Connected Lives

By: Yuki Mizuno

Summary: A sequel to Confronting the Darkness and the final story for "The Harsh Reality" Series. It's almost Halloween time in Peach Creek. As Double D and Eddy were out in town to celebrate Eddy's birthday a week early, Double D received an urgent call from his mother, telling him to come back home as soon as he could. Double D and Eddy rushed back home to see what the emergency was about, only to see his mother, Ed, and Sophie talking to a young woman their age named Bridget, who had a suitcase beside her… Who was she?

CL: Chapter 1

It was a late and quiet, rainy October afternoon here in the little town of Peach Creek as we zoomed in on a local Cul-De-Sac. In the first house on the left, we could see a few people inside, sitting on the couch in the living room. The people inside the house were an 18-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl; they were currently watching a movie on TV. There was also an 8-month-old, golden-brown Shiba Inu mixed puppy with them, curled up asleep on her dog bed near the front window. The dog wore a green collar along with a cute little green flannel bandana connected to her collar.

This house belonged to Wendy Johnson and her son Eddward, who were both out in town doing separate things. Wendy was currently at her job; she was the head nurse at the local hospital, where she also helped train rookie nurses. Meanwhile, Eddward (usually known as Double D by his friends) was out in town with his fiancé Eddy for his birthday, celebrating it a week early. Currently, their best friend Ed was babysitting Sophie, and her dog Clover until Wendy came back home from work; or until his two best friends came back from their date in town.

In about a week, on the 28th, Eddy will finally turn eighteen; something that he and Double D have been looking forward to for a certain reason. The young girl that Eddy and his parents were looking after, Sophie, would finally become Eddy's adopted daughter (by law) once he turned eighteen. It was going to be a very big moment for everyone. Double D had already turned eighteen back in early August, but it was Eddy and his family who came forward to help Sophie out with her situation.

[Please read the previous two stories before this one to learn more. Thank you!]

Ed decided to get up from where he sat, "I'm gonna go get a snack! Do you want anything, Sophie?" he asked.

Sophie turned to Ed before making a big smile, "Can I have a glass of chocolate milk please?"

Ed nodded his head, "Yep! I'll be right back."

Sophie saw him walk into the kitchen before turning back to watch the movie that was on TV; there was an intense scene happening in the movie now. Sitting to her left on the arm of the couch was her favorite plush that Double D had bought her shortly after they met, a black tuxedo cat she named Zip. She quickly grabbed and held Zip for a short moment to pet his head to make herself feel a little better. She noticed that the materials Zip was made from helped her feel more comfortable when was stressed out or if she heard or saw something that upsets her.

Sophie had no clue why Zip always helped her calm down despite being an inanimate object, but the others knew it was because she was autistic. Having something to hold onto when Sophie was scared or stressed helped her feel better. It was something that Double D noticed about Sophie when they first met; she always tried to stay close to either him or to people who treated her kindly, never wanting to separate from them or ever let go. As much as he did not mind her hugging him for support, he knew Sophie could not keep doing this when he was around, but he never wanted her to be stressed out when she needed the support. That was when Double D found this cute cat plush and a small shoulder bag at a store shortly after she started to live with him. Sophie took Zip and her shoulder bag everywhere she went from that point onward.

Sophie's dog Clover began to wake up, making a little stretch and yawn as she did. Suddenly, Clover's ears perked up a little from a noise she heard outside. She began to walk over to the front door and sat down in front of it with her curly tail waggling back and forth as if she were waiting for someone to open it. A few seconds passed by as Clover continued to wait before she began to whine a little.

Clover's little whine got Sophie's attention; she would usually act like this when she noticed someone had come home. But she knew everyone else was still out in town and would be for a while, or so they said to her earlier.

Before she could think about it further, the front doorbell began to ring, startling both Sophie and Clover because of the sudden sound. Clover started to bark a little because of the loud noise the doorbell made before whining again.

