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Chapter 8

The Morning After

Squidward and Sandy paced anxiously as they waited for their friends to come home, they had heard the panic from their young friend and seen how sickly green Patrick's face had gone as he tried to reassure the frightened boy. They didn't know what had happened or if SpongeBob was hurt. They had been told to prepare a warm bath and clean clothes when Patrick called them to let them know they had him, they had everything ready but the wait was taking too long.

They both froze when they heard a car pull up outside, they heard the doors open and slam shut before two people hurried towards the door.

They hurried over as the front door opened, Mr Krabs came in first then Patrick. Both were dripping wet but Patrick had splashes of mud all up his front and around his ankles, he was carrying a soaked, filthy and alarmingly unconscious SpongeBob.

Sandy hurried forward to see him only to gasp when she saw his blue lips.

"He's freezing." Mr Krabs informed them as Patrick hurried upstairs. "Soaked through and exhausted."

Patrick warmed his friend up alone, he dressed SpongeBob and tucked him into bed.

Everyone looked at him when he came down the stairs with two towels, he handed one to Mr Krabs and they both started drying their hair.

"How the hell did this happen!?" Squidward demanded furiously,

"His wrist is bruised…" Patrick informed them gravely, "I think it's just twisted, doesn't feel broken but we can get a better look at it in the morning."

The others shook their heads, they were upset over what had happened.

"What did the boy say to you on the phone?" Mr Krabs asked quietly, choked up with worry.

"He was drunk as hell." Patrick growled, his knuckles turned white as he clenched his shaking fists. "He never gets that drunk! He was terrified, I've never heard him like that before… He didn't know where he was or what had happened, he thought they'd been attacked and he told me he was hurt. He was having a tough time staying awake and visible coz he fell down a bank."

"Attacked?" Sandy repeated in horror, the glanced between the males. "Should we be worried about Phineas if they were attacked? Maybe he was just as drunk, what if he's hurt or freezing to death out there!"

"If he's not the one who attacked him." Squidward crossed his arms, looking at the others to see what they'd say.

"I don't believe he'd do that." Sandy shook her head,

"Either way, SpongeBob was alone and defenceless! I think he deserted him!" Patrick paled at the thought, "He abandoned him, probably to save his own skin!"

"They were both careless." Mr Krabs soothed after taking a deep breath, "It doesn't matter, SpongeBob's safe in bed. He's ok and, tomorrow, we'll look into how Phineas is."

They all agreed and headed to bed for a restless night after the jarring events. Patrick ended up slipping into bed with SpongeBob, needing the reassurance that his best friend was there and ok.

When SpongeBob finally came to, he was aware of only a few things. His wrist was throbbing painfully along with the back of his skull, his nose felt sniffly, he was in a soft bed with someone warm and the rain was still thundering down on their sleepy town.

He groaned, flexing his fingers on the arm with the painful wrist.

"Buddy?" Came a soothing voice by his side, SpongeBob opened his eyes and glanced at his friend sleepily.

"Patrick? What happened?" He croaked, wincing as he shifted briefly. "Ughhh everything hurts…"

Patrick hugged him softly before slipping out the bed, he stood stiffly but gave his friend a reassuring smile.

"Stay here, I'll get you some painkillers and a drink. I'll let the others know you're awake." He nodded gently, "Just take a minute and try and remember what you can, we'll figure this out together."

SpongeBob nodded in confusion and watched as his friend hurried out the room, he groaned as he sat up. His mind thought back to last night, he really couldn't remember much but he could remember being afraid. He could remember feeling his survival instincts kick in and he was afraid he would die, but that's not much.

It was then his four friends strolled into the room, Mr Krabs handed him a glass of water and pain killers. They waited until he had taken them.

"Ok we need you to tell us everything you can remember." Squidward stated as clearly as he could.

"Um… I remember being at the bar, it was really gross… The last clear memory I have is coming back from the bathroom and seeing Phineas drinking." The boy admitted, wincing from his headache. "I… I remember the rain, I was grabbed from behind… I knew whoever it was was trying to take me somewhere, I fought back… I was really scared and I thought I'd never get home… I remember yelling and Phineas yelling then I remember running and falling… That's it."

The others listened to him with sympathy, waiting patiently for him to finish his recollection.

"Wow…" Sandy breathed as she let the information sink in, "That sounds… terrifying…"

"It was." SpongeBob swallowed, looking down at his bruised and swollen wrist.

"You were sure whoever was attacking you was trying to kidnap you?" Squidward confirmed warily.

"Yeah, they were dragging me the wrong way!" He nodded hurriedly, "They were really rough!"

"Was it Phineas?" Mr Krabs asked, starting to get angry again.

"I… I don't think so… Why would he want to kidnap me?" SpongeBob frowned, "I honestly don't know."

