After Airavata evaporated all of the water back to the clouds, which took almost all night, everyone was able to return to their homes. If it weren't for the mystical elephant's incredible ability to suck away all of the water from everything, the homes and their possessions would have been incredibly damaged. But other than several things being out of place, everything was dry and undamaged.
"Yeah," Trent was telling Brooke in the morning. "I was just chilling downstairs in my room. Well, I had to piss, so I went upstairs, but when I opened the door this big-ass wave of water just burst in and almost drowned me."
"Eheh, yeaaaah. I'm glad you're okay, though."
He shrugged. "Anyways, I'm almost ready to enact my revenge on that fat fuck, Cartman. I had to figure some stuff out and come up with better ideas since I'll have to use him to make up for the others too. You know, since YOU won't let me touch them."
"Uh-huh," she started peeling an orange. "I told you, I don't care what you do to Cartman."
Lucy had not joined them for breakfast, so after eating, Brooke had gone out to the shed to check up on her. She found her inside at the tables in the corner where a bunch of her lab equipment was located. She had the strange splinter from Airavata placed on the tabletop and being held up by a stand with two sets of prongs that allowed the object to balance stably. There was a large magnifying glass positioned near it and several odd tools off to the side. Lucy was writing something in one of her many notebooks.
"So," Brooke said. "Have you figured out what it is?"
"I believe I've figured out where it came from, at least." She finished writing then snapped the book shut and it vanished. She turned to face her. "Its composition is purely dark magic, specifically a similar, or perhaps the same, magic that the Nightmares use."
Brooke winced a little. "You think it came from one of them?"
"I'm almost certainly positive." She picked up a pointed metal tool and used it to tap the splinter. "Obviously, being near it or even touching it doesn't seem to have any effect. I'm thinking that it must need to be imbedded in the flesh to affect the individual. Or perhaps it needs contact with the blood?" She shook her head a little. "It's not something I'm willing to test, however. I plan to have it destroyed today."
"Good," Brooke muttered, eyeing the object with disgust. "Anything that potentially came from a Nightmare should be burned."
"Yes," Lucy agreed. "I'll have a guard pick it up and take it to the fire district so that Vulcan can dispose of it."
.
"Man," Stan was saying as they left school that afternoon. "I was kind of hoping the school would stay flooded for a little while."
"I don't know," Darren said. "I don't like school, but I like it better than having to be around my hoe-ass sisters yelling at each other."
"Sucks for you," Brooke muttered. "Oh yeah, Cartman."
He looked at her.
"Trent says he's almost ready to kick your ass."
He looked frightened for a moment. "Oh yeah? Well, tell him to bring it, bitch! I got a taser!"
"I feel like that'll just piss him off," Darren said. "Like spraying a wasp with a water bottle."
They all stopped walking for a moment to wait to cross an intersection, blissfully unaware of the streetlamp nearby that was beginning to lean until it fell over with a loud clang against the cement and blocked their path.
Kyle stared in shock. The huge metal object had fallen so close in front of him that he thought he felt it brush his nose, then he glanced back and realized that Brooke had grabbed him by his schoolbag and pulled him back a few inches just before it had fallen.
"Shit," she made a face at the pole. "I only had time to grab one of you."
"Huh?"
"Oh my god," Stan pointed at the body crushed beneath the pole. "They killed Kenny!"
Kyle was too shocked to say anything.
"Wha-" Darren blinked. "What the hell?! Why did that just fall!? I freaking hate this town!"
Brooke moved forward as she saw something flit out from beneath the fallen streetlamp and snatched the thing out of the air. At first, the others were confused, thinking she had tried to catch some tiny bug they couldn't see, but as she opened her hands a little, they saw a glowering ball of flame in her grasp.
"Dude," Darren said. "Did you just snatch up his soul?"
She smirked and cupped her hands around it. "Yeah. I feel like messing with Uncle."
"Oh dear," Lucy sighed. "You can't just hold a soul hostage!"
"Pssh, watch me." She opened her hands a little to speak sweetly to the soul. "Besides, you wanna play, too, don't you?"
His soul glowered excitedly and she giggled.
"You guys are so weird," Darren told her.
"Whatever. Go play Black Jack with Mr. Squirrel."
He looked offended.
"Is that how the two of you plan to hang around together this weekend?" Lucy stepped aside as several rats ran past to get to the crushed corpse.
"Yup," Brooke held the soul close to her and jumped over the pole to keep walking.
.
Saturday morning, Riley let Sniper out as he left the house. He figured he might as well, since the dog was staring expectantly at him while waiting by the door as the boy put his shoes on. Brooke would likely appreciate not being woken up early, too.
