Author's Note: Hello once again everyone, this is Scary Spikender back with a story... or, rather, a collection of stories this time. After Forfeit, I took a bit of a break and wrote two short stories, but this is my next major project. And as a disclaimer, most of these stories will take place in a period before BPS, so the character's relations are as they were before the movie. With all that out of the way, I hope you enjoy the first chapter of... The Twilight Ed. *Television Static*
You unlock this door with the key of imagination, beyond it is another dimension...
... a dimension of sound...
... a dimension of sight...
... a dimension of mind.
You are moving into a land of both shadow and substance...
... of things and ideas.
You've just crossed over into...
The Twilight Zone.
Jimmy pulled his light blue sweater over his head, relishing the feel of the soft cotton as he wormed his body up and into the sweater, pulling his arms into the sleeves and his head through the collar, although his retainer made this feat quite difficult. He then stepped away from his closet and walked over to a full body mirror that was beside it, and began to study himself, making sure every detail of his body was up to standards. He admired his hair for a few moments, and then admired his freshly pressed clothes, as well as his delicate skin. Feeling that he was ready to go out and face the world, he stepped away from the mirror and started for the door of his room.
Jimmy, age eight, lives a cozy and spoiled life in the small town of Peach Creek. A self-described poet and artist, Jimmy feels like he is a shining jewel in a sea of rough cut rocks. He views himself as a unique child, one who is a step above everyone else. And as Jimmy sets out for another day of playful distractions with his friends, he will find that this particular day will also be quite unique, perhaps even more than he thinks he is in his own mind. And it is his mind that will be put to the test as this day plays out to its end.
Jimmy opened the front door of his house and stepped out into the hot summer day, shielding his eyes a little from the bright, beaming light of the sun. As his eyes adjusted to the sunlight, he spotted his usual companions out in the middle of the cul-de-sac: Kevin was riding his bike, showing off to Nazz, Rolf, Jonny, and Sarah, who all stood in a line and watched with amusement from the sidelines as they cheered him on. Jimmy, not wanting to be left out of the fun, quickly shut his front door behind him and began to walk toward the group of his friends, who had not yet noticed his presence. "Hey, what's going on?" Jimmy asked Sarah as he stepped beside her.
"Oh, Kevin's just showing off, as usual," Sarah muttered, although she said it in more of a playful tone rather than a malicious one. Sarah, Jimmy, and the others then looked on as Kevin did a wheelie as he rode by.
"Go Kevin!" Nazz cheered out in encouragement as she clapped her hands together a few times.
"Daredevil-Kevin, Rolf bets that you cannot do that on the front wheel of your riding doohickey!" Rolf shouted as Kevin came back around on his bike.
"Ha, I can do that in my sleep!" Kevin bragged as he rode by. He then carefully propelled his bike onto its front wheel, and began to ride slowly around on it.
"Holy cow, Plank, Kevin sure is good on that bike of his," Jonny said to Plank as he looked down at the hunk of wood he held in his hands.
"Indeed, Jonny the wood boy! Rolf has not seen such tricks since he saw the town fool hop on one wheel on a goat cart for ten miles in Rolf's old country," Rolf proclaimed as he looked down at Jonny. Kevin brought his bike back down to two wheels and then rode around in a circle; he then skidded to a halt in front of the group.
"You sure do know some weird people, Rolf," Kevin joked.
"Laugh all you want, but Rolf assures you he could teach Hotshot Kevin a thing or two about the art of the goat cart," Rolf answered, causing Kevin to chuckle.
"Tricks on a goat cart?" Kevin asked in a humorous tone. "Heck, I'd pay to see that!" he quipped.
"Then follow Rolf to his backyard and behold the power of the goat cart!" Rolf exclaimed as he motioned for everyone to follow him to his house.
"I gotta see this..." Kevin said as he rode slowly behind Rolf on his bike.
"Wait up guys!" Nazz shouted after them as she ran after the two boys.
"Hey, Plank, didn't you meet a cart once?" Jonny asked Plank as he followed the group toward Rolf's house. Sarah began to follow Rolf and the others, but Jimmy grabbed hold of her sleeve, stopping her in her tracks and causing her to turn around to face him.
"What's wrong, Jimmy? Dontcha wanna see Rolf mess up and get hurt?" Sarah questioned as she flashed him a devious smile.
"No," Jimmy answered. "Well... okay, I do, but I was thinking that we could go and play something together instead," he suggested.
"Like what?" Sarah asked as she crossed her arms.
"I got a new set of builder blocks that we could play with!" Jimmy answered enthusiastically. "And this one comes with some cute little construction workers too!" Sarah seemed to ponder the suggestion for a moment, a skeptical look plastered on her face. After a few seconds, however, her lips slowly formed a smile.
"Oh, alright, but I better get some of those construction workers," Sarah said as she took Jimmy by the hand. They then walked lazily toward Jimmy's house, the two of them talking with much fervor about their plans for the day.
"What a lovely house you have, m'am," Jimmy said in a gruff voice as he held an action figure in his hand, which was made in the likeness of a soldier. He held the soldier in front of a little house that Sarah had built out of his builder's blocks; the house was quite impressive, being a foot tall.
"Why thank you, Mister Soldier," Sarah said as she made one of her dolls walk out from beside the house. She suddenly brought a little plastic construction worker around the other side of the house. "Hey, don't you talk to my girl like that!" She said in a low, tough voice as she brought the construction worker up to the soldier in a threatening manner.
"What are you gonna do about it, little man!" Jimmy shot back in his gruff voice as he made his soldier move toward the construction worker, who was much shorter than his action figure.
"Oh boys, please don't fight over me!" Sarah cried out in as she made her doll step forward and get in between the two fighting toys.
"Alright, but you're lucky she was here to save you," Jimmy answered in his tough voice. "I gotta go back to the war anyway," he said before making the soldier walk over to a toy tank. He stuck the soldier in an open hatch on the top of it and then grabbed hold of the back of the tank. "Off to war!" he cried before pushing the tank hard, which caused it to slide across the floor and into a bunch of builder's blocks he had stacked; they tumbled downwards as the tank crashed through them. Jimmy and Sarah cheered and laughed as the tank left the blocks and hit the wall with a thud. Jimmy hopped to his feet and then ran over to retrieve the tank, and Sarah sat up looked over at him as he went about his task.
"We should try and see how high we can stack these bricks, Jimmy," Sarah suggested as Jimmy reached down and grabbed the toy tank. He then looked over at Sarah and flashed her a smile.
"I bet we could make them reach the ceiling!" he answered as he walked back over to their play area.
"Alright, let me just take apart this house and-" Sarah began but was quickly interrupted when there were a series of knocks at Jimmy's door. Sarah looked up at Jimmy, who had a clueless expression on his face.
"I better go see who that is..." he said as he walked toward his living room. Sarah hopped to her feet and then quickly followed behind him, curious to see who could be coming to see Jimmy. The two of them crept into the living room, not wanting to make a sound. They then walked quietly over to the window, and Jimmy moved the blinds a little to the side to see who was at the door, Sarah peeking through with him. They both let out disgusted sighs when they spotted three familiar boys standing on Jimmy's porch, the shortest one with a scowl on his face.
"Oh great..." Sarah muttered as she and Jimmy stepped away from the window and stood in Jimmy's living room.
"What do you think they want, Sarah?" Jimmy asked, looking to his friend for suggestions.
"It's probably just another stupid scam... we should just go back and play," Sarah suggested.
"But what if it's something important?" Jimmy asked.
