Chapter 41: The Calm Before The Storm- Pt. 1

The next day, first period seems to drag on longer than usual. Perhaps it's because today is the last day Mr. DeLorne is letting his students make their study guide.

Kenny finishes writing down a paragraph in his orange notebook, looking at all he jotted down with a bored frown. This makes the fifth page that's been taken up with nothing but notes, some of his classmates may have written down more information than he did, but that's only because he's not taking this too seriously. His grade is decent enough in this class so whether he passes or fails the test won't affect him too much. Even though he's not concerned about how he'll fare on the test, he is worried about Stan and Tweek potentially failing it.

The next day after things had settled down with the vampire hunter, both Stan and Tweek went to all of their classes, however the next day, Stan stopped showing up, and yesterday so did Tweek. Neither are here in class today. Kenny understands that Stan had forced himself to attend his classes at the time, despite being very upset. Kenny tried pairing up with him so they could work on their study guides together, but Stan wasn't able to concentrate.

"...Why? Why's it so wrong...for us to go back home? Why are we really even here? Were we sent here...to become vampires?"

Pursing his lips, Kenny can't help but ponder Stan's questions. He too would like to know the real purpose of them being here. He has a hunch that Mr. Valentine might be responsible for it, not Principal Brimestone. Does Mr. Valentine really want humans here to see if they can coexist with vampires? For some reason, Kenny highly doubts it...What if the humans were really brought here just to be turned into vampires? Kenny grimaces at the thought, setting his wooden pencil down on his desk. Stan might have been out of it that night, but...what if he was right? Kenny denied the possibility at the time, thinking it was absurd, but after having thought about it for awhile, Tweek had been turned into a vampire after he and the rest of the humans had only been here for three days. Luke, the true culprit, refused to explain why he did that. Did he not feel bad having his own brother take the blame for him? He seemed more contrite at having taken away Tweek's humanity instead when Kenny confronted him about it.

"Kenneth." Said blonde snaps out of his thoughts with a blink of the eyes. He looks up from his notes, meeting a calm yet stern gaze from shamrock green eyes behind the teachers desk. "I assume you've written down enough information since you've been staring at your notes for zhe past ten minutes?"

Kenny didn't even realize that much time had past. "Yeah, pretty much."

Mr. DeLorne eyes him silently for a moment, sitting in his chair with one leg perched over the other. He looks down at his lap, holding an opened beige-colored book. The author's name had been gouged out. "In case you or anyone else has forgotten, today is zhe last day you all are working on your study guide. If you still manage to fail my test tomorrow..." He casually flips a page in the book, but doesn't complete his statement. It is unknown if he suddenly became engrossed with the book or if he left his intimidating remark incomplete intentionally for his students to imagine the consequences themselves. Either way, Kenny still doesn't care if he passes or fails the test.

The bell rings five minutes later, much to his relief. He and everyone else start packing up their belongings, then make their way out of the door. Kenny taps Gary's shoulder once they're out in the hallway. "How's Stan been lately?"

Gary frowns. "Not too good. He's just been lying in bed...saying nothing, doing nothing. He only leaves the room when it's time for dinner."

"At least he's been eating," Kenny thinks. "Mind if I try talking to him after classes?"

Gary looks to him with a bit of hope in his eyes. "Please do. Me and Vice have been trying to cheer him up or talking him into going back to his classes, but haven't made any progress." He looks away, his frown tensing. "I was even contemplating asking Mr. DeLorne if Stan could be exempted from the test."

A small smile forms on Kenny's lips. Gary really cares about Stan, like a true friend. "I'll try my best to talk some sense into him." Gary nods his head, grateful for his help.

They continue walking side by side until they go their separate ways to their own class.

