A/N: Hi… What's up? You want to read the story, then go ahead.
Disclaimer: I own Kim, not Cyberchase.
McKenzie
Daisyfan5534
Chapter 9
"So what do you think Kim's been up to lately?" Inez asked Matt and Jackie.
"Probably broke the law." Matt responded.
"Knock it off, Matt." Jackie said.
The three were at Control Central on their way to Kim's room.
"Well I'm excited to see the paper tomorrow." Matt said.
"Madison is really in for it now." Jackie said.
"Serves her right," Inez said. "Who was that girl, anyway?"
"Who?" Matt asked.
"The red head in Madi's clique." Inez said.
"I don't know, I've never seen her around town before. But I'm glad she did what she did." Jackie said.
"Wait, you don't think…" Matt turned to his friends.
After some thought on what Matt was thinking, they disagreed to the theory and continued down the halls of Control Central.
Meanwhile… In Kim's room…..
Cautious in the kitchen, Kim was doing her best to not get water on herself as she poured the pasta with boiling water into the drainer. Placing the pot back on the stove, Kim hopped up on the counter next to the sink, one leg dangling off the side before she strained the angle hair noodles a bit more. Kim heard the timer on the microwave beep, indicating that the spaghetti sauce was done. Kim got down from the counter to turn off the two burners on the stove. Then right on cue, the oven beeped before Kim grabbed two potholders and opened the oven door; she felt the hot air on her face as she opened it. The blonde pulled the warm bread out of the oven and placed it on the counter top. Turning off the oven, Kim heard a door open.
"Boy, something smells good."
"Thanks, Matt." Kim said as she grabbed a knife to cut the bread.
"Jeeze, Kim. Are you feeding an entire cybersite?" Jackie asked.
"No," Kim responded as she got four plates from the cupboard. "Just me and three friends."
"You made us dinner?" Inez asked.
"Well, I had extra ingredients." Kim said as she pulled out some forks. "And I had a feeling you'd guys would come into Cyberspace."
"Okay, but how would you know we'd be hungry?" Jackie asked.
"I took it as a trial-and-error," Kim said. "Plus Matt looks like he's about to drool."
Matt snapped out of his daze.
"So you guys want to eat?" Kim asked the three.
"Hey Kim, do you spy on Hacker?" Matt asked.
"Define spy." Kim responded as she twisted her fork in the pasta.
"I'm going to take that as a yes." Matt said.
"Okay, so what if I do?"
"See anything interesting?"
"I saw a dartboard."
"How is a- Oh."
On the dartboard was a picture of the Cybersquad, minus Kim. How Hacker even got a picture of them, she had no clue.
"So how did you even get your cameras on the Grim Wreaker?" Jackie asked.
"Now that my darlin' is a very good question." Kim said with an accent. "I just grabbed a hair cap, a cleana' boy suit, an' went right unda' green guy's chin. Used short n' fat an' tall n' skinny to get out 'cause The Wreaka' was too messy."
The four all laughed at Kim's response before she said "thank you" like Elvis would.
"That was one of the best things I've ever done." Kim said.
"That's the best thing I've ever heard." Matt said, the girls also agreed.
And so the night went on, the four eating and laughing at Kim's stories about Hacker's reactions every time he lost to them.
Three hours later…
"Look, I know it's crazy, but-"
"Kim!" Digit interrupted. "You're crazy for even thinking that."
"I'm crazy, Didge? You have no idea what my definition of crazy is." Kim said to the cyboid. They were now face to face with each other.
"Both of you stop it." Motherboard commanded. "Kim, I know you are concerned, but you must think about them."
"Concerned doesn't even begin to start on how I feel. I'm more than concerned for them; I'm terrified on what might happen to them." Kim said.
"They're the Cybersquad, Kim. What ever they're going through they can deal with it." Digit said. "Can't they?"
"Earth is completely different from Cyberspace, Didge. Here anything can happen, but not on Earth. I'm lucky enough to even be here!" Kim spat. She took in a deep breath to calm herself down. "Bulling isn't something to be taken as a joke."
