Chapter Eleven
Who the Hell is E?
The day of Edward’s funeral has arrived. The church was filled with families, relatives and friends of the Lawson’s family. There were plenty of mourners: even kids who Edward used to just pass by the hallway and kids whom he did not look twice at still paid respect and attended. This was because of Edward’s popularity and influence. Numerous cops were scattered around the vicinity of the church as ordered by Ms. Lawson.
Out of Edward’s four best friends, Richard was the first one to arrive. He was looking handsome with his black Dolce and Gabanna coat and black polo underneath with a shiny black tie. Even though he took so much time perfecting his pompadour hairdo, Richard still managed to be early.
He seated on the front row which made him feel uncomfortable but he has to because Ms. Lawson reserved the long seat for Edward’s best buddies. While he was at front, he kept looking behind to see of his friends had already arrived. Every five seconds, he glimpsed on his iPhone to see if they had responded to his text. Five minutes had passed and his friends weren’t in the church yet, so he texted them again to be quick as possible.
“Richard,” a girl’s voice called who was standing beside him.
“Oh hey, Abby,” Richard straightened up as he greeted Edward’s sister, Abigail. She was wearing a cute black Anna Sui cocktail dress with a black stockings and a black tiny feathery-top hat hairclip. Even though it was a solemn moment for her, she still managed to look cute and stellar.
“Where are Louis, Ismail and Travis?"
“They are on their way.” Richard was stunned by her look. “Wow, Abby. You looked stunning.”
Abigail flaunted her dress a little with and tiny spin. The feather that was attached on her tiny top hat hairclip followed her movement.
“You too! You looked handsome.” Then, she saw her relatives arrived. “Just a sec, Rich. Need to check in with my relatives.”
“Sure,” Richard squeaked but he really wished for Abigail to have stayed for company. He was really feeling lonely. Where the heck are they? He thought.
“Thank you so much for coming Richard.” Abigail said.
“Sure thing,” Richard smiled as he watched Abigail walked towards her relatives. Ms. Lawson was also there welcoming their relatives. She led them to their seats as if there was a party going on.
Richard looked around for a moment as he internalized the beauty of the church. He quickly got bored, so he thought of an idea to have a quick glance in the coffin that was placed on the altar. Since the altar was wide enough, he observed the mourners grieving for Edward. Without further ado, he decided to go to the altar to see Edward’s corpse.
Richard was so nervous to look at his dead best friend. As he looked in the coffin, he was somehow amazed but his amazement was different. Upon seeing Edward’s face, he thought that Edward was still handsome even if he’s dead. Edward’s porcelain skin glowed because it complemented with what he was wearing: a velvety black coat with a cream polo inside tied with a satin black necktie. His rosy lips were shut softly and his hands were resting firmly on his diaphragm.
A tear rolled from Richard’s left eye. He was not expecting that to come but it just happened.
While he was having a moment, someone suddenly touched his left shoulder and when he turned around, it was Louis along with Ismail. Finally!
“Hey,” Richard wiped a tear and smiled as if nothing had happened.
Louis and Ismail both peeked in the coffin. They also felt the same. Edward was really important to them. Seeing him lying on that casket was a huge bummer.
When they stepped down the altar, Ms. Lawson approached them. “Hello, boys.” She gave them individual hugs. “Thank you for coming. Edward sure would love to see you, boys. By the way, where’s Travis Becker?”
Coincidentally, Travis was already heading to them as he walked down the aisle. He was holding a basket offering and reached it to Ms. Lawson. “Our family would like to reach our condolences, Ms. Lawson.”
Ms. Lawson nodded softly and hugged him. “Thank you. Tell to your mom that I said, ‘thank you’.”
She held the basket and did not bother to look what was in it although it was quite heavy. That was because Marnie Becker stacked five cans of Pork and Beans, five fresh Fuji apples, a strawberry jam, a jar of cornichons, a box of Raisin Bran and a bottle of Butterscotch.
“You all looked so handsome. I really missed those days where I see you five together. I mean, you are the collection of handsomeness.”
The four laughed but it was in-control due to the emotion around. It would be weird to laugh in a blue and mournful situation.
“Your seat is at front,” Ms. Lawson offered. And she led the way.
They all followed Ms. Lawson and sat in front feeling dismayed. Travis entered the row first after Ms. Lawson, followed by Ismail and Richard and Louis was in the corner near the aisle.
“How are you all doing?” Travis whispered.
“We’re doing great,” Richard replied, “well, not really.”
Ismail glanced at the table of offerings where Travis’s basket was placed. He looked back at Travis. “Really? Raisin Bran?”
“What?” Travis said in confusion.
Louis looked behind to see people arriving. He saw familiar faces. “What is Kenneth Oswald doing in here?”
His friends looked behind as well.
“Edward messed with that kid, right?” Travis clarified.
“Kenneth was an avid fan of his,” Richard answered. “At least he’s here. Definitely a true fan, though.”
Coach Justin McIvor, Jude O’Brien and the rest of the football team attended as well. Richard waved at them.
