Kyle felt a reassuring hand on his back as his stomach insisted on emptying anything left in it. His raw throat burned from the bile. Stan wordlessly handed him a section of toilet paper.
"Thanks dude." muttered Kyle weakly, wiping off his mouth.
"Yeah…" Stan was still looking at the claw marks on his arm. "Uh…do you want me to get the first aid kit?" Kyle could tell his friend was pretty much at a loss for what to do so he simply nodded. Stan stood quickly; glad to be doing something useful. Kyle's eyes dropped to the cold tile of the bathroom floor, following the swirling pattern with his eyes. So. What do I do now? Hi Mr. Doctor, I've been having these nightmares. Oh, I know everyone has nightmares once in a while, I guess the part that concerns me is the part where it comes true and I wake up with claw marks on my arm. Stings like a bitch too. He could feel the tears starting to prick his eyes again. Goddamn it! He swiped angrily at his eyes. He hated feeling so helpless. Hated it. It was a hatred that had grown over the years of constantly being sick and bedridden, with nothing to do but hope his body was strong enough to fight off whatever virus was plaguing him at the time. It was the reason for his determination to do well in school, to not let others walk over him, to stand up so firmly for his beliefs and to kick Cartman's ass when the fat asshole ripped on him. But none of that mattered now. There was nothing he could do, it was just like being sick again, except that all the fluids and bed rest in the world wouldn't do shit.
"Goddamn it!" He growled, fiercely wiping the tears before they could spill. He was not going to break down. He was going to find a solution to this, one that didn't involve dying. Kyle's mind wandered to that thought. I wonder what everyone would think…my mom would throw a huge fit…Ike would probably miss me…and… He choked on the thought, tears finally making it down his face. Damn it… He heard Stan coming from the kitchen and quickly snatched the roll of toilet paper, scrubbing the persistent moisture from his eyes.
***
He'd been crying. He did a pretty good job of trying to hide it when Stan walked in, but when you knew a person since preschool it was fairly hard to hide anything from them. Stan could hardly blame him. This is some seriously f**ked up shit. He silently bandaged his friend's arm, wondering what was going on in his head.
"Are…are you okay?" He finally asked, the silence becoming too awkward. He regretted the words as soon as he said them. What kind of dumbass question is that? Would you be 'okay' if you just woke up from a nightmare only to find freaking claw marks on your arm?
"Not really." replied his friend, eyes still on the tile, no doubt so Stan couldn't see his expression. The awkward silence stretched on. Stan tried to think of anything comforting to say, but was at a loss. Fortunately he was saved by a holler from the kitchen.
"Hey fags! If you're done making out, get your asses back down here! I'm hungry!" Stan rolled his eyes.
"Only Cartman could be hungry at-" He glanced at his watch "-3:30 in the morning." Kyle snorted in agreement.
"You should probably eat something too." Stan added.
"I guess. I'm really not that hungry though."
"You should still eat something," Stan insisted, "You haven't been eating well all week already."
"Fine." Kyle scrambled to his feet only to fall against the wall, face turning pale.
"You okay?" Stan asked anxiously.
"…Yeah…just a little…fuzzy…" Kyle mumbled. Clearly a week without substantial sleep or food was taking a toll on his body. Stan offered his shoulder for support, which Kyle gratefully accepted. The pair slowly made their way to the kitchen.
***
"Dude, you look like shit." Kenny observed. Kyle rolled his eyes.
"No kidding." He plopped into the nearest chair, exhausted. Cartman's head popped out from behind the refrigerator door where it had previously been buried.
"How come you don't have any decent food in this place?" He demanded.
"Cartman, there's like a mountain of junk food in the living room." Stan said wearily. Cartman snorted.
"Food disappears fast when you invite poor people over." He shot a meaningful glare at Kenny who just shrugged it off.
"Not to mention greedy fatasses." Kyle muttered.
