There's going to be quite a break in the case today. Get ready for things to really move along in the mystery. Also, this chapter focuses on Token.
BTW, I have a Twitter if you want to look me up and send art my way. Or just bother me a lot. Look me up at White Thunder ThunderingWhite. Look for the picture of the horse.
Also, just a note to fans of my other South Park stories: I just reread this story and now I'm more determined than ever to finish it. So I'm going to mainly focus on this one right now until it's finished. I'm still going to work on my other stories, but I'm going to mainly work on this one.
Chapter 18 – Token
Scrolling through the news article again, Token sighed. No matter how many times he looked at it nothing changed. Nothing new popped out at him, suddenly giving new insight to this case. He felt totally useless. He wanted to help Stan and Craig, but this wasn't getting him anywhere.
He wondered how Craig was feeling right now. Yesterday had been Tweek's birthday and he knew that Craig had put a lot of thought and effort into his gift. Maybe he should go over and talk to him, see how he was doing. He didn't care what Clyde thought, he wanted to comfort his friend.
Getting up from his computer desk, he got changed and had his parents drive him over to Craig's house. He didn't want to take any chances, after all. He knocked on the door and waited. After a minute, Tricia Tucker answered.
"Oh, hey Token," she greeted a bit solemnly. Usually she was usually so boisterous and annoying, Token was kind of stunned by her mood shift. "You here to see Craig?"
"Yeah," he answered.
"Come on in," she opened the door for him, "He just got back from the Tweak's house."
"What was he doing there?" Token asked a bit shocked. Tricia shrugged.
"I dunno," she replied, "I think he was just really depressed because it was Tweek's birthday so he went to visit his parents or something."
Token followed her inside then split to go up to Craig's room. At the top of the stairs, he knocked softly on the door, announced himself, waited for Craig to say he could come in, and opened the door.
Craig was sitting on his bed staring at the floor while Clyde sat next to him. He looked up as Token came in and tried to smile.
"Hey Token," he greeted, "I'm glad you're here. I could really use a few friends right now."
"I heard you went to the Tweaks last night," Token said. Craig sighed heavily.
"Yeah, I just thought they might like a friend considering, well, you know," he replied. Token nodded.
"I understand. I was thinking that maybe today we should get together with Stan and try to find more clues and info about the kidnapping that happened at North Park," he suggested, "I mean, if you're up to it."
Almost immediately, Craig looked up, a determined expression on his face. "Of course I'm up to it!" he declared, "We can't give up! Tweek and everyone else needs us! Call Stan and see if he's awake yet!"
Grinning, Token pulled out his phone and called Stan. He still sounded depressed, but after a little persuasion, he agreed to go with them. Then three hurried out the door and raced over to Stan's house, where he was sitting on the porch, waiting for them.
"Hey guys," he greeted lowly when they approached, "Sorry if I'm a bit slow today considering…"
"Don't worry," Craig said, "We totally understand. In fact, if you'd rather stay home, we wouldn't be mad."
Stan shook his head and stood up. "No, I have to do something," he replied, "If I sit at home all day I'll drive myself mad with worry and regret. I have to do this."
"All right then. Where do we start today?" Clyde wondered.
"I think we need to go back to the school," Craig decided, "We need to find out more about our teachers and do some research on them."
"Good idea," Token agreed, "I've always had my suspicions on a few of them. Mr. Adder was always weird to me. Mr. Biggleston and Mr. Johnston seemed to know too much."
"All right then, let's start with those three," Craig said, "We can check out the gym teachers later."
The group made their way to the school, keeping close to each other so they wouldn't get separated. Thankfully, they saw no one the entire way to the school. There was practically no one at the school when they got there either. The only ones there were the goths, and they were clearly not there for schoolwork.
"Come on," Craig urged, "Let's go inside."
They made their way past the goths and into the school. Once inside they started heading towards the classrooms.
"So, who do we have 'class' with first?" Clyde asked.
"We're talking to Mr. Adder first," Token replied, "Then Mr. Johnston, and then Mr. Biggleston."
Their conversation came to a halt when Jimmy came hobbling towards them. He still seemed sad about Timmy's disappearance but he brightened a little when he saw his friends.
"H-Hey guys!" he greeted, "Wh-What's u-up?"
"Nothing much," Stan replied, "Just going to class to question the teachers. Wanna join us?"
"N-Nah," Jimmy shook his head, "I j-just got out of c-class. I'm heading h-home."