"Oh, sure, it's probably something real important. Eddy probably has some stupid cheap thing he and his stupid friends made that they're trying to sell," Sarah explained. "If you want to be their sucker, then be my guest." Jimmy looked from her to his door, and then back to her again.
"You're probably right..." he answered. "Let's just go back to my room and-"
"Open up you jerk!" Eddy suddenly cried through Jimmy's door as he began to pound on it, causing Jimmy to jump in fright. Sarah's expression suddenly turned sour, and she began to march toward Jimmy's door.
"Why that little..." Sarah muttered in anger as she continued to walk toward Jimmy's door, obviously ticked.
"Ooo, they're gonna get it now!" Jimmy whispered to himself eagerly; he always enjoyed it when the Eds were about to get smashed into pieces, especially if it was by his friend Sarah.
"Don't make me use Ed as a battering ram!" Eddy called through the door as he pounded on it a few more times.
"Eddy, perhaps he didn't come back to his house," Edd suggested as he laid his hand on Eddy's shoulder.
"Yeah right! That coward probably ran back here, his tail tucked between his legs, and locked himself in his room!" Eddy answered in a resolute voice before smacking Edd's hand off of his shoulder.
"Jimmy has a tail?" Ed asked stupidly as his eyes lit up. Ed then stepped toward the door and shouted, "Come out Jimmy so I can see your tail!" Edd couldn't help but smack himself in the forehead at Ed's stupidity while Eddy giggled uncontrollably next to him. The door suddenly swung open to reveal a fuming Sarah, causing the Eds to jump backwards
"What the- Sarah?" Eddy said in surprise as the red-faced girl stood before them, her fists balled up at her sides.
"What do you three want?" Sarah shouted in anger at them as Jimmy watched in amusement from behind her.
"Get out of our way, Sarah!" Eddy shot back as he stepped toward her; Edd stepped behind Ed, fearing that Eddy would set her off.
"Why should I, fish face?" she yelled back as she locked eyes with Eddy, whose face was inches from hers.
"Cause I said so, you little brat!" Eddy barked as his scowl grew deeper.
"Brat, huh?" she asked in a deep, malicious tone as a devious smile crept across her face. Eddy's eyes suddenly widened and he stepped backwards.
"Wait, I didn't mean-" Sarah suddenly grabbed Eddy by his lips and yanked him inside, slamming him on Jimmy's floor.
"Get him, Sarah!" Jimmy cheered as she pulled Eddy to his feet in front of her. He stumbled around, dazed from the slam. Sarah lifted her fist up, ready to sock Eddy right in the jaw, but Edd suddenly grabbed her arm.
"Wait, Sarah! I implore you to stop this!" Edd pleaded as he hung on to Sarah's arm for dear life, making sure that she couldn't finish the job.
"Hey, he started it!" she answered as she glared angrily up at Edd. Eddy suddenly snapped out of his daze and grabbed his head with his hand.
"My achin'..." Eddy muttered as Sarah began to calm down.
"Fine, but you all better get out or I'll make all three of you wish you were never born," she threatened as she ripped her arm from Edd's grip; Eddy retreated to the side of his friends, but it was obvious he wasn't done just yet.
"No way!" Eddy answered, although his entire body still ached from Sarah's assault. "That brat trashed our scam!" he cried as he pointed accusingly at Jimmy, who donned a confused look on his face. Before Jimmy could defend himself, however, Sarah spoke up.
"Yeah right! Jimmy was here the whole time playing with me!" Sarah shouted; now it was Eddy's turn to be confused.
"What? But we saw that jerk pulverize our stand!" Eddy countered. "We walked away for a minute to go get some supplies, and when we came back, we saw Jimmy run away from our stand, which was completely destroyed!" Eddy explained. Sarah looked over at Jimmy, who still seemed clueless as to what was going on. Sarah looked back at the Eds, anger renewed within her.
"You're lying!" Sarah shouted before violently shoving Eddy, sending him sailing through the front door and out of the house.
"Oh dear!" Edd cried as he ran outside after Eddy to check if he was okay. Sarah then turned her attention to Ed, who was scared witless by the entire ordeal.
"Please don't hurt me, baby sister!" Ed pleaded as Sarah stared up at him with a furious look on her face.
"If you don't want me to pound you into the dirt, then you better take your stupid friends out of here, Ed," Sarah said quickly as Ed nodded.
"Roger that!" Ed answered before running outside.
"Eddy, are you alright?" Edd asked as he helped Eddy to his feet.
"Yeah, I think so- Whoa!" Eddy cried as he and Edd were grabbed by the arms by Ed.
"Away we go!" Ed shouted as he dragged Edd and Eddy away from Jimmy's house, the two of them shouting and protesting as Ed pulled them roughly across the pavement of the cul-de-sac. Sarah and Jimmy watched them through the window as Ed ran away, Edd and Eddy in tow. Once they were out of sight, the two of them retreated back into Jimmy's house.
"What was that all about, Jimmy?" Sarah asked, wanting answers now that the Eds were out of their hair. Jimmy looked at her, the confused look still on his face.
"I have no idea..." Jimmy began as the two of them started back for Jimmy's room. "I think maybe the Eds were just lying." Sarah nodded in agreement as they walked into Jimmy's room.
"Yeah, it's just like those idiots to lie like that..." Sarah muttered as they walked over to their play area, where their toys still laid. "But let's forget about those numbskulls and get back to having fun," she suggested as she and Jimmy sat down beside their toys and began to disassemble the house that she had built.
"Wee!" Jimmy shouted as he and Sarah swung back and forth on the swings of the playground, the metal chains grinding as they swished past the ground at the low point of each swing.
"Ready?" Sarah asked as she and Jimmy simultaneously swung backwards.
"Let's do it!" Jimmy yelled in delight as each of their swings moved forward. As their swings reached the top of their path, Sarah and Jimmy jumped off of the swings and landed roughly on the ground. Although each of them was roughed up a little by their landing, they didn't mind and actually began to laugh in joy as they stood up and dusted themselves off.
"Ready to go again, Jimmy?" Sarah asked as she walked back toward the swings. She stopped, however, when she realized that Jimmy was just staring off into the distance, unmoving and unresponsive. "Jimmy?" She asked in a low voice, a bit scared by the boy's sudden silence. He suddenly looked up at her, whatever trance that he was in suddenly broken.
"Sorry, Sarah... I was just thinking about something," he admitted as he began to walk toward the swings with her.
"What were you thinking about?" Sarah asked as the two of them mounted their respective swings.
"I was just thinking about what happened earlier... you know, with the Eds..." he answered apprehensively, a bit worried about what Sarah's reaction would be to him bringing it up.
"Come on, you're letting the Eds get to you like that?" Sarah asked as the two of them began to swing, a little bit of anger in her voice.
"I know, I know..." Jimmy responded as the two of them swung back and forth. "I shouldn't let them bother me... but they seemed like they were serious." Sarah looked away from him for a moment as they reached the apex of their swing and then went back down, and then looked back at him.
"I don't know, maybe they were just looking for someone to blame because their dumb scam failed," Sarah put forth, her anger receding back within her.
"Maybe..." Jimmy trailed off as they continued to swing. He didn't know what to make of the Eds and their accusations. Obviously whoever they saw wasn't him, but it made him worry that perhaps someone was trying to frame him for something he didn't do. He shook off these thoughts as he and Sarah readied themselves for another jump.
"Alright, here we go again!" Sarah cried as their swings began to move forward into the high point of their swing. "Oh crap!" she suddenly winced as she stopped herself from jumping and began to wind down the swing, Jimmy doing the same.
"What's wrong?" he asked as Sarah hopped off of her swing.
