Smoke Filled Lungs

Chapter 34: The Aftermath

Stan woke up the following day lying on Kyle's chest. His hazy brown eyes blinked as he took in his surroundings, he was at his house, with him and Kyle on his couch. Kenny and Clyde lay on the floor and Firkle and Ike were squished together on the armchair, all were asleep. He groaned as he rubbed his eyes, why did he feel so sore?

He pulled his hand away only to see marks on his wrists. They were red, but not as bright as if they were recent, his face also hurt as well...wait.

The cult! He was kidnapped from Tolkien's party and was almost pushed into a hole that had the corpses of the town's missing people. There were so many more than he thought there were, and there near the bottom of the pile he could see Butters. Half rotted away.

He didn't deserve that!

Stan's hands gripped Kyle's shirt as his heart began to race, he was almost thrown down into that hole. He almost died! His breathing got heavy as he felt the hand pressed to his back about to push him in before the light showed the corpses. Then Red backed off after that. She must've been lied to by Cartman. Even though everyone knew he was a monster, even though everyone knew of all the horrible things that he did, he still had a way to get people to listen and be charmed by him.

He hated that bastard! 

The raven's hands shook as he remembered, remembered all the close calls he's had growing up. When his sister's abuse almost went too far, the number of times his life was put in jeopardy, whether it be by his father or even by Cartman when he once called him a friend. Things got less dangerous after he cut himself off from Cartman and Kenny and started to stay with the goths full-time. That didn't mean he was completely out of harm's way considering how insane the town was and how many problems it stirred. But he wasn't in as high of a risk distancing himself from those that seem to draw it out. He had nothing to do with Cartman for years, brushing him off if he tried to talk to him and flat-out ignoring him the rest of the time.

Kenny was a different story, they were still friendly, but he still stayed away. It was a few years after, so around middle school, when Kenny split away from Cartman himself, there was some event, something about Nascar. Anyway, after that incident Kenny blew up at him and cut him off, adding a threat on top for him to stay away. After that Stan talked to him a bit more, he even had a one-night stand with the guy, but they weren't as close as they were before he split from them. Things seemed to have changed recently though.

Then there was Butters, the last one from his old friend group. He was the innocent one out of them all, despite the horrible treatment he suffered at the hands of them (mainly Cartman) and his parents. He followed Cartman and listened to him like he was the only one who spoke any sense, and yet was constantly punished for it. When he knew that Cartman was up so a scheme of some sort he would stay away from the boy, but he still allowed him to hang around. He was nice to Butters because no one else really was since people either bullied him or just ignored him. He knew Butters was a good kid, he even offered Butters to join the goths when they were young, but he didn't go for it. He was a good kid who deserved better, but now he never could be happy.

Stan gave a shaky breath as he curled up more on Kyle. What a nightmare.

He jolted when he heard a loud banging on the front door, startling Kyle and the other sleeping teens in the room, it was followed by a loud, "Stan! Firkle! You in there!"

Pete.

"Open up the door!"

Kyle groaned under Stan as his eyes opened a little, "The hell?"

The raven rolled off his boyfriend and landed on the floor, "I'll get it." He stumbled a bit, his legs feeling like jelly, but he was able to get to the door without falling and grabbed the knob. He jerked it open as he leaned on the wall beside to keep balance. There on the other side stood Henrietta, Pete, and Michale, all looking worried but visibly relaxed when they saw the tired raven.

"Oh thank god you're alive!" Henrietta shouted as she threw her hands around the smaller goth.

Stan, slightly taken aback, was held up by the other teen, "Uh, yeah I'm fine. Why?"

"Firkle. He texted us everything," Michale explained as he and Pete walked in, catching Kyle sitting up on the couch, Kenny rolling over onto his back, and Clyde rubbing his eyes. The younger teens groaned as they both squirmed in the chair as their eyes opened.

"Oh...that..." quick flashes flickered across his mind, "I'm okay..."

"You were almost sacrificed to the cult! You are not okay!"

Pete slammed the door behind them as Henrietta let go and they walked back towards the couch, Kyle now awake. "Guys..."

Michale smacked the back of Firkle's head as he walked by the chair, making the youngest goth whine, "What the fuck!"

"That's for being an idiot, you could've died!" The eldest goth hissed as he sat by Kyle on the couch. Stan sat on the other side of the redhead while Henrietta sat on the arm of the sofa by him, while Pete sat on the other side by the curly-haired teen.

"Whatever happened, Firkle sent texts to the chat, but it was a mess."

Stan let out a shaky sigh, Kyle looked over and grabbed his hand, "You're okay now. I ain't gonna let that bastard near you."

Clyde pulled out his phone as he leaned against Kenny, his eyes stared at the screen only to widen, "Guys, turn on the tv!"

They all cast the teen in red a glance, but Ike took the remote by the side table and flicked it on, and luckily it was on the channel needed.

"This morning in South Park, Colorado, the rumored cult has been revealed to be real, and all members have been founded and arrested after the discovery of a pit of corpses, also known as their sacrifices. The police are currently working on recovering the bodies and identifying them. The leader of the cult has also been identified to be Eric Cartman, a student at South Park Highschool who has been arrested. Many members of the cult have also been revealed to be citizens of the South Park community. There is much that has yet to be learned, but we will keep up with the case as more is revealed. Now Terry with the weather."

The teens stared at the tv, Cartman was arrested. Stan gave a shaky breath of relief. He couldn't come after him. He'd be safe, for now. Who knows how long he would. But hopefully long enough till he can graduate and ditch town. He wouldn't doubt that the guy would try and get some sort of revenge on them.

"How long you think he'll get?" Kenny asked as he leaned against his boyfriend.

"Not long enough," Firkle muttered as he pulled out his phone.

"Hopefully long enough for us to get out of this shithole town," Stan sighed as he leaned his head on Kyle's shoulder. "Got a plan?"

The raven gave the redhead a glance before shaking his head, "Not yet."

"Well, whatever it is, I'm with you," he said as he intertwined his fingers with Stan, who returned the gesture.

"We all are," Pete said from his spot on the couch. Which earned many sounds and words of agreement around the room. Stan smiled, "Thanks, guys."

One hell of a way to kick off spring break.

***

Don't worry, this is not the end. There is still more to go.