Chapter 1: The First Few Signs Of Its Approach

August 5th- Stan

Why is the dark so scary?

This is a reoccurring thought 6 year old Stanley Marsh would always wonder about at nighttime. He's lying in between his mother and father in their bed, having snuck into their room half an hour ago, when he was sure they were in a deep sleep.

Stan wouldn't necessarily blame scary movies or cartoons for his fear of the darkness. It's just looking into the dark depths and seeing nothing further beyond brought about these apprehensive thoughts that someone or something was lurking deep within. Waiting to get him...

Stan shuts his eyes with a shudder, then opens his eyes and glances both left and right to see if he'd roused his parents awake. Thankfully, they remained asleep. Stan returns his gaze to the ceiling, the thick curtains from two windows letting in some faint light from outside. Stan loves when the moon is out, shining brightly within the pitch-black sky at night. Before sneaking into his parents' bedroom, he'd gotten a good look at the moon through the window in his own bedroom, and was enamored by the sight. He felt like he had the best view of the moon in town. Despite it being hundreds or maybe even thousands of miles away, the moon reflecting in Stan's sapphire eyes was practically bigger than his pupils.

Even though the dark sky was too vast for the moon's vibrant rays, it had some help - though very little - from the many stars that accompanied it. There's not a single cloud in sight. Stan recalled the snow clouds that completely covered up the sky earlier in the day, as well as in the previous days, and wondered how he's able to see the sky now. It's like the moon dispelled away the masses of grey clouds as it rose into the sky, something the sun wasn't able to do.

While he was so focused on the sky, he failed to notice a sinister being watching him from the shadows. Not even the moonlight could reveal their identity, not in the faintest.

Stan closes his eyes, remembering tonight's sky lulling him to sleep.

.

.

.

Come morning, his parents wake up to see their son sleeping in the middle of their bed, having turned over on his side whilst asleep. Resisting the urge to sigh, his mother gently shakes him awake with one hand, using the other to wipe the sleep from her eyes. But when Stan shows no signs of waking, his father assists her by lightly poking the back of Stan's neck. His eyes fly open in a panic, but he's instantly relieved when it's just his parents waking him up. Not the monster that was chasing him in his dream...

"Stan, what have we told you about not sleeping in your own room?" Stan's eyes nervously look up to see the stern frown on his mother's face. He looks away, ashamed. He's told them before that he's afraid of the dark, more than once in fact. He's glad that they never exposed his fear in front of his older sister, she would bully him about it endlessly for awhile, then add it to her 'Things To Bully Stan With' list. At least, that's what Stan believes she has somewhere in her room. A sigh from his mother brings him out of his thoughts. "This is the fourth time. I think it's best to buy you a nightlight."

The little noirette instantly denies the idea with a shake of his head. "What's wrong with me sleeping with you and dad?" He's genuinely curious about this, it's not like he ever disrupted their sleep or anything.

"Sometimes, we like to-"

"Hush, Randy." Stan raises an eyebrow at the blush coloring his mother's cheeks after she silenced his father. He wonders what he was going to say. Then she looks down at Stan. "You're a growing boy, sweetie. Even if you aren't comfortable sleeping in your room because of the dark, you will with time, and a nightlight will help you with that."

Stan grimaces. "B-but-"

"You're getting a nightlight, young man, and that's final," his father tells him, trying to sound authoritative, but his tone had a flippant edge.

Stan groans dejectedly as his parents get out of bed to start their day, his mother going to start on breakfast, and his father going to do whatever. It is the weekend, so the both of them don't have to go to work. Stan gets out of the bed, and goes to his room to start his day also. He ambles over to his dresser for some clothes, socks, and underwear, then to his bathroom to freshen up.

After he's cleaned and dressed, he walks down the stairs, seeing both his father and older sister present at the dining room table, both still in their pajamas. His mother cooked a simple meal, omelets, but Stan finds his food half-eaten. "Seriously?" He groans again in annoyance. He should've known that his sister would eat some of his breakfast since she always did whether he was at the table or not. He sits beside Shelly, glaring at her all the while to which the girl ignores as their mother comes to the table with two coffee mugs in her hands. She places one mug down in front of her plate, and the other in front of her husband before taking her seat.

"So, Stan, Shelly, any plans for today?" She asks before eating, starting up their daily morning conversation over a meal.

"Is it okay if I can go see Kyle?" Stan asks, scowling at what's left of his food. "Also, can I get another omelet? Thanks to ugly over here, I only have half left." His comment earns him a punch to the arm. It wasn't strong but it still stings. He hisses as he rubs the area he'd been hit at.

His mother ponders his questions. She sees no harm in him going over to Kyle's house, they don't live too far from him and his family. "Sure, but don't stay out too long, and no, I can't cook you another omelet." Stan groans a third time, settling for taking little bites of his food. Shelly snickers at him to which he tries to disregard. "What about you, Shelly?" The 11 year old just shrugs in response, and resumes eating.