"Ay! I'm big-boned not fat, get it right Jew!" Kyle sighed, not in the mood to argue.
"It's all gone?" Stan asked incredulously. Kenny shrugged again. "How can you be hungry after all that?"
"I'm a growing boy," Cartman answered, "I need food."
"Yeah, you're growing all right. Pretty soon you'll be taller lying down then standing up." Kenny grinned. Stan laughed and Kyle couldn't help but join in.
"Ay! I don't have to take that from a poor piece of shit!" Cartman growled. Kenny kept grinning anyway.
"Your stomach will just have to wait until tomorrow." Stan said with a shrug. "Everything is closed until at least 6."
"Dominos isn't." The large boy pointed out.
"Yeah, but they don't deliver after midnight." Kenny added.
"So? We'll walk." Cartman said determinedly.
"You can't be serious." Stan narrowed his eyes at Cartman who had settled himself in a chair across from Kyle. "It's only a few hours until morning. You can wait until then." Cartman sighed in frustration then grinned.
"What about Jewboy? Poor Kahl, he looks like he could fall over any minute without food. Pizza. Extra cheese." Kyle glared across the table.
"Actually, I'm fine thanks." He ignored the growling in his newly vacated stomach. Okay, pizza didn't sound totally awful, but his determination not to let Cartman use him to get what he wanted won out. Stan didn't look convinced, and bit his lip in indecision. Aw crap, now he's considering it.
"I don't have any money for pizza anyway." He said slowly. Cartman shrugged. He could tell he was winning the argument.
"We can just use Kyle's Jew gold." Kyle rolled his eyes in exasperation. This was why it was a bad thing for Cartman to be right. He never let people forget it.
"I can cover it," Kenny piped up, "Actually pizza sounds pretty good right about now."
"You're hungry too?" Stan asked in disbelief. The blonde shrugged and grinned.
"It's pizza, dude." Stan rolled his eyes.
"Fine." Cartman grinned victoriously and waddled over to the phone. He dialed the number and waited impatiently at the ring tone.
"Yes, I'd like to place an order please." Cartman said when someone on the other end finally picked up "Three extra large ham and pineapple pizzas, extra cheese." Kyle rolled his eyes.
"Cartman, we were ordering pizza for all of us. Make one without ham, asshole!" Stan ordered. Cartman gave an exasperated sigh.
"Okay another extra large with pepperoni and bacon."
"Ugh." Kyle felt like slamming his head on the table.
"Cartman!"
"Fine! One more extra large, with pepperoni. Yes. Okay. All right we'll be there to pick it up in 20 minutes. Okay. $85.59? Yes that's fine." Kenny's eyes widened at the amount.
"Uh…"
"…Okay. The name is Eric Cartman. Okay. Okay, bye." Cartman hung up the phone and looked at Stan.
"Well, you better get going, the pizza will get cold if you don't get there in 20 minutes."
"What?" Stan frowned "The order is under your name, you're coming with us."
"All the way across town? Hell no." The pudgy boy settled himself back into a chair. "I'm not walking that far, asshole."
"What?! This was your idea fatass! I wanted to wait until morning!" Stan fumed. Cartman merely shrugged.
"Better hurry. I hate cold pizza, don't you?" Cartman taunted. Kenny sighed.
"Come on, he's not going to move and his fat ass would only slow us down anyway, besides," he added with an evil grin, "this means we get first pick of the pizza."
"Don't eat all the ham and pineapple poor boy!" Cartman growled.
"I'm paying for it, I think I should be entitled to eat as much as I want!" Kenny shouted in reply.
"You offered." Cartman pointed out. Kenny only glared in reply. With a final glare at Cartman, Stan turned to leave.
"You are such an asshole Cartman." Kyle sighed as he climbed to his feet.
"Dude, you're not coming with us." Stan told him.
"What?" Kyle frowned, steadying himself with the table.
"The last thing we need is for you to pass out on us; I'm not carrying you and five extra large pizzas." Kenny added.
