Chapter 23

Weeping

Welcome to yet another depressing chapter everyone! Here's a reply to reviews!

JordyCakes1203: Honey, that's the point of this fanfic. Expand your heart and rip it all up again.

XxGalaxyUnicornLovexX: Raven is indeed going through some terrible events. Absolutely heartbreaking. However, she's too kind to torture Cupid, although it won't stop Cupid from torturing herself. Both of these girls are broken.

princess mh: She's done something astonishing, for one.

CreativeWritingSoul: Thanks love! And thanks for love! :)

LaurenRiverSister: Me neither. That's why it was so easy to kill him off XD lol

Guest: Well…here we are.

—

Cupid let out a stifled, cracked scream.

The cold, sharp metal of the knife greeted her wrists with a unnaturally large amount of pain. She keeled over, still gripping the knife lodged in her wrist, before pulling it out sharply. Blood flowed out of the fresh wound and trickled over her arms.

Biting her lip, she plunged the weapon into her other wrist.

—

"What are you thinking about?" Xavier asked.

"Remember when we were eight and I saw you running just here, near the park? I thought you were just a ghost because you disappeared so quickly. I went back and told Mama and Papa, and they thought I did see a ghost. Your ghost. They thought you were dead," Blondie said.

"But I'm not, am I? I'm far from dying!" Xavier responded. "We're both twenty-five. That's a long life left to live."

"You should be a motivational speaker," his twin teased.

They continued on their stroll.

"I forgot to tell you, Blondie. I got a job!" he suddenly announced.

"Really?" Blondie grinned. "That's great! What as?"

"A tour guide for a Greek museum. It's really nice. All the walls are blue marble and there's a lot of statues and stained glass. I like it. And I made a friend who is also a tour guide. Her name's Chariclo, like the nymph Chariclo in Greek mythology, the daughter of Cycreus and Stilbe. I find her very nymph-like. She looks like a goddess sculpted like all the other deities."

Blondie listened attentively. The name Chariclo sounded familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on where she had heard it.

"It sounds like you're in love," she mused, a little jokingly.

Xavier shrugged. "Maybe I am."

They walked along to a small corner cafe. Both were greatly perplexed when they saw hoards of news reporters, from Blondie's station, surrounding the building.

The youngest of the two confused twins shoved herself through the bubbling mass of cameramen and ladies wielding microphones. The older one simply walked through with ease.

"What's going on?" Blondie shouted, pushing past her colleagues. She was surprised to see Raven being the center of all the attention.

"Rae! What's going on?" she asked, and caught the sight of a body covered with a white sheet being carried off to an ambulance in the distance.

Raven, instead of answering, collasped into Blondie's arms, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Stop filming! And delete all the footage you have!" Blondie yelled at the reporters. Despite being a short, ponytailed woman in a rather childish frilly blue dress, her voice was so imposing that the reporters hurriedly packed up their equipment in fear that their leader (which indeed Blondie was) would bite their heads off.

Blondie tried to coax an answer out of the shaking girl, but to no avail. Xavier leaned down and asked Raven, very quietly.

"Who is it that's passed away?"

"How did you know?" Raven asked tiredly, lifting her head. Her face looked like one of a frightened child's, big watery eyes and a pale complexion.

Xavier only smiled empathetically and patted her on the shoulder.

Raven disappeared again into Blondie's arms. "It's Dexter," she mumbled wetly. "He's gone."

—

Hopper was sitting in his room when he heard the door rattling rather ominously. He stood up just in time for Briar to come hurtling through the now open door, where a hairpin was lodged in the keyhole.

If it weren't for Briar's unnaturally freaked-out expression, Hopper would have gloated over the fact that he had 'won' (about not opening the door).

"Hopper!" she borderline screeched, pulling at her unruly curls.

"What's wrong?" Hopper asked, immediately alert.

"Oh my godmother! He's dead!" Briar wailed.

Hopper freaked out likewise. "What? Who?"

Briar said nothing. She had fainted.

—

Meanwhile, in a nice little vintage cafe, Cerise and her leukamia-diagnosed now-boyfriend were sitting around an outdoor table.

In Cerise's handbag, there came a ringing sound. She apologised to Reece (who didn't mind) and took the call.

"Raven? Oh! What's up?" she greeted, but her face fell as the call continued, until it was the point when she was cradling her head in her spare hand and crying. Reece was patient but concerned. "How? How could this happen, Rae? Girl, you need to find out who poisoned him!"

