Things are getting closer and closer to the reveal! I don't know if it will be any good or exciting, as I'm not that great at writing mysteries. Hopefully, I won't disappoint anyone. That's my main goal. Anyway, we're back with Stan in this chapter and things are going to continue to stay heavy.
Chapter 20 – Stan
Stan was in a crisis. It should have been over. Jason should've been the last one. There should've been no more kidnapped victims. So why did Karen McCormick disappear? Was it that they were wrong about this entire case? Maybe Karen's disappearance had nothing to do with the other kidnappings? What did it all mean?
He was curled up on his bed, trying to make sense of everything. Had they been wrong the whole time? What if this wasn't the same kidnapper as the North Park one?
A sudden knock on his door startled him out of his thoughts. He sat up and was about to tell them to come in, but then remembered Jason's kidnapping. "Who is it?" he asked instead.
"It's Craig."
This eased his worries a bit. "Come in," he called.
Craig slowly opened the door and entered, careful to step around the stuff on the floor. He walked over to where Stan laid on his bed and gave him a curious look. "What are you doing?" he asked, "Why are you just lying on your bed like that?"
"I give up, Craig," Stan muttered, "I can't do it. I thought we could solve this mystery, but it's clear we're in over our heads. I don't know what I was thinking."
"Is this about Kenny's sister?" Craig wondered. Stan made a sad, defeated sound. The other teen sighed. "I thought so." He went over and sat down on the bed. "Come on, Stan, you can't give up so easily! Everyone is counting on you! Think about Wendy! Think about Kyle! Kenny and Butters! They need you!"
"But Craig-"
"But Craig nothing!" Craig cut him off, "You can't lay here, wallowing in despair because it's getting hard! We can figure this out together! We just need to keep investigating before the trail runs cold. But I can't do it without you."
Stan blinked up at him and let out a huge sigh. "I know, Craig. And I want to help. It's just…" he paused and sighed again, "I can't figure out why this guy would kidnap Karen. Why would he risk it?"
"Well, let's figure it out together," Craig suggested, "Who's the person who cares about Karen the most?"
"Kenny, of course," Stan said immediately.
"Exactly," Craig replied, "And Kenny has been kidnapped. And I assume that the kidnapper wouldn't want to risk anything he didn't have to. My guess is that Kenny was making an escape attempt and the kidnapper decided to take Karen, threatening to hurt or kill her if he didn't stop."
Stan blinked at him in shock. Why hadn't he thought of that? He sat up and got off the bed. "This investigation's not over yet!" he declared.
Craig grinned at him. "That's the spirit!" he said, clapping Stan on the back, "Come on. We need to go to the McCormick's house. I know Mr. McCormick threatened us last time, but maybe we can convince him that we're only trying to help."
"Should we call the others?" Stan wondered.
"Not yet," Craig decided, "I think we'll come off as less threatening if it's just the two of us."
Stan thought of it for a moment then nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that makes sense."
Before they headed out, Stan left a note for his parents telling them where he was going, who he was with, and when he thought he would be back. One could never be too safe these days.
"Smart," Craig said as they left, "I left a note for my mom and Tricia too. I didn't want them to worry. It seems like all anyone does these days is worry."
"Yeah," Stan sighed, "Shelly actually comforted me when Kyle got kidnapped. In my entire life she has never once comforted me."
"Really says a lot about the state of the town," Craig murmured.
Neither of them spoke again until they were crossing the railroad tracks that led to the McCormick's house. Stuart McCormick was sitting on his porch in a rickety chair, staring off into the distance, but it didn't really look like he was seeing anything. He didn't have a gun this time. Stan wondered if he had simply given up.
Swallowing, he cautiously approached the adult. "Um, Mr. McCormick?"
"What do you want?" Kenny's dad asked, not moving his head at all, "Come to steal my last kid? Go ahead. Take him. He's useless anyway."
"No, sir, we're not the kidnappers," Stan insisted, "Kenny is our friend. We're trying to stop the kidnapper. Please, we just want to help!"
Mr. McCormick stared at nothing for a long time before finally sighing. "Fine, then," he sighed, "It wouldn't make sense anyway. I'll show ya where Kenny and Karen were last seen."
"Thank you, sir," Stan murmured. He and Craig followed Stuart into the small house.
Inside, Kevin was lying on the couch staring blankly at the TV. He weakly raised a hand in greeting as they passed. Mr. McCormick led the two boys back to Karen's room.
"This is where we last saw Karen," he told them, "As you can see, she has no windows in her room, so I don't know how the perp got in."
"That is strange," Stan muttered, looking around the room. He turned to the father. "What were you doing when she was taken?"
"I was sitting on the porch, keeping watch for anyone strange," he said.
"Did you see anyone?" Craig wondered.
"Well, I thought I did at one point," Stuart admitted, "It was dark out so I couldn't really see properly. I yelled at whoever it was to go away. But this shadowy figure kept moving. So I shot at it. I don't know if I hit or not. It didn't make a sound."
Something about all that made Stan think. Was it possible…? "Mr. McCormick is there another window in the house at all?" he asked.
"Yeh. Meh wife and my bedroom," Stuart answered, "It's the nearest one to Karen's room, at least."
"With your permission, may we take a look?" Stan requested. The man shrugged.
"I guess so. Got nothing else to lose," he said.
"Thank you, sir." Stan and Craig followed him into the bedroom. As soon as they were in, Stan went over to the window and carefully opened it. His breath caught in his throat. It was dried and dark now but it was there.
