I can change, I can change

But I'm here in my mold


Chapter 18

Bitter Sweet Symphony

He knew it was a foolish idea. An ignorant, stupid, foolish idea. And yet… he went through with it; because his friend told him to. How many times has it ended like this; in disaster? No matter how hard he tries to think of a number, come up with an answer for the question, his mind refuses to deliver. Could it be that he simply cannot think for the moment, after everything that happened that lead them to this moment, or is it because the number is too high for even his mind to comprehend? Honestly, it could be either of those reasons. And yet… and yet he allowed himself to be convinced to see it through. The only consolation he can find is the fact that he is not alone in this, that his friends are right here with him. But given that he knows who's hands they're in, he's not sure if he should mourn them all instead and consider them as already dead.

Their hands are tied with rope, held up over their heads with their backs resting against the wall and feet are now trapped in the same forsaken foot lock (or whatever they decided to name that trap thing) they had used to keep them in place for their bare feet to touch once. A horrid memory, though he's certain this one will be a winner; a winner of horror and terror.

There are sounds coming from another room, sounds of things being moved around followed by giggles he recognizes far too well. He can feel his heart beating faster and faster in fear for what may be in store for them this time. Though his memory may fail him right here and now, he knows deep down all the horrible things those girls have done to them, all of them – not just the Eds, though they are without a doubt their favorites. They have no limit when it comes to who they're going after, how strong or old they might be. The fact that they went after Eddy's brother is evidence of that. They just don't care. They never have and, honestly, he's having a very hard time thinking that they ever will. It's just not who they are. They simply live off of the suffering of others – they enjoy it… they're obsessed.

Memories of the conversation he had with Mel that one time floods his mind, where she told him about the dark side of love. A withering feeling in him tells him that this must be what she was talking about – the emotion that may seem like love to the one feeling it, when in reality it is something else; Obsession. It would seem that she really does know more about the subject of love than he first thought – more than he knows himself even. With that thought a brand new question emerges from his subconscious; how did she learn that? Was she speaking from experience, or from tales about it she had heard or witnessed when she was a kid? How did she react to it? She seemed so emotionless when she talked to him about it, almost as if she had given up…

A groaning to his left interrupts his thoughts. Looking to his side he spots Ed, trying to get more comfortable against the wall. It would seem like one of the planks he's leaning against isn't the friendliest shaped one.

"Double-D!" He whines, looking at his sock headed friend. "Why is the wall trying to bite me?"

"Because you're stupid!" Eddy groans irritated.

"Eddy." Double-D says, only to immediately be shot a glare from his shorter friend.

"Oh, I'm sorry! So sorry that I don't have the same level of patience as you to stand hearing him whine about the same stupid plank in the wall that's trying to eat his brain over and over again!"

What? "What?" He asks, confused.

Now it's Eddy's turn to look confused. "What do you mean, 'what'? Haven't you heard any of his whines up until now?"

"I'm…" He starts but is uncertain how to explain. He sighs. "My apologies… I've been in rather deep thoughts lately."

Eddy looks at him, an eyebrow raised at his words. "No worries. Just leave a warning next time, okay?"

"I will." Double-D says, giggling a little at the small joke. He knows that Eddy is trying to keep their spirits up the best he can, the only way he knows. Just like Mel.

The thought freezes him a little. Just like Mel. Has she noticed that he's gone? Has she noticed yet? What… what is she…? Is she going to do something about that? A shiver runs through his spine the further he allows the thoughts to take him – what is she going to do when she realize he's "gone missing" – again? He unconsciously starts breathing a little heavier, his skin getting more and more pale the more he thinks about it. Fortunately Eddy notices.

"Hey! Double-D!" He says, loud and clear, snapping his friends out of his own head. "Are you okay?"

"H-huh?"

"Are you okay?" He repeats. "You're getting kinda pale and you're breathing weird. What're you thinking about?"

"O-oh… n-nothing! I'm fine!" Double-D smiles, trying his best to hide it behind a mask, but he's never been really good at that, has he? "I'm fine!"

"Uh-huh. It sure looks like it." Eddy's not buying it. "Just talk to us already – it's not like we have anything better or worse to do at the moment anyway."

Hesitantly he looks at his friends. Eddy's looking at him with the same expression he always wears whenever he's fed up with the excuses and Ed… well… he's not complaining about the wall anymore. Looking down at the floor, he lets out a small sigh and closes his eyes. "It's Mel… again…"

"What a surprise." Eddy deadpans. "What about her?"

"Remember what happened when she went after the jocks?"

"You mean the idiots that got exactly what they deserve for going after the smaller and weaker at school, torturing them for no other reason other than them just asking to get hurt by someone their own size? Yeah, I remember."