"Mom asked me to record her favorite show for her this morning while she was shopping..." Sarah said, a bit of worry in her voice. Jimmy got off of his swing carefully and then stepped over to her.
"You could always just blame Ed for making you forget," Jimmy suggested, causing Sarah to smirk a little.
"Yeah, I could..." Sarah said quietly as she rubbed her chin. "But I don't think she's back yet... maybe I can still catch a little bit of the end of it..." she muttered to herself as she thought about it.
"Well, we could always run back to your house and see if we can get some of the show on tape," Jimmy suggested.
"Alright, but it's only going to take a second, and I still want to play on the swings some more... so how about I go run back to my house and pop the tape in, while you stay here and wait for me?" Sarah recommended as she looked thoughtfully at Jimmy.
"I guess that's fine..." Jimmy responded, although he really did want to go with her. "Just hurry back, okay?"
"You got it!" Sarah answered as she began to run off toward the cul-de-sac. "Just don't have too much fun without me!" she shouted back to Jimmy as she passed through the fence that separated the playground from the street and ran up the sidewalk. Jimmy sighed contently as he walked back over to the swings and sat down. He began to swing back and forth slightly as he stared at the neighborhood around him. For a few moments, he enjoyed the peaceful ambiance of the summer day, relishing the bright sun, green grass, and sounds of lawn mowers revving up and birds chirping in the trees. But those sounds were suddenly punctured by a loud, intimidating voice that Jimmy knew all too well.
"Hey, there's that creampuff now!" someone shouted from down the street in a high-pitched voice. Jimmy turned around and almost fell off of the swing in fright at the three people he spotted: it was the Kanker sisters. Worst of all, they all seemed to be extremely furious, their faces scrunched up in anger and absent of their usual playful smirks.
"Oh no!" Jimmy cried as he hopped off of his swing and hit the ground running.
"Come back here, you little punk!" Lee yelled as they hopped the playground fence and began to sprint after him.
"Leave me alone!" Jimmy yelled as he ran out of the playground and into the street, his feet pounding on the pavement as the Kankers pursued him, closing in on him every second. Houses swished passed him as he worked his little legs furiously in a hopeless attempt to outrun his pursuers. Jimmy wanted to try and run back toward the cul-de-sac, but he'd have to circle around and get past the Kankers to do so; right now he was running into parts of the neighborhood he hadn't even been to.
"I've got him!" May called out; she was mere feet behind him, her arm extended toward Jimmy, ready to grab him by his collar. Jimmy dived over someone's fence and landed face first in the dirt and grass, which stained his clothes with smears of brown and green. He hopped to his feet and tried to keep running, but May dived over the fence after him and landed on top of him, knocking him back down onto the ground where she pinned him face down by his arms and legs. Marie and Lee quickly hopped over the fence and walked over to the helpless Jimmy, who couldn't move a muscle.
"Alright, kid, now cough it up!" Marie shouted as she and Lee stood on either side of immobilized boy. Jimmy, whose face was stuffed down into the grass, said something in a muffled voice that none of the Kankers could understand.
"For crying out loud- May, lift the bum up," Lee requested. May got off of Jimmy but then grabbed him by his collar and yanked him to his feet. She then shoved him into Lee, who grabbed hold of him by the front of his shirt.
"Please don't hurt me!" Jimmy cried as he stared with wide eyes at Lee's face. "I'll give you all of my money!" he offered as he reached down into his pants and began to dig around for his wallet.
"I don't want your stupid money, kid!" Lee shouted in Jimmy's face, causing him to shake with terror and pull his hand out of his pocket. "Now, give back our ship-inna-bottle or I'll stuff your mouth full of my fist!" she threatened as she balled up her fist and held it inches from Jimmy's face. Much to her surprise, Jimmy's face changed from one to fear to one of confusion.
"Your... your what?" Jimmy asked as he looked up at the fuming girl.
"Whaddya mean what?" Lee yelled at him, causing him to shrink backwards. "You snatched our ship-inna-bottle, and now you're gonna give it back!" Jimmy suddenly realized what was going on; someone had once again stolen the Kankers' precious ship-inna-bottle, although this time they had come straight to him instead of destroying the entire cul-de-sac.
"But it wasn't me!" Jimmy protested. "It was probably the Eds again!" he suggested.
"Don't try to trick us kid, I saw you run off with it!" Marie pointed out. Jimmy couldn't believe what he just heard, but these accusations were eerily similar to another trio who had come knocking at his door not an hour before...
"Got nothing to say, huh?" Lee questioned as she shook Jimmy by the collar, causing him to snap out of his thoughts. "Then I guess you got a first class ticket to painville, little man..." she trailed off as she readied herself to punch him right in the face.
"Wait, I can prove I don't have it!" Jimmy pleaded as he shielded his face with his hands. Lee halted her assault for a moment.
"Is that so?" Lee asked as she lowered her fist.
"Oh, come on, Lee, I saw him take it!" Marie protested as she stepped forward.
"Sure you did, but what's the harm in humoring this chump?" Lee answered as she let go of Jimmy's shirt, letting him drop down to the ground. "Now then, twerp, how are you gonna prove to us that you didn't take our ship-inna-bottle?" she questioned as she and her sisters stood around him, staring down at him accusingly. He almost couldn't speak at first, fear choking up his throat and mind, but he eventually thought of an appropriate answer.
"We'll go back to my house, and I'll show you that I don't have your bottle," Jimmy proposed.
At first Lee seemed skeptical of Jimmy's offer, but then she finally shrugged and said, "Fine, lead the way." Jimmy sighed with relief and began to walk back toward the cul-de-sac, but Lee quickly caught him by the shoulder and whirled him around. "But if we get to your house and we find our ship-inna-bottle, I'll choke you till you're blue in the face with that stupid retainer of yours, got it?" she threatened as she slit her eyes at Jimmy. He nodded quickly, prompting Lee to let go of his shoulder. With that, the four of them began their journey back to the cul-de-sac, Jimmy praying with all his heart that the ship-inna-bottle would still be missing in action after searching his house.
"See, I told you we wouldn't find it," Jimmy said with much relief to the Kankers, who all stood in the middle of his room scratching their heads. Although he had to painfully watch as the Kankers tore apart every inch of his room in search of their prized possession, he was happy to see that they couldn't find any trace of their ship-inna-bottle.
"Dang, I could've sworn it was him..." Marie muttered as she eyed Jimmy suspiciously.
"Yeah, well you were wrong, as usual," Lee derided, causing Marie to glare at her angrily. "Now let's get out of here and see if any of those other chumps have it..." she said as she turned to her sisters.
"I vote we try Ed's house first!" May suggested, obviously wanting to pay a visit to her object of affection.
"And what makes you think he'll have it?" Marie asked as she crossed her arms.
"Well-" May suddenly stopped mid-answer when she spotted an anomaly on Jimmy's wall. "Hey, what's that?" she said as she pointed out a piece of wallpaper that was hanging loosely. Lee, Marie, and Jimmy all turned their attention to the wall.
"It's called a wall, idio-," Marie began to answer snidely, although Lee suddenly stuffed her hand in her mouth, silencing her.
"Wait a minute, May might be onto something here," Lee said as she stepped toward the wall, removing her hand from Marie's mouth. Jimmy looked on with a mix of confusion and fear as Lee stepped up to the wall to study it further. He didn't know why, but his heart began to pound furiously. He knew he didn't steal their ship-inna-bottle. He had been playing with Sarah all day, and unless some cosmic force had made him black out while he performed this act of thievery, he knew it was impossible for him to have stolen anything from the Kankers. Lee grabbed hold of the loose piece of wallpaper and then pulled it a little, and found that it easily slipped away. As she tore back the wallpaper, her eyes lit up when she saw that the wallpaper concealed a hole in the wall.
