Karkat Vantas
I had never really considered what would happen to my mother after I left for college. Not until that night. It was prom. My senior prom, the day that I would take Terezi out, and really tell her how I felt. I knew that ever since we were kids she had dreamed of her prom. She was never super girly, but I knew that she liked the concept of her prom being perfect. I had planned to make that happen for so long. Her being blind now wasn't going to stop me.
"Kk, that one fit you perfectly fine." Sollux grumbled as I stripped off the tuxedo angrily.
"No it doesn't. Nothing fucking fits. I'll look like an angry midget and it will ruin everything." I ran my hands through my hair and then pulled the next suit on.
"Thhe can't thee you, thtupid." He rolled his eyes as I again, pulled off the tuxedo.
"Well, that doesn't matter. It still has to be perfect." I growled. "Look Sollux, I'm not just worried about it being perfect for her in the ways she'll see. It has to be absolutely fucking perfect in every way possible. Then she'll be able to look back at me and think positively."
"You love her."
"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?" My eyes widened imeadiately and I whipped my head around, to glare into his silly glasses.
"Itth obviouth." He tried to continue, but I cut him off.
"Would you just stop lisping for a second? I know you've been faking it for a long time and I just need to talk to you seriously for just a fucking minute." I sat down on the bench in the changing room across from my best friend and rested my elbows on my knees. We were in some massive department store at nine p.m. on a Wednesday, so it was basically deserted. Ivan was on a business trip for the night so I decided it was the perfect time to go out. Sollux was coincidentally avaliable.
"Its obvious. You love her and you have loved her since 8th grade." He sighed. "Look Karkat, Terezi has gone through a lot. And you'll never be able to have a normal relationship with her. Maybe it would be best to just be friends with her."
"I'm not looking for a normal relationship, Sollux. And if you understand how much I do care about her, you'd just agree with me." I seethed through my teeth.
"Look, you know I love TZ like a sister. I just don't want her to get hurt because she can't do those normal relationship things with you." He patted me on the shoulder and stood up, readjusting his belt. "I'm sorry I offended you."
"Its okay man." I sighed and grabbed the last tuxedo I tried on. "This is good enough. Lets go."
"Are you sure?" Sollux furrowed his brow at me and then looked at his watch. "We've only been here for an hour. You can try on-"
"No, I'm alright." I sighed quietly to make sure that he wouldn't be able to see my dissapointment. Sollux patted me on the back and then exited the changing rooms. I went over to the register and flopped the tuxedo onto the counter. The lady looked at me suspiciously and then rung it up. I pulled my wallet out of my pocket. "What was the price?"
"$345.95" She murmured monotonously. I could swear that my eyes bugged out of my head.
"I only have $220." I sighed and was about to turn away when a thin fingered hand pushed a credit card onto the table. I turned and looked up at Sollux incredulously. He shook his head at me, knowing I would protest. I still did. "Sollux, no. I'll just get something online."
"Shut up, Karkat."
As we were walking out of the mall or whatever, I handed Sollux all of my money. He sighed and put it in his pocket.
"I'll pay you the rest back as soon as I can." I murmured.
"Don't bother. I know how important this is to you. I mean, I have a lot of money anyways. I'm good." He paused for a long moment, looking down at his shoes. I felt guilty. Sollux was the best friend anyone could ever have.
After a while, Sollux spoke up, barely in a whisper. "How did you know?"
"What?"
"My lisp. How did you know I was faking it?" He stopped walking and I realized we had reached his car. The front windshield was covered with leaves.
"I'm not sure. I know you pretty well, believe it or not." I murmured sarcastically.
"Seriously, kk. How the fuck did you know?" He turned and looked at me, peering over the top of the frames of his glasses.
"When you and Terezi are talking alone, you don't lisp." I admitted. "Terezi butt-dialed me once and I listened in for a little bit. I don't know, Sollux, it doesn't fucking matter. I know you trust her more than me."
"I'm sorry."
"No, its okay. But you should stop lisping from now on. Your voice is actually nice." I got into the car, looking over at Sollux, who's face was completely emotionless. He turned the key in the ignition and pulled out of the parking lot, driving me home without a word.
