I wasn't afraid of Jack Kerr.

At least, not at first.

The Kerrs had always lived in Castle Rock. The whole family, born and bred. One day, though, when Jack was little, his mama up and left. Everybody knew it was cuz she couldn't stand another moment living with his daddy, but if you'd asked Jack, he'd have said it was because she was a worthless slut. Jack wasn't terribly creative with his insults.

Everyone knew his daddy hit him too. Did worse than that, probably, and there was nothing much anyone could do about it. Jack was too proud to let anyone know he was hurting. So he just kept getting hurt until he broke, and when he broke, he broke wide open.

Jack was a year older than me, but in Castle Rock, it didn't really matter. Everyone school-aged basically got lumped together anyway. On the odd occasion that he showed up to school, Jack was in all my classes. He was loud and disrespectful. Rude, in every sense of the word. To the teachers and the other students—boys, girls, it didn't matter.

Pam was one of his favorite targets. He used to spit at her when they passed in the halls or on the street. Called her a freak, among other things. Pam never said a word back to him. She kept her head held high and just kept walking. As proud as he was and far braver. And anyway, Jack Kerr was the least of her problems back then. Pamela suffered from a million other injustices on a day to day basis. Jack and his taunts were more of a nuisance to her than an actual threat.

That's how I wanted to think of him too—a nuisance to simply ignore—, but I'm ashamed to say that at 13, I was intrigued by Jack Kerr. In a little town where nothing ever happened, he was a big personality, and always happening. Looking back, I hate myself for even entertaining him. I knew he had a thing for me, heck, everyone did. Pam sure did, and so did Selina. But that didn't stop me.

What did stop me, finally, was his refrigerator.

Jack thought of himself as a scientist. Not the smart kind, not the kind who enjoyed even the most mundane biology lessons, like Pam did. No, Jack considered himself a mad scientist. He thought a lot of things were funny that simply…weren't. And I spent far too long trying to get the joke, I'll admit that.

But his refrigerator was no laughing matter, and I never pretended it was. Even at 13, I knew where to draw the line, and this was my line.

From my understanding, he didn't lug it all the way out there from town, that would have required super-human strength. He told me he found it out there, and that it was in just the perfect spot, because no one could hear his test subjects bark or meow from inside. Not when the fridge was nearly 8 miles into the forest. He must have moved it after he'd shown me, though, knowing—just from the look of horror on my face—that he hadn't been playing to the right audience. But it couldn't have gone far. A fridge was heavy. A fridge full of animals in various stages of decay even more so.

I knew that if I was going to speak up, it had to be right then because if Isis had only disappeared that morning, there was a high chance she was still alive. Jack didn't like to kill anything right away. He liked to watch them suffer. His sadistic ways allowed for a moment of weakness, but we'd have to act right then.

"Nobody's seen her." Bruce Wayne sat down at the table next to us. "I'm sorry, Selina. We can put up posters, if you want, maybe she'll turn up."

"She won't," I said, my voice quiet. "Not unless we rescue her."

All eyes turned to me—even Harvey Dent's, and he rarely paid attention unless Bruce was talking.

Bruce straightened up, electing himself voice of the others. "What do you mean, Harley?"

I toyed with the crust on my bread. "I think…I think Jack Kerr's got her. Out in the woods."

"That rat bast—,"

"Harvey, shut up," Selina quieted him immediately. "What do you mean Kerr's got her, Harl?"

I cleared my throat. "I mean, Jack takes animals sometimes, and he…plays, with them. I've seen him do it. Makes me sick thinkin' about it, but I'm sure he took her. Probably brought her out deep in the woods. I know where," I quickly assured. "Well…basically. I can show ya, but we gotta leave now."

Pam scoffed at the ridiculous notion of leaving school early. "We still have two periods left!"

Selina shot out of her chair. "Isley, you fuckin' stiff, Isis is in trouble! You heard her, we gotta go now!"

Bruce stood up too, already grabbing his backpack from beside his chair. I'm sure it was more out of loyalty to Selina than Isis, but Bruce was clearly in.

Bruce was always in. That was the wonderful thing about him. His daddy owned the main store in town plus the only hotel, so the Wayne's were by far the richest family in Castle Rock, but Bruce didn't seem to care or notice. He was Jack's age, but was a good boy who I knew would become a good man. A boy with a strong sense of justice, and an even stronger sense of faith. Not in any god, necessarily, but in himself and in the people he loved. And man oh man did he love Selina.

"Pam shouldn't come anyway," Harvey decided, also pushing his chair back from the table to stand. "Her parents would probably phone The National Guard."

Oof, bad move, Harv.

Pam was visibly upset, I could see it in the way she angrily tossed her red hair as she stood to challenge him. "You won't tell me what I can and can't do, Harvey Dent. I'm my own woman, and I won't stand for your nonsense."

Harvey rolled his eyes (they did this a lot). "You're 14, Pam, and sick. Taking you would just slow us down."

"Wait a minute, who invited you?" Selina interjected, suddenly turning on Harvey. "Pam's my friend and Isis is my cat. I choose the rescue party and I choose her."

"No, no, we need Harvey," Bruce said, taking Selina's hand in his to calm her. "In case Jack shows up and things get hairy."

Pam obviously didn't like the reasoning or the decision, but Selina nodded and it was made.

"Then we'll all go," Selina summarized. "How far is it, Harl?"

"At least 8 miles," I told her, the last to stand. "Probably closer to 10 now, I'm not exactly sure. We'll need some water. And food."

Selina nodded again, looking to Bruce. "Can you get supplies from the store?"

"Yes," Bruce confirmed, setting his jaw. "Everyone, bring your bags. I'll meet you around back."

And so it was decided.

We were going on an adventure.