The Last Prank

Chapter 2: He followed

School began at seven forty-five sharp. Edgar walked in just before the late bell. His fellow high schoolers bounced around the halls, until they stepped close enough to Edgar to notice the dried gore on his clothes. In which case they became silent and took long, slow steps around him. Edgar could see his fellow classmates chatting, laughing and going about their business pleasantly, but their voices seemed distorted as if the entire school was in slow motion. Life carried on as normal for the rest of the world, but Edgar's world had ceased to exist without Ellen.

"This is the age of dehumanization

Perverted creation

Damned, misled children

You never stood a chance"

He finally approached his locker on the second floor for what seemed like a long, grueling eternity. He rummaged through the cluttered mess of textbooks and papers in search of the supplies needed for the next couple of classes. He jumped as he heard the locker next to his slam."Hey, Edgar." Miles greeted him in a solemn tone as he removed his headphones from his ears."Hey."

"You okay?"Edgar shook his head. "No."

"Me neither."

The boys looked away from each other, allowing an awkward silence to drift overhead. Finally Edgar spoke. "I buried her last night."

"Oh..." Miles shifted uncomfortably.

"Can... can I see her after school- say goodbye?" Edgar nodded. "Yeah, sure. Ellen would have liked that." Stephanie's younger brother was the only person in Nod's Limbs Ellen ever considered a friend besides Edgar. He offered to pay for Ellen's hospital bill when she had cut her foot open, but after his father, Mayor Knightleigh, discovered Mile's trust fund was dipped into, he canceled the account and grounded Miles to his room through the rest of spring break.

Miles swore never to forgive his old man. Edgar could still see the anger burning inside his round blue eyes. Miles was always the black sheep of the Knightleigh family and they hated the poor kid for it from the beginning. For whatever reason, he liked the twins and what they stood for- individuality. Even though he was three years younger than Ellen, he developed a huge crush on her. It wasn't until Ellen's junior year did they start hanging out as a couple (Ellen refused to use the word date).

Ever since Stephanie transferred an all girls Catholic finishing school across town, no one was there to stop slowly began to lose his goodie two shoes nature after seventh grade. First, he discovered metal and fell deeply in love with the musical genre. He covered the walls of his room in Metallica, Danzig and Swashbuckle posters along with his pirate memorabilia. Then his wardrobe changed. His parents encouraged him to wear "respectable clothing"- kaki pants, blue sweaters and bright colorful mall clothes like his big sister. Miles humored them until he went to school, where he would change into tattered black denim shorts, grubby denim jackets, and obscene band shirts in the bathroom. On his twelfth birthday, he snuck over to the mansion and paid Edgar fifty bucks to pierce his tongue. Edgar agreed, only because he knew the mayor would freak out. And boy did he. Miles' father sentenced him to a year of military school for that. The chubby blonde boy came back a hardened solder with a buzz cut, a worse attitude and the ability to throw a punch.

Resurrection a dead messiah

For a paralyzed race

Damned, misled children

You never stood a chance

Edgar hated to admit such a thing about a Knightleigh, but Miles is cool and worthy of his trust. He kicked his locker shut then headed for the stairway. "Are you still grounded?" He asked shrugged. "Yeah..."

"So Stephanie's coming to pick you up?"

"Shut up!" Miles balled his fist. "This is BS! Mom and dad send the warden after me- like I'm five or something!" He buried his hands in his pockets. "We'll just sneak out five minutes early to avoid her. She might come looking for us at the mansion, but an aerial attack of wolf packs will scare her off long enough for us to get to the graveyard."Edgar smirked for the first time in weeks. "I'll check my inventory." The first bell rang. The students clambered to get to homeroom on time. "Crap!" Miles quickened his pace. "Move before they shut the door on us!"The boys took their usual spots; the last two desk at the back of the classroom. Miles rose for the Pledge of Allegiance. Edgar sat through pledge. What has Uncle Sam ever done for him? "Liberty and Justice for all..." What a joke...

Infected

Neglected

The new breed of a generation to come

The day dragged on. Edgar drifted from class to class like a zombie. Half of them he sat through with his head resting on the desk. During the last five minutes of Physics, he snuck next door and smuggled a scalpel from the Biology lab. Usually, Edgar only stole school equipment for pranking purposes, but he couldn't quite understand his motives for stealing today. Something in the back of his head just told him the knife would be necessary.

The lunch bell rang. Edgar met Miles in the teachers' parking lot. They leaned against the dent free dividing ramp, enjoying the shade a young birch provided. "May I bum a smoke off you?" Edgar hated the taste of cigarettes, but he and Ellen started smoking to curb their appetites during days when they could not find meals.

Miles handed him a pack from his jacket pocket. He bought them from Stephanie's current boyfriend to give to the twins. "Here; this should last you a while."

