Chapter Text
Ch.1 Departure
The wind had a nasty bite to it as it whipped the people venturing out into the cold of Colorado. People tugged their jackets closer, wrapped their scarves tighter, tucked their heads down and marched on. It was cold, bitterly so, but not because Kyle was unused to the cold. He was from New York, it got just as cold as Denver did. No, it was bitter because his father and step mother shipped him off to his estranged aunt in the middle of the Rockies under the guise of getting Kyle away from the limelight. More like getting Kyle out of the way so he wouldn't embarrass or stain the family name any more than he did from being born.
Kyle followed the others around him, tugging his worn but trusty green ushanka down more on his head before he set out to find his aunt. Who was somewhere in the sea of people mingling about the gates. Kyle shifted the heavy backpack more onto his shoulders and started to randomly meander in a direction he hoped his aunt was. People briskly walked past him, some entering the gates, some leaving. He scanned the crowd around him not for his aunt but for the habit of it, he people watched. A mother scolding a child for trying to heat up their hands by breathing fire on it, setting the gloves on fire. A women power walking with her luggage floating a foot above the ground following her. An older gentleman with large fluffy ears, most likely some type of dog. A teen drawing smoke hearts to his girlfriend.
Everywhere Kyle looked someone was using their powers. His chest knotted painfully. Kyle just wanted to crawl under a rock and die there. That's basically what his family sent him here to do anyway. Yet somehow Kyle thought that being in the middle of the mountains would somehow stop people from shoving their privilege in his face. He should have realized how wrong he would be. He bit his lip, eyes cast down to his feet. He knew this shouldn't get to him, but it did. Jealousy and hurt gripping his heart. It shouldn't get to him. These people where only using something that was natural as breathing to them, unaware how every flick of a fluffy ear or puff of fire just ripped through his already low self esteem.
“Kyle, sweetie there you are!” A soft voice tore through his self deprecating thoughts. Kyle turned to see a beautiful women, with deep natural red curly hair surrounding her head like a lion's mane. A dark blue parka hid her curvy figure. Warm green eyes scanning him up and down. The last time Kyle saw her, was right after his mother's funeral.
Aunt Mary looked so much like her sister, yet was so different. They had the same wild red locks and green eyes that Kyle had inherited too, but unlike his mothers sharp dangerous gaze, Mary was soft and comforting. For every rough edge Sheila had, Mary was rounded curves.
“Hey Aunt Mary,” Kyle forced out, his voice weak from hours of not using it. She smiled widely at him and ushered him out of the crowd and cold into her warmed SUV. Kyle did not have much with him and within a minute he had his small suitcase and backpack in the trunk while he was all bucked in the front passenger seat.
The car ride was awkward to say the least. Kyle hadn't spent more than a few minutes with Aunt Mary at his mother's funeral, and it was more just standing near each other as others gave their condolences. That was years ago, he had heard nothing from his mother's side since. So being in a confined space for a few hour drive to a back mountain town called South Park, with a women who he barely knew, was not something Kyle was looking forward too.
About an hour into the drive aunt Mary spoke up. “Kyle, I know this isn't ideal. I know you feel like you were just abandoned by your family and passed off to the unwanted part because you don't fit their expectations. And that's exactly what happened,” Her eyes never leaving the road as she gripped the steering wheel tightly, “but I want you to know that here in South Park, and most definitely my house, You are allowed to be you. You are not flawed or broken like Gerald says, that bastard is wrong. He can only see what's been pushed upon him his whole life, he doesn't see nor appreciate the gift that you are Kyle.”
Kyle did not look at her, just gazed listlessly out the window at the passing scenery. He knew she was trying to help, but it was like picking at the scab that built up scar tissue but never fully healed. Mary deeply sighed.
“Look Kyle, things are going to be a little different here. It's a small town, with a lot of twisted views on things, but its still a good town. Everyone here knows everyone, now you may be thinking ‘Great they are going to know I’m a fuck up and I am going to be alone with no friends just like always’. But let me tell you, The first week or two may be tough, being the new kid always is, but people here have a way of getting along with everyone. Trust me you are not going to be alone here.”