"You're not gonna ask me what I'm gonna do today?" Randy pouts, his cobalt blue eyes shiny with tears.

Sharon rolls her eyes, but decides to ask him anyway, knowing the man will start bellyaching if she didn't. "Fine, what are you going to do today?" The lack of care was evident in her tone, but Randy either didn't notice or ignored it for he starts talking about going drinking with the guys later, resulting in Sharon disagreeing, then they argue from there.

"I'm done," Stan announces shortly after amidst his parents' arguing. "Glad they didn't bring up the nightlight in front of Shelly," he thinks with relief. He gets up leaving his empty plate on the table, and goes upstairs to brush his teeth. He brushed them last night after dinner. After a few minutes, he leaves his room and walks back downstairs to retrieve his brown jacket with a red collar, and blue hat with both a red rim and puff ball on top of it from off the coat rack. Afterwards, he puts on his black snow boots by the front door. "I'm heading out now," he informs his family before opening the door.

"I'll have your nightlight by the time you get back," his mother tells him. Stan groans for the fourth time as Shelly bursts out laughing, then exists the house, closing the door behind him. He can still hear Shelly's boisterous laughter from within the house.

Stan shivers once a cold breeze blows past him. South Park is infamous for its everyday Winter. No matter the season, it's always snow and nothing else. Reaching into one of his jacket pockets for his red mittens, he walks out onto the sidewalk. Not many people are out this morning, only a few are driving carefully on the near frozen roads. Stan is the only one strolling along the sidewalk. He looks up at the sky, smiling at the clear blue atmosphere, the blinding yellow sun, and the several fluffy, white clouds. It's pretty rare to see something like this in this small mountain town, just yesterday it was snowing. Stan feels it's best to relish the scene of the Summertime sky while he's heading to Kyle's house. Out of all the friends Stan has, only Kyle lives the closest to him.

After about five minutes of walking, Stan closes in on an olive-green house, sadly finding the driveway to the Broflovski's residence empty. The boy stops with a disappointed frown, he was looking forward to hanging out with Kyle today, especially since it's so sunny out. "Maybe next time then..." Stuffing his hands into his jacket pockets, Stan turns and trudges back the way he came to his house. He could visit his other best friend, but where he lives isn't exactly a safe place to venture to, especially by yourself. So visiting him is out. He could also visit another best friend of his, but the fat child probably wouldn't want his company, not on a weekend at least unless there was a special occasion or if he was very bored. But to be honest, Stan prefers to hang out with Kyle over the other two. He has a deeper friendship with him.

Once he returns home, Stan tells his mother that the Broflovski's were out, and throughout the remainder of the day, Stan has to put up with his bully of a sister until he retreated to his room that evening.

When the sun has completely set, the sapphire-eyed boy attempts to sleep in his room with the help of the nightlight his mother bought him earlier. The little football lamp plugged in by his nightstand is providing a small amount of illumination in his room. He guesses it's good enough, however despite it slightly easing his fear of the dark, he feels embarrassed having a nightlight in the first place. Whenever his super best friend and best friends come over, he'll be sure to hide it from them. They don't know about his nyctophobia, a word he learned from his mother but cannot pronounce himself. Not even Kyle knows of this, and Stan doubts he'll ever tell him. He would like to keep this a secret.

It's around 10:00 p.m. when some tapping sounds disrupt the silence. However, not Stan's sleep. A split second later, the tapping against something made of glass sounds again, except louder. It doesn't stop until Stan's eyes blink open, then he widens his eyes when all he sees is absolute darkness. Before he panics, he blinks once just to make sure that his eyes are open and not closed. Stan turns his head, wondering what happened to the nightlight. Did it suddenly break? Well, whatever the case, he mostly regrets not leaving the curtains to the window open...but then he gets an idea. Steeling his nerves, Stan quickly sits up to turn the lamp stationed on top of his nightstand on, coating the entirety of his bedroom in a soothing amber glow. He exhales the tension out of his body, then glances around - seeing that it's past ten o'clock from the alarm clock on his nightstand - before laying back down on his side. He doesn't know why he didn't think of this before, sleeping with the lamp on throughout the night. It's far more reliable than a measly nightlight. He's back to sleep in almost an instant.

/

August 6th

It's 12:00 a.m. when two sounds occur simultaneously, startling Stan awake. One was the persistent tapping, and the other was something haven fallen to the floor.

