Fools ||Edward Nygma|| [1]

Chapter Two || Who we are

"This cold night will turn us all to fools and madmen."

- King Lear

Ed watched from inside of his car as Miss Kringle entered her apartment building. It wasn't long until Tom Dougherty appeared at the end of the street. He stumbled slightly while he walked with his hands in the pockets of his jacket. The forensic scientist took a deep breath and prepared himself to open the door of his car. It was time. He had to be brave for Miss Kringle.

In another part of town, Charlotte walked the poorly illuminated street alone on her way home. That morning she had decided not to take her car. She preferred to walk to the GCPD sometimes since it wasn't that far. Ed would worry about her and tell her it wasn't safe to walk through Gotham at night.

In her pocket, she didn't have pepper spray, but she had a knife. A pocket knife her father had given to her before he died of stomach cancer. The blonde had her hands inside her leather jacket's pockets and her right hand was holding the knife.

Charlotte made her way down the dark alley she had to cross to get to her street. She wasn't far away. Only two more blocks and she could finally rest between the sheets of her bed. She was almost at the end of the alley when she heard a whistle coming from somewhere in the dark behind her. She immediately started walking faster. Just a few more steps and she would be out of there.

"Hey, you!" A man called from behind her and she stopped in her tracks. There was no use in running now. If this man wanted to attack her, he would just run after her all the way home and that was obviously not an option.

Charlotte turned around and tried to distinguish the man in the dark. He was slightly smaller than her but had broad shoulders. He wasn't completely bald, only had a few hairs on the sides of his big head. He appeared to be drunk as he stumbled towards Charlotte. That's where she saw her advantage. It would be so easy to knock this man on his ass if he tried anything.

She stared at the man boringly and waited for him to walk closer to her, not too close though. He stumbled over his words and it took him a long time to complete his sentence. "A girl like you shouldn't be walking around these parts on her own. There are a lot of creeps around here".

"Don't you say," Charlotte muttered sarcastically.

The man didn't understand her and took a few more steps forward. "What?"

Charlotte stepped back once, but the man continued. She was tired and she didn't feel like fighting at the time. However, things never seemed to go how she wanted and this was just another one of those times. Once she felt the smell of alcohol on her face, she decided it was her time to attack.  She grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back. He let out a yelp in pain and then she kicked him in the ass.

The man lost his balance and fell with his face on the ground. Charlotte turned her back and continued on her way out of the alley. Charlotte was finally out when she was yanked back and pushed against a brick wall. Her breath was knocked out of her lungs and the man took that moment to start kissing her neck. The sloppy wet kisses left on her skin made her want to puke. Charlotte didn't waste any more time and kneed him in the balls.

She had learned something that night: Never turn your back unless you're sure he's down. No matter whether he's drunk or not.

He yelled out in pain and with one hand he held the place where Charlotte had kneed him. However, the other hand held her left arm tightly.

Charlotte craved her nails in his hand to make him let go of her, but that wasn't working. They both fought against each other and the drunk man was quite strong for his current drunkenly state.

Suddenly, the man stopped and stared up at Charlotte with his mouth opened in a silent scream. A gasp left his mouth and his hold on her loosened. That's when she noticed the warm sensation on her right hand.

She looked down in confusion and was startled when she saw her hand covered in blood. Her hand was holding her father's knife and the man's blood dripped down her fingers. She took out the knife and a lot of blood came out of the drunk man's wound. Then he dropped to the ground lifeless.

She didn't know why, but she smiled. Maybe she smiled because she had won against someone who tried to attack her or maybe it was because of the feeling of the man's warm blood on her hand. It could also be for both reasons.

On Kristen Kringle's neighborhood, Edward Nygma had just stabbed Tom Dougherty. He was shocked when he noticed what he had done, but the man gave him no choice. He hit Miss Kringle and punched him. Not to mention the way he spoke about his best friend, who he was sure was home by then and was safely away from that fool.

Dougherty fell forward and Edward ended up stabbing him again. He didn't stop there and continued to stab him like he had done to those watermelons on the previous day. All his frustrations were loaded on each stab.

"Riddle Man." Those were Dougherty's last words before he fell back on the asphalt lifeless.

"Oh, dear," Ed whispered over and over as he took a few steps away from the body.

He looked down at his knife, which he had brought in case Tom got violent. The officer was drunk and punched him, so Ed was obligated to use it. Ed didn't know why, but he started laughing. He couldn't stop himself. His own laughter sounded weird to him. Watching Tom's blood dripping from his knife was making him laugh uncontrollably and he sounded almost... maniacal.

"Oh, dear".

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A/N: Intense chapter! You can see Charlotte is already going down a dark path that she may not be able to get back from. Love you all <3