A/N: Chapter 23, not much to say. Here it is.

Chapter 23

Even before tutor, me and Kenneth learned of what the gunshots were. Even in whispers in the hall, we discovered the truth.

The parents of one Wendy Testaburger had been shot with a handgun; their daughter was gutted soon afterwards. There were many tears down the almost empty halls. The police had caught no suspects; a fallen tree had blocked the only road into her street, supposedly that had delayed the cops enough for the culprit to escape. The other excuse I heard was that it was but a fail in communication.

There was no exaggeration in the whispers; the death was too close to home for many people to wonder on the brutality of the kill.

When Kenneth heard the news, a look of shock overtook him.

"Shit… oh shit man," he muttered, he gave me an upset look, "I need to run off to find Stan, shit, he'll be devastated, sorry man-'

I gave him an uneasy look of understanding, " yeah, go on, he probably needs the support." And like that he had gone.

I found myself sickened at even the thought of someone I had actually talked to being… dead, just stone cold dead. It was strange, she hadn't been completely mean against me, of all the people, she was probably one of the least aggressive for all of my school life. I had a large respect for her, she had dedication and will. All that will didn't get her whichever job she wanted though, all it seemed to give was an early grave.

I felt very sick, my stomach had taken a trip to my throat and I had made my way outside in the empty, crisp lot.

The bell would go off in only fifteen minutes, and in the time that I absentmindedly tried to keep my mind off the idea of never seeing Wendy's strong face again. I nearly missed the bus as it turned the gate and parked outside the school.

From the windows, I could tell that it was near empty, only a few forms could be seen inside.

Not taking any chances, I quickly slipped inside the building and watched from the doors glazing.

Many of the people who came out were from out of South Park, as the high school was in the center of four separate towns, but one who emerged made me feel even sicker.

Eric came out with a smile just as vile as the one he had shown me a few days ago, of pure glee and satisfaction. He had certainly caught onto the news.

I quickly made my way to the tutor room before he could catch even a glimpse of me.

Damien was already seated in the tutor room, far off into the corner, looking bored although at my appearance he brightened a small amount.

"Where were you?" He asked.

"Just wondering, I got here early with Kenneth."

"I see, I'll guess that you've heard the news."

I looked down solemnly, "of Wendy?" I paused and sighed solemnly, "yes."

"They're holding an assembly at fourth period, probably going to announce something big."

"A curfew," I answered, he nodded in agreement.

"Makes sense, try and stop this before it gets out of hand."

Mr Yates entered and sat at his desk, looking bored.

The room was quiet everyone was mournful and quiet, out of respect or shock, I could not tell.

"I think it's already out of hand," I muttered, Eric's smile piercing my mind.

"I don't, it's what, four people? Now that everyone's paranoid there's more of a chance of the guy slipping up."

"And if it's a group? The Fanatics?'

He looked at me sternly, "it isn't The Fanatics, they were after me, dad, you and Kenny, why go after some little kid or… she was an honour student right?"

I just exhaled a long, drawn out breath and rubbed my eyes with my hand, moving my middle fingers clockwise around my closed lids, "yeah, yeah you make sense."

He sighed as well, "sorry, I'm just a bit on edge."

"We all are."

"I really hope it isn't The Fanatics," he said, a child's fear underneath in his speech.

"Don't worry; it was just me being stupid."

"For once, I hope you were being stupid."

First period was math and I found Stan was a wreck, he was red in the face and tear stains ran down his cheeks, his eyes were puffy and red, looking like sore wounds. He spent most of the class resting his hands in his arms. He was devastated to say the least.

Kenneth was as silent as a dead man, thinking to himself in a seemingly undead focus. It was nearly outstanding how he ignored the lesson and focused on the wall above the teacher, treading around his own mind as if he were stuck. Mentally sinking in a deep, thick wet mud.

Under the deep thought was a blanket of his always fake emotions, hiding his constant worry, I could guess that it was as powerful as a nuclear missile now that the murders had gotten worse.

