Chapter Eight - The Chase is On
A black Chevrolet pulled up along a curb about two blocks from Hell's Pass Hospital. Inside, five shadowed figures sat and waited. One of the cloaked men in the back seat spoke first.
"According to my sources, the Key is in the hospital, Brother Jim." He said.
"You know, we wouldn't be in this mess if that traitor back at the house hadn't released the mother in the first place. Now we are out here, running from the cops, and wasting time tracking down the one thing that can set free our glorious god." Another man in the back seat complained.
"Relax; we still have five hours before the window of opportunity closes." The man behind the wheel assured them. "Everyone have your tranquilizer guns loaded?" He asked, lifting up his weapon.
The other four men nodded their heads in response.
"Alright," the leader cheered, "let's go." He added before opening the car door and stepping out.
The other four men followed his lead, and stepped out of the car.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
Craig sat up on the hospital guest cot. First, he glanced up at Kenny and saw the boy sleeping soundly. He then scanned the room and saw Kevin, Karen, Stan, Kyle, and Cartman snoozing quietly in their cots. Looking up at the other hospital bed, he noticed that Stuart McCormick shared the space with his wife.
With a sigh, Craig glanced up at the wall clock and saw the time was five minutes past one. It was at that moment he realized why he woke up in the first place. The uncomfortable pressured feeling he got in his bladder made him want to get up and go.
As he crawled out of bed, Craig nearly jumped hearing sound of Mr. McCormick voice.
"Where are you going?"
"Just to the bathroom," Craig answered as he shoved his feet into his shoes and headed out of the room.
He walked past two new offers, obvious the night shift, and continued down the hall. As Craig slipped into the bathroom and closed the door, the elevator doors opened down the hall. Five cloaked men walked out. A nurse stepped out from behind her station to confront the men.
"I'm sorry I'm going to have to ask you to leave. Visiting hours start at ten in the morning and end at nine." She stated.
"Well, that won't do, I'm afraid. You see, ten O'clock is just too late for us." The Cult leader chinned calmly.
Before the head nurse or any of the other nurses standing behind the counter could react, the cult members pulled out their tranquilizer guns and shot each of them down.
Down the hall, the officers standing guard took notice of the action in front of the nurses' station and ran over.
"Hey, hold it right there!" One of them shouted.
The cloaked men turned and two of them fired their weapons, instantly hitting the officers with tranquilizer darts. As the officers hit the floor, the men continued towards the room where their Key lied.
Stuart McCormick heard the action and rushed out the door as the men arrived. He was about to attack when he felt a prick of one of the darts hit him in his stomach.
"Shit," he muttered as he fell.
Three of the Cult members started the chant.
K'aem'nhi kh'rn K'aem'nhi kh'r K'aem'nhi kh'rmnu.
Fha'gnu Zy-d'syn!
Si'n Si'ra S'alk!
I'a Krell!
"What the hell is going on?" Stan asked sitting up in the guest cot.
Kyle and Eric started to blink their eyes open, as well as Kevin and Karen. Before any of them could jump out of their cots, the Cult members shot them with tranquilizers. Mrs. McCormick woke up with a start. She hoped out of her bed, and stood in front of Kenny's still sleeping form.
"I will not let you take my baby!" She shouted.
"You do not have a choice, my dear." The Cult leader cooed. He lifted his weapon and fired.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
Craig heard some kind of commotion going on outside in the hall, and as he was drying his hands, it all seemed to get quiet. He was curious at what went on, and tossed the damp paper towel into the trash. It wasn't till he opened the door and turned into the hall that he saw fived cloaked figures leading Kenny out of the room. He quickly noticed the two officers, and Stuart McCormick lying on the floor. Looking back up, he realized that Kenny walked as if he were sleepwalking. He followed the cloaked men up to the elevator. When the doors slid open that was when Craig decided to react. He ran up as fast as he could towards to elevator.
"What the..." one of the men sputtered when he saw Craig rushing up to them.
