What If [Nygmobblepot]

Ch4: Under the Knife

Edward's POV

It's dark and quiet, besides from the sirens wailing in the distance. I wait in my car, biting the inside of my cheek as I look around. I know Tom Dougherty is coming here tonight, I heard him and Kristen talk at work today. He should've been here already. Late, as usual, I'm guessing.

At that moment I hear footsteps on the wet pavement and look out the window, seeing him walk towards Kristen's door. I take in a breath and make my decision. Really, I wouldn't have come here if I hadn't already made it.

"Stop right there, buster!" I yell before he can make it to the door and get out of the car quickly. I put my hands in my pockets as he stares at me in confusion, the weather is kind of cold and I'm getting nervous.

"Riddle Man?" He questions. "What the hell are you doing creeping around here?"

Inside the pockets, I tighten my hands into fists, feeling myself shake slightly. "You need to leave Miss Kringle alone."

"What?" He asks frowning as he walks up to me.

"I'm not gonna let you hurt her, ever again." I say, trying not to let my voice tremble but he only seems amused, looking around with that stupid smile on his face. "I think you need to leave Gotham tonight." I go on.

He laughs at that and I wonder if he's drunk. "I get it now." He says. "You got a thing for my girl. That's too funny." He leans forward, putting his hand on my shoulder. "Don't take this personal." With that he punches me to my stomach, making me double over in pain and eventually drop on my knees, coughing. That hurt more than I expected. My hand is desperately trying to free the knife from my pocket while he laughs, sounding like he pities me a bit. "You want some more?" He asks. "Upsy-daisy." He pulls me up from the ground by gripping my coat but as I get up, I drive my knife straight into his gut. He groans in pain, obviously taken aback by that. I'm a little surprised I did it so easily as well, staring at my hand that's gripping the knife that's blade is inside him, unable to believe this is reality. I pull the knife out.

"Oh, dear." I stutter before looking up at him. He comes at me, grabbing my shoulders and I stab him again, this time pulling it out faster and repeating the move until he falls to the ground.

"Riddle Man..." He breathes out before falling on his back.

"Oh, dear." I repeat, catching my breath as I look down at his body. "Oh, dear. Oh, no." I feel myself shaking as I back away from the body, still trying to slow down my breaths. I look down at the knife, it's covered in blood and so is the hand holding it. "Oh, dear." I gasp in air but it comes out as a laugh. I did it, I think as I stare at the knife, laughing as I realize the wave of relief washing over me. I chuckle quietly. "Oh, dear." I repeat as I turn around in a circle to make sure no one saw it. "Oh, dear..." I did it. I killed him.

It's like I'm waking up from a dream. Suddenly everything around me seems more real than ever before and I feel like I can do anything, I'm in charge of my own life. And Tom Dougherty.. I turn to look at his bleeding corpse. Well, he's gone. Because of me. I feel better than I thought I would and that makes me feel even better. I expected some kind of a feeling of guilt but I know he deserved what was coming to him. I wouldn't take it back if I could. Another small chuckle escapes me as I have finally managed to catch my breath, my brain now working to figure out what to do next.

Well, I'm gonna have to get rid of the body. I can do that at the precinct with proper tools tomorrow if I can now just get him into my car.

"Come on, then." I say as I put the knife back into my pocket and reach down to grab the heavy man from under his arms. "God, you weigh a ton." I mumble as I start dragging him towards my trunk, his blood getting over my hands even more.

It takes some time but eventually I manage to get him into the trunk. I close it and think about what to do next. Do people kill and then get on normally with their lives? What else, I guess? It's not like I feel bad, I just feel.. Different. I can't go home yet, I decide. Instead I decide to go see the only person who understands the feeling rushing through me at the moment. Hopefully he has reconsidered my offer of friendship.

I'm about to go around the car to the driver's seat when I see a bit of blood on the cracking surface of paint below the trunk. I'm about to wipe it off with my hand when I realize it wouldn't help since they are literally covered in blood. As well as figuratively.

AN: Well, that's that. Sorry there wasn't Nygmobblepot again in this chapter but as you can probably guess from that, in the next one there will be! Sorry if my chapters are kind of short but hey, at least I'm updating pretty often. Thanks for reading, everyone! I appreciate it and hope you're enjoying :)