His best friend was dead. The only person he had ever loved was dead. Soon though, they would reunite. Just... Ten more seconds and then... Sheer joy.
'Eddy?' Ever since that fateful day, his conscience had taken the voice of his deceased friend. It was always there in the back of his head, annoying and giving him comfort at the same time. 'Are you sure you would like to go through with this?'
"Why wouldn't I?" He wasn't sure if he had answered the voice in his thoughts or out loud. Did it matter though?
'Think of Ed.' That would be the only reason for Eddy McGee to stay alive. He knew that.
"What of him?"
'Remember when I died?'
"Wakey, wakey Double-D!" That day... I never even knew what the hell pain meant before I saw Double-D's mangled body in the middle of the lane.
"Ed." Those sophisticated words that had escaped his lips. They were now drowning in their owner's blood.
"Eddy, why won't Double-D wake up?" Ed... I never thought that he would be so severely slow...
"Ed. Your cell."
"But Eddy! Mom said only to use it in emergencies!" I wanted to laugh at it, it was all so surreal.
"Well... If this doesn't count as an emergency, I sure as hell don't know what the fuck counts as one." I tore the phone out of his hands and dialed the familiar number quickly.
"Emergency services, please state-"
"Yeah, I'm going to need an ambulance to... Rathink Avenue."
"That was just when we found you; he didn't even understand how hurt you were!"
'Don't blame Ed; you know what my theory is.'
"Drugs or no drugs, the hospital was just hellish for everybody!"
"Time of death... 04:01." I couldn't stop staring at him. He looked so peaceful, like he was coming to terms with this.
"Eddy?" Ed tugged my sleeve in worry; he was obviously sensing that something had changed within the room. The paddles were put back in place, the nurses shook their heads and the sheet was pulled over that beautiful face...
"It's... Over Ed." A single tear escaped my eye that day.
"What is Eddy? Why isn't Double-D moving-"
"Ed? Would you... Like to come with me for a moment?" The doctor exited the room; he had obviously overheard our exchange of words.
"Sure!" Of course... Ed was expecting Double-D to just exit the room after the doctor had a quick chat with him.
"Shit..." I whispered, leaning against the glass of the room where he was in. Under a white sheet. I closed my eyes and waited for it. The pained scream. But it never came. Something worse did. The denying cries of Ed tore through my heart. Then again. Again. Again. Then the benches in the waiting room flew everywhere, Ed didn't care what happened to them. His eyes never seemed to dry after the moment when the doctor managed to tell him, an eighteen-year old, that his very own son had died under his own hands.
"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK!"
'Language Eddy.'
"You know, did you ever swear Double-D?"
'No, I was born with the gift to build sentences without the help of profanities.'
"Of course, of course."
'Harsh language aside, are you sure you would like to go through with this?'
"I... Just can't stand the damn pain anymore. You eased the pain so much but then... You abandoned us."
'Do you think it was my choice? That I wanted that end to the saga that was my life? TO DIE WHILE MY OWN FATHER TRIES TO RESURRECT ME?'
"WE ARE A TRIO NO MORE!" I was calming the big guy down; we were grabbing a drink after Double-D's funeral. Drink and drink... We attempted to drown ourselves in booze.
"I know Ed, I know." Ed, the big lump, was ballin' uncontrollably. I can see why. I mean hell; Jimmy was like the little brother that he never had, Double-D was like the big brother he never had and Sarah was the little sister he did have. The first two dying within ten days... I know it was hell for me but I can't even begin to imagine how Ed felt.
"TO ALL THE GREAT MOMENTS!" He was drunk. But I still raised my bottle, whatever content is not important, and toasted with my friend.
"To Double-D!" Ed forced the alcohol down his throat, the drink mixing with tears along the way.
"Aww, isn't it sweet?" Then. The jackass. "Dork and Dorky are mourning their dead Dork?"
'Truth be told, I never liked Kevin.'
"No kidding."
'I don't know what it was... He was just such a...'
"Fuckface?"
'I was going to say nasty young man but we can use your word.'
"Just tell me Double-D... Did it hurt?"
'The process or the actual dying part? The actual dying wasn't so bad... The process hurt like hell but it was overall nice.'
"Fuck off." Kevin was the last person I wanted to see. I had just dropped off Ed in his room, snoring away. He had driven us there but he was sure in no condition to drive back. When we had reached the Cul-de-Sac again by foot, it was already dark. Staggering back to my house, I saw him.
"What's the matter, can't function without Double-Dork?" I turned at once but he spotted me. At once, he had to start mocking the shit out of the fact that there were now only two of us.
"Shouldn't you be out stopping your slut of a girlfriend before she fucks the brains out of any more guys?" That hit him at a soft spot because two seconds later, I felt his entire body slam into my back and barely had I hit the ground before he threw a punch against the back of my head.
"Shut up, you shut the fuck up." He was pissed off. Pissed off wouldn't actually start to describe the look of his eyes when he flipped me over.
"Seriously, how many can she take at the same-"I was silenced when he punched me right over the mouth, erasing my sneering grin.