He watched the dog run around into the backyard, then made his way next door.
"Riley!" Butters smiled as he answered the door.
"Hey Butters," he said. "Um, I know I always tell you to stay away from Locke, but…er, I was thinking of going to check on Jake today, and I came to see if you wanted to come."
"Really?" he was surprised. "Well, sure! Uh, let me just tell my parents that I'm leaving."
"Okay, but like, don't tell them we're going to Locke." He glanced over Butters' shoulder to make sure neither of his parents were nearby. "I mean, you know…"
"Oh, well okay…but what do I tell them?"
"We're just…going for a walk."
He felt bad for having Butters lie to his parents, but he knew they would not allow him to enter the shithole of a city that was Locke. Not that he blamed them, of course. Once Butters had returned, the two of them set out along the sidewalk. Riley was rather surprised when Sniper began to follow them.
"What?" he looked back at the Doberman. "Are you coming, too?"
Sniper wagged his tail and whined.
"Okay. I guess having a big scary dog with us will be a good thing. Less people will bother us." He made a clicking sound with his tongue and the dog happily bounded over to his side.
"I thought he only listened to Brooke?" Butters asked.
"Me too." Riley shrugged. "I guess he'll listen to people she trusts, too."
Riley led the way as they walked across town towards Locke, making sure to give Locke Boulevard a wide birth. It was quite a walk from where they started, and the scenery was dramatically different.
Unlike the majority of South Park, Locke had little to no greenery aside from a few sad-looking trees along some of the sidewalks. There was no grass in the city itself, just concrete and old cracked cobble. There wasn't quite as much snow, either, but there were a lot of water puddles collected in potholes and dips in the roads. It rained pretty often there.
The buildings were also either concrete, brick, or cobblestone, so the city appeared as though it had been abandoned by time and left to fall apart. One large building they passed even had frightening little gargoyles posted at each of its four corners and a tall iron bar fence topped with arrowhead points. Butters appeared frightened by this building and moved himself between Riley and Sniper as they passed it.
There were very few people out in the open; most of the people they saw were loitering about in the alleyways or sitting on the front steps of their homes and duplexes. Butters noticed that he did not see very many adults here. Most of the people they passed were about their age or teenagers. For the most part, no one really paid them any mind, but one man started to follow them from a distance for a while until Sniper stopped to send him a vicious snarl that drove the stranger away. Riley gave Butters' hand a reassuring squeeze as Butters suddenly took hold of his hand and moved closer to him.
After turning down another street, Riley led them across to a wide alleyway where they passed what appeared to be the side or back entrances to some old clubs and abandoned restaurants. At the end of the dark alley was the door of a large brick building where a big lit lantern hanging up beside it was the only light source aside from the bit of sunlight that was able to creep down.
"This is a side entrance to the building Jake lives in," Riley explained. "The main doors are blocked off."
"Why?"
"Well, they're glass and they were boarded up a long time ago when the building was abandoned." He pushed a small button beside the door that sent a buzzing sound throughout the interior of the building then knocked several loud times on the door.
"What if he's not home?" Butters asked after a minute.
Riley shrugged. "He has a…schedule, so he should be."
Butters looked amazed as the top half of the door opened but the lower half remained where it was. Jake peered at them through a gap before fully opening the top half. He leaned on the top of the lower half of the door and smiled.
"Well, well, well! Riles and his little friend!"
"I think we're more than friends now," Butters said and Riley blushed and shifted his feet.
"Oho?" Jake laughed. "What do you mean by that?"
"Shut up," Riley shot Jake a leer that only made him laugh more before a fit of coughing interrupted him. Riley was surprised. "Are you sick?"
"Nah," he cleared his throat. "Just some smoker's cough or whatever. So, what brings ya here? Lookin' for something?"
"We came to check on you," Butters said cheerily.
He tilted his head, smiling serenely at Butters. "Hm? What for?"
"Well, that's what friends do. They check in on each other and visit sometimes."
"Ah." He hopped down from where he was and opened the rest of the door. "Well, if you're visitin', you should probably come inside, yeah? Heya poochie," he scratched Sniper's chin as the dog entered as well.
The inside was dark, with no lights except for the bright LED lantern that Jake had with him. He led them through the short hallway and into a big room where there was a large lit fireplace with two leather couches around it and a matching recliner. There was a long coffee table between the couches and the fireplace with a full ashtray located atop it. Off to one side of the room was a long counter with little filing cabinets in the wall and to the left of the counter was a flight of stairs ascending into darkness.
Jake placed a large wooden block in the fire then went over and sat in the recliner. Riley and Butters sat on the couch adjacent to him while Sniper made himself comfortable in front of the fire.
