all these years. He wouldn't put it past him to kidnap Sophie and Snap to try to get what he wanted. He didn't really think he'd go too far. He wouldn't really hurt Sophie and Snap, Rudy couldn't picture Vinnie doing much damage to him. At least nothing compared to what Cosmo had done. Compared to that maniac, Vinnie was downright tame, even with his insane 'dog barking' tendencies. And it was clear that he was not a black chalk user as the trip into ChalkZone didn't end up turning him into a homicidal maniac as it had with Cosmo.

He was interrupted from his thoughts when there was a knock on his door. He turned his head to see who it was. When the door opened up, he was a little surprised to see Tilly walking in. Given her behavior before, he didn't think she would want to come in and speak to him, or anyone, for hours. Yet here she was, walking into his room.

He was uncomfortable by the way she was looking at him. He wasn't sure what kind of emotion was on her face. It looked like so many rolled into one. Anger, disappointment, sadness, some others as well. She didn't give him a glare this time, but he kinda wish she was because at least then he would know what she was feeling. But with the look she was giving him now, Rudy couldn't tell what was going to happen. And as she approached him, he felt at unease. But he didn't try to get away regardless. It wasn't like running away was a very wise thing to do in this case.

He almost expected Penny, but unfortunately, her mother came and picked her up. She had to go home because her mom needed her help with something. But she did offer her condolences and promised to relay any information to them if she found anything out. Unless Penny decided to sneak out, which Rudy would not expect her to do, there was no way it could have been her, and he didn't know why he had expected her. But he wished it was her as he wasn't sure what to say to his aunt Tilly. Out of the three adults, she was the most angry at him.

Tilly walked over towards him slowly. Her cheeks were stained with tears, indicating she had been crying for a while. Her eyes were red and poofy. The way she walked was a little weird, and definitely indicated something was on her mind. She continued walking towards him, each step bringing her just a little closer, until she stood right in front of him. She cast her glance towards the ground for a moment, letting out what sounded like a forced sigh. Rudy could catch a tinge of anger on it. So she was still mad at him, which honestly didn't really surprise him.

He expected her to yell at him, but she hadn't said a word yet. She just looked at him. Her muddled expression did sharpen more and he could soon tell what emotion she was feeling. In addition to anger, the other strong feeling was disappointment, similar to how his mother felt. This went on for a few minutes, making Rudy feel even more uncomfortable. Why wasn't she speaking to him? Why would she come up here just to stare at him like this? There had to be a reason she came up here. Maybe his mom or dad convinced her to.

"Hello, Rudy." Tilly finally spoke. Rudy winced at how her voice sounded. Almost drained of emotion, and what was still in there, there was nothing positive about it.

Rudy hesitated. "Hi, Aunt Tilly..." He turned his head away for a second. He swallowed. "Uh...any news?"

His aunt shook her head. "No. I'm afraid not. They've interviewed almost everyone in the neighborhood by now. No one else except that one guy had seen anything. The only witness to the crime already gave out as much information as he could, and that hasn't been enough to get a lead on the kidnapper."

Rudy nodded his head. He couldn't say he was surprised that little information had been found. It hadn't been that long. The odds of the police finding out where they were taken in just five hours was very low, especially if there had only been one witness to the crime. It was then he realized, with a cold chill, how smart this kidnapper was. He must have picked a time he knew there wouldn't be many people in the neighborhood to nab his cousin and friend. In fact, this time of day might have been better than at night since most people were away during this time.

The silence that fell upon the room was awkward. Tilly sometimes opened her mouth to speak, but she'd shut it. A few times, she did shoot him a small glare, and looked like there was something she wanted to say. She just couldn't spit it out. Rudy felt uncomfortable in her presence. Her daughter was gone because of him. She had trusted him to keep her safe, and he completely screwed up. His mistake might cost him not only the life of his cousin, but also his zoner friend and the trust of his family. A part of him panicked and wondered if this incident would cause his and Penny's folks to reverse their decision regarding ChalkZone. So far they never even hinted they'd do that, but the possibility was still there.

After what felt like an hour, his aunt let out an exasperated sigh. She took a step closer to Rudy. From her expression, she looked like she wanted to scold him. Instead, she did something different.

She opened up her mouth and uttered a single word in a soft voice. "Why?"

Rudy looked up at her in confusion. "Why what?" He asked hesitantly.

"Why did you go into ChalkZone when you were supposed to be watching Sophie?" His aunt asked him, her eyes narrowing slightly. Rudy flinched, seeing the anger hidden behind them. So far, his aunt was doing a good job at not exploding in his face. "What was so important in ChalkZone that you couldn't wait a couple hours for us to get home? Would it have made that much of a difference?"