"You don't think I know that, Kim?" Digit said. "Is that what they're going through?" he realized.
"Kim, I don't appreciate bulling as much as the next person, but it isn't a reason for them to come and join us in Cyberspace." Motherboard said.
"I know, but I'm still worried." Kim said.
"About what? You took care of it, right?"
"It's my sister, Didge. And if she's anything like me, then she won't stop." Kim said. "I don't want it to get to the point of no return."
"What do you mean by- Oh…" the cyboid said.
"I hate the thought of any of them actually thinking about it." Kim said. "I don't mean to get that image in your heads; I'm just trying to make a point. Please, I've thought of everything."
The next day…
"Finally," Kim exhaled. "Last one." The blonde picked up the small box from the hover cart and shelved it. Kim walked the floating cart out of storage room #5 and closed the door before taking the elevator down to the garage to return the cart.
Kim spent all morning cleaning out the three spare rooms in her large room.
"Kim," Motherboard came on the screen in the garage. "Have you finished?"
"I just finished cleaning everything out. I still need to set everything up." Kim replied. "Are you sure you're okay with this, Motherboard?"
"It's not my decision on whether they want to or not, but if they choose this way, I will accept and care for them just like I did to you." Motherboard explained.
"I think you already do Motherboard... Plus they have the option to go back anytime they want, unlike I do." Kim added.
"Unlike you do?" Motherboard said referring to Kim's little field trips.
"I have no one to go to other then to the people I've lied to, and I never want them to find out that I've been lying." Kim explained. "Besides, I like it better here anyway, and I guarantee that the same goes for the Cybersquad."
Two hours later...
Kim walked into the Control Room, she felt very tired. Motherboard was going over things with the Cybercouncil, so her screen was just black.
Digit who was checking the kryoxide tank noticed the pre-teen.
"Jeeze Kim, you look beat."
"Thanks Didge." She responded as she sat down on the floor next to Digit.
"So are the rooms ready?" Asked the cyboid.
"Yep, just finished. I also found extra chips the doc made." Kim said.
"Well that's good," Digit said. "Do you really think they will actually agree to this?"
"I think they will, but who knows." Kim responded.
"I guess; hey can you get your toolbox for me, I think I need to fix something." Digit asked.
"Yeah." Kim said as she got up and moved across the room.
She picked up the toolbox, before staring at it for a second. "That's perfect." She said.
"Huh?" Digit said to Kim.
Snapping back into reality, Kim answered, "Nothing." She handed Digit the toolbox.
Motherboard's face appeared on the big screen. Kim greeted her before asking how the meeting was.
"The meeting went very smoothly; I talked to the Cybercouncil about your proposal, Kim, and they are okay with it."
"That's good." Kim responded.
"Wait a minute, you had to talk to the Cybercouncil about them living here?" Digit said.
"Yeah, Motherboard and Dr. Marbles had to talk to the council about me living here." Kim said. "Plus they should know that there's going to be three more Earth kids running around Cyberspace."
"You know they already do, right?" Digit asked.
"True," Kim said. "I think they should be here any minute now."
And just like it would happen in a TV show when someone said that, a portal opened up and Matt, Jackie, and Inez jumped out.
"Are you physic?" Digit asked Kim.
"Maybe," She responded. "That, and I messaged them."
"So, why did you call us to Cyberspace?" Inez asked.
"Is Hacker up to his old tricks again?" Matt asked.
"No, this is more of a... Personal matter." Kim said.
"What do you mean by personal." Jackie asked.
"Well... You three have been acting weird lately." Kim said.
"Weird? What do you mean?" Matt asked.
"Well for starters, you've been limping, Matt," Kim said. "Jackie you've been upset, lately, and Inez you've been quiet. Anything you guys want to say?"
Guilt flushed across the trio's face. They were speechless for a while before they all at the same time said, "I'm being bullied." They looked at each other, not believing that they all admitted it at the same time.
