Mrs. Tabootie stood near the stove. On the skillet, she was cooking some eggs and bacon. The smell filled the kitchen, making her feel hungry just by the scent. She looked over and she saw her husband sitting in the chair, waiting patiently for his meal.
She turned her head towards the clock. It was 8:00 AM. Rudy and Penny both had to be in school soon. She wondered where they could be. She hadn't heard a peep out of them all morning. Rudy was usually up right about now, at least on schooldays like today. She almost considered the thought of school being cancelled due to weather, but that was unlikely. There was no frost on the ground. Weather was a bit too warm for that. And she didn't hear anything on the news about school closings.
Then there was the thought that maybe he was just oversleeping. He did that a few times in the past. And last night, he had been studying with Penny. All that work wore out the mind, and she'd understand if he overslept because of that. If that were the case, she could just go and wake them up after she was done with breakfast.
"Rudy must have really hit the hay last night." Mr. Tabootie said as he waited for breakfast.
Mrs. Tabootie nodded in agreement. "I'm sure he'll be down soon. I'm going to let him and Penny sleep a few minutes longer."
"You better wake them up soon or they'll be late for school." Mr. Tabootie pointed out. "The sooner, the better."
Mrs. Tabootie knew her husband was right. Rudy and Penny didn't have a lot of time left to get ready. If she hurried, they'd have enough time to at least shower and get cleaned up. She turned her head towards the stairs. She still hadn't heard anything from the bedroom. Rudy must have been more tired than she thought.
She turned to her husband. "Watch the eggs and bacon, will you? I'm going to go wake them up."
"Sure thing, dear." Mr. Tabootie took position by the stove. Once in a while, he'd push the scrambled eggs or a piece of bacon with the spatula.
Mrs. Tabootie went towards the stairs. But then she paused and noticed something she hadn't before. She turned her head towards the door. It seemed fine at first, but then she noticed something out of place about it. She moved towards it slowly, her eyes locked on the door handle.
When she got close enough, she realized the door hadn't been shut all the way. Her eyes widened at this revelation. Unless her husband went out and forgot to grab something...something was wrong. She was certain that she had shut the door all the way, and even locked it like the mayor said. She moved back into the kitchen, staring at her husband intently.
"What is it?" Mr. Tabootie frowned slightly in concern, noticing his wife's distress.
"Did you...please tell me you went outside this morning..." Mrs. Tabootie begged, her voice very shakey. She hoped it wasn't true...no it couldn't be true...
Mr. Tabootie stared at her. His own eyes were widening like saucers. "N-No..."
It felt like a bomb went off inside the woman. Her body shook violently. She shook her head slowly, not wanting to believe it. She looked up the stairs. She waited there for a few seconds, hoping, praying, that Rudy was going to come down the steps any minute. When a minute passed, she started to get desperate.
"Rudy! Come down!" She called out. Her breathing started to quicken when she got no response from her son. "Penny! You there?!" Same thing, no reply. Her heart started to race.
She thought she heard her husband call to her in worry. She ignored him. Her mind was focused towards where Rudy's room was. Why wasn't he coming out? Wouldn't he have heard her? Why was the door open? Horrible thoughts swam through her mind. There was only one explanation she could think of...and it was one she hoped wasn't true.
She raced up the stairs as fast as she could. She went over to where Rudy's room was. She didn't bother knocking on the door. She pushed the door open, not being closed all the way to begin with, and went into the room. Her eyes widened in horror at what she saw. She looked around the room, her breathing becoming very fast. She put a hand on her chest and backed away, her body trembling.
She let out a scream.
"No!"
sss
Mr. Wilter sat down in his chair, glancing up at the clock. He looked over at his classroom. He had just done role call and both Rudy and Penny were absent. That was strange because he hadn't gotten a call from their parents saying they were going to be gone. He guessed they were just running late. He would give them an extra few minutes, but if they didn't show up, he'd have to start the test without them.
He pulled open the drawer and pulled out the test papers he had made copies of. He sat them on his desk. Although the classroom remained largely quiet, he could make out the groans of students not looking forward to the test. He did wish that they'd be a little more enthusiastic about this. He was preparing them for a better life outside of school. They could at least be more appreciative.