"My hero." Edgar sneered. "Lighter?""Oh!" Miles threw him a bic. "Sorry, forgot."Edgar shrugged as he lit his cigarette and took a long, smooth drag.

"I wish I had one of these last night." He said as he exhaled. "I...I still can't believe she's gone." Miles shook his head. "It's not fair. She didn't deserve to go like that..." He looked to his feet. "I'm really sorry, Edgar.""Why should you be sorry?" Edgar flicked some excess ash onto a parked Escort. "At least you tried to help her. Everyone else in this sugar encrusted hole, they can Ellen's place in the ground anytime."

Rejected

Ill-fated

The new breed - a generation to kill

"Makes you sick to see all of them walking around still, doesn't it? It's so messed up. No one's even asked where is she is all day- not even the teachers."

"They don't care!" Edgar hissed. "Don't you get it? No one cares about us! That's why they let Ellen die! We stained Nod's Limbs spotless reputation and the moment everyone saw a way to get rid of one of us, they went for it! Any of those doctors would have let the infection spread through me had I been cut! And your dad would have locked you up if you tried to save me just as fast! This whole blasted town is against us! So, you know what?-" Edgar raised his middle finger to the high school. "EAT ME, NOD'S LIMBS!"

Sowing the seed of suffering

Upon these fertile hearts

Damned, misled children

You never stood a chance

Miles stared in silence as Edgar pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his back pocket. "What's that?"Edgar unfolded it carefully, smoothing out the edges. "Our parents left us this note before they abandoned us." He explained with rage and resentment in his large, owl eyes.

"They told us they were going on an around the world trip- that they would be back one day."

"Maybe they will."

"Don't patronize me! This note is BS, Miles! Ellen and I figured that out a long time ago. It doesn't matter. If they ever come back, I'm going to rub their noses on Ellen's grave! Let them see what they did to us before I throw them in a wood chipper!"Miles put a sympathetic hand on Edgar's shoulders. "Don't talk like that. You would never hurt hurt anyone."

"Says you!" Edgar jerked his shoulder free. "I hope mom and dad died years before Ellen did! I hope some psychopath bum slit their throats in an alleyway! I hope they're still rotting in some French sewer! That's all they deserve!" Edgar ripped the note in half, allowing the strips of paper to fall to the ground.

"Look away"

He raised a brow at him. "Why?" He turned his head once the sound of Edgar's fly opening caught his sound of piss hitting concrete followed. Edgar sighed as he relieved his bladder all over his parent's farewell note. "Eat me too while you're at it!" He hissed, flipping the note off as bell rang again as the piss stained note strips blew away in the couldn't help but break down and cry. Miles wanted to cry for him- and for Ellen, but the year he spent in military school beat the ability to cry right out of him. Miles pulled him to his feet.

"Come on, knock it off. Dry up before we get inside." He begged. "We don't need a tardy detention on top of all this."

Edgar took a deep breath to suppress his sobs. He flicked his cigarette butt aside and hid the rest of the pack in his hoodie. "Do you think Ellen's in heaven, Miles? God would forgive her for everything we've done, wouldn't he?"

"There is no God." Miles answered with a smug chuckle. "If there was, do you really think he would have let Ellen suffer the way she did?"Edgar froze. That was not the answer he wanted to quickly changed his tone. "But, if God does exist, I'm sure he wouldn't deny a prankster access to heaven. Hells for the worst of the worst"

"Hell is for Stephanie"

Miles snickered. "Not according to Sister Felicia." Edgar appeared emotionally stable enough to move, Miles walked him inside. The day was halfway over. Had he any faith left in his heart, Miles would have thanked God for that.

Chosen to be slaughtered

By the masters of manipulation

Damned, misled children

You never stood a chance

The final bell rang. Everyone raced to their lockers. Edgar and Miles struggled to push through the crowd. Technically, Mile's locker should be on the first floor, but because he had been promoted to his sophomore year (due to excellent marks in history, math, and with a little tutoring from Edgar, math and science). This meant he was forced to battle juniors and seniors for a chance to retrieve his books. "Where's your backpack?" He asked Edgar as he threw his backpack over his shoulders. "We have at least two hours worth of studying to do."Edgar kept his eyes on the floor as they shuffled down the hall. "I'm leaving everything here. Why should I bother doing homework anymore? In fact, why should I bother coming here at all?"

Infected

Neglected

The new breed of a generation to come

Miles sighed. "Look, you can't just give up on everything. Ellen wouldn't want you to drop out because of her. You two made it this far- I mean, what if that acceptance letter you've been waiting for comes in and-"

"Don't tell me what she would or wouldn't have wanted!" Edgar snapped. "You didn't know her like I did, okay! Don't even try to act like you did!" A part of Edgar resented Miles for becoming so chummy with Ellen. He felt his company was all she needed, but still, Ellen chose to go out with Miles. She liked him and that disturbed Edgar, but he knew such feelings of hostility were petty and he quickly abandoned them. "I don't care about school anymore. I just want to go home."

