𝗜𝗧𝗖𝗛 ✔

𝟎𝟕. 𝐀 𝐒𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐊 𝐎𝐅 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖𝐋𝐄𝐃𝐆𝐄

It was now the weekend.

Lucas had been missing for four days now.

No one knows what happened. Word spread fast across Roseboro, and a lot of the younger students were scared. The professors would group together during lunch or even during class periods, and just talk, in hushed, muted voices.

But it didn't take them to tell the students for the students to know what they're talking about. News articles had sprung up all over time. A lot of similar kidnappings had been happening across Yannavin, where both Cara and Lucas had been from. It was also the town where the first kidnapping had happened.

Right now, having just woke up, Cara was sitting in her room, mind racing. Charmaine was still snoring from across the room.

Groaning blearily, Cara took out her phone and checked the time.

9:12.

She went into her messages app and pulled up Aiden's contact.

cara 🥺
meet me in the starbucks in the town at 9:45. can we talk?

To her surprise, Aiden responded right away.

aiden 😈
yes. i will be there

Cara got out of bed and choked down her daily Benedryl.

She rushed over to the wardrobe to pick out an outfit. Since today was a weekend, she didn't have to resort to wearing the school uniform.

Cara got dressed in an oversized toffee-colored turtleneck sweater and mom jeans, tucking the hem of the sweater into her jeans so that the black belt she had chosen to wear could be seen.

After strapping on her watch and glancing at the time - 9:24 - she slipped on a pair of sneakers and exited the room.

The town wasn't that far away, so Cara decided to walk there instead of wasting the cash she had on a taxi.

Cara entered the Starbucks and ordered a strawberry refresher and a breakfast burrito. Then, she sat down at a booth, waiting for her friend to arrive.

Cara bit her lip, looking down at the table and tapping her feet on the ground every few seconds. It seemed she was antsy.

I need to get information on this. And quick.

9:45, to Cara, couldn't come any slower. She checked her watch.

9:44.

Come on, Aiden.

As if on cue, a man wearing a black long-sleeved shirt and jeans walks through the door.

Cara cocked her head to the side at the flash of golden that went by her. It was still weird not seeing him the school uniform, even if they had spent a bunch of weekends together.

Aiden nodded at her before going to order.

A few moments later, he was sitting across from Cara, holding a cup of steaming coffee.

"Why did you want to meet here?" he said straightaway.

"I need information," Cara said, clearing her throat after awhile of not using it.

"Lucas?" he asked, his face fixed upon Cara's.

"Yes. I can't just sit here and wait for him to show up again. Because he's not."

Cara fidgeted with her sleeve.

She had been thinking about this the entire night, and being completely honest with herself, she was scared. Scared of where Lucas had gone, scared for all the families who got eczema just randomly. Scared for the people in the kidnappings. Cara didn't want to get involved. She just wanted to deny it and go about her life. But she knew what it's like to suffer from something you couldn't control.

And that was why she had decided that she couldn't just sit here. She could deny it all she wanted to, but both her heart and her brain knew that she had to do something. She had to at least try.

"I understand," said Aiden. "What are you going to do?"

This is why Cara liked Aiden so much. He was willing to hear her out before dismissing her.

"Look."

Cara opened her phone to the multiple Amber Alerts that she had gotten, and then to the news, and then slid her phone across the table.

"This so-called 'Itch Gang' has kidnapped these innocent children and teenagers. What for? The reason behind it still remains unknown..."

Then, a more recent article.

"The leader of the so-called 'Itch Gang', an unknown screamed, 'Revenge! Hylord James! Hylord James!' while standing on the streets of Yannavin. What does this mean? We're not sure. He's been called 'mad' by many..."

"Who's Hylord James? And what does the Itch Gang have to do with him?" said Aiden, furrowing his brow in confusion as he scrolls through the articles.

"These kidnappers only recently unmasked themselves publicly as the Itch Gang. And now this leader guy is saying he needs revenge on Hylord." Cara explained.

"Wait, do you know who this Hylord guy is?" asked Aiden, studying her face with stone eyes.

Cara took a deep breath.

Aiden is my best friend. I need to trust him.

"I know him. He's my biological father."