CtD: Chapter 7

Content Warning: This chapter is extremely gory because of some of the imagery being described because of what happens in it. This is why I changed the rating of this story from T to M, Sorry!

Eddy's heart was pounding inside his chest as he ran back up the staircase. He had no idea WHY he decided to face his brother alone. Had he lost his mind? Did he have a fucking death wish?! Whatever the reason, all he knew was that he had to keep his older brother away from the ones he loved, even if it meant getting himself killed.

Eddy ran back to the floor that his brother was on, only to see Evan slowly walking over toward the stairs. He was clutching his right arm from the stab wound, still holding the pistol from before.

"Well, well, well… I'm shocked you decided to come running back over to me, Pipsqueak," Evan said to his little brother with a hoarse laugh, a smirk started to form across his face.

"I-I'm not letting you near them again, asshole!" Eddy growled to Evan, coming closer to him to prevent his brother from going down the stairs, "I'm going to stop you, once and for all!"

"Wait, do you think you can kill me?!" Evan asked before making a cackle at the thought, "You're a lot ballsier than I thought you to be! Either that or you're OH so desperate to play the hero for your little boy toy…"

Eddy could feel a sudden chill going down his spine when Evan said that to him; something felt very off.

"Sadly, YOU are not the one that's gonna end me today, Eddy! There's NO saving the two of us!" Evan took the gun he was holding and pointed it in Eddy's direction with his left hand, "BOTH of us are not leaving this place alive!" Evan shouted to Eddy, making a more deranged smile to him; a smile paired with a face that would haunt any nightmare, "Join me in hell and say goodbye to this fucking world, Pipsqueak!"

That was when Evan began to laugh loudly as if he had finally lost his mind or his sanity. He had finally snapped. Eddy widened his eyes in horror for a split second before glaring at his brother with a brave face, trying not to falter or show Evan that he was scared. Eddy then closed his eyes, bracing himself for what was about to happen. He was beyond terrified, but if doing this would finally help Double D and Sophie stay safe from this fucking maniac…

Then Eddy would gladly take the hit for them.

Double D and Sophie were both standing outside the abandoned building, talking to the 911 operator on the other end of Double D's cell phone. Thank goodness Sophie brought it with her!

"Y-Yes, we're located at the abandoned building that's near the grocery store in the downtown area," Double D explained to the operator, "The one that was involved in that car crash with the police this morning is inside the building along with—"

BANG! — BANG!

His train of thought was interrupted by the sound of a loud gunshot, followed by a second one a few seconds later. Double D's heart leaped into his throat at how sudden the shots were; the fact that it was back-to-back rounds did not help his nerves. Something had happened to Eddy! He could not keep standing here, he HAD to help him!

"Sophie, please tell the operator about the two gunshots just now! A-And stay here until the police arrive!" Double D stated to her as he handed her his phone once more, "I'm not going to leave Eddy alone!"

Sophie widened her eyes but only nodded her head as she held the phone to her ear, telling them what happened. Double D then ran back to the building as fast as his feet could take him.

Double D's heart felt like it was about to burst out of his chest as he ran back inside and towards the staircase, running back up to the floor that he was on before. It was then he saw the aftermath of what happened, looking at the scene before him. He could feel his blood run cold, his body grew numb, and his heart stopped at what he saw.

Double D could see the two brothers lying on the floor in the hallway of the building, they were both not moving. He could see that most of Evan's head was gone, the remaining bits of his head were still gushing out blood, covering the floor around him. He was dead, fatally shooting himself in the head after he shot his brother. Double D could tell Evan put the barrel of the pistol in his mouth before firing it, blowing his brains out. Eddy's body had fallen forward, preventing Double D from seeing how severe his wounds were. Blood from both brothers could be seen all around the area, especially on Evan's side.

The scene was a murder-suicide.

"O-Oh my god, EDDY!" Double D yelled in both shock and terror as he ran to his partner's side, kneeling to him to see the damage done. He did not care about all the blood that was around, this was no time to be worried about any potential germs from the scene.

When he turned him over, Double D could see that Eddy had been shot in the upper part of his right arm near his shoulder; he was not hit in his chest or anywhere near his heart or head, thankfully. Eddy's eyes were closed, but he was still alive and breathing. But, considering how much blood was coming out of the wound, he did not know how long he could stay alive like this. He had to do something to help him!

