~Karkat Vantas

You are now Karkat Vantas. You are sitting in bed with John asleep on your chest. You are really worried about him. He has had two nightmares in two nights and he still refuses to tell you what they are about. You have a sneaking suspicion that it has something to do with man who called John at the hotel that he, also, refused to tell you about.

You roll your head to the side to look at John's clock. It is 9:30 in the morning. You two really slept in. At least you don't have work today. You roll your head back to look down at John, curled up peacefully on your chest. You decide to let him sleep a little longer. He had a rough night.

You are just about to attempt another hour of sleep when John's phone rings. You would have tried to get it without waking up John, but it's too late as the first ring that woke you up also woke up John. His eyes shoot open and he instinctively jerks away from the noise. That causes John to fall off the end of the bed. You start to get the phone, curious because this is not his usual ringtone (but it is strangely familiar), but John shoots up from the ground and intercepts you.

"WAIT! Don't get it! I got it!" He says darting around to snatch up his phone. You expect him to answer, but he just turns his phone off. What?!

"JOHN, WHO WAS THAT?"

"It was no one. Don't worry about it Karkat." So he says, but he has a look on your face that tells you he is worried.

"NO! THAT'S ENOUGH! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THE FUCKING SECRETS! I KNOW IT'S ALL FUCKING CONNECTED! YOU'RE GOING TO TELL ME ABOUT THE FUCKING NIGHTMARES, PHONE CALLS, AND ALL THAT FUCKING SHIT RIGHT FUCKING NOW!" You say finally fed up with all the shit.

He looks at you eyes wide as you pant trying to regain your breath after your rant. For a minute you're afraid he's going to bolt. Instead he heaves a sigh and motions for you to follow him as he walks out. You follow him out of the room and into the kitchen, where he makes some coffee hands you a cup and sits down. You sit down with him and look at him waiting.

"It's a long story so get comfortable." He says after a minute. Not taking your eyes off him you lean back in the chair, take a sip of your coffee, and motion for him to continue.

"I use to live in a small town. My parents were away a lot and usually left me in the care of my older sister Jane. I was the hot nerd in school. The one who always got picked on as well as hit on, and sometimes hit when I rejected people."

"I was used to being used, hit on, or hit and picked on. One day I was backed into a corner and having the shit beat out of me. When suddenly there were noises of pain and the guy hitting me got yanked off. I had, had my eyes shut, not wanting to see their fists and feet flying towards me, but I slowly opened them then."

"I saw a guy and he was beating the shit out of the guys picking on me. I recognized him as the new guy. He was hot and a senior, I was a junior then. After a few minutes the bullies decided the wanted to keep their bodies from being rearranged so they fled."

"He turned toward me and I shrunk back not knowing what to expect. He walked toward me and I shut my eyes expecting to be hit. Instead, I felt his arms go around me. He was comforting me. I looked up at him. After that we hung around a bit. He was the only person I've ever met who didn't use me or try to hook up with me because he wanted my body."

"Eventually I found out that he liked me, but I said yes because he liked me for who I was. We went out, hung out all the time, and were in, what I thought was, the perfect relationship. We were happy for over 8 months."

"Than he started to change. He became really possessive and shit. He didn't want me looking or talking to anybody. I told him he needed to stop and he hit me. After that he became steadily more abusive."

"Dave and I had been best friends in elementary school, but drifted apart in middle school. He was the only one I knew I could go to. One day after a particularly vicious beating I ran to his house."

"He lived close and I had gone there many times in elementary school. I ran up and rang on his doorbell. He opened the door and just stood there looking at me in shock. I was standing there bleeding and crying, with cuts and bruises everywhere."

"He invited me in and asked what had happened. I told him everything and just like that he was my best friend again. He had cleaned up my cuts while I told my story and afterward had just held me while I cried."

"I told him not to go to the police because He was clever and would surely find a way out. He agreed, but did everything in his power to protect me. It worked for a couple weeks, but then it just happened."

"I went home and he was there waiting for me. He said he was mad and that I had made a mistake. He said he was the only one who loved me, and that he would prove it. He beat me, strangled me, almost drowned me at one point. Then he started trying to rape me."

"He didn't get so far as to put his dick in me. Dave had been worried when I didn't answer his calls or texts so he came over, and saw what was happening in the window. He immediately called the police. They came and He went to jail. Dave stuck with me and slowly I got over the panic and terror. I still had nightmares, but Jane or Dave were always there to calm me down."

"A few months later I got a call. He had somehow talked his way out of jail. He had a restraining order to stay away from me, and a parole officer to keep him in check. He left me alone for years."

"He would sometimes call after a couple years, but never this much. I was never worried. Dave has never left me. We went to college together, were roommates. That's where I met Rose and Jade. They always took care of me. I love them."

"He has never come back, but now I fear he is. He told me one time he would come back for me. He is calling me a lot now. This has triggered the nightmares again. Most of them are flashbacks, some are of him coming back for me."

You sit there taking all this in. You are about to ask, but John beats you to it.

"His name is, Jake English."