It showcases some of the earlier events, and mainly focusses on Edd's first capture and his interactions with Sarah. Having that said, the story is mainly told from her viewpoint.
Though plans for the prequel were made shortly after the 2012 rewrite of the original story, and a large section had been written in 2018, it was abandoned in the end. There were implications of romantic interest between Sarah and the vampire, which the overall plot depended on. It was deemed unfavourable, because of the age difference between her and Edd, as established in Ed, Edd n Eddy Highschool.
NOTE: This page is not free to edit.
Plot[]
Sarah listening behind the door where Edd would get shot, image from How To Save a Life (2010).
Since Sarah and Jimmy were purposely left clueless about the details of Edd's changed character, while the others kept proclaiming the organized hunt for him to be justified, she feels the whole situation to be ridiculous and wishes to aid him.
Even after bearing witness to his off behaviour and concluding to be afraid, she chooses to believe he's the same boy she fell in love with 5 years prior, which the vampire takes advantage of in order to escape his makeshift prison.
Sarah feels guilt-ridden for helping him escape, and decides to sneak out to meet with him again and beg for his return. During a nerve-wracking "dinner date", she learns Edd is a different person in every sense of the word, yet the old Edd's still somewhat conscious inside of him.
Since vampires are unpredictable and can't be casually befriended, she's told his death to be in everyone's best interest. His urge to kill the ones she argues are his friends will entice him to do so eventually, and with that in mind, Edd suggests to her not to save his life next time.
Chapters[]
Below are pieces from the original, unpublished text document, sorted as chapters.
CHAPTER 1: Captured Double D (Click "Expand" to read)>
"Are ya sure he won't be able to escape?"
"Those chains are the best of the best, I use em to secure my scooter and she's never been more safe."
"When we come back and he's eaten through it like candy cane, we'll know who's fault it is, then."
"..if he wrecks my chains, you're payin' for em, dork!"
The sound of Eddy and Kevin's squabbling could be heard through the entire house, but it was a welcomed moment of nostalgia after everything that happened. Everyone was waiting for them in the living room, in complete silence. There were many empty seats, as the majority didn't feel like sitting down. Only Sarah and Jimmy were resting on a beanie bag, with a large pile of mostly unread books sitting next to them. Jimmy looked his nervous, frightened self, but Sarah carried a face of worry. Not for anyone in the room, though.
People's clothes were dirty and their eyes looked tired, yet alert. They were still tightly holding onto their weapon of choice; the gardening tools they had taken along for the "battle". Now that they were inside, the previous events felt like a blur, but their tense bodies ensured them it all really happened. They succeeded at doing what they went out to do, but it didn't feel like a victory. Their faces showed that.
Sarah had no idea what was going on, as no one had bothered to explain it to her. The only thing she learned is that they caught Edd, and he was being tied up downstairs.
His behaviour had been noticeably off in the past few weeks and it all led to her brother's bedroom becoming his jail cell, but Sarah was left clueless as to why they thought this aggressive measure was necessary. Did he deserve to get tied up, just because he refused to see or speak to anybody? He was sick and bedridden, it's not an out-of-the-ordinary request to be left alone..
She expressed her opinion about it more than once, but nobody cared for it. They just kept telling her she didn't know what she was talking about. It was infuriating.
Jimmy was also left in the dark, though he handled it better than she did. He accepted everything they told him and everything they didn't want to tell him. It was annoying, he made her look desperate.
Finally, Eddy and Kevin entered the room. "So dudes.. what now?"Nazz asked.
"What are we gonna do, Eddy..?"Ed whispered to him.
"..What? Oh, come on, guys! You're exaggeratin'!" Eddy moaned, "We just hafta.. ya know.. talk to him. He's probably mad cause his ants ran away or something."
"For real? You wanna talk to that thing?" Kevin replied.
"Did ya just call Double D a 'thing'?!"
"W-well, I agree with Eddy!" Jimmy yelled optimistically from the beanie bag, "We should collect our thoughts, sit down and talk! We're all gentlemen of a reasonable age!"
Jimmy's eyes then moved swiftly from Sarah to Nazz. "And gentleladies.." he added.
"So everyone's willing to forget what just happened, like that?" Kevin asked, whereafter he gave the interrupting Jimmy a disapproving look.
"Why're ya bein' a jerk, we haven't even heard skunk-head's side of the story!" Eddy argued.
"Something tells me our side's enough."
"Something tells me you just don't wanna deal with the problem and get back to ridin' yer scooter mobile."
"He's YOUR friend, so YOUR problem!"
"A-Alright!"Jonny jumped in, "So, how're we gonna talk to him? Double D isn't really talkative right now."
"Cause there's something we missed and we should sit our butts down and give him a chance to explain!" Eddy concluded.
"But.. he killed-"
"That hasn't been proven, Jonny! Ya know there were reports of a wild animal on the loose, and that looked like the doin' of an animal to me! Get real, will ya!"
"I dunno about that.." Kevin said, "After what I just saw.."
Sarah's eyes widened, but she didn't say anything. Were Jonny and Kevin blaming Edd for those incidents?
She felt her trademark rage building up inside of her. They only told her that Edd was having one of his little mental breakdowns, but now he's a murderer? No wonder they went outside with shovels and bats, these guys were paranoid. How on Earth could they believe Edd was capable of causing any kind of harm?
"I get what yer sayin', Eddy.." Jonny carefully responded, "But we can't ignore he's acting super weird!"
"Are ya pinnin' a murder on DOUBLE D? Do ya even know Double D?" Eddy snorted in comical disbelief. Sarah silently nodded in agreement.
"J-Just sayin' he's bein' distant with us, and you..!"
"Eddy!" Kevin shouted, "The way that freak jumped all over the place wasn't normal, man! It looked like he wanted eat our faces back there!"
"Oh, puh-leeze!" Eddy groaned.
"Guys." Nazz interrupted them, "Can we get serious for a sec. What if Eddy's right and this is, like, a dumb misunderstanding? Whatever's up with Double D, it doesn't have to be related to those attacks."
"Well.. ugh..!" Kevin sighed, "It wouldn't be the first time, I guess. That kid got issues."
"..Right! Right!" Eddy confirmed. He turned his head to Ed standing next to him and waited for him to join in, but he seemingly had nothing to add, so Eddy broke off eye-contact again.
Sarah tried to read the expression on her brother's face, but there wasn't any. What was up with him?
She scowled. His little brain probably wasn't even taking in the conversation. Eddy on the other hand just seemed happy he finally got some support out of the others. It was hard to disagree with him and Jimmy; they couldn't just assume things without talking to Edd first. Now that they had him cornered, surely he'd talk, and after he'd give them his dumb reason for acting weird, everything could go back to normal. Wasn't that always the way with these Eds?
CHAPTER 2: Talking to Double D (Click "Expand" to read)>
"So, ya wanna try chat with Double D, then?" Jonny asked.
"Yeah." Eddy replied, "Anyone comin' with or is it just gonna be me and Ed?"
The room took a brave step forward, including Sarah and Jimmy. Ed gave the two children a worried look, but didn't say anything about it. The group then headed downstairs to Ed's basement room, where Edd had just been locked up.
Eddy opened the door and felt relieved to see he was still in there, tied up with Kevin's bike chains to whatever seemed strong enough to hold him in place. Sarah rolled her eyes at the sight. Edd was the weakest boy in all of Peach Creek, this was overkill, but the others didn't seem to remember and all kept their distance upon entering.
It was hard to greet a chained friend, so an awkward silence dominated the room. Edd didn't speed things up; he completely ignored them. His body was relaxed and his head pointed downwards, he was like a lifeless doll. Was he sleeping?
The determined vibe that was present back in the living room had been completely erased, they were clueless and nervous in Edd's presence. Regret could be seen on their faces, but also fear. It made Sarah even more curious about what happened before this moment.
After the silence became too much, Eddy cleared his throat and tried his best to come up with a greeting. Before he could figure out his words, though, Edd started to move, startling everyone.
The chains shifted and made soft scraping sounds as he slowly raised his head.
"Hi there. Will you hurry up? It smells in here, don't want to talk for too long." he spoke.
Hearing his voice made Eddy shut down and forget his words on the spot. It had been such a long time since any of them heard him speak, but more noticeable was the sound of his voice, which was not familiar to them. Edd had lost his recognizable high pitch and sounded more gravelly. It was enough to make you believe this was someone else, but his face confirmed it was Edd. They didn't know anyone else with a tooth gap that prominent.
Kevin decided to stand in for Eddy, who looked out of it. "Uh, yeah, we wanna know what the heck's wrong with you!"
Eddy smacked him on the back of the head. "Dork, really?!" Kevin complained.
"Just.. what is it this time, Double D?" Nazz carefully smiled, "I-I have a shower.. do you need a shower?"
