Author's Note: This first part comes from a story called I Used to Dig Holes by Zephyr Morpheus Lee, formerly known as DefectCriminal. More or less, it is a different perspective of an event that occurs in IUTDH's first chapter so if you want to see the other side of it, go read that. Some of the words are word for word but hey, it's good for a set up. Zephyr Morpheus Lee, if you are out there, here's a shout out to you. Haven't heard from you in a while. For the rest of you, enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own South Park.

Warning: language, slight violence

A Corrupting Influence

It was chilly out but not enough for him to abandon his trenchcoat at home. He hadn't bother to wait until sleep was out of his system; he was out of his warm bed and at his closet, grabbing the first thing his hand grasped. Only after suiting up and donning the black cloth of his favorite garment did he tromp downstairs to the kitchen and grab something light to satisfy him until lunch before going out of the door.

As he entered the driveway, he paused and glanced at a large tarp. He could drive to school if he wanted but he wasn't the type to show off material possessions. Besides, why waste the gas when he could just take the bus? Sure the bus stop was a ways away but distance had never been considered an obstacle for him.

It was about ten to fifteen minutes later when the stop appeared in his vision and another minute for him to make out two forms standing beside it. Just perfect, he had to be around people sooner than he wanted. As he drew closer, his mood became even fouler as he recognized the large form of Christophe DeLorne. A few feet closer and he was able to see the epileptic sight of Rhiannon Edwards beside him.

Damn it, he would have to leave Winslow at home today. Though, it wouldn't have made much difference if he had since the French bastard was watching him from the corner of his eye while smoking casually. If he hadn't been there, he'd have a prime opening to wrap his hands around that colorful bitch's neck…

Well what do you know? With a hand in a pocket, he noticed that he wasn't completely unarmed today; he had brought his switchblade with him but it would be best if he let that remain concealed for now. He'd just have to wait for the Edwards bitch to be vulnerable and then he could go in for the—

"You mind if I have a smoke? I ran out Saturday."

What the? Damn it, he had been too deep in his thoughts, so much so that he hadn't noticed the appearance of a fourth party. Oh great, it was another cunt. He resisted the urge to curl his lip and proceeded to ignore this new girl. They had another female. They were breeding like fucking rabbits; at this rate, they'd be up to their ears in bitches, cunts, and whores.

"Le froid ici fonctionne des merveilles pour vos yeux, parce que elles n'ont jamais été si brunes. Et vos regards de peau aussi luxorious que la soie blanche en vert. J'ai manqué à quel point bon vous avez regardé en bref, aussi bien."

Oh no, that French piece of shit was using that shitty language of his. Other than considering the French to be a bunch of surrender pussies, he had nothing against them until that French fuck got in his way between him and the Edwards bitch's mortal coil and refused to move.

An obstacle that just didn't know when to stop.

He couldn't help it, it just slipped through his lips. "I hate Frenchie fuckers."

The new girl cocked her head towards him, a lit cigarette in hand, and said heatedly, "You got a problem, punk?"

"Yeah, I do," he growled, turning fully to face the girl, his murderous eyes boring into her. "Speak fucking English or you don't wanna know what I'll do." Strange, he was usually more eloquent than this. Maybe it was the way the girl was looking down at him with those fiery brown eyes of her. Maybe it was because she was the first girl in quite some time to stand up against him. It was pissing him off and he was fingering his unopened switchblade unconsciously.

"Is that a threat, because I know how to deal with threats, fuck-face," the girl spat at him, shooting a wad of spit from her mouth to stain the ground in front of him.

So he had a tomboy on his hands. Well, he knew how to deal with tomboys. With his free hand, he swung a punch aimed straight for her face, not holding back even an iota of strength. To his surprise, the girl almost dodged his blow though he did graze her eye. He didn't have time to appreciate it, though, as the girl was behind him almost immediately and before he could recover, he felt her land her foot in the back of his neck.

He stumbled to the ground, his once fisted hand now pressed protectively against his neck. Anger exploded within him at the audacity this bitch had in fighting back. He heard her say something while passing her cigarette to the French bastard but her eyes never left him. It was as if she knew what she was doing and that just served to infuriate him further.

There was no way he was going to let her get the upper hand on him!