Kim pretended to be shocked with a hint of embarrassment for bringing it up, though she already knew what was going on with them.
"Okay... Now changing the subject, we have something else to discuss." Digit said after a moment of silence.
"What do you mean? You already know what's going on with us." Inez said.
"It's not related to that, this is different." Kim said. "Motherboard, Digit, and I were talking and we wanted to know if you guys wanted to live with us?"
"What are you trying to say?" Jackie asked.
"Live here. In Cyberspace, I mean it's already like a second home to you guys anyway." Kim said.
"Where would we sleep?" Matt asked.
"I have three extra rooms connected to mine and one of them has a bathroom." Kim responded.
"What about the time-system- or whatever it's called?" Inez asked.
"Dr. Marbles made extra chips in case any more people from Earth managed to get into Cyberspace." Kim said.
"How would we pull it off? We can't just drop our faces off the edge of the Earth like you did."
"Well, you three could either stage a kidnapping or runaway." Kim said. "If it were me, I would choose the kid- ow!" Digit elbowed her in the knee. "Running away." She finished. "Look, if you guys pack a bag, leave a note, and come here, people will think you guys ran away. And you guys can go back when ever you like."
"Why can't we just tell our families" Matt asked.
"Hey, mom. Hey, dad. I'm going to move to a new universe that my friends and I discovered about three years ago. But don't worry, I'll be living with the leader of that world, along with a metal talking bird, and a girl who is mostly sane and originally came from our world." Kim role-played. "I think they'd keep you guys from each other; or worse, have the government on our tail."
"You make a good point." Matt responded.
"You guys don't have to if you don't want to, but if you do, we'll welcome you." Kim said.
Two days later...
"Hey, Kim." Matt said to the blonde girl at the kitchen table focusing on her game of solitaire. "What are you doing?"
"My therapist said to try and exercise my brain more by playing card games. You know to keep my mind off of my nightmares." Kim said.
"Red seven on black nine." He said.
Kim looked at him for a split second before seeing the available move.
"Thanks." She said as she moved the seven to flip turn over the card under it.
Jackie, who was getting water from the kitchen sink made her way over to the table. "How long have you been playing that game?"
"This is my fourth time playing." Kim responded. "I lost three times, and I am not losing a fourth.
Jackie looked at the game Kim was playing. "Black ten on red jack."
"Wait what?" Kim said. "How are you guys seeing this?" The blonde played the next move.
"Kim, I meant to ask you: did you give Inez the 'Cyberchase' books?" Matt asked.
"Yeah, I gave her the first five, why?" Kim said blankly as she made her next move.
"She's been on the couch for the past two hours reading them." Matt said. "I think she's in the middle of the third."
"Finished," Inez came around the corner from the living room area and made her way towards the table. "The third book. I decided to take a break." She said.
"Three books, two hours. You must really be into them." Kim said.
"Yeah, I guess you could- move the six to the other seven, then put it there." Inez said.
Kim, now getting frustrated at the card game, glared at the three kids. "You know what, how about you kids finish this game. I'm going to go check the mail." She said as she got up and left the room.
The Cybersquad moved in a couple days ago and so everything was fine so far, but then again it's only been two days. They've gone back to themselves and Kim was pleased.
She got to the landing bay where the mailbox was located. Opening the box, she pulled out three letters. The one on top in her hand was from the Cybercouncil. The next one was from Mallopolis. The third, unfortunately for Kim, was blank. He was back.
Shoving the letter in her back pocket, Kim walked back to her room. After entering she found Matt, Jackie, and Inez conversing over the card puzzle. She put the extra letters on her desk and picked up her SQWAK Pad to send a message to herself. After doing that, she went to check on the kids and their progress with the card game.
"So, how's your guy's progr-" They completed the game. "What ever, I was done with this game anyway." Kim said as she went to grab an apple from the kitchen.
The four heard Kim's SQWAK buzz and the blonde casually walked over to look at her blank message.