The doors started closing as Craig grabbed Kenny's hand and pulled him out.
"NO!" All five men cried when the doors shut and the elevator moved down to the main floor.
"That was close." Craig sighed a moment of relief. He turned and saw Kenny looking like he was asleep, however, his eyes were still opened.
"Kenny! Wake up!" He shouted as he shook the blond boy.
Kenny blinked a few times before looking around. He suddenly became startled as the environment he was in appeared alien to him. The moment he noticed Craig in front of him, Kenny let out a scream, and backed away against the wall.
"It's ok, Kenny." Craig pleaded, grasping the other boy's shoulders. "It's me, Craig, remember? We played board games with your family, Stan, Kyle, and Cartman earlier, and we also made fun of Cartman's fat ass."
Kenny looked confused as he processed the information. He started to recall the events of earlier that evening. With a nervous chuckle, he started to remember some things Craig had told him.
"Oh yeah," he breathed.
A motor noise coming from the elevator had Craig realizing that the cloaked men were returning. He reached down and grabbed Kenny's hand.
"Come on, I got to get you out of here. It's not safe." He said.
Kenny did not resist as Craig pulled him in a fast sprint towards the exit staircase.
They ran down one flight of stairs when the boys heard three of the men running up the stairs towards them. Thinking fast, Craig quickly grabbed the knob of the door beside them, threw it open, and ran down the empty hall.
"There they are!" Craig heard one of the men hollered behind them.
Not letting go of Kenny's hand, the two boys ran around the corner and ended up at a dead end. Before the men caught up, Craig saw an opened door to his right. Seeing that there were no other options, he ran inside with Kenny, and locked it shut.
"We know you are in there, boy, so be good and come on out with our Key!" One of the men shouted from the other side of the door.
Still catching his breath, Craig looked around the hospital supply room. He saw spare towels, blankets, patient pajama gowns, even some band-aids, and toilet paper - nothing that would be of any use in this situation. Hearing the men banging up against the door did not make him feel any better.
"C-Craig..." Kenny whimpered. "I'm scared."
"I know Kenny," Craig nodded before turning to his friend. "Me too..." he admitted.
That was when something caught his eye. Looking up he saw an air vent. The grille cover looked big enough so when pried open the hole would be able to fit him and Kenny's body size easily. It was their only hope of escape.
Craig climbed up on the shelf rack all the way up to the top, and began tugging on the grille. Luck just happened to be on their side, the gate was loose - perhaps the maintenance person of the hospital had not sealed it tight enough. Whatever the reason was, Craig was not going to argue. He started yanking roughly on it until the vent cover came off.
He turned to Kenny, and waved his hand upward. "Come, let's go." He said.
Kenny stood looking up at Craig. He seemed hesitant to climb up the shelf rack. Almost able to read the blond boy's mind, Craig's face softened.
"Don't worry, I won't let you fall, I promise. Here, take my hand." He said, extending his hand down to Kenny.
Slowly, Kenny reached up and let Craig grab hold of his hand. As the raven-haired boy gently tugged him up, Kenny started climbing up each shelf. Another loud bang came from the door, this time it sounded like some of the hinges cracked. Kenny gasped loudly at the sound and turned his head to look.
"Kenny look at me, ok. Not at the door." Craig instructed. "You're almost there."
Following Craig's guidance, Kenny successfully climbed to the top. Craig then ushered him into the air vent. Before Craig was able to go into the vent, the door broke at the hinges and flew open. The men spotted him on top rack looking back at them. Craig lifted his hand and stuck up his middle finger at them.
"Adios losers," he said then hopped out of sight into the air vent.
"God damn it!" One of the men shouted discouragingly.
"Awe," the second man sighed with a frustrated growl.
"Brother Jim is not going to like this." The third man groaned.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
An hour and half almost passed, but Craig still waited with Kenny in the air vent. Every so often, they would move further down, but stopped when they heard echoes of some of the men talking from one of the distant rooms. Sometimes they would hear chanting echoing through the vents, which caused Kenny to react in a numbed state. Though Craig did not understand what was going on, he did figure out whatever was happening was endangering Kenny's life.
