Chapter 7
Cookie
There was a small crowd surrounding Ned's house. Everyone who was a friend of Ned was there. All of them were still in there pajamas. Ned's and Moze's parents were there – there was no crying or shouting among them. They merely stood together staring silently at the burning house. The firefighters were doing everything they could, but the blaze was stubborn.
All of them knew where Ned and Moze were. I was starting to panic – it had been more than 20 minutes and yet both of them were still inside. What was going on in there?
I felt tremendously guilty – my necklace had done this. Indirectly, yes, but I knew I was responsible. And now this – Ned and Moze.
Both of them, quite possibly, dead. I took off my glasses, and wiped away some tears. I wasn't the only one – Ned and Moze's friends were all letting loose some tears as well.
What could we do? For once my great scientific intellect could help no one. I could only stand there and watch and pray. The house continued to burn.
Suddenly a group of firefighters came rushing out of the building, waving their arms furiously. Everyone held their breath. What had happened?
"Everyone get back! GET BACK!" The firemen quickly talked to a police officer. He listened closely, and then his face turned pale.
"Folks, we need everyone to evacuate the premise! According to this man, the fire has reached some propane tanks in the basement. Everyone move back! GET AWAY!"
The house seemed to bulge outward; there was a terrible groaning sound as though it was alive and in pain. Then there was a huge burst of light –debris splintered everywhere-flames burst outward-chaos. BOOM.
Then it was over and soon as it began. Police officers dashed back and forth trying to calm the people down and help those who had been injured. Firefighters quickly dashed forward to put out the remaining fires.
I stayed on my back unmoving. I was blown backward by the blast and I had several cuts and bruises. Nothing serious. I didn't move. I was numb.
What had I done?
A group of firemen suddenly came out of the wreckage. The crowd held its collective breath. The firemen were carrying something – it looked like . . .
Oh, no. Oh, God – please no.
20 minutes earlier. . .
Moze
I watched in heart-splitting horror as I witnessed Ned crumple before my eyes. No, no, no! "NO!" I screamed. This couldn't be happening.
Evil Moze stood back and stared down at her handiwork. I began to slowly crawl my way toward Ned ignoring the tremendous amount of pain it was causing me. The fire was eating the house, and soon the floor would give way to a flaming pit below. I had to hurry.
"Ah, yes, the moment of truth." Evil Moze walked over to me, her hands clasped behind her back. The fire and the smoke had absolutely no effect on her whatsoever. She wasn't human.
I continued to crawl toward Ned. He wasn't moving and the pool of blood around him was steadily getting larger. My heart racing in fear, I doubled my efforts.
Something below me gave way. The floor. The floor was collapsing! I summoned my energy and jumped. I barely made it to the other side.
I looked back. The floor had partially caved in – it looked like one giant wooden slide from where I was standing. Except the slide lead to a fiery doom below. Ned was in a precarious situation; he was lying on his back, half of him on the still upright piece of floor and the other dangling off the edge. If I didn't pull him back soon, he would slide down into the fire and be burned alive.
"The moment of truth, Moze. What will you choose?" I turned around to slap that mouth of hers shut, only to find empty air. I looked back toward Ned and realized that necklace was right next to him dangling off the edge. Its string was laced around a jagged piece of splintered wood jutting off to the side. But the piece of wood was weak – it wouldn't hold long.
I found myself in a dilemma. Ned or the Necklace? I shook my head – what the hell was wrong with me? I shouldn't even be having this problem. I stepped forward to pull Ned out-
And found myself reaching for the necklace again. I yanked my hand back. No, no! Not after everything I've been through. I won't allow myself to go down that path again.
Ned began to slide. . .
My hand reacted quickly and snatched out and grabbed his ankle. He was heavier than he looked!
The necklace began to fall. . .
My other hand (damn you!) reacted and snatched the necklace as well before it fell. Real smooth, Jennifer.
Looks like I was facing this after all. On one hand (literally) Ned. On the other hand, I had the necklace. Jeez, this was an easy one, why couldn't I make up my mind?!
The fire clamored forward, the house weakened, and I needed both hands to lift Ned and the necklace. There could be no compromises. I had to make my decision, now or never. Never meaning death for one.
Ned or the necklace?
Ned or the necklace?
Ned?
Or the necklace?
Choose.
Ned
Somehow, I managed to fight my way through the pain and I woke up. I opened my eyes. . .
And closed them again, regretting opening them at all. I felt weak and nauseated.
Maybe it was because I was being held upside down above a roaring fire. Something was holding onto my ankle. I ventured a wild guess.
"MOZE? CAN YOU HEAR ME?" I shouted.
"I – I'm right here, Ned." I heard the hesitation in her voice. Something was wrong.
I turned my head to the left, and saw that damn necklace dangling right next to me. Moze was holding that as well. Hmmm, that meant. . .