He was back on his feet and charge at him, simultaneously whipping out his switchblade but he was unable to do anything yet as she rushed him and landed a punch in his face which was followed by a roundhouse kick. Pain exploded where his nose was and he didn't have to feel it to know something was broken.

This whore was going down.

He stabbed his blade at her, feeling elated when he felt the warm sensation of blood touch his skin. However, that came at the price of her wrestling the switchblade from him and a foot impacting his stomach harshly. He felt air exit his lungs but he wasn't about to let this moment of weakness get the best of him. He swung his fist again and this time his aim was true as he managed to punch her in the face. It was a short lived victory as she somehow managed to kick him in the chest and place a hand over a part of his body which she then pinched.

Hard.

He clutched at the spot she pinched as pain overloaded his brain and he fell to the ground. He was able to cling onto consciousness just long enough to hear the Edwards bitch revel in his defeat.

But it was not her that his fury was focused on. No, it was that new girl whose name he hadn't heard yet. He would learn it soon, commit it to memory even.

He would never forget—

"Charlotte."

His eyes snapped open and he stared at the white ceiling above him blearily. Had…had that been another memory? It felt so real, so much so that he could feel all the emotions invested in it. However, he could no longer recall those emotions anymore as like a dream, they are escaped his mental grasp.

But there she was, Charlotte. The girl that had been so kind to him since he had first awoken in the hospital. Was that how he really felt about her when he first saw her?

He clutched at his head as it throbbed and clenched his eyes shut, just wishing for it to stop. It was so painful…

Who is she? Why do these morons know her? And damn it, why doesn't she just be a good little girl and let me slit her throat? Wait, wait, maybe I'm going about this wrong. Maybe attacking her physically isn't the right way to do this…maybe I need to attack something that isn't as heavily fortified…

Alright Charlotte White, I have my eye on you. I'm going to tear your psyche apart and by the time I'm through with you, you'll be begging for my knife.

He gasped out loud but continued to hold his head tightly as other thoughts rang into his mind.

Her voice's not that bad…

I'm in pain, yes, but it was worth it. Who'd have thought that the way to your subconscious was through your family? Looks like I win this round.

Well, well, well, if it isn't the high and mighty. Hiding are we? This is just too good an opportunity to miss! Oh poor little Charlotte, the things I'm about to do to you… By the time I'm through, you'll have regressed to being a toddler and need to be housebroken. That is the least of what you deserve for even thinking you can hide your past from me.

He was panting harshly, those evil, evil thoughts bombarding him without end. Then, just as suddenly as it had started, the headache was gone. He remained laying there, gasping for air and whenever he tried to use his nose, he found that he couldn't use it properly as it was stuffed with something.

Slowly getting his breathing under control, he removed his hands from his face but froze as he saw a smear of something red on them. Bringing one of the hands close, he pressed a finger close to his nose then pulled it away, eyeing it in horror as he saw the blood on it.

His headache had been so bad that it had caused a nosebleed…

To say he was frightened was an understatement but he didn't want anybody finding out about this. He'd just clean up and go on about the day as if nothing had happened. Yeah, that's what he'd do! He'd just keep this to himself and no one would pester him about it. They'd just leave him alone about it, just the way he liked it.

Just the way he liked it…

Charlie definitely woke up on the wrong side of the bed that morning. Maybe it was her mood or maybe it was the stress but when she got out of bed, she was cranky to say the least.

It didn't help either that she found Tammy pouting at her whenever she was in sight. Her sister had been expecting for Bain to show up yesterday and when he hadn't, she blamed Charlie for his absence.

There was just no winning with her.

So she took the path of least resistance and let Tammy do her pouting while she got ready for school. Needless to say, she was out of there like bat out of hell as things were just starting to become awkward.

In her rush to get out, she almost trampled over someone who had the misfortune of being in her way as she came out the front door. Imagine her surprise to find out that it was none other than Bain who was currently sitting on his ass and rubbing his forehead as if he had been hit there.

She rolled her eyes but nevertheless helped him back onto his feet, taking a little time to brush off his backside to make him more presentable. Even after all this time, he still seemed to have the need to be cleaned up after. For some reason, she didn't feel the slightest resentful about it. She just didn't feel as if this was an obligation that she had to do just that she had to do it for no other reason than to do it.

It was complicated.

