...

...

The moment my senses returned, I found myself drifting in a pitch black room while dead silence ensued. I tried groping something, but my limbs couldn't even move a bit. There was absolutely no light to illuminate the way, nor there were any kinds of background noises. I couldn't even hear my own heavy breathing, even when it was supposed to be audible enough. There was also nothing that my leg could touch into, so I felt like I was floating midair... or perhaps... I was submerged in some unknown entity.

This seems to be like a purgatory... so that means I am dead...? I tried to bob my head up to see, but the muscle that was responsible for the action didn't respond. And if is indeed one, where are the other spirits...?

Seconds passed, I began to hear raspy, faint voices on my ears. I couldn't figure out what were they talking about, but I felt a pull towards it, meaning that they were demanding my attention. I came to realize that I was closing my eye shut, and couldn't open it at all, as if I had lost control of everything. The fuzzy voices, however, eventually grew clearer and clearer.

"...up... wake up, Ed..." It muttered, calling out for me. "Ed... Wake up..."

Slowly, my head began to ache in a wavering manner. Sometimes it hurt, and sometimes it disappeared. A pair of hands then clutched on my shoulders, shaking me back and forth continuously, until a pang of pain suddenly flashed across my skull, like that of a penetrating bullet.

It quickly jolted me forward while I let out a loud gasp, making a soft contact with something hard. Regardless, I could finally take over my body once again.

Hah...

Hah...

What the fu...

I couldn't even finish my own thoughts. There must be a lot of oxygen lost, and that was why I was breathing through my mouth, as if I had been running. I grasped a handful of fabric as I clenched my hand against my chest, feeling my heart threatening to fly out. When coast was clear, I peeled my eye open, where I discovered that the looming darkness had disappeared.

My eye darted around, and despite the lack of light, I could see that I was sitting inside a car. The seatbelt was still latched on me, and my clothes were still soaked like shit, which made me feel cold.

Looking to the left, however, I noticed a shadow, facing towards me. I was about to yelp in surprise, but the glinting jewelry on his ears and his bright-colored hair stopped me. It then proceeded to trigger me of the previous memories.

As... Asher...?

"Jesus Christ..." He huffed, folding his arms. "What's wrong, man? You seemed really spooked out... A bad dream or something?"

"Not really. Just... startled." After regaining my composure, I answered his concern, keeping it short.

"... I didn't know my face is that scary." He cracked a joke, in a failed attempt to lighten up the mood.

I looked away to the window, where it began to fog up due to the warm air escaping from my lips. There I noticed that the car had come into a stop, and its machine had been turned off. It was parked at a driveway at a desolated, but well-lit road. Two-story houses lined up in a coordinated way, all illuminated by their outdoor lights, with cars in their garage front doors.

It also had stopped raining as well...

"Well... we're here." He announced, and I simply nodded in acknowledgement.

I didn't know how much time I had slept, but at least I gained enough energy to walk for a limited time. Now, I wasn't even hungry nor thirsty anymore, nor were there any sorts of emotions; I just felt like... I had died, buried alongside my old self.

This body won't last long, anyway.

I slowly unbuckled my seatbelt, and went out of the car. followed by Asher. Shutting the door behind me, I was welcomed by a heavy, muggy atmosphere that was left from the rain. The air wasn't supposed to be this sticky, but my drenched apparel made my skin more tacky.

I faintly watched as he fumbled through his jeans' pocket and pulled out his jiggling house keys. He also took out his phone, its screen then flashed upon his face. He then read something on it, causing his eyes to narrow and darken momentarily.

There must be something on that phone that troubling him, but as soon as he knew that I was eyeing him, he slipped it away back to its place. His frown turned upside down so quickly, I didn't even had the time to blink my eye, while he forced out a chuckle.

"Don't worry, Ed." Asher said between his laughter as he led me through his front yard, where I could see a lawn mower sitting in the corner. "My parents are out for today, and will return late at night, so that should be enough time for you to change and dry your clothes."

Again, I returned his reassurement with a nod. I eyed hard at the ground, observing the cracks that had been outgrown with small grasses. I paid no attention as I immediately stepped on them, hearing their tiny crunching noises.

