Chapter 3: You Hate the Way your Life Turned Out to be

The piercing sound of the bell told Edmund that it was finally time for Free Hour. He usually spent the hour with his brother, sitting on the front lawn, reading. The two liked being outside because it was quiet and it gave them time to think. Edmund packed up all of his school books and made his way back to his room. He ignored all of the other boys shouting and laughing around him as he dodged them. He climbed the stairs and went down the hall before turning into his room. Edmund threw his bag onto his bed haphazardly before moving over to the bookshelf to see what book he would want to read when a hand clamped down on his shoulder.

The fingers were ice cold and seemed to bite into his shoulder as the grip tightened and everything around him turned black. Edmund opened his mouth to say something but found that he couldn't speak; he couldn't even let out a sound of pain. He felt numb even though he felt cold breath on the back of his neck.

"Please…don't…" he finally gasped.

"Ed?"

Edmund blinked and everything came back into focus. His was taking in huge breaths of air as he gasped. The hand slid off of his shoulder and he turned it to see who's body the hand was attached to. Peter looked at his younger brother in concern as Edmund's gasping suddenly slowed down until he was breathing normally.

"Oh, Pete, it's only you," Edmund said as he let out a sigh.

"Who'd you think I was?" Peter asked, the concern never leaving his face. Edmund paused, thinking over weather or not he should tell his brother. 'He'd probably think I was being silly, he wouldn't understand…'

"No one," Edmund said as he shook his head before grabbing a mystery book off of the shelf. He could feel Peter's questioning gaze on the back of his head but he kept his feet moving, as if on autopilot. He moved out of the room, down the hall, down the stairs, down two more halls, and out the front door. He crossed the lawn before sitting underneath his favorite tree, it was so tall that there was plenty of shade but it seemed like only he and Peter enjoyed that shade.

Edmund sat down and leaned back so his back was resting against the trunk of the tree. It was surprisingly soft, although it looked like it would hurt a lot. He tilted his head back and looked through the branches and into the clear blue sky. Edmund closed his eyes and let out the breath he was holding slowly.

"Edmund."

Edmund sucked in his breath sharply. He remembered that voice. It invaded his dreams and made him suffer through his nightmares. He wrapped his arms around his body when he suddenly felt cold. His teeth started to chatter as he rubbed his arms to keep heat from escaping. He slowly opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was that his breath was lingering in front of his face. He placed his hands on the ground to move when it slid because of the slick surface. He looked down and rubbed his hand along the slick surface before looking around himself.

His breath got caught in his throat and it felt like his heart stopped beating when he recognized the cell made of ice. He stood and started to make his way to the door when his leg was jerked back. He looked down and saw that he was shackled to the ice wall. Panic started to creep in as his heart beat wildly and he grasped the chain and struggled to pull it out of the wall.

"No! No no no no no!" He cried out as he continued to pull, the cold chain digging into his palms. His breath came out in front of him as he tried to free himself. He paused when he heard footsteps in the distance. He held it breath, trying to hear where it was going and, to his dismay, it was coming closer.

"Come on. Come on." He gripped the chain link again and tried to pull it away. His fingers closed around it slowly, his joints moving slow because of how cold he was. He gripped the chain as best as he could, his hands were turning numb and he barley felt the pain when he tugged on the chain.

"What do you think you are doing?"

Edmund froze. He knew the voice, the voice haunted him. He didn't want to turn around to see who it was. He knew who the voice belonged to. His breath puffed out in clouds in front of him as his chest heaved. He could feel tears gathering in the corners of his eyes but he blinked them away. 'Please, just go away. Please…please…'

He closed his eyes as he waited for something to happen. He slowly opened his eyes and blinked rapidly when his vision was obstructed by the leaves from the tree he was leaning against. He looked around to make sure he was actually there on the front lawn.

"What do you think you are doing?" The voice repeated. Edmund looked around and recoiled when he noticed Andrew glaring down at him, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Umm…reading?" Edmund's answer came out more like a question.

"You're sitting under my tree!" Andre told him as he kicked the bottom of Edmund's foot.

"Your tree?" Edmund repeated. He looked around the ground before looking up the tree. "I don't see your name anywhere." He could tell that he was getting on Andrew's nerves. He was merely telling the truth but Andrew probably thought of it as him talking back.

"Pevensie, what kind of flowers do you want on your grave?" Andrew asked as he stepped closer to Edmund, cracking his knuckles in the process. Edmund gulped as he looked around, as if trying to find a way to escape. "You can't bring your brother into this one, Pevensie," he commented, as if he knew what Edmund was trying to do.

Edmund didn't say anything as he stood and locked eyes with Andrew. Andrew knocked the book out of Edmund's hand before grabbing him around the neck and slamming his back into the tree. Edmund's hands flew up to his throat as he tried to get Andrew's grip to slacken. Darkness started to seep into the corners of his vision as he gasped for air.

The fingers around his neck felt ice cold and he let out a groan of pain when his back scraped against the tree trunk. "Why are you misleading me, Edmund?" The voice was cold and harsh like ice.

"I…I'm sorry," Edmund gasped as he felt the grip slack on his neck. The cool wall behind him felt like heaven on his hot skin as he tried to get air into his lungs. His head slumped to the side but it was forced to lock with her steel, hard, gray eyes.

"You know something I don't, Edmund. Are you helping your siblings or are you helping me?"

"You! I'm helping you!"

"You better be."

Edmund felt the grip slacken before he fell against the ground. He coughed and rubbed his neck as he held himself up with his free hand and his knees. He looked up and saw that his book was lying open. He reached out for it but Andrew stomped down hard on the page. When he lifted his foot a muddy footprint covered the words on the page. Andrew laughed before turning and walking away right as the bell rang.

Edmund grabbed the book and closed it, despite wanting to throw it as far away from him as possible. He rushed back inside and went to his room to get his books for his last lessons of the day. He paid attention and didn't avert it, even though it was really hard seeing as he learnt everything all ready. He coasted through the rest of his classes on autopilot, as if he were half there. Once the bell rang, signaling the end of classes, he quickly packed up his things and dashed out of the room. He shoved some other students to the ground, not stopping to apologize. He rushed back into his room and threw his books onto his bed.

"What's your rush?" Peter asked from his bed.

"I just…really have to go," Edmund told him before rushing into the bathroom. He locked the door behind himself before turning on the light and looking in the mirror. His dark eyes reflected sadness, pain, and trauma. He turned around and let out a breath when he saw small beads of blood staining his white shirt. He undid his tie and unbuttoned his shirt before pulling it off the rest of the way. He slowly looked in the mirror and almost fainted when he saw his back.

It was littered with scars, long and short, thick and thin. From being slammed into the tree some of the scars had opened up and blood was starting to seep out. Edmund grabbed a wash cloth and reached behind his back to hastily try and wipe the blood off without hurting the rest of his scars.

"Are you ok in there, Ed?" Peter called after a few minutes of Edmund trying to stop the bleeding on his back.

"I'm fine, Pete," Edmund called back, hoping his voice wasn't shaky. He looked back into the mirror and finally allowed the tears to fall down his cheeks as he sunk to his knees and held his face in his hands.

Did this chapter confuse you? If so some of the events that happened triggered memories of what happened to him while he was with Jadis. If you're still confused, feel free to send me a PM. I hope you liked this chapter.