"Should have told me you'd be waiting for me," she grumbled as if trying to save face.

Bain didn't reply. He just stared at her as if there was something on his mind that he wanted to talk to her about and yet couldn't muster up the guts to talk about it. His face alone had that sort of constipated look and that was a dead giveaway if she ever saw one.

Sighing, she squared her shoulders and asked, "What?"

Bain stared back at her for another moment before finally saying, "We didn't used to get along, did we?"

Wow. Of all the things he could have said, he had to state something that was not only obvious but the most talked about part of their lives. Everybody knew how they would fight another whenever the opportunity presented itself. Last she heard, someone had started taking bets on which one of them was going to win.

To her disappointment, the odds were usually tied.

It was then that the meaning behind what Bain had just said hit her. He didn't remember anything before waking up in the hospital and nobody outside of her and the Mormon kid bothered to talk to him; how did he know anything about what they used to do, that is if Gary hadn't brought the topic up.

Bain must have picked up from her face that she knew what he was talking about because before she could demand any answers from him, he continued. "I had this dream last night. I think it was me but I couldn't really say. There was just so much…something. I don't know what it was but it was burning. And then I was at this bus stop where there were two people. One was this big guy who looked dirty and smoked and the other was this girl that looked like a rainbow. Next thing I know, you're there and the guy is saying something I can't understand and then I'm trying to hit you."

She held a hand up, gesturing for him to stop. What he was saying, it sounded really familiar. However, before she could say anything, Bain was staring at her hand and it was belatedly that she realized that the hand she was holding up was her left hand.

The same hand in which Bain had cut when they had first met.

"Did I…?" Bain trailed off as he raised a hand of his own try and feel out the scar, stopping just before he did touch it as if having second thoughts on whether or not he wanted to find out if it was real.

Charlie sighed to herself. She was showing a lot of patience right now, wasn't she? Especially since she woke up this morning in a bad mood.

Now, she was at a crossroad. Either she could tell him the truth and say yes, he did give her this scar or she could flat out lie and say no. Odds were she was going to let slip the fact that yes he did so if she told him no, it'd just make it worse. Honesty seemed the right policy for right now.

"Yeah, but it was more of an accident," she shrugged, trying to sound nonchalant. "I was trying to take your knife away and ended up getting my hand sliced open. No biggie."

There, now no matter what his memories would tell him, they would do nothing more than reinforce her words. Yeah, she felt good right now.

"Oh." Bain lowered his hand as well as his head. It was like he was ashamed or something. "I'm…I'm sorry."

Whoa! Hold the presses! Did she…? Did she just hear Bain Cynis apologize? Yes, yes she had. She wondered if today was the day of the apocalypse or if the heater in Hell busted down and the AC was on full blast.

"Hey, I'm not sore about it," she said hastily. "It just happened! That's all! Don't get bent out of shape over it!"

"Okay," Bain mumbled, shifting his weight from leg to leg uneasily.

"You know, you really ought to purge that sexual frustration. Just screw the living daylights out of that psychopath already."

Why, oh why was she thinking about that fat Goth chick's words at a time like this? She couldn't screw Bain, especially with the way he was now! It'd be like pedophilia! Still, the way he was looking so forlorn now, she supposed she could do something about it…

She cupped one of his cheeks and raised his head up enough so that he had to look at him. Unbidden, she leaned forward and pecked her lips on his opposite cheek. Bain blinked up at her in confusion though there was a slight blush on his cheeks now. Christ, instead of looking like his usual homicidal self, he was actually cute.

Cute and Bain should never be in the same sentence together unless there was a not between them.

Maneuvering her arm so that it now rested on Bain's shoulders, she began to lead him towards school, walking at his side like she was an old friend and not a bitter…well, whatever she was to him before the amnesia had set in.

Regardless of that, she still recalled what that Kuran kid had said to her yesterday. She was jealous, eh? Well, as she had told Jack as he laid on the floor of their abandoned house, bleeding to death, Bain was hers.

She supposed that perhaps she was a bit possessive.

Just a bit, though.

Alright, so she wasn't just a little bit possessive.

The moment the two of them had arrived at school, who was there waiting for them? Gary the Mormon in all his cheeriness and today he had someone waiting with him. If she recalled correctly, that was Kyra McCloud standing right next to the blond and she too was smiling…straight at Bain…now this was starting to get ridiculous.