Token gave him a concerned look. "All by yourself?" he asked, "Are you sure you don't want one of us to go with you to be safe?"
"Oh, d-don't w-worry about m-me," Jimmy told him, "M-my mom's coming t-to pick me u-up. She'll prob-probably be here by the t-time I get to the d-door."
The group still looked concerned, but there was no arguing with Jimmy. Token sighed.
"Well, if you're sure…" he murmured.
"It'll b-be all right fellas," Jimmy dismissed, "See y-ya l-later!" He waved as he slowly wobbled down the hall towards the front doors.
"I hope he'll be ok," Token said, watching him go.
"I'm sure he'll be fine," Clyde waved him off, "Jimmy's tougher than he looks. Come on, let's go talk to those teachers."
With silent agreement, the group continued towards the classrooms. Mr. Adder's door was open and in typical creepy Mr. Adder way he was just standing by his desk, staring at the door when they came in. As always when Token saw him, the math teacher greatly unnerved him.
Swallowing softly, he entered first, followed by the others. "Um, good afternoon, Mr. Adder," he greeted.
The teacher slowly grinned his creepy, crooked grin. "It is a good afternoon, isn't it, Mr. Black?" he said, his voice soft with eeriness, "Please come sit down. Your friends as well and we can begin the lesson."
The boys all came in and sat close together. "Er, Mr. Adder," Token said, clearing his throat, "Before we begin today's lesson, do you mind if we ask you some questions?"
"Questions?" Mr. Adder repeated, "Like, for instance about your missing friends?"
Several bodies stiffened.
"Oh don't worry. I know all about your investigation. You must be worried about them. I would be too if my friends and lovers disappeared." He laughed with his scratchy, wheezy chortle.
Token swallowed nervously. Was he acting this way on purpose to mess with them? "Yes, well, we learned that you used to teach in North Park where a string of kidnappings had happened previously," he told him.
"Did I?" Mr. Adder asked innocently, "I don't remember."
"Don't lie to us!" Stan growled, "We know you had something to do with it! So talk!"
"Calm down, Stan," Craig murmured, "Putting on the 'bad cop' routine a little too heavy there."
Mr. Adder chuckled. "Oh yes, I remember now," he said, "I did work at North Park. The police did extensive checks on me. I was one of their primary suspects, you see. I have no idea why. But they never found anything. Those poor innocent children. They were returned to their families. But I don't know what that has to do with what's happening now."
"It has everything to do with what's happening now," Token said, "We believe that the same person who kidnapped those teens back then is the same kidnapper now!"
"Do you?" Mr. Adder snickered, "Well I can assure you that I had nothing to do with it."
"A likely story," Stan muttered.
It seemed like they weren't going to get anything out of Mr. Adder, so they simply sat through his lesson and moved on. Next up was Mr. Johnston the science teacher. Token liked him a lot more than Mr. Adder, but ever since the experiment with the rat, which seemed like ages ago now, he had been unnerved by him.
Mr. Johnston was sitting at his desk writing notes when the boys entered his classroom. He was so absorbed in his work he didn't even notice them come in. The sound of chairs pulling out is what made him look up.
"Ah! Sorry boys! I didn't see you enter!" Mr. Johnston jolted, "Come, sit down."
The boys came in and took their seats. Mr. Johnston gave them all friendly smiles. "So, what can I do for you boys?" he asked, "Is there anything you need before we get started on the lesson?"
"Um, yes, actually," Craig replied, "We were wondering if you could tell us about your time working as a teacher at North Park."
Mr. Johnston cocked his head. "How did you know I used to work at North Park?" he wondered.
"We have our ways," Stan said in a sly voice. Token gently nudged him in the side.
"Yes, it's true I did teach there," he said with a small sigh, "I'm guessing this has to do with the recent kidnappings and the ones that happened in North Park? You think they're related?"
"Well, we have found a lot of similarities," Clyde answered. Mr. Johnston nodded.
"I've come to that conclusion myself, actually," he mused, "I was there when the first kidnappings occurred. Many of the teens were students from my class. It really shook up North Park and I don't think it ever fully recovered."
"What about you, Mr. Johnston?" Token asked, "How were you affected?"
He sighed. "I couldn't bare to stay in a town with a kidnapper," he replied, "North Park is a fair bit bigger than South Park so the community wasn't as close nit as it is here, but it was still jarring. To think that it's happening again makes me sick."
The boys all mumbled their agreement.