"THE FUCK!?" Reece shouted.

When the call ended, Cerise turned to the very confused and panicked man. "Dex has been poisoned. It's too late, he's gone! Oh, my—I can't—" she covered her mouth with her hand, unable to finish her sentences. Tears trickled down her cheeks.

Reece slowly took her arm and they walked back to his car. Cerise cried into her hands as he drove to Briar's house on Cerise's request.

When they arrived at the large house, the shaken couple walked in just to see Hopper splashing a bucket of water over a blacked-out Briar, who coughed and sat up looking horrified.

"My cousin is dead!" she wailed. The two girls embraced and sobbed into each other's shoulders, muttering things about unfairness and 'poor Raven'. The men tried to stand there being manly and failed. They cried.

"Dex is such a great person," Cerise choked. "Why did this have to happen to him? It's not fair!"

"Please be quiet," Briar sobbed. "I'll cry even more if you talk about him."

They sat there choked up and crying. Briar was devastated, Cerise was angry (at whoever dared to even think about poisoning Dexter), and the two men were down breaking down.

"To make matters worse, Raven wants me to plan his funeral," Briar said, pulling away from Cerise. "She says I'm good at planning events. She wants his funeral to be absolutely private, just us few and his family."

"But…you don't plan funerals…" Cerise stammered.

"That's what I told her," Briar responded, wiping away her tears as best as she could. "Dex would have wanted an elegant funeral with lots of blue…I don't know if I can do it without freaking out. He wasn't my brother. But he was close." She stifled a shaky sob. "I loved him. He was my baby cousin."

"He was my best friend," Hopper added. "We were the two awkward guys who couldn't ask our crushes out." He smiled a little. "We'd always run to each other for advice, despite how bad we were with girls. He always joked that he would name his first child after me."

Cerise laughed quietly. They continued to sit there and continued to cry. No matter how much they laughed, no one could cover up their pain.

—

The day of Dexter's funeral had come.

For someone who wasn't very serious all the time, Briar had done an amazing job. While the skies were grey, there wasn't any rain. The funeral was held in Raven and Dexter's very very large backyard.

Tables draped in glittery golden, silver, and peacock-blue ribbons were lined with white beach-scented candles. There was another table with finger sandwiches and glass vases of bluebells and white lilies. Underneath a black wire arch strung with photographs lay a black shiny coffin lined with silver streaks. At the foot of the coffin were piles of daisies, blue roses, and assorted blue flowers.

Gently, Raven and Darling shakily lifted the lid of the coffin to reveal Dexter, looking beautiful and peaceful in a pressed slate grey suit and powder blue tie. Darling gasped sharply and sunk to her knees at the sight of her twin, shaking her head slowly, as if she didn't believe it was possible that he was gone. Chase sunk down next to her and cried into her silvery hair.

Cerise and Reece stood from a distance. Cerise was muffling her sobs into a handkerchief. She looked up and almost threw up when she saw Daring standing there, looking at the both of them with sorrow in his wet and teary eyes. He didn't look pretty now. He looked…broken.

"I…I'm so sorry," he managed, voice breaking. "I didn't know what heartache felt like, Cerise. But now I do. And…and I…"

Then Reece said, "we forgive you."

Those are three very powerful words. Almost as powerful as 'I love you'. If this was a happy situation, Daring would feel peaceful and lifted and reassured. But this was the funeral of his dearly loved brother.

"I've been so selfish," Daring sobbed. "I…I always thought I was amazing, that I was the greatest person on earth, because Dexter was always there being worse at me than anything. And then we…he…he's gone now, and I know that all this time I've been a terrible person. I really have. You're right, Cerise. The only thing beautiful about me is my appearance, and…well, look at me now." He paused and sucked in a shaky breath. "To be honest, he never was worse than me. He was better. He was selfless and kind and thoughtful. I was…nothing. The only thing that mattered was how I looked. I got so carried away with my image…"

Daring swallowed the lump in his throat.

"I'm sorry for all the pain I've caused. I really am. I just…I just want my brother back. I don't care if I get compared to him in a terrible way, that he's a hundred times the man he is. I just want him back."

He sighed, staring at the ground as tears dripped down his cheeks. He smiled a little at the pair then walked off, back inside the house.

Darling cradled Dexter's cheek. "Twins are supposed to be mentally connected, Dex," she said tearfully. "You're not going to be here to finish my sentences anymore." She tried to ignore the rapidly flowing tears trailing down her face and messing with her makeup.

