Sorry for not posting in so long guys! I have a life in the real world too, so I can't always be updating my stories. I'm also starting to think this story is kind of bad (as usual) so I'm not ever in a mood to be updating it.

9: More Bad Things Happen

Seven days until the party.

The day was December 7th. Redstripe had just woken up, and once again the usual thoughts about the party returned. Today was SATURDAY.

DID YOU GET THE JOKE, TURDS?

Anyway...

Today was Saturday, so Redstripe wouldn't have to go to school. That was good, because he needed some time to just think and decide how he was going to talk to Icescar if he couldn't go to his house or text him. And Redstripe had already considered mailing him a letter, but he figured it was too easy to get caught that way, and also, it was very slow.

Now, depending on how much his uncle cared that he got expelled, Redstripe might be able to sneak over to Icescar's house, but that was a complete gamble. Icescar's uncle might not want anybody to be around Icescar because of what happened. From what he knew, Gravelclaw was not very strict with rules, but as far as punishments go, he wasn't really sure.

He eventually decided it would be best to wait a while and try going to his house sometime during the week. Everything was so chaotic right now and Icescar probably wanted some time to himself anyway.

Of course, Redstripe's mom was still making him go to school - Although, this time it seemed like people were starting to get used to the shootings and more people were going regardless. After all, Jadeclaw and most of the other cats Redstripe knew were at the school last week.

Later that day, Redstripe got bored of playing video games and decided to absentmindedly stare out the window for a while, and it just so happened that a police chase was happening at the exact same time. He watched as a bright purple van tore down the street, followed by at least six police cars. Redstripe just barely caught a glimpse of some green spray-painted writing on the van: "WORSHIP THORNCLAW".

He let out a long sigh. Mr. Thornclaw was about the last cat he wanted back in his life. Now there was some kind of criminal cult that worshipped him? What has this world come to?

Shaking his head, Redstripe walked away from the window and went downstairs to get something to eat. He reasoned that this probably wouldn't affect him, whatever was going on here. He went back upstairs and texted Jadeclaw. He decided not to say anything about the van yet - after all, he could have just been imagining the writing and it could have said something completely different. Redstripe asked him if he had tried to visit Icescar yet, but to his disappointment, Jadeclaw said he hadn't even dared to go outside once today and that he'd heard Icescar's uncle wasn't allowing Icescar to have anyone over. Redstripe suggested the idea of sneaking into Icescar's house, but they were both grounded and leaving the house for that long would surely arouse suspicion among their parents. Clearly, any hope of seeing Icescar these next few days was lost, and Redstripe was going to have to accept that.

He was glad that Icescar didn't get in too much trouble for the drug stuff, but honestly, Redstripe figured that the only thing Icescar got in trouble for was getting caught and expelled from the school. Everyone knew that his uncle vaped too and that he was probably the reason why Icescar had so many of them.

Then he saw a message from Wavetail, and for the millionth time these past few weeks, he was worried and confused.

Sorry I didn't respond yesterday but i need to tell you something important. My parents are gone and idk where they went. I looked everywhere and i called the police but they couldnt find where they went either. Im staying at my cousins house for now. If youre allowed out of the house (i heard what happened) then you can come over and we can talk.

Redstripe didn't respond right away. He was very worried, and he wanted to see Wavetail as soon as possible so he could hear the whole story and possibly help, but he was genuinely exhausted by the amount of stress and problems that had been coming up lately. He missed the times before all of this blew up, when he was more on top of things and knew how to deal with the shit that happened. Heck, some cats even feared him back then - he'd often get into fights for no reason. But that was different. There were no school shootings back then, not quite as much drug stuff, and people were more friendly and soft in general. There just happened to be one day where everything sort of exploded into chaos, and Redstripe wished he knew the reason why.

He sent a text to Wavetail letting her know he'd be there soon, and after a fake explanation about why and where he was going, Redstripe made his way over to Wavetail's house.

I was going to write more but it's been so long I should just post it lmao