"Oh, before I forgot asking," Asher glanced over his shoulder, looking directly at me, "what happened to your hand, dude? Right when you were asleep, I couldn't help but to notice those bandages. It really looks like a bad wound..."

He must be talking about my injured knuckles that were now painless, so I shrugged it off. Had he not reminded me, I would completely forget about it. Despite being exposed to rain, the bandages I had put were still intact. It was a bit red, most likely due to blood that had dried up, but overall, it was still able to hold on. I slowly gave out a soft exhale, before replying to him.

"Nah, nothing bad." I rasped. "I accidentally knocked over something a little too hard."

"That's odd." The orange-head noted. "If you knock something over, it should be a bruise, not a wound that bleeds."

"The object was really sharp, so I cut through it." I added, full of blatant falsity. "I wasn't paying attention."

"Uh... that must really hurt..." His shoulders stiffened, and his nose wrinkled, as if he felt the pain. "No wonder..."

I mentally rolled my eye at how exaggerating people could get. A bleeding wound was merely speck of dust compared to the constant, monstrous agony I was forced to get through. After all, Asher's completely oblivious about everything. He is not involved in any way.

When we finally reached in front of the door, Asher inserted the key into the hole. While so, my gaze then wandered to the window beside the door. For a brief moment, a pair of tiny eyes then peeked through the blinds. They widened when I took a notice, before retreating inside. I didn't contemplate much about it, though, it was probably his relative or something. I blinked away, focusing on him instead as the door clicked open. He seem to see the sudden movement at the adjacent window, though.

"Don't mind my brother." He said with a controlled smile, as he mildly pushed the door open. "He's just one curious guy."

I said nothing, although I instinctively nodded. As we quietly went inside, I saw the same brown eyes that had peered at me, belonging to a little boy. He stood right in front of us, blocking the way. He had a short, trimmed chesnut hair with a golden piercing on each of his earlobes, dressed in a Toy Story pajamas. He tried his best to act intimidating, as his small body straightened up, his arms crossed, and his bottom lip pushed forward to form an angry pout.

"Hmph, you should have told me you were leaving for a while." The child fumed, furrowing his brows. "I don't like being alone in the house, you know!"

"Hehe, I'm really sorry, Timmy." Asher sheepishly laughed, raising his hands in defeat. The tone on his voice was unusually high, probably trying to act all bubbly. "I just have a very important business to do outside."

"At least tell me, Ash!" Timmy exclaimed, skittering towards his older brother. This gave us way to walk to whatever he was leading me to. "I couldn't guard a house alone, I'm like 7! What if like... someone comes in and tries to steal stuff and do bad things?"

"Well, unless you open the door to strangers and wander outside, you're actually safe here." He convinced as we walked into the living room. Honestly, it was less spacious while compared to the one I used to be in, but it seemed to be comfortable enough. Asher then beckoned me to sit down on the couch, and so I did, while the brothers continued conversing. "Anyway, it's past your curfew, Timmy. You're supposed to be asleep at this time."

My eye began to close for no reason, but I tried to snap myself out of it. It seemed that I had reached my limit again, and that my body was shutting down.

No... not now.

"It's summer holiday, Ash, I can sleep at whatever time I want." The boy asserted. "Besides, I'm not even sleepy, and... I couldn't really sleep alone..."

I have to keep myself awake...

"Well then, would you like to give your brother some help?" I could still hear Asher, but his voice began to slip in and out.

"I'm still mad at you," Timothy sneered, "but I feel bad, so fine, I'll help."

"Great. I need you to grab any new towel from the bathroom, while I'll get a new set of clothes from my room." He instructed, as I managed to see him pointing his thumb at me. "Once you got it, give it to my friend here. He's soaked from the rain and he's cold, so you need to hurry."

"Yeah, I can see..."  Timmy's concerned eyes were then on me. Well, he had been stealing glances between Asher and me since the time we entered the house. He surely wanted to ask something about me, but decided to hold his curiosity. "Okay, I'll be fast!"