She tried her best to make everyone feel on ease by assuming a comedic conclusion, but Edd refused to play along and gave no response. He didn't even make eye-contact with them anymore. It had been mere seconds and it looked like he forgot they entered the room at all. Sarah tried to see past the others blocking her view to get a glimpse of him herself.
It was strange seeing him again after all this time. He'd been sick at home for so long, and at one point, people stopped hearing from him altogether. Including Eddy and her simple-minded brother. She heard the two complain about it often, and here he finally was in their midst, but it didn't feel like a reunion.
"Double D, we wanna help ya!" Eddy argued, "But ya hafta tell us why you're bein' such a drama queen."
Still nothing.
Edd's eyes kept staring at something that wasn't there. In fact, it looked like he himself wasn't there. Was he upset because they tied him up? If this was a misunderstanding, then it sure was a silly move of them, but couldn't Edd just tell them this? But he didn't tell them anything. He let them chase him down like an animal and tie him up like a beast.
Eddy sighed in frustration. Sarah guessed he didn't really think this through and hoped Edd would just spill the beans, since he was forced into a room. So did she, really. This was nothing like how she expected things to go or be. She hoped the others were exaggerating about his condition, but seeing him now, like this, there was obviously something wrong with the guy. Did he get traumatized by something?
"Clever-Ed-boy!"Rolf suddenly belched, "Respond to the call of your other-wordly brothers! Why must you be like a cougar in a chilly September month! THE COUGAR IS NOT NEEDED, SEPTEMBER IS OVER!"
While Rolf kept rattling on and making comparisons that didn't make sense, Edd started to respond to something. His eyes slowly moved towards Nazz and Ed's direction, but he definitely wasn't looking at his old friend. They were pointed at something lower than his face.
Sarah flinched when she noticed he was looking straight at her. Right into her eyes. She was almost entirely hidden behind the big bodies standing in front of her, but he still managed to find her through the cracks.
"Hey, little girl. Do you like me?" Edd blurted out.
Rolf stopped talking and everyone turned to Nazz, whereafter they realized that was probably the wrong guess, since she didn't look addressed to. When all eyes moved over to Sarah, the only other girl in the room, her face turned red.
Why would he ask something stupid like that, in front of everyone! How was she supposed to respond! Sarah pouted her lips in annoyance and turned her head to the side. Jimmy looked unsettled by the question and her response, but Nazz decided to divert everyone's attention by resuming the interrogation:
"..Listen, dude.. will you please answer us?"
"Jealous?" Edd smirked, "You're looking fine too, babe, but have you seen the butt on that girl? Damn me."
Sarah felt like her head was about to explode. Ed's and Jimmy's eyes were about to pop out as well. What was going on here, Edd would never say something like that!
"Double D!" Nazz yelled.
"D-Double D, stop bothering Sarah..! That's bad!" Ed stammered.
But Edd's face didn't show a single emotion as his eyes kept piercing Sarah's. Nobody understood why he started talking to her all of the sudden, and in this manner. Ed and Jimmy were visibly on edge.
"I think we should be friends, girl." Edd concluded with an ominous voice.
Sarah didn't know how to react and decided to remove herself from the conversation by turning her back. The silence that followed made it clear Edd wasn't going to answer any of them as long he had his attention set on the wrong person.
"Hey Sarah? Go upstairs.." Ed ordered.
"I'm fine, let me-"
"Go upstairs."
"Don't think so, loser, I wanna help too!" she snarled at him.
"Go upstairs!" he barked. Sarah gave him a dirty look, but slowly headed for the exit. It went without saying she was offended.
CHAPTER 3: Thinking of Double D (Click "Expand" to read)>
Who did Ed think he was, she'd be way more useful to have around than him! After all, Edd started talking because of her, she could've asked him their questions if they just asked her nicely! This was the second time they excluded her. She was the toughest girl in the neighbourhood, what were they shielding her for?
Sarah entered the empty living room and sat down on the couch, with more angry thoughts shooting through her head. Despite being enraged over it, she couldn't deny to be a bit relieved to be out of that room. What happened back there was really embarrassing, and seeing Edd like that gave her the shivers. The way the others were reacting to everything wasn't helping, still, he acted weird.. and looked the way he acted. He was bony, yet muscular; a body type she didn't know a human being could possess, but she knew for sure Edd never possessed. Not that she stared at him whenever he had his shirt off, or anything. At least, not often. Relatively speaking.
..Could an illness give someone a bigger torso? Surely not. Had Edd been working out, then? Not the smartest thing to do when you're sick.
It didn't take long for Jimmy to enter the room and interrupt her internal examination of Edd's appearance. "Hi Sarah, they sent me away too.." he moaned. Sarah raised an eyebrow.
"No, they didn't. You were just scared without me."
Jimmy released an awkward smile and sat down next to her. "Double D's suddenly so mean and.. perverse.. what do you think could be wrong with him?"
"Don't know. Looks pretty pale. He's probably still sick and doesn't know what he's doing." Sarah mumbled with her arms crossed.
"Hey.. don't be angry.." he coo'd, "They're just worried, you know."
"Whatever."
Jimmy lowered his head and folded his hands together. It wasn't her intention to be curt with him, she understood he came to console her, but anger had always been an emotion she found hard to shake off. Especially when it concerned.. a nice person. She wanted to be involved with this, but ever since this started, she was "just a child" and not considered useful to these adolescent cartoon characters. Why were Jonny and Nazz allowed to stay, but not her? What did they add? It made little sense to her.
Suddenly, said cartoon characters barged into the room, growling curse words to themselves. Sarah quickly stood up. "Is he better now?" she asked.
"What a dork!" Kevin complained.
Ed sat down on the freshly abandoned couch in silence, Eddy landed next to him and placed a hand under his head. "Double D doesn't recognize us, or something, I dunno. I don't get it.." he sighed.
Sarah frowned. Of course they weren't getting anywhere, Edd wasn't even bothering with them until he saw her. But what was the point in fighting them over it, Ed would probably yell at her again. He was being extremely protective, and Edd only made it worse by talking to her. Even now, her brother was giving her quick glances from the corner of his eyes, while the rest started a debate that would soon repeat itself.
In the following hours, the same questions were being asked, because nobody gave a decent answer, and the same suggestions kept being given, because all of it sucked. Sarah wanted to jump in every time to tell them this, but she doubted they would take her seriously. Her brother had turned into a brick wall; he rarely spoke and barely listened, while Jimmy advised her to stay put and let the others deal with it.
The circular arguing bored her, and her mind started to wander off. Edd's empty eyes entered her imagination. It was a strange choice for a daydream, but it happened regardless. Maybe because there was so much off about those eyes? The distance she was standing at made it hard to notice at first, but thinking back to it, she could've sworn they looked light-grey. They used to be green, so they must've changed colour. She wondered if anyone else noticed, and what it meant. Do grey eyes even exist?
Sarah looked at the clock, then at the others. They were becoming frustrated with each other, since they couldn't reach a middle ground. It amazed her that they were even trying to please each other. Kevin wanted to call the police, Eddy wanted to talk more, Jonny wanted to call a doctor, Rolf wanted to be the doctor, and Nazz played it safe by monitoring the discussion rather than joining it.
If she were to go downstairs alone, would Edd talk to her again and accept help? She didn't know why she entertained the thought, he didn't look like he wanted help at all. In fact, he looked very satisfied and confident about himself. On any normal day, Edd would be throwing a fit just touching Ed's bedroom floor with his behind. His illness apparently cured him of his germophobia, which was nice, but she'd rather have a guy freak out about some dirt than another misfit running around Peach Creek. This neighbourhood had their hands full with the Kankers and Eddy. No need for another problem child acting cool.
Sarah's eyes moved back to the clock. Minutes had passed, but her growing impatience made it feel like hours. The voices of the others started to irritate her. Why was she so irritable? Why did she even want to stick her neck out for Edd? It's not like they're friends or he played any part in her life. In fact, Edd had proven himself to be of little importance to everyone's lives. When he was sick, they were all laughing, smiling, and making jokes without him. Including Ed and Eddy. Was she the only one who missed him from start to finish..? She couldn't smile during his absence, a day without seeing him was unbearable.
She wanted to fix this and turn everything back to normal as soon as possible. The way he and everyone acted was creepy, and this tea party wasn't going anywhere.
Sneaking off to see Edd on her own wasn't a good idea, but it became more appealing with every minute. What was the danger, anyway? What was he going to do to her? He's in chains, he only has his words. She could do these dweebs a favour and ask Edd what's up. If he refused to cooperate or start something, she could just leave, couldn't she?
Sarah browsed the crowd in the room. If they stayed occupied like this, they might not notice her leaving.. though Jimmy could be a problem. He was playing audience in the discussion, but was tightly holding onto her hand. He probably was this entire time. He could be such a baby sometimes.