"I was just trying to help."

"I- I know... I'm sorry."Miles stopped as they passed the first floor boys room. "Crap! I almost forgot to change. Stephanie will blab to dad first thing if she catches me in my Swashbuckle shirt!" He frowned. "I hate my folks, Edgar, I really do. Remember how big a pain they are the next time you start thinking about your parents." Miles kicked the restroom door open. "Wait for me outside, okay? I'll catch up in two seconds."Edgar nodded as he headed out the door.

Outside, he sat on the bottom step, tripping every tenth or eleventh student that passed him by. Without Ellen sitting at the opposite end tripping the principal, Edgar found no joy in his usual end of the school day antics. He looked around the grounds for any sign of Stephanie. So far, there were none. Her school let out a half an hour earlier before his school did, so maybe Stephanie's boyfriend had picked her up and drove her off somewhere- Edgar hoped at least.

"Jeez, Miles, put on some mascara while you're at it." He mumbled under his breath.

A high pitched, intolerably bouncy ring tone chimed over the crowd of students still lingering on the schoolyard. Sure enough, Stephanie came waltzing through- her red hair, now much shorter, but just as curly bounced in sequence with her footsteps. Edgar could feel his blood pressure rising at the very sight of her. Even while attending another school she still managed to make the twin's life a living hell- right up until Ellen's death. Edgar knew it was Stephanie who tipped her father off about Mile's trust fund. Some how, she had spied on them the day of their trip to the hospital. Edgar couldn't prove it, but he knew she was behind it and it infuriated him to no end. He dared that redheaded banshee to say one word to him, just one word! Stephanie laughed at one of her own jokes. Her little circle of new preparatory school friends stayed behind, allowing Stephanie to approach the front stoop. They all wore the same uniform, but Stephanie always hiked her skirt up higher and unbuttoned her blouse a notch lower than the others to remain the prettiest. She sneered down at Edgar.

"Have you seen Miles?" She asked impatiently. "He's supposed to go home right after school- daddy's orders."

"Daddy's orders" Edgar repeated sarcastically under his breath.

"Well?"

"He'll be out in a minute. He just forgot his notebook." Edgar hissed. "Tell the mayor to cram it this time. We have plans today."

"Miles does not make plans with the likes of you two!" Stephanie glanced to the side and realized Ellen was nowhere to be seen. She smirked in a way that made Edgar's stomach turned. There is only one reason Edgar and Ellen would be apart outside of school- and that's if one of the two had died.

"Edgar, where's Ellen today?"Edgar stood, pointing. "Shut up!" He ordered. "Don't even say her name or I'll kill you!"Stephanie chuckled. "It's a free country. I'll say whatever I want... Ellen." She repeated.

"Don't say her name!"

"Ellen!"

"Say it one more time! See what happens!" He warned.

"Ellen!"

"Smellin' Ellen!" Stephanie cheered. "E-L-L-E-N Ellen! Ellen! ELLEN!"Edgar's face contorted with anger. To hear his beloved sister's name spoken by Stephanie's foul red lips made him want to rip her face off. Out of all the soulless Nod's Limbsian rats responsible for Ellen's untimely death, Stephanie was the most so. He felt the tip of the scalpel stick his palm as he balled his fist at his side. The knife, he thought. He could avenged this gross injustice with the knife! Why should a snake like Stephanie live if an angel like Ellen had to die? "An eye for an eye" as Hammurabi once stated in all his ancient wisdom. A death for a death would only be fair. Stephanie always hated Ellen and Ellen had always hated Stephanie twice as much back. She would have wanted him to do it! She swore to do it herself on several occasions.

"ELLEN!"

Stephanie

"EEEELLEN!"

Had to

"ELLEN! ELLEN! ELLEN! ELLEN!"

Die

"ELL-"

"SHUT UP!" Edgar snatched Stephanie by the hair and forced her into a headlock. She creamed as he whipped out the scalpel and held it against her throat. The other students fled in horror, begging someone to come and help. A few called 911 on their cell phones, for help, but no one would make it in time. Edgar intended to make sure of that.

Ill-fated

The new breed

Parasites

A generation to kill"

Stephanie's screams were replaced with gargled gags as Edgar drove the scalpel across her throat as deeply and slowly as he could. Blood squirted from the gash like a mega soaker water gun. Edgar's grip tightened as she squirmed in agony. He swiped the blade again and again, creating new, deeper gashes.

Oh, hooray for the school's rarely sharpened science equipment. The dull edge of the blade would only prolong her torment.

