-2-

I sat in class, bored as all hell. I glance over to the teacher as he does roll. He makes a face then stands.

"Harley? Is Jade Harley here today?" I glance to her desk and it was empty.

"No one's seen her or her parents since last week." A low voice said.

"Thank you, Mr. Vantas."

I glance behind me at the new student. He transferred here last week and hasn't said a word until today. He slouches back into his arms with his grey hood pulled tightly over his head.

Great, another freak in this school.

This school is where freaks derive from. And that might have been an understatement.

"Mr. Strider, I want you to take Mr. Vantas with you to the office while you take down the roll. He still needs to have help finding his way around this school."

I slowly stand. "Yes sir."

I go up and grab the roll and when I turn around, that kid was right behind me. I jolt.

Jesus, make some noise, will ya?

In the hall, he doesn't say anything.

"So, how do you know Jade? Are you her neighbor or something?"

"Your older brother is Dirk Strider, right?"

"Was." I say harshly. What gives him the right to just bring that up in a casual sense?!

"Oh, that's right. Your brother trusted the wrong person and that was a major fuck up. Along with the siblings of your little posy. They all fucked up big time."

I grab the collar of his hoody and I slam him into a locker. "What gives you the right to say things like this!?" I say through my clenched jaw.

"I'm only trying to help you, Strider."

"How? You're doing a shitty job at it, Vantas."

"Karkat. And how do you think I know that much about you? And about Jade?"

I release him. "You're a creepy stalker, or something."

"Or something." He smiles. "Jade is missing. She was kidnapped on Saturday by the same person who took your brother."

My shoulders and stomach dropped. Jade… is kidnapped…?

"We have to-!"

"Help won't be able to find her. There's not a single piece of evidence. I'm sort of like a private investigator to you humans."

"Humans? Ouch, that's a bit hard there buddy."

"Get used to it. I came here to get you and your friends out of here before anything else happened."

"Well you can forget it. I don't believe in any of this bullshit. If this is how you make friends, you're going to be a sad man."

I turn away. "The office is right down the hall and to the left." I shove the paper to his chest and I walk back to class. I thought about what he said.

Jade's kidnapped? Missing? By the same killer? That was crazy, but plausible. Instead of going to class, I went to John's class and knocked.

"Mr. Liken? May I borrow John Eggbert?"

"Sorry Dave, you just missed him. His, um, uncle? Came to pick him up."

I could feel something crawling up my throat. Now they have John… oh god, oh god.

"T-thank you sir…" I shut the door and I went to Rose's class. I knew she wasn't there because the teacher wasn't shouting for feet off the desks and for no anarchy symbols. Where the hell was everyone?!

"Karkat!?" I sprinted to the office. I saw him turnaround from the front desk. "Yes?"

"They're gone! R-Rose, John-!" he stepped forward.

"You look pale, sit down-"

"NO! I HAVE TO FIND TH-!" I suddenly felt the room spin and I felt my head smack on the tile.

"He's bleeding!"

"Get help!"

"Dave!? Dave, look at me!" my eyes were open but I couldn't see.

I blacked out once I heard the echoes of the sirens.