"Damn," she said. "I have to go." Kim walked to her bedroom door to grab her bag, which was hanging on the handle. She shoved her apple in her mouth to pack her SQWAK, her poetry journal, and the letter from her back pocket.
"What are you doing and where are you going?" Matt asked.
Kim took a bite out of her apple. "Just because you guys live with me, doesn't mean that you guys have to know what I'm always up to." She grabbed her keys and threw on her bag, before heading out the door. "See ya guys."
Kim took a deep breath in before looking at her bag in the seat across from her. She was parked under the arch on Cybersite Mobius, all alone. Something she shouldn't really be right now, but she had no choice.
Kim slowly opened her bag and pulled out the blank letter. She opened it cautiously in case it was a trap, but lucky for her it was just a slip of paper. A slip of paper with a phone number on it.
Kim practically ripped her SQWAK Pad out of her bag to send a message to this creep.
'What do you want from me?' she sent.
'That's demanding. What happened to a simple hello?' he sent back.
'Don't play games with me, I want to know what you want!'
'Sorry to break your heart, my dear, but that's all we've been doing.'
'Why are you following me?'
'Don't worry, sweetheart. You'll find out.'
'I am anything, but sweet when someone is trying to push me around.'
'Trying? I think you mean I am pushing you around.'
'Will you stop being an asshole for five seconds?'
'That depends. Will you stop being a bitch.'
'Just wait until I find you. Then you'll know the definition of the word bitch.'
'That's cute, Kim. But I don't think you'll be saying it for long.'
'I want to know who and where the hell you are'
'I can't answer the who, but I am above you.'
Kim heard a coop start up, but it wasn't hers. The sound came from above her.
"Oh, it's on now, asshole." Kim started up her coop and flew out from under the arch. She saw a purple and green cybercoop above her. The windows were tinted, so she couldn't see who was driving. "Let's see what this baby can do." She referred to her coop. Next thing she knew; Kim was chasing her stalker through Cyberspace.
The speed race of cat and mouse was going on for a while. The purple and green cybercoop she was chasing was doing his best to lose Kim, but she stayed hot on his trail.
She was completely focused on capturing him that she played right in his game. Kim was driving very fast, letting the adrenaline rush to her head. The mysterious coop dove downward, and Kim realized that she just trapped herself. The blonde slammed on the breaks, praying for it not to end badly. Thankfully, just the tip of the coop's nose touched the back wall of Ticktockia.
She slowly backed up from the wall, processing what almost happened.
Kim's SQWAK Pad vibrated and she picked it up.
'So does this make you the mouse or the stupid cat that gets defeated by the mouse?'
All hope that was inside of Kim was gone just like that. Her life as she knew it was ending. The guy who was following her, used her own tricks against her, almost getting her killed.
Kim always had hope for a miracle, because she lived in a world where anything can happen. But all beauty has its dark sides, and that is where she was: the dark side.
She needed a plan, and a good one at that. If she did have one, Kim would probably be dead before it could actually take action. Leading her back to no hope.
Glaring at her bag once again, she traded the SQWAK for her journal and a pen. After turning to an empty page, Kim started writing. She knew she had to do this at one point, but she hoped the day would never come. It's a shame that her hope left.
Walking slowly down the halls of Control Central to try and keep time from slipping away was Kim. She didn't know what left was there was to do.
Kim walked into her room to hear laughing. The rest of her team was sitting at the table with a bunch of board games on it. Currently, they were playing Sorry.
"Hey, Kim," Matt said taking notice of her. "Wanna play?"
A smile came across her face. "Yeah. I'll play." She tossed her bag by her desk before walking over. "I call blue."
"Yes! One, two, three, I win." Kim said.
The four kids were playing Sorry for the past hour. Mainly, because Kim's been winning for the past three rounds.
"How is it possible for you to win three times in a row?" Jackie asked.
"Because she cheats." Matt accused.
"I don't see how someone can cheat at this game." Kim said grabbing the cards to reshuffle them.
"Wait a minute, you've been shuffling every time." Inez realized.