Oh, crap.
"Moze, dearest, can you PLEASE LET GO OF THE NECKLACE?!" I didn't mean to sound so pushy, but hey, when your life is on the line no demand sounds too impossible to you.
"I-I can't do it, Ned. I can't let go of the necklace." She was starting to cry again.
"Why not?" I managed to make myself calm again. Or, at least calm as you can be when you're dangling over a fiery pit of doom.
"I just can't."
"There has to be a reason, Moze."
"I'm afraid!"
Afraid? Moze? Those two words were never to be used in the same sentence. Moze was fearless! What could she be afraid of?
"I know what you're thinking Ned! You think I never get scared? No, not true. I Jennifer Ann Mosely am scared. Of you, Ned Bigby. You scare me."
I SCARED MOZE? "What?!"
"You don't understand, Ned."
I looked down (or up, I guess from my point of view) and eyed the fire trying to reach up and kill me. "I've got time, Moze. Try me." I wasn't being sarcastic. Moze was strong.
"I guess I'm scared of you because . . . because you represent life to me Ned. Or rather what life has in store for me. I'm afraid of that – the good, the bad, the ugly. I'm afraid we won't make it!"
"Moze – we won't know that unless we try!" That was it. That was all I could say.
All she had to do was choose.
She chose.
Moze
I let go.
The necklace fell from my hand, and I watched it fall and finally disappear in the flames.
"Moze." Ned was looking up at me. I nodded, and using my newly freed hand clasped his outstretched hand, and I began to pull him up slowly. Gradually, Ned was pulled from danger's grasp and into safety. Almost there . . .
Something jumped up from the flames and grabbed onto Ned. Something monstrous, and wearing what appeared to be a –
NECKLACE.
Damn. I struggled with the thing, and Ned suddenly became the rope in a game of tug-of-war.
"HE'S MINE, JENNIFER." The thing howled at me – and once again that terrible smell of foul burnt metal wafted over me. It took all of my strength to hold onto Ned; the smell was so nauseating.
The struggle continued – Ned was caught in a battle of wills; it struggled on and when my will started to flag, I imagined Ned being hit by my hand – its hand – and redoubled my efforts.
Ned
It was a heartbreaking scene. Moze was above me doing her best to hold onto my limp body as it struggled between heaven and hell. The angel above and the demon below. How iconic.
Moze was strong, but she was exhausted. She had been awake for most of the night, and to add to that she was injured. The thing clasping my legs below was not human and uninjured.
I was helpless. No matter what happened, the outcome of this battle was outside anybody's control.
The floor that Moze was laying on began to buckle and strain. If she didn't hurry up, she would fall down with me. I couldn't let that happen.
I'd rather die than watch her burn. Besides, I was bleeding and heavily injured. I would only slow her down in my condition. I'd be a liability.
"Jennifer." I caught her attention with that single word.
"Just hang on, Ned. I've-almost-got-you." The words came out rushed. She was losing her energy and was steadily losing her grasp on me.
"Jennifer." The word came out sadly. She would spend the rest of her life without me.
Life always came at a price.
"Oh, Jennifer: so many things I wish to say. . ."
"Save it for when we get out of here." She grunted and tried to reestablish a better grip on me. I smiled at her; how could I not? I loved her so much. Which made what I was about to do so much harder.
"Jennifer – I'm going to miss you so much." That's it. That's all I could say.
I had made my decision; I would rather burn in hell alone, than see her fall with me.
She suddenly seemed to understand where this conversation was going. Her grip on me tightened – but to no avail.
"NO! Ned, no!"
"See you later, Moze." With that farewell, I released my hand from hers. The beast below shrieked with anger and the angel above screamed with grief. I fell through and the burning ground raced up to meet me.
Moze
No! NO! I watched on helplessly as Ned disappeared into the flames with the screaming monster in tow. Ned – why? Why? I choked out a sob.
The sound of heavy footfalls reached my ears. I didn't care. I just wanted to lay here and die.
The door burst open, and there were a group of firemen. One of them spotted me, and the entire group picked me up.
"No, stop it! I have to help, Ned! I have to help him!" I tried to resist, but it was no use. I was too tired. I gave up and let myself be carried in their grasp.
"I'm sorry, miss, but there's nothing more we can do for him. He's . . .gone."
And with that final statement I finally gave up the fight, and a dam burst in my chest releasing a flood of emotions. I screamed out into the dark night, as my heart shattered into a million tiny pieces.
25 Minutes Later . . .
Cookie
I ran over to the group of firemen carrying what appeared to be Moze's body. My heart had stopped. I skidded to a stop next to them staring at the body.
"Is she -?" I whispered.
"Don't worry, kid, she's alive. Miracle, by the looks of it." The fireman smiled at me and then proceeded to carry Moze to the nearest ambulance.