Double D laid Eddy back down to the floor before taking hold of both his pants legs and the bottom part of his red-orange shirt, grabbing them to tear the fabric apart. He then started to tie the clothes he ripped from his clothes together as a long bandage before wrapping it around Eddy's arm. He was trying to bandage the bullet wound with what he had to prevent more blood from coming out of it. Even though he had not trained for this kind of profession and had more interest in being an engineer, Double D did have a small passion for trying to become a nurse or doctor; to help people who needed it. He learned how to properly bandage an injury from his mother and father while they still lived here. That was their job, after all, and he was very proud of them for it despite never being home. They saved so many lives.

After he finished wrapping the cloth that he ripped from his pants and shirt around the wound, Double D could hear Eddy make a small, hurt-filled groan. He was beginning to wake up.

Eddy weakly opened his eyes to see that Double D was kneeling next to him. He could see that his partner was desperately trying his best to help him. Eddy was happy that he was here with him, "D-Double D…"

"Please, don't try to talk right now," Double D said to him in a calm voice, despite him not feeling calm at all on the inside, "You need to save your strength. The police and ambulance will be here soon."

There was a pause in between them before Eddy spoke again, "A-Are you and Sophie… Are you two o-okay now…?"

"… Yes, we're both okay," Double D stated before glancing over to Evan's body, restraining himself from gagging or throwing up at the sight, "Your brother won't be harming anyone anymore… h-he's dead now, killed by his own hands."

Eddy was silent for a split second before he responded to Double D with a deep sigh, one that sounded very relieved at what he heard, "Thank god he's gone… Good riddance."

There was an intense moment of silence between them once more, not knowing what to say or do for each other. Double D could see Eddy trying his best to not panic too much, so it would not make his wound worse than it already was. Thankfully, they could both hear a few sirens close by outside, they had just arrived at the scene.

"… Double D."

Double D looked back to Eddy, he could see him trying to raise his left arm, gesturing him to hold onto his hand, which Double D quickly complied with, "I-I… I'm so sorry."

Double D suddenly felt uncertainty from the tone Eddy had in his voice, "What…? W-What are you sorry for?"

"I'm sorry about… a-a lot of things, honestly," Eddy started to say, gripping Double D's hand tighter as he closed his eyes and gritted his teeth a little in pain, "I hope… y-you aren't gonna be m-mad at me if I… I-If I die."

Double D widened his eyes in horror, "D-Don't you DARE say that! You're going to be alright!" He could feel tears starting to form around the brim of his eyes, "Y-You can't die! I won't let you!"

Eddy responds to his partner with a small but weak laugh before opening his eyes for a moment to look up at Double D; he could see that Eddy had been holding back his tears the whole time before now. This was the second time Double D had ever seen Eddy cry in genuine sadness, the first time was five years ago when they were both thirteen; on the two days that their friendship almost ended and the day Double D encountered Evan for the first time, revealing how his brother truly was to everyone.

"S-Sorry about that, Double D. I just…" Eddy started to say, closing his eyes once again in pain, "If that happens, t-take care of Ed and S-Sophie for me, okay…? I know, y-you got this… Sockhead."

Double D could feel Eddy's hand slowly slip away from his, "Eddy, PLEASE DON'T!" Double D gripped Eddy's hand even tighter so it would not fall to the side, the tears he was holding back started to fall from his eyes, "It CAN'T end like this!" He shut his eyes in despair before shouting to his partner, "I LOVE YOU!"

Eddy did not vocally respond to Double D, but he did start to smile at what he said before passing out. That was when Double D could see Eddy's head weakly limp to the side; he was still alive, thankfully, but he could see that he was becoming weaker from the loss of blood, and his breathing was slowly becoming shallower.

Double D could feel his body start to tremble, becoming overwhelmed with so many emotions. Grief, sadness, anger, despair… He could not take in everything that was happening today. His father was killed in another country, his mother was injured badly from the attack that killed her husband, and now the person he loved the most was slowly dying in his arms. Double D finally let out the scream that he was holding back all day, picking up Eddy slightly to embrace him in his arms, heavily crying as he did. He could feel how limp his partner was as he hugged him tightly, 'Eddy…'

About ten seconds later, Double D could hear people running up the staircase behind him. He laid Eddy back down as the police and ambulance came up the stairs to see what was going on. The paramedics immediately rushed over to Eddy's side while the police went to Evan's body. The paramedics there could see Eddy was alive, but needed to get him to the hospital as soon as they could. They picked up Eddy from the floor and took him downstairs to the ambulance, with Double D right behind them.

Author's Note (January 8th, 2024): This chapter was going to be a little bit longer, but I decided to make this the cut-off point for it. The next chapter will not be the final one, but still, stay tuned!