Halloween Havoc
How long had he been staring at his reflection? Would the others be happy seeing him? Should he have bothered coming back? Eddy let out a soft sigh as he adjusted his fedora hat. Once that was done he turned to his bed, towards the reason why he was allowed to come back to the Cul-de-Sac in the first place. In the centre of his bed was an invite to a party. At first he didn't take it seriously, but Ed and Double D told him that it was from Nazz, and that it was legit. They'd received the same invite and they had decided to go to the party at Nazz's house tonight.
Eddy squirted some breath freshener into his mouth. If he was going to go, he needed to hurry up. The party had started ten minutes ago. He loosened his tie and was about to leave his room when he froze. He glanced around, spotting not just Nazz's letter, but reminders of his past. An empty water balloon atop one of his drawers, a Canadian Squirt Gun beside his wardrobe, a slingshot a few feet away from him and underneath his bed was his beekeeping suit, which was in surprisingly good condition, unlike all the other items he saw. Shaking his head Eddy grabbed the door handle, but couldn't open the door. No matter how hard he tried to convince himself, he couldn't do it.
"Maybe I deserve to stay in here," Eddy thought back to what Ed and Double D had said to him in their letters. They were the only ones who had kept in contact with him after he was sent to live with his granddad. They told him that the others (Nazz, Rolf, Sarah, Jimmy and Kevin) had accepted them while he was gone, and that all five of them wanted to see him tonight. To move on from the past. To accept him.
Eddy tightened his grip on the handle. "Argh! What am I supposed to do? This sounds like a load of baloney! What chance do I have?" Eddy released the handle and started slumping towards the floor. "Ed and Double D, they were my friends, but they weren't me! They weren't… Eddy!" He closed his eyes as he hit the floor. "They would always get a second chance. Wait, chance?"
He opened his eyes and snapped his fingers. Eddy stood up and went over to his bed. He rummaged underneath it, eventually finding what he was looking for, a rusty old quarter.
"Should I stay or should I go? That's what you're deciding tonight." Eddy looked at the quarter, closed his eyes and tossed it upwards. He slowly opened his eyes when he heard it land in front of him. Tails. He had chosen Tails.
Eddy let out a soft chuckle. "Looks like I'm going." He tossed the coin onto his bed and exited his room. A gentle breeze hit him as he locked his house. Nazz's house was a short walk away so even if things went badly tonight he wouldn't have to walk for long if he left. The Cul-de-Sac itself hadn't changed much since he'd left, only that some of the houses were slightly bigger. Ed had written to him that some new houses had been built at the construction site but Eddy hadn't been able to go check it out. His parents had kept him in the house since he got back.
A few seconds later he stood outside Nazz's front door. This was it. This was his last chance to turn back, once he knocked on the door there would be no turning back. Eddy glanced back at his house and half turned before he remembered something. Ed and Double D would be there as well, even if the worst case scenario happened they'd get him home safe. He could do this, he had to do this. Eddy took a deep breath and knocked on the door. Regardless as to how tonight turned out, he could say he did his best, something he couldn't say five years ago.
A few seconds passed but the door hadn't opened. Eddy knocked again, but again the door remained closed. He rang the doorbell, and as he waited he did his best to remain calm. Maybe they hadn't heard him? There was music being played inside the house. Still nobody answered the door. Even after he rang the doorbell again.
"Maybe this was a bad idea. I should go." Eddy took a step back, but just as he was about to leave the music stopped and the door slowly opened.
A woman with blonde hair poked her head out. "Sorry I took so long I didn't hear the first… one," she softly gasped before fully opening the door. "Eddy?"
Eddy's eyes widened. "Nazz? You…" He fell silent. Not just because he had expected Ed and/or Double D to answer the door, but because Nazz looked different to when he last saw her. Different in a good way. She was always good looking, but tonight she looked, well, amazing! The combination of her old cheerleading outfit, the bright smile on her face, and the perfume and makeup she had on was pushing him close to a sweaty, nervous wreck. "I, uh," he was at a loss of words.
"Dude… it really is you Eddy." Somehow her smile grew wider and she beckoned him forward. Eddy obeyed, each step heavier then the last one. When he was finally in the house, and the door was closed behind him, he felt Nazz's hand on his shoulder. "It's good to see you Eddy."
He forced himself to nod his head. "Yeah, you too Nazz." Somehow her words don't make him feel better at all. Even after she gave him a quick hug before leading him to the sitting room, something still didn't feel right. For years he'd dreamt about this happening, and it had happened for a short while, until he was sent away by his parents after his last scam backfired. He did his best to look happy. Where were Ed and Double D?