Sophie got up from where she was sitting to peek out the window, trying to see who rang the doorbell; it could not have been anyone she knew, so she was being cautious about any visiting strangers. Sophie could see someone standing at the front door, they were out in the rain with a suitcase next to them. They looked to be shivering from the cold and rain despite wearing a long, white raincoat with a hood.

Sophie made a concerned face as Ed came back into the living room with a bag of chips for him and Sophie's glass of chocolate milk, "Did the doorbell ring?" he asked.

Sophie nodded her head, "Yes, it looks like someone's outside… Umm, kinda looks like they're cold. I can see them shaking."

Ed stared at Sophie before sitting down with what he had in his hands on the coffee table, "I'll answer it!" he said as he walked over to the front door to unlock it.

Ed began to slowly open the door before peeking his head out to see who was there, "Hello…?"

He could barely see the face of the one who was standing there at the door; they were wearing a white raincoat with a hood because it was raining very hard. All he could tell was that it was a young woman who looked to be the same as him and his friends.

"Umm, h-hello," the young woman spoke up, trying to talk over the rain, "Do Aiden and Wendy Johnson live here? I… I need to find and talk to them! I-It's very important!"

Ed stared at the young woman with his unibrow arched in confusion before nodding his head, "Oh, yeah! Wendy lives here, but she's at her job," he replied before noticing the suitcase beside her.

"I see…" the young woman stated before making a big sneeze, covering her nose and mouth with her right arm as she did.

"Bless you!" Sophie stated to the young woman after hearing her sneeze from where she was.

Ed stood there for a second, contemplating what to do. The young woman did not look or act like she would cause trouble… He knew looks could be deceiving a lot of the time, but he did not want to leave her out in the rain like this. Getting sick was a bad thing.

"I can call her for you if you want!" Ed stated as he stepped out of the way to let the young woman inside, "It's raining, so you should get inside so you won't get sick!"

The young woman looked a little surprised before nodding her head. She grabbed the handle of her briefcase as she walked inside. The young woman looked around from where she stood before taking off her raincoat and hood to reveal herself.

The young woman looked to be eighteen. She had long, light blond hair that was pulled back into a ponytail that went halfway down her back and bright green eyes. She had a large-sized red bow at the start of her ponytail. She wore a light blue V-neck T-shirt, a pair of dark blue jeans, and a pair of black and white shoes. Both of her arms were covered in bandages.

Her appearance tugged a little at the back of Ed's mind but could not figure out what it was about them that felt familiar. Sophie cautiously began to walk over to the young woman, seeing that she did not seem like she was here to cause trouble. Clover sat down next to Ed at the door, wagging her tail because of the new company.

The young woman looked back to Ed and Sophie, "Sorry, I didn't even say my name," she started to say before extending out her hand for a handshake, "My name's Bridget."

Ed made a smile, "My name is Ed!" he replied as he shook her hand, "I'm just babysitting while everyone's away in town."

Bridget slowly made a small smile after the handshake. She turned to Sophie, "What's your name?"

"Umm… M-My name is Sophie," Sophie stated nervously as she turned back to where she sat Zip down to grab him, "This is Zip! A-And my dog is named Clover!"

"It's nice to meet you, Sophie and Zip," Bridget chuckled before turning to Clover, bending down to her to pet her head, "D'aww, what a cutie!"

Clover wagged her tail faster as she made a smile, showing her tongue.

Bridget glanced over to Ed after she petted Clover's head, "I'm sorry if you were doing anything when I got here, I…"

Bridget made a big sneeze again, covering her mouth and nose (along with another "Bless you!" from Sophie), "I need to try and talk to Mr. and Mrs. Johnson. They need to know I'm here."

Ed nodded his head as Bridget went to sit down on the couch to rest. He took out his cell phone to call Wendy, who answered it rather quickly, "Hello?"

"Hiya Wendy!" Ed greeted, "Someone named Bridget came here to your house. She wanted to talk to you about something important, but I don't know what it is."