"What is it, Lee?" May asked, curious as to what she had found. Jimmy backed up a little, his heart pounding harder and harder against his chest. He knew he didn't steal the ship-inna-bottle, but now Lee had found some sort of hole in his wall that he didn't even know about. He began to wonder, with great fear, if someone had framed him and hid the ship-inna-bottle in that hole. He watched in terror as Lee groped around in the hole a little bit before grabbing hold of something.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here..." Lee taunted as she began to pull her arm out of the hole. Jimmy's heart reached full speed; it felt like a jackhammer was in his chest. When Lee's hand finally came out of the hole, he couldn't help but let out a little shriek of terror: in Lee's hand was the ship-inna-bottle. Lee looked over at the terrified boy, who was literally trembling with horror, and gave him a smug smile. "Oh, what great proof that you don't have it, kid," she mocked as she tossed the ship-inna-bottle to Marie, who held it up for everyone to see.
"Yeah, I guess this is just some other ship-inna-bottle, right?" Marie suggested as she looked over at Jimmy, who was sweating bullets.
"Now what was that I was saying before about choking you with your retainer..." Lee pondered aloud as she cracked her knuckles. Jimmy backed off toward his window as the Kankers began to close in around him. He knew he was screwed. Someone had framed him for this and now he was going to get all the blame, as well as the pain, for the misdeed.
"Please, I didn't do it! Someone framed me!" Jimmy cried as the distance between him and the Kankers shrunk rapidly.
"Jimmy, where are you?" Jimmy heard Sarah call from outside. He couldn't help but turn around and look outside of his window; he spotted Sarah walking around the cul-de-sac, obviously searching for him. Jimmy, panicked and scared, knew that this might be his only chance for salvation. He unlatched his window and swung it open.
"What the heck is he doing?" May asked as she and her sisters watched Jimmy stand up on the windowsill.
"He's trying to get away!" Lee shouted. "Get him!" Lee, Marie, and May leaped forward in an attempt to catch Jimmy before he could escape, but they just barely missed him as he jumped out of his window and fell into the summer air. He could feel a brief second of air blowing past him before the ground rushed up to meet him. He cried out in agony, feeling like every fiber of his body was screaming with pain. He knew he had to ignore it, however; the Kankers likely wouldn't be too far behind him. He climbed to his feet and began to run across his yard.
"Sarah, I'm over here!" Jimmy called out as he stumbled across his yard. Sarah turned around and spotted Jimmy, who looked like a nervous wreck to her.
"Jimmy, where were you?" she asked him as he reached her and stumbled into her arms.
"We've gotta run, Sarah!" Jimmy pleaded as he grabbed her by the arm and tried to get her to run away with him.
"Why?" she asked, confused.
"That's why!" he yelled frantically as he pointed behind her. Sarah whirled around to see the Kankers burst through Jimmy's front door and come running towards them.
"Holy cow!" she screamed before bolting across the cul-de-sac, Jimmy right beside her.
"Come back here, you lying little twerp!" Marie shouted from behind them.
"Why are they after you?" Sarah asked Jimmy as the two of them ran for dear life towards the woods, where they hoped they could escape their pursuers.
"The Kankers think I stole their ship-inna-bottle, and now they're trying to hurt me!" Jimmy answered. Sarah and Jimmy crashed into the brush at the edge of the woods and began to run haphazardly through the foliage, narrowly dodging trees and vines as they did so. They heard the Kankers enter the woods not too far behind them, and they could hear them shouting and cursing as they continued their pursuit. "We've got to hide, Sarah!" Jimmy cried as they continued to sprint through the woods. Sarah spotted some bushes next to a tree up ahead, and, thinking quickly, began to lead Jimmy toward them.
"In here, Jimmy!" Sarah shouted as she jumped into the bushes. Jimmy, although reluctant at first, knew it was the only chance that he had to avoid a pounding from the Kankers. He jumped in after her, and the two of them huddled up together and tried to stay as quiet as possible, listening in fright as the Kankers came nearer and nearer to their hiding spot. "Don't move a muscle..." Sarah cautioned in a hushed voice as they heard the Kankers stop right next to the bushes.
"Where the heck did they go?" Marie asked as she scanned the woods around them for any sign of two little kids crashing through the woods.
"I don't know..." Lee muttered as she too searched the woods with her eyes.
"What if they're hiding?" May suggested, causing Sarah and Jimmy's faces to light up with renewed fear.
"They probably are..." Lee answered as she turned toward May. "But I say we forget about those twerps and head back home. After all, we gotta get our ship-inna-bottle back to its rightful place," she suggested. She then turned toward Marie, who still had the ship-inna-bottle in her hand. "Alright, Marie, hand it over," Lee requested as she held out her hand. Marie, however, kept the ship-inna-bottle out of her reach.
"I don't think so, Lee," Marie began as she smirked at her sister evilly. "I'm going to be the one to put it back."
"Oh, really?" Lee asked as she stepped toward Marie. "Well I say that I'm the one who's going to put it back!" she shouted.
"No way, I'm gonna do it!" May cried as she stepped toward her sisters.
"Not if I get there first!" Marie suddenly yelled as she began to run away from her sisters and toward the trailer park.
"Come back here, Marie!" Lee shouted as she and May began to run after Marie, who was laughing maniacally as she sprinted as fast as she could. Sarah and Jimmy waited until they couldn't hear the Kankers any longer before slowly crawling out of the bushes.
"Stupid twig..." Sarah muttered as she pulled a small stick off of her that had been clutching to her shirt.
"That was too close," Jimmy commented as he turned toward Sarah, who was dusting herself off. After she was done cleaning herself up a bit, she looked up at him, although he was surprised to see that she actually seemed a little angry.
"Jimmy..." she began as she crossed her arms. "Did you... did you really steal their ship-inna-bottle?" she asked, causing Jimmy to look at her with shock.
"I didn't, Sarah, I swear!" Jimmy answered, more than a little peeved that Sarah actually had the gall to suggest such a thing. She seemed to turn Jimmy's answer over in her head a bit before answering.
"But if you didn't steal it, then why did the Kankers find it in your house?" she finally asked. Jimmy couldn't believe this; Sarah, his best friend, was honestly grilling him on whether or not he had stolen something from the Kankers.
"I don't know, Sarah..." Jimmy answered. "Someone must've hid it in my room to get me in trouble..." he reasoned, although he trailed off at the end, knowing it sounded stupid. His thoughts were reinforced further by Sarah's exasperated sigh.
"I don't know what to think, Jimmy..." Sarah said as she turned away from him. "I mean, first the Eds and now the Kankers..." she muttered. Jimmy had had enough of this.
"Come on, Sarah, now you're the one who's letting them get to you!" Jimmy cried. "I mean, the Eds are a bunch of liars, and the Kankers will find any excuse they can to pick on someone," he opined, hoping to convince his friend to see reason. "For all I know, the Kankers could've planted their stupid ship-inna-bottle in my room!" Sarah turned back to him.
"Maybe you're right..." Sarah answered reluctantly. Jimmy was relieved to see her tense down and smile at him. "How about we just go back to the cul-de-sac and forget all this nonsense, huh?" she offered as she extended her hand to Jimmy.
