He's Gone- A South Park Story
Chapter 4:
"Wait- this Goth Fag wants to help?"
Red frowned as he stood in the doorway of the Broflovski family home; Cartman had his gloved hand on the door and was glaring at Butters as if to say; "Are you serious?
Cartman wasn't letting him in unless he heard a good reason- and even then every part of his nature was telling him to deny this gothic brat any satisfaction and that it would be better to just ignore him.
Occasionally, as he listened to Butters stammering and raising points, he would flick his hair- which Eric knew would drive him crazy…
"He said he would and he seems to be a friend of Stan's, at least at some degree-."
"No." Cartman said, pushing past Butters and shoving the Goth's chest- causing him to stumble slightly and his dark, deep, eyes to widen with fury.
"You didn't know Stan, you just knew that… Robin kid."
"Raven." Red corrected, grinding his teeth.
"Whatever! You knew Stan's pain and sadness- we've known him our whole loves, know what he likes, dislikes- we know everything that he has ever cared about… So we don't need the kind of person who can only tell us about his girlfriend and there problems helping us out!"
The fat boy then rounded on Butters; "And YOU! You were meant to jog peoples memories- not enlist help! If too many people get involved then the police are going to try and stop us."
The blonde kid bit his fingers nervously; clearly he was concerned that his decision was going to screw their attempts to find Stan- even before they had started.
"Gee… I never thought off that."
Cartman kept his eyes on Butters for a while, all whilst Red crossed his arms and waited patiently.
It was snowing once again, typical South Park weather, and as the soft flakes brushed against the Goth kids pale skin he shook slightly in the doorway.
His irritation grew; he needed a nicotine fix and a cup of coffee.
As soon as possible.
Eric was still rambling to Butters about the need for subtlety and how this wasn't like anything they had ever done before- he was most likely talking about all the adventures and crap they had been rumoured to have been a part of in the past.
Like that time they went to Peru, Imaginationland or simply Space.
Finally he spoke, his voice clear with that same hint of sarcasm and loathing with the world.
"I want to help, so I don't need to justify myself to you, fatass…"
He realised instantly this was a mistake.
Cartman's eyes widened- then glared intensely into Red's.
"Don't call me fat, you gothic piece of-."
"Damnit Cartman, just let him in already!" Snapped a new voice, this one a lot clearer than Eric's- and Red peered his head through the doorway and noticed the Jewish kid waiting at the stairs.
The same kid who had told Raven to stop being miserable in Benny's all those months ago, telling them to try living in a third world country to understand true pain.
Bull, like he had an idea…
A kid in an orange parka was behind him, the hood was down and his yellow hair stuck out in all directions.
"Who the hell is that?" He asked Butters, who replied;
"Kenny McCormick. Have you never seen him without the hood?"
"…Who the hell is Kenny McCormick?"
Cartman and Butters entered the house, just as the snow started to build up, and Red flicked his hair and the melted flakes out of his eyes and entered the Broflovski residence and put his hands in his pockets.
He was then inconvenienced when Kyle offered his hand to him- a handshake?
Red ignored it.
"For the record, conformist, Raven was a good friend of mine- once. That's why I'm helping you."
There was clearly some menace behind this comment, but Kyle just smiled and put his hand back in his pocket.
"Hey, as long as you're helping us, it's better than nothing."
Red just nodded.
"Thanks, dude. Can I offer you something?"
He remained quiet, then muttered; "Coffee… No sugar."
"If you two have finished blowing each other!" Said Cartman with a smile as he and Butters made there was up the stairs; "Why don't we get down to business, eh?"
"Yeah!" Said Butters, grinning brightly, his blonde hair waving as he tore up the stairs.
"…Butters, God Damnit…" Snapped Cartman, following with Kenny who had hung his parka up a coat hanger near the front door.
Kyle and Red gave each other a quick glance.
xxx
"So who else did you talk to, Butters?" Asked Cartman, indicating to Kenny to start writing as the blonde kid- sitting on the floor beside Kyle's bed- put his hands together and seemed to count.