Rudy lowered his head. "I know I messed up... I'm sorry.."

"Yeah, I know you're sorry." Tilly said. "But that doesn't really do much to help us find out where Sophie and Snap are, now does it?" Her voice had a slightly accusatory tone when she spoke that line and Rudy could have sworn there was a slight growl to her voice. Tilly exhaled slowly. She spoke in a forcibly calmer voice. "Look...I don't want to be angry with you. I just don't understand... You had always been so trustworthy, and then something like this..." Her voice trailed off and she growled in frustration.

Rudy flinched and looked away from his aunt. He wished she would leave him alone. He wasn't in the mood to speak to her, and it was clear she didn't really want to talk to him right now either. They both had a lot on their minds. Both of them were very worried for Sophie and Snap. They had no idea where they were or if they would see them again. And out of the two, Rudy wondered if he felt the worst. After all, he had been told to watch Sophie and he disobeyed.

Tilly spoke up again. Her voice slightly raised in volume, instantly catching his attention. "I just... Why did you disobey? Why did you 'need' to get into ChalkZone right at that moment? Please, tell me why you did it. I...I want to understand why."

"W-Well..." Rudy started to say. He paused, trying to think of how he was going to word it. He realized that he hadn't really told Tilly much of what happened with him. Now was a good time as any to fill in the blanks for her. "There was this...place my friends and I found in ChalkZone that had this strange writing, light that only affected me, and there was a diary there left behind by Mr. Cosmo."

"Mr. Cosmo?" Tilly asked, her eyes widening slightly. "The one who created Draow and Bardot?"

"The same." Rudy nodded his head affirmatively. "And from there, we found out that our school nurse, Jenny, she's a black chalk user. We had wanted to go into ChalkZone to learn more about that and that Solar Pillars place we found. We just wanted to make sure there wasn't another hidden through that could endanger ChalkZone, or the real world at that." He paused, waiting for Tilly to reply. Then he realized there was something else he could add. "With what happened with Bardot we..just couldn't take a chance. Our foolishness and neglect allowed him to be brought to life. We couldn't allow history to repeat."

Tilly stared at him for a few seconds. "I see..." She paused for a moment. She narrowed her eyes. "What's this about black chalk? I know you mentioned it to me. What is it? Could you explain it to me again?"

"The black chalk is a dangerous type of chalk that corrupts any artist that uses it. I myself almost became a victim to it." Rudy explained. Tilly's eyes widened a little more at this. "Mr. Cosmo was a victim of the black chalk. He used to be more like me until he was corrupted. And he started to spread the corruption to other artists, and Jenny turned out to be one of them. Penny, Snap, and I know all too well just how dangerous Mr. Cosmo was, and we just...couldn't take a chance..."

"And you couldn't take Sophie into ChalkZone because..."

"I-I don't know. I thought she'd be safer here. Well I was wrong." Rudy said, his voice filled with guilt. "I should have just taken her with. She would have been safer with us. I..I..." He sighed. "I guess I just wasn't thinking straight. I understand that you're angry at me. I..I deserve it. I made a foolish mistake and all I can say is..I'm sorry." He looked at Tilly, a tear forming in his eyes. "If something happens to them, I..." He lowered his head. "I don't know if I could forgive myself."

He started to cry softly. His eyes closed and he turned his head away. He couldn't believe he had been so stupid. He couldn't believe that he had made such a dumb decision. He could have waited. He didn't have to go into ChalkZone right at that time. Biclops would still have been there. It wasn't like something major was going to happen in those couple of hours. ChalkZone wasn't under some kind of attack. There was really no reason, no strong enough urgency, to go into ChalkZone right at that time.

Now Sophie and Snap were taken with no clues as to where they might be. They could be very badly hurt, or even dead, and it wouldn't have happened if he had just listened to his parents. He couldn't stop the tears from trickling down his face. Guilt washed over him like a tidal wave. His aunt being in this room right now seemed to make things worse. Looking up at her, staring into her eyes, he was constantly reminded of his mistake, making him feel worse.

"If you came up here to punish me, go ahead." Rudy said in a quiet voice. "I deserve it. There was no reason why I couldn't have just stayed behind. So go ahead and punish me."

He waited for his aunt to say something. He waited for her to dish out whatever punishment she could think of. He waited for her to rant and rave while she did so. He braced himself for the verbal beatdown he deserved for his horrible mistake.