No one was paying attention, so if I were not next to him he would have seemed like anyone else. Besides the law, there was no reason anyone from South Park, or even the neighboring towns would be coming to school.

At lunch, Stan had segregated himself to the furthest end of the room, silent and grieving.

I contemplated getting up and consoling him, to try and ease the emotional stress and anguish.

My thoughts were quickly interrupted by four, quick, rhythmic knocks at the door. When all eyes fell on it, all eyes saw Eric through the window, looking as happy as a kid on Christmas.

"Oh, not this asshole," Damien muttered.

Eric let himself in, moving with the force of a bodybuilder, and as menacing as a hyena. Behind his eyes I could see cackles, loud and mocking.

"A lovely day isn't it today?" He said, gleeful and sadistic.

"Fuck of fat ass!" Kyle shouted. "Where the fuck is the other two?'

"Not here, but let's get to the meat of the issue-"

Kenneth rose to his feet and glared him down. Eric was unmoved.

"If you don't leave now I will rip your balls off and shove them down your fucking throat." He said with a soft, angry voice.

"No. but what I was saying, how does it feel to have your whore dead, eh, stan? Because it's faaaaantastic for me." Stan was red in the face, closing his eyes in an attempt to ignore Eric. Everyone else had a similar glare. "A bitch is what she-"

I felt anger scourge through my body, as if travelling through my blood and evaporating it into fiery hatred. No one moved against him, just silently glaring. Staring into his eyes made my anger grow bigger, seeping through my skin. I felt a strange courage.

I shouted, "SHUT THE HELL UP," and rose from my seat to look him eye to eye. He was quite short, I finally realised, but that didn't really help with a manipulator.

The cackles in his eyes grew wide and loud.

"Pip? Pip!" The cackles finally escaped in an obnoxious display of ridicule. "Do you actually think that you can stand up to anyone?"

Kenneth snapped as well and marched up to him. Roughly, he grabbed onto Eric's jumper and glared piercing daggers into his eyes.

"Fuck off you son of a bitch!"

Eric only smiled.

Suddenly, Damien was at his shoulder, I hadn't even felt him move, in his eyes he had a cold, hard look of anger.

Kenneth quickly let go and took a step back.

"Ah, good, thanks for getting rid of the poor-" Eric was quickly interrupted by a fist slamming into his cheek. The loud smack of flesh being assaulted stunned everyone to silence. Damien was silent, Eric looked furious. His cheek had a large red splotch on it as if paint had been splashed on it.

"Listen," said Damien. "If you insult Phillip, or anyone here, I will do the same thing to you that you've done to Phillip for years. Do you understand?"

Eric recovered quickly.

"You bastard!" he rose to Damian's eye level, "I understand, and now it's not just the whore who's dead. Oh…. it's gonna be your little faggot, the kike, poor-boy and the hippie. Good job you shit. And I thought that you'd be cool, ya know, devil worshiper and all that-"

He was interrupted by another fist meeting his stomach. Winding him and sending him to the ground.

Worry was flickering over Damien after what Eric said; the others seemed too angry or shocked to care.

Eric coughed up saliva, "fine then… fine then! Devil worshiper, oh, devil worshiper. You. Are. Fucked." Quickly reosedshakeily, as if the ground were rumbeling below him and stumbled out the door, red in the face. His pride beaten.

Damien turned to me, "see, we are the kings of this world," he said gleefully and exhilarated.

I was just shocked and terrified.

"Shit man, thanks for that!" Said Kyle.

In response, Damien watched the door until Eric was out of sight. Once the last of his flesh had disappeared from his view, Damien spoke. "No problem… although of all the things I've had feelings about, that was not a good one." He turned to me once more and he suddenly laughed. "But we're kings right! Yeah!"

Kenneth seemed solemn and he was looking down at the ground, deep in his mind again.

"Th… Thank you," Stan muttered. "Be careful."

"I'll be fine," Damien said, but behind his calming look was the hint of doubt and worry.

I was silent. There was no need to talk.