Stan is too scared to move. The lamp may still be on, but it doesn't dissipate the uneasiness he's experiencing. But...for some reason, despite his uncomfortableness, he feels compelled to investigate what all the commotion was about. Especially the noise that came from directly within his room. Clenching his Terrance and Phillip bedsheets with a nervous gulp, Stan sits up turning to face the spacious side of his room. Near the purple-colored wall are his dresser, a bookshelf, and a toy box in the middle of them. They're all brown colored. His bathroom is across from them on the right side of the wall, and there's a lot of space in between the bathroom and the bedroom door. On the wall near his bed are some posters of football players. Stan instantly notices one of his books on the teal-colored carpeted floor, opened as if someone had entered his room just to read through one of his children's books. He becomes even more nervous to get out of bed, but forces himself to do it, mentally telling himself that the light of the lamp will keep him safe. Something a nightlight can never hope to achieve.

Once his bare feet make contact with the floor, he shivers at how cool the smooth fabric feels against his skin. He usually loves the feeling underneath his feet, but at this moment he can make do with some heat. He could've sworn one of his parents turned the heat on before nightfall...

Stan tentatively ambles towards his nightlight first, recalling that it stopped working out of nowhere. He's dumbfounded when he sees the little football lamp lit up again, but becomes horrified when it starts flickering rapidly. Then it stops. Stan stares at it. He doesn't know whether to be glad or fearful about what just transpired, he just hopes that the thing is broken for real this time. Leaving it be, he looks towards his window, contemplating splitting apart the pale-colored curtains to look at the moon, so it can dispel his accumulating anxiety. Even though he really wants to, he feels disinclined to even go near the window. The tapping sounds most likely originated from there, he'd rather not meet a horrifying monster that could potentially be awaiting the chance to be seen by him, so it can do...terrifying things to him he refuses to imagine. He shudders and nearly tears up at the horrific thought, no longer regretting leaving the curtains shut. He instead goes over to the book on the floor, stopping before it with a puzzled frown developing on his face. This book looks a bit too big, not only that, but it doesn't have anything on its pages. He inspects his bookshelf, and is rendered twice as confused when he notices that there's not an empty slot on either of the three shelves. Which means...Stan's widening eyes look back down at the book...this...isn't his...

He takes a wobbly step back, then runs to his bedroom door, yearning to go into his parents bedroom. He unlocks it, and tugs the doorknob. The door doesn't budge. "H-huh?!" Stan tries pulling on the knob again, becoming frantic the longer the door fails to open. He then starts banging on the door with his other hand, hoping the loud knocking catches his parents' attention. "Mom?! Dad?!" He calls out desperately. "Help, the door won't open!" He ceases his shouting and banging on the door for some moments, despair heavily setting in when he hears no indication of his parents having heard him. "S-Shelly, help me! Please!" He didn't want to call her for help because she would beat him up if he ever disturbed her sleep for anything, important or not. But Stan doesn't care about the consequences of waking her, he'd rather feel her wrath than a monster's. Unfortunately, he once again hears no movement, much to his dismay.

All of a sudden, letters slowly begin to appear on his door. The lamp's light starts to flicker similar to how the nightlight did, as if it is warning Stan of the approaching danger. Tears brimming in his eyes, Stan quickly backs away from the door, whimpering when the light goes out. In its place is an eerie green glow coming from the door, Stan watching in horror as more words magically form onto the wooden surface. He...he must be dreaming, no, he is dreaming. He's had creepy nightmares like this before, they even felt real as well. So this situation can't be any different. This is scarier than the previous nightmares he underwent, but the fact remains that they were just merely nightmares. He just has to endure this horrid experience until he wakes up, which he hopes is very soon.

The ghost that was writing to him finally stops after what felt like hours. Stan wipes the blear in his eyes, so he can read what the words say, cringing in discomfort at some of the letters oozing green goop down the door. It is a simple and straightforward message. "G-go...to the book," he reads aloud. He slides his eyes over to said object that's still on the floor. Thinking it's best not to question the entity's demand, Stan walks back over to the book and sits down on his knees. As he gazes at the blank pages, a chilly, abnormal sensation surges throughout his body. He is unable to react as the sound of something being scribbled on begins to fill the silence of the room, the source coming from the book. Horror-stricken sapphire eyes remain glued to the book as another set of words slowly form on its blank white pages.

Instead of green, big and bold red letters take their time forming a sentence across the pages. Once it's completely written out, it becomes silent, eerily so. The frightened child is now pale as his eyes gape at the new message directed at him, his voice lost in his throat.

The sentence causing his fearful turmoil is:

THE DARK HUNGERS FOR YOU, STANLEY MARSH


Sharon

The following morning, Sharon and Randy realize that their son hadn't left his room to come to theirs last night. Sharon is proud that the nightlight fulfilled its role, Stan can finally sleep in his own bed without any worries or fears. But he has to wake up now though since it's almost twelve o'clock.

