Chapter 02: Disappearance- April 28, 2440

"Thank you for today, I had fun. If it weren't for you, mom and dad, I would still be in my bed." Katherine tells Jase, then laughs, "Probably binge-watching anime or doing homework." 

Getting closer to Katherine's studio, Jase replies, "You don't have to say thank you Kat. And invite me next time when you do, you know I love anime."

"And have you spoil everything? I'm okay", Katherine counters.

"What?! I don't spoil anything for you. I only give you a heads up before something big happens", Jase replies sarcastically. 

Katherine laughs, "Right. That's not spoiling at all."

They make it to the front of her studio and Kat unlocks the door. She pulls her hair behind her ear and tells Jase, "Thank you, again. Now go before you miss the next ride. Call me when you get to my parents house, okay?"

Jase gives Kat a bearhug and replies, "I will. Sleep well. I'll see you tomorrow."

He releases Kat and gives her a peck on the forehead, making Kat blush. After a final verbal goodbye, he turns away to leave. He steps into the elevator and presses RT. Before he steps out of the elevator, he powers off all the rooftop cameras then makes his way to Kat's parents house.

He arrives in front of their house 5 minutes later, and grows excited to tell them about the day he and Katherine had. They always love hearing about their daughter living a normal life, and Jase  loves to talk about Kat. He has known her his entire life, but he has never grown tired of her. It seems like each day that rolls by, his affection for her grows.

Knowing they are home because of their car in the front, Jase opens the wide wooden door. To his surprise, he finds the house nearly empty. All the photos are gone, the closets are all empty, some of the furniture remains but they are all flipped over or destroyed. "'What is going on?", he thinks.

He walks around the house, looking for someone or a clue, at the least. After circling the house a couple of times, he notices a pile of ashes in the fireplace and an unburnt note on top of it. "Please. Keep Katherine safe", it reads.

Jase plops down onto the ground in defeat. With his head hung down, he reads the note again. He fearfully wonders, "How long until they find out about her?"

Soon after, he catches sight of a half torn picture in the ashes. He grabs it and recognizes it immediately. It is an old picture of Kat laughing in the drivers seat of their old trailer. The trailer they used to live and travel the world in before they moved to Newport Beach.

"They probably knew they were coming and destroyed everything of Kat's beforehand. Considering how powerful they are, they possibly bought us a year, at most", muttering to himself aloud.

He sits in his thoughts for a while then digs his phone out of his pocket to dial Katherine's number. She answers, "Hey, you there already?"

Met with silence Katherine utters, "Hello? Jase? Did I just get butt dialed?"

Jase whispers nervously, "Umm, no. I'm here."

"What's wrong? Are you okay? Did something happen?"

Ripping off the band-aid, Jase announces, "I'm at your parents house right now, but they aren't here. Your parents and almost everything in the house are gone."

A long pause fills the nearly empty house, and Jase suddenly feels unsafe in the place the people he cares for most, used to call home.

"What? What do you mean gone? We were with them this morning", Kat stutters.

"They vanished, Kat. I can't explain it but..."

In her kitchen, Katherine drops her phone and falls onto the ground. She knows Jase wouldn't joke about something like this, but she just can't wrap her mind around what he said. Vanished? How can they just vanish? Forgetting Jase is still on the line, she curls up into a ball and weeps. 

Next chapter is present time. A year after this event.

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