Chapter 2: The Troublemaker

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There he was again, walking in that strange, putrid, desolate place that emanated terror and death

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There he was again, walking in that strange, putrid, desolate place that emanated terror and death. Kenny was there, desperately trying to find a way out when the man appeared again to him, said his sharping words, touched his chest and then he woke up screaming, dripping with sweat. It was the third night in a row that the dream invaded his unconscious, since he had heard the girls hissing like demons at him at Cartman's party.

He usually had time to shrink in fright after he woke up in situations like those that resembled a little like when he returned after death, but the sun had already risen and another week had begun. He had to go to school. Kenny stretched and felt as if, in fact, he had been punched in all of his joints, which was weird. When the dream person, whose face he seemed unable to remember whenever he woke up, touched him, he felt immense pain, almost as if he was being burned alive, and the feeling of unease remained in his body after it was over.

Another abnormal thing was that Karen had not come into his room to call him, as she always did. He got up and walked to the door, finding his little sister in the only bathroom in the house looking at herself in the mirror. Karen had her dark blond, almost brown, hair loose and tried to brush it in a way that she didn't look so... Cute. Kenny leaned against the door, looking at her, who jumped when she saw him. "Oh... Hi Kenny."

"Changing your looks? Thought you were gonna wake me up... It's, like you say 'a whole new week'!" he said imitating her daily enthusiasm, but she just shrugged. She had been acting like that since the end of the previous week. "Hey... What's the matter?"

"It's nothing... Just thought i could do my hair differently today." she put the brush aside and turned to him. "Do you think it looks good?"

Kenny raised an eyebrow, not understanding what was going on, but was sure it wasn't a good thing. "Of course i do. You're beaultiful anyway..." he blocked her way, looking deep into her eyes. "Karen... Has anyone been mean to you? They spoke about your hair?"

"N-No... They said nothing about my hair. I just thought i could change a little, that's all..." she said bending down to pass under his arms. "You should get ready. It's not good to get late in school and... You still wanna pick your friends, right?" she said changing the subject and then went on to the kitchen. Kenny didn't like that at all and he was going to dig into the situation if necessary. If someone was putting Karen down, the person should better start praying.

...

When Kenny stopped the van and honked for Stan and Kyle to come out of the house, Karen picked up her things. "I'll... Get down here, alright? I think i'll take the bus to school today." Kenny looked at her even more confused.

"But Karen..." she leaned in and kissed his cheek.

"Please... Don't ask. I... I swear i'll tell you later." she jumped out of the car just as the two other boys approached. "Bye Kenny... See ya later."

          

Kyle waved at her and she returned shyly, walking to the bus stop a few blocks away, which made him bend his neck uncertainly before following Stan into the van. "She's not coming with us?"

"No..." Kenny shook his head, frustrated. "There's something wrong with her, you guys. I'm sure of it... And i'll find out what it is."

Karen went on her way and ran to Tricia when she saw her at the bus stop. Her best friend was surprised to see her there, since she always hitched a ride with Kenny, which made sense, since he had a car and they were both going to the same place. Some girls, who used to be healthy colleagues of the two, but who seemed to have been contaminated by some 'popular high school girl' virus were nearby, gossiping and giggling and Karen cringed, making Tricia understand everything. "Really? Don't tell me you drop your ride over that shit!"

Karen blushed. She had overheard Minnie and the other girls talking about how ridiculous she was for going to tell her big brother things, or how she behaved like a helpless child who needed to be protected by him, or how she'd sometimes sit with him at lunch instead of interacting with the people in her grade or how she looked stupid with that hair up as if she were five years old. The indirect jokes had remained in the class' chat group over the weekend... And she didn't want to hear those nasty things anymore.

"Ah Karen... C'mon! They're the one who're stupid!" Tricia said out loud, not giving a crap.

"Who are you calling stupid, Tucker?" Minnie said crossing her arms and moving towards her while Karen hid behind her friend who yawned showing her middle finger. She tried her best to extricate herself from her family's behavior, but at times it was impossible to contain herself. "Look, your...!"

"What? Are you gonna mock me to your disgusting little group? Great... As if I cared!" Karen looked at Tricia wishing she could be more like that. "I just think you should think better of criticizing Karen for her and Kenny being friends. I don't think he'd have pay attention to ya at the party if he knew what you're saying about his sister." Minnie's eyes widened as the bus pulled up and Tricia took Karen's hand so they could enter together with a shrug. "My brother told me. Bye, Minnie..." the girl and her two friends remained gaping back as the two took their places. "And you... We need to have a little chat about selfconfidence, alright?"

...

Kenny was lost in thought. While slightly, flashes of his nightmare popped into his head, he was also concerned about his sister. Karen never acted that way with him and when she refused to finish the ride, almost as if she didn't want to arrive at school next to him, he had a good guess as to what it was about. Still, he thought he could help her, since he managed with her studying at another school, it'd be much easier with her in the next corridor.

He opened his locker to pick up a book when he heard a sound, the same heard when he walked through his dream. The most absurd thing was that, deep down, he could feel a strange familiarity with that place. The boy wasn't sure how long he stood there staring at the bottom of the locker, but suddenly he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder, causing him to drop his book. "Hey gaywad, how's it going?" Cartman said putting his hands in his pocket at the same time as Kenny blinked back to himself and picked up the book. "Uh... You're kewl?"

Kenny quickly agreed and then sighed, leaning against the wall. "Have you... You haven't seen anyone bothering my sistes these last few days, have ya?" Cartman raised an eyebrow. He chose not to say anything to anyone about what happened at the party. It was hard enough to feel like a lunatic alone... He didn't need Cartman to laugh and say that, too. The fat boy shook his head.

"No... I'd tell you." he shrugged, leaning in too. "Actually, i could solve that in a second. They're making fun of Karen? Just tell me the names and i'll fix this."

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