Terror (Part 1 of the Valeska Series)

Riddles and Dismembered Girlfriends

✮ a c c a l i a  POV✮

A couple days after the visit with Jerome, both Edward and myself find ourselves in a bit of a predicament. As in, there's a dead body on the floor of our apartment; the dead body of Miss Kristen Kringle. Edward unintentionally killed her last night, and I don't mean this new, confident Edward I've been seeing a lot of, I mean the awkward, stuttering Edward that also shot and killed Officer Tom Dougherty a few weeks back - and who, quite stupidly, kept his badge as a souvenir. Kristen found it last night after her and Edward had a minor make-out session, and she lost her cool. She tried to run away, and he tried to stop her, but, slightly unfortunately, he suffocated her.

The awkward, stuttering Edward cried himself to sleep last night, holding her broken body in his arms. Not even two hours later, I hear movement from his room. Frowning, I climb out of my bed and walk into the main room, watching as the tall male carelessly dumps his victim's body onto the bed. In the faint light, I can make out a crazy look in his eyes, and I know that the Edward is no longer in control of the vessel in front of me - it is Dark Edward in all his insane glory.

"Hey, Eddy," I call, leaning against the wall and causing him to jump slightly in surprise. "Don't tell me you killed your girlfriend. You did? Oh, what a pity. Do you need a hand getting rid of her body?"

Dark Edward chuckles, turning back to Kristen's body. "Accalia Gordon, I forgot you were staying here. To answer your question, I may require some assistance for... distributing parts of her body."

"Dismembering her, are we? Alright. Where do we start?"

✮✮✮

By morning, everything is in place. Kristen's body is slightly butchered and hidden away from Edward by myself and Dark Edward. Right now, Edward's vessel is laying on his floor right in front of his bed, completely dressed. I myself, am sitting at the small table beside the window, sipping a cup of coffee, and waiting for him to wake up. A sharp intake of breath and the rustling of clothes is all I need to hear to know that he is awake. One look is all it takes to know that this is Edward.

"Morning," I say, turning back to the window. I am going to let Dark Edward tell his other half what's going on. The strange thing is, I can see him. I guess it takes one insane person to be able to see another's demons.

"Rise and shine," Dark Edward cheers.

Edward groans. "What are you doing here? I banished you for good."

"Almost. Love of a good woman and all of that. Though, we both know how that turned out." He pulls a face. "Yikes."

"That was an accident. I'm not that man. I'm gonna make this right."

"See, I knew you'd wake up all boo-hooey. You probably have half a mind to turn yourself in. Luckily, I have the other half."

I roll my eyes and look over at the two. "Edward, are you kidding me? How the hell are you going to make this right? Kristen is dead. Accept it and move on."

Edward stares at me with shock, but soon turns back to his other half when he begins to speak.

"Do you like magic tricks?" Dark Edward asks with a grin.

"What?"

"Of course you like magic tricks. After all, I do." He claps his hands together. "Well, guess what? I can make a body disappear."

Edward gasps and shoots up from the floor, scanning the room for his dead girlfriend. "Where is she? Where is Ms. Kringle's body?"

"Open the envelope."

Edward picks up the envelope marked with a question mark and opens it, reading it out loud. "'I hid her body while you were catching some Z's, you'll need a helping hand, so look for her initials down at the GCPD'. You went to my work last night?"

"Well, technically, you did. I was just in the driver's seat, so to speak."

"How? You're a figment of my imagination. A projection of impulse. Nothing more."

A laugh breaks free from my lips and the two Edward's look at me. "A figment of your imagination, Edward? Then why the hell can I see Eddy?"

Dark Edward chuckles before turning to his better half. "Anyway, that was uncalled for."

"Uncalled for?" Edward all but screeches. "You hijacked my body while I was asleep and you stole my dead girlfriend."

"Okay. Yeah, that's true. But I'm doing this for your own good. If I was you... which, again, I sort of am... I'd get cracking."

Edward becomes confused.

"You do want to find the body first, right?"

✮✮✮

Half an hour later, Edward and I are down at the GCPD. He is sweating in anxiety and I am reclining on Jim's seat as I watch my friend run around the building like a headless chicken. Yawning, I put my feet up on the desk and watch him muttering to himself. Dark Edward appears next to me and smirks at his counterpart, watching him as I am.

"I know you can't talk to me here," Dark Edward says, glancing over at me. "So, just listen as I tell you what he's thinking and saying. It'll make this way more entertaining for you."

Shifting in my seat, I nod.

"'...you'll need a helping hand. Look for her initials down at the GCPD.' 'Look for her initials down at the GCPD'? 'Look for her initials down at the GCPD.' I think he's getting it, Accalia. 'Kristen Kringle. K.K. K.K.'"

Edward rushes over to the wall of fallen officers, and I can't help but smile. He is getting the idea."

"'K.K., K.K., K.K.' He has the right idea."

He runs off and disappears from my line of vision.

"He's in the file room," Dark Edward chuckles. "Closer than he thinks."

A minute passes.

"Now he's checking the notification board. Ooh! So close, other me!" His expression changes into one of delight. "He's got it. Come on, Accalia. Time to see how this goes down."