"Do you want to do it?" Kim said holding the deck out to her.
The nine-year-old took the cards out of her hand.
"So, did you get anything in the mail?" Jackie asked.
Kim's heart skipped a beat. Did she know about the letter she got? Kim played off her nerves. "I got two letters," she lied. "But I didn't get a chance to look at them." Kim said as she got up.
The blonde picked up the letters from her desk and brought them back over. After sitting down in her chair, Kim opened the first letter from the Cybercouncil.
"It's a card from the Cybercouncil." Kim told the others.
"What's it say?" Matt asked as he started to reset the pieces.
"Dear Matt, Jackie, and Inez,
"Thank you for fighting for the peace of Cyberspace. You are greatly appreciated by all of us for what you've done. Also, welcome to living in Cyberspace, if it was difficult for you we apologize. Lastly, congratulations on finally getting Kim as a new member for your team. We know that you four and Digit will keep protecting Cyberspace."
Signed by the Cybercouncil." Kim finished. "They all signed it." Kim passed it to Jackie so she could look at it.
"That's so sweet of them." She said before passing it to Matt.
"Finally getting Kim as a new member? The must of really wanted you to join us." Matt said.
"Yes, the entire Cybercouncil, plus Digit, the doc, Motherboard, Coop, Slider, Shari, Jules, Creech-"
"Okay, we get it." Matt said. Before handing it to Inez.
"So what have you been doing before you joined us." Inez asked.
"I've been watching out for you guys. You know, in case something very, very bad happens." Kim said.
"What do you mean?" Inez asked.
"I make a lot of deals with Digit; a few of them were about you guys. One of them was: if you guys saw me, I'd join the team. Another was: if Hacker managed to put any of you three in a situation that you can't save each other, then I would be your guy's backup." Kim confessed.
"You'd do that for us?" Jackie asked.
"Yeah," Kim said. "Occasionally, I would be in plain sight from you guys."
"That's a lie!" Matt accused.
"I was mostly in audiences like the Skate off or Glowla's show. If not, then I'd either be following you to help you guys or sabotaging Hacker." Kim said. "Other than deals with a cyboid, I created a website."
"On what?" Inez asked.
"Guess." Kim responded.
Matt paused for a second, "You created a website about us?"
"Yes, I created one about Cybersquad." Kim corrected. "Since fans couldn't see you guys because you three didn't live here, I made one so they could go crazy with it. I advise not to go on that site. There is some stuff on there that I can't forget."
"We'll trust you on that." Jackie said. "So where's the second letter from?"
"It's from- Oh..." Kim faded. She knew what it was about. She opened the letter and pulled out a folded piece of paper.
"Never heard of that Cybersite before." Matt said.
"It's from Mallopolis." Kim said. "Apparently, a lot of people know that you kids are now living here. Including fans. The Site manager is asking us four and Digit to meet fans, sign autographs, all that stuff."
"How many fans are we talking about?" Inez asked.
"If I gave you guys a number, you wouldn't believe me." Kim said. "But we need a picture of the five of us to make copies so we can sign them later."
"When do we have to do this?" Jackie asked.
"Saturday." Kim said.
"Can we talk about this later, I want to see if you're a cheater." Matt said to Kim.
"Alright, but if I win then I'm not a cheater." Kim said.
Later that evening...
Kim replayed her evening with Matt, Jackie, and Inez. She won the game yet again; Matt still thought she was cheating, but he couldn't really prove it. Overall, the four had a fun time together.
Among replaying images in her head, one of them was what happened before she came home to play games with her friends. That memory was the only thing playing over and over again.
So there she was, laying on her back on her bed, staring at the ceiling. She was stuck in the continuous thought loop as she tried to think of a plan to escape from her possible fate; she was too tired to stretch her rubber band, so she was quietly listening to the radio because everyone else was asleep. She was quietly singing along.
"Every memory of looking out the back door,
I have a photo album spread out on my bedroom floor,
It's hard to say it, time to say it,
Goodbye, goodbye,
Every memory of walking out the front door,
I found the photo of a friend that I was looking for,
It's hard to say it, time to say it,
Goodbye, goodbye,
Remember the old arcade?