"Thanks." I bent down and looked at my friend before closing the door. He nodded once, and then drove away. I opened the door, to the house and threw my backpack onto the couch, planning on enjoying my one night of freedom from Ivan. I turned on the TV, grabbed one of Ivan's beers from the fridge, and cracked it open. I had drinken alcohol before, on those nights when it was particularly bad, it took a bit of the burning pain off. Tonight, it was purely for celebrational matters. I had finished one whole can, and then decided to go to bed. I could have done something more spectacular and exciting, but I decided against it. I had school tomorrow, and I wasn't going to miss seeing Terezi, ever.
Every day, at school, I was on the edge of my seat, waiting for lunch to come so I could see her. Of course, I knew she didn't do the same thing, mainly because she couldn't see. But the second I saw her, my heart began beating quickly and I was a bit glad she was blind so she couldn't see my face heat up. It went like this every day. About halfway through lunch, usually, after making through his daily rounds with his many friends, Sollux showed up. Lunch was never anything special, but it was always the highlight of my day.
I realized that I was slowly falling asleep as I went through my lunchtime routine in my head. I sighed, pulled my pants off, and crawled under the sheets of my bed, thinking that for once, everything was right with the world.
I was wrong.
I was startled awake by the feeling of my ankles being grabbed and thrown against the floor. My eyes flew open and there I sat, staring Ivan directly in the face. He yanked me up by my shoulder and clasped his right hand around my throat. His left hand held the maroon suitcase. He dropped the suitcase on the ground and lifted me off of the bed. He then threw me across the room like a ragdoll. I hit the wall underneath my window with a loud thump. When I looked back over at Ivan, he was holding a pair of handcuffs his hands.
"You didn't wait for me." He seethed through his teeth, glaring at me. Ivan slowly aproached me, bending down so he was at about my height. His breath smelled strongly of vodka and scotch. "And you drank one of my fucking beers." He handcuffed my left arm to the foot of my bed and then pulled out a long, leather whip.
Prom Night
"Hey, kid, I'll be gone for the night. Don't expect me back for dinner." Ivan murmured, grabbing his work suitcase and leaving.
There were three hours until prom, and things were going perfectly for me. I didn't need to worry about my shitty stepdad, my date to prom was absolutely gorgeous, and I even had an incredible tuxedo. I knew that this would be my happiest night, probably ever since I started highschool. I knew it sounded cheesy, like an 80's movie.
"OMG MY PROM THE TOTES BEST NIGHT OF MY LYFE BRO." I texted Sollux.
"uhh are you okay" He replied. All day he had sensed my odd mood. This was really out of character for me. I had never been giddy or excited, and usually I just seemed grumpy. So basically, I had gotten a lot of strange looks for the grins I had been throwing around.
I didn't really bother replying to Sollux's message as I went to get ready. I got dressed in the tuxedo and then walked into the bathroom to see what else I could do. I washed my face and then looked at my great big tangly mess of brown curls. I knew that there wasn't much I could do to actually make my hair look better, but that was okay. It didn't look terrible or anything. Just a bit messy. When I had done what I could do, I went to get shoes.
Shit. Shoes. I had forgotten to buy shoes. Sollux was coming to pick me up in ten minutes. I didn't have any time. So I simply pulled on a pair of black converse. I walked down the hallway and toward the front door so I could wait outside for my friend when a small voice stopped me.
"Karkat." My mother's voice was nearly a whisper. She was peering out of her room, looking me up and down. "You look very handsome."
I nodded in her direction, mumbling a small and timid sounding thanks. She hadn't spoken to me in a long time. Maybe years. She didn't seem like my mother anymore. She was simply just the woman who came downstairs occasionally to eat the dinners that I made, the woman who would look at me with a sad look when she saw my bruised face. Otherwise she was usually completely stoic.
I shook those thoughts from my head and opened the front door, turning to say one last thing to my mom before I left.
"You'll be safe tonight." I called, just before slamming the door behind me. I locked it and then went over to Sollux's car.
"Hey guys." The car door opened behind me. I was about to get out and go get Terezi from inside, but she had run to the car before I was able to. She was panting and breathing heavily, struggling to get her cane into the car. She took a long breath through her nose, and then pulled the cane through effortlessly. I turned to look at her but it was too dark to see what she was wearing.
"Are you ready, tz?" Sollux asked, pulling the car into drive.
"Yep!" She exclaimed, wrapping her arms around my headrest. "I'm sooooo excited! I can't wait!" On the way to the school, she continued to chatter about whatever, and I listened to every word. Sollux subtly rolled his eyes at me, and I stuck my tongue out at him.