They drove in silence the rest of the way. Kyle knew he was being slightly unreasonable but for his circumstances he felt like he was justified to ignore the only family member trying to help.
South Park was definitely different to put it kindly. For one it was small, Kyle bet it would take less than 20 minutes to walk from one end of town to the other. In his old city, city, he wouldn't even get anywhere in 20 minutes walking. It hit him how out of his element he was going to be. Then there was the snow. For some reason there was snow on the ground, even though the dregs of summer were getting washed away by the winds of fall, snow shouldn't even be a thing for a few more weeks at the least. Maybe there was someone with ice or freezing abilities that just went wild. Either way this town was weird. He could just feel it in his bones, strange things happened here.
Once entering the town and passing a total of two stop lights and four stop signs, Mary pulled into the driveway of a decent sized middle class home. The exterior paint was a dark blue or purple, with a small snow covered yard. Light was pouring out of the large front window next to the wooden front door. Kyle followed Aunt Mary in getting out of the warmth of the car and into the cold of outside. As he popped the trunk to grab his few belongings, out of the corner of his eye, Kyle saw a large fluffy thing watching him from the shadows. ‘Great’ Kyle thought as he gathered his two bags. ‘Noticed as soon as arrive.’ sighing Kyle followed Aunt Mary into the house.
It was warm and inviting. An open floor plan living dining room. The living room was cosy with a large plush couch and matching arm chairs, large T.V. with a few gaming consoles next to it. Stairs on the left side lead upstairs to what Kyle assumed were the bed rooms and the open doorway past the dining room must be the kitchen. Aunt Mary showed him up the stairs to his new room the second door on the right. It was small but it wasn't like Kyle was used to big rooms. There was a single bed pushed up against the wall across from the door with a window looking down on the next-door neighbor. There was a door that led to a small walk in closet, that would still look empty after Kyle unpacked. Near the foot of the bed was a desk for a computer with a few draws for things and a deck lamp. Overall it was a nice small room, and now it was all Kyle's for the next few years.
Fourteen years of living in a large city that never sleeps, the natural silence of small mountain town was unnerving. Kyle unpacked his laptop and opened it up to turn on some background white noise. Just a little something to try and give him some comfort. Like he wasn't three thousand miles from all he ever knew, even if it wasn't the best. Like he wasn’t in the middle of the mountains in a weird town, with weird snow, with a family member he barely knew.
Kyle unpacked his few belongings, mostly clothes that still left the closet feeling empty. He had a few paperback books that were well worn with dog eared pages and yellowing paper that he set on the desk next to his open laptop. Finally he pulled out a small stuffed lion. It had seen better days, but it's pilling fur and tangled red mane brought comfort to Kyle. He didn't have much he cared about but his lion and hat were the only things he really treasured, the only things left he had of his mother. Setting the lion on the bed, Kyle flopped down next to it. Staring at the white popcorn ceiling, who even still has popcorn ceilings, apparently people in south park.
It was such a long and emotionally disconnecting day. Dropped off at 6am for his flight at 2pm by some random person who claimed to be a co worker of his father. Kyle spent hours just over analyzing his life, where did he go wrong? Why him? Why did Kyle have to be the only one broken, useless, a waste of life? From the moment he was born he was disappointing his family. At least his mother cared about him, but she worked too much and when the accident happened, next thing Kyle knew he didn't exist. The only reason he was even able to attend the funeral was because Aunt Mary insisted he be there. Aunt Mary, Kyle knew he should apologize to her, she was nothing but kind to him, opening her arms when no one else would.
Curling into a ball on the bed Kyle cleared his head. If he steeped anymore in his dark thoughts he might as well just give up on the one promise he made to himself. He was going to do something to make his father regret abandoning him. Kyle was going to one up him, going to show him that he didn't need him. But that would take time, and Kyle had a few minutes to wallow in self pity before turning it into motivation to prove himself, to prove that he wasn't worthless from birth, that his life was meant for something. Kyle just had to find it.
He just needed to find it.
He just....