A/N: Well, you saw how ravaged Kat was. Now see what Stretch does to find her.
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Chapter 12
History Repeats Itself
"Missing?!! How?! When?! Where?! Who?!!" Stretch was questioning a mile a minute. He still couldn't believe he had forgotten that if he left Kat all alone, Shadow would swoop down and ravage her. Oooh…he could destroy anything within arm's length now. With that, he reached for a rather precious Ming vase and smashed it to the floor. Not caring about the mess, he immediately floated to his room. The other ghosts, all whom wore confused expressions, followed suit. They found Stretch fiddling with the lock of a tackle box. He finally managed to flip the lid open. The other ghosts looked on with amazement. In the tackle box, was some sort of radar and attached to it was a satellite fashioned out of a skinned umbrella. Stretch begins tampering with the dials on the gadget. Stinkie watched over his shoulder with an impressed look on his face.
"Wow, Stretch! Pretty piece of gadgetry. Where'd you get it, EBay?" The smelly ghost was engrossed with how Stretch's long fingers fiddled with the knobs, dials and buttons on the radar device. Stretch shrugged. "Nah, I invented it. I'm starting to see that taking that Wood Work course in High school really paid off." He answered. Soon, after a couple minutes of tireless settings and dial-turning, Stretch found what he was looking for. A single beeping dot was situated in the eastern region of the radar.
"She's somewhere in the East. Come on!" With that, everybody took flight. Casper had a thousand questions to ask his uncle. So, in mid-air, he finally inquired. "Uncle Stretch, how'd you know Kat is there?" Stretch, for once, was happy to field his nephew's question. Now does anyone remember that reed-thin whistle Kat received from Stretch from the 3rd chapter? Well, it also doubles as a tag. So that whenever Shadow got it in his vile, fiendish mind to kidnap Kat (which we all know he will) Stretch can look her up on radar and zero in to save her. Pretty smart of Stretch, huh? So now, following the trusty tracking device, they touch downed outside a long abandoned warehouse.
"You sure this is where she's held captive?" Stinkie asked. The smelly ghost wasn't really depending on Stretch's homemade 'tracking device'. A loud, guttural scream of pain and terror was soon heard throughout the vicinity. "On second thought, don't bother answering." He continued after hearing what definitely was Kat. Stretch immediately led everyone flying through the warehouse. Where was that scream coming from? Stretch could tell it was in the east wing and darted like a heat-seeking missile searching for its target. He had just reached the room when he saw Shadow busily licking a trail of crimson off Kat's neck.
Stretch floated rock still. He willed the image he was seeing right now away. No. No, it can't be happening. Not again! Stretch felt like God had decided to toy with him at that very moment. For in his mind, Stretch could only see himself as a human looking at Shadow, who was also presently human, licking blood of, not Kat, but Angela's neck. Kat was sobbing and pleading just like Angela did. Her eyes bore into Stretch's. She was begging him to stop Shadow. To fling Shadow away and nurse her back to health. Stretch's fists clenched tightly. He regretted not stopping Shadow back then. He wasn't going to regret it now. With a feral roar, Stretch wrestled Shadow away from the weeping, injured girl and knocked the penknife away to a dark corner of the cramped room. Kat's eyes widened with joy at the prospect of her savior.
"Why, Stretch, do you not know that barging in on a rendezvous is of bad taste?" Shadow asked in an unbelievably calm manner. Stretch fumed. How could Shadow be so cool, so collected? Despite the fact that Stretch had ripped him away from the woman he was on the verge of seducing, Shadow simply grinned contentedly. He barred his teeth at the bespectacled ghost. "Don't ever, ever, EVER do that to her again. You had your fun once." He warned. He turned back to Kat and freed her from her constricting bounds. She immediately hugged him in fear. Shadow leered at her, making her superbly uncomfortable.
"Listen, slime ball. I don't at all care what you're playing at now. But, one thing, don't take it out on Kitty Kat," Stretch's tone was venomous. Still, Shadow let it roll over him with ease. "Aw….making up for your past mistake. Real smart. Too bad Angela's not here to appreciate it." Stretch winced at Shadow's cutting remark. He really didn't want to be reminded of his folly with unfortunate Angela. All he did was propel Kat out of that warehouse faster than a jet plane. During the flight home, Kat had to ask.
"What on Earth happened to Angela?" Stretch looked down at her, lying in his arms bridal style. She looked so innocent. And that innocence could've been taken away with a swoop if he wasn't there to save her. "Same thing that happened to you. Only…I wasn't there to stop it." Kat laid in his arms in compassionate silence. She hoped this wouldn't frazzle him back into his depression. However, looking into his stunningly deep violet eyes, she could see newfound determination. She was glad.
I'll take care of you, Kat. He's never going to do that again on my watch. I will never, ever let history repeat itself again. Ever,
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A/N: Well, there you go. Read and review.
