CHAPTER 25: THE HORRIBLE TRUTH
Ed couldn't even begin to fathom what was happening to him,he had spent so much time traveling overseas with the purpose of searching for his mother in France with his friends,and now that he had finally made it to the chateau and reunited with who he was looking for,he was absolutely appalled and horrified to see that Mrs Hampton was somehow there instead of his mother as the woman calmly remarked in a slimy voice "I can't believe how much you've grown since the last time I've seen you,it feels just like yesterday when you stormed my orphanage and took my Rebecca away from me." to which Ed nervously stammered on the verge of hyperventilating "W-what's going on here? Last time I heard about you,you were still carrying out your prison sentence,and where'd you take my mother? She's still alive and I know it!" only for the lady to shake her head and devilishly retort "Oh are you really that stupid? I set the whole thing up! But one thing at a time,first off,how am I here?"
"Yeah that's probably what I want to know the most you witch!" Ed sneered and sternly demanded with gritted teeth before Mrs Hampton smiled and told the boy her story while she started walking around the room to reveal a small cage by the window "Ever since you got the cops to storm my orphanage after you,Rebecca and those animals took your leave of the place,I never stopped thinking about getting my revenge on you lot. I spent the last set of years of my life plotting it all in the confines of my prison cell,and when some acquaintances of mine would come talk on the phone with me on visits,I simply asked that they kept taps on you and report everything they figured out back to me,including your history,friends and family,while I would do the rest myself. I then started learning French from some of the other inmates along with me developing a little bit of an accent overtime,and that seemed to give me the perfect idea,so one night I decided to take twenty inmates and stage a prison riot so huge that all the guards would have to come and call the whole thing off,while me and my new crew would steal some of their weapons and sneak over here unnoticed."
"Well I guess that means it's time for me to send you back,and for you to tell me where my mother is!" Ed snarled and angrily threatened in response with a balled up fist as he ran up to the lady and tried to deliver a punch to the face,only for her to suddenly grab his fist before it could hit her before she quickly tossed him into an old table nearby that shattered into a million pieces on impact to which the boy coughed and yelped in pain while the woman sighed and stated in a bored sounding voice "Oh yeah,I forgot to mention that I learned a good amount of hand to hand combat while I was imprisoned,really helped me out in the long run."
"That's not gonna stop me you know. I'm taking you back,and Rebecca will never answer to you again!" Ed confidently stated as he slowly stepped out of the rubble and regained his posture before he put his knocked off hat back on and continued "Even if it means that my search for my mother will be postponed,you're still a criminal who needs to pay for all that you've done." only for Mrs Hampton to pucker her lip and nonchalantly disagree "On the contrary,you're wrong,I don't want that loudmouth brat of a girl back,all I want is my revenge on you on every possible level imaginable. And speaking of which,there is no mother of yours to be found,you're just delusional." to which the hermit balled up his fist yet again and firmly demanded "Oh yeah,then prove it lady!"
Mrs Hampton then closed her eyes and started to lightly chuckle to herself before she reopened her eyes and dropped a huge bombshell on the boy "You really wanna know why? Ok then,I'll tell you why. I'm the one who sent you the letter and the plane tickets!" to which Ed gasped out of shock while his one remaining eye widened and the lady continued "Thanks to my acquaintances reporting everything about you to me,I quickly figured out that you were an orphan who lived in Sparkyville's own orphanage until you left the place by your own free will,and that gave me the idea to lure you over here with the number one thing an orphan could possibly want,a chance to have a real mother,along with a set of plane tickets so some of your friends could be suckered in too,and now that you're here,I can kill you in cold blood,go after the rest of your friends afterwards and flee the country via the abandoned train yard."
Ed was now starting to feel the same burst of emotions race through his mind,but now they were all ones of fear,dread and sadness,because now he had to fully accept that his mother never called him over here at all and that he now had no idea where she could be as he slowly began to sink to his knees on the verge of tears while Mrs Hampton continued to rub it in "Your mother is dead Edward,she died in that very same fire with your own father from smoke inhalation,and you were so desperate to see her again that you fell right into my trap. I would take this opportunity to go ahead and kill you myself,but I think I'll just let the explosives that I've stolen and planted here do it for me." only for her and Ed to suddenly be caught off guard when a faint ringing sound could be heard.