But instead, he was treated with just silence. No word from his aunt. No yelling, no shouting, no nothing. Even her glare was gone, replaced with something calmer. He was confused. She had clearly been angry earlier. She hadn't been happy with him. Why wasn't she saying anything? He didn't have a good enough excuse as to why he left Sophie behind in the real world while he went into the chalk word. There was just no reas for him to do that, and he acknowledged that.

To his surprise, Tilly lowered herself down to him, sitting down next to him on the window sill. She stared at him for a few seconds before reaching out to him with her right hand. She placed it on his shoulder. He stared at her in confusion. Slowly, Tilly started to smile at him. The smile was small and there was still some mixed emotions in there. But over all, it appeared to be a genuine smile.

Tilly said, "We're not going to punish you."

That one sentence sent a wave of shock through Rudy's body. They weren't going to punish him? Why not? He deserved it, didn't he? He should have stayed behind and watched Sophie. He should have listened to his folks. It was his fault that both Sophie and Snap were gone. If anything happened to them, it would have been his fault. He deserved some form of punishment, didn't he? How could Tilly come in here and say that they weren't going to punish him?

He stared at her, his eyes widened in surprise. He wanted to say something, anything. But his mind was too full of shock to think of a comprehensive sentence to speak. He did try to talk regardless, but it just came out as confused babble. His aunt's smile never faltered. She never made an attempt to indicate she had been sarcastic or lying. She didn't do anything that indicated she was going to yell at him. And he couldn't quite understand it.

"You're...you're not...?" Rudy asked in a soft voice. Tilly shook her head. "Why not? Don't I deserve some punishment? I disobeyed you guys, I..."

Tilly raised her other hand to silence him. "I know. I'm not happy with what you did. Neither are your folks. But we understand you didn't mean for this to happen. I spoke to your mother and father and we decided punishment was unnecessary. You acknowledged your mistake, and making you feel even worse isn't going to solve anything."

Rudy stared at her, still too surprised to speak.

"I will make it clear, though. I am still angry at you. But I'm not going to bite your head off. That won't help us find Sophie or Snap. Just..." She leaned a little closer to him. "...just promise me you won't do something like this again, okay? If we tell you to stay out of ChalkZone for a time, please listen to us. Do you understand?"

Rudy nodded his head slowly. "Yeah, I do..." He lowered his head and let more tears flow down his face. "I do..."

"Now now..." Tilly traced a tear from the boy's face. "Don't keep beating yourself up, okay? I'm sure we'll find them, somehow." Rudy didn't reply. He just kept crying. Tilly gave him a sympathetic look. "Come here..."

To Rudy's surprise, Tilly leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him. She pulled him into a hug. Rudy froze, unsure of what to do. He remained stiff in her arms for a few seconds before he got himself to slowly relax. Tilly held onto him, gently hugging him. Slowly, he started to hug back. He clung to his aunt, pressing his face against her shoulder and cried softly. His aunt gently rubbed his back in an attempt soothe him.

Rudy felt himself start to feel a little better. The guilt was still there, but as the seconds passed, it became more manageable. His aunt's comforting words started to have an effect on him, a positive one. He continued to cry, letting out all the negative emotion and all the guilt, all in one go. All the while, Tilly just hugged him, making to attempt to hurry him up. She just let him cry, rubbing his back slowly and pressing her cheek against his head.

After a few minutes, they broke apart. Tilly smiled gently at him, keeping her hands on his shoulders. Rudy did his best to smile back. Tilly said, "Do you feel better now?"

"Y-Yeah...a little..." Rudy said. His voice was shaky and he still felt guilty. But his aunt's hug did help him feel a tad bit better.

Tilly's smile broadened a little at this. She reached down and cupped his chin. She leaned forward and planted a quick kiss on his forehead. "I love you."

Rudy's eyes watered. "I...I love you, too." He clenched his teeth as fresh tears stained his cheeks. "I'm so sorry about Sophie and Snap, I..."

"Shh..." Tilly said. Any sign of anger was gone by now. She placed a hand on his cheek and gently caressed it. "We'll find them.. Don't worry."

"I...I hope you're right.." Rudy said in a soft voice.

He really hoped his aunt was right. There was still a chance that Sophie and Snap would never be found, or if they were, it would be too late. There were no clues, no evidence of where to find them. And no one has spotted them yet. There was no sign of them anywhere. As much as he wanted to believe his aunt, as much as he wanted to be hopeful, there was still a strong chance that his worse fears will be realized this time. There was a chance that everything will go wrong and it would be too late to save them.