"Are you okay?" Nazz asked him as they sit down on the couch. "I can tell something's wrong with you."
Eddy sighed. "Is it that obvious?"
Nazz slowly nodded. "We did want to keep in touch with you dude. But your mom and dad… they wouldn't let us Eddy." Eddy's eyes widened hearing this. "Ed and Double D weren't allowed to mention that in their letters."
"Oh. "He took a deep breath and grabbed a nearby cup of punch, downing it all in one gulp. He raised a hand when Nazz reached for it. "I'm okay," Eddy said when he was done. "I just needed to do that."
"Do you drink dude?" Nazz slowly asked him.
Eddy quickly shook his head. "No, of course not!"
"Dude."
"I don't drink!" He paused, and out of instinct placed his free hand over his leg, the one Terry played "uncle" with. "I'm not like... him," Eddy softly whispered.
Nazz placed her hand on his. "I'm sorry Eddy," she murmured. "I… shouldn't have jumped the gun."
Eddy nodded. "It's okay Nazz. Where are the others?"
"Ed and Sarah should be here soon. As should Double D, Jimmy and Rolf. As for Kevin? He," Nazz froze, only resuming when Eddy nodded his head at her, "is here."
Eddy took a deep breath. "How is he?"
"He's not as obsessed with his bike as he used to be, he also tried using a formula to make his hair long again. It didn't work."
"Really? I'm sorry to hear that. About the formula I mean."
Nazz lightly chucked. "I know dude."
"Still a surprise hearing you say that Eddy." Eddy flinched when he heard Kevin. Nazz lightly patted his hand and stood aside, allowing him to see Kevin. There he stood, leaning against the doorway, arms crossed, slyly smirking at him. He wasn't wearing a costume, preferring to wear his usual clothes, a red baseball hat, and an orange sweater over black shorts. Aside from growing a few inches he hadn't changed much appearance wise.
Eddy gulped. "Uh, hey, Kevin. It's uh, good to see you."
Kevin gave a quick nod, uncrossed his arms and approached Eddy. Even though the smirk looked light-hearted, Eddy was tempted to sprint out of the room. Kevin could only be smirking at him to take him by surprise. When Kevin finally reached him Eddy noticed that one of his fists, his right, was clenched.
"Kevin?"
"Dude." Kevin glided onto the couch beside Eddy. Eddy closed his eyes, expecting the worst. When several seconds had passed and he didn't feel anything, he forced his eyes open. Kevin was staring at him intently, he opened his mouth to say something, but the only sound that came out was a soft sigh. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Nazz was watching both of them, fiddling away at the loose ends of her hair.
He heard Kevin snap his fingers. "Eddy. Look at me."
"Y-yeah Kev?"
"You're very stiff dude. And your legs are shaking."
"Huh?" Eddy threw both hands down on his legs to try to get them to stop. This failed to stop them shaking.
"Man," Kevin leaned forward and raised his right fist. "Tonight, I'm gonna have to do what I should have done years ago. Raise your fist dude."
Eddy forced his right fist up. Kevin's fist swung towards him, Eddy held his breath and did his best to brace himself. To his surprise Kevin's fist didn't land on his face or chest, it softly connected with his own fist.
Kevin drew his hand back and smirked at him. "Chill dude, Ed and Double D weren't lying. We do want to move on," his face hardened slightly before saying, "I'm only going to pound ya if you try scamming me or one of the others again."
"Definitely not, I got no interest doing any of that again." Eddy said firmly.
"Good." Kevin leaned back and turned to Nazz. "Say Nazz, can you get us two glasses of punch?"
"I don't know; can I trust you two to be nice until I get back?" Nazz said teasingly, although Eddy saw that her eyes were weary.
"If he's nice I'm nice," Kevin sharply turned around to Eddy, "Right Eddy?" When Eddy nodded Kevin let out a relieved chuckle. "See? We'll be fine."
"I'll be back in a minute guys," Nazz left to get the drinks, as she left Kevin reached into his pockets and tossed several jawbreakers onto the table.
"Here dude, I did promise you these five years ago. A shame your parents took you away before you could have some with us."
Eddy stared in shock at the six jawbreakers. "Are you sure Kevin?"
"Yeah man," Kevin smiled at him. "And I'm sorry about… about everything that happened between us."
"Kevin I- "
Kevin held up his hand. "Don't, your bros made it clear to us how sorry you were pal." He passed one of the jawbreakers to Eddy and looked towards the doorway. "Nice timing Nazz!"