Craig wanted to make sure it was safe. He hoped that perhaps the cult members left the hospital already. The stoic boy let out a long breath to relax his nerves a little. It had been quiet for at least fifteen minutes. He glanced over and noticed Kenny looked like he was about to fall asleep.
"Hey," Craig spoke out softly.
The sudden sound made Kenny jump and look up with wide eyes.
"Relax; I just want to say it sounds quiet enough that we can get out of here." Craig explained calmly.
The tired blond boy nodded his head and followed Craig to the closes vent opening. The coast was clear, so Craig pushed against the grille. Like the one in the storage room, Craig found it easy to open.
"Looks like the maintenance is lacking around here," he joked. When he looked back at Kenny, he realized his humour went slightly above the blond boy's head.
Carefully he dropped the grille on the counter below then slowly he made his way out and landed beside it. Craig picked up the vent covering and moved it aside. He then looked around the room. It would appear to be some sort of lab. The room appeared quiet enough so he turned his attention back up to the vent opening.
"Ok the coast is clear, come on out." He said.
Kenny poked his head out and nervously looked around.
"It'll be ok. Just like how I did it. You can do this Kenny." Craig told him encouragingly.
A little unsure, but at the same time he did not want to be crawling around in the vents anymore, Kenny turned and backed out through the opened gate. As he was about to let go and drop to the counter below, he felt a sharp sting on the palm of his right hand. He let go in a hurry, dropped down, and landed with a thud.
"Ow-ow-ow," Kenny cried as he held his right wrist and looked down at the bleeding cut on the palm of his hand.
Craig leaned over to inspect the wound.
"It doesn't look too bad, but to be safe I better clean that up for you." He said in an emotionless tone.
The young Tucker boy walked Kenny towards the sink, grabbed a paper towel from the dispenser box on the wall, and placed it under a trickle of running water. Once the paper towel was damp enough, he turned and gently took Kenny's wounded hand. With soft strokes, Craig cleaned off any dirt that may cause an infection.
Kenny stared at him intensely as Craig played nurse to his injury.
When Craig was sure that he did a decent job cleaning the wound, he surveyed the area around them until he saw what he was looking for. He walked over to the end of the counter and bent over to pick up a couple of band-aid strips and a tissue.
"Here, hold on to this tissue. It'll help stop the bleeding." He told the trembling boy.
Kenny looked up at him and smiled. "Thank you," he said.
"Ok, let's go." Craig ordered as he jumped off the counter before grabbing Kenny's left hand, and headed out of the room.
The two boys almost made it to the elevator when Craig barely noticed the shadows of two cloaked men coming down from around the corner. They managed to duck behind the nurse's station just as the men came into view.
"We must find the Key soon, Brother." One of them pointed out.
"I agree we don't want to miss our chance to set free the mighty Cthulhu." The other man addressed.
The elevator doors opened and the men walk through it. Confused, Craig turned to Kenny, who looked quiet somber. He then glanced around the corner to see if the men were gone.
"The Key," he wondered aloud. "That is the second time we heard these guys mention that, and on top of that, what's a Cthulhu?"
"Cthulhu is the high priest of the Old Ones."
Craig spun his head around when he heard that Kenny spoke.
"He and the other Old Ones are imprisoned in the sunken city of R'lyeh." Kenny continues to explain, though in a trance-like state. "The Gates are what keep them there. When Cthulhu is released he will unleash a thousand years of darkness and chaos onto the world."
"Ok that defiantly doesn't sound good. Do you know what this Key is that they're talking about?" Craig asked.
Kenny blinked then looked up at Craig. "The Key is me. I was created from a small part of the One that is both the Gate Keeper and Key. My sole purpose of existing is to open the Gates of R'lyeh for the Cult of Cthulhu. The window of opportunity to open the Gates is now and will close by dawn."
"What happens after you open the Gate?" Craig asked with a worried expression.