"Guys, I'm fine." Kyle tried desperately. The last thing in the world he wanted was to be stuck in the same place as…
"No way you're leaving that dirty Jew behind, I don't want to be stuck here with a Jesus-killer while you guys stuff your faces with my pizza."
"Your pizza?" asked Kenny furiously.
"You could always come with us." Stan told him, slipping on his jacket.
"Screw you guys, I'm staying here." Cartman folded his arms stubbornly across his chest.
"Please don't leave me here." Kyle shot his friend a desperate look.
"Forget it, Kyle. You can hardly walk to the living room, let alone across town." Some best friend. He thought, defeated.
"We'll be back soon." Kenny assured them, closing the door behind him. Well if I have to be in the same house as Cartman, the least I can do is be in a different room. Kyle slowly made his way to the living room, still hobbling from his knee. He could hear Cartman still in the kitchen, muttering to himself and rummaging through the cabinets. With a sigh, Kyle dropped on the couch. His eyes wandered to his bandaged wrist.
"All I need is the life force of one person…"
Kyle shuddered. The villainous voice played in his mind again.
"You are a link to the real world, just like all that time ago…"
What did it mean by that? Kyle frowned. All that time ago? I've never seen this creature before in my life. He knew he would have remembered. A link to the real world…a link from where? He was actually pretty surprised he remembered the conversation, considering he had been scared out of his mind at the time. What… He was interrupted mid-thought by a splitting headache. Kyle groaned as the pain intensified. He could feel himself slipping into unconsciousness. No…please…
"Give it up. You cannot escape."
"No…" he groaned, fighting to stay awake. His head felt like a construction crew was going to work on his brain.
Just give in and it will be over…" The pain was unbearable; he let himself slip into the depths of unconsciousness to escape the intense throbbing.
***
"Greedy, self-centered, fatass bastard!" Kenny growled, muttering an insult for every bill he counted out. Stan watched sympathetically. He wanted to help out, but on a $5 per week allowance, there was only so much he could save. And most of his money had recently gone to the purchase of a new video game. It was probably a good thing the teen holding their pizzas couldn't understand Kenny's muffled mutterings, Stan reflected. Finally the parka clad boy handed the money to the pimple-faced teen.
"Okay, $4.41 is your change and here's your pizza." Kenny collected his change and took three of the boxes handing the other two to Stan. With the steaming cheesy pizza inches from his nose, Stan was finding it extremely difficult to remember why he had thought this was such a bad idea. They exited the Domino's building and the cool fall air washed over the two boys. The pizza suddenly felt heavy in his arms as Stan considered the long walk back home. Oh yeah, that's why. Cartman, I swear I'm going to kill you.
***
Unaware of the death threats his friends were wishing upon him, Cartman closed the last cupboard with a sigh.
"Those assholes better not eat all the pizza." He growled to himself. With nothing better to do he wandered into the living room. He noticed Kyle slumped on the couch, apparently fast asleep. I thought he didn't want to sleep. He studied the smaller boy who seemed to be sleeping peacefully enough.
***
Every step hurt worse than the last. His knee was going to give out soon. Kyle risked a glance over his shoulder and wished he wouldn't have. It had grown. That was the first thing he noticed. The shadowy beast was now almost three times as tall as him. With a terrible shriek the creature reached out a grotesque hand. Kyle couldn't move fast enough and the hand caught his leg causing him to trip. He stumbled forward, landing face first on the hard ground. His nose throbbed painfully, and he could feel the warm wetness pouring from it. Kyle's palms burned from skidding to a stop but neither of these pains was prominent on his mind, as the creature loomed closer.
***
"What the…?" Cartman stared as Kyle's nose began to drip blood. He briefly wondered if it was still from their encounter at the store before, but it didn't seem likely. The sleeping boy no longer looked peaceful, his face twisted in obvious pain. This is pretty f**ked up.
