Chapter Text
Stan grunted as he hit the hard wooden floor of his bedroom, still tangled in his blanket from his tossing and turning. His heart was pounding away in his chest as he processed the fact that he was awake. The cavern he had been trapped in had just been a bad dream. But he could still hear the ranting voice that pleaded with the darkness for more time, snapped at some too quiet voice to shut the hell up. Stan could still smell the stench of rot and decay that had filled the space. But what stuck with him the most was the way a single eye had focused on him, suddenly going quiet before bellowing that there was an intruder. He could clearly remember a hand reaching for him, promising to break every single one of his bones.
It had been so vivid. But Stan reminded himself that it had just been a dream. He took a breath and then closed his eyes, trying to calm himself further.
It was just a dream.
“Get up, turd. You’re going to be late.” His eyes snapped open when he heard the voice of his sister. Shelley stood above him, looking at him as if he were some disgusting thing someone had left on the sidewalk. She was likely annoyed that their parents still asked her to make sure he got up in time for school. She then stormed off to finish getting ready for her morning classes. Which left Stan to untangle himself hurriedly from his blanket when he realized what time it was.
Stan did not care what he grabbed as he quickly changed into clothes appropriate for school. He grabbed his homework off his desk, shoved it in his backpack and then hurried out of his room. For a moment, he debated on grabbing something for breakfast then decided he really did not have time. Stan pulled his coat on then grabbed his keys from their place on the hook. “Heading to the bus stop!” He called to his sister then hurried out the door before he could hear her response.
It likely would have been her telling him that she did not care and to just get lost, anyway.
Stan shivered as he hurried down the sidewalk, ignoring the chill of the Colorado winter. He hoped his alarm clock was not behind again. Asking Shelley for a ride would be like asking her for one of her kidneys. But he stopped worrying about missing the bus as soon as he spotted his best friend. “Hey, Kyle!” He called, his mood instantly improving. His dream was now far from his mind for now.
The ginger teen perked up and then looked over as Stan approached to stand beside him. “Oh hey, dude. Thought you wouldn’t make it.”
“Yeah… Didn’t think I would either.” Stan admitted, then took a breath, glancing down the street to see the bus rattling towards them. Likely barely managing in the cold. “Had a pretty weird dream last night. Guess I slept through my alarm because of it.”
“Really?” Kyle asked, stepping towards the curb once the bus stopped and the doors creaked open. “Not another dream about that girl in your math class, right?”
As Kyle boarded, Stan noticed that there was a handle sticking out of his backpack. He wondered if his friend had baseball practice even with the snow on the ground. Then he processed what he had said. “What? No!” He protested as they found a seat where they could sit together. “Not that kind of weird. Like… freaky weird.”
Kyle raised an eyebrow at him.
Stan felt his cheeks burn from that embarrassing reminder, but still he pressed on. “There was this guy in my dream. Ranting about… something. I think there was someone else there, but I didn’t see them.” While this was not the weirdest thing Stan had ever told Kyle, he still kept his eyes off his friend’s face until he was done. “What freaked me out was just how real it felt… He looked right at me, dude…”
Kyle was silent for a moment. “Sounds really weird. Good thing it was just a dream, though. Must be your brain freaking out about something.”
Stan couldn’t help but agree. But it had felt like more than a dream. He decided it was just his own fears feeding it. All he needed to do was push it into the back of his mind and focus on getting through the day.
It was not long until they arrived at their tiny high school. Stan got up, adjusting his bag as he shuffled off the bus as quickly as he could with the other kids dragging their feet ahead of him. “See you after school?” He asked.
“Yeah,” Kyle agreed. “If you don’t see me, just head home.”
That had always been their rule since they started high school and only shared two classes. Just to keep one from waiting too long for the other. Stan still found it strange that Kyle still did not have a cell phone. Almost every other kid in their classes had one. But he had met his friend’s mother. It made sense with how protective she could get. “Yep. See you, dude.” He said as the bell rang, and they went their separate ways.