They fell quiet as Sandy stepped forward to check SpongeBob's wrist, she confirmed it wasn't broken just twisted.

"Wait!" SpongeBob gasped as his head whipped around to search the room, "Where's my phone!?"

The others groaned when they realised, he hadn't come home with it, SpongeBob deflated at the loss.

"Aww man!" He moaned miserably, "I can't believe I lost it!"

"You called me on it, we'll just go back to where we found you and search the area." Patrick shrugged, "Hopefully it's still there."

"Yeah, I guess." The boy pouted before giving his friends an earnest look. "Um… Thanks for saving me last night… I don't know where I'd be or what would've happened to me if I didn't have you guys…"

They smiled gently at him, they'd rather not think of what could have happened the previous night. They knew it would be a while before they let the boy go out alone with Phineas again.

The rain had lightened considerably though the sky was still heavy with dark, threatening clouds. Mr Krabs and Squidward headed out the front door, slipped into the older man's car and headed off to do some detective work. They planned to check the bank for their friend's phone, then head to Phineas' place to see if they could get more information.

"You really think Patrick and Sandy can keep SpongeBob in bed?" Squidward asked as he glanced out the window, eyes scanning over the drenched landscape.

"Not at all." Mr Krabs smirked weakly, "He has the two of 'em wrapped around his little finger."

"Along with the rest of the town." Squidward rolled his eyes tiredly, "So, how far away was he when you went to get him?"

"He was at the opposite end of town. Honestly, I nearly drove passed him… It was Patrick that somehow spotted him." Mr Krabs sighed, glancing in his mirror. "I don't know how, the boy was covered in the mud he was lying in."

Squidward shook his head, feeling sick.

"I still can't believe it even happened… This is Bikini Bottom, the smallest and most boring town on the planet!" He scrubbed his face, "And to SpongeBob of all people! The one guy who, as annoying as he is, nobody would ever want to hurt."

"You genuinely think Phineas is behind all this don't you?" Mr Krabs asked, though it sounded like more of a statement than a question. Squidward glanced at him briefly but the other man's face was stoic, not giving his thoughts away.

"Just seems awfully suspicious, he moves in and suddenly SpongeBob is turning up drunk, hurt and alone in the middle of the night?" Squidward grit his teeth, "If it wasn't him then where was he? Why did the kid have to deal with it all alone? Why didn't he look after him?"

"We don't know the full story." Mr Krabs reminded his friend, "For all we know, Phineas did try to protect him… we'll just have to see what kind of state he's in, if we can find him at all. Who's to say it was SpongeBob that they were kidnapping?"

"You think he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time?" Squidward asked in surprise.

"Think about it," Mr Krabs glanced at Squidward briefly, "The guy moves here out of nowhere, nobody knows where he's from or anything about his life before he came to town! Is it really so hard to believe that someone might be after him? Maybe he moved here to escape someone, maybe he's the victim in all this."

"I don't know," Squidward shook his head with a frown, "I just don't see it, I see why someone would wanna hurt the guy. He's weird as hell but why would they grab his friend? Surely, they'd just kill the kid or knock him out? He was too drunk to really know what was happening anyway."

"There's no use theorising anyhow, we'll only know when we talk to Phineas." Mr Krabs shrugged, "We won't mention any of this to him, we'll simply ask him what happened."

"Agreed." Squidward nodded firmly.

The rest of the ride was in silence.

Mr Krabs pulled up next to the familiar spot, the two left the red car to investigate. The rain was now just a light drizzle, the two shuffled over to the bank.

"Shit." Squidward cursed as he looked over, at the bottom of the steep incline was a deep mud puddle. They could see dips in the bank where someone had dug their feet in to climb up, water pooled in them and dribbled down to add to the mess below.

"We could go down there and search through the mud?" Mr Krabs suggested weakly.

"There's no way we're finding a tiny phone in that flood!" Squidward scoffed, "Besides, that phone is no use now. It can't survive all that sludge, it would be a waste of time. Kid will just have to get a new one."

Mr Krabs shrugged, he couldn't argue with that. They headed back to the car but something caught Squidward's eyes, he wandered over along the bank. He frowned as he crouched down, footprints – someone had stood there and gone no further forward. He also noticed a trail leading to the standing prints and away again, they were faint but they were there.

"Someone saw what happened…" Mr Krabs breathed before shaking his head, "That's kind of a stretch actually, isn't it?"

Squidward shook his head, not sure. He couldn't get the image of someone just watching SpongeBob panic out of his head, why else would someone have stopped here?

"Come on, we need to visit Phineas." Mr Krabs beckoned as he headed back to the car, "That's the only way we're gonna get any more answers, we're not detectives no matter how many crime books you've read."

Squidward stood, glancing at the trail one more time before joining his boss in the car. Mr Krabs was right, hopefully Phineas had the answers.

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