Chapter 6

It was time for another race, this one from Atlanta to Savannah, and Alex was in his element. The wind was rushing past him, and he was rushing past everyone else. God, he loved this! He pressed a button on the steering wheel, deploying a spike strip, and smiled as Pandora appeared on a screen on his dashboard. "I'll get you next time, you dirty bastard!" She said, laughing.

"Sorry sweetheart , this is a race!"

She scoffed. "Ah shut up, Alex. Hey… there's something about Dastardly you need to know."

"What's up?"

"Well, Dick is, um… how do I say this? Yeah I'll just say it. Dick is…"

The signal cut out.

"A dick," Alex muttered, "we know."

When the race was over, IQ had won. Alex, however, had taken second. Third place went to none other than Dick Dastardly.

Alex sighed. Oh well…at least he'd placed. "Can't win 'em all," he said to himself. "Ah well, at least Pandora still loves me. Ooh! Here comes Pandora now!"

Pandora jumped out of Penelope's car and, as Alex started to walk towards her, she laughed. "Hey, you placed!" She called out.

"Was there any doubt?" Alex crowed. "I told you time and again, Alexander Thorne always…"

That was when he realized… Pandora wasn't talking to him.

He briefly saw what happened next, getting back in his car…

…as his whole world fell apart.

Alex drove to Penelope's plantation home, well aware there would be a party to let off the extra steam that had built up during the race. But Alex found that he had no steam left whatsoever. It was all he could do to simply breathe.

"Good evening," said Petunia, opening the door. "Remember me? From the hospital? You and the girls…"

"Stop," said Victor, taking her hand gently. "I know that look, and I know that way he's walking. He's… something's… hit him really hard. I saw him like that one time… the last time he saw his father. He was… it was awful."

Alex numbly walked to the deck in the back of the house, sitting on its swing. He'd been happier than he thought possible all day. Now… now he thought back to the time he'd tried to do himself in… and wished to God that he'd succeeded. He closed his eyes, fighting tears. There was nothing left. His father was right. Alex was a mistake, and a curse… it was time for him to go.

"Alex?" Peter Perfect had arrived. "Alex, what are you doing? The party's inside! Come on!"

"I'll catch up," said Alex. "Just gimme a minute. Gotta burn off some of this post-race adrenaline."

Peter left, and Alex walked over to the grill. He grabbed a pen and paper from his pocket, and after he wrote a short poem, he sat back on the swing, placing the poem next to him.

He closed his eyes. "Goodnight, everybody," he muttered, smiling.

Penelope Pitstop, meanwhile, was a bit concerned. "Alex is missing out!" She said. "We're watchin' Gone with the Wind. Drink whenever Scarlett says fiddle-see-dee!" She sighed. "He's probably brooding. I know Panny's resting. I saw him out back. Maybe he's still there."

She walked over to Alex, and scoffed playfully. "Alex, come on… this is a party," she said brightly. "Won't you come in and…".

She gasped. "OH MY GOD!" she screamed. "SOMEONE HELP!"

Bela Gruesome ran out. "That's a lot of blood…". He whipped out a vial of red liquid and ran over, pouring a bit on the wound. "That should buy him about an hour, maybe two."

A frantic Penny had just gotten off the phone. "They… they're on their way," she said, visibly shaking.

She ran over to Alex, gently shaking him. "The ambulance is on its way, honey," she said thickly. "Don't give up… please don't give up…". He was delirious, but semi-conscious.

"I saw her," he muttered weakly. "She… she was… she and Dick… they were…"

Penelope looked down and gasped at what she saw.

Alex had slit his wrist.

After the Ambulance had left with Alex, Pandora came downstairs. "I heard screaming," she said. "That's what woke me up. Who were you yelling at?" She gasped. "Penelope," she said seriously. "Who hurt you? I swear if someone hurt you…"

"No one," said Penny. "Pandora… listen to me. The paramedics were here."

"Oof… bad fight? Drunken fall?"

"It's Alex."

"God… not Alex! Did he hit his head?!"

"Pandora," Penelope said slowly, "he… he saw you… with Dick Dastardly."

"Yeah… I tried to tell him, but the signal died."

"He found out the hard way," she said. "Look at me, Pandora." She cupped her sister's cheek in her hand.

"What's wrong?"

Penelope sighed. She struggled to say her next words. "Alex… tried… to kill himself."