Still, he tried his best to remain hopeful. Maybe someone found something by now. Maybe a footprint, or a piece of cloth or something that was out of place. Maybe a security camera somewhere caught something. Maybe there had been more witnesses and they just haven't come forward yet. Maybe someone had seen something. Anything.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of footsteps rushing up the stairs. The door was pushed open so fast that the knob banged against the wall. A startled Tilly and Rudy looked over to see Rudy's mother standing there. Her eyes were wide with horror and she was taking in panicked breaths.

"M-Mom? What is it...?" Rudy asked, his voice filled with dread. Oh no...please, don't let it be that... Please..

"Reggie Bullnerd..." Mrs. Tabootie said, her voice choked up with emotion. "He brought Sophie and Snap over... He found them on the side of the road..."

"What?!" Tilly said as she and Rudy nearly jumped from their seats. "Are they okay?"

Mrs. Tabootie had tears in her eyes and she shook her head. "They were both nearly dead when he found them..."

At this, Tilly and Rudy let out a sharp gasp. Their hearts filled with ice, and the uncomfortable sensation spread through their bodies. Rudy shook his head in denial. No, they had to be okay. They just had to be. His body shaking, he rushed forward, running passed his mother and making his way down the steps. The two women looked at him as he ran, and they soon followed close behind.

Rudy's heart pounded against his chest as he ran down the steps. In his mind, thoughts intertwined and swirled constantly. Dread spread through every nerve, freezing it solid. Nearly dead... No, they couldn't be that badly hurt, could they? Nearly dead meant...there was a chance he might lose them both.. No.. It couldn't be true. There had to be some kind of mistake. Maybe Reggie had been exaggerating or something. But that wasn't right... Reggie wouldn't exaggerate about something like this.

And when he reached the living room, he froze, his heart nearly exploding from the intense negative emotion that welled up inside of it. His breaths came in shakingly, tears flowing down his face. Renewed guilt swept through him, causing him to tremble. His eyes widened, his pupils dilated, as he stared at the horrific scene before him.

There, laying down on the ground, were Snap and Sophie. They were resting on white, clean blankets, both laying on their backs. They both looked absolutely horrible. Their faces were pale, drained of color. Their faces were contorted in agony, like they had been in a lot of pain when they passed out. And when he moved his eyes up and down their bodies, he could quickly see why. Both of them were covered in wounds. Snap looked like he suffered several burns and had a gash in his stomach. Sophie also had a wound in her stomach, but in addition to that, she had multiple stab wounds. Both of them were covered in blood and their chest movements were painfully slow.

"Snap...Sophie..." He spoke, his voice cracked with emotion, filled with horror and disbelief.

Rudy walked up to them. He stared down at their mostly still bodies. He took in more shaky breaths, his body trembling harder. More tears continued to move down his reddened cheeks. The world around him seemed to darken and he became unaware of everything except for his injured friend and cousin. He didn't even notice when his mother and aunt came down the steps, nor did he hear his aunt scream in horror at the sight of her daughter and Snap in such horrible condition.

Rudy dropped down on his knees beside them. He looked down at them, soft whimpers escaping his throat. He shook his head in denial. No..this couldn't be happening..not to them.. What did they do to deserve this? Unable to speak, unable to percieve the world around him, Rudy put his hands to his face and started to sob.

sss

Rudy couldn't believe this happened. He never would have thought that, when they found Sophie and Snap, they would both be in such horrible shape. He had feared something like this happened, but he was still in such shock and disbelief that it did happen. Who could have done this to them? And why? His blood boiled at the thought of someone hurting two children out of cold blood. Burning Snap, stabbing Sophie... Whoever did this, they were going to pay.

He had been grateful that Reggie brought both of them to his house instead of the hospital. Reggie's explanation for that was that he wasn't familiar enough with the roads to go to the hospital, but he did know his address. But regardless of the reason, Rudy was still happy that Reggie made the decision to go to his house instead of the hospital, since Snap could have been accidentally killed there.

Not long after Reggie had to leave, he and his family immediately went to work. Rudy called Penny and asked her to come over. He explained the situation and, after some talking, Mrs. Sanchez agreed to come down to help escort Snap to the ChalkZone hospital. She arrived with Penny as quickly as she could. She carried Snap in her arms while Penny opened up a portal into ChalkZone. As they went into ChalkZone, Rudy helped his folks get Sophie in the car and went with them to a real world hospital. He planned on visiting Snap as soon as possible. His folks did, too.

Upon arrival, Sophie was rushed down the halls and disappeared through the double doors. The doctors told them that they would do what they could to help Sophie and told them to sit down and wait. The doctors had no idea how long it would take, but that they would give them news as soon as possible. Rudy, his parents, and aunt sat down in the waiting room and did the only thing they could do. Wait patiently for the doctors to come back with any word on Sophie's condition.