She took the risk and slowly released herself from Jimmy's grasp. Naturally, he noticed right away. "..Sarah..! Where are you going..!" Jimmy whispered at her.
"Calm down, I'm just going to the bathroom!" she whispered back.
"Should I come with..?"
"For real, Jimmy? I think I can handle it."
"But what if you get grabbed by Double D..?"
Sarah rolled her eyes. It was typical of him to buy into wild claims and equally wild rumors, and the drawn-out discussion he'd been listening to seemed to have convinced him of Edd's guilt.
"It's Double D..! I'm not buying he's an axe murderer..!" she hissed, "The bathroom's right there, I'll be fine..!"
Jimmy looked unsure, but allowed for Sarah to slip out of the room unnoticed. Blessed is the privacy one gets during a toilet break.
She took a sharp turn around the corner and immediately headed for the basement. She almost showed excitement to be doing this, until her foot touched the first step of the stairs.
What if Double D grabbed her? Sarah facepalmed. That stupid Jimmy..
She needed to prove everyone she was a capable member of the team, which meant getting information from Edd and return safely to share it. In order to ensure that outcome, it wasn't a bad idea to expect the worst and prepare for it. But what was the worst? Edd was rude, but still tied up. Being rude didn't make you a murderer, let alone the murderer.
Sarah thought to herself. The worst thing she could think of was that Edd did murder those people, so therefore, the worst case scenario would be that he'd kill her.. Sarah sighed, this was ridiculous.
But alright, if he's the same murderer the newspapers talked about, then that would also mean he's a cannibal. Basically. An even worse case scenario would be that he'd eat her in a starved rage.
..So ridiculous.
A knife or a gun wasn't something she wanted to carry along, she'd never forgive herself if Edd startled her into killing him on accident. Nor would the others. Then, would a raw steak count as protection? If he'd eat that instead of her.. Wow. Could things be even more ridiculous.
Based on the little information that was shared with her, this was all she could think of. It had to do. Hopefully Edd wouldn't get insulted by it, but perhaps her childlike ignorance would make for an interesting topic and motivate him to talk to her.
Sarah headed back to the living room, but stopped before entering. If she wanted to get food from the fridge, she had to do so unseen. She couldn't leisurely move a big piece of meat across the room, everyone would surely notice and ask questions. Not like she planned on touching it with her bare hands to begin with.
She had to find an item to hide it in and there were plenty of buckets in the laundry room, but she needed an excuse to enter the kitchen. If she already carried a bucket around, there'd be none, so hopefully, the kitchen still had some buckets stored away.
Jimmy jumped up as Sarah returned. "Sarah..! Thank Heavens, you're back and alright..!" he cheered.
"Hush!" Sarah commanded, "There's.. uh.. a problem with the toilet.. I gotta fix it.."
"You can do that..?"
"Yeah, now stop worrying and stay here.." she whispered, as she continued her journey to the kitchen.
It was difficult to stay silent while browsing the cupboards, but most of the sounds got drowned out by the others talking. After a short while, Sarah reappeared with a big iron bucket in her hands. Jimmy noticed the intimidating item and got up.
"Sarah.. do you need my help?" he asked.
"No, ew, sit down!" she answered and quickly scurried off.
Jimmy raised an eyebrow. Since he preferred to stay on her good side, he headed back to the beanie bag as ordered, but he hated it when she was being distant with him. It was never without a reason. Sarah hoped he'd give her the benefit of the doubt and wouldn't come looking for her.
CHAPTER 4: Feeding Double D (Click "Expand" to read)>
She hasted herself down to the basement. She was lucky, the refrigerator was nearly empty because they had to stay indoors for so long after the wild animal reports, but she found an enormous piece of steak in the freezer. She didn't remember her mother buying it, they usually did grocery shopping together, so it was probably Ed's. A necessary part for another one of his future freezer-abominations. Those fish and meat experiments were truly traumatizing, but his stupid hobby finally proved useful.
She approached Ed's bedroom door, dragging the heavy bucket behind her, and slowly opened it. She cautiously peeked inside and saw Edd still sitting there. He hadn't moved an inch since last time.
Edd looked up and seemed thrilled to see her alone. He confirmed it by giving her a big smile.
"Hello, girl." he greeted her.
His facial expression was menacing. It looked like a sad attempt to appear friendly and hospitable, but the way his mouth curled did not make it look inviting. Sarah hesitated.
"No, don't just stand there, you'll get cold. Come in." he urged.
Edd being cute with her would've normally persuaded her, but Sarah didn't move. Her body was completely frozen by those eyes, and that voice. Being alone with him was a huge difference. She felt vulnerable. Why, she didn't know. Him being tied up was supposed to give her all the confidence she needed, yet here she was. She didn't want to enter, nor did she want to leave, but Edd was still waiting for a response from her with both eyebrows raised. She had to get this started somehow.
Sarah raised the bucket with two trembling hands and gave him a clumsy smile.
"Eh. I brought you s-something." she stuttered, "It's a steak.. I thought, you must be.. hungry by now.. and you like this kind of stuff.. r-right..?"
So far for her "innocent until proven guilty" stance, she was ready to hit herself with that darn bucket for saying that. That steak was supposed to be plan C, not A.
Edd gave no reply and continued to gaze at her. Not this again. Sarah didn't like to think she came here for nothing, but the longer his eyes were set onto hers, the more nervous she became.
Maybe it was best to come back and ask questions later? Yeah, that made sense. That was the only thing that made sense right now. She promised herself to leave if he failed to cooperate, and if he wasn't going to hurry up the interaction, that's failure of cooperation.
"So.. so.. I'll.. just put it down for you..!" she smiled awkwardly, "I have to.. I'll be back.."
It felt like she was going to throw up, but maybe that was thanks to the smell in Ed's room in combination with the thawing steak. It was horrible that Edd got locked up in here, but that had to be a complaint issued another time.
Sarah placed the bucket on the floor and quickly turned around, but before she could take another step, Edd surprised her by speaking again.
"It would help if you placed it a bit closer." he smiled.
Sarah turned around. He actually wanted that bloody, uncooked steak? Was he planning to eat it for real? That couldn't be. This was probably an excuse to get her to come closer, which wasn't much better.
"Hah! You don't.. really..?" Sarah huffed sarcastically.
"You came in here offering me something and I accept. Why're you having second thoughts?"
Sarah gave him a long stare, but it looked like he wasn't going to say anything more until the bucket was brought closer to him. It couldn't be helped. Now that he openly accepted her disgusting gift, she had to go through with it. Hopefully she'd get that interview..
Sarah took a deep breath, picked up the bucket, and took a few more steps towards him.
"Yes, that's it, girl." Edd coaxed.
It took her a while, but after having travelled a reasonable distance, she dropped the bucket and sprinted back to the porch. She quickly turned around and gave Edd an intense look, as if that would prevent him from breaking loose and jumping her, but naturally, he was still sitting there with his limbs trapped in metal. Her head was red and sweaty, and her heart pounding. Why was she acting like this if nothing happened, again..!
She didn't choose to be disturbed by him. The last thing she wanted him to remember is how she treated him during his time of need. Just what would he think of her when this was all over?
Then again, Edd didn't look insulted by her reactions at all. He was having a great time.
"My hands are tied up." Edd remarked.
"Yeah." Sarah replied under her heavy breathing.
"..How will I eat this thing."
"..Yeah."
"So hungry."
"I b-bet.."
"What a predicament."
Sarah looked longingly at the stairs to her right. She had pretty much left the room already, she could close the door and end this odd scene right now, but..
She directed her attention back to the bucket. This had to be a joke, surely Edd wouldn't sink his teeth in this reeking mess? But what would she do when he would? And what would it prove?
Edd stopped his fake whining and was now back to his silent staring. She wished she knew what he was thinking about when he did that. Was he plotting or was his mind empty and did he only care about making her feel uncomfortable? Both things weren't really typical of Edd to do.. much like everything else he'd done and said so far.
"W-We might have crackers and jam.. if you're hungry.." Sarah began, "I can make you some."
"That's a bit of a downgrade, don't you think."
"Huh..? Yeah, alright, funny, you're real freaky and everything, real funny, Double D.." she muttered slightly irritated.
"Thank you."
"Listen, I can't cook this for you, I'm not even allowed to be here, but I can sneak some crackers your way. H-how about it?"
"Hm." Edd lazily considered, "Nah, this'll do. Fancy people eat their steak raw, anyway."
"Yeah, but, I don't.. think.. this is the same thing." Sarah contemplated with a hint of genuineness.
"Sure is!" he replied, "I know, I've dealt with raw meat all my life, no lies."
"..Really..?"
It didn't look like he was lying, but Edd's fondness for raw meat dishes wasn't something she ever learned about him. And out of everyone in the cul-de-sac, Sarah knew the most about his likes, dislikes, and hobbies. But not because she's a stalker or anything..!
