Chapter 3: Promise

Kandice walked into Dakota Union High with a stomach ace. Her stomach had been cramping up since this morning. She ate something on the way over, but that just made it worse. As she passed down the hallways to homeroom, her cramps were getting worse. Her back was also hurting pretty badly. When she twisted to one side, it became a very unbearable pain. She went over to her locker and began exchanging books when she started hearing what people were thinking. 'I hope she's not high or anything....' said one person

She snapped her head to one side to see Frieda look at her suprised. "Uh...hey Kandice." she said

Kandice sighed and leaned her head against her locker. "sigh Hey Frieda." she said

"You ok?"

"Yeah, just a cramp in my stomach."

Her pains got worse and she groaned as she grabbed her stomach. "Kandice?" asked Frieda

All the lockers began opening by themselves. At this particular moment, Virgil and Richie were walking up they hall when the noticed all the lockers opening. Books flew out of one student's hands and a bookbag flew across the room. "Kandi..." muttered Richie

Kandice felt like she was going to vomit so she ran into the girl's room. Freida ran after her. When she ran inside, the mirror above the row of sinks cracked. She found Kandice heavily vomiting over a toilet. "I'm gonna get the nurse." she said

"Don't...." said Kandice, softly "It's something I ate."

She could hear other voices. They were all freaking out about what happened in the hallways. "Kandice-" started Frieda

"I said don't freakin' worry about it!" said Kandice, loudly "It's just something I ate."

Frieda slowly walked out of the bathroom. She was worried about Kandice. What she saw wasn't a pretty sight and it looked a little like blood to her. "Frieda?" asked a voice

She turned to see Virgil and Richie looking at her with concerned faces. "Is everything ok?" asked Richie

"Sure." she answered

"You seen Kandi anywhere?"

"Kandi? Oh you mean Kandice. She's in the bathroom."

"This time of the morning?" asked Virgil "Doing what?"

"Girl stuff...fixing her makeup...."

The school bell rang and Frieda walked quickly to class. The bathroom door swung wide open and hit Virgil in the face. She didn't seem to notice much, because she groggily walked off as if nothing happened.

Later that day, Virgil and Richie were playing basketball at the Freeman Community Center. Kandice came in and sat on the bleachers. Virgil took quick notice of her. He still was a bit pissed at her for swinging the door in his face. "Kandi?" asked Richie

She looked up and gave the both of them a weak smile. "Hey guys." she said "Sorry about the door Virgil."

"What's up with you?" asked Virgil "You've been acting like you're sick or something."

Kandice clutched her stomach and heaved over a bit. "Kandice?" he asked

"I'm fine." she said "Just another stomach cramp."

"You should see a doctor for that." said Richie

Kandice got up and looked at them. "I'm fine now." she said "Don't worry about it."

She straggled to the bathroom, until her body felt light. She fell on her knees and began vomiting. Both Virgil and Richie came to help her. They were shocked to find that she wasn't vomiting food, but blood. An ambulance was quickly called and Kandice was sent to the hospital with Sharon, since she was the only one there. Richie sat on the bleachers, stunned. He knew that Kandice was getting abused, but he didn't think this much. "You ok man?" asked Virgil

"I knew." he answered

"Knew what?"

"Kandi was getting abused and she made me promise not to tell anybody."

"You should've said something."

"I promise her that I wouldn't."

"Sometimes you have to break a promise to save someone's life."

Richie came home that evening. He wasn't his usual happy-go-lucky self. Mrs. Foaley walked into the living room, drying her hands. She looked at him awkwardly. He sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Richie?" she asked

"Hey mom." he said

"Something wrong? You look sick."

"No."

"Dinner's ready if you want something to eat."

"I'm not hungry."

"Are you sure you're not sick? You're always hungry."

Richie ran up the stairs and his mother called after him, but he just slammed his room door. Mrs. Foaley sighed as she looked up at the top of the stairs. The phone rang and she ran quickly to answer it. "Hello?" she asked

"Hello, Mrs. Foaley." said Virgil on the other end "Is Richie there?"