After first period ended, the rest of Kenny's classes went by in a flash. With his hands in his pants pockets and his blazer slung over his shoulders like a cape, Kenny is currently making his way towards Stan's shared bedroom, however he's feeling rather irritated. And it's thanks to Clyde. He seriously hates playing any kind of sports with that guy, he always cheats and likes to feign ignorance whenever he gets called out for it. Kenny huffs, not even the rain has been able to alleviate his mood, and it's been nothing but dreary grey clouds for days on end. In fact, now that he thinks about it, it became this way ever since the humans arrived here...

Kenny shakes the thought from his head, and instead figures out a way to persuade Stan to start back going to his classes. After a minute or two of racking his brain, Kenny finds himself reaching his destination when he detects a head full of dark blue hair leaving out from one of the bedrooms. "Yo, Vice." He waves when the teen's turquoise-colored eyes look over at him. Appearing miffed as he closes the door, he greets his former roommate with a nod. Kenny stops once they're standing face to face, kind of since Kenny is taller than him. "Gary filled me in on what's been going on with Stan, heard you even tried to cheer him up." He smirks at the light blush coloring Vice's pale cheeks. Vice never attempted to make Kenny nor Kyle feel better whenever one of them was feeling down, so it's rare that he tried to do that for a human.

"Unlike you and Kyle, Stan is or rather was a tolerable roommate," Vice admits without any hesitation.

"Ah, I see..." Kenny chuckles awkwardly. Now he sees why Vice always kept to himself, he's a bit of an asshole. "I actually stopped by to talk to him. We got a test in first block tomorrow, and it would be pretty bad if he missed it."

Vice eyes him with a mixture of curiosity and skepticism. "If Gary couldn't get him to leave the room, then I highly doubt you'll be able to. But go ahead." He walks away, Kenny glancing back as he says, "I'm going to the library."

"Not surprised." Kenny rolls his eyes while facing the door. Vice is literally the only vampire he knows that frequents the library as if it's his home, yet he doesn't look like a bookworm. Well, there is the saying 'Never judge a book by its cover'. Placing a hand on the doorknob, Kenny pushes the door open, peeking his head in through the widening gap. It's dark inside. He looks around, spotting a body lying on the single bed on the right side of the room. Frowning, he fully enters the room flipping up the ceiling light switch while closing the door behind him. He approaches the noirette.

"Stan?"

The teen slowly turns his head his way, an annoyed look on his face. He's still in his pajamas. "I know why you're here," Stan says, having heard Kenny and Vice outside the door. "I don't care about failing some stupid test, I'm not leaving this room." He returns his gaze to the ceiling.

"Well, that's not entirely why I'm here. I know you've been upset since your escape plan failed."

Stan makes an angry face at the reminder. "So you're here to 'cheer me up'?"

"That and also talk you into going back to your classes."

"Tch." Stan turns his back on Kenny. "Just go away."

"C'mon, Stan. Don't be like this." Kenny moves to the other side of the bed. "You and your friends will be able to go back home one day. Just keep that in mind, and before you even know it, you're outta here." Stan merely scowls at him. "You wanna know how I'm so sure? Because I always kept that in mind after I was kidnapped."

Stan's expression saddens in that instant. He doesn't understand how Kenny can smile after saying something like that. "Kenny, three years is a long time, plus our situations are completely different."

"True, but the outcomes aren't," Kenny says assuredly, his small smile unfaltering.

Stan stares at him a second longer before averting his eyes forward, his glare resurfacing though not as strong. "I'm still not leaving."

"Do you still think you all were brought here to be turned into vampires?"

Stan's face shifts into confusion. "When did I-" But then it dawns on him, he remembers uttering those words in an absolute daze. "What else am I supposed to think when it happened to Tweek? We hadn't even been here for that long, and he was the first one to be changed into a vampire!" He hugs himself in a self-comforting hold. "I just don't wanna be next..."

Kenny straightens his lips into a sad line. "It won't happen to you, Gary, Pip, Ike or Gregory. It's just...extremely unfortunate that it happened to Tweek." Since it was apparently planned, however not by Kyle.