Her eyes inspected the many chains going around the room. She didn't think Kevin had that many, but then again, his scooter was his girlfriend. The chains looked very secure, and as Edd wasn't moving around much, she figured they were doing their job well. She could safely test out how serious Edd was about this steak or if he was just talking nonsense for the sake of his spooky act. It would ease her mind knowing the answer.
Sarah took a second take on the chains and then turned to him: "Do you need.. help?"
"You want to feed me?" he asked, as both his eyebrows shot up.
"I don't want...! I don't think..!" she stumbled.
"Either that, or you'll have to free at least one of my hands."
Both were terrible options. She wasn't planning on freeing him, the others would get mad for sure, but playing his fork and plate didn't sound that great either. It was pretty hot inside the room, and the once presentable steak in the bucket had turned into a bloody pulp. She didn't want to touch that thing with her bare hands, but going upstairs to find suitable gloves would just eat up valuable time and might make Jimmy more suspicious.
"I feel weak.. I could really use the protein." Edd moaned.
He looked awful, that wasn't hard to deny.. Sarah held her breath and slowly moved towards the bucket. The others better appreciate what she was about to do for them! For now, she had to believe Edd would cooperate on a full stomach, and that this mess qualified as a meal.
"Don't try anything funny.." she warned him.
"Never."
She bended her knees and slowly picked up the steak from the bucket. In it, she saw its remains floating around in the blood. This was by far the most disgusting thing she ever pulled out of the freezer. Damn that Ed.
She felt the meat's fluids travelling down her hands and going under her nails. The smell stung her nose and eyes, but Edd didn't seem to mind. Very odd. He used to be the type of person who'd run off screaming in terror by the sight of something like this, chains or no chains, but the keyword is "used to". Now, apparently, he was this fine diner-type who'd ironically settle with a cold bucket steak. Something about this didn't seem right to her, but she never liked tartar and raw dishes anyway, so what did she know? To her, it was the same as a bucket steak.
Sarah took little steps while carrying the large piece of dead animal in both hands, until she decided to had gone far enough and started stretching out her arms instead. Edd didn't bother to lean forward to take it, as he was not content with her lazy efforts. Sarah's anxiousness made room for annoyance. She knew what he was trying to achieve and she wasn't going to fall for it! She also had no interest in seeing him bite into this thing, thus narrowed her eyes and turned her head away as she leaned forwards. Time passed slowly and Sarah felt no response. Maybe he didn't want it after all? That would be a relief.
"A-Are ya gonna take it or not..!" she asked impatiently.
It could also be that the chains were tighter than she thought. She wasn't here when Eddy and Kevin tied him up, and it was hard to see where they ended and where they began.
She shuffled closer, but still nothing. She felt her fingers nearly disappearing inside the steak. How long ago did Ed buy this and when did he actually put it in the freezer?! She closed her eyes in disgust, then took another step. And another. And another. Still nothing. She had to be really close now, maybe one last step was warranted.
Then, her foot bumped into something and Sarah fell on her knees.
CHAPTER 5: Falling on Double D (Click "Expand" to read)>
Sarah looked up, hoping to see a chair or some other random object, but she was staring straight in grey eyes. Her impatience caused her aim to had worsened and the steak completely missed its destination. She landed into Edd's lap, with her arms raised above her head and the leaking steak threateningly hovering above her head.
She didn't make a sound. Did Edd just stick out his foot to make her trip..?! His face was just an inch away from hers, she knew she had to get up and create distance, but was petrified on the spot.
She finally realized how little she trusted him. It felt terrible; but he terrified her. He radiated an unnatural vibe. He had no body odour and she felt no breath hitting her face. His chest was static.
She attempted to avoid his gaze, which was difficult, considering her position. Whenever she moved her head away, Edd followed her, trying to restore eye-contact. Not a word was uttered during this almost comical interaction. Out of desperation, she closed her eyes, as if that would somehow cancel whatever was going to happen next.
She waited and scolded herself. This only confirmed she was as inept as the others treated her to be, and a "told you so" was the last thing she wanted. She couldn't even remember what she was trying to achieve here.
The meat in her hands started getting real heavy, but she didn't dare to move. The details of Edd's condition were still vague and she didn't want to trigger anything.
Blood started leaking down her arms, it was an unpleasant feeling. The thought of ending up being covered in meat sauce, right on the lap of the beast, made her shiver.
Beast. Did she just call him a beast?
Did Kevin's dumb remarks brainwash her? Did she actually believe the words of her brother? Edd didn't care to make himself look trustworthy and nobody knew why, but she still wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, because maybe..
..maybe then..
...he'd like her more.
She'd been so unpleasant to him in the past, while he was the one person in this neighbourhood that didn't deserve it. She tried to improve, but was given little chances or fell back to her old ways, anyway. She didn't understand herself; why it was so hard to be nice and stay nice to other people? 5 years later, she was still the same angry brat she'd always been.
Edd being struck by this otherworldly illness, while the others cluelessly sat around and questioned his innocence, was oddly enough a dream come true. This was her moment to shine and do something that would make him forever grateful to her. This was to make up for those years of pointless abuse. A noble goal, indeed. If not incredibly selfish.
But she had been constantly anxious and distrusted him the moment she saw him. Getting dropped onto his lap made her fear for her life, while nothing even happened yet. If there was something she proved, it's that she's a gullible fool.
Edd started leaning forward and Sarah felt his face getting closer. Hopefully he'd yell "GOTCHA!", anything to bring an end to this whole ordeal, but that was unlikely at this point. Edd would never allow his friends to sink into a depression over a joke. Unlike them, he was a good person. Yes, he's the good Ed.
Sarah tried hard to convince herself that everything was going to be fine. She needed to calm herself down, maybe then she'd gain back control over her struggling body and be able run for it.
Except.. it had been years since she got this close to Edd. Her uneasiness had other, conflicting reasons as well. These feelings.. this was not the right moment.
Suddenly, she felt something startling move across her right arm. As she looked up, Edd's eyes were still waiting for her and she barely witnessed his mouth close itself. Did he..? Just to get her to look..?!
"I'm not going to hurt you." he spoke.
Sarah's eyes widened. His words were difficult to take seriously after this. It could not be explained or excused. Why did he do this in front of her?! It wasn't reassuring, it wasn't charming, it just made him fit the mold of the attacker that roamed Peach Creek!
What normal human being consumes blood!
This illness of his wasn't anything she's ever read about. Probably not one Edd ever read about, either, otherwise he wouldn't have ended up getting this sick in the first place.
What should be her next step? She was still in this blasted room, and from where she was sitting, he could easily bite her arms off. Those horrid crime scene photographs started shooting through her head. She wasn't supposed to ever see them, but of course, her queer brother collected gory images for his hobby of making horror movie props. And he's a slob, it wasn't hard to stumble across them.
What would he do with these pictures when it's confirmed they're the real-life actions of his best friend? Sarah looked at Edd, with her shivering hands still up in the air. Could it still be possible he's innocent? The sharp teeth scraping her skin weren't comforting her much.
"U-um.. Double D..?" she muttered nervously.
"I think I've had enough!" Edd concluded. Sarah moved her head back and looked at him with confusion. He announced it like he was going to clock off and have a cold one with the boys.
"..Or did you bring dessert?" he smirked, and gave her a quick peck in the neck. Sarah yelped and immediately jumped up. As soon as she stood on her feet, she sprinted away like a frightened rabbit.
She stopped at the door opening and looked back at him, still sitting there, still chained, and unfazed by her little panic attack. Sarah inspected her arms. There was no blood anymore, nor any bites or scratches. She got out of it relatively untouched, but adrenaline was still rushing through her body so fast, she was trembling.
This visit made her learn more than she wanted to, it made her chest hurt a little. Maybe the truth was that she didn't want to learn anything at all, she just wanted to see Edd. But now she carried heavy baggage and it was up to her to decide how to deal with it. How was she supposed to describe this moment to the others? What did it mean? What would all of this mean for the future?
She looked at the steak, now lying on the ground by its lonesome self, further bathing in its blood. No way she was going back for it right now.
"I guess I should go!" she announced with a forced smile, and hastily grabbed the door knob.
"How badly do you want me, anyway?" Edd called after her.
"..What?"
"You could've left the room." he shrugged, "There was no reason for you to show up at all."
"Oh.. I just wanted to help out. I'm leaving now.." she replied and quickly turned around again.
"You'll be back."
Sarah stopped and scowled at the remark. "..Y-you think you're so great, don't you, Double D..?!"
"I don't know, girl. Do you think I'm so great?" he replied.
"Whatever you're thinking, it's not true! I don't like you, we're not kids anymore!"
"Maybe you don't like me, but you seem to like the cover of the book."
