Thorns Before Roses {Style}

||Memories Of The Night||

Here..late at night the wind is so cold that it bites your skin and cuts like knives, the snow falling harshly as it begins to stick to the ground, creating inches of snow slowly...though to your surprise even this type of of weather was normal here in the mountains in the small but cozy town of South Park...there weather was pretty much like this all year round even in the summer their would be at least some snowfall it would seem like a very interesting place to live, and it was.. their was all kinds of creatures of the night some known and some not..it really all depends on how close you look, how close you observe, and how close you are until it's too late...
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Here we are with a young man the age of sixteen, the snow crunching beneath his feet as he walked. His name was Stanley Marsh most know him by Stan which is the preferred name he would go by, and has gone by his whole life other than his parents using his full name pretty often. He wore his signature blue hat with red trim and puffball on top, this hat was one he always wore, ever since kindergarten he had worn this hat and now till this day, he had always tried to look for different styles of clothing options but this was always his go to, speaking of clothes he wore a brown jacket with red trim, a black T-shirt underneath, and he had some baggy ish pants on, his shoes were red matching his whole theme he had going on.

You may be wondering why he's walking this late at night, aimlessly and with no particular destination..well this was one of his regulars he would go out almost every night and take a walk each walk he took was new and his feet took him somewhere new each time, he didn't know why himself why he did this maybe to clear his mind? Get rid of nasty thoughts..those thoughts that keep you up at night, those thoughts that will completely consume you until you have no other choice but to drown, drown in your mind your mind that can't and won't stop racing no matter what you do, it's a suffocating feeling really..it's something you will never truly escape from but what exactly can you do about that?

Well this is what Stan did, he walked, walked for miles. Maybe he didn't really check his watch on how far he went, he just let his mind go, his headphones in his ears as he played soft music, his phone in his pocket and his body on autopilot. It wasn't long before he came up to a sign, it had some snow on his so he brushed it off with his hand, he was lucky and smart to bring his gloves so that helped fight the cold a bit, once he brushed the snow off he could tell what it said and it gave a sudden rush of deja Vu.

**Stark's Pond**

The sign said...it was a place him and his friend used to go too all the time when they were younger they would camp out and tell dumb stories, those were the good days..Stan thought the happy memories suddenly turning sad like a light switch as he realized they probably wouldn't never go here again at least not all of them..

Just then, he gotta a sudden feeling it was uneasy and knowing he has felt this feeling before but he couldn't quit pinpoint what it was it did for sure hit him like a rock though it took a few seconds, a few minutes even...it was that feeling the one where you could sense something even if you couldn't see the person or thing it was the feeling of someone watching him..it was odd it was like he could feel the person's gaze burn through his back well-..if it even was a person, he whipped his head back around his body turning as well looking behind himself as he saw no one their, he looked at the closed blinds of houses...no one their either it was odd alright but Stan decided to brush it off, and also just choose to gaslight himself into thinking it was the wind or something pm his head.

Stan sighed heavily not knowing what to do but one thing was for sure he did not want to stay here so he went down the dirt path to Stark's Pond in hope of getting that disoriented feeling off of him. As he walked the cold night air was refreshing yet stung on his face, but not that bad he was mostly used to it; he had been living in the town for his whole life. As he reached the pond it was already frozen over though he knew that the ice on Stark's Pond was never safe to go on unless it was December, currently it was October, still cold but not cold enough..his mom told him stories of kids who had fell through the ice and drowned not being able to pull themselves back up because of the coldness and panic. His mother said they would try and claw their way back to the surface trying to chip the ice but it would never work, their fingernails would break and soon you would die...

Not a story you would want to hear as a kid but he was lucky his mother told him that because he always trusted her words and was always cautious around the lake when it was frozen over, he remembered telling his friend the story but they didn't believe him except for one person in their group..for some reason he couldn't remember there name but he knew he had a green hat and orange coat, it was something he would always remember about them...then suddenly a thought came to mind, no-..not a thought a name....

'Kyle..'

'Kyle?'

'Kyle!'
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((Flashback))

There Stan was in 5th grade with his friends Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny.. though this wasn't so much of a happy one Cartman was holding Kyle by the collar.

[Stan POV]:

"Hey Stan! Let's see if your legend was true..huh?" Cartman teased his voice not so much joking but definitely up to something.

"Dude! It's no joke let go of him!" I yelled feeling truly scared for-.. for my best friend.

"Yeah! Cartman this is too far!" Kenny yelled muffled under his orange parka.

Kyle was struggling to get out of Cartman's grasp, occasionally looking behind his shoulder to see the frozen over lake. It was sure cold they all knew that without having to check but Cartman was being more difficult than usual..did someone eat his cheesy poofs or something?

"Let me go Fatass!" Kyle yelled he had fear and anger etched all over his face and if I was in his place I would be shitting my pants right now but that's not the point, I look over to Kenny who was trying to reason with Cartman, and Kenny usually did a pretty good job at that but Cartman wasn't having it.

"Shut up Jew! I'm doing an experiment! I mean it seems your boyfriend down there knows it all after, all right? So let's see if he's right.."

Of course I could help but get a little flushed at Cartman calling me Kyle's boyfriend but that didn't matter I brushed away the embarrassment and saw a devilish smirk on Cartman's face, it wasn't anything unusual for him to do crazy shit like this but..this was a little too far..then in one swift motion it felt like it was in slow motion even.

"Bye bye!"

Cartman said in a false sweet voice as he smirked and pushed Kyle off the large rock they had been standing on, Kyle fell so fast it looked slow as if time had stopped and honestly I wish it did.

"Kyle!"

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((Out of flashback))

[Stan POV]

Suddenly my eyes opened once again. I looked around seeing unfamiliar surroundings until I remembered I was at Starks Pond..why did it have to cut off I was just about to-

I was about to help him or at least try right? I can't really remember but I felt and knew Kyle was going to be okay..I think. Actually speaking of Kyle I remember now he was my best friend
My super best friend..yeah! That's what we used to call each other. I knew we were practically inseparable but then one day he disappeared. In middle school, I think I remember how broken up I was about it..but overtime I guess I sort of moved on, maybe he did too.. wherever he was or....if he was even alive- my parents never really told me if he moved away for went missing they never really told me anything and still don't.
Why is that?
Why did they never tell me?
Maybe I'll ask Kenny and Cartman tomorrow if they remember..I mean they have too, we were all best friends..
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Then far off in the trees a glowing pair of red..red eyes, his ginger hair blowing in the slight wind, his piercing red eyes that felt could hold you and dig deep to see your worst fear..his usual ushanka hat he wore on his head..you can probably already guess who this was yep..Kyle...Kyle Broflovski.

"Wait...why is-.."
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"Stan?"
Kyle whispered to himself not believing his eyes, it was true Kyle still had a soft spot for Stan, his eyes slowly going to green once more, his soft emerald eyes, but..he knew what he needed to do..
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