"It's Kyle's fault." Kenny so badly wants to say that it's not, but he holds his tongue. If he reveals to Stan that it was actually Kyle's deceased twin - one, he wouldn't believe him, and two, he could make things even worse for Kyle. "If he hadn't told you to have us meet 'The Dangerous three', Tweek wouldn't have gotten bitten in the first place."

"..."

"Do you know that he still hasn't apologized for that?"

Because he wasn't the one who told me to do that. "I am aware, just like he's aware that an apology won't mean much to you guys." Kenny tenses. "Just know...that he deeply regrets putting you all in that situation, and so do I. I didn't do a good job protecting you, Gary, and Tweek."

"...Well, it was three against one after all."

Kenny pouts a little. "I still could've taken 'em." Then the room becomes semi-quiet, thanks to the rain.

"You just gonna keep standing there?" Stan asks dully.

"Yeah, until you tell me you're ready to go back to your classes."

Stan rolls his eyes at the blonde's stubbornness. "Fine, I'll go starting tomorrow. There, happy?"

"Say it like you mean it," Kenny demands in a jesting tone. Stan doesn't look amused at his attempt to lighten the mood, Kenny's smile dropping as a result. He sighs. "You can't stay cooped up in here. You really won't be able to leave if you fail all of your classes."

"..."

Kenny sits down at the corner of Stan's bed. "Tell me, if you all had of managed to escape that night, what were you gonna tell your parents? How do you think they'll react if you told them that you ran away because Valentine Academy is filled with vampires?"

Stan appears conflicted, however he has an answer. "Whether they believed me or not, I wouldn't come back here even if they forced me to."

"What about Tweek's parents? What would you tell them?" Kenny turns his head to look at Stan, his expression hasn't changed. "Were you gonna tell them some bullshit lie, or the truth?" Stan honestly doesn't know how to answer his recent series of questions, just as Kenny expected. "See? This is why I didn't wanna help you. You didn't think things through. You only wanted to return home-"

"And is that so wrong?!" Stan snaps, sitting up. "So what if I didn't plan that far ahead? I just wanted us to get outta this place."

Kenny frowns. "No, of course it's not wrong to want to go home. But leaving Tweek is." He narrows his eyes into a disappointed glare. "I know you planned to leave him here before he became a vampire."

Hearing that makes Stan's heart skip a beat. "H-how-" Kenny answers by making his eyes glow in a soft honey color, another light - though pale - manifesting on the left side of his collarbone, and very faintly through his dress shirt and undershirt. His eyes...Stan recalls looking into the mystifying irises a few nights ago on the rooftop. "S-so, does doing that allow you to see into a persons past?" He asks nervously.

"In a way, yeah." The vibrant colors from both Kenny's eyes and torso dim away. "I just have to concentrate on certain scenes in the person's memory to get the information I want." He then glares disappointingly at Stan again. "It's pretty fucked up of you to have decided to abandon Tweek here while he was sick."

Stan grimaces sadly at his lap. "I...I know, but I was scared, okay? I didn't want me or the others to end up like him..."

Replacing his scowl with a frown, Kenny places a hand over Stan's own. "I understand, but you're gonna have to tell him about it as well as apologize to him. You know that, right?"

"...He already knows, and I will apologize to him...eventually," Stan murmurs, dreading the thought of speaking to his once human friend again just to bring up his unsuccessful escape plan to him. It's been days since he last spoke to Tweek, but Kenny is right, Tweek does deserve an apology, and Stan isn't one for letting his self-acknowledged wrongdoings go unforgiven. He looks up when he feels Kenny lightly tap his hand two times.

"I'll see you in Mr. DeLorne's class tomorrow, right?"

Stan is silent for several seconds. The small smile on the blonde's face has his own lips fighting to do the same. "Yeah..."

Kenny's smile broadens at his answer, and he removes his hand from on top of Stan's. "Good." He stands up. "Oh yeah, let's meet in the cafeteria during breakfast. You can copy some of the notes I wrote down for the test." Stan cringes at the reminder of their test, but nods his head, thankful for his help. Kenny walks away towards the door.