"Erm… Craig, Token… Jimmy and Bebe, the Goth Kids- obviously- Clyde and Tweak."
He scratched his head; "That's all the people that generally matter, right?"
"Yes. Everyone else is normally just… a background character." Muttered Kenny, who then grinned as he showed the gang a picture he had just sketched of women with big breasts.
Butters poked the paper; "Oooh."
Cartman slapped Kenny in the back of the head; "Ken, God Damnit…"
"Blah."
Kyle emerged from the doorway with Red, who was now holding a cup of coffee and the pair joined the rest of the group.
"Does anybody else want anything?" Asked Kyle, pointing at a chair for Red to sit on- which he then dragged near the window and begun drinking his coffee without saying another word.
"Some snacks would be good, we wouldn't want to get hungry and have our mind wander." Muttered Cartman, sitting on Kyle's bed and reading through the notes they had so far collected.
Stan had been at Stark's Pond Sunday evening; he had vanished after receiving a head wound. If he had been dragged, the snow would have covered it up. If it was a murder, the lake would have been a good place to dump the body- since the person took Kyle they may have wanted him alive.
Or he had fought back.
"Can I open the window…?" Red muttered, taking from his pocket a small box of cigarettes, then taking one from the box and placing it in his mouth.
"Erm, dude, no smoking." Kyle said nervously as Red glared at him as though the Jewish kid had just punched him in the chest.
"…Fine…" Was the reply after a brief moment and the box was stifled once again beneath his jacket.
For a moment everyone was silent.
Butters stared out the window, as if something deep and huge was on his mind- everyone could relate- whilst Cartman remained on Kyle's bed with a big of Cheesy Poofs, munching away as his eyes remained focused on the piece of paper which had all the information so far collected.
Red was sitting on his chair silently, he hadn't said much in a while- as if he was sizing up the other boys.
Kyle sat beside him on the floor, as if trying to make him feel welcome, whilst Kenny lay on the floor with one of his hands resting on his forehead.
He gazed at the ceiling of Kyle's bedroom, and then a single statement escaped his lips.
"…I'm scared…"
He sat up, his face suddenly deadly serious and he continued; "I'm scared all the time. It feels like whatever we have ever done in our short little lives are really serious situations. We have been in danger so many times its unbelievable. It's a miracle none of us has died. So, for that reason alone, I am always scared."
Everyone else glanced at each other, than back at Kenny as he continued undisturbed; "Yet… Does anyone else feel that this time it's different? That this time, this is something that could change our lives forever? I mean if Stan is alive… and we find him… does anyone else worry that this whole thing might have changed him? Could we find Stan, but lose the Stan we have known and loved?"
The room became silent again as Kenny gazed at them all and, when no-one answered, the poorest- but perhaps wisest- of them all said; "…I suppose… we should have faith…"
And with that he turned his head away from the others, sniffed once and with a single motion wiped his teary eyes on his arm.
No other words were said for a while and the boys remained sitting in silence, thinking peacefully about Stan and what he meant to each and every one of them.
Eventually time dragged on, however, and each boy found something else to do- whether it was rummaging through Kyle's things like Cartman did, or doing homework for the next day, which is what Kenny and Butters got down to.
Red, however, remained still- and alone.
Eventually, though, a voice cut through the depressed atmosphere.
"Were any off those people at Stark's Pond on Sunday?" Asked Kyle, flicking through a book he had and, after a moment, drew from it a picture of the entire Fourth Grade.
Stan sat beside Kyle; a goofy smile on each of their faces that they thought was absolutely hilarious at the time.
"Yeah." Explained Kenny, who told him who Butters had contacted throughout the day.
Kyle then circled all those Butters had discussed Stan with in red pen then waited as Cartman examined it.
"Craig, Clyde and Token hung out there on Sunday- but only during the day and they never saw Stan. Bebe said she was at Wendy's doing some makeover thing, and Jimmy and Tweak said they were both with their parents."
"So that's everyone who matters. What kind of case are we looking at this to be?" Asked Red, he had now opened the window despite what Kyle had said and was now smoking peacefully.
"Eh?" Was Butters' simple reply.
