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Chapter IV: Treachery
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*Ding-dong* *Ding-dong* *Ding-dong* *Ding-dong* *Ding-dong*
“Oh my God please, I don’t want to go,” said Ralph as he tossed and turned on his tattered bedroll.
Eddy complained inside the mind of Ralph and said, “What is that sound?! I’ve never heard such a thing before.”
Ralph groaned, pulled a sheet over his head, and said, “It’s the village bell. The mayor uses it to summon everyone for-”
“Ralphy, get up right now! We have to go to the village square,” said his mother as she bursted into his room.
Ralph grudgingly sat up and said, “Ugh, yes mother. I’ll be right behind you, just give me a moment.”
Ralph was groggy and slightly fatigued from sleeping throughout the day, yet he stood up and made his bed all the same. He had no sense of urgency as he left the house and trailed down the village road. Many people pushed past him in the dark with varying expressions. However, he eventually made it to the outskirts of a crowd and listened to the mayor preach from the gallows above.
“I find the man known as Lee Fischerman to be guilty of murdering the manager of our town’s store, old man Rogers! What say the village?!” shouted the mayor.
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The crowd then whispered and murmured silently amongst each other as the mayor continued on with his trial.
Eddy giggled and said, “So are the town meetings always this nice?! Been a while since I’ve seen a good lynching.”
Ralph wiped the sweat from his brow and whispered, “No Eddy! Usually, the bell is for actual ‘nice’ things, like weddings and auctions, not death…”
“Hmm, there doesn’t seem to be any way around death, and it appears to me like it's the only way to get stronger in this world of blue boxes,” sneered Eddy.
“I suppose you’re not wrong, but there are other ways too,” whispered Ralph.
Eddy sighed and said, “I fadely remember you asking for help to become stronger, right?”
Ralph crossed his arms and said, “Yes… I need to get stronger so that I may help my mother since, as you know, we are very poor.”
“Good! You have a source of motivation, and as you said earlier, killing is a great way to get stronger. It’s also quite fun! What else is there to consider here?” said Eddy as he wiggled cheerfully in Ralph’s pocket.
Ralph bit his lip and then whispered, “How can you say that when there is a man on trial for my crimes? Have you no shame?”
Eddy laughed and said, “No, not really. On the contrary, there was one time I-”
Ralph tuned out Eddy and focused back on the trial at hand. Suddenly, he found himself surrounded by a bunch of raised hands. He looked for his mother within the crowd, since she would surely have an explanation for what had transpired, yet she was nowhere to be found.
Ralph immediately realized the situation though, and said, “No… This can’t be happening,” as he watched Lee hauled in chains up onto the gallows.
“Mr. Fischerman, you are a vile man with extortionate prices on fishes, and it’s clear to our town that you took the next step to oust your only competition! You will hang tonight for this!” roared the mayor.
“Eh, let’s just be glad they didn’t suspect us. I mean, they shouldn’t since you took several sick days off before the incident,” remarked Eddy.
Ralph averted his eyes, turned around, and hurried in the opposite direction of the crowd's cheers.
Eddy sputtered, “Leaving?! What- We’re going to miss the best part! At the very least, we could stake out our next kill here!”
Ralph pulled out Eddy, looked at his rust, and said, “I’ve already decided on whom we’re going to kill next.”
“Oh, really?! My man Ralph, I knew you’d come around. So, who’s it gonna be?!” asked Eddy
“The mayor,” said Ralph.
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