"I got a D?!" Stan practically screamed into Kenny's ear as they walked out to their vehicles.
He had his grades pulled up on his phone, and he practically died when he saw his grade for the test he took today. He had worked so hard to bring his grade up to a low C, now it had dropped back down a D.
"I'm not going to pass this year." Stan groaned.
"I'm sorry, dude. Good news is, we have two more tests this year. I think you can pull it up to at least a C." Kenny said supportively.
Stan groaned again, his head in his hands. "My parents are gonna kill me."
"Your parents aren't even here. Get a tutor or something." Kenny said.
The made it to their vehicles and Stan flung his backpack in his backseat. "I'm gonna fail. No one can tutor me. Not even the smartest person in the school."
"Wendy didn't take the time to tutor you. She just did the work for you and expected you to know it." Kenny said. "Once again, another reason why you're relationship was awful."
"How in the world do you know everything about relationships? You've never even had a real girlfriend." Stan snapped.
"Coaches don't play, Marsh. Go home and get some rest, you look like shit."
Stan grumbled to himself and slammed his door shut. Kenny knocked on the window, and Stan rolled it down for him.
"Oh, one more thing. About the vampire hunter thing..." Kenny trailed off, avoiding eye contact.
"Dude... don't tell me.." Stan started.
"Listen. Tolkien's apart of the group. Him and Cartman are gonna pay me four hundred a week to join. I love you dude, I just can't refuse that kind of money. It's gonna help my family so much." Kenny explained softly. "Please tell me you understand."
Stan inhaled sharply and nodded his head. "I get it, man. I'd do the same thing if I were in your shoes, just, please be careful."
Kenny nodded. "And that's why you're my best friend, Marsh. It also means I can't hang out tonight, since it's the first meeting. I'll tell you how it goes."
Kenny's face lit up. "Oh! They also gave me this." Kenny said and held up what seemed to be a small dart.
"What is that?" Stan asked, eyeing the small object with curiosity.
"Cartman said it was 'vampire tranquilizer', or something like that. Said it was supposed to knock out vampires so their easier to fight. Here, I want you to have it." Kenny said and held out dart.
"Don't you need that? How on earth did they get their hands on something like that?" Stan asked, gently picking up the dart and handling it softly.
"Apparently it's real easy to make. And don't worry about me, I'm more worried about you not having it than me. Since I'm apart of the club, I can always get more." Kenny said.
"Yeah. Thanks a lot. I'll see you later, Kenny." Stan said and watched his friend give him his iconic smile and walked over to his truck.
Stan sighed, leaning his head back. His situation couldn't get any worse.
Stan was still not used to coming home to an empty home. Usually Sharon would have made him a snack or Randy would have something for him to do. The peace was almost unsettling.
Stan felt his stomach punch him for not eating that morning and barely eating at lunch. He opened the fridge and looked around. Nothing. He then went to the pantry. Nothing. Three days without parental supervision and there's already no food left.
He really didn't feel like making food, so Stan grabbed his keys and checked his wallet. He had a twenty and his card. He went and sat in his truck again, turning it on and bumping up the air. The heat in the afternoons were awful. If it was this hot in Colorado, he couldn't imagine how hot it was in a place like Arizona or Florida right now. He was grateful he didn't have football practice during the spring.
He texted Shelley, asking what she was doing for dinner and if she needed anything from the store. It wasn't long before he got a response; Shelley was eating with friends tonight and would eat anything he picked up.
He gladly took off down the road, blasting heavy metal, a part of his goth phase that he never outgrew, towards the nearest grocery store.
On his way there, Stan stopped by Subway, the only restaurant in town that he didn't get tired of eating.
He checked the time on his phone, and it was around five o'clock. The sun would be setting soon, and officers didn't want people wandering around after dark for obvious reasons.
Stan parked his truck and went inside the building, the familiar smell engulfing him and making him hungrier.
The workers made his sandwich, he paid for his food, and as he was filling up his drink, he suddenly noticed he wasn't the only one from school there.
Bebe and Heidi Turner sat at their own little booth, chatting away and occasionally giving Stan a glance. When they saw Stan finally noticed him, they put on their fake smiles that Stan knew all too well.
"Hi, Stan! Single on a Friday night?" Bebe teased while Heidi giggled.
Stan sighed. Of course his ex's two best friends had to be here. At least Wendy wasn't with them.