Sharon sets a plate of pancakes down on the center of the dining table before making her way up to Stan's room, both Randy and Shelly wasting no time grabbing a few pieces and putting them on their plates. Sharon lightly knocks on Stan's bedroom door. "Stan? It's time to wake up." She receives no reply. It's only Sunday, but she wants him to eat breakfast first, then he can go back to sleep for a little while longer if he wants to. She tries the doorknob, finding it unlocked much to her surprise. Stan always locks his door before bed, so no 'monsters' or Shelly can barge in. Sharon pushes the door forward, peeking her head in through the small opening. Instead of seeing her son still asleep, she sees him sitting up in bed, his eyes dull and shaken. She nears him with a sense of urgency, his skin complexion greatly concerning her. She gently places a hand over his forehead, his hot skin telling her that he has come down with a fever.

"Stan, lay down," she orders, but Stan makes no effort to move. It's as if he hadn't heard her.

"T-there's ghosts...in this house..."

Sharon regards him with even more concern. "Stan, what're you-"

"I was calling for you last night! You, dad...a-and even Shelly!" Stan exclaims, tears welling up in his eyes. "I was so scared, mom...I-I banged on the door, b-but you-you..." His words turn into incoherent babble as he starts to cry.

Sharon embraces him, gently rubbing up and down his back. "Shh, shh, it's okay. Just calm down." She heard nothing last night except for Randy's light snoring. That was it.

Stan's sobbing calms after a few minutes, his cheeks flushed a bright red. Sharon pulls back a little, her frown deepening at the blank look on her son's wan face. "...Book," he suddenly murmurs. "It...wrote something down in that book." As if the boy suddenly became possessed, Stan's little finger points to the book that's lying on the floor.

Separating from Stan completely, Sharon's cerulean eyes follow his finger towards the chocolate brown-colored book. She returns her questioning gaze back to her son for a brief moment before walking over to the book. "What could this so-called ghost had possibly written?" She thinks doubtfully. Children Stan's age say the weirdest things. Once Sharon is near the book, she reaches down and picks it up with suspicious care, not recalling buying a book like this for Stan. Its title-less cover is unrecognizable. Without a seconds hesitation, she opens it. "Stan," she utters, then turns around, ambling back over to the quiet boy. The noirette waits in nervous anticipation for the words his mother are about to say. "This book only has pictures in it."

An unsettling silence follows after her statement. Sapphire eyes slowly expand in size as Stan processes what his mother just told him. "H-huh...?" Sharon shows him the inside of the book, just as she said only pictures of the wildlife are in it as she slowly turns each page. Stan is at a loss for words as chills slither up his spine, perhaps he really did dream the events last night...But there's one more thing he has to show her, then he'll know for sure that what he experienced last night was a false reality. Trying his hardest to ignore his increased body temperature and lightheadedness, Stan slips out of bed.

"Stan?" Sharon calls for him questionably, watching him trudge towards the door.

Stan closes it to show his mother the green words that the ghost wrote to him. But the message is gone. Just like the book, the door appears normal. "N-no, this can't be right," he says under his breath, shock evident in his tone. He undergoes a turbulence of emotions: shock, disbelief, fatigue, and immense uneasiness. It's all too much for him to handle.

"Stan!" Sharon rushes over and catches her son before he collapses to the floor, his breathing heavy and his flushed cheeks a shade darker. She quickly lays him down on his bed, pulling the covers over him. With haste, she goes into Stan's bathroom for a bottle of children's medicine, and to dampen a washcloth.

"So, last night...was nothing but a nightmare after all," are Stan's last thoughts before sleep claims him.

Sharon comes back several seconds later with the items she need to lessen Stan's fever. She places the medicine bottle down on the nightstand once she sees Stan fast asleep. She carefully lays the cool, wet washcloth over his forehead, frowning at the ill state her child is in. She sighs, then grabs the book she accidentally dropped, and walks over to Stan's bookshelf to return it to its rightful place. However, she notices something odd. The bookshelf is full. There's not a single space empty from where the book could've originally been. "That's strange..." She thinks, very perplexed. The book has children's pictures in it, although she still has no recollection of ever buying it for Stan. Perhaps Randy bought it for him without her noticing. She puts the book on top of the bookshelf instead, then turns around, raising an eyebrow at the nightlight. She nears it, getting down on one knee to unplug it, then plugs it back into the socket. It flickers to life. Glad to know that it still works, she unplugs it again, and puts it down on top of the nightstand. She approaches her resting son, kisses the cloth on his forehead, then exits his room.


August 8th- Kyle

That Tuesday afternoon, Kyle Broflovski has just gotten off the school bus, and is on his way to visit Stan. The little Jewish child is quite eager to see him even though he is still sick. His presence was greatly missed at school. Even though Kyle has two other best friends in his and Stan's group he could've spent time with, he's more comfortable with Stan's company.

