CtD: Chapter 5

About thirty minutes passed by in Peach Creek, it was now 12:30 pm. Double D, Eddy, and Sophie decided to stay at Double D's house for the time being. Ed had finally arrived a short moment later after going to Eddy's house to meet them, only for Eddy's mom to tell him they were now at Double D's house because of the breaking news.

Naturally, Ed pulled Double D into one of his trademarked Ed-Hugs as soon as he arrived at his house, "Double D! I heard what happened!" Ed cried to him, "I'm so sorry about your dad!"

"It'll be okay, Ed," Double D replied to him with a pat on his back, "His line of work was always very dangerous, s-so… I'm not too surprised that something like this would happen one day."

Eddy looked at Double D when he said that. He could feel both his partner's stress and sadness from those words. Sophie could also feel it.

Ed soon lets Double D out of his hug, wiping his tears away from his eyes with a little sniffle, "L-Let's try to feel a bit more joyful for now, okay?" Double D stated to everyone with a small smile, "We should focus on what we want to do today. Does anyone have any suggestions?"

Sophie slowly raised her hand to him, as if she was in a classroom, "Umm, I thought of something."

The three Eds turned to her to see what she had to say, "I haven't had a pizza in a long time. Maybe we can order one and, umm, watch a movie…?"

Double D made a big smile to her, "Why, that's an excellent idea!" He stated, pulling out his cell phone as he did, "What kind of pizza would you like me to order, Sophie?"

"I-I like plain cheese pizza the most!" Sophie replied with a smile.

Ed also made a big smile, "Wow, a pizza does sound really good!"

"Yeah, it has been a while since we've had one!" Eddy stated as he turned to Double D, "I'm sure you know what kind we would want, right?"

"Of course I do," Double D replied with a chuckle before getting up from where he sat. He began to dial the number of the local pizzeria on his cell phone as he walked into his kitchen to place the order.

When Double D walked away, Eddy felt a small tug on his right sleeve. He turned to see Sophie, who was sitting beside him, "Mr. Eddy, can I ask you something?"

"Uh, sure you can," Eddy replied to her with an arched eyebrow, "What's the question?"

Sophie paused for a moment before asking, "U-Umm… I know Mrs. Daisy said I could stay at her house with you and Mr. Luis, but… Can I live here with Mr. Eddward instead?"

Eddy widened his eyes a little at her words, "I don't want Mr. Eddward to be lonely anymore, but…" Sophie continued to say as she glanced up at him, "But would that be okay with everyone else?"

"D'aww, of course you can!" Ed said to Sophie for Eddy with a toothy smile, "I'm sure they wouldn't mind that!"

"You really think so…?" Sophie asked with a bit of nervousness.

"… Yeah, it'll be fine, Sophie," Eddy stated with a slow nod of his head, "But I'll have to ask my mom if she's fine with that, okay?"

Sophie nodded her head, "O-Okay…" She glanced back over to where Double D was in the kitchen, 'Mr. Eddward reminds me of my dad… I miss him so much.'

Eddy grabbed the remote that was nearby to turn on the TV, "We should try to find a movie to watch…"

As Eddy turned on the TV, he could see the local news station was the last channel that was on before being turned off. He could see there was some breaking news happening right now.

A police van that usually transports criminals from jail to prison had gotten into a fiery crash on the nearby highway early this morning. All the officers involved in the crash were alive but were unconscious at the time; they had been dragged away from the blaze by someone but were all greatly injured from said crash. The criminal they were transporting was not found anywhere near the site and was not in the fire of the van. The police said the criminal they were transporting was probably the one who saved the officers, but still saw their chance to get away because of the crash. They did not say the name of the criminal; they needed to investigate whoever oversaw the transport to confirm who it was that escaped.

Eddy frowned a little at what was reported before he finally changed the channel, not exactly wanting to hear about that kind of news right now, 'Geez, even if they helped save those officers from that fire, I hope they catch that scumbag, whoever it is.'