"Yeah… well…" He doesn't really know what else to say, so he just sort of gestures to the door on their left that leads to another room – the room where the Kankers are preparing whatever it is they're going to do to them.

"You're worried what she's going to do to them when she shows up?"

"W-well… yes…" His voice grows thin, though not impossible to hear.

"Well, lucky for you I already know what she's going to do when she gets here." Eddy smiles widely.

"You do?!" Double-D asks, chock and surprise painted all over his face. "How- what?!"

"Oh, c'mon Double-D, it's not that hard to figure out." Eddy teases, smile turning into a grin.

"What do you mean?"

"It's easy! She's going to do the same thing she did to those jocks; Give them exactly what they deserve!" A small moment of silence passes between the friends… and then Eddy realizes something. "Oooooooh! I didn't even think about that! Double-D you're a genius! HAHA! We're saved!" He yells out and starts laughing manically in his spot.

"Eddy! What are you talking about?!"

"You said it yourself, Sock head! Your sister hates everyone who hurts you! She's going to come save us from the Kankers and then she's going to destroy them for us!"

"That's not good, Eddy!"

"Oh, c'mon Double-D. Don't try and tell me you don't think they deserve that!" Eddy looks at him, reading his face the best he can. His friend can really be a little bit too kind at heart sometimes. "I mean – just look what they're doing to us! Do you really want them to get away with this again?!"

Double-D doesn't answer, just lets his head fall down and stares at the floor. Of course he doesn't want those horrible girls to get away with this stuff anymore – he wants them to get taught a lesson. He's not stupid. He's just… he's just very worried that Mel might go so much further than them. He's scared that what Mel will do to them will turn out to be something so much worse than what they have ever done to someone, and thus, make herself become the bad guy again.

He blinks suddenly and rethinks his thoughts. He's scared that she will unintentionally make herself the bad guy again. Huh… I guess he really does care about her at least a little bit after all. At least he cares about her enough to not wanting her to do something stupid and paint herself as the villain in the situation when he knows who the true villain is.

"Double-D?" Eddy's voice cuts through his train of thoughts once more, drawing his attention. "I was just joking, you know?" He says, sounding a bit more serious, down to earth this time. "Don't worry about it. I highly doubt that she would do the exact same thing to the Kankers that she did to the jocks. They're kids after all, and she knows that. The jocks… well… I agree that you maybe shouldn't have been there to witness it all, but in the end she did what needed to be done about them. She taught them a lesson; what happens when you hurt her little brother. And that's a lesson you only need to learn once."

Okay… he does feel a little bit better about hearing Eddy agree with him that it wasn't right that he was there to see it all happen right in front of him, he'll give him that. "But…"

"I know you hate violence – but isn't that what they did to you? She just told them to back off in the same language as they spoke to you." Eddy's words silence him, a rare occasion that he respects. "Besides, like I said; The Kankers are kids, and I cannot imagine that she would beat them up the same way she beat the jocks. You can thank yourself for that one, what with all the silent treatment you've given her afterwards."

He averts his eyes. As much as Eddy's words make sense, it hurts to hear it coming from someone else, to hear it being explained to you, how you've ended up treating someone who only wanted to help – even if they did it in the wrong way.

"Edd." Hearing his actual name being spoken draws his attention. Eddy only ever calls him that when it's real serious. "You know how I told you that she came to my house?"

"Yes."

"Yeah, well… just think about that, will you?" He says – it's clear he's trying to find something to explain his point. "When she found you, covered in bruises and wounds, the first thing she did was trying to talk to you about it. Then, when that didn't work, she went to someone she knew was close to you as a way to get help to talk to you about it."

"Yes Eddy, I am aware of that." He says, his voice growing a little bit sour at the reminder that she went out and talked to his best friend behind his back about such a thing.

"I know you are, but are you really though?"

Confused he looks at his friend again. "What do you mean?"

"Take my brother for example. Remember when we all met him?" Eddy asks, knowing very well that everyone still remembers.

"Of course I do."

"Good. Now, let me ask you this; if this had happened to me, and my brother had found out about it, what do you think he would've done? How would he have reacted?" He asks, but just as Double-D is about to answer he interrupts him. "Wrong."

"What do you mean 'wrong'?" Double-D asks, upset and fretful that he didn't even get the chance to say something. "You didn't even let me speak!"

"Because you weren't thinking about it!" Eddy says with a sharper tone. "Do you remember what he was like when we all met him?"

"Yes!"

"Keep that image of him in mind then! Don't try to make him sound nice like you always do whenever you talk about people!" Eddy tries to control himself, he really does. He just wants his friend to understand what he's trying to tell him. "Do you really think he would've cared at all, in any way, about my wellbeing if he had found me in the same state that Mel found you in?"

Again, Double-D goes to answer his question, but this time he stops himself from saying anything. Remaining silent as he really thinks about it this time, whilst listening to his friend asking him the same question in different ways, making his point clearer and clearer for him to understand.

