𝑽𝑰𝑪𝑻𝑰𝑴𝑺 𝑶𝑭 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑷𝑨𝑹𝑲

witchcraft

Stan felt his stomach drop.

Wendy? Someone took Wendy?

He felt his body sway, before everything went black.

"Stan? Stan! Dude, stay with me!" Kyle shouted. Stan barely heard him over the ringing in his ears. He opened his eyes and saw the sky, still overcast but no longer rainy. He became suddenly aware of a pain in the back of his head as it laid on the asphalt of the bridge. Kyle helped him sit up, Kenny holding him steady from the other side.

"Dude, oh my god, is your head okay?" Kenny asked. The hood of his parka had come down, exposing golden-blonde hair.

"Here, Stan, how many fingers am I holding up?" Asked Cartman, stepping in front of Stan and holding up his middle finger.

"Fuck you, Cartman." Stan spat, feeling better now that he was off of the ground.

"That's good, your brain doesn't seem damaged." Kyle said.

"Are you alright, son? You took a nasty fall there." Officer Whitman asked, holding out his hand to help Stan up. Stan nodded, taking the Officer's hand.

"Wendy's gone? Wendy Testaburger?" Stan asked, still in shock.

"Yes, do you know Wendy?" Officer Whitman asked. Stan grimaced. He and Wendy had broken up two months ago, after almost a year together. He was still a little wounded from it.

"Yeah, her and I used to go out," Stan said, "she wouldn't have run away, though; she was too smart for that, she had too much here to just up and leave."

The boys all looked at each other in agreement. Wendy cared too much about their community to just run away, and she wouldn't have gotten kidnapped without a fight.

"You boys go home, we're sending out a search party for Wendy. Don't go anywhere alone, I can't look for two missing teens at once." Officer Whitman said. The boys walked back to Stan's car and got in. Stan revved up the engine, pulling a U-turn to head back to his house.

"Cartman, Kenny, am I taking you guys home?" Stan asked. He wanted to stay with Kyle more than anything; that's where he felt safe.

"Yes please!" Kenny said happily. He wanted to get home to make sure his little sister hadn't been taken, too.

"Yeah, I don't want my mam home alone." Cartman said. Truth was, he was more scared than he'd let anyone see.

Stan stopped in front of Cartman's house first.

"Get out, fatass. You're making my back bumper drag against the road." Stan said, making Kyle and Kenny laugh. They stopped after a moment, their laughter sounding foreign on such a dreadful day.

"Yeah, yeah. Bye fags!" Cartman said, getting out and walking up to his front door and into the house.

Stan continued on to Kenny's house, his car bouncing over the train tracks before pulling to a stop in front of Kenny's. Kenny jumped out, waving a quick goodbye to the other two boys before disappearing into the side door.

It was becoming dark outside, and it had started to rain again, although lighter this time. Stan pulled into the 7/11 parking lot before heading to Kyle's so they could process everything that had happened that day; and to get slurpees.

"Dude, I can't even, like, what the fuck even was that?" Stan asked, pressing his forehead into the top of his steering wheel.

"I know. Jenny's dead, Wendy's missing, what the fuck is going on?" Kyle said, propping his right foot up on Stan's dash and putting his hands over his face. He sunk down in his seat, exhausted. Stan lifted his head and started forward into the wooded area behind the 7/11