It was now 6:30 pm here in Peach Creek. Both Ed and Eddy had gone home for the evening, leaving Double D at his house with Sophie. After they ordered their pizza and watched a kid-friendly movie with Sophie (they decided to watch Disney's Aladdin; something the Eds had not seen in years and a movie that Sophie had never watched before), Eddy told both Double D and his mom about what Sophie said to him earlier, about why she wanted to stay with Double at his house. Double D was very surprised to hear this, but Eddy's mom was very understanding of her decision, "Of course you can, sweetie!" Daisy said to Sophie with a small hug to her, "Just remember that me, Eddy, and my husband Luis will always be here across the street if you need anything, okay? You're not alone, and neither is Eddward!"

Sophie was going to stay in Double D's parents' room until they could figure out a proper room for her. Once they could do so, he planned to make one of the rooms that were not being used in his house into her bedroom; the room in question used to be an office for his parents, but now it was only a room that was collecting dust.

Double D made a small sigh to himself as he took out his cell phone for a moment to look at it, making sure he did not miss any phone calls while he was watching the movie.

'It doesn't look like anyone decided to call me,' Double D thought to himself before closing his eyes to think further, 'I need to try and keep an eye out for any calls about my mother's transfer so I can know when she can come home… I just hope it's sooner rather than later.'

As Double D was walking upstairs to his parents' bedroom to check on Sophie, he looked back at his phone for a moment when he noticed something that caught his attention; a notification that was from his local news app. He had a sudden sense of dread at the notification for some reason but could not explain why he felt that way.

He was about to click on what the notification was before he heard the door beside him slowly open. Sophie had walked out of his parent's room, only to see Double D standing there, "Hello, Mr. Eddward… Can I talk to you?"

Double D paused for a second before smiling, "Of course you can," he replied as he walked into his parents' room with her. Since the beds here were separate, he could see Sophie picking the bed that his dad used to sleep in, "What would you like to talk about?"

Sophie looked away from him before asking, "U-Umm… Am I really broken?"

Double D widened his eyes at her question in shock.

"After my real dad died, my mom started to say I was broken in my head. B-But I've never felt any different…" Sophie continued to say, putting both her hands up against the side of her head. A few tears started to form in her eyes, "Did the crash hurt my head to be this broken? Is that why she hates me?!"

Double D sat there for a moment in stunned silence, thinking carefully about what to say. It was now obvious to him that no one had told Sophie about her diagnosis back when she was tested to be on the spectrum two years ago, or she might have forgotten about it over time. Adding the factor of her father's death and her mother losing her mind from doing drugs did not help Sophie with how confused she felt.

He placed both of his hands on her shoulders, to help get her attention, "Sophie, please listen to me for a moment," Double D started to say, "There is nothing wrong with you or your head; you came out of the accident just fine. If anything, I believe it's your mother who has become the broken one, not you."

Sophie made a small sniffle as she glanced back to Double D beside her, "Are you sure…?"

"Yes, I'm positive."

A small pause passed by them before Sophie began to hug him around his chest, crying into his shirt. Double D could only sit there, trying to comfort her before she decided to let him out of her hug, "Do you feel better now?" he asked.

Sophie nodded her head, "Y-Yes sir…" She looked away from him again for a second before speaking, "You remind me of my dad and how nice he was to me, Mr. Eddward… If I'm living here now, c-could I call you that too?"

What Sophie said took Double D by complete surprise. He did not know how to feel about that but hid his uncertainty with a friendly smile, "I-I don't mind. You can call me whatever you want, Sophie."

The two continued to sit there on the bed for a short moment before Double D glanced back at his cell phone. He unlocked his phone to look at the notification that he had seen a moment ago about some breaking news. Double D looked at what the news was, only for him to widen his eyes in terror and his face began to grow pale.

The notification was an update on the fiery car crash involving a police van and an escaped criminal who got away because of said crash. The news revealed the name of the criminal who was involved in that crash…

"… Father Eddward?"