"Do you really think he would've tried to talk to me about it, tried to reach out to me about it, tried to help in any way, shape or form?" As soon as he sees that Double-D is actually listening, paying attention to him, Eddy calms down and speaks in a more calm tone. "I don't know her as well as you know do, Edd, but I do know this; she cares about you. If she hadn't she wouldn't have bothered trying to reach out to you. She wouldn't have asked me or Ed – your best friends – to help her help you." He pauses for a small moment, waiting for his friend to say something. He doesn't. "I'm not trying to say that she didn't mess up, because she did. All I'm trying to tell you is… she tried. She tried and failed, but at least she tried. That's how much she cares about you; she cares enough about you to try."

It takes him a moment to take it all in; each and every word that Eddy just spoke. He raises his head to look at his friend and finds that both Eddy and Ed are looking at him with somewhat worried expressions on their faces. They care about him; he knows that – he appreciates that. But more than anything; he appreciates them for the fact that they are not shy to call him out on something that he might not be too "smart" about, or to try and help him see things from a different angle. With a smile on his face, he's just about to tell them 'Thank you' when suddenly the door to their left opens up in a slow and menacing creek. Frozen in fear, they stare at the darkness that waits on the other side of the door. Giggles can soon be heard coming from the darkness and each of the Eds shake in fear, knowing that their short window of peace before the storm has reached its end. The Kankers are ready to play.

They've been marching for a while now, but none of them are showing signs of being tired even in the slightest. Along the way the trio of soldiers have picked up some allies to help them with the upcoming confrontation/battle that's about to commence. Not that Mel would ever need help in a fight – she was feared by each of her gang members for a reason. Nonetheless, if the kids want to feel like they are helping in any way, shape or form, she's not going to be the one who breaks their heart. As long as they stay out of actual trouble, she'll let them tag along.

Kevin has been keeping an eye on her since they headed out, still remembering the promise he made her in silence, still remembering the mental breakdown she had before him earlier – the wound on her right hand. He casts a glance at her hand every now and then; notes how the blood has begun to dry and that the wound itself may have stopped bleeding by now. He's still a little surprised that nobody else has noticed it, but maybe it's for the better if no one else sees it. For whatever it may be worth; he doesn't say anything about it. Not now, not yet.

Nazz is at the frontline of the troop, leading the way to the supposedly haunted house where the Eds have been captured by the Kankers. She does glance back at the group every once in a while as well, looking back at Mel, how she's standing taller than any of the cul-de-sac kids. There's a determination in her eyes that she has never seen before – not even in Eddy whenever he's thinking about new ways to scam them. They did tell her about the situation as they left; how they had said they were heading to the haunted house to do some Kanker investigation which more than likely backfired because… Kankers are Kankers. She did get the feeling though that Mel might have met or seen the three sisters already though, cuz' when they went to describe them for her she got a very particular look to her face that made it seem like she immediately knew who they were talking about. Her brows had furrowed and her eyes had grown in realization and rage, and then she had begun marching like a soldier on a mission.

Just a little bit longer and they finally reach the hill that allows them to see the house from a short distance. As soon as Mel sees the house she pauses on the hill and the kids all stop in their tracks when they see she isn't going with them. It's the first time she's ever seen that house; could it be possible that she's scared of what she sees?

"Are you okay?" Kevin asks, breaking the silence in the group and surprising Nazz for being the first one in the group to speak to her.

"Just fine." Mel answers, looking at the house that reminds her so much of the one she and the gang used to stay at, live in. It's not the same house though, obviously, as they are in a completely different city. It's just… strangely familiar in it unfamiliarity. She takes a deep breath. "Let's go."

And with that, they're marching forward, getting ready for whatever they may be faced with within those walls. Or at least, Mel is. The closer they get to the house the more and more anxious the smaller kids, Sarah and Jimmy, get. Johnny isn't really keen on the idea of entering the house either, and apparently neither is Plank. Being the babysitter that Nazz is, she feels the need to stay back with the smaller kids to make sure nothing bad happens to them, which is understandable – Mel is in the same situation after all. Kevin and Rolf however… they're ready. Ready as they can get, rolling up their sleeves and whatnot. All Mel can do is smile at them – they may be small but they are tough. They're gonna grow up to become fine people.

And with that, she walks up to the front door and opens it.


Song: Bitter Sweet Symphony – The Verve

Thank you for not forgetting about me – things have been way more hectic than I could've ever have guessed. But I'm back, and I am going to try to keep a steady schedule of uploads on my stories again; this time the first day of the month, to make it a little easier on me mentally.

I really hope you enjoyed the chapter. It's different than what I originally planned, but then again I don't really remember what I originally planned for this chapter.