"Wish we could've hanged out over the weekend, but my mom wanted us to spend some family time together," Kyle thinks grumpily. It's not that he doesn't like spending time with his family, he enjoys it on some occasions. He just hates that during the entire weekend, it was beautiful and sunny out, and he couldn't hang out with Stan. It was a big contrast compared to yesterday's and today's weather. Kyle looks up at the sky just as a light gust of wind blows by, slightly swaying the flaps of his green ushanka. He frowns resentfully at the grey clouds, increasing his grip on the straps of his red book bag. "Hopefully, it'll be sunny again this weekend." But he doesn't get his hopes up too much as he lowers his gaze. The Marsh's dark green house is just several yards away, parked in their driveway is a navy-blue car.

Kyle soon arrives at the front doorstep, and knocks thrice on the door. He only has to wait a couple of seconds for the sound of approaching footsteps, then the locks being undone followed by the door opening. "Oh! Hello, Kyle," Mrs. Marsh greets him in slight shock, opening the door wider to let him in. "Came to check up on Stan?" She stayed home from work ever since yesterday, and will continue to do so until Stan feels better.

Kyle nods as he enters the warm abode, removing his book bag and brown snow boots, setting them both by the other shoes and boots on the floor by the front door. He keeps his orange jacket and ushanka on for he is still cold from the everlasting Winter that persists in South Park. It's like Summer doesn't even exist in this town. But the main reason he doesn't take his hat off in front of Mrs. Marsh is because he doesn't want her to see his hair. He hates his hair, not because it stands out from the other kids' hair in color, but because it's untameable. He once broke his mother's comb and brush when she tried to smooth his hair out, thus is the reason he wears his ushanka everywhere he goes.

The thought of his unruly hair brings up a memory, a memory he will never forget.

/

It was his first day at Park Tree Preschool, he was 4 years old at the time. He and his family were living in the bustling city of New York prior to moving. Kyle's little brother, Ike, was adopted after the redhead's third birthday, the baby boy was now half-Canadian and half-Jewish. Their mother grew tired of the constant noise every day and night, thus was the reason they moved to South Park: a small, quiet town in Colorado. Sheila knew instantly that she was going to like it there.

Ike was still practically a newborn at the time, so Kyle went to school alone. On his first day there, he was already the main target for bullies. They made fun of his hair color and shape, calling him a daywalker, ginger, bushy head, and other foul names little children were not supposed to be aware of at the time. Well, South Park was a small town, so maybe children learned fast here, Kyle assumed. He ignored them, or at least tried to. Back in New York, he was made fun of as well, not for his hair color, but for how it was shaped. It died down after a few days. He pretty much expected the same treatment here in South Park, so he willed himself to stay strong, and just ignored the insults. Their teacher had stepped out a few seconds ago, and three children took that opportunity to pick on him.

The name calling continued on after what felt like days, greatly getting on Kyle's nerves. He never had the urge to beat up someone before, the anger rising within him felt like it was about to take control of his body at any given moment. He yearned to punch the faces of these three children poking fun at him, have them regret messing with him by giving them a black eye and/or a bloody nose. He didn't know where this resentment came from, he never felt this way before. He always cried whenever he was bullied.

Lime-green eyes glared hatefully at the three boys that were now laughing at him, the rest of the children too preoccupied with their toys, books, or drawings to pay any attention to them. All except one. Kyle's glare alone was enough to lessen the three boys' laughter to nervous chuckles before they fell silent, the shear anger in his eyes making them uneasy. But before he could do or say anything to them, a little boy with black hair and sapphire eyes stepped in. His eyes were narrowed also, but the three bullies felt no hostility from him like in Kyle's eyes.

"You buttholes leave him alone," the boy demanded, his little voice serious and confident.

The teacher came into the classroom shortly after pushing a t.v on a cart, stating that they were going to watch a movie until lunchtime. The bullies left Kyle alone and went to follow the rest of the children to the television. Kyle was staring at the little noirette's back in shock. He didn't think anyone would come to his rescue. He stood up from the small chair he was sitting in to tap the boy's shoulder for his attention. "Um, thanks for sticking up for me," Kyle told him, appreciative.

The boy turned around with a toothy grin. "You're welcome! I can't stand those three anyway, they always pick on people. Even girls!"

The next day and so forth, the two began talking and horsing around with each other. A boy in an orange parka, orange pants, and battered shoes would join them sometimes along with a chubby kid with brown hair, he wore a red jacket, brown pants, and black sneakers. The four later learned each other's names. Kyle found out the black-haired boy's name was Stan Marsh, the parka wearing boy was Kenny McCormick, and the fat kid was Eric Cartman. Kyle, Stan, Kenny, and Eric became best friends from then on, though Kyle's and Stan's friendship evolved into super best friends after Stan witnessed how cool Kyle was one day. Kenny felt left out, but didn't let it show, his parka's hood practically covered his whole face for him to show any emotion. Eric didn't really care, he made fun of the two which caused Kyle to retaliate in his and Stan's defense.