"Kenny?" Said teen pauses after opening the door, he tilts his head back seeing a grateful smile on Stan's face. "You're a really great friend. Thanks for, ya know, being there for me," Stan finishes saying bashfully, rubbing the back of his neck.

Kenny chuckles at his shyness. "Glad to hear that," he says with a wink and thumbs up. "Though it wasn't just me, your roommates have tried to cheer you up too so you should thank them also." Then he's out the door, closing it behind him.

That is true, but Stan mostly thanked Kenny because he had gone out of his way to make him feel better. Twice. He gets up, and ambles to his bathroom to cool his face down.

/

"For the last time, you don't need to come with me," Gregory says exasperatedly. Walking alongside him in the hallway is Pip. Students, teachers, and some other staff members linger about in the hallways, although their numbers have decreased in the past few minutes.

Pip lightly nips his bottom lip, looking down at his moving feet. "I-I know, but I don't wanna be alone in our room." Ever since Ike lost his library book, he's been searching for it after classes, but hasn't been having any luck. Pip and even Gregory volunteered to help him, but he kindly turned them down. The matter was dropped without much debate, and was left solely in Ike's hands. However, he had an inauspicious thought that he wouldn't find the book, with or without any extra helping hands.

"Why not hang out with your group of friends in the cafeteria?" Gregory asks, aware that Pip and three of his vampire friends are always seen together in the cafeteria every breakfast, lunch, snack time, and dinner.

Pip nearly makes his lip bleed with how hard he bites down on it. "I...don't feel like it today..." Things have been very awkward between him, Allen, Adam, and Carl ever since Stan's escape plan failed. Only because Pip felt immensely guilty for having gone through with it - despite his reluctance - and he's been avoiding them since. He's scared to be confronted by them the moment they're alone.

Gregory just sighs. Pip is patently hiding something from him, but he has his own issue to focus on. Today, he is going to get some answers on the whereabouts of his cutlass. His solo attempts at finding it were null since he had no leads to go by, and he didn't want to go pointing fingers at possible culprits. However, there is one vampire he feels that would resort to such an underhanded method. Just the notion alone infuriates Gregory, he clenches his fists tightly.

"If that fat bastard was the one who had the gall to steal my cutlass, he will pay dearly."

He disregards the onlookers who comment and even snicker at his pissed off expression, most likely getting the wrong impression thanks to Pip's downcast expression. Gregory quickens his pace impatiently. Startled once he notices a few seconds too late, Pip hastens his speed to catch up. "G-Gregory, why the sudden rush?" The taller teen doesn't answer nor looks back. Frowning as if he's at fault for angering Gregory, Pip returns his attention to the floor just in time to see a stray black dress shoe in his path. Unfortunately, he has no time to evade it, and ends up losing his balance upon impact, falling with a hard thud and a pained grunt. Gregory stops right in his tracks after hearing him collapse, turning around and first seeing three vampire students - two of them burst out laughing - stopping also as they look at the teen on the floor, as does Gregory.

"Ouch, I know that had to hurt," the one not laughing comments, a deriding grin on his face. He has short pink hair and pecan-colored eyes.

Ignoring the immature trio, Gregory nears and gets down on one knee to help Pip up. "Are you okay?" Gregory asks, his tone of voice soft and void of any irritation. Wincing with one eye shut, Pip nods his head that he's fine as he's carefully being lifted back up on his feet, Gregory being nice enough to pick up his hat, dust it off, and put it back on his head for him.

Pip blushes at his kind actions. "T-thank you." He winces again upon feeling a sharp ache in one of his arms, he gently grips it.

"Maybe if you weren't in such a hurry, you wouldn't have fell," the pink-haired student points out mockingly. The rude duo starts calming down from there laughing fit, one of them has muddy brown hair styled in a bowl cut with matching colored eyes, and the other has a half-shaven head of black hair and olive-green eyes.

