For Shits and Giggles (complete first draft)

Chapter 31

Cuddles was seething.

His hands were wrapped tightly around the steering wheel as he sped down the street back toward town.

People were onto him. They knew about the lake. It wasn't the end of the world— he had managed to throw them off his scent with Petunia's little secret. Or so he thought. All he had to do was make it back to the cabin, gather Giggles and her things, and hide out somewhere else.

The problem was that he'd been killed. When you're killed you can't control what time you wake up the next day. He'd woken up in the late morning, and by the time he made it to the cabin, Giggles was already gone.

"I can't fucking believe this," he swore. His rage was blinding. He was headed to Giggles' house, she had to be there. She just had to. But what if she wasn't? What if she'd gone somewhere else, with someone else?

He almost missed the two figures standing right in the middle of the street. He swore to himself again and slammed the brakes.

"Get out of the road!" He yelled out of his window. He noticed a third person for the first time, standing safely behind the first two. He was shorter, pudgier, and wore large, round glasses.

"You," Cuddles gasped. Sniffles stepped out from behind Lifty and Shifty. Cuddles threw his car door open and marched up to him. He snatched Sniffles by the collar of his jacket.

"Tell me where she is!"

"She's at the Hospital," Sniffles said simply, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. He was standing on the tips of his toes, his jacket rubbing uncomfortably against the back of his neck as Cuddles held him there.

"Well," Sniffles added, "according to my sources anyway." Lifty and Shifty snickered.

"No," Cuddles whined, releasing him. "No, no, no... why would you do that? Why the hell would you do that!" He yelled, shoving a hand through his shaggy, blond hair. He paced the street in front of his car.

Sniffles watched him, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Do you know what you've done," Cuddles demanded.

"Tell me," Sniffles pried, "What have I done?"

He let out a loud, frustrated grunt– a mix between a cry and a roar. "She's going to break the curse. She's going to... leave me."

An evil grin climbed up Sniffles' cheeks. Bingo.

"No she won't," he decided, walking towards Cuddles' car. He stood at the front passenger side, grabbing the door handle. "We're going to stop her."

"Wait," Cuddles watched him, confused. "Don't you... isn't that your whole thing? Figuring out how to beat the curse, all your experiments on the Tree?"

He grimaced, "My experiments on the Tree are a farce. Fire, chainsaws, pulling on it with a truck? Are you kidding? It doesn't take my level of genius to figure it out. Nothing can destroy that tree. Nothing. But apparently, this town is full of idiots. Blind, ungrateful idiots who would stop at nothing to see it gone. Wanting to do away with such a magnificent opportunity. We've been given a gift, a GIFT," he glared at Cuddles, prying the car door open with deep aggravation. "So just follow my lead. I've got a plan."

Cuddles watched as Sniffles shoved himself into his car and slammed the door shut. He glanced at Lifty and Shifty in disbelief. They were already making their way to the Ducatis parked neatly on the side of the road. Since high school, they'd graduated from skateboards to bikes, to motorcycles, and now, thanks to generous funding from Sniffles, to sportsbikes. He watched as they each lifted their bikes off the ground and started the engines. They revved once, then twice, and sped off in the town's direction.

"Well, alright," Cuddles murmured to himself in hopeful skepticism. "Let's do this then."