"This room is cozy," Butters remarked.
Jake smirked at the way Butters was swinging his feet a little off the edge of the couch. "You're so cute. I guess Riley thinks so, too."
"O-Oh! Thanks," Butters blushed.
Riley grunted. "Uh, so…how have things been?"
He shrugged. "Same old, same old. Nothin' exciting or worth mentionin'."
"Do you live here by yourself?" Butters asked.
"I do now. Used to have a couple of people who lived upstairs, but most of 'em left. One of 'em just kinda disappeared."
"That's scary."
"If you say so. Kinda boring actually, ya know?"
"Yeah… So, what do you do for fun?"
"Fun?" he chuckled. "I dunno. All I do is work. Other than that, I mess around with my stock, keep inventory, and sleep. What do you do?"
"Oh, I do lots of stuff! I like to play games, and dress up my little minions…"
"What are minions?"
"Hamsters," Riley answered.
"Ooh," Butters continued. "And I like to draw."
"Draw? Riley's into art, too."
Riley blinked. "I…didn't know that you knew that."
"Really? I'm sure you've mentioned it before… Ah, well, whatever. Say, how's life not getting your ass kicked all the time?"
He might have been offended by that remark if it was anyone other than Jake. "Great," he replied. "The people I live with are really nice. Uh, except Trent, I guess. But he's not so bad either. The girls really treat me like part of their family."
"Wow, how many people do you live with?"
"The…parents, two girls, Brooke and Lucy, and now there's a guy named Trent in the basement."
Jake laughed a little.
"Oh, and Brooke has a bunch of pets."
"Neat," Jake smiled brightly. "So, you've got two real parents, two sisters, and a…brother?"
"Uh, yeah, I guess so."
"Nice and warm and safe, and no one tries to hurt you?"
"Yeah. Well, Trent threatened me over cereal this morning, but it's fine."
"Ha! Sounds like a real family. I mean, not that I would now. So, what? They just adopt everyone?"
"Well, sort of… I mean, none of us are actually related, so…"
"Heh, well, I'm glad it all worked out for you." He leaned back in the chair. "You always deserved something good."
Riley felt touched by that remark, but also suddenly very sad. Why wouldn't Jake think that way about himself for once? There was literally nothing keeping him trapped here. Riley had actually tried the other day to offer for him to join them, but he politely refused. Jake may be friendly and smiles, but Riley knew better. He had seen a side of Jake that no one else even knew about. He had seen this boy go through serious depression and fits of panic and tears for seemingly no reason. He felt even worse that he had never acknowledged or even realized just how much he cared about Jake. They had been friends the whole time, but Riley only just realized it.
"Yeah," Riley said. He was looking directly at Jake now. "I think they'd like you a lot, too."
"Riles…" Jake looked away. He suddenly looked sad, almost fearful, actually.
"They would," he told him. "They wouldn't abandon you, either."
Jake suddenly looked up at him with a very startled expression, but he quickly hid it away under an awkward smile and a fake laugh. "I-I'm sure…"
That was it, Riley thought. He was too afraid of being abandoned again. Jake had a secret fear. He didn't want to accept the offer because he didn't want to get close to anyone just to be abandoned like when he was younger. Riley felt sick all of a sudden. Did Jake think that he had abandoned him, too?
"Well," Jake stood up. His voice shook and he tried to clear his throat but starting coughing violently again. "I-I'm fine," he stepped away when Riley got up to help him. "Ahem, well…I-I gotta get goin' soon. You know, work."
He noticed that he was grasping at his chest as if in pain or something. "Wait," Riley handed him a folded piece of paper. "It's, uh, my phone number. I mean, I know you don't have a phone, but if you ever pass one of those old payphones or something… You know, if…you ever need something."
"I –" he stared at the paper for a moment before taking it and smiling. "Thanks."
Jake accompanied them back to the split door and was noticeably surprised when Riley hugged him before they left.
"I'll see you later," Riley said.
"Y-Yeah."
.
Sunday afternoon, Darren had gone over to Brooke's and found her laying in her bed and lightly bouncing the bluish-white flame in the air. "You're still hoarding Kenny's soul?" he asked.
"So? Technically, all souls belong to me before they're judged."
"I thought his soul belonged to your uncle?"
"Illegally!"
He winced. "O-Okay! When are you going to let him go?"
"He can go whenever he wants," she told him, sitting up as she caught the soul one last time. She let him out of her hand to flit around the room. "He just won't."
"What? Why not?" Darren watched him fly around and accidentally bump into a lamp with a little 'ting' sound.
Brooke shrugged. "He's clingy."