***
Kyle tried to crawl away. He knew it was a vain attempt but maybe if he could avoid the creature long enough he would be able to wake up again.
"I'm not giving you that chance this time." The voice oozed with loathing.
***
Kyle's sleeping form twitched, clearly in pain. Cartman frowned and stepped closer.
"Hey. Wake up, Jew." He gingerly poked the sleeping boy. Kyle didn't respond. Cartman's frown deepened. He would never admit to anyone, but he often suffered from…unpleasant dreams. With the morbid images that flashed through his twisted mind every time he closed his eyes it was pretty impossible not to be disturbed once in a while. Sympathy was not something Eric Cartman normally experienced, but in this case he could at least relate to the horrors of nightmares.
"C'mon wake up you stupid fag." He muttered, prodding the still figure again.
***
The horribly twisted hand shot out faster than he could react and Kyle was again reminded of how much the evil thing had grown when the hand covered his chest, gaunt fingers curling over his shoulders and digging deep enough to draw blood. The shadowy beast had pinned him to the ground and was putting a painful amount of weight on his chest. He gasped, trying to pull in a breath.
***
"Come on, asshole, wake up." Cartman was shaking Kyle's shoulder when he realized his hand was wet and sticky. What the hell…? He looked at his palm and his eyes widened when he recognized the red liquid. Blood seeped out of the sleeping boy's shoulders staining his shirt. Damn…
***
He couldn't breathe. The shadowy beast was squeezing the life out of him. Literally. The red eyes gleamed and the thing chuckled darkly giving Kyle a good look at the blood-drenched teeth.
"Soon your life will be mine." Kyle's mind raced wildly. Oh shit my lungs hurt…air…please…I need…oh God…air…
***
He wasn't breathing.
"Damn it Kahl, breathe you dumb Jew!" Cartman growled, quelling the worry in his voice. He pounded the still figure's chest, hoping to hear the gasp of breath. Moron. He scolded himself. CPR is to restart the heart, not breathing. For breathing you have to…oh hell no!
***
It was almost a relief to see the horrible face start to fade from his view. It would have been more of a relief it Kyle didn't know it meant he was dying. …No…please………let me…let me breathe…get off………air…please………oh God…please…
***
Oh God let there be some other way. Please. Anything. Not that… Cartman grit his teeth in disbelief. Why can't that goddamn Jew take care of himself for once in his life? Son of a bitch, I have to do everything! He glared at the door. I swear to God if those two assholes walk in… Cartman heaved a huge sigh. Damn I hate you Kyle. He leaned closer to the unconscious figure.
***
At first he thought the creature had lifted himself off his chest allowing him to breathe. That explanation made no sense of course, but hell, at this point there were very few things in his life that made sense. Somehow though, he managed to draw a breath even though the shadowy beast still had him pinned. Kyle was too grateful to even question it. His lungs were flooded with relief and his vision snapped back. That was the only thing he was less-than-grateful for, because the evil creature was not pleased with the fact that he was still alive.
"How are you still alive?" The vile thing hissed, bathing Kyle in its horrid breath. The claws clenched tighter, digging deeper into his shoulder blades. Kyle cried out in pain, unable to stop himself. The creature was starting to fade from reality again, but this time Kyle knew it was because he was waking up. He had avoided death again. The beast shrieked furiously.
"No! This time you're mine!" The claws refused to let go and the second gaunt hand grabbed his arm so tightly Kyle felt it when the bone cracked. The creature leaned heavily on his chest, determined to kill him. This time Kyle heard the crack as well as felt it. Pain flooded throughout his entire body. Someone was screaming. It was a terrible scream, filled with pain and fear. Oh shit. I think that's me…
***
There was a loud crack. Cartman frowned. What was that? A couple more cracks sounded. Why is his arm at that funny angle…son of a bitch… Cartman was jolted from his line of thought by Kyle's sudden return to consciousness, which was accompanied by the loudest scream Cartman had ever heard in his life. He leapt back in surprise, almost tripping over the coffee table.