My heart restarted. My knees went weak and I crumpled to the ground fighting back tears. She was alive – Moze was alive! Thank God! I felt relieved.
Then I felt shock. Where was Ned?
I ran back to the firemen who were busy talking about what to do about the wreckage. "Excuse me, did any of you find a boy with blue eyes in there? His name is-"
"Ned?" one of them quipped.
"Yes."
They eyed each other, then one of them said, "I'm sorry, kid, but when we find this young lady here, she was screaming about Ned." He shrugged. "Apparently, she lost him. There was nothing more we could do." He offered his condolences. I didn't hear.
"Hey, I found something!" One of the firemen searching the wreckage was waving over to his peers. The other firemen immediately went to him.
"What did you find?" The fireman pointed to something among the rubble.
"Oh my God." One of the firemen vomited, and several others turned around.
No.
"Son, you can't come here. Can one of you police officers get over here, please?" I ignored the fireman and pushed ahead.
No.
"You shouldn't really be here, kid."
No.
"Really, you shouldn't be seeing this."
No.
I followed their line of sight . . .
"Don't look!"
Too late. I saw what they saw, and in that instant I lost my sanity.
It was an arm – a badly burned arm sticking out of the wreckage.
"I'm sorry, kid. It looks like we found your friend, Ned, after all."
Moze
Ned. Ned! NED!
"NED!" I gasped. I sat up so fast, it hurt. The paramedic, a man, told me to calm down and try not to move. He was right. I hurt everywhere. Cookie materialized out of nowhere and immediately hugged me (much to the paramedic's protests).
"Moze, thank God. Oh, Moze. Oh, Moze . . ." He hugged me hard, and began to sob into my shoulder.
"Its okay, Cookie, I'm fine." I hugged my friend back vigorously. Cookie could get so emotional over the slightest things. I was fine, and Ned –
Ned.
Adrenaline raced through my system, and my breathing began to race. I grasped Cookie in an iron grip, and I peered into his eyes. They were bloodshot. He had been crying.
"Where's Ned, Cookie?" Cookie didn't answer; he only shook his head miserably.
"WHERE IS HE?" I whispered.
Cookie choked back a sob, and pointed toward the house. I immediately got up (ignoring the paramedic man) and followed Cookie's outstretched hand.
The firemen were putting something into a body bag.
"Miss, you shouldn't be here. You should be over there, getting help."
I ignored the firefighter, and pointed at the bag with a shaking hand. "What's in the bag?"
"Miss, you really shouldn't be here."
"WHAT IS IN THE BAG?"
He eyed me carefully. "Is your name Jennifer Ann Mosely?"
"Yes."
He sighed. "I can't believe I'm doing this." He pulled back the zipper on the bag to reveal what he had found.
My heart (what remained of it) stopped, maybe forever. Inside was the battered and badly beaten body of my best friend Ned Bigby.
Stupidly, I asked the body, "Ned?"
"Yeah, Moze?"
Oh, Ned. Oh, Ned-
WHAT?!
Ned
25 minutes ago . . .
"See you later, Moze." With that farewell, I released my hand from hers. The beast below shrieked in anger and the angel above screamed with grief. I fell through, and the burning ground raced up to meet me.
Evil Moze (you're right Moze, it is kind of lame) fell right beside me. Amazingly, almost miraculously, we managed to avoid the fire and we landed on a solid piece of ground.
I was alive. Plus one for me.
Evil Moze was with me. Minus one.
Still at zero. Crap.
Evil Moze had reverted to her original form. She cussed at me. "You ass! You've ruined it all. Everything!"
I was busy trying to find a way out of the fire surrounding me. But I couldn't help myself to talking back to her. "Funny, I guess I could say the same about you."
I heard an animalistic snarl and Evil Moze threw herself on me. She began to pound my back (which still hurt, by the way). I lost my balance and fell backwards.
Our combined weight was too much for the weakened floor and it collapsed. I whirled around and snatched at Evil Moze's hand. I caught it and held on.
The floor had turned into a giant wooden slide. At the end of slide, though, was a fiery doom.
Whoa, déjà vu.
"Evil Moze! Give me your other hand!" I really despised her, but she was still Moze.
"Evil Moze?! What asshole came up with that lame name?!" Sorry, Moze. But she had you there.
"Okay, then, Moze! Give me your hand!" I reached out trying to pull her back in.
She shook her head, and I saw (yes, I'm sure now, I'm definitely positive) tears run down her cheeks. "Ned Bigby, always have to play the big hero. Even for me."
She was crying. Whoa. I seem to have a knack to make bad girls cry. Interesting. "What is wrong with you? Give me your other hand!" I reached out farther. I couldn't keep myself balanced on the edge for long.
"Ned. Do you honestly think the others are going to let me live? How are you going to explain me to everyone?" She seemed to grin at me.
"Why are you trying to rescue me, Ned?"