Oh well, if they don't want to use his education, that was their faults. At least he can say he tried with them. He was glad that at least a few students appreciated his efforts, like Rudy and Penny. After he told them the truth, they trusted him even more and were more willing to talk to him. Rudy had shown some improvement in his grades, and he felt happy for the boy.
When Rudy and Penny still didn't show up after five minutes, he began wonder if something was up. Why hadn't their parents called the school to let them know they were going to be absent? Any other time they were sick, he would have gotten a call from their parents, where the situation was explained and he could set aside homework for Rudy and Penny to complete when they got back.
He couldn't keep stalling like this. Though the students didn't mind not having to do the test, he couldn't do a whole class with him doing nothing but sit around. He got up from his seat, grabbed the pile of papers, and went down each aisle.
"You all have one hour to get this test done. When you are finished, place your paper on my desk."
Once Mr. Wilter was done handing out the papers, the door opened up behind him. He turned around and saw that it was the principal.
"Do you need something, sir?" Mr. Wilter asked.
The principal nodded his head. "Come with me to the office. There's someone who wants to speak to you on the phone."
Mr. Wilter wondered if it was Rudy's parents or Penny's mother. He looked back at the class. He waved a hand and said, "Get started everyone! I will be back later!"
Mr. Wilter followed the principal down the halls. They headed towards the principa's office. He went in and moved towards the desk where one of the secretaries was waiting for him. She waved her hand at him to come forward. She didn't say anything as she handed him the phone.
He stared at the phone for a few seconds. He began to get a feeling of dread. Somehow..he could sense that something was wrong, and he hadn't even began chatting yet.
"H-Hello..?" He asked hesitantly.
On the other line, he heard a shrill voice coming from Mrs. Tabootie. She sounded horrified and very worried. He had never heard her sound this upset before. It made him that much more worried that something was terribly wrong.
When she asked him, no...pleaded with him, that Rudy and Penny left for school early, Mr. Wilter sucked in a breath. "I'm...sorry...He hasn't been here. He's..not sick at home?"
Mrs. Tabootie freaked out immediately and he heard her start to cry. She mentioned something like 'it's true' over and over again, and 'I didn't imagine it'. He had no idea what she was talking about, but in her state, he wasn't sure if he was going to get more out of her.
Luckily, it seemed Mr. Tabootie read his mind. He took the phone from his wife and he explained to Mr. Wilter what they had found. When the man finished explaining, Mr. Wilter's eyes widened in horror.
"What?!" He cried in disbelief.
Rudy and Penny were...missing...? The thought alone was enough to upset Mr. Wilter, but the fact that they had disappeared under the same circumstances as the five other people from Plainsville... He couldn't believe it. Rudy and Penny never did anything to deserve this.
His thoughts went to Draow. He remembered how Rudy told him, a short time ago, how an intruder had freed Draow. He wondered if they could be involved in this. It made sense. Draow would want revenge on all of them for what they did to Mr. Cosmo. He wouldn't put it past Draow to grab Rudy and Penny in the night and make off with them. Though how he managed to do that without being caught was beyond him. And it made Draow even more terrifying.
He thanked Mr. Tabootie for his help and hung up the phone. He walked back towards his classroom, his thoughts filling his head. He had to find a way to let Snap know about what happened. He had no access to the real world on his own, so he would be left in the dark on what happened, exactly, to Rudy and Penny. Somehow, he had to find a way to tell him.
He wouldn't be able to tell him during class. The students would wonder what he was writing and why he would erase it so fast. He would need to find another time to do it. And unfortunately, there was only one other time of the day he could contact Snap.
And that was a couple hours after school.
sss
Snap paced around underneath where Rudy's bedroom portal would be. He occassionally would stop and look up. He began to wonder what was keeping Rudy and Penny. They said they would be here, and if they were going to be late, they could have found a way to contact him. With Mr. Wilter on their side now, it wasn't much of a stretch to ask him.
"Come on...where are they...?" He grumbled to himself. "They should have been here two hours ago!"
He had been waiting by the portal for a couple of hours, just in case they came in early. When they hadn't arrived in that time frame, he wasn't too concerned. It was expected. And when they still didn't show up around 3:00 PM like Rudy said, again he wasn't too worried. Rudy and Penny weren't always punctual. Things get in the way that can slow them down.
But as the first hour passed, Snap did start getting a little worried. Those two had never been this late before. Well okay there was the time that they were going to play chinese chalkers and they were an hour late. But that was the only time he recalled them being very late.