Kyle wasn't harassed anymore by the three children as the days progressed. If one of them so much as looked at him, they would be met with a glare which made them think twice about even acknowledging the redhead.

/

Kyle smiles at the memory. Him and Stan have basically been inseparable since then. They've been super best friends for two years now, and he hopes they stay this way as they continue to grow older. Once Kyle snaps back to reality, he blushes in embarrassment when he realizes Mrs. Marsh has been staring at him this entire time. He quickly excuses himself to Stan's room. The woman shakes her head a little with a small smile before heading to the kitchen.

Once Kyle is in front of the closed door belonging to Stan's bedroom, he waits some seconds until he's sure his cheeks are back to their normal color before lightly knocking. "Stan? I'm coming in," he announces, letting the boy know of his arrival. He doesn't get a response, so he assumes Stan is asleep. He opens the door, and quietly walks into the room. Stan's room hasn't changed at all since the last time he's been here. He remembers Stan telling him that he wanted to play football, being enthusiastic about it too. Kyle can somehow picture him being a pro at the rough sport. Kyle himself, though, isn't too sure if he wants to play any sports, but if he later decides to do so, he might give basketball a try. He soon notices a football nightlight on the surface of the nightstand, and arches an amused eyebrow. He is so going to make fun of the noirette about it when he gets better.

Lowering his brow, Kyle looks to his sleeping super best friend, and frowns. He isn't ready to go home just yet. He decides to make himself comfortable on the floor by Stan's bed, gazing up at the ceiling. He removes his ushanka, and a red-haired afro springs upwards. He sets his hat down beside him. He doesn't mind or care if Stan wakes up and sees his hair, it wouldn't be the first time he's seen it. Kyle eventually closes his eyes, the faint sounds of Stan's raspy breathing lullabying him to sleep.

/

?

Kyle was over at Stan's house one night.

Both boys were sat on the couch in the living room, laughing their butts off at the latest Terrance and Phillip show. Stan's parents nor Shelly were at home. It was the night of their first sleepover. Only twenty minutes had elapsed, and the two boys were already having a blast. No lights were on in the living room, save from the glow emitting from the television. The kitchen light was left on.

A series of fart jokes sent the boys into another fit of laughter, both with a tear in the corner of their eye. "O-oh my God, dude. Terrance and Phillip are the best," Stan said after he calmed down, wiping one of his eyes. He sat back with a content sigh, Kyle nodding his head in agreement, his throat sore from laughing so hard. The show ended five minutes later, much to their discontent. The night was still young, yet they couldn't think of anything else to do. Stan felt lame for not having a television in his room, later voicing this thought out loud for Kyle to hear.

"It's okay. Why don't we watch a movie then?" Kyle suggested.

Stan felt like face-palming. He forgot that his family possessed loads of movies. "Alright," he said as he hopped down from the sofa. "I'll go pop some popcorn, and you can pick out a movie."

Kyle got up from the couch as well, and walked over to the t.v stand. He scanned all of the movies the Marsh's owned, using the flashing lights from the television above him as a light source. While browsing, he discovered that they had various genres of movies ranging from comedy, romance, action, horror, and etc. But one case got Kyle's attention. He took the DVD out to inspect. The cover was pure black unlike some of the other movie cases he'd examined, this one also didn't have a title. Not a single word was on the cover nor on the back when Kyle turned it over. "Weird..." he thought. He opened the case, finding the disc just as black on both the top and bottom. But he put the movie in anyway, hoping it would be entertaining as he pressed the play button. "Wow, it actually played," he thought, astonished.

Stan came back with a bowl full of popcorn seconds after Kyle sat back down on the couch, he'd turned off the kitchen light. "So, what movie did'cha put in?" Stan asked placing the bowl in between the two of them as he sat down. Kyle took a handful of the buttery snack before shrugging. Stan raised an eyebrow at him. "What do you mean you don't know?" Kyle answered him with a stuffed mouth. "What?" Stan questioned him as he reached into the bowl for some popcorn. He barely understood a word he just said.

Kyle swallowed before speaking again, this time more coherently. "I said it didn't have a title, but I think it's a horror movie."

Stan stiffened, his hand still inside the bowl. "...What?" He knew that they had horror movies, but one that wasn't titled didn't ring a bell. Plus, his least favorite genre was horror. The commercials of other movies played on the television.

"Yeah, you didn't know you had it?" Kyle asked.