I quietly listened to the boy's distancing but fast footsteps as he scampered out of the living room, and into the hallway. Meanwhile, I locked my gaze with Asher, who softened his eyes and gave me a look that told me to stay here. I watched him as he subsequently walked out and went up the stairs, probably to his room. When he eventually disappeared, leaving me to tend by myself, I leaned back against the couch.

I was fiddling the strings of my hoodie, making sure I wasn't losing my consciousness. However, a few seconds later, Timmy instantly showed up with a blue, large towel, folded nicely on his small hands. Surely he is one kid who keep true to his promises...

"Thanks." I whispered faintly, pushing myself to take the towel from him. He merely gave me a heartwarming smile, with dimples formed on each side of his cheeks. Wiping my hair, my face and the rest of my apparel, I saw Timmy jumping into the seat beside me, and then observed as I cleaned off my phone as well.

"You looked really tired." He commented.

"... Yeah." I agreed, sighing in defeat, setting the towel aside.

"What did you do?"

"Walking around the town."

"Don't you have like a car like my brother?" Timmy stared in disbelief. "In that way, you don't have to get wet when it rains."

"Nah. Not into that stuff." I shook my head.

"That's... strange." He remarked. "Usually people your age love cars."

"Heh. I guess I'm a weird freak." I sneered, before leaning against the couch, resting my head on it. He proceeded to giggle at my self-insult before grinning broadly, revealing his tiny sets of teeth. A flashback instantly struck me, where it reminded me of what I used to be back then, but I blocked it out as soon as it appeared.

"You're funny, but I don't think you're a freak." He  complimented, giving me a playful nudge, which  didn't even budge me a bit. I really wanted to give the child some sort of a lightened expression, but for some reason, I resisted the urge. After all... I shouldn't be feeling relieved. I was literally a blank slate, so I just remained straight and silent. "Anyway... my name's Timothy. Just call me Timmy. What's yours?"

"Edward." I replied.

"... Edward... as in Edward Cullen?" The child  simpered, casually making a joke of my name. It was the one that should have gotten into my nerves, but I wasn't even close to being triggered. Usually, I would confront and threaten the culprit without second thoughts, but there was no burst of energy that could drive me to do such thing. In fact, I simply bobbed wordlessly, as if I was agreeing with Timmy. All the shit and pain I have been through really affected and changed me deeply.

"Getting along already, Timmy?" A different voice sounded from behind us, which caused both of us to turn our heads around. He had finally returned from upstairs, carrying a set of clothes on his hands.

"Yup! He's kinda fun to talk with." He said in a fond look.

"Don't ask too much questions, kid." Asher prompted. "He's really tired and needs rest."

"No, I just ask him about this and that... nothing much..." Timmy claimed as he swung his legs back and forth. His brother then blew out a soft breath, then made an approach. He bestowed me a plain black, cotton T-shirt which size was  large enough for my body, and a pair of orange training shorts.

"Get changed, Ed. Don't want to stay with that hoodie for long." He commanded.

"Yeah... I agree." Timmy butted in.

I have no protests against the brothers. I inaudibly stood up and took the outfit. As I crept out of the room, he trailed behind me, giving me directions. "The bathroom just down the hallway and to your left."

"Thanks." I nonchalantly showed my appreciation.

"Just give me your dirty clothes once you're done. I will dry it up for you." He assured.

"Thanks." I repeated, before heading to the path he had showed me. Asher is acting too nice for my liking... This is probably just him pitying my stupid ass, so I shouldn't let my guard down.

Once I entered the bathroom and shut the door, I locked it behind me and walked in further, where my appearance was depicted on the mirror. My blonde hair was slightly flat, probably due to the rain, but a few strands were protruding out. My face was, well, fatigued as usual, and my eye was completely dead. Just the same, typical Edward from before.

I took a deep breath and pulled out my phone, putting it on the sink. I slowly stripped myself out of the wet hoodie and pants, putting them on the floor next to me. When I reverted back to the mirror, I could see my bare chest and my exposed stomach, which was distinctively bulging out. My boxers was entirely soaked as well, but I gave no single damn about if.

I used to be so turned off and repulsed from just seeing at my own body, but now, there was no feeling of disgust. Just... blank.

I guessed nothing in this world mattered to me anymore.