Blew every dollar that we ever made
The cops hated us hanging out
They said somebody went and burned it down
We used to listen to the radio
And sing along with every song we know
We said someday we'd find out how it feels
To sing more than just the steering wheel"*
She couldn't sing the rest of the song, because she felt dead at the next part, like someone was talking about her.
She lost faith in everything; she lost faith in hope. Her mind was everywhere trying to find a solution to her problems. Unfortunately she had no luck; she was losing that too. There's nothing she could do about what's happening or what's going to happen to her.
She grabbed a pillow and shoved it over her face in case she needed to scream. Kim slowly slid it down her face to look back at the ceiling. Looking to her bedside table, she picked up a photo from it.
It was the photo the five of them took for the signing on Saturday. She was going to miss them. How was it that no matter what happens to them, they always find hope?
Kim felt something spark in the back of her mind. She sat up, still staring at the photo. The spark became a light. A light for her to escape.
The blonde smiled as got up and put the photo back on the table, before grabbing her bag from the door handle and ripping it open. She pulled her journal out and turned to the page she wrote in earlier. Kim ripped it out, crumpled it into a ball, and randomly throwing it somewhere in her room. Turning to a new page, she grabbed a pen and started revising and rewriting what was now a ball of paper.
After she finished writing, Kim folded it and quietly walked out of her room, shutting the door behind her. She walked to her desk and pulled out an envelope and put the folded paper inside. Shutting the envelope, she turned it over to write on the front as she tried to get the adhesive taste off her tongue. Once that was done she made her way to the Control room to hide it. Specifically, in her toolbox.
After walking back to her room, Kim grabbed her laptop and opened a new document before she started typing.
Her plan was highly unlikely to work, but it was the only plan she had.
After logging off her laptop, she put under her bed; right next to her photo album, which she pulled out. The photo album in her hand wasn't the one that Annie gave her; Dr. Marbles gave it to her a couple weeks after she came into Cyberspace when she was six.
Turning to the next empty spot, Kim took the photo of her and her team and put it in. After doing so, she put the album in her bag and walked back to her bed
Kim flopped down onto it with a faint smile on her face. She had hope; not a lot but still it was hope. A small chance of success against her follower. She was tired, so she turned to her radio to turn it off before falling asleep.
"So, Kim wants you to go to Solaria?" Coop asked his son.
"I don't know why, she just said, 'Come to Solaria.'" Slider said.
The father and son were flying through Cybersace. Coop was going to drop Slider off with Kim, before going to see Dr. Marbles.
"Any luck with finding a cure?" Slider asked.
"Not yet," Coop said. "I think the doc was on to something last time I saw him."
"Do you think it will work?" Slider asked him.
"I don't know, we had a lot of hit-and-misses lately." Coop said.
They arrived to Solaria. Slider could see Kim stretching her rubber band, waiting for him.
"Before you go, Slider," Coop spoke. His son turned to him as he pulled out a small device and gave it to Slider.
"What is this?" Slider asked taking the device.
"Dr. Marbles wanted me to test it out. It will track you as long as you have this."
"Okay," Slider put it in his pocket Bye dad." Slider opened the door and got out, making his way over to Kim.
"Hey!" Kim said with a smile on her face.
"Hey…" Her smile made him suspicious.
"Here," Kim reached into her bag and pulled out a camera and handed it to him. "Take it."
"Okay…" Slider said.
"Now hold out your hand." Kim said.
Slider did as told. "Kim, what is the point of- Whoa!"
Kim cut him off bye grabbing his wrist and running into the Solaria forest. He could hear a high-pitched chuckle escape from her mouth. After they were deep into the forest, Kim stopped running and turned to her best friend.
"Can you please tell me why you just kidnapped me?" Slider asked her.
Kim stared at him like he knew the answer.
"Come on, Kim. What the hell are we doing?" Slider asked.