"Good morning Bain!" Gary greeted. "It's great to have you back!"

Bain, meanwhile, was blinking dumbly at the Mormon as if he hadn't expected such a greeting. "Okay," he said slowly.

"Oh, before I forget," Gary continued, "this is Kyra. She wanted to meet and get to know you so if you have anything you want to talk about, she's right here for you."

"Hi," Kyra said, smiling warmly at Bain. Charlie didn't like it though she couldn't tell you why. In fact, she liked this less than Gary for some reason. Maybe it was because Kyra was a girl and she felt her territory was being intruded upon. Whatever the reason was, she was eyeing Kyra critically, as if daring for her to move an inch into Bain's personal space.

She didn't need any more competition for Bain's attention.

She did not just think that.

Fuck!

So there was the four of them heading to the school, Charlie on one side, Gary and Kyra on the other. Bain looked uncomfortable, probably because he wasn't used to being surrounded by so many people or maybe because the last time so many people gathered around him he ended up in a trashcan. She wouldn't blame him if he freaked out.

"Wanna go to class with me?" Gary asked in the upbeat tone of his. Charlie narrowed her eyes at that.

"He's coming with me," she told him matter-of-factly. Uh uh, she wasn't sharing him today, thank you very much!

"How about he comes with me?" Kyra asked shyly.

Charlie raised an eyebrow at that. "Do you think you could protect him if these assholes try to pick on him?"

"Of course!" Kyra said readily.

"And aren't you friends with Bebe and Kim?" she pointed out. "I think Kim has it out for him."

"True," Kyra mumbled, "but wouldn't it be better if we mix it up? They won't be able to plan tricks in advance."

"She has a point," Gary agreed.

"Well, well, didn't expect for you to show your face around here you fag."

Charlie glared at the sight of a smug Cartman who had just interrupted their little debate. Yeah, here was the worst of them in all his chubby glory. She didn't like how he had one of his hands behind his back, an obvious sign that he was hiding something.

"Oh, didn't expect to see your rolls of fat so early," Charlie retorted back, rolling her eyes.

"Ey! It's not fat! My ribs just stick out farther than normal!" Cartman snapped back. In his indignation, he planted both of his hands on his hips, including the hand he had hidden behind his back that was now revealed to have a water balloon in it. Apparently forgetting that he had been holding it, he had pressed it against his hip harshly and that had caused enough pressure to allow it to pop and drench the side of his leg in cold water. "Fuck!" he howled. "Now look what you made me do!"

"It looks like you pissed yourself," Kyra spoke up impulsively.

"Well, yeah, if his dick was pointed that way," Charlie agreed. "Must have drank a lot of soda."

"Oh fuck you guys," Cartman snarled, glaring at them murderously. "Seriouslah, fuck you guys so hard."

"Ees zhere a problem?" came a smooth voice. The teens then noticed that there stood Principal Estrada who was watching them as if they were nothing more than a family friendly sitcom. His eyebrows rose as he eyed the large wet stain on Cartman's pants. "Why Senor Cartman! Your pants! What happened?"

Cartman blinked dumbly at the man before a conniving smirk graced his lips, disappearing almost immediately as he began to shed crocodile tears. "Principal Estrada," he sniffed, pausing after every few words as if he was actually crying, "I was just…minding my own business…and that kid right there…in the black coat…he…he threw a water balloon at me…for no reason…and I was just minding my own business…"

Charlie, Gary, and Kyra stared blandly at the fat teen. Charlie felt herself inwardly cringing at the bad acting; only an absolute moron would fall for such a—

"Oh poor Senor Cartman!" Principal Estrada fawned over the obese teen, placing a reassuring hand on Cartman's shoulder. "You should go to zhe nurse's and zee eef you need to go home. Zhees had to be a traumatic experience for you."

Okay, she stands corrected. The principal was a moron.

"You're…you're so nice…" Cartman blubbered.

"You are a studeent," Principal Estrada said as the gently shooed the fat teen away. "Eet ees my responsibility to make sure no one geets hurt een my school."

Oh, so this asshole was suddenly the greatest principal in the world? Hadn't he threatened to fail her if she didn't leave Bain alone? And why the hell was he accepting Cartman's sob story so easily?