“It seems like the whole town is in here,” Richard said.
Travis whispered a joke. “If Edward was still alive, he would be happy with the entire crowd who came to see him.”
“I know, right?” Ismail simpered a little, “That’s Edward. His popularity never dies.”
Richard did not laugh or smiled but full of disappointment registered on his face. “Edward was such an influence to us, you know? As if he was really alive up to now because of such disturbances that I’ve been experiencing.”
Ismail played the tip of his tie, “we’re on the same page, Rich. It seems Edward’s ghost was playing me around.”
The guys paused for a second. Travis and Louis exchanged looks as if they were thinking of the same thing.
Louis squinted and thought that maybe Richard and Ismail might have also been receiving texts from E.
Travis took a deep breath like he was having a telepathic conversation with Louis. He signaled him to talk.
Louis recognized Travis’s signal, so he whispered. “Travis and I weren’t the only persons who have been receiving texts from someone, right?”
Richard and Ismail shot him a look that was registering YOU HAVE THEM TOO?
Travis leaned forward to them. He doesn’t want Ms. Lawson to hear their conversation. “Is there a label “E” at every end of the text?” Travis mouth started to quiver.
Richard and Ismail nodded in unison.
Louis’s mouth dropped.
Travis’s eyes were wide opened and whispered another question to them. “When did you start receiving those texts?”
“I don’t know.” Ismail blinked and tried to process his answer, “I think, ever since Louis returned.”
“I received that ever since I returned home as well,” Louis added.
“Neither do I,” Travis added looking downcast.
“So all of us received ever since you got home from England,” Richard concluded.
“Do you know who the stalker is?” Ismail asked.
“All I knew was the texts came from E,” Louis replied.
Travis looked behind and was shocked when he saw someone he wouldn’t expect to cone, so he alerted his friends. “Guys, look.”
All of them turned around. They saw Clint Whitman heading down the aisle driving his wheelchair. The guys thought that maybe he was E to take revenge about that nasty thing that they did to him when Edward was still alive that nobody knows except for the five of them.
That was Friday night when Edward, Louis, Richard, Travis and Ismail went to Clint’s garage to prank him. The idea was planned by Edward’s and as usual, Louis disagreed.
“I don’t think this is a good idea, Ed,” Louis nervously said.
“Oh, shut up, Harry Potter!” Edward said.
At Clint’s garage, they saw him working on a project. They thought that it was a project in Shop Class. They saw Clint using some platforms for him to design on the top of his huge project. Clint was really working hard. When they saw him got off the platforms and went inside his house, the boys took that advantage to break in.
“That’s our cue!” Edward started heading inside. Ismail, Travis and Richard followed. But Louis was left behind.
“Wait,” Louis halted.
“Come on,” Ismail called Louis.
“Let him,” Edward said as if he was trying to bother Louis’s conscience. “If he doesn’t want to come, then leave him.”
Edward’s words sure were effective and made Louis change his mind and headed inside.
Then, the prank began. Travis and Ismail started disarranging the platforms.
“This is heavy, man.” Travis complained as he lifted on the other end of the steel platform with Ismail on the other.
On the other hand, Edward and Richard started loosening some screws that Clint was stepping on.
“Guard the doors, Lou,” Richard ordered.
Louis went to guard the doors. He was shaking as hell. Perspiring much, his eyeliners started to get all around his eyelids. “Guys, quickly!”
“We’re working on it!” Ismail said.
Then, Louis saw Clint coming. “He’s coming!”
Travis and Ismail slowly but not surely put the platform back on its holder with loose screws. Then, all of them sprinted and hid in fence and took a peek to see what might happen.
“Here we go!” Edward said while rubbing his palms. Then, he looked at his left as if he sensed something. His expression changed.
“What?” Richard asked.
When Richard was about to look the same direction as where Edward was looking at, Edward quickly blocked his hands to his head and told him, “Just watch.”
Clint grabbed his tools and stepped on one platform. Nothing had happened yet. The platforms were attached to the walls with support under each of it. It had four levels and Edward loosened the fourth level screw and Richard loosened the first level screw.
When Clint climbed to the highest platform, the platforms started to wobble. Clint could not balance because he started to struggle. “Wo!” Then it happened! He fell on his knees and got worsen as he broke his legs. “Ahh! Fuck!” Clint screamed in pain. His eyes were red. He clutched his left leg that was badly injured. “Ahhh!”
The guys were shocked because their prank did not go well. It went worst! They fled as far as they could from the vicinity of the accident. Clint’s residence was near to Edward’s so they went to his backward.
Edward’s face was pale.
“This is all your fault!” Louis blamed Edward. “You should have listened to me!”
Edward regained his composure after Louis’s talk. He looked calm although his conscience was bothering him. “It was just a silly prank, guys!”
Richard glared at Edward. “You shouldn’t have put us into this! What if someone caught us? Who were you looking at by the way?”
“Oh come on! You guys loved it. You agreed, right?” Edward cried.
The four realized that they did agree.