Dark Edward vanishes and I shrug, climbing off the seat and walking to the vending machine. I watch as Dark Edward appears behind my stuttering friend, a sadistic smirk on his face. Leaning against the wall beside the machine, I chuckle quietly as Edward repeatedly presses the 'KK' button. Packets of 'Lady Fingers' fall from the slot and I shake my head at the irony. Dark Edward is very good.

As the final one falls, Kristen's hand is revealed. Edward instantly gasps and covers his mouth as Dark Edward lets out a laugh. Edward repeatedly feeds money into the vending machine and presses the button, but the hand gets stuck. He hits his hands against it and lets out a 'come on' in a frustrated voice. A cop begins to open the door and I feel my stomach drop. Edward is not meant to be caught. Even Dark Edward lets out a growl of annoyance, but soon grins again when the cop walks away.

Edward hits the machine and the hand falls down into the tray. He lets out a groan before reaching into the designated area and pulling out her purple and blue hand. Holding it for only a second, he quickly tucks it under his suit jacket and runs out, grabbing my hand and pulling me with him. I grin at Dark Edward before I turn my focus back to keeping up with Edward.

Back in the file room, I sit on the concrete floor, reclining against a row of boxes, as Edward studies Kristen's hand under his desk lamp. Dark Edward sits next to me and folds his hands on his stomach. Both of us are anxious for Edward to find the second riddle, and the rest of Kristen's body.

Suddenly Edward gasps and fiddles around with the hand before unfurling a piece of paper to read aloud. "'I'm tired of hiding and want to be free. To locate her body, find the two things missing from me.'"

Dark Edward stands and walks over behind Edward. "The back of our head kind of looks funny. It's like the top of a pencil."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because... it's fun! And it's good for you."

"How is it good for me to be tortured? To be driven insane!"

"I'm trying to show you who you are. How have you not realised that yet? Though, to be honest, I'm surprised you haven't figured out this riddle yet. Should I have made it easier?

"You could start by using proper grammar. A period at the end of a sentence is..." His eyes widen. "Find the two things missing from ME...' M, period, E, period. Oh, God. M.E... medical examiner. You didn't!"

Dark Edward smirks. "I did."

✮✮✮

Edward and I sneak into the M.E. lab, quietly shutting the door behind us. I move over to the bench and sit on it, Dark Edward appearing next to me and watching his twin. Edward looks around the room and then moves towards where they keep the dead bodies. He opens the one with the '?' on the card and slides the tray out, sighing in sadness. He caresses her face and then freezes as the door opens. I instantly look at who it is before relaxing slightly.

"Ed?" Dr Thompkins asks, surprised, as she walks in. "Accalia?"

Edward gasps. "Oh..."

"What are you doing?" she asks, picking something up from the cupboard

"Dr. Thompkins, hello. Uh, I'm just... double-checking notes for a Jane Doe case I'm working."

"Do you need help?"

"No! No, no, no. She's all gone. Or she's..."

Dr Thompkins gives him a weird look.

"I'm sorry, I'm... I'm all done with checking my notes."

"Uh, what notes?"

"It's all up here." He points to his head and lets out a quiet laugh. "Do you realise that by assigning simple mnemonic devices to case files, you can produce recall capacity equal to that of photographic or even eidetic memory?"

"Ed, what's going on?"

"Okay. Um, truth be told, uh... I was hoping to run into you here. Alone."

She gives him another weird look.

"It's Miss Kringle. Uh... We had a fight."

I'm sorry." She pats him on the shoulder. "Every relationship hits a rough patch now and then."

"And you've been so supportive. And I was hoping that maybe we-we could go grab a coffee and you could give me some advice."

"Uh, do you want to finish up what you were doing first?"

"No, no, no, no. I... I can come back another time."

"It's not like they're gonna go anywhere, right?" She laughs.

"You'd think so."

"Yeah, okay."

Dr Thompkins walks away and Edward's face twists in anger as he turns around and slides the tray back in. He follows her, but hesitates when he sees me with Dark Edward. All I do is smile and wave him off. I can find my way back to his place in the dark without any trouble.

✮✮✮

It turns out that I didn't need to leave. Only an hour later, Edward walks back into the M.E. Lab and goes straight to where Kristen's body is, sliding the tray out and staring into her cold, dead eyes. He straightens up and Dark Edward appears next to the door.

"I want to know why you did this," Edward demands.

"When Dr. Thompkins walked in the room, how did it feel?"

"I was terrified. She could have discovered the body."

"But she didn't. You got away with it."

"That's not the point."

"That is absolutely the point!" Dark Edward's voice echoes on the last word and I flinch slightly. He walks around the examination bench in the middle of the room, sending me a smirk before continuing. "You can still feel the rush, can't you?"

His form shimmers in and out of existence, and Edward rolls his shoulders.

"Coming so close to getting caught." Dark Edward blurs almost completely and reappears right behind Edward. "Knowing what you would have been forced to do if she had discovered the body, discovered what you had done."

His voice distorts on the last words and I feel excitement churn inside me as I jump off the bench, walking towards the two.

"Standing...standing at the edge of uncertainty and peering into the void. Now tell me, how did it feel?"

Dark Edward begins to merge with his counterpart, appearing and disappearing as Edward closes his eyes and almost convulses where he is standing. Moments later, with a grin plastered on my face, I watch as Edward opens his eyes. There's a spark of insanity in their pooling depths, and it suits him.

"Beautiful," Edward answers, his voice more smooth like Dark Edward's was.