"Are we treating this as looking for a Missing Person- which is what the police are doing- or are we trying it as an Abduction?"
Cartman shook his head.
"No, the police should be treating it as an abduction now- since Kyle gave them Stan's hat which we discovered had blood on it."
Kyle immediately became stiff, and then slowly nodded.
"Yes… That's what I did as soon as you told me to."
Cartman froze, then got up from the bed, turned, and gazed at Kyle furiously.
"You son of a bitch. You didn't give them the hat, did you?"
"I… I wanted to give it back to Stan-"
"Where is it you God-Damn Jew?!"
Kyle fell silent as Kenny leapt to his feat to prevent Cartman attacking the other boy- but was too late as Kyle was pushed violently against the wall, causing books and toys to fall on the floor.
"Let him go Eric!" Snapped Kenny, grabbing his arm and adding; "So what if Kyle didn't give the police his hat?"
"Don't you get it?!" Was the strong reply; "He's affected their investigation and tampered with evidence! Lets face it, the cops were the ones more likely to find him- and now they are completely screwed over. They probably still think he's just run away somewhere!"
Butters, who had disappeared mostly beneath Kyle's bed, suddenly reappeared with a box and opened it- and sure enough, there was Stan's hat, complete with bloodstains.
Kenny gripped Cartman's arm tighter and said coldly; "Look, there is nothing we can do now, is there?"
"Wrong, I can kick his ass and feel a LOT better!"
Red cut between them, his arms outstretched as he defended Kyle from the other kid- his mind racing; "Wait, what the hell am I doing?"
"Goth fag? What the hell are you doing? We don't even want you here!"
Red remained silent, then lowered his arms and muttered; "You fat bastard… You've done NOTHING except talk about possible theories and dwell on your own self-pity! I've been watching!"
He stepped forward, Kenny pulling Cartman backwards, and continued; "You asked me what I could bring to your investigation…" He rolled his eyes; "Well I KNOW what I can bring to it. I can keep you all from losing track of what this whole thing is about!"
For the first time in years, Red raised his voice and cried loudly;
"WE NEED TO FIND STAN!"
And with that, tears begun to build and he lowered his head and remained still.
"…Red…" Whispered Kyle, placing a hand on the Goths shoulder and said kindly; "We will."
Turning to Cartman, he added; "I'm sorry, so sorry, but I was scared of losing my best friend. I wanted to keep the one thing he always kept. He once told me that my hat was the nicest hat he'd ever seen- I felt the same about his."
"Wow… that's a bit faggy." Said Butters, still smiling, but Kyle frowned and continued; "We all feel an attachment to Stan- and I screwed up. So I'm sorry."
Kyle removed his hand from Red's shoulder, whose expression was now more serious.
"So, we need to be serious about this." Explained Kenny, taking the hat in his hands and looked at the blood. "So, since we need to think of this as an abduction- what should we do?"
Cartman answered immediately, gazing at Red as he said it; "We need to search Stark's Pond again. This time looking for a weapon, or any sign that someone in the last few days has been dragged."
"So, we'll go tomorrow?" Asked Butters, smiling.
"No." Snapped Red, zipping up his jacket. "We go right now."
Kenny agreed instantly; "He's right, it's snowing- but this is for Stan. If we leave it another night we could lose everything we might have found."
"Aw, but fella's… it's gonna be cold…"
"Then don't come, nobody is forcing you…" Muttered Kyle, his hat now on his head as he searched for his jacket.
"…No, no I'll come." Butters finally agreed, although he didn't look happy- probably because of the weather.
The snow was falling quite heavily and it was late in the afternoon at this point…
"Good." Snapped Cartman, handing Butters his jacket with a brief smile. "Thanks for your help, pussy."
"No problem Eric!"
By this point Kenny was at the door, wearing his parka and pointing confidently out the door;
"Let's go get our friend back!" He said confidently.
xxx
AND another update. Geeze, I swear I'm gonna keep this up! I swear another chapter will be up tomorrow- I mean, it's finally gonna be the start of the proper investigation next chapter.
As always, Read and Review you OH-SO wonderful people! ^_^