"Fine, since you can't figure it out. We are going hunting for the Solarian Shadow Beast." Kim said.
"Are you kidding? I'm not going through with this, Kim." Slider said. "Oh."
This was payback for taking her to therapy. Kim's smile grew bigger when he got it.
"I'm still not going through with this. And neither are you." Slider put her in a headlock.
"Come on, Slider! Let me go!" Kim complained as she struggled.
"Not until we get back to the beach." He said doing his best to get Kim to walk in front of him.
"Did I mention that if we get photo proof, then we get 10,000 snelfus?" Kim said.
Slider stopped and let Kim go.
"That much for some little picture?" Slider said.
"Yes, so you coming." Kim said, taking a few steps forward.
"I still don't get how after six years we're still best friends." Slider said.
"Same here." Kim said.
"If we don't find anything, I blame you." Slider said to Kim
"Don't worry, I'll blame myself too." She said.
"Why couldn't you bring Matt, Jackie, Inez, and Digit into this?" Slider asked.
"Digit is working on Motherboard and Matt, Jackie, and Inez are in Penguia with Fluff. Besides this is what you get for sending me to therapy." Kim said.
"You ended up going to therapy." Slider said.
"So you should be enjoying this." Kim said.
Silence came between them.
"Maybe we should split up." Slider suggested.
"Says the guys who didn't want to do this." Kim teased. "Got your SQWAK?"
"Yeah."
"Great, call if you find anything!" Kim said before running off.
15 minutes later…..
Slider was wandering through the palm trees and vines; he still couldn't believe Kim got him into this. He heard his SQWAK vibrate, he already knew who was calling.
"Kim did you-"
"Slider…" she exhaled.
The image on his screen made his stomach cave in. He could partially see her face, but the part that he could see, was a blindfold over her eyes. The tone of her voice made it seem like was very scared.
"Kim where are you?" Slider asked.
"I- I don't- know…" she said, with each pause she'd breathe
Even with the dumbest question he could ask a blindfolded girl, Kim didn't insult him with it. She was weak and terrified. If anyone could do that to her, they were a major threat to Kim.
"Kim, I need something helpful. Do you feel anything, hear-"
"Waves." She exhaled. "Cliff… I'm- on a cliff." She quickly said.
"You sure?" Slider asked. He didn't want to get sent to the wrong place.
"Uh-huh." Her voice was getting weaker every time she spoke. She couldn't speak more than a few words before taking a break to breathe.
"Kim, don't worry, I'll come get you!"
"Slider…"
"What?"
"Hurry!"
He hung up and started running back the way he came. He had to find her before it could get to the worst. Slider was looking for the shoreline; if he finds it, it could lead him to Kim. He thought if he followed the way she went, he could guarantee the cliff would be on that side of the island.
He stopped running at a camera on the ground. It was identical to the one Kim gave him. Picking it up, he scrolled through the film, hoping to find a photo of who took her, but came up blank.
"Damn it!" he threw the camera back on the ground. He was out of ideas. "Kim, where are you?"
He started walking again, trying to find a cliff. All stopped when he heard a scream. He sprinted to the source, praying for it not to be true.
Eventually he came to a cliff. Kim was right. Kim!
He came to the edge of the cliff, "Kim!" Slider shouted for his friend.
After no response, he ran down from the cliff and to the rocky shore under it.
"Kim!" he yelled again.
Again, he got no response. Slider was having trouble processing this. He glared down and saw a blindfold drifting in the water. Slider looked away, feeling sick. After moving his head he saw Kim's SQWAK pad in the water. Obviously, it wasn't going to work so he left it there.
He looked around to see if he could find her, but something blinded him. Jerking his head to the source he stared at what he saw in the tide pool.
"No."
He reached in the water and pulled out Kim's locket, something she'd never take off.
With that in his hand, he looked back to the ocean, hoping Kim's head would come up out of the water.
"Come on, Kim. Please." He said to him self.
A/N: Next Chapter
*-Photograph by Nickelback.