"I will simply cease to exist, and Cthulhu will awaken early to conquer the world of the living." Kenny shrugged nonchalantly.
An ill feeling crept in Craig's stomach. He swallowed a huge lump down his throat before speaking. "Don't worry; I won't let them get you. You won't be opening any gates while I'm around, got it."
Kenny nodded and said, "Ok," to him.
"Alright, how's your hand? Do you want me to put these band-aids on before we get out of here?" Craig asked as he pulled out the two band-aids from his pants pocket.
"It's ok, it doesn't hurt anymore." Kenny shook his head at him.
"What are you talking about; you just cut yourself coming out of the air vent. It's probably still bleeding."
"No, it stopped now, see." Kenny lifted his hands, removed the bloodstained tissue, and showed his right palm to Craig. The hand was completely healed not even a scratch remained.
"No way," Craig gasped.
"Some people say having powers of an immortal is cool, but it isn't. There is no one else that I know of has these abilities, other than me. Sometimes I feel alone that I can't talk to anyone about it." Kenny looked up and smiled at Craig. Craig did not say anything, just stared in awe.
"It is nice of you to try, and protect me like this." Kenny continued. "Stan and Kyle - and sometimes Cartman, are usually the ones who try to look out for me, but thanks to the cult members, they can't right now." He paused for a moment to take in a breath and let out a sigh. "Craig, no matter what happens, I want to thank you. You could say we are even now from me saving your life last weekend."
"Wait, you're starting to remember." Craig nearly leapt for joy for noticing that fact.
Kenny lowered his eyes with a subtle glance to the side. "Sort of," he whispered with a shrug. "There is a lot that's still hazy, but I do know my own name, family, and friends - Oh, not only that, I now understand what I am too."
"I'm glad to hear it." Craig sat up and quickly looked around before returning his attention back to Kenny. "We better get going; I don't think those assholes will give up too easily." He said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder.
Kenny nodded and got up to follow him down the hall towards the staircase exit.
The boys made it down to the next floor, but before they had a chance to run down the next set of stairs, the exit door opened, and coincidentally, the same three Cult members from earlier rushed through. In an instance, they spotted the boys and two of the men grabbed them. The boys let out a scream of surprise as they made a futile attempt to wriggle themselves free.
"Gotcha!" One of the men shouted as he grabbed Kenny.
"Brother Nelson, call Brother Jim, and Brother Richard. Tell them we have the Key and the little shit that kept it from us." The second cloaked man ordered as he kept his hold on Craig.
As they made their way down the stairs, the third man pulled out his cell phone and placed the call.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
The three men brought Kenny and Craig outside and met their fellow cult members in front of the black Chevrolet.
"I must admit you gave us quite a chase, boy." The lead Cult member sneered at Craig. He glanced up at the man holding him. "Kill him," he ordered.
Craig's eyes grew wide with fear the instant he heard his life could end right then.
"Please don't hurt him," Kenny pleaded.
"Well, look who thinks it has a right to tell us what to do." Jim McElroy chuckled as he crouched down to eye level with Kenny.
"I'll do what you want. I'll open the Gates. Just let Craig go." The blond boy bargained with them in a desperate tone.
"Kenny! No!" Craig spat before the man holding him reached up and covered his mouth with his hand.
The Cult leader shook his head, "You'll do that anyways, whether you cooperate or not." He pointed out.
"Fine, but I'm begging you, please don't kill him." Kenny pleaded once more.
"Alright, we won't kill him." The Cult leader bowed his head to Kenny. He then smiled wickedly, turning back to Craig. "We'll just offer him as a nice snack for Cthulhu instead."
Again, Craig attempted to protest against the person holding him. He let out a muffled scream in the hand covering his mouth.
"Come now, you have a gate to open." McElroy held up a Cthulhu's Pendent near Kenny's face.
The pendent's eyes began glowing red, causing Kenny to go into a trance once more.
"Yes, time to open the gates." Kenny murmured.