"O-Oh, yeah right, is it obvious by the angry look on my face..!?" she stuttered.
"..Does the cover remind you of a better story?" he continued.
Sarah tried her best to keep her face straight and serious. This childhood crush on him was long over!
Or well, she made sure that everyone else thought so.. so, who told him? She was nice to him, now and then, but she's also nice to Jimmy and Nazz and she's not in love with them! Someone must've told him! Probably that stupid Eddy, he stole her diary more than once.
But this wasn't the moment to confront Edd about it. He was just trying to keep her from leaving and embarrass her more. It seemed to be his favourite hobby now.
As her feet moved further away, Edd released a dramatic grunt. "My. These chains are getting heavy." he said unconvincingly.
Sarah looked at the chains wrapped around his limbs. It looked like they could hurt, but there were no wounds or marks of irritation on his skin. Of course there wasn't. Why did she even bother inspecting him. Why did she keep answering to him and his games.
After everything that happened, she was emotionally exhausted. She needed to leave now she had the opportunity. She was drained of energy and optimism, though Edd acted surprisingly upbeat for someone who just revealed a disturbing piece of information about himself. Did he even realize what he had done, or did he just not care?
"Double D, I'm leaving." Sarah mumbled. Edd gave no response this time and allowed her to closed the door and walk up the stairs.
While still processing what just happened, Jimmy suddenly appeared in front of her.
"Sarah! Is everything okey?" he squeaked.
"Jimmy, you scared me!" Sarah yelped, "Were you spying on me?"
"No, of course not, you just took a while and I got worried."
"Thanks for trusting me.."
"It's not like that! At a time like this, it's best to be worried about each other."
"Well.. you shouldn't. I'm all peaches." Sarah smiled sheepishly.
"I'm happy you're peaches, everyone else is bananas." he joked.
"Are they still talking in there?"
"They can't decide on what to do. If Double D just started talking, or if we knew for sure that he, you know.. attacked people.. then we'd have a better idea on what to do next. But I don't think we can even trust whatever he decides to tell us if he were to talk.. he's being really weird."
Sarah remained silent. She forgot to ask Edd questions at all. What a wasted attempt this was. The only thing she learned was that his mind was messed up enough that he'd drink the juices of a piece of uncooked steak. This was something the others deserved to know, but.. she didn't feel good about sharing it.
Sarah heard their voices in the distance. They sounded more demotivated than before she snuck off.
Telling them was necessary if they wanted to find proper help for Edd, but it was a double-edged sword. It could also mean the end for him. The way he acts, the way he looks, the way he's tied up, and now the way he gladly accepts raw meat; who wouldn't connect him to those wild animal reports? What will the others decide to do with him if he's the confirmed killer? What would she do..?
"Uh, Sarah.." Jimmy began, "You weren't checking on Double D, right?"
Sarah eyes widened like those of a caught thief. "..Why do you think that?"
"You're near the staircase.. and I know that you-"
Sarah's face became red and Jimmy started replacing his words when he noticed her displeasure. "-YOU.. THINK HE'S A PRETTY COOL GUY!" he smiled nervously.
Sarah rolled her eyes and gave her concerned friend an approving smile to lighten up the mood. She couldn't deal with this right now, she needed more time to think about what to do next.
"Yeah, yeah. I came down here cause I needed a new toilet roll, but we're out.."
"Oh. T-That's pretty brave of you, with Double D sitting right there and all!" he replied with amazement.
"Pff, he's tied up like an elephant, what's he gonna do?" Sarah scoffed.
"Yeah!"
It was a good thing Jimmy lived to please her. He was smarter than he looked, though, he could cause her serious trouble if he wasn't her friend.
She knew he never liked Edd much. He was good at pretending and he's the kind of person who'd offer anyone a kind word or a helping hand when they're in need, but ever since Edd gave her that flower years ago, and she left Jimmy's side for a day, he's been rather possessive over her. She assumed his dislike for Edd stemmed from the fact he's been the only person who ever managed to demand all of her attention. That must've felt strange for Jimmy.
He's always been her only friend, they were like Siamese twins. Understandably, he didn't like any kind of competition.
"Let's head back before we get into trouble." Sarah said, and grabbed Jimmy's milky hand. They walked back to the living room unnoticed, both wearing a smile that hid their respective feelings.
She hoped he understood why she lied to him.
CHAPTER 6: Freeing Double D (Click "Expand" to read)>
Jimmy's eyelids lowered with every passing second, but Sarah was wide awake. She felt tired, but Edd's image kept appearing inside her mind and the ongoing discussion wasn't helping. The way the others talked about him made her realise that her testimony might not even matter. Half of the crew was extremely negative of him, so sharing her findings would be like igniting a bomb. From their voices she understood they couldn't blame the deadly incidents on him with certainty, but they basically already had.
She became settled on keeping her little adventure to herself. With Edd acting the way he did, they would put the pieces together themselves, anyway. Who's to say he wasn't going to drink blood in front of someone another day? ..Who's to say they didn't already witness something like that; they always pretended to know more than her. Maybe they did.
One thing she did know was that Edd needed to get better before his friends got fed up with him.
And yet, one more issue floated around her head and she couldn't stop wondering.. if they hadn't experienced anything undeniably damning about him, would she be willing to keep her mouth shut about what happened back in Ed's room to keep him safe?
If Edd were to turn back to normal one day, would she be able to discard this memory, like it all never happened?
Her neck, where he kissed her, it was burning. Her head was burning. He told her he wouldn't hurt her, but why did he give her that reassurance? He was so set on making her feel uncomfortable, it made no sense. These questions made her restless and unable to sleep. It was almost 2 after midnight. She wished she could go to her room, but the others said it was better to stick together.
Sarah looked at Jimmy, who had dozed off and was no longer holding her hand. She lied to him, surely he knew, yet he managed to fall asleep.
Sarah let out a silent sigh. What to do..
She survived her short meeting with Edd, but if he were indeed a lethal danger and the others wouldn't learn about it until one of them pushed the wrong button, then she had to speak up for their future safety. On the other hand, if they already knew more than she did, then telling them would serve no purpose. She'd just be admitting to have disobeyed and ran off to see Edd by herself. Cue a major scolding.
Of course, everyone will know something's up regardless when they inevitably head back to talk with him and see the bucket and steak she left behind in the room. Why on Earth didn't she take the time to take them with..
She agreed to deserve an angry lecture, but her intentions came from a good place! She just wanted to do the right thing!
..But what was the right thing and who did she wish to protect, really?
Sarah placed her hand on her neck. Was she hoping everything to turn back to normal before more accidents happened, so she didn't have to become disgusted by herself for even contemplating about protecting a murderer? It didn't even matter if Edd was guilty or not; she believed it to be more plausible than ever, and that drove her insane.
She was unable to speak up. She had already started protecting him when she lied to Jimmy. It felt equally horrible. She wished she could turn back time, but now the only thing she could do was erase all traces of having been down there, and trust in Edd. The old Edd.
Sarah stood up. "I.. have to go to the bathroom again."
Nobody called after her. Nobody even heard her. It was really careless of them.
She looked over her shoulder to make sure she wasn't being followed and headed straight down to Ed's bedroom door. But with every step she took, common sense started hitting her brain, telling her to forget about it and go back. It had only been a few seconds, she just settled on going, but was already having doubts. Why was she here again? To get a bucket? Her mind felt foggy.
"Can I help you?" she suddenly heard a voice ask.
She jumped up and noticed she was already standing in Ed's room. She looked down and saw Edd still sitting on the floor, chained up. Seeing him surprised her every time, strangely enough.
"Back so soon?" Edd added.
"Y-Yeah."
"Well, get me a ham and let's start round 2."
Round 1 and the bucket were still lying on the concrete floor. The worst part about it was that they fit right in with the other trash in the room. There were no cleaning supplies stored in the laundry room anymore, Ed kept drinking it, so this was going to be a chore.
Sarah headed towards the abandoned items to pick them up, not giving Edd a single sign of acknowledgement on the way. If she could get this done without getting harassed, that would be ideal. Of course, Edd instantly started releasing subtle grunts of pain. "Subtle" as in "unsubtle". Her eyes shot back and forth between Edd and the blood stain she tried to remove with Ed's many wall sponges (why was he collecting these?!).
She noticed his wrists were now in pretty bad shape. Did he try to free himself after she left? They must've been able to hear him struggle if he did, wouldn't they..?
"How.. how're you doing?" she asked him.
"Fine! Fine!" Edd replied, "Just being held against my will!"
"Yeah. But, u-uh, you shouldn't move too much.. Your hands are looking bad.."
"It's not my fault, it's these chains, you see. Your two dads went really overboard."
Looked like it, but this didn't seem like a topic she should concern herself with. She had no idea what even held him in place, the chains went everywhere and nowhere.
