AUTHOR'S NOTE: Really small note today. Even when dried and cleaned off, blood glows under UV light. Enjoy and review!-Manic-Catastrophe

"… and so after he locked me in the trunk for a long time, he carved my chest up and cauterized it. I went unconscious for awhile and when I woke up, I decided to call the ambulance. The rest, you know what happened." Karkat finished his abbreviated life story, shaking somewhat from the horrific memories. He glanced up, looking for the first time at his audience. A woman in a lab coat stood on the left with her mouth hanging open and tears running down her face. A tall man standing next to her was resting his forehead in his palm, fingers massaging his temples.

"That… that's just… unbelievable!" the woman finally choked out, "How could you even live like that?"

"Well," Karkat replied slowly, "when it's the only life you've ever known and you've been told you deserve it, you don't really… fight it. You just let it happen."

"But didn't you see other people and want their life?" the man inquired.

"I did, once. I asked my dad about it and he told me that I deserved nothing but hell for-" he trailed to a halt, tears leaking out of his eyes again.

"For your mother dying in childbirth?" the woman finished gently.

"Y-yes. He told me I killed her. I asked that in first grade, and after he screamed at me for a few hours, he began his favorite activity."

"And that would be…?"

"He called it 'carving'."

The two looked at each other incredulously. The woman tried to say something, but was too choked up. So, the man asked instead, "Carving? He called it that? What kind of sadistic monster would even do such a thing like that? Let alone to a young child?"

Karkat was done talking, as he was being confronted with memories of his bones snapping, his flesh being carved and burned, and the absolute darkness of the car's trunk. His heart rate monitor started to go haywire.

"Oh, nice going Caliborn, you gave him a panic attack!" She turned out the door and called for a nurse to bring a sedative.

The nurse arrived within seconds and the woman injected a small amount into Karkat's thigh, "Just enough to calm him down. He'll sleep for an hour or so." The gathering of medical staff vacated the room, leaving Karkat alone with his memories once more.

Karkat awoke as suddenly as he had fallen asleep. His room was empty except for a chair and a nightstand next to his bed. He could have sworn he saw a shadowed figure slip away out of the corner of his eye, but he was completely alone in his small room. He felt… good actually. How long has it been since I felt like this? No pain, nothing. I know I'm still injured, but the morphine must be working well. My body feels so… light. He was engrossed in his lack of pain that he didn't notice the door open.

"Karkat!" Kanaya's voice snapped him out of his reverie. "What…what happened?"

Karkat sighed, "I don't really feel like telling you the whole story. I don't really want to… y'know, dredge up those… particular memories. Ask the nurse if you need."

"Dr. Meenah already told me what your injuries were, but refused to tell me anything about how you got them."

"Well, alright, but don't ask too many questions. This isn't exactly easy to talk about."

"Alright, I understand. Now, will you tell me what happened to you?"

"Okay. When I woke up in the hospital before, after being sedated, my dad was there." He paused for a moment, and Kanaya nodded, "He undid the restraints and took me to his car."

"But how? You certainly didn't come willingly…"

"Pulled me. By my hair." Kanaya flinched, knowing how badly that hurts. "He locked me in his trunk as we drove home, but when we got there, he left me in it. It was dark and hot. I don't know how long I was in there, but I was found on the day I got out."

"They got to you early morning of the 20th, and your dad abducted you out of the hospital on the 16th. You were in there for four days?!"

"I didn't know it was that long, but I guess so. I survived by wringing the sweat out of my hospital gown. Anyways, when he dragged me out and back up to our apartment, he threw me in the bathroom, telling me to take a shower. I spent a long time in there, as the water was… well, water. When I got out, I managed to get a pair of jeans on before guess-who-shows-up?

"He was not happy. Actually, he was pretty pissed. He broke my nose first, and…" he trailed off, swallowing hard, "he stabbed me through the forearms to the ground, and carved what felt like a whole novel into my chest. After that-" He choked up again, tears leaking out of his eyes freely, "After that he took a metal disk and a lighter and… well… you can imagine." He looked up at Kanaya. She too was weeping, her heart aching from hearing her friend's ordeal.

"I went unconscious for some time. While I was unconscious, I… had a dream. And you were in it."

"Really?" Kanaya was fascinated.

"Yeah, it was weird. I'd had another dream in the same place, only you were dancing."

"I had a dream like that too."

"Interesting. Well, in this dream you convinced me that I had to get help or I would die. I woke up and somehow managed to get to the phone in the kitchen. I called the ambulance, but my dad heard and actually lost it. He knocked me to the floor and snapped both of my arms." He shuddered, looking pale under his bandages, but Kanaya took his hand. He got himself back under control and continued. "After that, he flipped me over and made a ton of deep cuts along my back.

"The EMT got there before anything else happened. Dad charged them and got tazed. Then, you know the rest."

Kanaya looked at him with a new look in her eyes. Karkat had no idea what it meant, but Kanaya's words explained it, "That was possibly the most horrible ordeal anyone can go through. How did you even stay sane?"

"I don't know. I'm not sure that I actually am. I woke up and thought I saw a shadowy figure go back into the bathroom, but there was nothing."

"That's terrible."

"I guess so. Look, could you maybe get me some water? My throat is really dry."

"Sure, I'll go do that." She got up and left the room. Karkat closed his eyes and waited for her to get back. The door opened and he cracked his eyes again. "Here you go." Kanaya held the water in front of his mouth, evidently making the same realization that he had. He couldn't carry anything. He parted his lips as the glass began to tip slowly, letting the cool water cascade down his throat. Karkat drank like, well, like someone that hasn't had water go in the natural way for days.

When the whole glass, was gone, Kanaya reached over and set it on the table. "Thank you, Kanaya."

"You're welcome Karkat."

"By the way, what day is today?"

"Today is the 23rd. You were asleep for three days after they found you."

"Oh, God. Three days?"

"Yes. Don't worry, you haven't missed much at school."

"School? That's the least of my worries right now!" He gave a light laugh, the first Kanaya had ever heard from him. After a moment's thought, she joined in with him.

(The following occurred a few hours after Karkat being taken to the hospital)

Police chief Pyrope walked through the shattered doorway of #69, third floor. She was the first officer to set foot in the apartment. After hearing what had happened, she insisted to head the investigation. After all, crime was not very prevalent in this city. She took a look around the shabby apartment, not impressed. Then, she saw the blood in the kitchen. Oh, shit! That's a lot of blood. "Hey, Megido, get me a UV light."

The officer returned shortly with the designated tool, "Here chief. I don't know what you'll find- oh holy SHIT!"

Chief Pyrope turned on the light and the walls began to glow. "This is… horrifying. So much blood…" She walked through the rooms, the UV light her faithful guide. Some of the walls were less splashed than others, but all throughout the area the walls had been soaked with blood. The pair made their way to what they assumed to be Karkat's room and stopped dead in their tracks. There was a puddle of blood on the floor five feet in diameter.

Also, from the ceiling fan hung a short rope. From that rope hung a tall man dressed in dark clothing. As the corpse slowly rotated, Sergeant Megido gasped in horror as the duo saw that two long knives were driven through its eye sockets.

Chief Pyrope snorted, and then spat on the corpse. "Serves him right. What he did to that poor kid… it's unthinkable. I just wish he was alive so the prisoners could have a go at him. Child abusers don't do well in prison."