Double D gasped loudly as he turned to Sophie when he noticed what she called him, snapping him back to reality; she could see his hands starting to shake, "Are you okay?" she asked.

Double D tried to hide his panic, but was failing at doing so, 'I need to keep her safe, but I'm unsure where a safe place would be…!'

Double D closed his eyes for a second to calm himself down before opening them again. He looked back at his phone to turn off the sound to it, so it would not ring or make any noise, "Sophie, I want you to do me a very big favor."

Double D turned to the young girl beside him, "I want you to keep my phone here with you for a moment," he started to explain as he handed her his phone, "I'm going to lock the door behind me once I leave this room, and I want you to NOT let anyone in here; not even me. If you hear anything out there, don't come running."

Sophie looked at him with a worried look, "U-Umm…"

"If you don't hear anything for a while, you can leave this room…" Double D continued to say, "When that happens, I want you to run to Mrs. McGee's house to ask for her help, understand? You need to stay safe."

She could only nod her head to him, "O-Okay…"

Double D quickly gave Sophie a small, tight hug, 'I'm sorry, Sophie," he muttered before getting up from where he sat and leaving the room, locking the door behind him as he did. Sophie sat there on the bed before she started to feel scared, clutching onto Double D's cell phone.

Double D proceeded to go downstairs to make sure his front door was locked, only for him to halt in his tracks as he reached his living room. He could see a very familiar man in his presence, glaring daggers at him. It was Evan McGee, Eddy's older brother.

"There you are, you little weakling," Evan started to say with a growl as he walked up to Double D, "I'm shocked you survived drinking that bottle of water I poisoned for you. Even Pipsqueak didn't die when I tried to get him out of the picture."

Double D could suddenly feel both of his wrists being grabbed by the man in front of him before being put into a chokehold, putting pressure on his neck, "You're all so damn resilient, almost like roaches!"

"L-Let me go, PLEASE!" Double D shouted to his assailant, struggling to set himself free, but Evan put more pressure on his neck, making him instantly pass out after making a loud gasp, "There, go to sleep for a while," Evan chuckled.

Evan then did something that would have made Double D scream, even more so than anything else in the world; Evan took off his beanie to see what was under it. Even he winced a little at what was being hidden from view around his forehead, underneath his light blond hair, "Oof, no wonder you're always wearing this dumb beanie."

He reached into his back pocket to pull out a piece of paper. Evan sat both Double D's beanie and the note down on the floor, where it could easily be seen by anyone who came to visit.

"Let's see if anyone can help you in time. I'll be a fun game of hide and seek to play with all of you!" Evan cackled as he then walked out the front door with Double D still in his grasp. He walked over to a car that he had stolen, tossing Double D into the backseat before getting inside and driving off with him.

About two minutes passed by before Sophie decided to exit the room, noticing there were no more loud noises going on downstairs. She nervously made her way to the living room, shaking a little before noticing Double D's beanie and a note lying on the ground. Sophie went over to pick up the beanie and the note, reading what it said.

'Little bro.

If you want to see your little boyfriend again, come find me at the abandoned building next to the grocery store. I have a game we can all play there. You also need to come alone. Don't even think about calling the cops, you know what will happen if you do. I can't wait to see you again! We have so many things to discuss!

Your big bro Evan.'

Sophie could only stand there in shock at what was written in the note. Someone had kidnapped her new father, taking him back to the awful place she used to live in. She gripped Double D's beanie and cell phone before dashing out the front door, leaving behind the note again on the ground. Sophie ran straight to the entrance of the neighborhood before turning right, she knew where that abandoned building was. It had a lot of little secret passages in it, mainly made by her mom and stepdad if they ever got caught by the police there.

'I gotta help my father! I don't want him to die!' Sophie thought to herself in a panic.

Author's Note (January 2nd, 2024): Happy New Year! I'll type something else here later. I'm tired and need sleep.