Pile after pile, the moist dirt weighed itself heavy on top of itself, waiting to hide the dirty secret only you and your friend Edward knew. Never in your life did you think that he had it in him to kill a person, even if it was accidental. That could have easily spared him from burying her and keep this darkness buried away. The police. The place he worked at. All of this would have sorted itself out if it was indeed accidental. It was too late now to turn back as you felt the soreness of your shoulder blades start to develop with the continuous back and forth motion. Now you were involved. How did you get involved? That question of "If you could help your friend get away with murder, would you?" was completely ridiculous. Obviously, the answer would be yes but you wouldn't actually do it. You didn't think the day would come, nor did you think that you would actually go through with it. But here you were, standing next to a murderer, helping him bury his victim all because he was someone you called your friend. You were going to have to live with this for the rest of your life and you couldn't get resolution by talking aloud with someone about this.
You turned your focus on Edward, sweat forming on his forehead in his ridiculous attire. He looked like a graveyard keeper, but now that you thought about it, you would laugh at how fitting that is if you weren't stressing over the fact as to why. Reaching the end of the task with a huff of breath, you stuck the shovel into the ground and leaned against it, staring at the ground with several thoughts ricocheting within your mind while Edward gave his final words. Although you never met Kristen Kringle, you knew that Edward was deeply infatuated with her and you couldn't imagine how devastated he felt, especially when he was the one who did it. You can remember the phone call he made to you while you working at the pharmacy.
Making sure each prescription had the correct medication as well as the amount it needed, you were too focus on the task at hand to pick up your phone at that moment, not wanting to make a mistake a cost the life of an innocent person. Scary as it sounds, it happens far too often then it should, which is why all your attention was focused on the pills in front of you.
When your break hour finally came for you to unwind, you went straight to your phone to see who it was that you ignored. One missed call and one voice message from Edward Nygma. You met him back at a library where he complimented you on your book choice on pharmaceuticals and crime since you noticed a lot of that here in Gotham. You two from there on talked and it seemed like he didn't talk to a lot of people from how much information he spilled to you. You found out he was also in the science/medical field but on a field that you could never find yourself being in. In an instant you knew you would've been throwing up all over the place once you saw a corpse. The only time you got near one was on television. From there on you two became good friends for a long while.
"Y-Y/N?! Look I found myself in a situation a-and I really need your help! Come by my apartment and don't bring anyone else! I only need you!" And that's where it ended. You were worried, no, you were scared.
You called instantly only for him to have his turn at not picking up the phone. "Hey Ed! I just got your message and I'm on my way right now!" You hung up and went to the back of the pharmacy to pick up your things and then head out.
What was going on? What could he have possibly gotten himself into? Maybe he was an avid gambler and needed help with some loan sharks...Maybe he decided to join a cult and wanted to back out. You were coming up with so many scenarios that you didn't know what to think. "Hey! Tell Jeremy that I had a family emergency and I'll call him when I can!" You said to Doris as you left in a rush with all of your belongings, leaving behind your lab coat.
.~.~.~.~.~.~.
You knocked on Edward's door with trembling hands only to have the door instantly be open after the first two knocks. Edward took a peek at each end of the halls with paranoid crazy eyes as he asked "You're alone, correct?"
With a puzzled, scared look on your face, you finally realized that he asked you question as you were to busy looking at the sweat on his forehead, the dark bags under his eyes, the somewhat disheveled hair, his rolled up sleeves, and everything else that made him look all out of place.
"U-uh, yeah. Just like you said." He opened the door wider for you to come and you scurried yourself inside not being able to hear what was happening.
When he closed the door, in a heartbeat you asked him what was going on. "If I tell you, can you promise me not to scream or run out and call the authorities." You were absolutely frightened. Why would he say something like that? Everything was fine up until yesterday. He was happy with his life, you were happy with yours and this only left you wondering what could have possibly gone wrong.
From that moment everything was finally revealed. Your heart was racing and you knew his was too. He explained everything (as far as you know) from beginning to end. You didn't scream. You didn't run like he was worried you would do but since you did none of that, he was worried that you would have fainted in that moment. You only stood there in complete shock as you knew he would not make any of this up. Why would he lie about killing his girlfriend? That's when he asked the million dollar question. "Will you help me bury her?" In other words, will you help him get away?
At first you thought you were crazy at wanting to say yes instantly but then you realized why. This was your friend. He was scared and confused and he didn't want to get in trouble. In a way, you looked at as if he were a young boy who didn't know what to do and just wanted some help and that's what you would you do. You told him to stay at his apartment while you ran out to buy some things that you might need and went for the door. You were stopped by an iron grip of white knuckles that held your upper arm. "How do I know that you're not lying to me?" His eyes were wide with fear and paranoia. You faced went completely serious as you went to grip his shoulders staring straight into his dark eyes. "You know if I am." And then you turned and left.
With eyes closed, you continued to lean against the shovel as Edward went to finish his last words to her, holding up a cup as a sign of respect. All of this in the span of one day and how you wished you can get back home and wash away all the sin and pretend that this never happened with a glass of a wine and news report to make you think that more terrible things are happening by more terrible people than yourselves.
You opened your eyes once his words ended, eager to leave the grave. The anxiety levels rise to exponential heights when you heard a foreign voice say "Is that a riddle?" Your head whipped to the source to see a hunter behind Edward. This was a bad idea. This was a bad idea from the start. Why did you agree to do this? Why did you think it was a good idea to help him? You leapt to stand in front of the open grave making sure this hunter wouldn't suspect anything. From there, Edward tried to distract him with food all the while you tried to restrict his vision from the trunk but failed to do this one task. Your mouth opened to give him some sort of believable lie only to flinch at the sound of the shovel making contact with his head and the thud from his body falling right in front of you.
From there, you knew exactly what was to come next and you knew this was something that was going to be stuck with you for the rest of your life. There was no pretending and the was no forgetting.