It took about an hour before any doctor came bake to tell them anything. All of them got up as the doctor had approached them. They listened intently as the doctor relayed information to them. They were relieved that Sophie was going to make it. The injuries were manageable and she was recieving a blood transfusion to replace the blood that she had lost. The stab wounds she had recieved on her arms and one of her legs, along with the slash over her face, were going to heal just fine. The stomach wound was of concern and she was going to need some mild surgery to help fix the damage done to her intestines.

But overall, Sophie's condition, although at first appearing grim, was looking good. The doctor doesn't think she'd be stuck in the hospital for too long. After the mild surgery, she just needs stay for a couple days to make sure there was no sign of infection and to ensure that the blood transfusion was a success. They also wanted to make sure that the wounds to her intestines wouldn't cause any serious problems and she would be monitored. The doctor said she was very lucky and that her condition could easily have been so much worse. Rudy silently hoped that Snap would have a promising diagnosis as well.

About half an hour ago, the same doctor came back and told them that Sophie was fully stabilized and that they could come up to visit her. He escorted them down the hall to the room where Sophie was being kept. He opened the door and allowed them to go in. To give them some privacy, he shut the door.

The sight of Sophie laying unconscious with those wires hooked up to her was heartbreaking. Her body had multiple bandages on it where the cuts were. Some of them had bloodstains on them and would need to be changed soon. The heart monitor she was hooked up to beeped at a steady rate. Her expression had softened up, and now she looked more peaceful than pained. Her chest rose and fell at a more steady rate, each movement having more strength in it than when she was laying in his house. She had some IV fluids going in her, and there was some blood still being pumped into her.

He and his folks took a seat next to Sophie. His parents on one side, he and his aunt on the other. They watched as Sophie continued to sleep. If they didn't know any better, they would have believed that she was just resting. She looked peaceful, and if it weren't for the bandages and hookups, they would have thought she was just fine. But they knew better. She had been hurt, as well as Snap, and they still didn't have a clue as to why.

As he stared at Sophie's still face, Rudy's heart filled with anger as he thought of the bastard who did this to her and Snap. He was going to find out who did it. And when he did, they were going to pay. He clutched a fist tightly, shaking at his side. They were going to pay big time. Whoever did this, they were sick and twisted. Sophie was only eleven years old. What kind of monster would do this to such a little child? He was going to find out who did this. He was going to find them, and he was going to make them regret ever touching her and his friend. No one gets away with hurting his loved ones. No one.

Another doctor came in and called out his folks. He wanted to discuss them about payment options and talk to them about whether or not to go through with the surgery or wait and see if it was even necessary. The doctor wanted to take them to his office to speak. He didn't want to stress Sophie out in case she woke up and heard what they said. His folks told him to stay with Sophie. Rudy watched as his aunt and parents left, then turned his attention to his little cousin.

"Sophie..." Rudy said in a trembling voice. He sniffled and he reached down and gently stroked his cousin's blonde hair. "I'm sorry this happened to you.. I should have let you come into ChalkZone with me.. I should have kept an eye on you." He pulled his hand away and lowered his head, closing his eyes. He let out a few cries. "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..."

Rudy was surprised when he felt a hand grip his arm lightly. He looked down. His eyes widened at what he saw. Sophie's eyes were open. Barely, but they were still open and looking up at him. A small, faint smile was on her face. She stared at Rudy for a few seconds, then she spoke in a very weak voice.

"I-It's okay... It...It wasn't your fault..."

"S-Sophie..." Rudy whispered, tears flowing down his face. Although he knew now might not have been the best time to ask, he had to know. Even if she couldn't remember everything right away, he had to at least try to ask the question. "Who did this to you...?"

Sophie's expression turned fearful. Not of them, but at the memories that were probably swirling through her head right now. She might not be able to remember everything right away, but it was clear that, if there was anything she could remember now, it was the identity of her attacker.

"I-It was..." Sophie said. She stopped and coughed a few times. Rudy gripped her hand gently and waited for her to continue. "Ghadir... your principal, Tyreek... and your school nurse, Jenny..."

Rudy's heart all but stopped as horror swept through his body. His face paled and his body started to tremble. "Does...does Jenny know about ChalkZone...?"

Sophie nodded her head weakly. "Yeah...sh-she does... And she has the magic chalk..."

"No..." Rudy whispered as dread overtook his head. Things had just gotten a whole lot worse.