"In some place was a dream."

"Of course, the day right after my car breaks down a snow storm hits. Just my fucking luck." It was already midnight and even though I left Haven Bell Community College an hour earlier than I usually did, it was still taking me close to two and a half hours just to walk home. I couldn't exactly run the four miles home either, the wind was far too fierce to try and I was already losing feeling in my legs. Running against the wind would just exhaust me. I knew I should have ask my mother to pick me up today. Why didn't I? Oh, that's right, Gerald was an asshole and right before I could ask he came barging in the front door drunk out of his mind screaming orders, that he was the head of the household, respecting him was crucial!

I hung my head down a bit more to allow Jack Frost to beat against the hood of my hoodie instead of my face. I hated leaving Ike alone all the time during the week, especially since our 'father' could come rampaging through the house and Ike and my mother would be completely defenseless. As my father's succession as a lawyer increased, so did his drinking. The only time he didn't have a bottle in his hands was when he was in the courtroom. Although he is stupid enough to spend thousands on, as he liked to call it, 'exclusive' bottles of alcohol he'd never put his job in jeopardy.

My only options; get a full time job somewhere and drop out of high school to get Ike and my mother away from my father by supporting them by myself or I could stay in school. If I dropped out and tried to support my mother and Ike, he would just move Ike and her away. Even if my mother left Gerald, he would get custody of Ike because of his reputation with the courts and all of the money he makes. If I stayed in school and sucked it up I'd get a full ride throughout college, get my degree as an accountant, it'd be easy for me to get a good job, and by the time I get the job Ike will be 18 and I'll just take care of him alone.

I let out a loud sigh as I passed by South Park public school. The wind had picked up, pushing falling snow directly onto every inch of exposed skin. I wouldn't be surprised if I had a minor case of frostbite. Today just wasn't my day and the snowstorm wasn't helping in the slightest. Suddenly, a whimper echoed throughout the air followed by a thud. I stopped where I was, debating whether or not the sound was my imagination or not. Just as I was about to rule in favor of my imagination, an indescribable noise echoed softly through the storm. I glanced the the South Park Community Center that I now stood in front of. There was no doubt in my mind the sound came from behind the building. My heart sped up as the idea of investigating came to my mind. In a town like South Park it was rare to see people on this side of town past nine o'clock, let alone midnight…

Curiosity bit at me and I found myself slowly creeping along the wall of the stone building. I hadn't even made it to the end of the wall before another indescribable sound echoed once again, practically making me jump out of my shoes. From what I could infer, it sounded like someone was hitting something that soft, but thick with a big blunt object. I could feel my heartbeat against my ribcage, the snowstorm was the last thing on my mind. What the hell was going on?

I approached the corner and ever so slowly I glanced behind it. Instantly, my stomach dropped and I couldn't believe what I was seeing. It wasn't long before the smell of the scene attacked my nose. Silver and rust. Nausea quickly became and acquaintance as I continued to look at the scene laid out before me. A small lantern sitting on a tree stump highlighted a man, rather tall and with quite a build. He stood with his back to me, a black hoodie drooped around him, with a large sledgehammer at his side. Laying in front of him was some kind of furry animal, what was once a dog or wolf, but now a pile of pounded meat, blood, and fur. Parts of the animal were still intact such as its legs and bottom, but its head and torso were just a pile of gore now.

I could feel everything I had eaten starting to resurface in my stomach. What the hell was going on? What the fuck is wrong with this guy?! My heart and breathing were starting to race, fear was overtaking the shock. This is bad, I need to go before I am seen. Without even realizing it the wind had died down and the snow crunched under my foot as I stepped back. . The man instantly turned around and spotted me. I had to run. I began sprinting in the direction of home, adrenaline began to kick in as I sprinted, but the guy was fast. I could hear the man's footsteps pounding close behind me. At any second he could grab me and I could end up like that dog; it was as if I could feel his warm breath on my neck. As my heart and legs raced, I couldn't focus on anything besides m inevitable death. . I knew little to no combat skills so if he were to get ahold of me, all I could do is scream, but no one would hear me and I'm sure he would quickly cover moth or snap my neck. I reached the houses of neighborhood and began hopping over the fences as if they were hurdles. Only three more houses before my own. Thank God all of the fences were the same in South Park. Finally I reached my backyard. I didn't hesitant to run to the front and unlock the door, petrified that just putting the key in the locked would take too long, but I managed to unlock the door and get burst inside. I nearly slammed the door shut and locked it, before realizing hadn't heard the man for a bit, in fact, I soon as I got to the houses his footsteps had disappeared… did he just stop chasing? Why was he out there to begin with? Then I began to question if that was even real. It had to of been real, right? There's no way I could have imagined that…

I leaned against the locked front door as the adrenaline started to get replaced with exhaustion. If that actually happened then that man was able to keep up with me. He was almost just as fast as m. No one on the entire track team has ever come close to beating me…who could that have been? Someone from out of town? Then it hits me, I probably shouldn't have ran straight home, that puts not only me, but also Ike and my mother in danger if this lunatic decides to get revenge for me seeing his...whatever you'd call that.. I debated calling the police, looking around and spotting the phone on the coffee table before noticing Ike passed out on the couch. He must have tried to stay up waiting for me. Him sleeping on the couch also means Gerald still hasn't returned home from his previous case which had ended yesterday. No surprise he has yet to come home to his loving perfect family.