***
He was awake. And alive. Those two thoughts were enough to make Kyle extremely grateful, despite the intense pain flooding his body. Kyle had never broken a bone before and he'd never imagined the amount of pain it would cause. His whole body seemed to pulse with the pain. He could hear his heartbeat in his head and taste blood in the back of his throat. He bit his lip to keep from screaming again.
"Cartman, I swear to God I'm going to kill you for this." Kyle could distantly hear Stan's voice from the other room as he and Kenny returned with the pizzas.
"Seriously dude, who the hell wants pizza…" Stan trailed off when he noticed Kyle on the couch, drenched in blood. Kyle noted his shoulders seemed to be making quite a mess.
"What the hell?! Kyle, are you alright?" His friend nearly dropped the boxes he was holding. Instead he quickly passed them off to Kenny and hurried to his friend's side.
"Yeah…I'm okay…" He muttered weakly. Shit, why does breathing have to hurt so much? Stan stared at him incredulously.
"What the hell happened to you?"
"I fell asleep." He answered darkly. Stan swallowed eyes still as big as saucers.
"I think you need to go to the hospital…right now, you look awful." Ugh. I think he's right. Damn my chest hurts. Despite the pain though, Kyle was grateful just to be able to breathe. The desperate feeling of breathlessness was still too vivid in his mind. Kyle noted that he had apparently bitten his lip hard enough to draw blood. He licked his lips cleaning off the blood and frowned. Why do I taste Cheesy Poofs? He shot a glance at Cartman who seemed absorbed in his investigation of the pizza boxes…Nevermind. I REALLY don't want to know. Kyle felt something wet in the back of his throat and coughed, trying to clear his windpipe. Holy shit that f**king hurts! His mind screamed. He may have spoken the words aloud, but he realized the more he coughed the more wet stuff was coming up making him cough all the more. He squeezed his eyes shut against the pain. Oh God that hurts…please make it stop…ow! Damn it…
"Kenny!" Stan called worriedly, "Call an ambulance, he's coughing up blood!" I am? Oh. I guess I am. Aw crap, I think that's bad isn't it? Shit it hurts…huh, I got blood all over the couch. That's probably going to stain. Mrs. Marsh isn't going to be happy when she gets home… Someone was calling his name, but it sounded so far away. Stan? Is that you? He blinked blearily. Stan's worried face was staring at him, desperately trying to get his attention.
"…yle, just hang in there, Kenny's calling an ambulance okay? Just hang in th…" Ambulance? Why? I'm fine, in fact it doesn't even hurt anymore, isn't that great? Everything is going to be okay; you're just worrying about nothing. Obviously it can't be too bad or it would hurt more right? I feel perfectly fine, I…wait, maybe it doesn't hurt because I'm dying… Huh. Somewhere in his mind Kyle knew he should feel scared about dying. He knew he should be in mass amounts of pain right now and scared shitless. But he wasn't. I guess this really is the end then… I really wish I didn't have to die yet. Somewhere far away he could hear the wail of a siren. It was far away, but really annoying. Can someone please turn that down? It's giving me a throbbing headache.
"-yle! Don't you dare die on me!…"
"-upid Jew! Wake up assho…"
"-ost a lot of blood…"
"…Stay out of the way kids!…"
"…stretcher and oxygen, stat…"
"-ritical conditio-"
"-we're losing him!…"
"…"
"…"
And then there was blackness.
Whoo! Chapter 3 done! So yeah, this chapter gave me a wicked craving for two things. Number One: Pizza. Lol. Number Two: A desire to write the next chapter. I can't stand cliffhangers. No really, it pains me to write cliffhangers almost as much as to read them. The only thing I hate more than a cliffy is an author who decides to stop writing a fic after an epic cliffhanger. XO. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO frustrating!