On the windowsill were a few splotches of blood.
"You did hit someone, Mr. McCormick!" Stan gasped, pointing at the blood, "But that person was determined to get in anyway! They must've snuck around where you couldn't see them and came in through the window!"
"Fuck!" Stuart cursed, "If only I had known, I would've shot the bastard again!"
"So, what does this mean?" Craig wondered.
"It means our kidnapper has an injury," Stan said, "One that they're going to want to hide."
…
"Do you really think anyone at the hospital would tell us if someone has been admitted for a gunshot wound recently?" Craig asked as he and Stan walked to Hell's Pass.
"I don't know," Stan admitted, "But it doesn't hurt to try, right?"
Taking deep breaths, the two went in and walked up to the reception desk.
"Hello young men, how may I help you?" the woman behind the desk asked.
"Hi, we were wondering if anyone has been admitted for a gunshot wound in past few days," Stan told her, "It's very important."
The woman gave them a look but started searching through her computer anyway. "No, I'm sorry. It doesn't look like it," she said after a few minutes, "There's a guy who swallowed a bunch of bullets and gunpowder to see if he could become a gun, if that's any help."
"Uh, no," Craig replied slowly, "But thanks anyway."
"Well, that's a bust," Stan sighed when they were outside.
"Not necessarily," Craig said, "We already have a list of suspects. We know our perp was shot. And now we know they didn't go to the hospital to get treated for the injury. That means they're going to be doing their best to hide it. We don't know where the perp was shot, of course, but I'm guessing that area is going to be giving them a great deal of pain."
Stan stared at him in surprise. "Wow! Maybe you should be a detective when you graduate," he complimented, "That was brilliant!"
Craig grinned sheepishly. "Thanks," he muttered, "Let's meet up with the guys later and tell them what we've found out. I told my mom I'd be home soon, so I want to go there first."
"Yeah, good idea," Stan agreed, "I'll text you and we can talk about when we want to meet up with the others."
…
Stan quickly ran towards the school, panting as he did so. He knew it was dangerous to throw caution to the wind and he probably should've asked his parents to drive him, but he was over eager. Besides, he was pretty sure the kidnappings were over now.
As he ran past an alleyway, he heard someone shouting, and the voice sounded very familiar. He stopped and backtracked to the alley, listening to the shouting. Yes, he knew that voice.
It was Cartman.
Holding his breath, Stan slowly crept a few feet into the alley to listen. Who was Cartman talking to? Judging by the pauses and lack of response, Stan suddenly realized he was talking on a phone.
"No! Fuck you!" Cartman was shouting, "That wasn't part of the deal, bud! You said nothing would happen to Kyle and now he's gone!"
Wait? Kyle? What did Cartman know about Kyle's kidnapping?
But what Cartman said next truly shocked Stan to the core.
"Ok, you know what Jackson? We're done! You had your chance! I only kept quiet about your guys' little operation as long as he was safe! But you know what, I don't know that anymore! So you're through!"
Stan stood there, frozen to the spot in absolute shock. Cartman… knew? He knew the whole time and he didn't say anything? He didn't realize he was still standing there as footsteps started coming towards him. A moment later Cartman emerged from the alley, looking pissed off.
"Oh! Hey Stan!" he greeted, trying to calm himself, "What's up with you? You look a little… on edge."
Stan stared at him in horror before taking a step backwards and fleeing the alley. He heard Cartman calling to him, but he ignored him.
What the fuck was that?! Jackson was somehow involved in the kidnappings? And Cartman knew about it the whole time? Did Cartman… betray him? Betray all of them?
As he ran towards the school, Stan had to fight back tears. He lost three of his friends and his girlfriend and now he had found that his one remaining friend was a traitor. He didn't know if he could take anymore hear break. He had to tell the others right away!
Craig, Clyde, and Token were waiting on the school steps when Stan arrived. They stood up and stared at him in concern as he ran up.
"Stan! Are you ok?" Token asked, his brow furrowed in worry.
"What's the matter?" Craig wondered.
Stan ran up to them and bent over, breathing hard, trying to get his breath back before he spoke. He was practically wheezing with the effort.
"Cartman… Cartman…" he panted.
"What about Cartman?" Clyde said.
"Cartman… has been in on it… the whole time…" Stan gasped. Then he fell over on the pavement, completely spent. Craig, Clyde, and Token quickly raced over to him, shouting his name, and hovering over him in worry.
…
"…And in other news, fourteen-year old Eric Cartman has been kidnapped just outside his single mother's residential home. The only clue that was found was the boy's smashed cell phone. Police suspect that he was abducted by the same person who had kidnapped the previous twelve victims. The police have no further clues or suspects at this time…"
…
Kyle cowered in fear against the wall as Cartman was dragged in, kicking and screaming. Kenny glared at the fat teen as he was chained up and the man left. Cartman was still shouting after the man, yelling about being betrayed. His screams of rage were left ignored as the man shut the door behind him, silencing the noise.
So, how was that? I hoped some of the twists in this chapter were satisfying and interesting. I struggled a little bit with what to write this chapter, but I hope it's not too bad. Next chapter I know exactly what's going to happen and it's gonna really start to heat up, so get ready for that! And for anyone interested in following me on Twitter, ThunderingWhite, I often post updates on my stories, what I'm working on, etc. Anyway, please leave a comment and look forward to the next chapter!