“So if you want to save your ass off,” Edward confidently proposed, “then, no one should freakin’ spill out what had happened and act like you didn’t know what the fuck happened!”
“But, what we did was wrong!” Travis said. “I feel sorry for Clint.”
Edward calmed them. “No one saw us, guys! No one knew that it will end up rough. I know I don’t!” He was started to be hysterical. “I mean, I thought that he would just fell from the first platform...”
“But he didn’t...” Louis interrupted and was glaring at him.
“I know...” Edward interrupted with a high angry tone. “I looked around to see if there were people or surveillance cameras. But there were none!”
“How’d you know?” Richard asked.
“I’ve been there,” Edward answered. “Before we did the goddamn thing, I surveyed the freaking backward!”
Richard’s stare was suspicious.
“So y’all blaming this to me?” Edward cried. “It’s my fault now, eh?”
No one responded but they all just shrugged.
“First of all,” Edward continued, “you fuckin’ agreed! You shouldn’t have agreed in the first place if y’all gonna act like sissies in the end.”
Ismail frowned but he was looking downcast. Richard was still staring at him. Louis disappointedly looked sideways. And Travis just continued to shrug.
“Man up, people!”
Moment of silence walked pass them. And by that, no one knows how Clint got injured and everyone still thought that it was just an accident.
After the ceremony, the boys gathered outside the church looking fit with their black suits on. They were still talking about the “Clint Incident” and the “E” stalker who was giving them threatening messages.
Suddenly, a guy in a black suit approached them confirming their names. “Excuse me. Are you Louis Lockwood, Richard Grayson, Travis Becker, and Ismail Ambani?”
“Yes,” Richard nodded in confusion, “why?”
“My name is Detective Robert Weismann,” he introduced as he showed his badge attached on his case. He was in his thirty’s with a short dark blonde hair. He had a pointy nose that seemed to be pointing them whenever he looked to their direction. But he still had good looks especially with his grey eyes. “We are still in the process of solving a case and I’m here to ask you about what happened before, during, and after the night of Edward Lawson’s disappearance? Is it okay if you could be a part of the investigation?”
The boys exchanged glances with one another. They look hesitant to answer.
“Well, I’m so sorry for your friend,” Detective Weismann gave his condolences. “Edward was a great kid. I know this kid since he was 9. He’s really a pure Mapletonian.”
The boys smiled. And they agreed.
“Okay,” Detective Weismann said. He put out his pen and notepad. “Were you with Edward during and after the party?”
“We were with Edward during the party but when we went home, we were not with him.” Richard quickly responded.
Weismann’s eyes analyzed the statement, smirked, and suspiciously stared at them. “Why weren’t you with him when you went home? Aren’t you his ride?”
Richard was stuck. Holy shit in asking that question, he thought.
“He decided to go early,” Ismail covered him. “He was not feeling the party. You know, not in a party mood.”
“He was definitely in my ride,” Richard added, “but he could ask a lift from anybody there. Like what you said, ‘he’s great’, and totally influential. I mean, he might have asked girls to take him home.”
“I know,” Weismann answered quickly and stared at the guys, “and what I want to know is: what really happened that night. I want honest answers.” He met with each of the boy’s eyes like it was ‘bam! You’re gonna get caught!’
“What are you trying to say, Detective?” Richard clarified.
“We will have an appointment with each of you,” Detective Wesimann said. “We already have your numbers, so we could contact you easily. Thank you. Have a nice day.” Then, he left the guys and went to his Subaru and made his last stare.
Once the detective was out of sight, Louis nervously asked the guys. “What if Weismann knows something about that night?”
“Louis!” Ismail cried and he rolled his eyes, “What part of ‘I want to know what happened that night don’t you understand? Obviously, he does not know!”
“I just thought,” Louis morphed into embarrassment, “he’s pretty in to us. Very suspicious.”
“That’s the job of a detective. Be suspicious,” Richard lectured like the guys haven’t heard the concept of sleuthing. “They will dig beyond a hole from another just to get answers.”
“So, what are we gonna tell them?” Travis asked.
Suddenly, Richard’s iPhone started to beep. He thought that it was just an ordinary personal message from someone but Louis’s phone tinkled with it. Ismail’s phone grew it sound inside the orchestra as it buzzed and vibrated. Lastly, Travis’s phone entered the scene as it chimed inside his pocket. All their phones were in orchestra with different melodies. Then, they exchanged worried looks thinking of the same freaking thing. They all held out their phones and read it in unison. All the screen of their phones read One New Massage. Then, they started opening it.
Louis gasped in disbelief.
“Holy shit,” Ismail spat.
“No fucking way,” Travis’s eyes widened.
Richard started to read the first five thrilling words,
You lying jerks are gonna pay...
And then, they read the rest of the message simultaneously:
...and I’ll get the hell out of you ALL. – From your best bud, E.
Chills lingered in their bones upon reading the text. They were standing in an awkward position looking very guilty. They scanned and roved their eyes in the surroundings and the ambience started to become eerier because they know that there were eyes watching them and those pair of eyes came from their best bud, E.