A/N- Hi guys! ConfusingStateOfMind and I are once again back with the THIRD chapter of Halloween Thief! Hope you guys love it, and we're really happy with the surprisingly quick reaction to our stories. I just posted this story late night and then the next morning, I see that there are already 5 reviews and more than 9 story subscriptions, so we're both so happy about that, so thank you guys we really appreciate it! Okay, I have said too much. On to the story!
Kim's POV
Missing Black Belt: Day 1.
Before school, Jack and I went to the police department to meet the officers if there was any luck with Rudy's papers. I was a little worried about Rudy…
I can't imagine his life without karate. But at least we have a good two weeks, so that's plenty of time to find the douchebag who stole all of Rudy's things. And with Jack and me on the case, we'll surely be able to find it… hopefully.
As we entered in the police station, we saw that absent-minded police officer, from the other day, sitting in her desk, chatting on the phone. Jack and I walked over to her desk, and she looked us with slightly worried eyes. We saw Rudy come in as well with Tip-Tip in his hands. He gave us a relieved smile as he walked in.
"Okay… thank you, Mister … you have a good day…. Yep, I'll tell them… bye, bye now." She hung up and saw all three of us standing in front of her desk.
"Oh wonderful, you're all here, so I don't need to call you," she said lazily, snapping her gum in our face.
"Well, I guess we all had the same idea. Have you found the thug yet? "Rudy asked hopefully.
"Nope. Not a single clue," the officer said. "In fact, I got some bad news for y'all.
"Just what we need for today, more bad news." Jack mumbled angrily.
"I was on the phone with a lawyer, and apparently for your case we're going to have to cut-short the time limit for keeping your dojo."
"What? Why?" I asked quickly, in shock.
"Unfortunately, some of the documents that have been stolen are far too important to wait. This little thief of yours even stole your lease agreement for the space for the dojo. So, you only have until Saturday, October 31st. If we or you haven't found the thief, then we're forced to shut down your dojo.
It's out of my hands. Sorry folks."
We all gave each other worried looks. Rudy started bawling loudly again, tears streaming down his face. I tried comforting him, but I too was extremely frustrated and upset.
I noticed Jack's face hardened with a resolve. "Then Kim and I are just going to have to work a little harder to find the arrogant maniac," he said determinedly.
"Jack, we only have six days there's no chance we—"
"Yes there is," He interrupted. "Kim, if it's anything that Rudy or this dojo taught us, it's to never give up. I'm not going to let some self-absorbent, cocky, jerky freak come in and just make us hand our dojo over to him. It means much more to us than that, right?"
I could instantly understand what Jack was trying to say, and he was right.
"Exactly," I agreed. I turned to Rudy who was looking at us with respect, but worry. "Rudy, Jack and I aren't going to give up. We're going to find him, for all of us."
His eyes flickered with warmth. "Thanks, guys. It means a lot. Well, I'm going to go take Tip-Tip to the vet again. Since this morning, Tip-Tip couldn't even walk. The poor kitty keeps speaking to me on how it hurts."
I took it as a joke. "I get it Rudy, he's hurt. But you should really take him to the vet."
"No, I mean he was really talking to me. He told me that some guy came in last night and awoke him from his dream on becoming a cat surgeon."
Jack and I backed away from Rudy, dumb stricken. "Okay, we need to find that thief fast before Rudy completely loses it!" Jack said frantically.
"What do you think we should do, Tip-Tip?" Rudy asked his cat, holding out his ears.
"I think he just did!" I said and we both ran from the police department to school. We have to find who took Rudy's stuff and fast. Because, for one thing…
We only have five more days.
(Jack's POV)
As we ran into the school building, the hallways were deserted of any people. Our loud footsteps echoed down the hall. Great, just great...first we find out that we only have six days to find the man, and now we're going to get detention for being late? We don't even have a pass! I could feel the tension rising inside of me… I looked at Kim's face, and she seemed worried just to be lurking around in the hallway. Looks like someone takes school seriously.
"Jack, we need to get to class!" Kim said frantically, nudging me towards our first period. Before I could enter the classroom, I spotted… Arthur? He was starting to walk in the school building. What's he doing here?
"Wait, stop!" I hissed at Kim. "I see Arthur!"
