Chapter 26

Gregory

There is an awful, dreadful feeling at the pit of my stomach. I should have swapped roles with Sheana an hour ago, and she has not returned. My mind plays through a number of nightmare scenarios, all ending in her death. I have convinced myself that either the antichrist has got her, or the demon he or Pip are controlling has.

"I'm scared." I admit to Christophe.

My finger twitches as the smell of nicotine reaches my nose. I am tempted to steal one from my friend just to ease my stress. Me, who complains constantly about his habit.

"She's fine." he soothes, but his voice is shaking and his eyes are wide.

"I don't know..." I say.

"There's nothing we can do." Christophe insists. "We don't know where in South Park she could be to go and find her."

I am about to argue, but my phone buzzing in my pocket cuts me off. I pull it out and my heart leaps hopefully when Sheana's caller id flashes on the screen.

"Sheana, are you okay?" I almost shout down the phone without meaning to.

"She is, for now." A deep voice responds, and shivers run down my back. I quickly press for it to go onto loudspeaker so Christophe can hear. "She's still asleep."

"Don't hurt her." I hear myself say.

"I'm going to give you a chance to save her." the voice says. "Meet us at the high school at midnight. You and the other one come alone. If you bring anyone else, the cops, Kenny, Kyle... I will cut her pretty little throat."

He pauses to let the information sink in.

"If you come before you're supposed to, I will break her fucking neck. Do as you are told, and she has a chance of surviving. If not, then she will die by my hand. Act wisely, Gregory."

And then the dial tone rings out. Christophe is trembling as much as I am, and his eyes are as wide as mine must be.

"We need to listen to him." I say desperately.

I've only just won Sheana over for real, and I'm not going to lose her now. Not to the antichrist, not to anyone.

"It's a trap." Christophe says. "I know its hard, but some sacrifices have to be made."

"What?" I demand. "How the fuck can you be as cold. One of our friends is going to die!"

"People die everyday." Christophe says. "And us dying with her won't change that. You've only known her for a month, and we survived before we met her. We survived better."

I shake my head, disgusted.

"You can't mean that Christophe." I say. "And if you do... If you won't help her... Well, it looks like I'll have to do it alone."

"It'll be suicide." he warns.

I know he is right, but I don't care. Yes, we managed fine without her, maybe we were a better team, more efficient, before we met her but now... Now I can't even stand the thought of living in a world without her. I have to at least try to save her.

"I am a self-sufficient man, Gregory." he argues, and I can't believe what I'm hearing. "If you want to get yourself killed for her then be my guest. I'm not though. Its her own fault for getting caught."

"She is one of your closest friends." I say, hoping that this is all just some sick joke.

He shakes his head.

"Looks like she was." he shrugs. "I'm sorry, but she is not worth my life. She shouldn't be worth yours either."

"She is." I growl, fighting the urge to hit him. "And you can't stop me from going for her."

"I'm not going to try."

Christophe is a dick. It's just his personality.

I'm going on a short trip tomorrow and won't be back until Thursday, and I won't have any access to internet so the next chapter won't be posted until then. Sorry guys.