The soul made a strange sound in response and flared up for a split second.
"Well, you are," she said.
"Right," Darren said and turned to leave. "I'll just leave you two weirdos alone then."
"Remember," Brooke said as he left. "Tomorrow is show-and-tell at school."
Darren had left her house in time to see Kyle and Stan walking by and went over to join them. "Hey. What are you guys doing?"
"We were going check out what they have for sale at the Gamestop," Stan replied. "Wanna come?"
"Hell yeah I do!"
"What was Brooke doing?" Kyle asked.
"Playing with Kenny's soul."
"Still?"
"She said he won't leave."
"Weirdos."
"That's what I said!"
A white van suddenly pulled up beside them and came to a stop as the window rolled down. Inside was Charles, and Lamar was in the passenger seat.
"Heyyyy!"
"Heeeyyyyyy!"
"What the hell are you guys doing?" Stan asked.
"And how'd you get a van?" Kyle added.
"We found it in the Walmart parking lot!" Lamar said.
"I hotwired it!" Charles smiled.
"So, you…stole a van?"
"Yeah!" they both cheered.
"You guys want a ride?" Lamar asked.
"No way!" Stan said. "We're not getting in a creepy stolen van!"
"Oh," Lamar said. "I guess they don't want to go to Taco Bell with us."
"Hold up," Darren held his hands out. "Guys…Taco Bell."
"We're going to Gamestop," Kyle told him sternly.
"We can stop there, too," Charles said.
"Taco Bell, guys," Darren repeated. "Taco Bell."
Stan and Kyle exchanged glances before rolling their eyes and giving in. The banshees unlocked the backdoor to allow the kids inside.
"Ew," Darren remarked as they got inside. "The inside is kinda gross. Is that a used condom!?"
The kids clustered together in the furthest corner away from the object on the floor.
"I immediately regret this," Kyle said, feeling his skin crawl at the idea of all the germs around him.
"Too bad!" Lamar said. "Charles, punch it!"
The boys fell over each other as the banshee floored it and the van took off at high speed down the street. The ride was excessively bumpy and hectic. They had no idea how long the ride was until the van finally slowed to a stop.
"Huh," Charles hit the accelerate a few times but the vehicle only made a pathetic sound in response and remained where it was. "Outta gas."
"What?!" Stan jumped up. "Where are we?!"
"In the mountains!"
"WHAT?!"
"You were supposed to take us to Taco Bell!" Darren shouted.
"I was taking a shortcut."
"IN THE MOUNTAINS!?"
"Yeah. You know, 'through the woods and over the hills' – oh, wait. That's how you get to grandma's house."
"No, no, no," Lamar shook his head. "It's over the hills and THEN through the woods."
"Ohhhh. Whoops."
"Are you guys crazy?!" Kyle snapped. "You got us stranded in the woods on a mountain?!"
"In the dark!" Lamar added.
"It's already dark out!?"
"Wow," the banshee laughed. "Sucks for you guys! Bye!" Both banshees vanished.
"Those ASSHOLES!" Stan yelled.
"Hey, where are you going?" Darren asked as Kyle opened the backdoor.
"I don't care how cold it is outside, I'm NOT spending the night in a stolen van with a used condom!"
"That's fair." He and Stan followed him outside.
They carefully made their way down the slope and into the woods, heading in the direction of town. Kyle was starting to think twice about walking through the woods at night. Every sound made him jump and turn to look for the source.
"I'm hungry," Darren complained.
"Maybe we should stop and make a fire for the night," Stan suggested. "Otherwise, we might get lost. …Either of you know how to make a fire?"
"I know from Jew Scouts," Kyle replied.
"Jew Scouts?" Darren huffed.
He shot him a glare. "Yeah?"
"N-Nothing! Nothing. Just…didn't know that was a thing."
After gathering up some materials, Stan and Darren sat to watch Kyle try to start a fire. There was a strange screech from somewhere far off that caused Kyle to jump and drop the sticks. "What was that?!"
"Aw," Darren snapped. "How are we supposed to get a fire going if you keep dropping the stuff every damn time you hear a noise?!"
"But what the hell kind of animal screeches like that?!"
"Just start the fire, I'm fucking freezing!"
"Okay, stop yelling!"
Finally, he managed to get a decent fire going and they huddled around it. Stan was sitting with his knees tightly pulled up to his chest to try and conserve heat while he gazed absently at the fire. Kyle was nervously glancing around, frightened by every little noise. While Darren, who was very hungry now, was glaring at the others from across the fire and debating on which of them he should eat first if it came to it.
The odd screech sounded again, this time it was incredibly close. "There it is again!" Kyle jumped to his feet. The others got to their feet as well.