"If you lived half a year longer, you could have seen your little niece or nephew," she continued, rubbing her baby bump under black fabric, so choked up she was gasping for air. "P-Please wake up, Dex. Wake up. Wake up!"

"Darling," Chase whispered, holding her tight. "He's gone, okay? Nothing can change that. This is no one's fault."

"This isn't fair…it isn't fair…" she wailed into Chase's shoulder.

Everywhere in the yard, the air was filled with sobs and pleads and stifled screams. Briar was murmuring things about her 'baby cousin' over and over; Darling was breaking down with Chase close behind; Raven was crying uncontrollably and trying to reach out for Dexter; and everyone else bowed their heads in mourning.

Next came the short photo ceremony, in which each of the guests placed a photo of themselves and Dexter into the coffin with him.

"He was an amazing husband," Raven whispered as she placed her's in.

"A hilarious twin."

"A beautiful little brother, inside and out."

"He was an idiot…and I love him for that. My baby cousin."

"A best friend who dished out terrible advice."

"A roommate always there to listen."

"He was a smartass classmate."

"A lab partner."

"A comic relief."

"A tech buddy."

When all the photos were put in, the coffin was closed and sent to a nearby cemetry.

Raven and Darling hugged and cried. Slowly, everyone surrounded them.

"He's up there with Harmony and Samantha now, love," Ashlynn soothed.

"And my adopted mother," Madeline added.

"And my dad," said Briar.

"And his g-grandpa th-that loved him s-so much," Darling sobbed.

When the day ended, they all came back to their houses a different person.

—

Cupid applied another bandage around her legs, where the knife had plunged its blade into her calves. She winced at the pain and washed her bloodied hands in the sink. She ran her hand across the sharp edge of the weapon, leaving a trail of broken skin. Cupid rolled more bandages across the wound before sitting down and wincing immediately, as it hit a sore spot that she had purposely crashed into the counter before.

She then picked up the telephone and called the police station.

—

The phone rang loudly in the police station. A perfectly manicured hand reached out and pressed the reciever to her ear.

"This is the Charmington Police Station, how may I help you?" she asked, sifting through files.

"I know who killed Dexter Charming," said the caller.

The files dropped to the floor. "What?! Who?!"

"I can't tell you, but in ten minutes, the murderer will be outside the police station waiting with no weapons. They are ready to surrender."

"Who is this?" A raised eyebrow, skeptical of the dubious origins.

"You can trust me. I-I've had experience."

The call suddenly ended. The head officer, perplexed but ready, called for the other police to come.

"Someone has found out the person who poisoned Dexterous Charming. In five minutes, I want you all outside with handcuffs and tasers."

"Yes, Miss Faybelle," came the chorused reply.

—

Cupid waited in front of the police station. It was dark.

"Chariclo?"

She turned, seeing Xavier looking confused. "What are you doing here?"

"I-I…I've made an appointment with the police," Cupid stammered. She thanked the darkness for hiding her bandaged limbs, as it would make Xavier ask.

As if on cue, a group of policemen and policewomen, led by a dazzlingly gorgeous Officer Faybelle, appeared in front of them. Faybelle eyed the two people standing there, as if unsure which one was the criminal.

"It's me," Cupid said loudly. "I'm the one you want."

"Chariclo? What's going on?" Xavier asked frantically. He jumped as one policewoman clicked a pair of handcuffs on Cupid. "Chariclo?"

"Xavier…I…I've been dishonest the whole time. My name isn't actually Chariclo," Cupid finally confessed.

The blonde's eyebrows furrowed. "What? Then what else have you hidden from me?"

"Stay away, young man," Faybelle ordered. "This criminal could be potentially dangerous."

"C-Criminal?" he stammered, staring at Cupid, who had tears streaming down her face. "I-I don't understand." He turned to the handcuffed girl. "D-Do you think you can take advantage of my autism? Doesn't mean I'm stupid even if I'm autistic!"

"Xavier, no!" Cupid cried. "I didn't—"

"I haven't gone to the outside world since I was eight," he continued angrily. "But I guess my preconcieved notions were right! All strangers are evil."

"Xavier!" she sobbed, but he had disappeared. "I love you," Cupid whispered under her breath as she was shoved into the police station.

Cupid cried. She cried in heartbreak. She cried in pain.

She cried in deep, dark, aching regret.