The prom was held in the schools gymnasium every year because they couldn't afford to have it anywhere else. I knew that there would probably be some shitty decorations and some crappy music, but it was okay, because it was prom and everyone had to deal with shitty decorations and crappy music on their prom night. Sollux pulled into the parking lot and turned his car off, looking over at me.
I got out and opened the door for Terezi, who nearly youth rolled out. It was then when I got a clear look at her. She was wearing a knee length white dress that had a long red ribbon wrapped around it and tied in a giant bow in the back. The bottom of the dress flared out and acted a bit like a tutu because of all the layers of fabric beneath it. She wasn't wearing her red glasses, the ones she wore every day. Instead I was able to see her eyes, which had now covered with a smokey white clouded layer. Kanaya must have done her makeup because her eyelashes were long and dark, and she had dark eyeshadow on. The top part of her burgandy-red hair was pulled back into a giant white bow that sat on the back of her head comforably. She was wearing bright red converse.
Her whole outfit matched the red and white cane that she now carried. She had nothing accept that with her. As I assessed her, she looked at me with unseeing eyes, her brow furrowed.
"Karkat, are you wearing a tuxedo?" She asked, reaching for my arm. I quickly linked mine through hers. I could feel the heat rising to my cheeks as she felt the fabric of the suit on my arm.
"Yeah." I murmured, looking down at my feet. She faced me for a moment and then her face broke out into a massive grin.
"I knew that this day would come!" She motioned for Sollux to link arms with her too, so she was completely guided the entire way. He easily complied, smirking slightly to himself.
"Of course, madame." He chuckled.
"Sollux, you aren't lisping." She pointed out. "You know that Karkles is here too, right?"
"Yep."
"Oh, okay." Terezi seemed to be guiding us more. She practically pulled us through the doors to the gymnasium, and then imediately yanked us through the crowd. When we had reached a safe, empty corner, she unlinked with Sollux and tapped the side of his leg with her cane. "Where's your date, mister?"
"I don't need a date, silly. The ladies just come to me." He joked. She again, furrowed her brow as she did so often.
"You didn't ask anyone." She sighed and then hit him on the side of the leg again, this time a lot harder. He flinched and then bent down to assess his wounds.
"Ouch! You motherfucking bithch!" He lisped. Terezi grinned.
"Go find a lady, Sollux. I'll dance with you later." She promised and then turned back to me. "Come on, Karkles. Lets dance."
"Karkat?"
"Yeah?"
"Why did you ask me to go to prom with you?"
I sighed and then looked back up at her. We were dancing to some song, but we weren't really dancing, and we were also kind of standing on the edge of the crowd. "Because I like you." I decided to be honest with her.
"How?"
"What do you mean?"
"In what way do you like me?" She stepped on both of my feet so we were at eye level. It was a bit pointless.
"I like you more than a friend, Tez." I mumbled under my breath. "And I have for a really long time." She stepped off of my feet and I could feel the heat rising to my cheeks. I closed my eyes really tightly, waiting for her negative reaction. Instead, she placed her hands on either side of my face. Her icy cold hands burned against my blazing cheeks, red with embaressment. I reopened my eyes and she was looking directly at me, her blind eyes glaring into mine.
She stepped up onto my feet again and closed her eyes, leaning in toward me. She ended up missing and hit the very edge of my lips. It was close enough for me. I turned toward her and pressed my lips into hers. When she pulled away, she had a massive grin on her face.
This was the best night. Ever.
"Bye Sollux." I murmured, unbuckling my seatbelt. Terezi was sitting in the back again. She had been quiet for the entire ride, but she had a small smile on her lips, so I knew she was fine. I got out of the car and then opened the back door, sliding in next to her for a moment. I kissed her cheek delicately and then exited the car again.
"Bye." She whispered as I closed the door. I turned, a massive smile on my face and began walking toward my house. Then I realized.
Ivan's car was in the driveway.
Suddenly my heart started pounded. It was all too quiet. The houses lights were all off and everything looked perfectly fine. But it was too perfect. I slowly made my way toward the house, looking all around me as I walked. The door was unlocked. I swung it open, my heart pounding harder than ever. I felt naucious and angry at the same time. How DARE he interupt my perfect night?
The kitchen was clear of any signs of Ivan so I made my way toward the living room.
