What Edd hadn't expected was for Dr. L, the seemingly harmless scientist who spent too much time around Tom, to be a partially evil scientist. What he also didn't expect was to rescue him and Tom from The Foundation. Edd wasn't even aware the Tord even needed rescuing. Yet, there he was, slumped in the backseat of Edd and Matt's brand new car with Tom, looking frazzled beyond compare.
"Those two are going to totally fu*k up the return process with this stupid car if they get blood on those seats," Edd huffed.
"I'm just glad we can play Connect 4 with Tom again!" Matt cheered.
Edd smiled and nodded, turning back to the window.
It was gonna be a long drive.
...
(First, allow me to tell you what the hell went down after Chapter 16: Adventure.)
...
Edd and Matt were still stuck wandering the halls, being already more lost than when they started. You can't really blame them, can you? All the white halls seem the same, stretching on forever and ever. It was a pure accident that they stumbled upon that closet filled with lab coats, fresh for the taking. Also, most certainly, a pure accident that they somehow lost their bright orange jumpers. But since they so conveniently had a full closet of lab coats, they "borrowed" some for the time being. After being cleverly disguised, the pair simply walked out two doors with a bright EXIT sign overhead and "borrowed" a truck from the place.
Unfortunately, they were a long way away from their home. And even if they weren't, Edd was sure that the house would've been seized by now. The pair arrived in an unfamiliar city, and stayed at the local library for a few days. It was enough time for Edd to slap together a resume, and snag a job at an art supply store. With Edd's help, and many, many google searches on what the correct pronunciation of "resume" was, Matt had one together as well. Living in the massive library in secret, the pair racked up enough money in two months to rent a single bedroom apartment. One day, after spotting a guitar with a checkered print in a store window, Matt remembered Tom, their close friend at The Foundation. He hurried home to Edd, begging him nonstop to go on a rescue mission. Edd agreed, for obvious reasons being that guilt was still weighing heavy on his shoulders. Edd took out a small loan in his name, and rented a car.
Their next problem was how to get back.
...
"Matt, we've been driving for nearly days now, I don't think we're gonna-" Edd started.
"Edd, the drive took days the first time! We can't just give up and leave Tim!"
"Matt, his name is Tom, remember?" Edd said, taking his eyes off the empty road to glance at Matt.
"Oh yeah. It's been such a long time, y'know?"
"Matt it's been two months."
"Oh."
There was a good minute of silence before Matt turned around and began to dig in the bag of snacks the pair picked up from the last gas station.
"Matt! Don't eat all the snacks or else we won't have any!"
"What about Tom?"
Edd sighed and his shoulders slumped.
"Matt...I don't think we're going to be able to.. even get there. And even if we do.. how will we get him?"
"Then where are we going right now?" Matt asked innocently, returning to his seat with a bag of candies in hand.
"I honestly don't know Matt, I really don't-"
"EDD! LOOK! THERE IT IS!" Matt cried, pushing himself up against the window and pointing wildly.
"WHAT?! WHERE?"
After a few minutes of wild pointing, screaming, and disbelief, Edd pulled into the back parking lot of The Foundation.
And, well, you should know the rest.
...
The drum of rain pounded against the window, becoming a background noise for his already fried head. Tord blinked open a tired and heavy eye to see the silhouette of someone moving in front of him. Something soft brushed against his hand and a flicker of pain shot up his arm. Making a feeble attempt to get away, he backed up into the corner of the car seat he was propped up in. It was almost completely dark, save for an overly bright light source in front of him, and he could hear the gentle breathing of Tom beside him.
"C'mon Tord, I have to fix your hand," a voice murmured nearby. Tord groaned and shifted to display his hand. All he wanted was to be not tired and to stop feeling like pure static in a jar. Someone's hands wrapped his burnt one, and a soft feeling spread through it, making it feel almost numb. The person holding his hand let go, and Tord retracted it back to the rest of him. Something sweet smelling was waved under his nose. He opened his functioning eye with a squint, peering down at the item before him. Some off-brand fruity candy, nothing crazy, but Tord immediately opened his eyes and snatched the candy from the person holding it out to him. He felt like he hadn't eaten in days, maybe weeks, and hurriedly chewed and swallowed the candy until he was left with an empty wrapper.
