A/N: So, Chapter 9, sorry this isn't being published faster, basically a mix between procrastination, school, Dark Souls and the other book I'm writing. so, yeah sorry, also,more terrible dialogue.

Chapter 9

At six o'clock a nurse walked in on my staring out at the window, my body still clenching and squeezed in pain, I had been completely unawares of her as I was too entranced in my attempt of deciphering if it was truly some madman watching me obsessively or if I was the madman. The thought had begun working its way into my mind as soon as the notion became apparent, the world around me was frozen and all I could do was wait to see if the feeling left or my watcher revealed himself, if neither happened... I would declare myself insane. I hadn't even recognised the movement until she had placed her hand on my shoulder, startling me, a shock coursing through my body. How caught up had I been in watching for a possible non-existent watcher? was the chance of this simply being paranoia; enough to warrant me devoiding myself from my surroundings?

She was talking to me, I must have looked like a fool, with a broken arm and injured body... what was I doing at six in the morning, staring out at the car park, probably shaking to keep a hold of my own body. I really needed to make sure my body held, even if the horrible, watching feeling remained, if someone was planning some sort of plot against me, when or if they acted I had to have some energy to run or react or... do whatever had to be done in the situation.

"Are you okay... what are you doing out of bed?" she asked in a soft voice.

"Nothing, I just thought I heard something outside, just a silly thing" I lied with my fake smile plastered on my face. I had became quite good at that, to get out of situations that could mean others confront with my tormentors. I would just display that smile like it was natural and convince whoever it was that I was fine. I didn't enjoy lying or faking happiness, it didn't help me at all and it just made me feel guilty, although the fact that I was good at it didn't assist my guilt.

With slow movements I was led back to the bed, I needed rest, my body was aching everywhere and I had paid it no mind. I quickly collapsed into the covers, I dearly needed to just lie down, the few hours previous had not sated my mind. 'That was probably it' I thought 'it's probably just the lack of sleep that's making me so paranoid'

It only took a few minutes for my body to completely shut down and I was unconscious like a candle being blown out.

My rest only seemed to last for a few seconds and I was ripped from the darkness by arms shaking me violently. I screamed for a second before a hand covered my mouth, following it I saw the form of Kenneth McCormick, standing over me with wide terrified eyes, bags surround them and he looked on the verge of a panic attack.

"Thank fuck you woke up, sorry man, and if I sound crazy, please don't ignore me, just, just listen to me" he quickly said, "just...-"

"Kenneth... please calm down" I said, light filled the room, I guessed it was passed midday, not too late, the sun was still high. Had he came here straight from school? Why?

"R-right, okay, so... I don't know why the hell I'm telling you this but... okay, so you know that new kid, Damien"

"Yes" I answered, I had no idea what he was doing talking to me, It had to be important, there was no reason for him to otherwise.

"Okay, ever since he got here, I've had this strange felling of someone, near,close by, ya know?" he said, 'oh god. Oh god, I was right there was something... wait, maybe he could have been blackmailed by Eric to do this, I've heard he can be desperate' I thought, I didn't want to doubt him, but I refused to take chances. "w-well, last night I was followed, Jesus all the way to my god-damned house and he just fucking stood outside my window for an hour before leaving." He said, it was as if he was on the verge of stress filled tears, he was telling the truth, that or he should go into acting because my previous doubt washed away like the shore to an oncoming tsunami. "d-did something like that happen to you?"

I paused for a second "y-yes, yes it did Kenneth, by god I haven't gone mad. All through the night it was as if something was watching me, even when I went to check, I could still feel it outside." I wasn't simply paranoid, the feeling was still there. Rising so I was sitting up I took a glance out of the window, I could see it, all the other cars from the night before had left, with the exception of the two vans. Even so far away I could spot them in the car park.

"oh, oh shit this isn't good, who do you think it is, that Damien kid?" he said, provoking my thoughts, it could be Damien, I had only known him a day and his strange acceptance could have been a way to get close to me... but why? I hoped to god that it wasn't him, even though I only knew him for a short time I had come to quite enjoy his company, It was the only company I had had in forever. Maybe It was coincidence or someone acting to make me wary of Damien, again why? Kenneth's reveal only proceeded to add more questions onto the quickly growing pile. It could have been Cartman, it could be that he caught wind of Damien protecting me from Craig and wanted nothing to stand in the way of him harming me and what better way than planting seeds of distrust. Then again it could actually be Damien... I had no idea what to think, I was so lost.

"I-I don't know" I said, pathetic and weak, I was so confused, had it only been me, I could have ignorantly left the previous night's events to tired paranoia but now it had been proven otherwise. I didn't even know if it was indeed one of the people in the vans, it could quite easily have been someone simply watching from outside. It could be that it was someone in the vans but they were all older people, hired goons from Cartman? Damien? Some third party I was unaware of? The questions burned my mind, I craved answers.

"Do you know who?" he asked "who was watching you?"

"I think it might have been someone outside" I said with a quiver shaking my voice, I was genuinely terrified, it could be that I was really being watched, stalked, like some type of wild animal, only there to exhilarate the hunter.