"Oh, shut up," rebukes a new yet recognizable voice. "It's obvious you tripped him on purpose."

Gregory and Pip look down the hallway to see Kenny giving the three vampires an annoyed glare, his blazer is still draped over his shoulders and his hands are in his pants pockets. Nobody else but the six teenagers occupy this corridor now.

The pink-haired male crosses his arms. "How do you know it was me? It could've been one of these guys." He nudges his head at his friends, they glare at him.

"You losers always do childish shit so it didn't matter who did it." Kenny's rebuttal angers the trio. He is unfazed, only disappointed that his good mood was ruined so quickly.

"Sorry, Kenny, but we need to get going," Gregory says.

Kenny gives him and Pip a brief smile. "No problem, go on ahead." He gives the childish vampires a haughty smirk as he approaches them taking his hands out of his pockets, and cracks his knuckles. "I'll teach these kids a lesson for ya."

"Thanks," Gregory says, then continues on his way. Pip expresses his gratitude with a small smile, and hurriedly follows after Gregory, lightly clutching his arm.

The three vampires feel a nervous drop of sweat emerging near their hairlines at Kenny's intimidating advancement, but the pinkette tries to appear tough. "O-oh yeah? What the hell are you gonna do? We outnumber you."

The distance shortened, Kenny stops with his smirk broadening in an uncanny manner, breaking the teen's tough guy facade. "I wouldn't care if there were over ten of you assholes." Leaning forward a bit too close to the pink-haired vampire's face, who can't fight back a blush, he narrows his hazel eyes that illuminate and changes color simultaneously - this time, a deep red. A pale-yellow light shines by his collarbone, but is dulled further downward by his shirts. "Not only did you ruin my mood, but you hurt one of my friends so of course, you gotta pay for both."

Genuinely frightened by his threat, before either of them can apologize, the four disappear in a group of black smoke. Leaving the entire hallway empty.

.

.

.

It takes a little more than several minutes for Gregory and Pip to reach the light brown door belonging to Principal Brimestone's office. Gregory knocks on the wood. While they wait for the door to be opened, he sees Pip still holding one of his arms. Pip notices him staring, and tells him that his arm just hurts a little bit. The moment Gregory opens his mouth to say something, the doorknob rattles, then the door is pulled back.

"May we talk to you for a minute?" Gregory inquires politely.

The Principal heaves a sigh. "Since it's you Gregory, I already know what this is going to be about." Then he looks over at Pip, raising an eyebrow. "I'm honestly surprised you aren't in the cafeteria right now, you and your crew are famous for being gluttons."

Pip's cheeks flush a light red, he looks off to the side with an awkward chuckle. "I-I'm not all that hungry today."

"He has a question he'd like to ask you, which is why he came with me." Pip pales at Gregory's well-thought-out lie.

"Hmm, must be important then. Come on in." Principal Brimestone steps back, allowing them to enter his office. He closes the door then strolls over to his desk.

His blush fading, Pip looks around in the big room as he and Gregory follow the man, instantly spotting a red book out of place on the black bookshelf. Gregory saw it already when he first came here two days ago, his hunch still remains the same, thinking it's a lever that opens a secret tunnel or room. Some of his targets from his assassination missions have had similar hidden compartments they would reside in. Pip's eyes linger on the red book until he walks past it, there's something very peculiar about it...

"Alright, let's get Pip's question outta the way first," Principal Brimestone says as he sits down in his chair.

Pip frowns nervously, he and Gregory stopping in front of the Principal's desk. "I would like my issue to be resolved first," Gregory opposes. "If you don't mind," he says looking at Pip throughout the corner of his eye.

"No problem, I can wait." Pip's 'question' isn't as important as knowing the whereabouts of Gregory's weapon.

Principal Brimestone shakes his head in disbelief. "All he has is one question."

