𝑽𝑰𝑪𝑻𝑰𝑴𝑺 𝑶𝑭 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑷𝑨𝑹𝑲

loss

"Stan. Stan. Stan. Stan!!!" Kyle said loudly, shaking the smaller boy awake.

"Kyle? Wha- what the fuck? What's wrong?" Stan asked, sitting up quickly. Kyle was kneeling at the side of the bed, a horrified look on his face.

"Get up and get dressed. The news report just sent out another search party. There's two this time." Kyle said, solemnly. Stan felt his heart drop to his feet.

"Who? Who's missing?" Stan asked. He was praying it was nobody they knew.

"Heidi and Bebe." Kyle said. Two more girls from their class, missing. Probably dead.

Stan stood and quickly got dressed. The two boys rushed down the stairs, being greeted by Kyle's mother.

"Good morning, boys. Are you two wanting to go help the search party?" She asked, scooping scrambled eggs from a pan onto a plate. She placed the plate in front of Kyle's little brother, Ike.

"Yeah, we were gonna go get Stan's car and then join the search. Where's dad?" Kyle replied, looking around for his father, who was nowhere to be seen.

"He was up watching the early news this morning. He already left to help the search. Kenny called, asking if you two would go pick up him and Eric to help the search." She said as she poured some latke batter into another pan.

"Yeah, we'll go get them after we get Stan's car back." Kyle confirmed, grabbing a latke from the plate his mom had set aside. He split it with Stan, each taking a half.

"Can I come too, Kyle? Please? I'll be good, I swear!" Ike asked over a mouthful of scrambled eggs.

Kyle and Stan made a short eye contact before turning back to Ike.

"You have to ask Stan, since it's his car, and then make sure it's okay with mom. If they don't mind, then yes, you can go." Kyle said. He'd gotten pretty good at the whole 'big brother' thing, especially now that Ike was growing up.

"Stan, can I go with you and Kyle? Please?" Ike said, pulling out the puppy dog eyes. Stan nodded his head yes before Ike turned to his mother.

"Mom, can I please go with Kyle and Stan? I promise I'll be good!" He begged. Sheila glanced at Kyle before replying.

"You can go, but Kyle has to make sure you're back by sundown. And don't wander off by yourself." She said, turning back to the stove.

"Yay!" Ike said, jumping up from his chair. The boy ran upstairs to grab a jacket, meeting the other two by the door as he came back down.

"Bye, mom!" Kyle yelled.

"Bye, mom!" Ike echoed.

"Bye, Mrs. Broflovski!" Stan said, shutting the door as they excited. The three boys started their walk to the 7/11 where Stan's car had been left.

"How far of a walk is it to the 7/11?" Ike asked, walking quickly to keep up with the two taller boys.

"About 5 minutes, if we take the shortcut..." Kyle trialed off. The sketchier they usually took went through the woods behind the 7/11.

"We're gonna go the long way." Stan said solemnly. The boys took a few turns before arriving in front of the 7/11. Walking up to the car, Kyle noticed something was taped to the door.

"Stan, there's something taped to my door." Kyle said, undoing the tape and lifting it up.

"What is it?" Stan asked, not looking up from fumbling with the keys to unlock the door. Kyle opened the note slowly, scared to see what it said.

"Oh my god, what the fuck?" Kyle said, dropping the note on the ground.

There, written in blood, was a message.