Though.. loosening them up would be a nice gesture, and since Edd was still upbeat from her last visit, this might be the right opportunity for the others to talk to him again.
"I could ask Eddy for help..?" she suggested.
"I don't like him."
"Huh? But he and my brother are your best friends!"
"My wrists disagree. Everyone's been really mean to me."
They were just trying to get to the bottom of things, but it made sense that he'd perceive it that way. Edd had always been a sensitive person, maybe this was the one personality trait that had stayed intact. Although, hard to say for sure when looking at his relaxed expression. Despite his remark, he didn't really seem to care.
"You're nice, though." Edd smiled.
Sarah blushed a deep red and quickly resumed her cleaning duties. "Well, I-I-I can't help you, I don't know how w-where the keys are, sorry..!"
"In the washing machine." he replied, "But I get it, you've caused yourself enough trouble."
He had nerves. Was he really trying to trick her into freeing him? Surely he didn't think she was that stupid. He had to do better than show fake empathy for her predicament.
"I can get Eddy or Kevin for you, that's all I can do." she insisted.
"Don't worry about it, I don't mind if my hands fall off. Not my problem, right?"
"Oh.. don't be so dramatic..!" Sarah snorted under her breath.
Chains were heard clashing onto each other as Edd lowered his head to inspect the source of the snorting. "..Heyyyy, is that a smile?" he grinned.
Sarah's head shot up, but then quickly pointed back to the stain on the floor. "N-no! Nothing about this is funny, Double D..!"
"No." Edd agreed, "It hurts."
Sarah carefully watched him from the corner of her eyes. His voice sounded very as-a-matter-of-fact this time. Not sad or pained, nor jokey, it made her unsure what to think of the statement.
If the chains were that tight, then the right thing to do was have them adjusted, but who could she call over if Edd didn't even want to see his own friends? If Ed and Eddy had been here to hear his comment, it would've surely hurt their feelings, but she cared little for them at this point.
The idea of Edd being a genuine monster scared her, but now she felt disturbed by the other possible truth he suffered mistreatment. There had to be a reason why he trusted her and not them. She and Jimmy weren't around whenever the others headed out to find him, so did something happen during those moments to create this distrust?
..She didn't know what to think anymore! Who was the enemy, who was the ally? Seeing Edd behave and look like this should've given her an easy clue, but her heart was unable to agree with her brain. It kept making excuses for him, she didn't want him to be the enemy! Her brain insisted she was being played like the dumb sheep she is, while her heart chose to believe he confided in her.
She looked at the old washing machine sitting in the other room. Ed often kept expensive stuff in there, like his video camera. It was an odd choice for a vault, but maybe the point was to protect these items from the disgusting environment in his room. The thing itself was no longer in use, so his possessions were surprisingly safe and out of sight in there. The common thief wouldn't go looking inside a washing machine.
The keys could've been stored there, but were Eddy and Kevin that stupid to let Edd know? Probably, yeah.
Sarah placed another used-up sponge in the bucket and inspected the floor. It wasn't looking much better. Maybe she had to smear something else over it, there was little else to do right now.
There was alot of garbage in Ed's room, but none of the scattered bottles had anything in them anymore. Did Ed still have that tub with gravy? She shuddered at the thought, but it was better to have a giant random gravy stain on the floor than blood.
The temporarily forgotten Edd watched the occupied Sarah walk around the room with polite curiosity. He didn't interrupt her thoughts or did much else to distract her. He was fine observing this young girl's attempt of cleaning up a crime scene.
Sarah returned with a discarded bottle filled with gravy, then noticed her smiling spectator and stopped in her tracks.
"..Just trying to fix this mess, don't judge!" she pouted.
"I'm just impressed by your decision to fix a mess by creating more of a mess." Edd shrugged, "I like your style, you're a lunatic."
"I'm n-not.. you are..!" she mumbled to herself. She emptied the bottle over the floor and carefully examined the debatable results. Maybe it had to dry up a little bit first.
There she stood, with her hands in her sides, waiting. She gave Edd a quick glare every few seconds, but didn't dare to start a conversation. Dread washed over her every time he opened his mouth. His voice sounded so unfamiliar, and what was he going to say this time? Still, it's been tolerable. He's responded to her like a normal person at least a few times, not like the creep from earlier in the night, it was reassuring.
It felt like the right moment to do an interview, but she couldn't think of anything to say that would lead to a natural conversation. If she started asking questions right away, he'd might start fooling around again.
She directed her attention to the strong gusts of wind that were heard outside. It made Ed's little window shake in its frame. Looked like the silicone had dried up and couldn't keep it in place anymore. Of course not. This room was Hell.
The chains were also softly rattling, though Edd was seemingly still. Surely that wasn't the wind's doing? The sound reminded her of Edd's bloody and bruised wrists. He needed medical attention, she's had wounds like those before, they sting like needles. But, as long the others were planning on keeping him restricted like this, was there any point in bandaging him?
Well, it wasn't up to her, the others would have to decide after examining him..
"Um. As soon as I'm done with this, I'm getting the others, okey?" Sarah announced.
"You wanna ruin our date by inviting those losers?"
"You need someone to check your wrists, and, you know, while they're at it-"
"While they're at it, they can ask YOU why you were downstairs at all!" Ed smirked, "And who squirted on the floor."
Sarah's expression changed. She didn't even think of that! Getting the others would only defeat the point of coming down here at all, which was to remove all signs of having been here in the first place. The floor was still a mess, but maybe she'd get away with it if the others were tired enough, but if she were to report on Edd's injuries, that'd be undeniable proof she went to see him on her own.
This whole situation.. was so infuriatingly tiresome!
With new-found determination, she walked out of the room and headed for the washing machine. With keys in hand, she slowly approached Edd, who grinned ear to ear the moment he spotted the metal objects.
"Oh, you're a doll, girl." he cheered.
"Whatever, just stop calling me 'girl'..!" she growled.
Sarah ducked down and grabbed a padlock, opened it, and immediately closed it after having moved it to the next ring. Then she took a new padlock and repeated the procedure. There were alot of locks, but there were alot of chains.
The longer she stayed in the room, the more it drained her courage. She had to speed this up, she was making quite some noise and didn't want to get caught. Edd was watching her every move, which didn't help.
Eventually, there was one lock left, but Edd looked as contained as before she started. Did she do this correctly? Surely it must've made a difference, though it was still difficult to see how the chains were utilized, even when released from a lock. There was no time to experiment, she didn't want to alert anyone upstairs. This had to do.
She hastily turned the key inside the last lock, but before she could close it again, Edd launched himself towards her and grabbed her wrists.
All chains dropped down with a saddening thud. Eddy and Kevin, those idiots, they didn't even pay attention to what they were doing, Edd was hardly tied up! And he knew this!
Sarah wanted to call for help, but she couldn't. The way Edd towered over her.. the same feelings from before started flooding in. A crazy mixture of fear and affection for him. She was frozen solid.
Edd squeezed her arms as his face drew close. "What's your name again..?" he asked.
Her heart was bouncing in her throat. She freed him. She actually freed him. "It's Sarah.. You know t-that..! Please..." she begged.
He released her from his grip and ran toward Ed's window. He jumped through it in one swift movement, breaking the glass like it was mere sugar. It only took a second for footsteps to be heard running down the stairs.
"SARAH!"
CHAPTER 7: Lost Sockhead (Click "Expand" to read)>
"Okey.. well.. I-It's now or never..!" Eddy's voice boomed, "Let's get sockhead!"
The group silently exited through the front door, holding their respective tools, though Eddy had upgraded to a rifle. The chance was low that he'd use it, but the group insisted on bringing along a more useful weapon this time. Since no one else owned a gun and Eddy didn't want anyone to touch his father's rifle, he had to be the one to hold the scary back-up plan.
Edd's escape had erased the meagre bits of optimism that could still be heard in their voices a few hours ago; they had no high hopes, and the fact a real weapon was brought along meant they were really scared this time. Sarah didn't like the amped-up protection, but she lost her right to complain. She caused this.
She peeked out of the front door windows and watched the group disappear into the darkness. Because of this incident, she was grounded and ordered to stay inside, while they'd head out to undo her mess. This time without a ray of daylight aiding them.
Jimmy and Jonny were with her, as they were tasked to. It was the only punishment she received, though. If it wasn't for her brother stepping in, maybe one of them would've hit her in the face, but Eddy proclaimed: "we just hafta get him back before anyone gets hurt", and nothing more was said. It didn't feel like she deserved this generous conclusion, but because Ed was more worried about her than angry, everyone empathized with him rather quickly.
Sarah sat down on a chair and rested her head on her hand as she looked at her babysitters. They were conversing with each other, but nothing relevant to the matters at hand. They did so on purpose, to distract themselves. It was a good strategy, one she should join in on, but her attention was with someone else. Again. Still.