Since they were late one time before like this, Snap tried to relax. Maybe something happened on their way home and they weren't able to contact him. So he paced around some more, glancing up to see if Rudy or Penny opened up a portal yet. He guessed that they might have had to stay after school for something, or maybe their parents dragged them somewhere and Rudy didn't have his portable chalkboard handy.
Rudy usually had his portal chalkboard with him, but he understood that the boy couldn't always bring the chalkboard with him. So it wouldn't surprise him if Rudy couldn't contact him for that reason. As soon as Rudy came into ChalkZone, he knew that he would explain to Snap why they were running late. This is what happened any time where Rudy and Penny were a little late getting into ChalkZone.
But then the second hour game. By now, Snap was getting very worried. They had never been this late before. An hour, yes. But two hours, and no word from them? He had a sickening feeling welling up in his stomach. He tried to push it away. He didn't want to jump to any conclusions. After all, they might just still be stuck somewhere, unable to contact him until later on.
Still, the feeling wouldn't go away completely. Something was nagging at Snap, telling him something had gone wrong. He didn't know what it could be. He stopped pacing and glanced back up. Still no sign of Rudy or Penny. He let out a sigh.
"Where are those two?" Snap asked to himself. He sat down on the ground, crossing his legs. He again glanced upwards, his expression shifting to a worried one. "I thought Rudy said he was going to be here at 3:00 PM. It's 5:00 now I'm sure..."
Snap began to wonder if there had been a terrible accident. He flinched at the thought of this. If something like that happened, he definitely wouldn't find out until much later, unless Mr. Wilter somehow gets him the message. He shuddered as he imagined his two friends crossing the street, only to get struck by a car. He shivered harder, picturing them being taken to the emergency room, their bodies battered and bruised.
He soon calmed himself down. No, it couldn't be that serious. Mr. Wilter would have definitely contacted him, somehow, if that were the case. If something as serious as a car accident happened to Rudy and Penny, Mr. Wilter wouldn't hesitate to get a message out to him.
So whatever was going on couldn't be too serious. Snap felt his heart rate slow down to normal as he told himself this. He glanced up at the portal again. He wondered why they hadn't showed up yet. If it wasn't an accident of any kind, what else could have slowed them down? Parents, perhaps... He wouldn't be surprised if Rudy and Penny's parents wanted to do something with them. Bonding and all. It happened from time to time.
As another half hour passed, and still no sign of Rudy or Penny, Snap got up off the ground. He was getting a little hungry. Perhaps he should go grab something to eat. He quickly wrote a note for Rudy and Penny when they came, letting them know where he was going to be if they came when he was still gone.
He hadn't eaten any lunch yet. He had planned to when Rudy and Penny came. He was saving his appetite. But since they hadn't come yet, he would have to settle for dinner. Missing a meal wouldn't kill anyone. He began to walk towards the direction of town. There was a great restaurant he loved going to from time to time. He had wanted to take Rudy and Penny there. Even though they can't eat chalk food or drink chalk water, he thought they might enjoy the music they play there.
On the way towards the restaurant, he almost had a run-in with Blocky. He had been running down the streets, waving his arms to get Snap's attention. Snap managed to stop himself from colliding with the block zoner and took a step back.
"Snap! Come with me!" Blocky called to him.
Snap stared at Blocky for a second. His tone of voice sounded urgent. He thought about what might have upset Blocky. Maybe he was being chased by that large chocolate bunny mother again, trying to forcefeed him some chocolate milk. Blocky did get sick from drinking too much chocolate milk one time, so he wouldn't down he'd sound desperate if she had come back for him again.
Snap took a step towards Blocky. He reached out with a hand and gestured for the zoner to calm down. "Hey, easy there. What's all the rush about?"
Blocky immediately grabbed Snap with one of his small hands and started to drag him with. "Come with me now!"
Snap's heels pushed against the ground as he tried to stop Blocky from pulling him. He didn't look it, but Blocky can be strong when he wants to be. And Snap found himself helpless to stop him. He had no choice but to relax and follow him willingly.
Blocky pulled on him pretty hard, yanking him forward a few times. He swiftly quickened his pace, forcing Snap to start running unless he wanted to get scraped over the concrete. He looked out ahead to see where the zoner was taking him. The area looked a little familiar, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it just yet. Blocky continued to pull in that direction, out of the city and into a lush part of ChalkZone.