"Well, maybe if you stopped SHOUTING!" Darren snapped.
"ME?!"
"Uh, guys…" Stan tried to get their attention but they were too busy arguing.
Something stomped out from behind a tree, rustling a bush as it moved.
"Not now Mr. Squirrel- Oh my god," Darren and the others stared wide-eyed up at the creature.
It was a bipedal beast with hooved feet that stood about eight or nine feet tall, not counting the set of antlers on its head. It looked like some kind of decaying, zombie deer man with glowing red eyes and sharp fangs and long claws on its fingertips.
"Guys," Stan whimpered. "What the hell is that?"
"Mr. Squirrel says that's a Wendigo," Darren replied.
"This is no time for your stupid squirrel jokes!" Kyle snapped.
"It's not a joke!"
The monster let out a loud roar, like a mix of a deer's bellow and a man's scream.
The boys screamed and ran away. They hurriedly climbed up a tree and clung to its trunk, hoping they had climbed high enough.
"Do you see it?" Kyle asked.
"No," Stan replied. "Do you think we lost it? What do we do?"
"Hold on," Kyle pulled a small pocketbook out of his coat pocket. "Lucy gave me this little field guide to common monsters in this area…"
"Common?!"
"Why didn't she give ME one?" Darren asked.
Kyle blushed a little. "W-Well, we were just, you know, hanging out and – and she gave it to me. A-Anyways. You called it a Wendigo?"
"That's what Mr. Squirrel said."
Kyle shot him a brief glare but continued looking through the book. "Ah, here! A Wendigo. Let's see… 'Thought by Native Americans to be the result of a man who resorted to cannibalism…'"
"Well, shit," Darren muttered to himself.
"'Highly volatile, with an insatiable hunger for human flesh…'"
"That's not helpful!" Stan said. "What are the weaknesses?"
"I don't know, it doesn't say! I just says, 'avoid at all costs.'"
"Oh, well that's REAL helpful!"
"Wait," Darren pulled a fork out of his pocket. "I've got an idea!"
"You're gonna fight it with a fork?"
"Monsters are vulnerable to silver, right? Silverware?"
"I thought that was only werewolves," Kyle said.
"Guys," Stan interrupted. "It found us!"
The wendigo was peering up at them from beneath the tree. They were just barely out of its reach. Darren let out a loud, bizarre, war cry and chucked the fork at the monster. The utensil bounced harmlessly off the wendigo's snout.
"Huh," Darren said. "Must've been stainless steel."
It blinked, then roared up at them. They screamed as it began to shake the tree.
"Hey, guys. We're back – Oh," Lamar had popped out of the ground with Charles beside him. "Uh, what are you guys doing?"
"What does it LOOK like we're doing?!" Kyle screeched.
"It LOOKS like your losing a game of hide-and-seek with Billi."
"Billi?!"
The wendigo stopped shaking the tree and looked over its shoulder at the banshees. "Oh," it said in a very calm voice. "It's you guys."
"It can talk," Kyle said breathlessly, almost collapsing as the feeling in his legs left him.
"Billi!" Charles said. "What are you doing?! What's the Princess gonna say if you eat her human friends?"
The wendigo looked surprised. "Oh! These are some of the kids the Princess likes? Oh gee, my bad…"
Darren shrugged. "Eh, no biggie." He and Stan slid down from the tree and landed in the snow below.
Lamar laughed. "I can't believe you dummies saw a monster and didn't think to mention you were friends with the Princess! Haha!"
They exchanged awkward looks. "Eh…yeah."
"Hey, Kyle," Darren called up the tree. "You going to stay up there all night?"
"He was about to EAT us!"
"Oh, get over it! It was an honest mistake."
Billi scratched at his cheek. "Er, you guys aren't gonna tell the Princess that I almost ate you, are ya?"
"Nah," Darren smiled up at him. "It's all good, man."
"Yeah," Stan shrugged. "At least we're alive, I guess."
"Yeah," Lamar nodded. "We went back to get you guys, but you weren't there! So, we followed the sound of pitiful screaming."
"Why did you leave us in the first place?!" Stan snapped at them.
"We had to get the magic sack!" Charles held up a brown sack. "You know, to take you guys home!"
"…Oh."
"Well," Darren said. "You could've freaking mentioned that before you just vanished."
"Whatever," Charles snorted. "Just get in the sack."
"Oh, first," Darren turned back to the wendigo. "Do cannibals actually turn into you guys?"
"What? No," Billi told him. "That's just a human myth. I was born like this."
"Oh, cool. Okay, we can go now."
To be continued…
Lol