Edd's last words was the announcement he'd "be in that boy's house". She couldn't figure out what he meant by that, there were multiple boys in this neigbourhood. They were discussing Eddy shortly before everything went down, did he mean his house? It was unlikely he'd wait in another person's home, why not go to a place that's empty, like his own?
Handing out hints to where he'd be hiding was a bold move as well. Why put that kind of trust in her, did he expect she'd stay silent? Not this time. She told everyone, she owed them this much. Not that they understood any better.
It sounded like a clear invitation, meant for her alone, but to what..? Sarah rubbed her wrists. She could still feel the pressure of his hands on them, as for the hole burned in her soul by his penetrating stare. It was like he merely needed to look at someone in order to learn all there was to know about them. It was invasive and made her heart race every time.
Worse yet, his attention was addictive. Edd never showed any kind of genuine interest in her before, she was just Ed's little sister to him. She wanted him to stare her down. She wanted her heart to race..!
But was it wise to look him up again? What did he want to see her for, anyway? He was free, thanks to her stupid head, she's useless to him now. It made no sense, and the longer she thought about it, the more restless she became.
Leaving the house with Jimmy and Jonny present was going to be difficult, though it wouldn't surprise her if their attempt to create a happy atmosphere would end up distracting them too much to notice her leaving. They were both very naive people, a bad combination to put together in a room.
The 18 year old Jonny no longer owned a piece of wood to function as his rude voice of reason, and Jimmy's stories easily carried him away. Jimmy looked happy to have an interested listener; Sarah hadn't been able to fulfill this role for a fair amount of time. Her reluctancy wasn't to offend him or anything, her interests simply no longer lied with stuffed animals. Naturally, Jonny didn't mind talking about imaginary friends. They were going at it. Really, really going at it.
Sarah watched the two with awe. Was this seriously happening right now? She cleared her throat a couple of times, just to be sure, but received no reaction from either of them. How reckless and.. convenient, but was this a moment she wanted to abuse? She needed a good reason to run off again and first had to ponder what the point of meeting Edd in private was, and equally important; what are his motives?
If she met up with him again, she could resume her last failure.. She still never asked him any questions about his condition or behaviour. The few things she learned were accidental. Edd didn't shy away from uncooked food, disliked his friends, and didn't remember her name, interesting, but nothing here answered the core question why he changed the way he did.
With Eddy walking around armed, time had become precious. Maybe he wouldn't shoot Edd on purpose, but an irreversible accident is easily made when you got your finger on the trigger. It's why she chose not to approach Edd with any weapons in hand. If he gets killed, they'll never know how serious it all truly was.
Could things ever be the same? The others were so convinced of Edd's hostility that they believed taking a gun was necessary. What is it they knew that she didn't? She could ask Jonny, but it was unlikely he'd want to talk about it. He was too occupied asking Jimmy about the inconsistency that was "Mr. Yum Yum"; a stuffed animal that changed colour and species more than once. To wipe that smile off his tired face would be cruel.
Sarah got up and casually walked to the front door. Jimmy nor Jonny commented on it. Then she turned around and crossed the living room. It garnered no attention.
Now it became easy to step into the kitchen and sneak out through the back, but again, was this a wise move? She wanted to do this, but it didn't feel like something that needed to be done. Not by her, specifically. If she were so vital to Edd's recovery as she made herself out to be, wouldn't the situation have improved already? She made things objectively worse.
If she had the assurance that Edd would listen to her, she could ask him to come back, but if he considered everyone his enemy, maybe that was an extreme request to make. Was she honestly the only person he liked? Pretty sad, yet flattering if true..
Her eyes moved over her shoulder. Jimmy and Jonny were still distracted, but their conversation would end eventually. She had to make a decision. Her salmon-coloured coat was lying on the kitchen floor, basically waiting for her. She didn't remember dumping it there, but it wasn't implausible that she did so in a fit of rage last time she wasn't allowed to go outside. She really liked that coat. Well, not because she liked it, but because Edd once told her he liked it. He rarely complimented her clothes, she felt like the prettiest girl in Peach Creek after that..
She picked up the coat and carefully placed her hand on the door knob.
CHAPTER 8: Dinner With Double D (Click "Expand" to read)>
Sarah softly closed the door behind her and power-walked away from the house. Her heart beat faster with every step, but there was no point in going back now, she had to make her disobedience count and return with something useful. Preferably Edd.
She inspected the empty streets like a nervous rodent, and when she confirmed to be in the clear, sprinted to Edd's house. She didn't expect that to be the destination he meant, but the place should be empty right now and would make for a good temporary base while she figured out her first steps. No point in standing in the middle of the street like a sitting duck. Maybe she'd be able to see Edd's whereabouts from his bedroom window.. otherwise she'd just have to sneak past every home in the cul-de-sac until she'd come across her creepy runaway friend.
It was cold outside, but after that sprint, she felt feverishly hot. She stopped at Edd's front door, but then realised it made more sense to find a different entrance. It couldn't be opened discreetly and she didn't want to get in trouble for property damage. She quietly looked around, but before she could walk off, the door opened.
Was Edd crashing at his own place..? Really? How incredibly stupid and brilliant at the same time.
Sarah carefully entered, though still with haste in her step. The place looked abandoned with no sign of life and no one welcoming her in. She didn't dare to make noise, so just inspected every corner the best she could from at the entrance. It became increasingly more likely that Edd's parents simply forgot to lock the door after they left. Not like them, but they haven't been the same since Edd started acting out, so she understood.
Then suddenly, the door closed shut behind her, leaving her standing in complete darkness. That's another horror movie cliché for you.
Sarah held her breath, hoping to hear movement or a voice, but if Edd was in the room, he was doing a good job pretending not to be. To her relief she found a light switch on the wall near her and flipped it.
"Could you turn that off, please?"
She nearly jumped a hole in the ceiling after seeing Edd standing right in front of her. He looked ferocious as ever, but this time it was worse somehow. In the brightness of the lamp, it was easy to see how otherworldly his appearance had become. His pupils were small, much like they were back in Ed's badly lit room, which led her to believe they no longer reacted to light or darkness. The dark circles around his eyes, which she originally thought was a shading effect, were there as well. He looked like he never slept a moment in his life.
His skin was a few shades brighter than usual and his hair thicker and longer; all changes she couldn't decide the meaning of. The light didn't lie, he looked less like himself than he already did. Was this Edd, or some unmentioned twin of his?
Sarah couldn't respond to his earlier request. His eyes were penetrating as ever and demanded all of her brain power. Though she survived him twice, he still freaked her out.
Edd then raised a hand, turned it into a fist, and punched the violating lightbulb out with a one-frame movement. Sarah let out a surprised yelp, but then forcefully silenced herself with her hands.
"Thanks." he sarcastically thanked her, "Let me help you with that."
Sarah shivered when his hands started making contact with her body, but didn't move. It was pathetic. She just got here and all kinds of inappropriate thoughts were already running through her head. She swallowed loudly, Edd probably heard, but it couldn't be helped. She had to remind herself she didn't come here to play girlfriend. The plan was to pile him with questions before there'd be any misunderstandings and the others would notice she's gone.
Edd continued to unbutton her coat, then unceremoniously dropped it onto the floor next to the coat rack. "Thank.. you.." Sarah forced, "Uh. Are you still feeling sick?"
"I made dinner." Edd remarked, "Are you hungry? I sure am."
"Oh-um. Actually, I can't stay for long.."
"That's not nice, I made this dinner for you."
"I didn't mean to.. uh.. thanks, but-"
"Come on, eat with me."
She didn't have the time and the fact remained she didn't yet trust his mental state enough to get cosy with him like this. His limbs weren't tied up anymore, his freedom to stand and walk around was a bit intimidating.
"I don't have t-time..!" she stuttered, "Sorry, maybe I should go before the others-"
Edd then moved towards her as if he were gliding, it was a strange effect. The playfulness had left his voice and he looked at her with serious eyes. "You're hurting my feelings, Sarah."
Her legs weakened and she slightly leaned back, but as he liked to do; he followed her movements and leaned with her in order to keep the distance between them minimal.
"Surely you didn't sneak over here for nothing." he continued, "What is it you came for?"
Judging by the smile that followed, he already knew the reason. But she wasn't in the mood for more of his bullying.
"To talk.." she insisted, "But if you don't wanna, then, let me go.. c-cuz the others will just come looking f-"
Edd's face then relaxed and turned neutral as he interrupted her rambling. "I made you dinner, Sarah. I'd be honoured if you stayed."
A normal human expression and a normal request, it caught her off-guard. It was like the old Edd was speaking to her..
Sarah considered the possible outcomes of accepting and weighed them against each other. Would eating with him produce results? A dinner table beat Ed's smelly jail cell bedroom, and if she could to keep her calm around him for at least 5 seconds, it'd be a great moment to ask questions. Or at the very least, beg for Edd to come back.