"I like the sound of that, girlfriend!" Jimmy answered as he flashed her a smile. As the two of them started back toward the cul-de-sac, he couldn't help but begin to wonder what was going on. He didn't want Sarah to really think that he did anything to either the Eds or the Kankers, but he was actually starting to wonder what was really happening himself. Perhaps there was someone running around pretending to be him. The thought amused him a little at first, but it also terrified him. He stuffed these thoughts away as Sarah began to talk to him about heading to her house and watching television. The thought soothed him with its promise of normalcy, and so he finally locked his feelings of doubt out and threw away the key.
"I can't wait to show you this funny cartoon I was watching the other day," Sarah said as she and Jimmy finally arrived back in the cul-de-sac.
"What was it called?" Jimmy asked as they started for Sarah's house.
"It was called-" Sarah began but quickly stopped when she spotted Kevin, Nazz, Rolf, and Jonny coming toward them. Something was wrong, however; none of them seemed very happy to see them.
"Why the heck did you do that for?" Kevin asked angrily as the four of them stopped in front of Sarah and Jimmy.
"Yeah, that was really uncool, dude," Nazz added as Jimmy suddenly realized they were all looking at him.
"What are you talking about?" Jimmy asked; Sarah suddenly let go of Jimmy's hand and looked over at him, a questioning look on her face.
"Don't play dumb, Jimmy," Kevin answered as he stepped forward and held up an object to Jimmy. "We all saw you tear up my bike's tires with this," he claimed as Jimmy eyed the object in his hand, fear overtaking every fiber of his being. He recognized the object instantly: it was his sculpting knife.
"But... but..." Jimmy stuttered, dumbfounded. There was no way this was him. There was no way he could've done what he was being accused of. He had no recollection of doing it, not to mention the fact that it was literally impossible for him to have done it; when he wasn't playing with Sarah, he was busy being chased by those crazy Kanker sisters.
"Are you sure it was Jimmy?" Sarah asked, obviously finding their story hard to believe herself.
"I swear it was him," Kevin responded.
"Besides, we all saw him... even Plank did!" Jonny added as he pointed to Plank. Sarah turned back to Jimmy, a look of disappointment on her face; he stared back at her in shock.
"But... but Sarah, you know I couldn't have done it! I've been playing with you all day!" he explained with much fervor, desperate to clear his name.
"Well..." Sarah began as she looked over at Kevin and the others, who still seemed sure of themselves. She then looked back at Jimmy; he knew what was coming. "I... I'd like to believe you didn't... but I did leave you alone to go tape Mom's show..." Sarah rationalized as Jimmy looked at her in astonishment.
"Yeah, but the Kankers showed up right afterwards and attacked me!" Jimmy claimed as he threw his arms into the air.
"Funny you should mention the Kankers, Fluffy," Kevin interjected. "Cause while we were out playing in the lane, they stopped by and roughed us up a bit. They were looking for that stupid bottle of theirs again, and they even asked where you were," he explained as he watched Jimmy's eyes widen with fear. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, now would ya?" he asked, although it was apparent that he already knew who had taken their prized heirloom. Jimmy felt so small with everyone standing around him, accusing glares on their faces as they watched him squirm.
"Jimmy," Sarah began as she stepped toward him. "If you did all this stuff, just admit it..." Kevin nodded in agreement.
"Look, I don't know why you might be messing with people like this, but I swear I won't hurt you if you just say sorry," Kevin added, obviously being lenient toward Jimmy since he was younger and might not know better. But Jimmy knew he didn't do it. He didn't wreck the Eds scam, he didn't take the Kankers' ship-inna-bottle, and he most certainly didn't slash Kevin's bike tires. He wasn't about to own up to something that he had no hand in.
"I'm not sorry, because... because..." Jimmy huffed, the pressure getting the better of him. "It wasn't me!" he cried before running off, tears beginning to gather in his eyes. Sarah and the others watched as he ran off, all of them surprised by his sudden outburst.
"Perhaps Crybaby Jimmy needs some time alone..." Rolf suggested to the others, who all looked over at him.
"I guess so..." Kevin muttered as he pocketed Jimmy's sculpting knife. "But now I gotta go to the junkyard and find some spare tires... see you guys around," he said before running off. Nazz turned to Sarah.
"If you want, Sarah, you can hang out with me, Rolf, and Jonny... you know, until Jimmy cools off," Nazz offered with a smile. Sarah shrugged.
"Sure," she said weakly before following Nazz and the others, although Jimmy was obviously still on her mind.
Jimmy stood before the front door of a house, debating in his head whether or not his current plan was a good idea. After sitting in his room and feeling sorry for himself for about an hour, he had decided that he had to take action and find out what could possibly be going on. He knew he didn't do any of the things he had been accused of, but he feared there may actually be some sort of explanation for the odd occurrences, perhaps something medical or psychological. And he knew the one person who could possibly help him find out: Edd. Although Jimmy knew that Edd was usually friendly and eager to help people, he didn't know whether he would be as mad as Eddy was about his imposter ruining their scam. With this in mind, Jimmy gathered up all of his mettle and rapped on Edd's door lightly. After a few seconds, he could hear someone coming down the stairs and walking toward the door. The door cracked open lightly and he saw Edd peak through the crack; upon seeing his visitor was merely Jimmy, Edd sighed with relief and unchained the door. "Hello, Jimmy," he greeted.
"Hey, Double D," Jimmy responded before giving him a weak smile. The two of them stood there for a moment, an awkward silence devouring them. "Uh... so, I was wondering if you could help me with a problem," he finally said as he stared up at Edd.
"Well, what seems to be troubling you?" Edd asked as he began to step outside and close the door behind him. Jimmy quickly stopped him, however.
"Wait... let's talk about it in your house..." Jimmy trailed off as he looked around the cul-de-sac behind him, making sure he wasn't being followed.
"Very well then," Edd answered as he led Jimmy into his house and shut the door behind them. Edd led him into his kitchen and the two of them took a seat at the kitchen table. "Now then, you wanted to discuss a problem you were having?" he questioned as he looked across the table at Jimmy, who was acting really nervous.
"Yeah... it's about... well, it's about what happened earlier," Jimmy admitted as he returned Edd's gaze.
"You mean what happened between you, Ed, Eddy, and I?" Edd inquired.
"Yes," Jimmy answered. "You see... I don't... well, I don't know who could've possibly ruined your stall," he began as he straightened up in his chair. "At first I thought it might've been someone else trying to frame me... or maybe even someone who looked like me... but... then some other things happened since then..." he admitted.
"Like what?" Edd asked, curious as to what else could've transpired.
"Like the Kanker sisters accusing me of stealing their ship-inna-bottle and Kevin saying that I slashed the tires on his bike," Jimmy responded, causing Edd's eyes to widen; he was obviously a bit surprised.
"Oh my..." Edd commented passively as he continued to listen to Jimmy.
"Now, I don't remember doing either of those things, but the Kankers did find their bottle in my room, and Kevin showed me what I apparently used to slash his tires, and it was my sculpting knife," Jimmy related, realizing at the same time that he had forgotten to get it back from Kevin. Not that he wanted to; he feared Kevin might hurt him if no one was watching. "And it made me start to think that... well..."
"That perhaps you did commit these acts of terror but that you simply don't recall them," Edd finished for Jimmy, who sighed.
"Yeah... I know it sounds weird, but you've got to believe me when I say I don't remember doing any of those things at all," Jimmy answered. "And that's the part that scares me the most... it makes me think that I might do something even worse than stealing things or destroying property..." he continued.