"I don't see your boyfriend anywhere. Or Heidi's." Stan responded, sipping on his drink.
Heidi's face went red. "Cartman's not my boyfriend!"
"I never mentioned Cartman." Stan said. "What do you two want?"
"I saw you looking at Wendy earlier today. I just wanted to tell you to back off. She's not getting back together with you this time, and I'm making sure of it." Bebe explained.
"My relationship is none of your business. I'm not going to get back together with Wendy unless she wants to. If she doesn't, then that's that, but that doesn't mean I still don't have feelings for her." Stan argued.
"Yeah, whatever. Good luck trying to find someone as wonderful as her though, after all the stuff you put her through." Heidi remarked.
All Stan could do was bite his tongue and walk off. "Don't run into anyone getting their throat ripped out again." Stan sarcastically said.
"If we do, hopefully it's you." Bebe said and Heidi laughed.
Stan felt his temper boiling. He sat in his truck in the dark, wanting the strangle the first person he saw. Stan knew Wendy was spreading lies about him ever since they broke up. She always did it to gain sympathy every time they broke off. At this rate, especially since her little friend group gossiped like crazy, she would have the entire school turned against him.
He tore open the bag and wrapper and devoured his sandwich like it was the first thing he had eaten in days. He drove out of the parking lot and to the grocery store just as the sun began setting.
The store his parents always took him to was a small general store located in a building complex on the outskirts of town. Stan loved it there. It was quiet, dark, and few people could bother him there.
The little store didn't have a parking lot, just a few spaces up and down the street. Stan cursed when the few places he could park in front of the store were taken. He forgot about the bar located a couple of buildings down.
He drove a bit further, parking two blocks away. The sky was a beautiful shade of red and orange as he exited his truck and walked along the sidewalk to the store.
The small bell above the door rang as he entered the shop. He grabbed small shopping cart and made his way up and down the few aisles, grabbing anything he or Shelley might need.
Once he was done, he went up to the only register open and put his things on the belt.
"You're out late, kid." The cashier, an older woman, said.
"Yeah.. I was going to come here earlier but I got held up." Stan lied.
"Better late than never." The woman said, scanning his items and putting them in bags.
Once she was done, Stan inserted his card into the machine and waited for it to go through.
"Oh, and be careful, kid. I just had a couple people come through here who looked a little...off. I'm worried something is around here." The woman explained, hinting at the obvious.
Stan felt a tiny bit of dread creep into the stomach. "Oh, I'll be careful, thanks for telling me." He said and took his card and bags, leaving without another word.
The sun was gone now, and only the light from a few lampposts filled the sidewalk. Stan couldn't shake the uneasy feeling.
"It's just superstition... there's nothing out here but me, and lady in a store, and a bunch of drunk people in the bar." Stan told himself in his head.
He began to walk fast, and only felt relief when he touched the handle on his truck's passenger door. He opened the door and placed his bags inside.
"There's nothing here...there's nothing here..." Stan mouthed.
The sound of a falling trash can proved him otherwise, scaring the shit out of him.
Stan slowly turned around to the nearest alleyway.
"You've gotta be kidding me..." Stan whispered.
He gently felt in his pocket for the small dart from Kenny earlier, and quietly crept up to the entrance of the darkened alley.
"Just going to check..." Stan thought. He knew this was a bad idea. He knew he should just jump in his truck and speed away, but he couldn't. He had to know if he was being a scaredy-cat or something was really there.
He crept around the corner, and could barely make out dumpsters and trash cans. Other than that, he saw nothing.
The cry from an animal the next alley over made him jump and immediately go to check. This alley was even darker than the next. Stan looked at his truck, he was about fifty feet away. He could easily book it and jump in his truck if something was there.
He peered down the alley, unable to see anything. He slowly walked into the dark area, pulling out his phone. He wasn't but two feet into the alley.
He heard something shuffle, and froze. Slowly, he turned on his flashlight.
After seeing what was before him, he wished he hadn't.
A boy, who looked around his age, was holding what appeared to be a cat up to his mouth. He had curly hair, fair skin, and was tall and skinny. He was dressed in all black, blending into his surroundings.
The boy immediately looked up at Stan with big eyes, bringing the cat away from his mouth. Stan could see blood staining his mouth.
Fear froze Stan in place as he watched the boy drop the cat. He hissed, revealing two gleaming fangs that paralyzed Stan even more.
It wasn't until the boy took a step that Stan turned on his heels and ran as fast as he could out of the alley.
