Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.

The old alarm clock ticked away like a time bomb as Zane laid wide awake. Despite how quickly he fell into a deep slumber, he woke up in a cold sweat at the witching hour. He usually didn't mind being awake at 3 am, but tonight he much rather be left alone, dreamless until he could forget what had happened the night before; however, in his dreams he could not escape the roaring fire and his father's voice.

Turning onto his side, Zane let out a sigh. Where in Ninjago could his father be? Is he even alive? If he was, Zane knew he would be home or at least get in contact with someone in the house and explain the short call between him and Zane. The words from call and the promise began to travel around Zane's brain, inserting itself into every thought. One thought stood out in particular.

"If I'm gone... find this journal."

The journal.

What if Dr. Julien was gone? Was it time to hunt down the journal? Where in Ninjago would it be?

Zane shook his head and screamed silently into his hands. He couldn't be gone. It wasn't time. It's just a coincidence that Zane made that promise around the same time that his father disappeared...

Zane sat up with the urge to return to the scene of the fire and hunt down the journal, but his mind told him not yet. Dr. Julien wasn't confirmed to be gone. It wasn't time. His mind recited "it's just a coincidence" over and over again.

"It's just a coincidence."

"It's just a coincidence.."

"It's just a coincidence..."

Sighing, Zane ran his hands through his blonde bed hair. Looking at his covered arms, he stared right at the icy blue fabric of the costume he was too exhausted to take off. So he was no longer just lying in bed with a tied up mind, Zane snuck to his dresser and silently slipped out of the costume and settled into a cozy white pajama shirt and black sweatpants. Taking a look around, Zane continued to wonder about the journal. He knew that it wasn't in his room; it was most likely with Dr. Julien or was in the laboratory.

Sitting back down on his bed, Zane's eyes went straight toward his phone. Swiftly grabbing it, Zane was met with a notification-less screen. Unlocking it, his finger hovered over the phone app. Was it even worth it to try?

Deciding against it, Zane moved away from the phone app and went to Instagram. Immediately, he was drowned in pictures from the party and the aftermath; fellow classmates he followed posted pictures of their costumes and them with their friends, and he would once in awhile see a post from Kai posting random pictures from the setup, during the party, and him and his sister cleaning. As he scrolled through the never ending posts, he found what he wanted to avoid, but he couldn't look away. Recordings and pictures of the fire were burned into his feed, and there was no escape. Zane couldn't escape to his dreams nor to the digital world, but one last option.

He went to his inbox and saw both Cole and Jay were actually awake. Jay would always stay up way too late to play video games and Cole would always get too involved with whatever activity he chose to do that night, whether it be painting, playing video games, studying, or even scrolling through his feed.

Going into the group chat between just the three of them, Zane began to type away. He was ready to spill everything that was wrong, but immediately deleted the entire message; instead, he asked, "Hey, can't sleep. What are you two up to?"

With no wait time, Cole responded with a picture of a painting in progress.

"Listening to music and painting. How are u doing Frosty? Have u heard anything else from dad?"

"Unfortunately not..."

Jay then joined the conversation and said, "oof nothing at all? ig he was at the lab?"

"Yes, I believe so. I could be incorrect though since I have not seen him at all for the past week. All I heard from him was his message during the party."

"Big oof but what was his message?"

Before Zane could type a single thing, Cole answered "He said "I love you son"."

"Ooo mysterious~" Before Cole could criticize his message, Jay quickly deleted it and sent, "Oof, I'm sorry. Hopefully Dr J comes back and explain himself. I gtg before I say smtg stupid. Bye~". He then went offline.

Zane was about to do the same, but a message in the private chat between him and Cole had a notification.

"Soooo sorry about Motormouth. His brian turns off after midnight. But if you want to talk to someone, Im here. Text, vc, or we can meet up irl and walk. Watever you want."

"*brain *I'm *whatever lol I suck at typing"

For the first time since he had gotten home, Zane felt his lips form a slight smile.

"Okay. I guess we can meet up and walk. Some fresh air may help clear my head. We can meet up at the school."

"Coolio, sounds like a plan Frosty. I'll pick up some breakfast on the way, and maybe a Frosty from Wendy's just for u :)"

Zane rolled his eyes and let out a sigh of defeat. Even if he did say that Cole didn't have to do that, he would still do it. All Zane could say was "Fine, but I don't think they're open. I'll see you in a bit."

With swift movements, he unplugged his phone and grabbed the nearest hoodie. He didn't feel like he had the time to change out of his pajamas; he did look like he was about to go out for a jog, so his outfit would be fine. After grabbing his shoes, he carried them with him, along with a sticky note with a random reason he wouldn't be home when everyone else woke up, as he snuck out of his room. Once he dropped off the note in the kitchen, he snuck out the front door, threw on his shoes, and began his journey down to the school.

AN: Shoot, I haven't touched this in so freaking long. Sorry about that to those who are actually interested, I didn't have the motivation by the time I finished ch 3 to continue onto ch 4. So I'm going to update this story and then my Secret Vigilante (I really need to think of a new title lol) story. Thank you to those who left reviews since they are a reason for why I have come back to update this story. Tysm. Hopefully you enjoy this chapter. The story will definitely get better and get going after this chapter. Enough rambling, hopefully next week I have the next chapter done.