"No!" Stan nearly shouted. He practically bolted off of the couch, going towards the DVD case Kyle had discarded on the tan carpeted floor. Stan picked it up, squinting at the case. The constant flashing from the television made it a bit difficult to look at it properly. But Kyle was right, no title was on it no matter how hard or long he looked at the cover for. He turned it over seeing no preview images of the movie itself like on all of the other movie cases on its back. He turned around to face Kyle, appearing uncertain. "Um, Kyle-" A shrill scream from the t.v caused Stan to scream in turn and drop the case. Kyle soundlessly flinched at the sound.

After a minute, Stan composed himself and turned to the t.v. On the screen showed the movie's title, its words a confusing mixture of red and pink as it glowed ominously in the middle of the screen. There were no options to start the movie or to select a scene to skip to. Just the title called 'Darkness'. If Stan looked closely, he could make out another set of words at the end of the title, but it was practically blending in with the background, so he left it alone. "Kyle, I don't like the looks of this," he admitted nervously. "I-I'm gonna take it out." He extended a hand towards the DVD player.

"Wait!" Kyle said.

Stan paused, glaring at him incredulously. "Why the heck should I?! This movie is freaky!" He was getting an uneasy feeling in his stomach. Not once had he seen a movie lack the two main choices on the menu screen before.

Kyle didn't seem fazed at all like Stan was, knowing why the noirette was acting so panicky. A playful smirk spread across his lips, but Stan could only vaguely see the expression thanks to the single glowing word. "You scared, scaredy cat?" The redhead teased.

Stan involuntarily blushed, but was thankful that the dark screen concealed it from Kyle's view. "N-no, I just...have a bad feeling about this movie." Kyle laughed at his timid response, Stan feeling his cheeks becoming warmer in embarrassment.

"Riiiight," Kyle said after his mini laughing fit. "Just relax, dude. It's probably a new movie nobody has ever heard of...Think your dad bought it illegally?" Before Stan could even ponder the possibility, the movie began to play behind him. He just shrugged with a sigh of defeat, and headed back to his spot on the sofa. "Don't chicken out," Kyle warned him insouciantly, earning a popcorn being thrown at him in response.

The first scene of the movie showed a family of five chatting in their home, the parents had two sons and one daughter. The three children appeared to be no older than 13 years old. The time setting was in the evening—Kyle and Stan could see the orange setting sun from behind one of the curtains in the living room the family were in. The next scene showed the family eating dinner at a round table. For some odd reason, they weren't saying anything. Just the sounds of silverware hitting against the plates held a rhythmic conversation of their own.

"Talk about boring," Kyle muttered.

When three minutes went by, the family was done eating. The following scene focused on one of the sons. The little brown-haired child entered his bedroom in his pajamas, ready for bed. Once the boy climbed into his bed, he turned his lamp off. Only the moonlight from the opened curtains shimmered its rays into his room.

'THUD'

The abrupt sound caused all three boys to jump, the brunette in the movie quickly turning back on his lamp's light. He glanced around his room for the source of the noise, but found nothing out of place. One of the books from his bookshelf looked like it was about to fall though. He twisted the small switch on his lamp to turn it off again, then laid back down.

"Do you think the book's gonna fall?" Kyle asked Stan in a whisper.

"Maybe," Stan replied, trying hard not to show any signs of fear on his face. He didn't want Kyle to think he was a chicken, he, too, could handle scary movies like the redhead. Just if someone was watching it with him.

A few minutes later in the movie, the two boys heard a light tapping sound against the window. The curtains were mysteriously closed. Both Kyle and Stan grew nervous as the brown-haired boy remained obliviously asleep, though Kyle didn't let it show like Stan did. The tapping continued, gradually becoming louder with each passing second until-

'CRASH' 'THUD'

The sound of a window breaking along with something falling to the floor caused both Kyle and Stan to jolt with a scream, spilling their bowl of popcorn as a result. The boy in the film awoke with a start, and quickly turned his lamp back on once again. This time, he saw shards of glass littering his green carpeted floor along with an opened book in front of his bookshelf.

His parents had to have heard that, Kyle thought. Stan was too scared to even think.

The brown-haired child slowly got out of bed, going to his window first. He did not spot anything around that could've broken his window, so how did the glass shatter? He swallowed the nervous lump in his throat, then cautiously moved the curtains out of the way. Tense music played as he gazed outside. A gentle breeze and the bright moon welcomed him, but that was it. Not one tree was near his window, so what was making those tapping sounds? He closed the curtains, then moved to the book. The boy instantly froze at what he saw.

The opened book was blank, the one on his shelf had yet to have fallen. This book was not his.

Kyle unconsciously leaned closer to Stan for comfort, fear and anticipation eating away at the both of them. But the boy in the t.v was extremely terrified. He got down on his knees, and picked up the book with shaky hands. It was a big book, that he was certain of due to its weight and size upon closer inspection. But it only had two pages.