"Because you're still part of Moze! I can't just let you die."
She laughed – and strangely, for once, it didn't sound evil. It sounded just like . . . Moze.
"I will never die, Ned. Not as long Moze lives. I'll always be there." Her grip on my hand loosened.
I tried to grab her back. "What are you doing?!"
She suddenly pulled herself close to my face with that amazing strength of hers. "I love you, Ned Bigby. It takes a lot of love to hate someone, you know." She gazed at me with those big brown eyes (mmmm, chocolate) and let go of my hand and slid down into the fire shrieking with insane laughter.
I stared after her for awhile. I was somewhat sad to see her go. I'm not sure why. She wasn't really gone, anyway. Like she said, I still see traces of her in Moze nowadays. She's still there, alright. I see her staring out of those big brown eyes, sometimes, to this very day. No offense, Moze.
There was suddenly a big boom. Fire and debris rained down around me. I had to get out! I stood up and dashed toward the front door.
It was blocked. More fire and debris rained down around me. I pounded the blocked door in front of me. Why? Why? WHY?! I had survived this far. Why was I to be denied at the last second?
A thought came to me – a ridiculous one, but it was the only idea I had.
I whirled around and dodged some debris. I headed toward the kitchen. Please, God, let it still be there . . .
YES! Success, it was still standing.
I summoned my last reserves of energy to finish the task ahead of me. With luck, I would live to see Moze and Cookie again.
Hopefully.
25 minutes later . . .
"You hid in the refrigerator." Moze's voice was amused. We were sitting on the back of the ambulance, blankets wrapped around us and respirators helping us breathe. Every couple minutes or so we would take off the respirators to cough out some of the smoke, but that was about it. I had some severe burns, but nothing a trip to the hospital and some bed rest couldn't fix.
"Yeah. I took out everything I could find inside, including the racks and then I squeezed inside. Then-well you know the rest, I guess." I shrugged.
Moze laid her head on my shoulder (on top of a rather nasty burn, but I'm not complaining) and began to cry quietly. "Moze . . ."
Frankly, I was getting a little tired of all the crying. I just wanted to sleep.
"Ned, you almost died."
"Yeah, well, that's life for you. I'll get over it; look I'm already getting better!" I stood up and flexed my muscles. I heard something crack, and immediately sat back down.
"Okay, it might take a little while more?" I said through gritted teeth, as the paramedic assessed the injury. Broken rib. Crap.
Moze chuckled silently then gave me a nice kiss on the lips. Oh, boy was it all worth it. Just for that kiss.
Moze stayed silent for awhile. Our parents had already visited us and each had taken turns giving us big hugs (and cracking more ribs in the process). I had to admit, I was extremely happy to see them. Just a couple minutes ago, I was sure I wasn't going to be able to see them ever again.
Moze had also taken the news of what happened to Jennifer (I couldn't call her Evil Moze anymore-not after that little talk we had) rather well. She seemed to understand Jennifer now.
"She was just . . . me, I guess", was all she said. "But I still think she's a bitch, though."
I couldn't help but grin. Ah, Moze. "It takes one to know one, you know."
Her glare silenced all future witty retorts from me.
Later, Moze would ask me, "Why did you choose me, Ned?"
I sighed. I had been thinking about an answer to that question for a long time. I finally had one.
"Moze, you're the most human person I know. It's what I love about you – not your fearlessness or your so-called invulnerability, but the fact that you can be scared and vulnerable. Your humanity is what gives you strength and it's what appeals to me most. I couldn't think of anyone else I would want to spend my life with."
"Are you proposing to me, Ned Bigby?"
"No, not yet. I've got to get some of my more personal affairs in order before that."
Her grin dropped. "What personal affairs?"
"Oh, you know old girlfriends I have to call and stuff – by the way is Suzie here?"
She punched me. "Very funny, Ned. Now go to sleep. You've earned it."
I smiled at her. "See you in the morning, Moze."
She rolled her eyes. "It is morning, Ned."
So it was. The first rays of sun were starting to shine over the ruins of my house (which had fire insurance, Thank GOD!) and a new day was already shining through the darkness of the previous night.
It was so symbolic to me – rays of hope shining through the darkness. I would've thought about it more, if I hadn't fallen into a dead sleep that would last for several days.
The last thing I saw was Moze watching over me. My guardian angel. She climbed into the hospital bed with me, and together we fell asleep holding each other through the new day.
Well, that's it. That was really the last chapter. Well, not really. I'm going to write an epilogue, and then that's it. End of this story. Don't worry, though! This isn't the last you'll see of me. I'll probably take a short break, and then start writing on my next one. So, yeah, just read on and give me a good review. One last chapter. Enormous thanks to all of you who have supported my stories and given me good reviews. You have no idea how much they meant for me as a writer. Thanks again, and one more chapter to go!