I nearly fainted.
My mother lay on the ground, blood gushing from a massive dent on her head. Her body looked mangled and destroyed. Her eyes were open, completely blank. She was dead. I ran to her side imediately, my knees growing weak. I sunk to the floor, next to her corpse, tears flowing freely down my face. I couldn't do anything except sit there, stunned, crying silently.
Suddenly a hand appeared around my neck, cutting off my air supply. I coughed and choked as Ivan's massive fingers pressed into my trachea. He lifted me and flung me across the room. I crashed into the fireplace and landed on my left arm, my head cracking into the marble. My head started spinning and I couldn't see correctly. Ivan was just a massive black shape, slowly aproaching me. I tried to push myself up off the floor, but my left arm was clearly snapped in half, and trying to move it only put me in agonizing pain.
"You thought you could just leave for the night?" He growled, lifting me by my good arm, and putting me on my feet. My vision started to spot and fade. "Wake the fuck up." Ivan shook me. "You were wrong. You always are. You're FUCKING LATE." That second, I decided to sink my teeth into his arm. I bit until I tasted blood. Ivan growled and let go of me. I flopped to the ground and then scurried to my feet, my arm stinging with pain. I ran toward the hall closet, the one that held all of our winter coats.
"Karkat, you have to hit the ball straight! That's it!" My father laughed, smiling. He took the metal baseball bat and demonstrated a swing. Then he handed it back to me. I dropped the bat onto the ground. I knew that it made my father happy, but I really didn't like baseball. I only played it with him because he wanted me to be like him and I wanted to be like him too. And it made him smile really big like when he saw mommy after he was on a long business trip.
"Daddy, I don't like to do sport." I said in my little 5 year old voice. I could feel my lip pout as I kicked at the bat on the ground…
I grabbed the old metal baseball bat from the closet and walked back over to Ivan, holding it with my right hand, ready to hit him with it. I swung as his back was turned and hit him in the side of the ribs. He coughed and spun around to look at me.
"YOU FUCKER!" He screamed, grabbing my wrist and tossing me into the table next to the couch. It collapsed on top of me. I looked up and saw one of my mothers most prised collectibles, a porceline vase, toppling over onto me. It crashed into my head, shards of it burying deep into my scalp. I could no longer form coherent thoughts. My head was spinning. More of my vision was blotching out. All I could feel was a searing pain in my head. But I wasn't about to give up.
"Karkat, you must promise me you'll never touch the sharp part, okay?" My father said, as he showed me the shining katana that he had purchased. My dad had a knack for finding pointless and valuble things on the internet and the katana was one of them.
"No! Don't let him touch it! Hes only 6! He'll get hurt." My mother said, shocked at my father's behavior.
"Calm down, Lydia. I'll put it up here. He wont be able to reach it." My dad smiled at me and then placed it on the mantel of the fireplace…
My fingers groped at the top of the fireplace as Ivan stared down at my mothers body. He had the filthiest smirk on his face, not the kind of face that most would wear when looking at a corpse. My vision teetered from making everything bright blue, to black. Finally I was able to grab the katana from the mantel, and I gripped it in my hand, pushing myself into a standing position. I was a little lopsided, but I felt confident holding my fathers sword in my hands.
"Hey." I rasped. Ivan turned, and then laughed.
"Boy, I thought you were unconcious. What do you think you're doing with that sword?" He asked, grinning. I unsheathed it, throwing the leather covering to the ground. I could tell that the wrist on my good arm was now sprained, from when Ivan had flung me. Even though searing pain spread through my arm as I raised the sword, I continued fighting for my life.
Ivan was much too cocky. He had now decided that I wouldn't be able to do anything, and had turned away. I took that opportunity to run at him with the blade. But before I could reach him, he grabbed my wrist, twisting it backwards. I screamed in pain as the sword turned toward me, slicing through my side. I kicked Ivan in the shin over and over until he finally let go of my hand. I hit him in the face with the but of the katana and he was stunned for a moment, a moment too long.
I stabbed the katana into his stomach.
He looked incredulously at me, his eyes watering with pain. Then he dropped to his knees, and fell to the ground. That was when I collapsed to the ground.
Somehow, I was able to get my cellphone out of my pocket and dial Sollux's number, a feat that I am still puzzled about today. I told him to call the police.
Then I blacked out.