"Yes, he's here, but he's a bit upset right now. Did something happen at school?"

"Um...there's this girl that was abused a lot and she's in the hospital. Richie really likes her."

"Oh...poor girl...are you calling with news?"

"Well, it's bad news. She's going to be in the hospital for a bit longer. Her back's a bit weak."

"I'll be sure to tell Richie that, when he's feeling a bit better."

Kandi was playing gameboy. She was just finished her daily checkup and was bored. A representative of Dakota's Social Services Agency was here not too long ago. He asked her questions about her father and she answered them all truthfully. She was a bit worried, though. She was worried that her father might come after her for that. She usually would run away, but he had stomped into her back so hard that she was paralyzed for the time being. The door opened and she quickly hid her gameboy under the blanket. She saw that it was Richie and she sighed. "Thank god." she said "I thought you were Rachel."

"Hey." he said

"So, how's life on the outside?"

"It's been ok. Frieda, Daisy, and Shenice asked for you."

"Wow, I have a fan club."

The two of them made a small laugh. He pulled out a candy bar from his hoodie. "Brought you something to make you feel better." he said

"Thanks." she said "I love Milky Way."

The door opened and in came a woman in her early twenties came in. She had on large hoop earrings and lots of makeup. She was also chewing on gum. She was holdling a clipboard. When she saw the candy bar in Kandi's hands, she sighed. "Give me the bar." she said

"Richie gave it to me." said Kandi, whining

"You can have it back when you're fully recovered."

"I wanna keep it."

The nurse grabbed the candy bar and walked out the door. "That's Rachel." said Kandi "She's a real barrel of laughs."

Static was flying around when he noticed a bright green light coming from an apartment. He went in for a closer look when he noticed that someone was lying on the floor. There was a shadowy figure lying over a girl. The shadow then looked up and looked straight into Static's eyes. He had a skull white face and red eyes. He came straight for Static, but he missed, barely. Police cars rolled up and then the man jumped back into the apartment, disappearing in the darkness. Static followed after him and found nothing. He then examined the girl. She was a young Hispanic girl and she seemed to be alive. Her eyes were open, but it was like there was nothing in her brain, like she was unconscious. Paramedics came in to examine the girl. "What happened to her?" asked one

"I don't know." answered Static "I found her like that."

"We'll take her to emergency and find out what's wrong."

He nodded and left. As he left the building, the man with the skull white face stared out and smirked.

Kandi and Richie were talking seriously about what had happened to her. Richie felt bad about not telling anybody about Kandi's condition with her father. She listened and sighed. She hated when people would worry about her. Kandi's problem was that she had very low self-asteem. She growled and turned away. "Kandi?" he asked

"What have I told you about worrying?" she asked, sternly

"I can't help it when one of my friends is getting hurt."

"Why is it every time we meet, you have to lecture me?!"

"I'm sorry if I worry!"

"Richie....sighplease don't pity me."

"I don't pity you...I...uh..."

As Kandi was about to say something nasty, she got a horrible headace. She groaned and Richie looked at her in shock. "Kandice?!" he said

He almost grabbed the button for the nurse, but she grabbed his arm. "Don't." she said "It's just....ugh...a vision...."

"Of what?" he asked

"Stuff....a man....I can't see his face...he's....he's....draining someone...."

She sat up and sighed, looking up at the ceiling. "These visons are getting harder on me." she said

"Is it deadly?" asked Richie

"Try painful."

"Oh...can you promise me something?"

"Richie..."

"Promise me that the next time your life's in danger, you'll tell me."

"I promise..."

"I really do worry, you know."

"sigh You're a pain, you know that?"

Richie stared at her with sad eyes and she smiled at him. She rolled her eyes at his obvious look. "I was only joking." she said

"You have a weird sense of humor." he said