"Zhat was not a good theeng you deed, Senor Cynis," Principal Estrada spoke, his voice no longer friendly but stern. "Zhees school does not accept bullyeeng. For zhees infracture, I am giveeng you afterschool detention."

"What?" Charlie exclaimed. "Are you high? Cartman's been bullying Bain all this time yet you've done shit about it!"

"No curseeng een my school, Senorita White," Principal Estrada reprimanded. "Would you also like an afterschool detention?"

"First you threaten me, then you pull this shit?" she snarled. "Who the hell do you think you are you fucking creep?"

"Detention," Principal Estrada snipped, handing it out like he did it all the time. "I expect to zee both of you zhere on zhe dot."

Oh, this asshole was just asking for it…

"If they have detention, then so do I!" Gary exclaimed, staring down the principal determinedly. "It is not fair that my friend has to be punished for something he didn't do while Eric Cartman gets away with whatever he wants!"

"Senor…er…leettle boy," Principal Estrada said, "just go on to class. Why would you want an afterschool detention? You've done notheeng wrong."

"It's Gary Harrison to you, dickwad," Gary spat at the man. "The only thing being done wrong is you having a job here so why don't you suck on my balls?"

Principal Estrada's face reddened but it was easy to see that it was out of anger than anything else. "Detention," he half-snarled."

"Give me one too," Kyra suddenly spoke up. "If…if Bain is guilty then so am I!" she declared, her voice picking up strength with each and every word she said.

"Detention must be very popular," Principal Estrada commented. "If zhat ees what you crave, detention."

"Dude," a new voice spoke up. The principal's head spun to glare at the interloper, his nostrils flaring as he glared down Kyle and Stan.

"Would you like a detention too?" Principal Estrada snapped. "I can do zhees all day."

Neither of the two boys said anything but it was obvious from the looks they were giving the principal that they weren't thinking highly of him. Stan shook his head as if he was a parent who was disappointed in their child and turned around in disapproval, Kyle copying him as the two left.

"Zhat's more like eet," Principal Estrada commented, nodding to himself as if everything was right in the world. He sent a stern look at the four of them and said, "Detention ees at four. Don't be late."

As the principal left, Charlie flipped him the bird behind his back. She knew she was going to have to do something about this asshole and she was going to have to do it soon. She hadn't associated with him before and if she thought about it, it hadn't been until after Bain came back to school that she began seeing more of him.

She was going to have to sick Christophe on him. This asshole needed an asskicking so bad.

Throughout the exchange, none of them had noticed the frown that had grown on Bain's face or the way his fingers were twitching.

"Please tell me I heard wrong."

Kyra jerked in her seat as her eyes snapped over to see Bebe and Kim eyeing her as if she was an alien lifeform. "Heard wrong about what?" she asked.

"You tried to stick up for that Bain kid," Kim said, wrinkling her nose in distaste. "Tell me that that's a rumor because I don't want to know what's going inside that head of yours."

"Well, you heard right," Kyra said defensively.

"What is wrong with you?" Kim demanded. "Seriously! Why are you trying to be nice to that asshole?"

Bebe shifted in her seat uncomfortably, "You've never done something like this before, Kyra. We're worried about you."

Kyra felt touched by that last bit, she really did, but she knew she needed to stand her ground here. She knew what her friends were up to; they didn't like what they were hearing and were hoping on putting an end to her resolve before it could hurt them socially.

"How do you know it's something I wouldn't do?" she asked pointedly.

However, she didn't get her answer from either Bebe or Kim but from DJ who was throwing her a glare. "You're falling for that bastard's act hook, line, and sinker," she said coldly. "I always thought you were better than this."

"I hate to admit it but corpse girl is right," Bebe agreed. "Kyra, we care about you. We're just trying to keep you from doing something that you'll regret."

"Thanks but no thanks," she stated bluntly. "You may not like it but what I know what I'm doing and I'm doing it because I want to."

Bebe stared at her as if she had never seen her before. "Kyra!"

Now, Kyra was someone who didn't like alienating other people as she could feel the fluctuations of her self-esteem as they rose and fell. Alienating other people was a surefire way to lower her self esteem but right now, she never felt better in her life. She was standing up for something she believed in, not caring what others thought of her.