When Blocky finally released him, Snap put his hands on his knees, bending over and breathing hard. He hadn't run that fast for that long for a while. He wiped his head, feeling sweat dripping down from his face. As he was getting his breath back, he took a look around where they were.
At first, he did not recognize this area. Yet something about it seemed familiar to him. As time passed, and he thought long and hard about this place, he suddenly remembered what it was.
He remembered the time that Rudy and Penny first discovered night zone, where zoners go to sleep. They had been trying to get to the school. He had tried to show he was capable of locating the right chalkboard, but only ended up taking them to...well anywhere but the school, so Penny had to step in.
She had managed to find a chalkboard that when into the school, but it was apparently the gym. A bit of a miscalculation, but it was still the school. And if Snap recalled correctly, this had been the spot where Penny told Rudy to draw a portal. Even though it had been a bit of the wrong place, the girl's skills at finding the right portal improved greatly and they almost never ran into an issue like that before.
He had to wonder, though. Why would Blocky drag him here? His only thought was that Rudy and Penny were going to send him a message. But why here? Why with the gym's chalkboard? Why not back where the classroom portal would have been? If he recalled what Penny said correctly, it wasn't that far from here. Maybe he should go there and...
"Mr. Wilter wanted to give you a message." Blocky said, cutting Snap from his thoughts. He picked up a note and gave it to Snap. "I'm sorry I didn't show you when I arrived. But I had to get you here, and fast."
Snap looked at the note. It was indeed from Mr. Wilter. It just told him to meet him here at a certain time, and to prepare for an important message. Mr. Wilter must have wrote the message a while ago, maybe an hour, but because of the other teachers, he didn't have time to write a full on message.
Snap waited anxiously for the rest of the message. Mr. Wilter might be telling him what happened to Rudy and Penny. Maybe he was going to tell them that they were just busy with something, whether it be with homework or parents, and just couldn't come with. But there was a worried side of him that Mr. Wilter was going to bring him bad news. He tried to fight off the feeling of dread as he waited for the teacher to erase the whole message.
Nothing happened to Rudy and Penny. They were just fine. He kept telling himself that. They were all right and they just weren't able to come on time. Everything was going to be okay. They would eventually arrive in ChalkZone and they could continue their investigation of this hybrid zoner.
But as he waited for Mr. Wilter, he began to get more and more worried for the two teenagers. He began to imagine the worst possible, horrific things happening to them. His body shivered for a second before he managed to force himself to stop. No, he couldn't jump to conclusions. He couldn't allow himself to think the worst when he didn't even know what happened.
And yet, them being so late...
No, he couldn't think like that. He shook his head, getting those thoughts out of his mind. Mr. Wilter would explain everything. He would put his mind at ease and tell them that Rudy and Penny decided to stay after school and just hadn't been able to contact him. Yeah, that was it. That's all that was going on.
He kept telling himself that over and over again.
Then the moment came. He saw the faint, brief glow, indicating that something was about to materialize into ChalkZone. Out came another message, like the one Blocky gave him, only this one was larger. It floated down towards him. Snap reached up, trying to grab it. After a couple of failed tries, he managed to snatch it before it got away.
Snap grabbed the two ends of the paper and stretched it out. At first, he couldn't read it. Then he realized he was holding it on its side. He flipped it around quickly, and stared at what was written on the piece of paper.
It read:
"Snap,
Rudy and Penny have gone missing. Penny had stayed the night over at Rudy's. Mr. and Mrs. Tabootie found them gone the next day. Others before them have vanished. No trace to be found. It might be linked to Draow. Search around ChalkZone for clues. I suspect that is where they have been taken.
Best of luck, Wilter"
Snap's mind went numb. His body started to shake. He stared at the message, rubbing his eyes and doublechecking, hoping that it was just some sick joke. But the message never changed. He clenched his teeth as he fought back tears.
No...no this couldn't be happening, no... He crumbled up the piece of paper and threw it into the ground. Blocky looked at him sympathetically. He went over and placed a hand on Snap's back.
"We will find them." Blocky said, trying his best to reassure Snap.
Snap nodded his head rigidly. "Yeah...I know..." He fell silent after that.