"What?" Kim whispered, shocked. "What is he doing here?"
I pointed to a little nook underneath the stairs, well concealed. "Let's just hide, and see what he's doing." Kim and I ducked under the staircase, to see why our little "friend" was in Seaford High. He raised a fancy black cell phone to his ear and started to talk animatedly.
"Hey, it's me…" He said. "Yeah, no one's in the hallway…. How am I supposed to know what class he's in….? You don't need to shout, man….Okay, okay I'll find him; he's probably in the class with those weirdos….Yeah, our plan is going full proof, everything is working the way planned…with—"
I shifted to get a better view, but I accidentally jabbed Kim in the side with my elbow, forcing her out of our little hiding space.
Shoot.
Kim's eyebrows shot up and she struggled to cram back in our hiding space.
Arthur suddenly stopped talking. I shot Kim a look, which was pretty unreasonable. Kim returned it with an icy glare that was only softened by her worry.
"I'm going have to call you back… Yes, with the sugar smiley-faced cookies, please." He snapped his phone shut, and I could see him looking around suspiciously.
We scrambled out of the space and started to make a break for it, tearing down the hallway. Suddenly, Kim was jerked back sharply, Arthur's hands tightly around her waist.
She shrieked in disgust. "LET ME GO!" I immediately flew to her side and grabbed Arthur's shoulder.
"Let…her…go…" I said my voice deadly cold.
Arthur sneered at me. "If you say so." He pushed Kim out of his arms, causing her to careen to the left and slam into the railing of the stairway.
"OW!" she screamed, clutching her arm.
"What are you up to, Arthur?" I asked, my eyes narrowing in suspicion.
"What are you talking about? That was my dad!" he defended. "I'm transferring schools here, duh!" I could tell he was lying; just by the way he was using an overly casual voice.
Suddenly, he rushed forward, and I instinctively turned to my left, thinking he was going to hurt Kim. Something crashed into my side and I slammed into the wall. It took me a moment to register the fact that Arthur had hit ME.
I quickly got up and got a grip around Arthur's neck, pressing him against the wall. "Just admit it," I growled.
Kim tugged on my arm, trying to get me to let go. "Jack, stop!"
I ignored her. First, he hurts my girl (wait…what? Did I just say that? Scratch that!) And then he gives me an obviously fake, lame lie, and now he pushed ME?
"Yes, Mr. Anderson, stop right now." But it wasn't Kim's, or even Arthur's voice. I turned around, dropping my grip to see a formally dressed man, who was glaring at me through his glasses.
Principal Squires. Uh-oh.
"I… uh…" I stammered.
"My office, Jack," he said sternly. My stomach churned. Could this day get any worse? "You too, Miss Crawford." Kim shot me one of her famous "death glares."
Guess it just did. I could see Arthur, who was rubbing his neck, while keeping a smug look on his pudgy, little face. I wanted to punch him so hard. I forced myself to walk away, wondering why I was letting him go. I was sure he was planning something.
We reached his office and I slumped onto one of the hard, wooden chairs.
Someone engraved the words "Bad Kid" on the back. Kim sat down next to me, anxiously twisting her fingers.
"So, would you like to explain why you were clutching that kid's throat?" Principal Squires asked, taking a seat behind the desk. He whipped off his glasses and gave me a calculating stare, looking right into my eyes.
I can't just tell him that I thought he was a suspect of who stole our sensei's things. He's just going to expel me anyway, and possibly schedule me for an appointment with a physiatrist. The only option was get suspended from school.
"No sir," I mumbled.
"Anything, you would like to share Miss Crawford?" The principal's sharp eyes flew to Kim.
Kim looked at me. I knew she was going to kill me after we leave the building for good. She's probably going to say what I said. Prepare for deportation.
"Sir, it wasn't Jack's fault," Kim blurted. My eyebrows shot up. Was she actually defending me? Kim was talking faster than ever. "Arthur that kid you saw earlier… he was bullying me. Jack was only defending me. Please, you can't expel him. You should expel Arthur; because he pushed me into this railing- see the marks on my arms? And then he pushed Jack too, which got him really mad. Jack shouldn't get expelled he—"
"That's enough, Miss Crawford." Squires said, in a loud tone. Her rambling immediately stopped. I couldn't believe Kim was actually defending me on this. I mean, I would've done the same, but I didn't know she would. She so has a crush on me.