"Indeed..." Edd answered. "Well, if it would help put you at ease, I believe you when you say you don't have any recollection of what you might've done," he said. Jimmy actually did feel a bit relieved to have someone on his side, but it was obvious Edd wasn't done yet. "However, I really can't tell you off the top of my head what might be causing these strange actions on your part and memory lapses... I do have a few books up in my room that I could look in, although it may take a while to nail down a specific disorder," he explained as Jimmy nodded.
"I guess I could wait a little while..." Jimmy answered as he looked up at Edd, who had stood up. "But are you sure there's absolutely no other explanation for what's happening?" he asked, hoping for some sort of short term answer he could sink his teeth into. Edd tapped his foot for a moment as he thought about it, and then looked back over at Jimmy.
"I can't think of anything outside of the realm of medicine and science..." Edd began. "But I suppose there's the possibility that it really is someone who looks just like you..." he finished, although it obviously wasn't the answer Jimmy was looking for. In fact, the answer sort of frightened him; the thought of there being a mischievous look-a-like of him running around wasn't exactly comforting. Edd could see that his answer unsettled Jimmy, so he walked over to Jimmy and laid his hand on his shoulder. "But obviously that is a really farfetched possibility..." he added, wanting to calm the scared boy down.
"I hope so..." Jimmy lamented as Edd took his hand off of Jimmy's shoulder.
"Now then, you may stay in my house if you like, but I do implore you not to disturb me, as I can get a little high-strung when digging through all of those books... the small print can be so straining on the eyes sometimes..." Edd babbled as he began to walk toward the stairs.
"Wait, Double D," Jimmy said before standing up, causing Edd to turn back to him.
"Yes?" Edd asked.
"I was just thinking..." Jimmy began, although he knew what he was about to say would be strange. "I... I remember one time when Jonny, Rolf, and I were out in the woods... not the time that you and your friends were out there trying to scare us, mind you..." he explained as Edd listened closely. "He told us a story that he swore was true about these beings... I can't remember what they're called... but they are these beings that look exactly like you, except they're known to be evil and be a sign of bad omens," Jimmy finished. Edd had a look of extreme skepticism on his face as he cleared his throat.
"Now, Jimmy, I'm not one to encourage myths, especially not in a situation like this, but... I believe the beings that Rolf was speaking of are called Doppelgangers," Edd answered. "If I remember correctly, Doppelgangers, when seen by friends and family, usually represent danger or disease, while if one sees his own Doppelganger, it is a..." Edd trailed off, fearing that he might end up scaring Jimmy.
"Go on, please, Double D," Jimmy requested, although he was both eager and terrified to learn what it meant if he saw his Doppelganger.
"If a person sees their own Doppelganger... it's a death omen," Edd answered reluctantly. Jimmy felt a lump in his throat form. This had to be what it was. He knew it was strange. He knew it might be impossible. But he was almost sure this is what was happening. It was his Doppelganger. Edd could see that his tale had gotten to him, and he knew better than to let Jimmy believe that it was something as silly as his Doppelganger causing all this trouble. "But of course that's all just fairy tales and myths," he assured Jimmy as he gave him a smile. "Something as ridiculous as a Doppelganger wouldn't exist in real life, and it doesn't. It's simply another legend that makes for good storytelling," he went on as Jimmy nodded slowly.
"I guess you're right..." Jimmy agreed as he returned Edd's smile.
"Good... now then, I better get to work finding out what the real cause of this is," Edd said.
"Yeah... but I think I'm going to head home," Jimmy answered. "Just call me when you think you know what's going on."
"That sounds good... just try to get some rest, Jimmy. It's obvious that you've had a long day," Edd said as he led Jimmy back into the living room and toward his front door. "And please, don't leave your house. As long as you stay in your house, I'm sure you can't unintentionally do anything to anyone," he added as he opened his front door.
"Will do," Jimmy responded as he stepped outside. "See ya... and thanks for your help," Jimmy said.
"Not a problem, Jimmy," Edd answered as he shut his door. Jimmy stood outside for a few moments and simply stared at Edd's door. He wasn't buying that it was something medical or scientific. He knew that it had to be what Rolf had told him about. It was his Doppelganger. He didn't know why it was here or why it was causing so much trouble for him, but he knew it wasn't a good sign. He feared what might happen if he saw his own Doppelganger. He feared that he might die. Despite this, he knew he couldn't sit idly by and let his Doppelganger run loose. He decided that he had to find Sarah and make sure she was alright; after all, she was his best friend, and, being that the Doppelganger looked just like him... all he knew was that he had to find her. With this in mind, Jimmy began walking toward Sarah's house.
Sarah sat idly on the swings, letting the wind rock her back and forth gently. She was alone; although Nazz, Rolf, and Jonny had offered to keep hanging out with her, she had declined. She wanted to see Jimmy again; she was feeling regretful over taking Kevin's side over Jimmy's, and wanted to apologize. She still thought that perhaps Jimmy had really done those things, but she didn't want to cause a fight. After all, he might've just been going through something or had a bad day. She really couldn't figure it out. She suddenly perked up when she heard someone approaching her. She looked up and a smile crept across her face.
It was Jimmy, and he seemed really happy to see her.
"Sarah!" Jimmy called out as he wandered around the back of Sarah's house. No one answered the front door, not even Sarah's brother, Ed. He thought that perhaps she was around back, but, as he could plainly see, she wasn't there either. "Where could she be..." he whispered to himself. He looked over at the window to the basement, which led to Ed's room. He knew what he was thinking was wrong, but he was desperate to find her. He ran over to the window and peaked inside. He could see that Ed's room was in its normal filthy condition, although he didn't see Ed anywhere. He pushed lightly against the window with his hand, and it swung open a little. He sighed before crawling carefully inside. He dropped down on Ed's floor, being careful to avoid landing in any puddles of goop or any piles of trash. He scanned the room, making double sure that Ed wasn't home and then proceeded toward the door out of Ed's room.
He cracked it open and looked out, wary of the fact that his Doppelganger could possibly be waiting for him in the house. He wasn't completely sure, though, that the Doppelganger could even hurt him. Rolf didn't say whether or not Doppelgangers could physically hurt people, only that they were an omen if seen. Still, this Doppelganger had obviously been able to steal stuff and break things, so Jimmy also knew there was a pretty good chance that it could hurt living things as well. He carefully exited the door and entered the wash room that was outside of Ed's room. He started for the basement stairs, thinking that Sarah might've went to her room. he advanced up the stairs at a quick pace. He exited the basement after reaching the top, and stepped into Sarah's house.
Jimmy walked silently through Sarah's house and towards her room, which was on the second floor. There was a strange silence cast over the house; he could literally hear his heart beating in his chest. He advanced up the stairs to the second floor quickly, although the loud noise his feet thudding against the staircase made broke the eerie silence. After a short walk, he reached Sarah's door. He hesitated slightly, unsure of whether or not she was still angry at him; after all, she probably still believed that he had done all those things. And she probably still would, even after he talked to her. He was certain that his explanation of his Doppelganger being the one causing all the trouble would garner a troubled look from his friend, but it was all he had to go on. Jimmy knocked on Sarah's door and waited.
No one came. Jimmy waited for a few more seconds before realizing that she must not be home. He sighed before walking back toward the staircase. He knew there was a million other places she could be. She could be at Rolf's house, Kevin's house, Nazz's house, or even Jonny's house. She could possibly be at the junkyard, the creek, the woods, the playground, or a myriad of other places. He didn't know where to start. He advanced down the stairs slowly, deep in thought.
"Come out and face the music!" Jimmy froze in the middle of the stairs, the sudden yell scaring him. He recognized the voice as belonging to Jonny, and it sounded like it came from outside.