"Huh?" Ed lifted his head up and questioned out of slight confusion before he quickly realized that it was coming from his pocket and that it was actually Rebecca's phone as he frantically took it out and whispered to himself in a panic "Not now Rebecca!" only for Mrs Hampton to suddenly swipe it away from him and devilishly remark while she looked at the phone's screen "Well would you look at this,it looks like my dear Rebecca is calling you from a hotel! And here I was thinking I'd have to go and force their location out of you." before she threw the phone on the ground and allowed Ed the opportunity to put it back in his pocket.
"Look Mrs Hampton,I'm not gonna sit here and try to act like you're a good person deep down,you're not,you're vile,abusive and nasty to the people around you and you deserve a lot of what's coming to you,but I still gotta say that you are making things so much worse for yourself if you decide to go through with all this." Ed sighed and calmly tried to persuade Mrs Hampton to cut off her whole scheme to which the woman merely sneered and sternly refused "Don't you try to swindle your way out of this one,you were the one who caused me to rot away in prison for all those years,and you and your friends will die for that." only for Ed to clench his fist while he stood up and tried once again.
Ed:
The path of hate is a dangerous track.
You take one step and it's hard to turn back.
It pulls you along and though it seems wrong it feels right.
Don't you see this path you're on leaves a permanent mark?
It feels good at first,then it slowly turns dark.
With each passing day you're further astray from the light.
Suddenly you lose your way and lose the thread.
Lose your cool,then lose your head.
Every loss is harder to excuse.
Then you'll see you'll lose your faith and lose your soul.
Till you lose complete control and realize there's nothing left to lose.
Nothing left to lose.
"Lady,trust me,becoming even more of a villain isn't the answer." Ed grabbed ahold of Mrs Hampton's hand just as she took out what looked like a bomb timer from her pocket only for her to brush the boy's hand away and angrily ask in response "Is that what you think I'm doing?"
Mrs Hampton:
The path I'm on is a path paved in black.
I'm taking that road and I'm not looking back.
Each twist and each turn bestrayed where I'm yearning to go.
Yes it's true my path is dark but I see where it ends.
My rivals will fall as my power ascends.
Despise me? That's fine.
I'm taking what's mine even so.
Not like you,you lost your nerve,you lost the game.
But you and I we're not the same.
I'm not lost,this fate was mine to choose.
So I chose to lose my doubts and lose my chains.
Lose each weakness that remains,now that I have nothing left to lose.
Nothing left to lose.
It was then and there that Mrs Hampton grabbed ahold of Ed's hand and tried to drag him over to the cage,much to his reluctance to do so.
Ed:
You have so much to hold onto.
Mrs Hampton:
I only want my rightful dues.
Ed:
Listen please you've lost your grip and lost your mind.
Mrs Hampton:
(Lose my own blues!)
Ed:
Alls not lost don't be so blind.
Mrs Hampton:
(I choose!)
Ed:
Cut your losses,drop the IOU'S.
Mrs Hampton:
(I refuse!)
Ed:
Oh-oh-oh! Choose!
Mrs Hampton:
I'll lose no tears and lose no sleep.
What I want I'll take and keep.
Ed:
(It's time for you to choose!)
Mrs Hampton:
You can stop the-
Both:
turning of the screws!
It was this point that Mrs Hampton had finally managed to forcefully shove Ed into the cage and lock it up tight with a key before she picked it up and sternly stated "You'll stay in that cage until this is done,and just incase you think of escaping." all before the woman opened the window and tossed the key right out,completely preventing Ed from escaping which was followed up by her setting the timer for the bombs.
Mrs Hampton:
Now I have nothing left to lose.
Afterwards Mrs Hampton proceeded to quickly take her leave of the attic and proceed to make her way out of the chateau before it would be blown sky high,all the while Ed hung his head in utter defeat for a few moments before he suddenly realized that Herman could probably help him get out as he perked up and called out at the top of his lungs "HERMAN! GET UP HERE I NEED YOUR HELP!" to which the wolf immediately heard him from one of the lower floors and quickly made his way up to the tower,for their very lives were now hanging in the balance.
NEXT CHAPTER: BUSTING OUT
"Nothing Left To Lose." Written By Alan Menken and Glenn Slater.
©️Walt Disney Music Company.
Walt Disney Teleivison.