…
"I think we can safely cross Mr. Johnston off the suspect list," Token said as they left the classroom, "He seemed sincere with his feelings about the kidnappings."
"You think so?" Clyde asked, giving a sideways look, "I'm not so sure."
"What do you mean?" Craig wondered, looking at him. Clyde cast his eyes down to the floor.
"I mean that I don't think we should eliminate any suspects just because they seem nice or act sad," he explained, "It could be a trick or something. Psychopaths lack empathy but can make it look like they have emotions. That's why some serial killers take so long to be arrested or are never found out. Because people think 'that person would never do something like that.'"
As Craig and Stan nodded in agreement, Token stared. Did Clyde know more than he was letting on? He had already suspected that Clyde was hiding something, but that seemed really specific. Was he hinting something about Mr. Johnston?
"Hopefully, Mr. Biggleston will give us some clues," Craig said, knocking Token from his thoughts, "Remember how dodgy he was in class when we asked him about the North Park kidnappings?"
"Oh yeah! He got really defensive!" Stan exclaimed, "I couldn't get it out of my mind. I kept wondering what he was hiding."
"Why don't we find out?" Token encouraged.
They entered Mr. Biggleston's class where the history teacher seemed to be packing stuff up. He startled and yeeped when the boys pushed the door open.
"Eep! Er, uh hello boys," Mr. Biggleston stuttered, "Sorry, I forgot you were coming. I'm rather busy at the moment…"
"Oh are you?" Stan asked accusingly, "What are you doing? Trying to ditch town before anyone finds out about your nefarious kidnapping ring?"
Mr. Biggleston swallowed loudly and pulled at his collar. "N-No," he insisted, "It's not like that. This whole thing has just really badly affected me and I just want to get out of town."
"Why?" Token wondered, "What happened Mr. Biggleston? Why does this whole thing upset you so much?"
The teacher stared at them all for a moment before giving a defeated sigh. "I guess I can't win," he muttered, "I should've know I can't run from my past. Sit down, kids, you're gonna want to hear this."
The boys all took a seat as Mr. Biggleston stood in front of them. He took a deep breath. "I'm sure you know this, but I used to work as a teacher in North Park," he began, "I had a family there. A loving wife and a son who was about your age. Life was pretty good. But then…" he paused and Token saw that he was holding back tears, "The kidnappings started. Of course I was worried about my own son, so I became overprotective of him. I forbade him from going out after dark and I didn't want him to hang out in any group of friends that was less than three people. And I didn't trust any adult, even ones we knew well. I guess… I guess I was smothering him. One day we got into a huge argument, then he stormed out, saying he was going out with his friends." He broke off as a tear ran down his cheek. He barely contained a sob. "I never saw him again," he finished.
Everyone was silent for a moment as the words sunk in. Token spoke first. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Biggleston," he told him, "We had no idea that happened to you. We've all lost someone to these recent kidnappings. That's why we're trying so hard to find the kidnapper."
Mr. Biggleston sniffed sadly. "I'm sorry if I misled you boys," he said, "It's just so hard thinking about what happened. Wondering what I could've done differently. After I lost my son, my wife and I split up and I moved to South Park to get a fresh start. I just hope that someday whoever kidnapped my son will be brought to justice so I can finally have some resolution."
"Don't worry, sir," Craig said determinedly, "If we have anything to say about it, we'll find that bastard soon. And he'll pay for what he did to all of us."
Token shivered slightly. He could practically see fire in Craig's eyes.
…
When they walked out of the school, Token was very confused to see Mrs. Valmer's car parked outside. Why was she still here? Didn't Jimmy go home a while ago?
"Boys!" Mrs. Valmer called out, waving them over, "Have you seen Jimmy? He was supposed to meet me here!"
"Yeah, we saw him heading out of the school," Stan answered, "He wasn't here when you arrived?"
"No, I haven't seen him," she replied, "And I've been waiting for a good half an hour!"
A horrible feeling started forming in Token's stomach. He had a feeling that none of them were going to see Jimmy again for a long time, if ever again.
I'm so sorry for how long this took to get out! I looked and man over a year since I updated! I'm really sorry! I'm going to try to work on this more and I want to finish it. This is my oldest fanfic that I plan to finish that's not on hold. And you guys deserve to see the end. But keep in mind that this one is also kind of hard to write because of the mystery and the subject matter. But I promise that unless I label a story as "Discontinued" in the description or just straight up delete a story, I will not abandon it! Anyway, please leave a comment as they give me life!