"Is this true, Mr. Anderson?" The principal said, looking at me now.
"Yes, it's all true, Mr. Squires." I said quickly, hoping my tone would convey the honesty. "But it was wrong of me to clutch his throat. I apologize."
"So are you going to expel him?" Kim asked worriedly.
"Well…"
"Please? I don't even think that kid even goes to our freaking school!" Kim retorted.
Principal Squires raised his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright. Jack, you will not be expelled." I breathed a sigh of relief. I looked at Kim and gave her a thankful smile, and surprisingly she smiled back. I thought she would shoot me one of her "You're so dead" face.
"However," The teacher continued. I groaned.
"Please don't say however," I whined.
"You will have detention all this week." He said sternly. My eyes widened. How will we ever have time to catch the thief, if we're just stuck in a classroom?
"Principal Squires, with all due respect, can I please do detention next week?" I pleaded. He said nothing. Instead, he shot me a horrifying look.
"I'll take that as a no," I mumbled.
"I guess I'll go with Jack too," Kim said.
"Alright, see you this evening. Go to class," he said. Kim and I both got up, and started walking out. When we closed the office door, I could feel Kim yank my ears.
"OW!" I yelled.
"You idiot!" She snapped. "Thanks to your 'heroic deeds' we're going to be wasting our time in freaking detention for the next five days!"
"Hey, it's your fault!" I retorted.
Her eyes widened. "Mine? How is it my fault we have detention? I wasn't the one clutching Arthur's throat!"
"Yeah, but I wouldn't have to clutch Arthur's throat, if he hadn't hurt you!
That's how much I care, okay?" I could feel my cheeks burning after I said that. I cared about Kim.
Her eyes softened. "Jack, I know you care, and I'm sorry I yelled at you for that. But, how are we going to find him?"
"Simple," I said grabbing my skateboard. "We… skateboard out of here,"
Part 2- Jerry's POV
Here's the only thing I have to say when I'm in first period…. What the….?
As I was sitting with my buddies Milton and Eddie, along with our new, but freaky ghostly buddy Marcus, I realized… where's Jack and Kim? I briefly wondered if the two ran off together to raise Alpacas. Haha.
I tapped Milton on the shoulder. "Yo Milton, have seen Jack and/or Kim?"
"Nope, now shut up, I am trying to take notes here!" Milton said, furiously taking down notes on a sheet of paper. Geek.
I tapped Eddie who was sitting behind me "Eddie, you seen Jack and/or Kim?"
"Nada," He said. I went over and tapped Marcus. Before I could even ask my different question, he already answered.
"I haven't the faintest idea of where Jack and Kim are. Sorry, mate." He said quickly. He was looking paler than usual today. I wonder why... is he really a ghost. I'm scared man….
"BRING!" The school bell ran shrilly.
"Alright kids, go to your free period." I heard the teacher- which class was I in again?
We all gathered our books, and I for one literally ran out of the classroom, because of Mrs. What's-Her-Name constantly rambling on. All we do is take notes-which everyone hates, although I have my doubts about Milton. Milton, Eddie and Marcus were right behind me, looking around the hallway.
"Okay, where are those lovebirds?" Milton asked me.
"Dude, I've been asking you that during class the whole time!" I complained. And Milton calls me the toad in the group.
"Beats me," Marcus blurted, just a little too quickly. We all backed away from him, still scarred from the ghost encounter before. "I'm going to go look for them all. Be back in a jiffy! Well, perhaps a longer jiffy. Bye-bye now!" Marcus ran away.
"I'm sure he's probably going on a date with his GHOST FRIEND!" Eddie said.
"Yes, thank you!" I agreed. Finally, someone who doesn't roll their eyes at me whenever I say something.
"There is something messed up in that British kid's head," Milton said suspiciously. "Something… bad."
"Eh… whatever," I said. "Maybe that whole ghost thing could have been a coincidence. You never know, man."
"Are you kidding?" Eddie said. "I was scared for life! Ugh, I'm going to get a candy bar. All this ghost talk is making me hungry." With that, Eddie ran to the cafeteria. I was looking around, and finally spotted Jack and Kim talking beside a locker. They seemed worried about something.