"If you're going to be his little bitch, no skin off my back," Kim spat. "I hope that fucking prick rapes you."

"You know what, you're not a pleasant person to be around," Kyra shot back, not feeling an ounce of horror at what she was doing. "You're nothing but a bitchy shrew; the only reason people want to go out with you is for your looks. And Kyle would never go out with someone like you. If anything, he'd be repulsed!"

"You shut up," Kim growled at her.

There was a snort from DJ but none of the girls were paying any attention to it.

"Kim! Settle down," Bebe cautioned. Turning her attention back to Kyra, she said, "What's gotten into you Kyra? It's like you're a completely different person!"

"Who said that I wasn't like this?" she countered.

For once, she was feeling on top of the world and there was nothing that could tear her down. Maybe she should have done this a long time ago.

Another one is falling for the act, great. DJ snorted to herself. She knew the truth, knew that Bain's overly elaborate scheme was a hoax. She had been keeping an eye on the boy closely and had watched him sneak some torn up dolls into the trunk of a hideous pink car the day before. He couldn't hide his true self from the world forever and catching him red-handed had been a treat in and of itself for her.

She didn't interrupt him from his task because in this case, having proof that she was right was all she needed. She would give him props though, he did last a long time doing this charade.

Plus, whether she would admit it or not, she was slightly enjoying the drama that was stemming from this. The breaking of the trio of girls that was Bebe, Kim, and Kyra was entertaining.

However, it was getting time for her to do something. Sure she could revel in the fact she knew the truth but wouldn't it be better to pull the sheet off Bain's plan and be able to say to everyone "I told you so"?

It wasn't for the glory or the fact she would be able to say "I told you so" to the rest of the kids in school. No, she would do it because she was getting bored.

Watching the fireworks as everyone pounded that asshole into the ground would be all the pay she would need to do this.

Kyle was exuberant during his computer class. No, it wasn't because of all the stuff he was hearing Ryleigh gossip about or the fact that he was going to be getting some dirt on Cartman.

It was because, by some miraculous coincidence, hellspawn666 was online and he was in a chat room with her, telling her all about what he had seen that morning.

Your principal sounds like a douche.

Kyle rolled his eyes at that and typed Tell me about it. and sent the reply.

He was careful to have the computer's volume off; no sense in alerting everyone that he was not doing classwork, which he had complete a long time ago, or getting on their incompetent teacher's bad side. Said teacher was still reading the manual for the computer, still trying to figure out just out to use it and was heedless that everyone in the class had mastered what he was still trying to figure out.

You must not like this man. Would you like me to do something about him?

Kyle smiled and typed, That's sweet of you but really, I don't think you could. The guy has some kind of stranglehold on the school district, kinda like Mr. Garrison. Did you know that the only reason he's teaching high school is because he'd rather learn a new curriculum than learn some other kids' names?

So Mr. Garrison's a man now? That sounds like something he would do.

Yeah, and he hates the principal. Calls him a wetback behind his back all the time too.

Ooh, so he's racist too?

Just against Mexicans.

Ah, rapid fire replies, how he loved thee. It was better than e-mailing and having to wait a few minutes for the next reply but then again in a class like this, they wouldn't be able to say much in the short amount of time they had.

After reading hellspawn666's following reply, he decided to switch the topic to something else. I can't wait until tomorrow. We're finally going to meet, huh?

It's going to be a day you'll never forget.

He smiled giddily to himself. That was just the answer he wanted to hear…er, read. Sorry Stan but he had a date tomorrow.

Oh, don't try to dress nice, just come casual.

Huh, now how did hellspawn666 know he was planning on dressing up for this occasion? Well, if she wanted him casual, casual she would get.

"Don't you think this is getting a bit out of hand?" Wendy asked as she eyed Kim worriedly.

Watching as the slender blonde was glaring holes at Bain who sat at the other side of the cafeteria, their "former" friend Kyra seated with him instead of where she suppose to be, Bebe was beginning to agree that her oldest friend had a point. Kim was changing, her hatred towards the smaller teen altering what the other girls knew to be a sweet and generous person who could sometimes be a bitch into a mean, class A bitch shrew.

Now, they knew that the blonde had a grudge against Bain as he had tormented her years ago and made her first day of school in South Park hell so it was accepted that she'd want to get back at the bastard. However, both Wendy and Bebe were beginning to see just how into this grudge Kim was and frankly, it was concerning.