Kenneth walked to the window and peeked outside as I thought on what I had done with Damien, was there any signs that he was some kind of psychopath, and had selected me to be some toy in a game. There was the event in science, where he had become almost obsessive on the flame he had created, but that could have been simple fascination. Was I giving the possibility of it being him too much leeway? Probably, but I had come to quite like him and I would hate that the only person to show me attention would turn out to only want to harm me, but why would Kenneth be stalked, what part would he play in it. I then remembered the incident when I was giving Damien the tour of the town, that movement in the alleyways and the scuffling and scuttling, if that was also the same person, or someone connected, to the ones who had been watching me and Kenneth, why would they watch when Damien was so near, if he was the one who had been following Kenneth and/or watching me.

"I see someone in the silver van, he's around thirty, dark blond hair, green jacket, think it was him?"

"M-maybe, I don't know."

"listen pip, I don't particularly mind you, you're no friend, but this has also been happening to you, so." he moved next to my bed and sat on the seat next to it "well, we're in the same sinking ship, do you have any ideas, because I'm freaked the fuck out."

"I don't think it's Damien, I think I was followed by someone else as soon as I was alone with him."

"But Pip, who the fuck else could it be" he said, getting up and walking back to the window, taking another look at the silver van.

"Well speak of the devil and he shall come"

"What do you mean… Damien's here?"

"He's in a car, in a parking space almost right outside the window, he's with some white haired guy, you know him?" Kenneth said

"Yes, his father" I wasn't overjoyed by the prospect of another conversation with the smiley man, even the thought of that happy go lucky grin sent a thunderstorm shiver down my spine.

"Already met the parents, why don't relationships blossom fast nowadays." Kenneth joked, although I didn't see this as the time for humour, I guessed it was some type of mental defence mechanism that he had set up. Or perhaps a part of his slight insanity due to the... 'immortality.' Or it may have been Eric's and others' poisonous words at Kenneth's living conditions, I guess no one was free from the vile insults and hatred the madtown produced like a farms livestock.

In minutes I saw the two forms outside the door, they stopped for a second, I could hear a few short words before the door opened. Everything seemed... slower as the handle slowly turned down, I could feel my heart racing as the door was pushed inwards, it was like I was in the middle of a chase and I had stopped to someone holding a gun to me. I felt as if I was trapped, unable to escape with every exit blocked off. Everything was almost obvious, each inch of the handles decent, I even noticed Kenneth scribbling on a small piece of paper on the window ledge.

The door opened to show Damien, standing at the doorway, he seemed to hold his regular monotone stare but there was something off about it, an odd look of longing in his gaze. But that could just be my newly found paranoia talking, I couldn't tell. His father was standing next to him, still wearing the red coat and regular clothes, with that unsettling, wide cheshire grin on his face as if he was mocking my condition.

"Phillip, Phillip how are you do- hmm, who's your friend?" Lucas asked with a questioning gaze in Kenneth's direction.

Kenneth got up from the window and stood opposite Lucas "The name's Kenneth, Kenneth McCormick, pleasure to meet you" he said with the etiquette of a nobleman, reaching an arm out to shake the smiley man's own. 'How has he managed to change from panicked to so... calm? If he can change or hide himself so well, is he simply being polite or is he actually a good actor? If so... was he actually lying to me?'

My questioning thoughts opened now answers and only left with more paths to follow; this just hadn't been my day, or weak.

As he shook hands with the older man and exchanged names, Kenneth dropped something from the pocket of his parka next to my feet, it was a piece of paper, I only caught a glance of him looking at me, probably signalling me to grab it. In response I quickly leaned forward and hid it under the blanket, making it look like I was trying to fix some problem with the bed sheets, I managed to get a quick read of it though, there wasn't much to see, it just said 'Ask the Damien kid if he knows anything about what happened, you're closer to him.' although the movement caught Damien and Lucas's attention.

"So... thanks for visiting Kenneth I'll... get to tutoring you about... math when I'm better" I lied, if I said anything that mentioned last night or our predicament, Damien or Lucas might become curious. Even though Damien may have been the person to watch me, I didn't want him to find out immediately about what was going on. I may be appalling at talking to people but I wanted to subtly tell him, if he was indeed innocent, I wouldn't want him to become involved in a potential Eric Cartman plot.

Kenneth looked at me in bewilderment for a split second before catching on. "Sure, thanks for that." He said with a cheery smile before leaving. As he left he turned and mouthed something. I think he had said 'good luck' but I wasn't sure, If it was, I subconsciously knew I would need it.

"What was that about, I thought you didn't have any other friends?" Damien asked

"Oh, well, basically I sit next to him in maths and I share how to solve equations and such with him and he just came over to ask if I could give him a bit more of a hand, seeing as I have nothing better to do and Kenneth is a pretty nice I guy so I accepted" I explained, I was surprised by my own ability to make stuff up on the spot and make it believable. Hopefully believable at least, Damien didn't question any further.

"How are you doing Phillip?" Lucas questioned

"G-good, I'm recovering at least, how are you two doing?"

"Me and Damien are doing fine, thank you for asking" he stopped for a minute to look at his watch "I should be off, is it okay if you walk back on your own Damien" he said

"Yeah... I should be fine" he replied and Lucas promptly smiled that strange grin at us before he disappeared behind the door himself, leaving only me and Damien. 'Well, that was rather fast.'