"Show yourself, you little coward!" he heard Kevin yell. Jimmy began to feel a dark fear creep up inside of him. He started to walk toward a window at the front of Sarah's house, knowing that he had no choice but to look outside and see what was going on. He could hear Kevin, Rolf, Jonny, and Nazz all calling out his name as he drew closer to the window. Jimmy pulled the curtains open a small amount and looked over at his house, which was right next door. He gawked in horror as he spotted Kevin and the others standing at the front door of his house, calling out for him and pounding on the door in anger.
"How could you do that to Sarah?" Nazz yelled as the crowd of kids shifted and stomped around. He suddenly spotted four other people standing a little ways behind the crowd of angry kids. Edd and Eddy stood together as they both watched Ed and Sarah, who stood close together. Ed was stroking the back of Sarah's head while whispering something down to her, and she had her face buried in Ed's chest. He could see tears falling down from her face and running down Ed's shirt, although he couldn't tell what had happened to her. Ed stopped stroking Sarah's head and let go of her, letting her turn around. Jimmy almost felt like crying his self when he saw Sarah's face. She had a black eye and a cut lip, and she had several bruises all over her face and arms. And there were tears falling like raindrops from her face. Jimmy choked up in horror as he slowly realized what had happened: his Doppelganger had beaten Sarah, and now everyone in the cul-de-sac thought he had done it.
"No..." Jimmy whispered to himself as his eyes began to tear up. He couldn't take his eyes off of Sarah's beaten face, and his ears were filled with sounds of the kids calling out for him in righteous anger. He didn't blame them. After all, how could they know that he wasn't the one doing all this? How could they know that an exact copy of him was running around the cul-de-sac and committing random acts of evil? "No... not random," he said quietly. The Doppelganger was doing these things for one purpose, and one purpose only: to ruin his life. He wished that he could walk out there and set things straight, but he knew what would inevitably happen: as soon as he set foot outside of Sarah's house, the kids would be on him. They would beat him to a pulp in revenge for what they thought he had done to Sarah. Jimmy's thoughts suddenly cleared away and his eyes widened as he stared at Sarah's battered face. He realized that she was looking right at him.
"There he is!" Sarah yelled in a pained voice as she jabbed her finger at him. Jimmy stumbled away from the window in shock, his entire body shaking with fear. Everyone shifted their gaze to Sarah's house, where they all saw Jimmy retreating back away from the window.
"Get that little punk!" Kevin yelled as he led the charge toward Sarah's house, Nazz, Rolf, Jonny, and Eddy close behind him.
"Wait!" Edd yelled at the group of rampaging kids, who paid him no mind. "Jimmy might be mentally unstable, we shouldn't-"
"Shut up," Edd heard Ed harshly bark at him, causing Edd to whirl around and face him. Ed's face was stone cold serious, and there was a deep scowl on his lips.
"But Ed-"
"Jimmy hurt my sister," Ed said coldly as he held Sarah close to him. "He needs to be punished." Edd looked at Ed incredulously, not believing what he was hearing coming out of his normally docile friend.
"Jonny, Rolf, you guys circle around back and make sure he can't escape!" Kevin ordered as the group ran toward Sarah's house. Jonny and Rolf broke away from Kevin and the others and ran toward Sarah's backyard. Kevin, Nazz, and Eddy ran up to Sarah's front door and stopped. Kevin grabbed the handle but realized it was locked. "Looks like it's locked..." he commented as he let go of the handle.
"Come on, let's just kick it in!" Eddy cried, his impatience getting the better of him.
"I don't know, it is Sarah's house..." Nazz commented as they stood there, still unsure of how to proceed.
"I say we just wait it out... after all, there's no way for him to escape," Kevin responded as Nazz and Eddy nodded in agreement. Rolf and Jonny went around the back of the house and stopped when they reached the glass sliding door in the back. They walked over to the sliding door and peered inside.
"Jonny the wood boy, perhaps you can pry open this sliding metal and glass door with your piece of fence post?" Rolf asked as he looked over at Jonny, who seemed offended by the idea.
"No way, Plank's not a crowbar!" Jonny shot back as he held Plank close to his side. The two of them bickered back and forth quietly about how to get inside; neither of them noticed a scared face peering at them from the basement window. Jimmy watched Rolf and Jonny with wild eyes, scared out of his wits. There was no way out of the house; he knew that the others were probably waiting for him out front, and, although Rolf and Jonny were temporarily distracted, he knew they might notice him if he tried to sneak out of Ed's window. But he knew this may be his only chance; only half-distracted or not, Jimmy knew that he had to take this opportunity to try and make his escape. He slowly pushed the window open, praying that it wouldn't make any noise as he did so.
"It is just a piece of wood, Rolf does not see the problem with Rolf's suggestion!" Rolf said angrily, his voice becoming slightly raised.
"Yeah, well how about you go get Victor and pry open the door with him, cause Plank won't do it!" Jonny responded as he looked up at Rolf's face, which was scrunched up in defiance. Jimmy slid out of Ed's window and onto the lawn. He reached behind him and made sure to shut Ed's window with great care. He then got into a crouching position and began to back away slowly while facing Rolf and Jonny, hoping that neither of them would notice his exit. Jimmy went around the side of Sarah's house and out of Rolf and Jonny's sight. He sighed with relief. He was in the clear, for now. Jimmy turned around almost screamed in panic as he spotted Eddy charging toward him. He was about to turn around and run, but Eddy leaped on top of him and pinned him to the ground. Jimmy squirmed around in resistance, but it was no use; Eddy might not be very strong, but he was certainly much stronger than he was.
"Looks like there's no where to run now, you little brat," Eddy seethed as he stared down at Jimmy, rage in his eyes.
"But Eddy, I thought you hated Sarah," Jimmy answered, hoping that Eddy's loathing of Sarah would get him out of this.
"Sure I did... and I still do, but I ain't gonna let a little punk like you get away with beating on someone like that, even if it is Sarah, not to mention the fact that you ruined my scam," Eddy answered as he locked eyes with the terrified Jimmy. "And now I'm gonna call the others, and you're gonna get what you deserve!" he added as he sucked in a breath of air. Jimmy was desperate; playing on Eddy's hate for Sarah didn't work, so he knew there was only one other option.
"What are the Kankers doing here?" Jimmy yelled in a panicked voice, causing Eddy to freeze with fear and turn his head away.
"Kankers? Where?" Eddy cried as he began to scan the area around him in terror. Jimmy suddenly gathered all his strength and kicked Eddy off of him, sending him flying backwards. Jimmy quickly leaped to his feet and began to run full sprint toward the front yard, Eddy slowly picking himself up off of the ground. "Guys, Jimmy's over here!" he called out as he began to run after Jimmy, shaking off the pain from Jimmy's foot hitting him square in the stomach. Jimmy ran with breakneck speed through Sarah's front yard; Kevin and Nazz whirled around as they heard Eddy's alert and spotted Jimmy at the same time.
"Get him!" Kevin ordered as he and Nazz began to run after Jimmy, who ran even faster at the sight. Jimmy could hear the rapid beat of his feet hitting the pavement as he ran across the cul-de-sac, Kevin and Nazz close behind him. Eddy, Rolf, and Jonny suddenly appeared from the side of Sarah's house running full speed toward him, hoping to join in the pursuit.
"It wasn't me!" Jimmy called out to no avail as he ran toward the entrance to the cul-de-sac, a line of kids right behind him. It was obvious that they weren't going to listen to him.
"Stop right there, you big meanie!" a voice called out as Jimmy turned his head to the right to spot the source. He cried out in fear as he saw Ed charging straight toward him, obviously hoping to stop his escape.