Now with Kyra apparently defecting, it looked as if Kim's hatred was reaching a new peak. Looked like it was intervention time and since Wendy was the one who was bringing this up, Bebe supposed she should go along with it.

She didn't want to lose a friend, especially not to something like this.

"Hey Kim?" Wendy asked, pointedly aiming her words at Kim.

"What?" Kim grounded out, not taking her eyes off Bain.

"Kim? Can you look at me?" Wendy pressed. "Kim?"

Bebe could swear she could hear the vertebrae in Kim's neck pop as she slowly turned her head to look at Wendy, her normally compassionate hazel eyes dark with negativity.

Okay, Bebe was firmly in Wendy's camp now. This was going too far.

"Kim," Bebe spoke up, "we're starting to get a bit worried about you. You're not acting like yourself."

"What gave you that clue?" Kim spat back sarcastically.

"Kim, we're just worried about you!" Wendy picked up. "We think that you're getting too involved with this thing with Bain. It's making you into a whole different person!"

"Maybe that's because that bastard is stealing away my friends!" Kim shot back bitterly. "The corpse girl is right. That bastard has to be faking this for some reason, probably desperate for some attention. He's so pathetic!"

"We agree on that," Bebe said, "but you shouldn't let this rule your life. It just means Bain wins."

"Oh, we'll see who wins," Kim snorted as she reached for her backpack and began digging in it for something. "Watch this," she said as she pulled out a gleaming red apple that shined like it was from some fairy tale.

"Kim, what are you…" Wendy trailed off as she figured out Kim's intentions. "Kim! Wait!"

It was too late, Kim had pitched the red fruit and damn it, she had some arm Bebe marveled to herself. The apple flew in a perfect arc, descending at the just the right angle that it landed right in front of Bain.

Even from where they sat, the girls could see Bain freeze up but the girlish shriek that followed was unexpected. Bebe felt herself slightly jolted at the fear that she could pick up from the shriek but she found she couldn't tear her eyes away from the spectacle as Bain fell out of his chair, pushing himself back against the floor as he tried to put as much space between him and the fruit as possible.

Meanwhile, the rest of the cafeteria ripped into raucous laughter, pointing fingers at the cowering teen as he scrambled away and finally fled. At his heels, the Mormon kid followed, concern palpable on his face and Charlie expressed a terrifying glare that had some people shutting up and trying to subtly move away from her.

Kim, though, was grinning like she had just won a Nobel Peace Prize. To be truthful, Bebe didn't like it as that grin didn't make Kim look like Kim anymore.

She shared a concerned glance with Wendy, expressing with her eyes a single question.

What have we been doing?

Bain was gasping as he slapped water onto his face, Gary at his side keeping him from collapsing altogether and trying to soothe his hysterics. He had the powerful urge to curl up into a ball and sink into the ground, anything to get as far away as he could from those dread red things that haunted him so.

He tried his best to keep his eyes open, only blinking when he absolutely had to. Those instances were incredibly brief but even then in the nanosecond of darkness, he could see nothing but a wall of dull red.

"Easy, man," Gary was cooing. "Easy. It's going to be all right. Take it easy."

He so much wanted to believe those words yet something was keeping him from really accepting them. It felt like there was something writhing deep inside of him, filling him up yet not expanding to the point he would burst instead preferring to coil within him and increase its presence.

"It's okay, buddy. Easy there. Easy. It's going to be okay just take deep breaths, there…"

He was listening to those kind words and slowly taking their advice, finding out that they were indeed calming him down. Just a few more minutes and he could regain his composure and then continued with his day like nothing ever happened.

But why did he feel so alone at the same time? He wasn't alone, Gary was right beside him and everything! But what was this feeling? There was more than fright there, there was something else…

As he calmed down, his thoughts began to twist from fear to something else, something darker and a few choice words popped up into his head.

Someone will pay for this.

He found that he wholeheartedly agreed with those words and this time he was not appalled by them.

He was finding it difficult to separate himself fully from those thoughts as he was beginning to feel they were his more than some dark entity within him. He was sure that this entity was the one thing that could really help him; all he had to do was reach out and accept it, let it fuse into his being…

And his torment would end while the others' would just begin…