"Hey Jack!" I called. Jack and Kim stopped to see me and Milton running over.
"Where were you during first period?" Milton asked. "You missed our lesson on the Louisiana Purchase! It was so interesting!"
"Wait, we were learning about the Louisiana Purchase? I thought we were learning about grocery stores and how to buy things at the cash register!" I asked. "What's the Louisiana Purchase?"
Everybody rolled their eyes and face-palmed. "What did I do?" I asked innocently.
"We got detention," Kim said sadly.
I was shocked by this. "You two? Getting detention? That's the funniest thing I've ever heard!" I was cracking up. But apparently I was the only one laughing. Embarrassing.
"Wait, so you were serious?" I asked.
"Yes we were serious!" Jack snapped.
"But why would you two, of all people, get detention?" Milton asked. "You two are just like me, of course, but my record has never been tarnished. I'm a detention-free student, never even-"
"Milton!" Kim whisper-hissed. "Shut up!" As an after note, she added, "Please!"
"We saw….Arthur," Jack whispered. Milton and I gasped.
"Not him!" I cried.
"What did he do?" Milton asked.
"Well, we hid underneath the stairs-"Kim began, in a hushed tone. We were the only ones left in the hallway, fortunately.
"Next to the janitor's room? Isn't that convenient?" I replied. "I remember hiding in there from a teacher once. Good times."
"Jerry!" Milton cried. "Quiet!" Kim rolled her eyes.
"He was talking on the phone with someone. Then, a certain SOMEONE," Kim turned to Jack and gave him a pointed glare, "decided to shove me out."
"I'm sorry!" Jack exclaimed.
"Anyway, Arthur caught us, and grabbed me. Ugh, his hands were all over me." Kim shuddered, and I noticed Jack's eyes seemed to narrow. "Then Jack went all psycho-protective and almost beat Arthur up…"
"Kim, you're making me sound like the bad guy!" Jack said angrily. "You know he was the one that caused those marks on Kim's arms!" Jack gestured towards her; there was this huge red scrape near the shoulder.
"Kim, Jack was trying to be a good friend." Milton said.
"I know he was, but if he hadn't clutched Arthur's throat, we wouldn't be doing detention today. We were even about to get EXPELLED!" Kim said. "Luckily I stepped in, and defended him."
"Yes Kim, you are amazing," Jack said sarcastically, glaring at her. She rolled her eyes and stepped away from him. I almost felt bad for the two. They're supposed to in love, not fighting! I had to do something. "So what are you guys going to do?"
"Well, that was actually the good part!" Jack said. "I have a plan. But it's a little risky."
"Dude, I was born for risk!" I said, a perfect opportunity to help them. "I'm doing detention today, as usual. I'll bail you out. And me too! Then you both will make up, fall in love and in your wedding, you'll personally be thanking me, Jerry Ricardo Julio Vincenzo Henry Marti Martinez!" I said with great pride.
"Jerry, if you ever continue with our never-going-to happen-love story again, Mr. Long Name's going to be having a death certificate as well!" Kim said flashing on a fake smile. Yep, Kim's in love.
"Well I'm in Jerry!" Milton said. "Let's help Jack and Kim bail out!"
"Yeah but don't you think they're going to notice that you're not really supposed to get detention?" Kim asked.
"I don't see how they can yell at me for being in detention voluntarily."
Milton said. Yep, good point. "Besides, I'll volunteer to be a student aid. Ooh! That'll really impress the teachers, and then…"
"So what's your plan?" Jack asked, interrupting Milton's star-student rambling.
I asked the team to huddle up, to discuss the amazing plan that Jack and I combined. And this time, it was a smart one.
A/N- Okay, that's all for Chapter 3! Don't worry, Chapter 4's coming! Anyway, please review and tell me what you like about it. Love to hear from you guys! And if you're wondering where our other story is, on the way don't worry about it. Once it's here, I will surely let you all know. It's going to be on ConfusingStateOfMind's account, so it's not on mine, just to clear that up. Thank you all for reading our story, and hope you loved it!
PEACE. LOVE. HAPPINESS.
-Taylor and Alyss Mei (ConfusingStateOfMind)