Nazz approached them, carrying three glasses. "Here you go dudes," once all the glasses were handed out she sat beside Eddy and raised her own glass into the air.
"What are we toasting?" Kevin asked as he raised his glass.
Nazz shrugged. "Why don't we let Eddy decide? It's the first time he's having drinks with us."
"Uh, sure Nazz," Eddy raised his glass and did his best to keep his voice steady. "To, the beginning, of a... a..." he fell silent.
"Eddy?" Nazz leaned in and patted him on the shoulder. "Are you okay?" Kevin hadn't moved, but he did look concerned for him.
Come on! You got this Eddy! He stood up, cleared his throat and found his voice. "To a new beginning!" Eddy declared before sipping out of his glass. He heard Kevin and Nazz applauding him. For the first time today, he felt happy.
And then he fell backwards and blacked out. The last thing he heard was Nazz and Kevin crying out his name.
Ed stood outside Sarah's room fiddling with his fingers. He had offered to help her get ready for tonight but his baby sister had insisted she do all the work. His mom had tried to make him help, but Sarah had convinced her that wouldn't be necessary, all he had to do tonight was take her to Jimmy's house, then he could go to Nazz's party. He didn't even need to pick up Sarah and Jimmy later. Ed just wished Sarah didn't have to say to their mom that he was an idiot, it was necessary, but it still hurt him hearing his sister say that. At least she said sorry once their mom was gone.
"But things are slowly getting better between us," Ed muttered, hugging himself with his arms. They didn't talk much when it was just the two of them. Sarah didn't like his comics and he couldn't understand most of the girl things she talked about. In spite of all the effort they'd put in to set things right, there were still awkward moments between him and Sarah. Her being the favourite amongst his parents didn't help. He stood up straight when he heard Sarah's door open.
"I didn't take too long did I Ed?" Sarah stepped out of her room and spun around, showing herself off. She wasn't dressed up in some Halloween outfit, preferring to wear her own clothes. She was still shorter then Ed, but the distance wasn't as big as it used to be.
"No!" Ed said immediately. He took a deep breath to calm himself and to soothe Sarah, who had flinched at how loud he had just been. "We should get going baby sister."
Sarah nodded and followed him out of the house. They both tried to make small talk, to say something to each other. But they both failed. It was only when they reached Jimmy's house that something was said. Sarah was about to ring the doorbell when Ed spoke.
"Sarah… you look beautiful."
Sarah's face went as red as her skirt and hair. "T-thank you Ed. See you later." She rang the doorbell and waited for Jimmy to arrive. The door opened and Ed began to leave, he froze when he heard Sarah frantically call his name.
"Sarah?"
"You need to see this Ed," his sister stepped aside, there hanging on the other side of the door was a note. Ed could tell just from the way the note looked that this wasn't good. The red hearts, the blue ink. He didn't need to read the message to know who he was about to face.
"It's them," Ed said fearfully.
"Ed we need to- "
"The Kankers! They've returned!" Ed's body started shaking. "We need to leave Sarah before they get us too!"
"Ed!" Sarah grabbed both of his hands and waited for him to calm down before firmly saying, "Jimmy is in there, in his room. I know because that's where the note says they're holding him. I'm going to save him, even if you're staying here." She released him and entered the house, shooting him a grim but determined look before stepping inside.
Ed ran in immediately after her. "Wait for me Sarah!" Nobody was going to harm his sister tonight, if someone was going to try and harm Sarah he'd take the beating for her, even if it was from the Kankers.
As he sprinted towards Jimmy's room Ed spotted several lipstick marks around the house. One on the TV, two on one side of the kitchen wall, three on the door to Jimmy's room. Sarah was outside Jimmy's room trying and failing to get the door open.
"Open you stupid door!" Sarah was about to start kicking it but paused when she saw Ed.
"Stand aside Sarah." Ed glared at the door and raised his right foot. "Don't make me have to use this!" When as expected the door didn't move Ed slammed his foot against it, causing it to fly forward. "I took it apart baby sister! Am I smart now?"
Despite the situation Sarah couldn't help but laugh briefly. "Yes Ed, you were very smart tonight mister."
They stepped into the room. There was no sign of Jimmy or the Kankers. The room itself was unmarked, no lipstick marks, no notes, nothing.
"Something's not right," Sarah walked to the centre of the room and began calling for Jimmy. Ed turned around, planning on searching the rest of the house.
He gasped when he felt a hand being wrapped around his throat and a rag being forced against his mouth. Ed tried to shove the person doing this, a masked figure in all black clothes off of him but failed. Before he passed out, he berated himself for failing to find Jimmy, and for failing to protect Sarah.