I sighed and dropped my bookbag into the floor next to the window and walked over to Ike. My feelings of fear disappeared as I gently picked up Ike's sleeping form. The kid isn't very big, but I'm not the strongest guy in the world. Thankfully he is a heavy sleeper and I managed to get him into my arms without disturbing him. I didn't bother turning off the TV as I made my way upstairs with Ike. No matter how many times I tell him not to wait up for me, he makes sure to do just that, but I can't blame him. He doesn't have many friends and the friends he does have aren't anything close to what Stan, Kenny, and I have. I gently placed Ike in his bed and covered him up. He's a good kid in school, but because he was put in school early he's the youngest in his class and that makes him an easy target for bullies to hit.

I walked into my room and collapsed in my bed. The events that had just taken place completely fade into the back of my head as thoughts of the two quizzes, unit test, and essay that were due tomorrow occupied my mind. Almost like I had completely forgotten, sleep had no problem pulling me down and filling my head with black fuzz.

The black fog cleared from my head to reveal a man in a black standing in front of me. Around us was nothing but miles of of barren fields. The man held his hand out as if for me to grab it and as if my feet had mind of their own, I slowly started to walk towards him. I could feel wind slowly brush against my skin as I neared the man, almost as if it was pushing me towards him. Suddenly the man's head started to rise, I could see a sadistic smile spread across his face, his eyes were still shrouded in darkness from the cloak. I felt no fear, but comfort coming from the man as if I knew him. I stood in front of him now, his hands still outstretched for me to grab. I glanced at his gloved hand, it was almost inhuman how large his hand was. I gently placed my hand on his before looking back up at him. I was greeted by a face of some mutilated beast. As I let out a scream and tried run from the beast, my hand was swallowed by his hand as he yanked me into him. I thrashed about, screaming, begging for my life as the beast's cloaked started to wrap itself around me burying me alive. I could feel the warmth of the beast's body against mine; my body was relaxed as if I was in no danger, yet my mind raced with my heart trying to find a way away from this thing. Just then I could feel the hot breathes of the man against my ear, sending shivers down my spine, I was frozen in place. "Don't leave me...Kyle."

My eyes shot open to Ike shaking me awake. "Kyle, it's already seven thirty. We're going to be late. Did your alarm not go off?"

Groggy, I sat up. My body was drenched in sweat, no way could I skip a shower today. I glanced at Ike, who wore a worried face. "Oh...um, I guess not." I glanced at my nightstand, my phone wasn't there. No wonder I didn't wake up, my alarm was on my phone and it's not where it should be. Did I leave it in my bookbag? I sighed and got out of bed. "Ask mom to take you to school or start walking. I still need a shower so I'm going to be late." I know he hated going to school by himself, but I'm going to make it up to him somehow. "And stop staying up for me. You're going to tire yourself out."

As I made my way towards the bathroom I could practically hear Ike pouting. "Well, I need to talk to you when you get home tonight! So you better not be late!"

"Aye Aye Captain." I muttered with a smile as I closed the bathroom door. I barely waited long enough for the shower to warm up before hopping into it. I honestly greeted the cold water happily as the sweat and grime from the day before started to wash away and slowly wake me up.

Thoughts of the nightmare began to fill my head, I was use to weird dreams, but that just seemed played out. I shuddered as the image of the mutilated face appearing in my head once more. I stared down at the floor of the shower, my red curls falling past my face; the shower was starting to warm up causing the room to fog. I sighed softly running my fingers through my hair and as soon as I did something moved out of the corner of my eye. I instantly glanced over and looked at the bathroom through the clear glass shower door. I slowly pulled the glass door open and glanced around the foggy bathroom, my heart starting to beat faster than my liking, but nothing was out of place.

Uneasy, I turned off the water and made my way into the hallway, greeted instantly by the chill of the morning. I quickly went to my room and

I threw on worn jeans and a plain white T-shirt covered by my green sweater, then made my way downstairs. The sun already started creeping through the open windows, thus making the living room much more lively than it was. I wasn't surprised to see my mother sitting on the couch watching some kind of reality TV show. "Ike didn't ask for a ride?"

She looked up at me with shock. "Oh, Bubbie! I thought you left already. No, I offered to give him a ride, but he said he needed the exercise."

"Oh, good for him." I walked to the kitchen and grabbed an apple. "Think he's gonna be ready to replace his brother next year in track?" I joked heading over to my bookbag, noticing the clock on the wall reading seven forty-five. I could make it to school on time if I jogged instead of walk.

"Maybe if his brother takes some time out of his busy schedule to train with him" My mother joked. "Have a good day, Bubbie," And with that I was out the door, taking a light jog towards the school.

The wind was very light today compared to last night's hell. Images of the man bashing the animal came to mind instantly. Chills ran down my spine and quickly I shook myself of the ominous feeling. I kept my head down as I jogged across the street and came upon the community center. I looked around and the eeriness crept on me. Was the body of the animal still there? Maybe I should make report to the police, let them know some maniac was out and about slaughtering animals.