There was a long pause on the other end of the phone, which started to make Ed feel uncomfortable from how silent she was.

"I'll be right there."

Click!

Wendy had hung up on her end, not even asking any questions or saying bye, much to Ed's confusion.

"Huh? Wendy?" Ed questioned before he decided to hang up on his end.

He looked back to Bridget, who looked to be shivering a little because she had been standing outside in the rain. Both Ed and Sophie went over and sat down on the couch with her, "How do you know Wendy?" he asked.

Bridget was silent at his question, thinking of what to say and how to explain the situation.

"A few days ago, my mom passed away from cancer," Bridget explained, "Before she passed, she told me to find this letter she wrote. She had it hidden in a place where my dad couldn't find it easily."

Bridget reached into her back pocket, taking out a folded letter she had with her, "This was a letter she wrote many years ago. It's an apology letter for what her husband did to me, as well as telling me to find my real family who lives here. There was also quite a bit of money with the letter that she saved up to help me out with what I needed to do, as well as instructions on where to go to find my way here."

Ed stared at Bridget before he realized what she was trying to say, "Huh? Wait… Real family?"

"Yes… When I was five, my fake dad snatched me away from my real family because his wife couldn't have children like he wanted, so he resorted to taking someone else's kid instead; not even adopting a child due to money reasons. She said she knew it was wrong, but her husband was always a violent person, so she couldn't really fight back or else he would harm us both. She could never contact the police about the things he did… I had a feeling she was not my real mom for a while before she passed on. She was a very kind woman to me, and I love her for that, but now…"

Bridget looked back at Ed in sadness, "I ran away from home to find the people in this letter, my real mom and dad. My fake dad is probably having a fit that I left, and I could not care less. I'm happy that I'm no longer there; now that I know the truth."

Ed and Sophie were silent when Bridget finished telling them why she was there before arriving here. Ed noticed she looked to be Double D's age, as well as looking a lot like him, meaning…

"Double D has a twin sister?!"

Bridget and Sophie widened their eyes at Ed's statement.

"Who do you…? Oh, is that a nickname for my brother?" Bridget asked, "I-I don't remember him, but the letter mentions him too. I guess he was there when my fake dad kidnapped me… All I can remember is living with him and my mom. I was so young, so I forgot about my real family…"

She shook her head from side to side before taking a deep breath, "Sorry, I'm really tired. I-I had to walk from the bus stop nearby to here in the rain, and…"

Bridget sneezed once more, covering her mouth and face again, "Bless you!" both Ed and Sophie stated back.

"Thank you," Bridget sniffled, "I hope I'm not getting a bad cold."

She then got up from where she was sitting, "I, umm, should go to the bathroom so I can dry some of my clothes."

"I-I can show you where it is!" Sophie stated as she also got up from where she sat.

Sophie walked off with Bridget to show her where the bathroom was upstairs, leaving behind Ed and Clover in the living room. Ed looked back down at his cell phone, "Should I call Double D about this too? I know he's kinda busy right now, but…"

Ed narrowed his eyes a little as he unlocked his phone, "I'll text him. I'm sure he won't get mad about that."

Ed began to text Double D, "DDee! Sometin cam up jus now. Ur mom mite call u bout it soon! I no ur busy, but u need 2 no this! Tell Eddy I say hi 2!" before pressing send.

Ed made a small sigh as he turned to Clover, who was sitting close by Ed, looking at him while she wagged her tail, "Oh, is it time for food?" Ed asked as he got up from the couch, "Are you hungry, Clover?"

Clover made a small yap to him as if she was saying yes, wagging her tail faster.

"Okay, okay!" Ed laughed as he walked into the kitchen with Clover behind him.

Author's Note (April 30th, 2024): Oh hey! It's about time I started this one. I did say it would be done; I just didn't know when I would start it. Anyway, please read the two previous stories before this one if you're interested in this story.