"Please, Ed, don't!" Jimmy pleaded as Ed continued to sprint recklessly toward him. Ed leaped toward him in an attempt to knock him to the ground, but Jimmy gathered his strength and jumped; Ed hit the pavement hard as Jimmy landed on his feet and continued running. Ed quickly got to his feet and joined the line of kids who were chasing after Jimmy. Jimmy ran out of the cul-de-sac and started running up the street and toward the lane. He didn't know how he was going lose the kids, but he knew he had to do it fast; he could already feel his frail body growing weaker from the chase. Jimmy reached the entrance to the lane and quickly turned into it, the kids not too far behind him. He ran up the dirt path as fast as he could, trash cans and dumpsters flying by him as he did so. As he continued to run down the lane, the Construction Site came into view on his right. He knew that the Construction Site was his best bet for losing his pursuers, so he quickly veered right and ran into the maze of half-built houses and construction equipment. He leaped over a pile of wood and ducked under support beams as he barreled through the site
"Where'd he go?" Jimmy heard Kevin shout as he continued his wild scramble through the Construction Site. He felt a bit of relief in his mind; he was finally starting to lose them. But he knew he couldn't slow down now; he had to make sure that he was far out of their reach before feeling safe. He stopped next to a large, yellow crane and looked up at it.
"It'll have to do..." he whispered to himself before grabbing hold of a small silver rung that was on the side. He climbed up the side of the crane and toward the cabin. He tried the handle on the door and was relieved to find that it was unlocked, the door opening slightly. He quickly opened the door and climbed inside of the crane, and then shut the door behind him. He ducked low in the seat and out of sight. He could feel his chest rising up and down rapidly, and could hear the loud breaths of air he was sucking in. The chase had taken a lot out of him, but he knew he had to quiet himself down. If the kids managed to find him in the crane, there would be no escape. His body was so wracked with fatigue that another sprint was out of the question.
"Spread out and search for him!" Jimmy heard Kevin's voice call out. "He can't of gotten far!" Jimmy squished himself even lower into the seat, fearing that one of the kids might still be able to spot him. He lay motionless in the cabin of the crane as silence suddenly fell over the Construction Site; he knew the kids must be trying to keep quiet in order to ambush him. Jimmy could feel sweat from both his wild run and from fear running down his body as he began to hear noises from right outside of the crane. Some of them were nearby. He could hear footsteps, as well as a few whispers, although he couldn't tell what was being said. He tried to keep his body from shaking, but the voices were getting louder.
"Oh no..." Jimmy whispered as he heard someone touching the side of the crane. His entire body tensed up. There was no running anymore. They had him right where they wanted him. He closed his eyes as he heard a hand grip the handle on the cabin door.
"Frail Jimmy-boy is over there!" Jimmy heard Rolf yell. Jimmy opened his eyes and was about to cry out when he realized that the door was still closed. He heard the thumping of footsteps moving away from the crane and off into the distance. He quickly realized what had happened and leaped into the seat and looked out of the windshield, only to see the kids running off into the distance. He couldn't see who they were chasing, but he didn't need to. He waited a few minutes after the kids had left before hopping out of the crane and sprinting toward the lane. He knew what he had to do.
Jimmy reached into the closet and snatched one last shirt from a hanger in his closet before running back over to his bed, which had an open suitcase full of clothes laying on it. He neatly folded the shirt and then stuck it in the suitcase before snapping it shut. He sighed and backed away from it a little. He had packed all the things he would need for his journey. Well, at least everything he thought he needed; he didn't know when he'd be coming back. He walked over beside the suitcase and then sat down on the end of his bed, feeling sapped of energy. He had to duck and weave the whole way back to his house, and, even then, he had to pack in the dark of his room, which had the lights off and curtains drawn shut, and had to be careful not to make even the slightest sound. It drained him of all of his will, and left him a autonomous husk. He just wanted this nightmare to end.
But it would never end. He was now a fugitive, and would no longer be welcome in the cul-de-sac. The kids all thought he was guilty of everything, and he might as well be. Doppelganger or not, to the other kids thought he was the one who did all those things. He was the one who tore apart the Eds' scam. He was the one who sneaked into the trailer park and snatched the Kankers' ship-inna-bottle. He was the one who took his sculpting knife and slashed the tires on Kevin's bike. And he was the one was the one who maliciously beat Sarah into submission. He had no other choice but to leave, and that's just what he was going to do.
Jimmy grabbed hold of the suitcase and dragged it off of the edge of the bed. It was heavy at first, but he finally found the strength to hold it steady. He began to walk across the dark of the room, trying to keep his footsteps soft. He suddenly stopped mid-walk and turned to his left for one final look in his mirror. His hair was a matted mess and his eyes looked wild and crazed with terror. His clothes were stained and blotted with the day's exertions, and his face looked as if it had been drained of all life. He sighed as he began to turn away, but then suddenly stopped as he looked back at his reflection. His eyes lit up with realization. The suitcase hit the floor with a thud as Jimmy's hand lost all strength and his mouth fell open. He suddenly realized that his mirror was to his far left.
He was staring into the closet.
The door to Jimmy's room slowly creaked open as a lone figure stepped inside. The person scanned the room for a moment before fully stepping inside, making sure to shut the door behind them. They hadn't been followed; they had made sure of it. The person stepped a bit more into Jimmy's room, although they had trouble seeing as it was so dark. The light was off and thick curtains had been pulled in front of the window. The person stepped toward the window and opened the curtains, letting light flood into the room. The person looked around the room, which was now significantly brighter, and realized the person they were looking for wasn't there. "Jimmy..." Sarah moaned as she walked over to his bed and laid her hand on it. She still had the bruises and cuts all over her from what Jimmy had done to her.
Even then, she didn't want to see him go. But it was obvious he had. The other kids had turned the cul-de-sac upside down looking for Jimmy, but it seemed that he had disappeared. She gripped the blanket on Jimmy's bed tightly. She knew he'd be back. And then she'd forgive him. She had to. She sighed and began to move toward the door to Jimmy's room, but stopped when she spotted a suitcase sitting in front of the closet. She walked over to it and knelt down beside it. She laid her hand on the top of it and clicked the latch. It popped open and some articles of clothing spilled out. "That's weird..." Sarah commented to herself as she stood back up. It didn't make sense that Jimmy would leave a suitcase full of his clothes in his room, especially if he had run away; it would make more sense for him to take them with him. She shrugged to herself and then began to walk towards the door again, but suddenly stopped when she heard a thud. She tensed up for a second and then turned to the source of the sound. Her eyes locked onto the closet.
For some reason, Sarah didn't want to get any closer to the closet; there was some sort of voice inside of her that was begging her, screaming at her not to get any closer to that white door. But she didn't listen. She started walking slowly toward it, her hand outstretched toward the shiny gold handle. She almost jumped when she heard another thud in the closet, this one louder than the last. She froze for a moment, unsure of whether or not to continue. She suddenly sighed heavily as she realized who it must be. Sarah reached for the handle and then turned it.
Jimmy is a boy whose mind has been drawn taut by something as simple as a reflection that he cannot see. Jimmy is a boy whose world has been shattered by his inability to combat his own flesh and blood. Jimmy is a boy whose cozy, comfortable, and carefree world has been shattered by the strangest of things: himself. Jimmy has taken a step out of Peach Creek and into the Twilight Zone.
"Jimmy, I promise I won't tell the others-" Sarah stopped mid-sentence as something fell out of the closet and hit the floor with a sickening thud right in front of her. She couldn't help but let out a bloodcurdling scream as she stared down at the mutilated body of her best friend.