...

If I said I actually planned to have chapter two released on Edd's birthday instead on Friday, would it still count as a surprise? /Slapped

Anyway, I will still be releasing Chapter Three on Friday, as well as this one today, but after that it's back to strictly Fridays-only.

Happy Birthday Edd. I hope everything is pretty swell up there.

I only own Cora and the story and a few other characters. Everything else belongs to the respective owners of Eddsworld.

This Chapter's Song from the Eagle's Cross Playlist: When the Dark Falls by The Never Ending. This is to be played ongoing until the middle of chapter 5.

The first thing that I notice after a short while of lying down on the couch with my content thoughts is that there's not much recent technology. Sure, I get it. The house is old, but Ed and Ell renovated it to its glory state and the letter did mention that they had a few upgrades to the place. But there's not a CleanBot or CookBot in the living room or kitchen respectively.

I then realise what I've been thinking. Ed and Ell had all good reason not to put them in. It may just be for authenticity reasons, but I'm gonna have to rely on myself to do the chores here. CleanBots and CookBots? Ha! Not even a chance of them existing in the early 21st Century! I can't help but laugh aloud at how dumb my thoughts were.

"She laughs like me?"

The unexpected voice has me practically screaming like godzilla in scared surprise as I fall off the couch.

"Ah! Who said that?"

No answer.

I take a few deep breaths and squeeze my fist before reassuring myself that nobody else is in the house, just me.

Weird...It sounded a lot like someone familiar, but...younger.

But still, I fire a glare all around me, including behind the couch, although it sounds ridiculous. Nothing around. I let go of a tense breath on my chest and stand up properly.

"Come on Cora," I mutter, "Get over it. It's just you."

Coincidentally, a sound that sounds like thumping elephants from what upstairs makes itself known and I roll my eyes at the timing. Looks like I'm going to head up…

I swear, the amount of weird stuff that's in this attic could actually be named a pile of crap, because all I see in front of me is literal piles of old knickknacks and things that easily 21st-Century people would call junk. Plus, there is dust flying nearly everywhere and I easily get hayfever from it.

My iPhone z22 vibrates in my pocket and I pull it out, seeing it's a text from Ell.

'Hey C! If ur reading this now, ur obviously in the attic. Unfortunately, this room is where Ed and I cleaned up the least, obviously with all the dust. However, we managed 2 throw out all the perished food items, opened the window and practically drowned everything in air freshener to make life easier. (Seriously. The smell was HORRIBLE. Ed and I kept taking turns going 2 the loo 2 puke our guts out every 5 mins, it was that bad.)

'Btw, if ur looking for an excuse to stay here for more than 2 months, use this room and dad will believe ur argument easily.

'Also, if ur wondering how the mssg got 2 u while we r at Uni, it was set to be triggered on when u walked in. So will other mssgs thru the house.

'Keep ur nose closed and good luck on a find!

'Ell.'

Unsurprisingly, a small whiff of dust slides up my nose after reading and I can't help but sneeze loudly.

"Bless you!"

"Um...thanks?"

No response.

But I knew that the voice had taken me by surprise and my fear had no time to react. And I had no response from it once again.

"It's just you, Cora…" I remind myself.

I don't care for a response now as I head back down, find a facemask and head back up before I dig away at the pile of junk. But as I keep digging around, I start to get the feeling that I'm not alone in the house. I can't stop sweating intensely as I look behind and in front of me as I search through the junk, half-expecting something stupid to happen, like Uncle Matthew or Thomas to come out of nowhere and ambush me with a hug or charges for cola smuggling.

Neither would be good right now. Especially since it would be Uncles Matthew and Thomas.

I'm fortunately not jumpscared by either of those as I stumble across a cardboard box with 'Video games' written on it in big black letters. Curious, I manage to grab the box and pull it out to the cleanest part of the room for a better look...which was a metre in from the bedroom door.

With a better look, I notice that there is duct tape on the top going straight in one direction. I'm not unfamiliar with duct tape. I've seen dad use it multiple times when securing cola shipments or tying and silencing people before blackmailing or threatening them with something or other.

Remembering that I have a pocketknife, I make a cut through the centre of the tape strip before moving the flaps out the way to see that the contents are...

...Nintendo 64 and Playstation 2 Consoles and games?

I gasp in excitement as I then pick up the box and rush back downstairs to the living room before I carefully pull them both out and begin to plug them into the TV. For two one-century-old gaming consoles, I learnt how to plug them into TVs when I was around four. I'm unsure how I do it, actually. It just seems to click for me.

I found out that I was able to do this sort of thing back when I was in kindergarten. There were those two exact consoles in glass cases on display since everybody else didn't know how to plug them in. Cutting a long story short, a dare from one of my cousins who was there landed me an award from my gobsmacked teachers and a short-lived job of plugging in similar consoles in at kids interactive museums and other daycares. The ridiculous amount of pay that came from it was enough to move the family to London's then just-starting pod suburbs and expand the business.

Now, the PS2 is in use and I'm on the tutorial on one of those Sly Cooper games. Sure, the graphics are crap compared to today's gaming, but as the day wears on, I can't help but begin to fall in love with the game and storyline.

Then I remember.

Ed and Ell mentioned that the only thing the TV could play was static.

If the TV wasn't working for them, then how come it is…for me?

Saving the game and turning off the TV, I stretch and yawn before rubbing my eyes and wandering into a bedroom with green interior, a king-sized bed and framed photos on the bedside tables and walls.

"I guess I could stay here..." I mumble.

As I drag my bags into the room and unpack my pyjamas, meds and toiletries, I realise that I'm going to sleep in my ancestor's bedroom. Sure, this is the house of the four ancestors that I'm related to, but momentary astonishment hits me: its Edward Gould's former bedroom that I'm about to sleep in.

No, not my dad or Ell's twin brother, the very first Edward Gould, the man behind the name from whom I inherit.

Many of the family tales say that he was a great artist, animator and lover of cola, as well as a great moral leader for his friends. But now, I'm tired and I want to sleep. But as I turn off the lights, leap into the bed and dive under the covers, I make a resolve that I will discover if the stories are true or not, and possibly even more.

You could say that the Goulds have a well-ridged way of finding out things.