"Look Ellen!" He cried to the sky. "She didn't get away with it!" He laughed hysterically as her hair and uniform became soaked with blood. Soon, Stephanie stopped twitching. She drooped, limp in Edgar's arm. He tossed her off the side of the stoop, leaving a trail of blood. Stephanie landed with a heavy thud. Her friends were too squeamish to rush to her aid. Edgar's fellow students screamed in terror, running in circles like frightened field this moment of ultimate glory, Edgar fell to his knees and cried. His laughter turned to sobs as a devastating realization sunk in. Stephanie may have gotten what she deserved and he made her suffer as poor Ellen did, but this fact would not bring Ellen back to life. She was still in the gadget graveyard decomposing and being consumed by looked at the bloody scalpel in his quivering hands. He no longer saw a utensil or a weapon, but a key that would reunite him with his only sister. He held the blade to his throat, gritting his teeth to brace himself for the pain.

"What's going on?" He heard miles cry from behind looked back at his shocked friend apologetically.

"You don't have to worry about Stephanie tattling on you." Miles held the sides of his head, dry heaving at the sight of the bloody mess on the ground that only a few moments ago was his older sister. "Jesus Christ! What did you do? WHAT DID YOU DO, EDGAR?"

"We beat her." He replied. "She didn't get the best of Ellen. Make sure everyone knows that."Mile's eyes widened as he watched Edgar slice the scalpel across his throat. "No no no no-" Miles reached out to stop Edgar, but he wasn't quite quick enough. This time his blood sprayed all over the gagged as he keeled over in a sloppy red pool. Slowly, but steadily, his life bled out of him. His vision went black. He had pulled his last prank o died on the ambulance ride to the hospital. She was only inches away from being beheaded before Edgar tossed her aside.

Edgar died before anyone bothered to put him on the stretcher. To save time and gas, the paramedics dropped his body off at the edge of the gadget graveyard. Every news channel in the US covered the story of how a violent, homicidal high school student mercilessly hacked Mayor Knightleigh's daughter to death. People across the nation cursed Edgar's name for his crime despite the fact none of them knew him, Stephanie or the situation behind the story.

All they knew was an ugly pale scrawny boy killed a beautiful rich girl and that alone earned their hatred for legacy as the Nod's Limbs prankster was replaced with one of psychopathic murderer- a legacy most of the citizens of Nod's Limbs believed he would die with was given no burial or a grave marker until four months later when Miles snuck over to the mansion. Heimertz and Pet were nowhere to be found. In place of the manor and Heimertz's shack was ash and debris. Miles suspected the groundskeeper burned both structures down and ran off with Pet- back to the circus perhaps. Why not? With the twins gone, they had nothing left to live for in Nod's Limbs.

He found Edgar's half rotted body and buried it next to Ellen's. He left a satchel case he found at a pawnshop as the tombstone. Embroidered on it was Edgar's epithet. It read

"Edgar Born 1992 Died 2009 He who won the last laugh"

He never forgave Edgar for killing Stephanie, but he could understand why he did it. He would be lying he said he never felt the urge to strangle her. Out of the two deaths, he mourned for the twin's the most. They were the only two people in town who ever let him be himself. He returned to the graves every day after school to mourn. For some time, Bernice was his only was caught visiting the graves by a police officer Mayor Knightleigh hired to follow him. His parents sent him to a mental rehabilitation facility. They told the doctors he was unable to grieve for his sister properly and would never truly heal unless he received psychiatric treatment. He stayed in the loony bin for along time.

"This is the age of dehumanization

Perverted creation

Damned, misled children

You never stood a chance"

The end

'Dehumanization' by Arch Enemy (I repeated the first half of the stanza because it fit the flow of the story)

a/n: If this doesn't make you want to slit your own throat or at least mine, I have failed. Believe it or not, there is a moral to all this. It is: 85% of people killed in school shootings DESERVE to be killed because they tortured, belittled and drove their killer to the point of insanity.

Teachers deserve to be killed more so because they have the power to help the kids being picked on, they just choose not to because it's much easier to look away. I do not feel sorry for students and teachers who die in school shootings at all (unless kindergartners or other obviously innocent bystanders are shot down in the crossfire).

The rest of them can rot in Hell! Kiss my twat, you heartless scumbags!

No one just kills people at random and it sure isn't genetics. It's a cycle people! Open your eyes and quit being assholes to your fellow man and maybe you won't have to worry about school shootings- you fucking morons! That rant wasn't aimed at anyone on this site or anyone unparticular. If it offended you, I really don't care. I ranted from the bottom of my heart and I stand firm in my less than optimistic beliefs. Again, I do not wish this fate upon Edgar and Ellen. I don't think Charles Ogden should ever write something like this. It was just a fanfic (a poorly written one for that matter); don't take it too seriously. Please read and review and I promise never to write anything like this ever again...for Edgar and Ellen.