Peering up at the person in front of him, Tord's eye widened with terror as something in his brain made the connection between who was in front of him and who got him to where he was at that moment. The ginger-haired man just stared back at him with a hint of confusion. He backed away, or more shrunk away, as they were in a tight space.
"Is Tom awake?" a voice called from the front. Tord recognized it as Edd.
"Tord is. I gave him some of those Twizzle thingies." Matt replied, picking up the bag once more to inspect it.
"Oh great." Edd groaned. "See if you can wake Tom up. 'M worried about him.."
Tord closed his eye again, trying to soak up the sleep he was getting. The burst of flavor from the candy was fading quickly, and there seemed to be no threat. At least, no immediate threat. As he felt himself drift off, someone nudged his shoulder. Peeling his working eye open, he saw a very angry person staring him down.
Edd.
"You wanna explain yourself?"
"Hm?" Tord replied, rubbing the sleep out of his eye.
"Why were you...controlling Tom and how and more importantly why?"
"What are you going on about? The last thing I remember is just...uh.."
Sh*t. He didn't really remember as much as he thought he did, huh?
"Are you being serious right now?"
"Edd, right? I reeeally don't know what you're talking...about..." Tord's mind began to flood with memories of what he did. Tom coming to him, leaving him in the office, Roskam and his friends, the Site Director, the visor, Tom, Tom, Tom he made Tom kill them.
"Well? Anything to say for yourself?"
"I-I-" he choked on the words as if they were stuck in his throat. "I'm sorry!"
"Sorry? Did you say you're SORRY?" Edd shouted, rising above Tord, "You're 'sorry' for nearly killing Tom, and letting all those other people die? That's it?"
"I didn't-that wasn't me! I swear! The-the Site Director, she did something and, and I wasn't...there. I couldn't make choices, it was someone-something else. I wasn't in charge."
Edd fell silent for a second, processing Tord's words.
"What do you mean...weren't in charge?" he said, voice low and calm, towering over the scrunched up Tord.
"All I wanted to do was protect Tom. I never meant for any of this to happen." Tord whimpered.
"No no, what did the Site Director do to you?" Edd asked, dropping down to Tord's level and putting his hands on the other man's shoulders.
"I..don't know." The air in the car was cold and stuffy at the same time, making Tord feel like he was choking. Edd looked at him, then over to the still sleeping Tom. Matt looked back from the front seat as Edd vaulted himself over the center console and into the front seat.
"Edd! Don't do that, you could hurt yourself! Or make me crash the car but I don't wanna think about that."
"Don't worry about it Matt. Where's the next gas station? I would like to change Tom's bandages again.." Edd trailed off.
"Really Edd, I told you, I was able to stop the bleeding. He will be fine." Matt said, taking momentary glances at Edd. Tord huddled in his spot, then realizing that he had no seatbelt on. The two in front kept chatting about random things, something about rent and upgrading, worries about food. Tord could barely process their conversation, and decided keeping up with them was too much work. He sunk back into the seat and closed his eye. The rain provided a comfortable hum of background noise, perfect for lulling Tord into a light sleep. He was still semi-aware of the voices emanating from the front seat, but wasn't there enough to take their words into account. Little flashes of dreams played in his head, some no longer than a few seconds, other feeling like hours long.
Soon enough, he was completely out, breathing evening out smoothly. In the front seat, Edd was growing restless. What did Tord even mean, 'not in charge'? If he wasn't controlling himself, then who was?
It doesn't even matter anymore, because whoever was doing it is long gone back at the Foundation, and Tord is right here, he thought. When exactly did Tord become the bad guy? How long had Tom been controlled? Based on Tord's reaction to Edd's accusations, he barely even knew that he'd been controlled.
There was so much mystery shrouding the man, Edd hardly even knew anything about him! He glanced back at Tord, who was already asleep where he sat.
What was he gonna do?
i. forgot that i gave matt healing powers. dalkjdskjashjkfdskha. motivation for this story is running low, but thers still some left! hopefully, ill be able to actually finished this story someday, and hopefully its soon. love yall! byeeeeeeeee!
-prisma