"I would like to know if my stolen cutlass has been looked into yet, it's been two days now."

"And the situation with the vampire hunter hasn't been completely resolved yet." Gregory glares at the Principal, who suddenly grins. "But don't worry, your weapon has been found."

His last statement takes Gregory aback rather than put him at ease. "That's wonderful news!" Pip beams, wincing again when he accidentally strengthens his grip on his arm.

"It has?" Gregory asks cautiously. This immature man better not be lying to him.

Principal Brimestone stifles a laugh. This will likely be the only time he'll witness the always stone-faced human making a dumbfounded expression. Clearing his throat, he answers, "Yes. Seems one of the teachers that were inspecting the bedrooms for any remaining students during the vampire hunter invasion found it in one of the drawers of someone's bedstead. They brought it to me first asking if I knew that it was secretly stashed away in one of the students' bedrooms, when I told them yes, they then asked what should be done with it. I told them to put it back where they'd gotten it from, but turns out they didn't do that. Which means they dumped it in the lost and found."

Gregory's face morphs into an aggravated scowl, he doesn't know who to be more angry at. The foolish teacher or Principal Brimestone for not telling him this day one of him asking about his cutlass. Pip's elation crumbles.

"You cherish your sword that much, huh?" Principal Brimestone wonders calmly.

"Yes, otherwise I wouldn't be so desperate to get it back," Gregory deadpans.

The man chuckles. "Fair enough. But were there any instances where you needed to use it?"

Gregory feels his rage ebbing away once he thinks about it. He didn't need it against the fat oaf in none of his sparring sessions although during those times he yearned to cut the bastard into pieces thanks to his overzealous taunting. Which further made Gregory believe he had gotten a hold of it. Plus, it's blade has surely gotten rusty after not being polished for so long. He tries not to visualize it's once shiny silver blade tainted an ashen grey. "N-no, but still-"

"Well you know where it is now so go to the Student Council room that's at the end of this hall, and have Token escort you to the lost and found. Tell him it's an order from me."

Relief finally sets in, Gregory thanking him by bowing his head. He turns around, and starts walking out of the office. Once he's gone, there's a stiff silence left in the air. Not even the pounding rain can alter the awkward atmosphere. Pip has the great urge to bolt after his friend.

"So, what's your question?"

Startled, Pip unconsciously applies a bit of strength on his arm. "U-umm..." He can't think of anything, not even a random question.

"Does it have something to do with your arm? Or are you just shy?" Pip blinks confusedly at Principal Brimestone. "You've been clutching it ever since you and Gregory appeared before my door. Did you actually come here to report the student who hurt you?"

Pip shakes his head, releasing his arm he now realizes no longer hurts. "N-no, it's nothing to do with my arm."

"Oh, so you wanna know about the red book over on the bookshelf." The knowing grin that's on Principal Brimestone's face doesn't sit well with Pip. "It's okay to be curious about it. Instead of me telling you, why don't you go over there and see what it does?"

Pip shakes his head again, becoming unsettled. "I-I'd rather not."

"Oh? Then why else did you tag along with Gregory for?" Principal Brimestone's smile broadens in a teasing manner. "Did you, perhaps, want to spend some time with him?"

A burst of heat erupts throughout Pip's face. "I did, but not in the way that you're implying," he says defensively.

The adult vampire laughs at his reaction. "Your face says otherwise, but okay. Well if you have nothing to ask, then you can leave."

Pip does so with a huff, having never been humiliated by an adult before. Gregory's comment calling Principal Brimestone a man child has never been more factual now that he'd experienced such childishness firsthand.

Michael watches him leave with his smile changing into a frown. "I had a little too much fun teasing him that I forgot to mention the secret stunt they tried to pull a few days ago." He sits back against his seat, turning his chair around to look out of the large window soaked with rain behind him. "Oh well, it doesn't matter," his expression darkens. "They're not going anywhere."

Thunder rumbles in the distance.