"Alright.." she decided.
Edd held out his hand. She looked at the sharp nails pointed at her with concern, but placed her hand in his, whereafter he guided her to the kitchen. This space was also dark, with the main source of light being the two tall candles placed on the table. There were also two sets of beautiful knives and forks Sarah had never seen before. One side also had a spoon.
There were long dark-red curtains that secluded the dining area from the actual kitchen, and prevented any light from outside to shine though. Edd really didn't like light, that was certain. Even the stars and moon offended him. What a shame, it would've been pretty romantic if-.. what?
"Do sit down." Edd urged, as he held one of the chairs and gestured to it.
Sarah walked over and sat down, whereafter Edd disappeared behind the curtains, probably getting whatever he cooked up. Hopefully he wasn't going to show up with a "big surprise"-butcher's knife to stab her with. Or a "nicely prepared" claw in the eye sockets. Or maybe he'd keep it simple and bring a girl-sized pot and cook her on the spot.
Sarah shook her head. She needed to refrain herself from assuming the worst. This was different, this was civilized, she was sitting at a nicely decorated table. Edd was still able to redeem himself. Being a freak did not automatically mean you're a killer, right? This was the moment to find out the truth.
She heard lids being removed from pots and the smell of food filled the air fast, which helped calm her down. Unless Edd was going to fatten her up with this dinner, so she could become his dinner..
Sarah dropped her head onto the palms of her hands. The more time passed, the more she wanted to jump out of a window. If she'd stay here for too long, the others would notice her absence, if they hadn't already. She had to hurry this up.
Edd appeared right on time with a deep plate in one hand and a bowl in the other. He smiled politely at her, so far he was able to with that face, and placed the plate on her side and the bowl on his. The smell that entered the room was greatly confusing her. It was roadkill combined with.. well.. food. Was it coming from her plate? She looked at Edd, who was calmly waiting for her to try her suspiciously normal-looking meal. Sarah gave him a crooked smile and grabbed her fork.
"Looks nice.. ha ha.. I'm not eating anyone I know, right?" she asked half-jokingly.
Edd released a healthy chuckle, but didn't answer. Welp. Sarah held her breath and bravely took a bite out of the least trusted piece of food on the plate; the meat. She pinned it with her fork, guided it to her mouth, and chewed.
How could one recognize human flesh..? It's not like she ever tried it. But so far she could tell, it was regular pork. It looked like what you'd see lying in stores. Was she eating regular store-bought food from this blood-slurper? Rather funny.
Sarah continued eating, since Edd kept giving her pressuring looks. It was flawless, but that second smell that lingered in the air affected the experience somewhat.
"Did I do well?" Edd asked.
"It's great, just great, you were always a pretty good cook.." she replied, "I was just wondering.. um.. what're you having?"
"...Soup." he replied after a long pause. Sarah tried looking inside the bowl.
"O-Oh.. looks nice. What flavour?" she asked.
"Soup flavour."
It looked like a dark, bland tomato soup. Maybe thicker than that. Hopefully it was goulash, but the more likely answer wouldn't leave her head.
Sarah diverted her attention back to her plate. She couldn't finish this, the smell started hitting on her stomach. She placed down her fork, which of course caught Edd's attention.
"Great, but not that great, huh?" he commented.
"Just not hungry. It's, like, after midnight and all." Sarah smiled nervously, "We already had dinner."
"We sure did, thanks to a little lady." Edd winked, "I'm always hungry for more, but you can leave it if you're done."
"Thanks." she mumbled, while looking down.
Edd continued his soup in silence. He was visibly distancing himself from her by focusing on it; he wished not to be interrupted. Maybe he sensed she wanted to have a serious talk with him? Waiting for him to finish up was eating up valuable time, but she couldn't deny it was nice to see him in a more peaceful setting. No perverse remarks, no weird jokes, no grinning, just Edd and candle light. It helped her prepare herself for the long postponed interview.
When she noticed Edd had nearly finished, she folded her hands as to give him a heads up.
"So, Double D.. how're you doing?" she asked, "We're worried about you."
Edd placed his spoon in his bowl and looked up. "..You talking to me?"
"Huh? Yeah, who else!"
"Double D."
Sarah raised an eyebrow. "You're Double D, s-silly."
"I'm not Double D."
"You are."
"Nah."
"..You probably got some memory loss because of your illness.. But it's alright, we-"
"Nah, Double D's dead."
Sarah frowned at the sudden claim. His strange reluctance to accept the facts were pointless and tiresome and it wasn't helping her current quest move foreward. "You're not, you're standing right here.."
"I'm not Double D."
"You are Double D and you're very sick! Everyone's out looking for you, please come back, we'll take care of you..!"
"Didn't really feel taken care of back there, so I'll pass."
"You don't have to be scared of us, we can start over, no chains or any of that stupid stuff..!"
She kept pleading with him, though was given no certainty she was getting through to him. Her many promises and reassurances didn't change the oddly untroubled expression on his face, nor motivated him to respond. Instead, he slowly got up and approached his rambling guest.
"Aw." he whined, as he sat down next to her half-finished plate, "So you didn't come to snuggle after all."
Her ability to speak instantly worsened, did he seriously just say that? She hugged her lips shut and looked at him with widened eyes. His "clawed" pale hand was barely touching her arm, and his change of location was purposely close and threatening. He towered over her once again, and it all felt much like last time. What on Earth was he trying to do..
"I don't know these people who're trying to help me." he then spoke, "And I don't care."
"..We're y-your friends and neighbours, you grew up with us, don't you remember anything?"
"Don't care."
"Well.. it's still true! And we care about you, so..!"
"Don't care." he repeated.
Didn't he remember or didn't he care? Either one was bad news. Much like his hovering presence. Sarah mustered the courage to break off eye-contact to look down at his hand. She wasn't imagining anything; his nails were indeed long and pointed. She wondered if he grew them out and filed them this way, but why would you do that?
His fingers looked like they were trying to crawl closer to her, especially now that her attention was on them, but it didn't actually seem like his hand was moving. Maybe she was witnessing the restless muscle spasms of a professional murderer.
Interesting how she was still making these jokes. Better inside her mind than out in the open, she guessed.
Sarah let out a deep sigh and stood up, while keeping her gaze disconnected from her overwhelming host. 30 minutes had passed since she got here, it was getting dangerously late and there was no time to keep doing this back-and-forth with him.
"C-..Come visit us when you can, okey, please?" she asked, "..I have to go now, before Jimmy and Jonny find out I'm gone. Thanks for the food.. and talking to me."
"But we didn't get to snuggle!" Edd yelled over her intended goodbye. Sarah's face became a mixed red of embarrassment and annoyance.
"T-That's really inappropriate, D-Double D! You're older than me, you gotta stop that!" she huffed.
"It never stopped you." he smirked, as he tilted towards her and his nails softly scraped the hand still resting on the table.
The comment and his titillating touch dropped on her head like an anvil. She felt dizzy and her body became too heavy for her legs to carry; they trembled violently under her weight. Sarah quickly retracted her hand as an attempt to get control back over the situation.
"I DON'T LOVE YOU!" she yelled.
She inserted more power into her denial than was intended, but quickly tried to recover by sternly folding her arms together and swallowing the left-over saliva in her mouth. She nervously awaited Edd's response, who was taking his time to process the outburst.
If this were any other moment.. any other point in time.. she would've loved it. She would've screamed and jumped of joy. But she knew there to be no possible setting where an interaction like this was alright..
Her stupid little crush on Edd was only hurting herself. She liked to pretend their age difference didn't matter, but it did, and Edd was a decent person. He'd never accept a 13-year-old as his girlfriend. It wouldn't even cross his mind. The fact he was being flirty with her meant he was under the influence of something. No matter how badly she wanted to smile and giggle at his weird advances, she knew very well that enabling his behaviour was.. well, as predatory as he was acting right now.
Edd calmly reached out his hand and grabbed a strand of her hair, then let it slide through his fingers. "I know you don't." he murmured.
"G-Good!"
"You like that Double D guy."
"..You ARE Double D!" Sarah grunted, "Who else could you be!"
And now they were back to this. She bopped her head to the side in annoyance. "You need to go see a doctor." she sighed.
Then, Edd suddenly launched his arm around her torso and trapped her in between him and the table. The dishes rattled aggressively as she bumped against it.
"Were you and Double D friends?" he asked with an eery calmness. She did not expect that tone or that question after the forceful entrapment.
"Please, b-b-back off!" she jittered.
"What were you to him?"
"A kid, I don't know! Wh-why're you asking me, YOU are Double D!"
Edd briefly examined the panicking girl, his mouth curling into a subtle smile. His hand ascended to her tensed-up face and caressed her jaw. "I kinda like you." he said, "But if that's his feelings, I don't want them."