Next thing I knew, my body had started to creep up to the community center. As if I doubted my eyes, my mind wanted to verify what I had witnessed. I expected the man to attempt to clean up his mess or something… but I didn't expect to find nothing at all. As if nothing had ever happened last night, there wasn't anything left behind; the blood on the tree was gone and not even a lingering scent of death was around... Just nothing. I stood there frozen in place barely able to comprehend what I was seeing. Was I really hallucinating last night? No that's impossible...I took a step back in distraught, but my foot landed on something hard. I glanced down and underneath my foot was my phone.

Glancing back up at the back entrance of the building, half expecting to see something, I slowly bent down and picking up the metal object. It was freezing to the touch, meaning it fell from my pocket last night. That at least verifies that I was here...if that man was able to cover up every piece of his insane actions in just a matter of hours, that would be super human. Did I imagine the man? Am I becoming too stressed out?

I slid my phone in my pocket, thanking my past self for buying a waterproof case just few weeks before, and slowly started making my way towards the school. My head was the farthest thing from empty as a million questions swarmed about it.

"All I'm saying is maybe you're overworking yourself." Stan sighed, leaning back in his chair.

"A Jew is overworked? That's a first…" Cartman huffed from behind Stan, landing himself a nice punch in the arm by Kenny.

"I agree with Stan, Kyle. You're at school for 8 hours a day AND go to college prep classes out of town for an additional 5 hours for 5 days. On the weekends you don't even relax, you spend it at track practice. So I wouldn't be surprised if you tripped out a bit last night. You even said yourself there was nothing there this morning." I sighed and shrugged my shoulders.

Stan sat up in his chair and leaned toward me, he wore a serious look on his face with an odd feeling to his stare. "Let's say this… guy did try to attack you last night and he as able to miraculously clean up everything, his footprints, the blood, and have the snow completely level by morning without anyone else seeing then you're dealing with some kind of psychopath that enjoys killing things brutally. You not only walked in on him and caught him in the act during what I'm gonna guess is a dark side of the guy that he doesn't want people to see; you ran away and went straight to your house. So now some crazy killing psychopath knows where you live along with your mother and brother." I stared at him as he leaned back in his chair. "Kyle, you really are thinning yourself out. No one in South Park besides the football team can lift a sledgehammer as big as you described and all of us were at Clyde's place last night."

"Isn't your dog missing, Stan?" Cartman commented with a smirk on his face. "Maybe your dog met his fate last night by the hands of a psychopath." A dark chuckle escaped his lips before Kenny landed another punch on him. "Cartman, shut the fuck up. You're scaring the shit out of him!"

"Besides, Spike gets out all the time. He'll be back in a few days anyways." Stan glared a Cartman before turning to me. "Kyle, skip your college classes tonight and come with us to Craig's party tonight. Let loose a little man. You deserve it." He smiled softly.

"Aw come on man! Don't invite the fucking Jew! He's going to be a prude the entire time and you know how he gets when he's around alcohol and pot."

"I think you should come, Ky." Kenny said as he hopped up on my desk, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and pulling me into his side before ruffling up my hair to which I grudgingly pulled away as he laughed. "You'll have a blast after a few shots!" He winked at me making my cheeks burn.

"Fag…" I muttered with a sigh. "I can't miss today's classes. We are starting our college letters and I need to be there for that." I could feel the glares from Stan and Kenny without even looking causing me to clear my throat. "B-but I can miss tomorrow's class… It's just notes tomorrow and I can get those off of Addie…"

"Atta boy!" Kenny cheered as he ruffled my hair up again with his hand. Stan smiled while Cartman grumbled to himself. "You'll have blast and completely forget about that weirdo."

I sighed and leaned back in my own chair, looking out the window at the bright layer of snow covering the once vibrant green grass. My stomach dropped at the thought of walking home in the dark once again, fearing slowly creeping up on me as Stan's words replayed in my head. He was right, I did lead this guy right to my house… right to Ike. They really think I'm delusional, but I should play this safe … I have some old cameras hidden away in my room, I could update them a bit and put them up by the front and back door…

"Kyle!" Stan barked bringing me back to reality. I turned to him as he stared back at me with pity written all over his face. "Dude… you look like shit."

I rolled my eyes and scoffed at him. "Damn, tell me how you really feel" I glanced at him as a smile crept on his face. "I'm fine, I'm just tired man."

"Well, call me tonight when you get out of class. I'll come pick you up." He raised his hand up before I could even protest. "It's not a problem at all. It's suppose to be even colder tonight than yesterday, I'd like to avoid defreezing you tomorrow because you became a popsicle."

I rolled my eyes while a smirk played on my face. "Fine, but don't expect me to wait for your ass. I'll call you once before I start walking."

"Deal, but don't act too surprised when I answer."

"Stan? Answering his phone? Wow… that's a myth in itself." Kenny joked. They went back to joking amongst themselves about the party tonight as I went back to staring out the window. A part of me grateful Stan might actually take me home, the other part silently telling me I'd be stuck walking home tonight.