All of a sudden, his lamp's light started to flicker at a rapid pace before going out, instantly engulfing his room in semidarkness. But inside Stan's house, it was completely dark. Kyle and Stan watched on as the boy sat there in complete horror, fear holding an iron grip on him. Suddenly, scratching sounds overpowered the tense music, the source coming from the book.

The camera kept its focus on the book as words slowly began to form onto the blank white pages. With each word being written out, they began to glow, casting an even more terrifying feel to them. Once the writing ceased some seconds later, the words' ominous luminescence turned a blood red, the liquid trailing down each page and onto the floor.

The suspenseful music played its last note before fading out.

THE DARK HUNGERS FOR YOU

Kyle flinches with a start when he feels his head hit against something. He groans as he blinks his eyes open while slowly sitting up, realizing he dozed off. But what was that dream? Did they really watch a movie like that during their first sleepover? He thought they had it in Stan's room...

He pushes the thought aside, and he rubs the sleep from his eyes before standing up. He looks at Stan's alarm clock for the time, it's 5:59 p.m. Kyle pales, he needs to get home, quick! Plus, he has homework to do, and he needs to call his mother to inform her of his current whereabouts. "Oh man, mom's gonna kill me. Literally," he thinks fearfully.

"Had a good sleep?" Suddenly asks Stan, his voice hoarse.

Kyle turns his head his way, his cheeks becoming faintly red in embarrassment at his super best friend's question. "W-whatever. How do you feel now?" Before Stan can answer him, a light knock on the door intervenes. Mrs. Marsh reveals herself shortly after. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Marsh. I kinda...fell asleep," Kyle admits bashfully, rubbing the back of his neck. He tries not to panic when he remembers that his ushanka isn't covering up his horrendous hairdo.

The woman shakes her head with a small smile. "No need to apologize, I already knew that when I came up here to check and see how Stan was doing." Kyle's present blush becomes more noticeable. "Also, I called your mother. I told her that you were over here, and that you're spending the night. She almost went to the police if I hadn't called sooner."

"Huh? But it's a weekday," Kyle protests. He gets a dreadful feeling in the pit of his stomach. His mother hasn't been herself lately, and neither him nor his father know the reason why. Ike is still too young to notice. There are times where she would act like she normally did, but then change to an emotionless zombie or an entirely different person come the next day or two.

"Yes, I know, but I suddenly got called into work. I couldn't turn them down," Mrs. Marsh sighs. "I can't leave Stan here by himself since Shelly and Randy aren't here, and he's still running a fever. I told Sheila that too, and she said that she'll bring you some spare clothes around six."

Kyle still feels skeptical, but now a little bit happy. He likes the idea of spending the night over his super best friend's house again, even if the latter is sick. He will never admit this out loud, even if he did it would cost him, but he prefers the Marsh's house over his own home. Mainly because his home hasn't been the same as of late, and he's sure his mother is the reason for it. He feels as though he can relax here, and not worry about his mother's unusual behavior. He nods his head in understanding, then Mrs. Marsh takes her leave, closing the door halfway. Neither boy utters a word to the other, Stan's light and hoarse breathing is the only sound filling the silence. Kyle's mind drifts back to the dream he had, curious about the strange movie they watched that night of their sleepover. "Stan, can I ask you something?" Stan doesn't respond. Kyle looks to him seeing his sapphire eyes half-lidded and focused on the ceiling. "Oi, earth to Stan," Kyle says a bit louder.

Stan blinks, gliding his still half-opened eyes over towards Kyle. "What is it?" His voice was a bit nasally and his tone was void of emotion.

Kyle can drop the subject, and ask him some other time, but he wants to ask him now to get it over with. "Do you remember our first sleepover?" He asks, wanting to jog Stan's memory on the matter before going to the main topic.

He once again doesn't receive a reply until after a few seconds. "Yeah, what about it?" Stan asks.

"You remember the movie we watched after Terrance and Phillip?"

This time, Kyle receives a reaction from the noirette, his eyebrow elevating in confusion. "Terrance and Phillip? We didn't watch their show."

It's Kyle's turn to react the same way, but his is of shock. Does Stan not remember? Or could it be his fever talking, effecting his memory? "Yeah, we did. Then we watched a movie afterwards called 'Darkness'."

Stan's eyes widen with horror. His body starts to tremble as if the room's temperature dropped. Kyle becomes concerned about Stan's odd behavior, is he still that shaken up by the movie? It was indeed scary, but...Kyle doesn't remember what happened to the boy in the film after he read the sentence in the book. Perhaps Stan does, which is why he's still spooked by it to this day.

The sound of a doorbell snaps Kyle out of his thoughts. Stan has his back to him, but his trembling has calmed a little bit. Kyle shakes his head of the memory, exiting the room as soon as Mrs. Marsh announces to him of his mother's arrival. He prepares himself for the scolding he's about to receive.

He'll bring up the movie again another day, when Stan is feeling better.