"Im gonna die... Im gonna die.." Stan chanted in his head and he ran.
His soul nearly evacuated his body as he felt an arm wrap around his midsection and yank him backward. Stan opened his mouth to scream, but a bloodied hand covered it. Stan gagged as the taste of the metallic liquid entered his mouth.
Stan realized he was being held against the boy, being dragged further into the alley. He struggled, thrashing his weight around and continued screaming against the hand.
"Shut up... shut up!!" The boy whispered in his ear. His voice shocked Stan. "Shut up or you're gonna get us both killed!" He whispered-shouted.
The boy dragged them both behind a dumpster, and dragged a trash can in front on them so no one could see them.
"Shut up! Do you want them to find us?!" The boy whispered once again. Stan was confused and was tempted to try to rip the hand from his mouth when a loud crash filled the alley.
Stan once again froze in fear, and he felt the vampire tighten his grip around him.
"Where the hell did he go!" An angry voice rang out in the alley.
Between the crack of the dumpster and trash can, Stan could see dark figures enter the alleyway. There were six, maybe seven, and they all had red glowing eyes. Stan tried to be as still as possible, but the adrenaline running through his body kept him shaking. The vampire holding him didn't loosen his grip.
"So you just lost our food? Thanks a lot, you idiot!" A female voice said.
"Don't give me that shit, you're the ones who lost the master's little boy toy!" The same male voice said.
The figures all began bickering with one another.
"That's just great, just great! We had been tracking that kid all the way from Subway! We would've had him if you didn't call us over to look for the discount vampire!"
"We know where he lives! We'll just go and wait for him there. He's bound to go home soon enough." A much calmer male voice said.
"Look at this." A female said. Stan could see her walk over to the group with the cat from earlier. "He's been here."
The group surrounded the cat, examining the large cut that severed its neck.
"He can't be far. He probably ran back in town, but first.." The female grabbed ahold of the cat's head, and in one motion twisted and yanked the head from the body. The sickening noise almost made Stan gag again.
One by one, the vampires pulled the cat apart limb by limb and feasted upon the blood oozing from of the open tears. Stan couldn't watch anymore of the gore and just shut his eyes. They finished eating fairly quickly, devouring any remains blood and them discarded the empty carcass.
"Great. Let's go find some more food, I'm still starving." Another voice said, and the figures soon sped off, leaving the scene.
Stan and the boy stayed silent for at least another minute. Stan was absolutely terrified to move even an inch, especially since the vampire had a clear shot to his throat.
After what seemed to be eternity, the vampire sighed in relief, loosing his grip around Stan.
Stan began slowly reaching around for something, anything he could use as a weapon, and then his hand felt his pocket.
"Thank you so much, Kenny." Stan thought and gently pulled out the dart. The vampire didn't seem to notice and kept staring ahead, and if he was waiting for more vampires to arrive.
Stan readied the dart in his hand, then swung upward, lodging the dart right in the vampire's neck.
He let out a cry of distress and released Stan from his grip. Stan scurried out of reach, and the vampire struggled to get up. He grabbed at the dart, and pulled it out of his neck.
"Dude! What the heck did you just do! What is..what is this?!" The vampire exclaimed, stumbling around.
Stan could see him begin to fight for his consciousness. He dropped to his knees, and fell to the ground with a thud. He groaned softly before finally giving up and passing out onto the ground.
Stan breathed heavily, watching the scene unfold. He couldn't believe it actually worked. Pride filled his chest as he realized he had single-handedly taken down a vampire.
He might join after all.
Stan wiped the blood from his mouth and stood there, not quite sure what to do next.
Stan knew he couldn't just leave the boy here. Realization dawned on him. The words from the other vampires rang in his head, and he felt sick again. Those vampire had been following him all the from Subway and he never noticed.
If this vampire didn't drag him back into the alley, he'd be dead by now. He saved his life.
Stan bent down and closely examined the boy. He looked so unusual from other vampires, even in the dark. He almost looked human.
Before Stan knew what he was doing, he flipped the boy over and wrapped his arms around him. Stan prepared for the boy to be heavy, but was surprised to find out he was in fact very light.
Stan looked up and down the street, and once he saw no one was there, he ran to his truck and opened the backseat door, placing the boy inside, and running over to the drivers side.
"This is so stupid..." Stan mumbled to himself as he turned on the truck and sped off.