Not pondering so much about it, I decided to slip on Asher's shirt with ease and pulled the shorts up to my hips. It quickly made me really soft and cool, so it slightly lightened me up. I brushed my hair with my hands, trying to at least neaten up the strands that were standing, and that was when my attention trailed towards my phone.

I wondered how many times my family had tried calling and texting me before finally giving up. Right now, they should have accepted the fact that I was not a part of them anymore and just left me to do all things by myself. I scorned at the thought, before taking the phone from the skin and pressed on the power button.

It was supposed to be dead and broken due to rain exposure, so I expected nothing.  Miraculously, it turned on, like nothing ever happened to it. The entire gadget was wet, but there it was, still working as normally. Well, I did hide it inside my pocket during my time outside, but... I thought it won't survive.

Surprising... huh...

As it got reception data, tons of unread messages immediately bombarded it. My phone vibrated and rang incessantly as texts continued to flow like a river, which forced me to silent it. There were also lots of notifications telling me about missed calls, most coming from... my mother and my sister.

...so when I'm gone, you all become so concerned and worried and shit...

How interesting...

I tensed up as I rolled my eye. Unlocking my phone, I checked the message boards of each one who had spammed me. Mother had sent a lot of 'please come back' and 'answer my calls', while Father just sent a lot of apologies, and Lu said that she will try to help and understand my situation.

I knew behind all of these empty words, were all just plain bullshit. If I was moved by them and returned back, I was positive they will force me to the therapist.

However, of all the people who sent me texts, one instantly caught my attention. When I read the name, I couldn't believe what I had seen, and always thought I was just hallucinating again. I hated it when my eye played tricks on me, but when I reread it all over again, it wasn't any imaginary shit. Finding out its authenticity, my eye flew open wide, and a few moments later, my hands began shaking.

Rena...

I quickly punched on the message board to read what she had left me.

Hi Ed

I know you're still mad at me, but I hope you're reading this

Your mom called my mom and asked her whether you're at our house, and she said no

We then hear that you ran away from home because of some conflict...

I was hoping, well... if you could tell me... where are you?

Everyone's worried about you, Ed

I heard they were searching for you the entire hour

My parents decided to take part as well

No, I won't fell for any of these stupid tricks.

My family probably thought Rena was my weakness, so they decided to use her to get me back. After all... Rena and I... had quite a conflict yesterday, so why would she suddenly looked for me now? It was just... too good to be true.

When I scrolled down the rows of her texts, I noticed there were new ones. When I hovered my finger over the time stamp, I discovered that they were received ten minutes before.

It's okay, if you dont want to see your parents, we can meet, just the both of us

I have a lot of things to tell you, Ed

Dont worry, I won't disclose your location

Please Ed

I promise I'll help you

You're still so selfless huh, even when I got upset at you because of it... Why don't you care more about yourself and get over me...? I didn't bother to type a response, and exited the message board as fast as I could. Without hesitation, I turned my phone off once again, preventing overload of messages.

Stop... I clenched my hands together, along with my phone grasped around it. STOP MESSING WITH MY FEELINGS!!!

"Ed, are you done yet?"

The muffled voice of Asher from outside distracted me, which surfaced me back to reality. Before I got lost in my own complicated mind, I hurriedly snatched my hoodie and pants that were sprawled on the floor. I took long strides towards the door and swung it open. It revealed the orange-haired guy waiting beside the door, thrown aback by my... grand exit.

"You sure love... surprising people." He pointed out, giving me some sort of a smirk, though it slightly faltered as his eyes stared up and down my body. With no word, I just passed him my clothes, and wandered off without even waiting for him. I placed one of my hands on my face while I felt my skull starting throbbing in pain.

"Come to think of it, you looked really... famished." He pursued after me, as I heard his soft footsteps. "There are some slices of pizza on the dining room. I ordered it for Timmy before, but he didn't finish most of them."

Famished...?

I looked down at myself.

Famished... huh...

***

A/N: Rena finally made a return after being absent for a few chapters, but Ed had hardened his heart and pushed her away. However... will he able to close himself up forever...? Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and don't forget to leave a vote and some comments :)

Question
What do you think of Timmy?

That's all for this chapter. See you all next week! :)

- Tara