By the time second period rolled around, Stan had fully pushed his strange dream from his mind. Instead, focusing on getting through his classes, correcting his notes where he could when he realized he had mixed up the words. Or stopping his leg from bouncing when he felt he had been too still.
However, in third period, he found his mind wandering. Stan’s eyes drifted to the windows, watching as light snowflakes drifted past. Then he furrowed his brows as he noticed a dog sitting outside, staring right at him. He blinked, gazing at the dog as if they were now locked in an intense staring contest. This was not the first time that something strange like this had happened.
There had been a time when he was in elementary school when he thought he had seen a winged horse or when he was on a school field trip when a man with one eye had stopped him from wandering off. There had also been the year when his best friend since diapers suddenly vanished off the face of the Earth. Stan still had the texts he had sent, hoping he would answer just one of them. Then Kyle had returned, acting like nothing had happened and apologizing when he realized Stan had tried so many times to contact him. That was when he learned his friend could no longer have a cell phone. That was in eighth grade. They were sophomores now.
Stan just figured that someone had taken his friend out of school to deal with some issue his mother had found. Other than the one that had led Kyle to his house at midnight where they watched shitty movies, made fun of the haircut Stan had given Kyle and found ways to hide his developing chest. Though his mother eventually came around with that one, accepting Kyle for who he was. So that definitely was not why his friend suddenly vanished.
“Stanley Marsh.” His teacher’s voice snapped him back to reality and away from the staring contest with the dog. Stan quickly looked towards the stern woman, who huffed at his inattention then repeated her question. Just to be annoyed when he failed to answer it correctly. She told him the right answer, reminded him to pay attention then turned back to her rather boring lesson. Stan ignored the snickers from his classmates.
Stan glanced out the window to see if the dog was still there, but it seemed to be long gone now. The only sign that it was there was an indent in the snow. He wished he knew why paying attention and even reading were so hard for him. Maybe he would focus better once his guitar lessons started up again. Something to look forward to always helped him get through the boring stuff. Usually.
At least he had hanging out with Kyle to look forward to.
Stan decided to just put the incident out of his mind, focusing on just getting through the day once more. It felt like forever before the last bell rang and he could finally escape to the baseball field bleachers. He and Kyle always met there. While he waited, he called his mother just to let her know he was going to stay after for a little while. The woman picked up after two rings. “Stan?” She asked.
“Hey Mom,” He said, looking around for Kyle as he paced up and down the bleacher aisle. Stan paused as he spotted a dog sitting at the far end of the bleachers, staring him down with eyes that were as red as cherries. Stan had never seen a dog with red eyes. Something about it sent fear lacing through his chest. “Just wanted to let you know I’m staying after to hang out with Kyle.”
“Alright, sweetie.” His mother said. She always seemed detached when talking to him. But Stan always figured she was exhausted from work. Or that he had just interrupted her while she was busy with something. “Don’t stay out too long.”
“I won’t.” He agreed, eyes still locked on the dog. It seemed bigger than normal for a dog of its breed. Stan was pretty sure it was a mastiff. “Talk to you later.”
Stan slowly lowered his phone as the dog slowly stood up, baring its teeth in a snarl as it advanced on the teen. He was dimly aware that it had disconnected from the call. If something were to happen, no one would know until it was too late. He was all alone.
Stan backed up, every fiber of his being screaming at him to turn and run. To put as much distance between himself and this thing as possible.
Then it charged, and Stan turned to run. But his foot caught on his bag, sending him tumbling to the metal bleachers. He groaned in pain, turning to see if he had time to get up and continue his attempt at fleeing.
That was when he realized this thing was as big as a rhino and already almost upon him. There was no way he could get away. So Stan tensed, prepared for the inevitable end. He could not close his eyes to avoid staring into the maw of his death.
Then something spiked, and bronze clocked the beast in the jaw. It was sent tumbling down the bleachers. Stan stared at the weapon that he now realized was a mace, then looked to where the beast was recovering. The impact clearly broke its jaw. Then he looked up to see who his rescuer was.
“Kyle?!”