"Speaking of limits, you wanna know what your faggot boyfriend said before I left him there in the lane?" My eyes widened at the sound of that, was... Was it... Kevin?
"You mother-"Another punch with a faint cracking sound following.
"He said that he didn't like Nazz at all. He said that he loved you." My heart skipped a beat before remembering... He was dead.
"-"I opened my mouth but was rewarded with a swift left hook straight in the kidney area followed by a right hook, crushing my nose.
"To bad the fag died. I just wanted to show him what's what around here. Oh well, that's one Ed less around here." He grinned. He actually grinned. He was responsible for the death of the most innocent young man to ever set foot on this horrible earth. "Look at the time Dorky, gotta have dinner with Nazz's family." He started to laugh and gave me a kick against the ribs that was incredibly effective. I rolled over and groaned in pain, spitting out a large amount of blood. That bastard turned his back to me and started to walk away from me when I could muster up enough energy to raise my voice.
"Yo Kev..." He turned around, still laughing to himself with that twisted smirk on his face. "Bet you a quarter that Double-D got further with Nazz than you ever did." The effect was exactly what I wanted. He quickly walked over to my shivering body and barely could I react before two kicks made contact with my face. He then went on to spit on me and kick me in the stomach one last time before wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt.
"This place... Would be better off without all of you dorks." With that, he left me there on the lawn of my house, coughing up blood. The gargling sound that emerged from my throat along with the tears that started to fall was nothing dangerous. I was laughing at the fact that I felt alive for the first time since we found him in the lane.
"I hate that I'm doing Shovelchin a favor while doing this."
'Then don't do it.'
"I'm going to do it."
'I know you are.'
"I really am."
'Of course you are.'
"Double-D... I'm scared."
'Don't be Eddy. If you are sure about this, then I will stand beside you through all of this to then greet you on the other side.'
"Promise?"
'Of course! I've loved you, Eddy McGee, since before season 1! Everything, your stubbornness, your confidence, your knack for economy and your big heart! So very often, I have been jealous of you, wishing that I could be more like you.'
"More like me? If anything, I wish I could be more like you! Your intellect, manners and that beautiful head of yours!"
'Eddy, please!'
"It's true! It's all true! You were there to call me out when I acted like a moron, you were there for me when family members died, heck, you were there when my bro came back and tried to shoot my dad!"
'Ed was the real hero that day Eddy.'
"Yeah, but what did you do? You calmed my mom down while holding me back not to jump that fucker! You've always been looking out for me even when I didn't even look out for myself! You were... Perfect... In every sense of the word."
'I felt the same way about you Eddy. I feel the same way.'
"Aight, let's do this then."
'I'll be waiting for you.'
"You better be."
'I love you Eddy.'
"I love you more Double-D." With that, he was pulled out of his deep trail of thought, the voice of Double-D's echo disappearing within his brain. Funny... It had felt like hours when only a second had passed.
Only nine seconds left. Soon, they would reunite. The two best friends.
Eight seconds. Was he scared? Was he nervous? Did he feel regret?
Seven seconds. Of course the answer was yes. To all three questions.
Six seconds. He couldn't back out now. He didn't want to back out now.
Five seconds. He had never feared death. Up until this point of actually staring it in the eye.
Four seconds. What was it Double-D had said? What word had he used...?
Three seconds. A concept. Death was just a concept. The real thing was yet to begin.
Two seconds. With a ´steady hand, he picked up the razor.
One second. He thought of his mother. He hoped she would understand and hopefully forgive him when Ed explained to her what had happened.
"We did it Double-D."
The clock struck 04:01 A.M. on the wall of the local police station. An officer was sitting at his desk with a worried look on his face.
"So... You friend told you to deliver this to me precisely at 03:59 so that I would read it and take action?"
"Yep!" A young man was sitting on the opposite side of the desk, grinning proudly that he had carried out the important task.
"Ed..." The officer paused. "We need to go. Right now."
"Okey dokey artichokey!" With that, the officer started to walk out of the station; he then picked up the pace to the point where he ran towards his squad car. The young man followed his every step and looked at him curiously when he started to shout orders into his walkie talkie. The curious night janitor watched them leave, then turned to look at the desk. On a brown envelope, there were pictures of a bruised and beaten up young man, no older than the one who just left, along with specifications of the damages. It was the letter though that caught the janitor's attention.
Officer.
The young man in front of you is my friend Ed. He has no idea of anything that I'm about to share with you. Please let it remain that way until the day he is ready. What I'm about to share with you are photos as the result of an assault by a neighbor of mine. Ed and I live in a Cul-de-Sac on Rathink Avenue. Also in this envelope is my statement that said neighbor was also responsible for the murder of mine and Ed's friend Eddward 'Double-D'. Responsible for these acts are Kevin
The rest of the horrifying letter telling of cheating girlfriends, murder to assaults and suicide was covered by a picture of the young man with a swollen face as well as several cuts and wounds. The picture would be rather repulsing had it not been for the grin of satisfaction plastered across the bruised face of Eddy McGee.
