⚠️TW: gun, crying, knife, murder, gore, blood, stabbing, attack mention ⚠️

Edge's POV

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm not really an executioner! Please don't shoot!" I begged. I felt cold metal of the gun pressed against my head.

"Please don't kill me," I whimpered. "I don't wanna die now, I have people who rely on me-"

"Edge?" The voice said.

I opened my eyes that had been screwed shut out of fear.

Ash.

She helped me stand up, putting the gun back in her pocket. "You're crying."

I wiped the tears away. "I- um, I can explain I promise-"

She pressed my head gently against her shoulder. It was then I noticed how much taller Ash was.

"Shh, it's okay." Ash whispered, stroking my hair calmingly. "I'm not gonna hurt you."

I choked on quiet sobs, trying to keep it together but failing. I was beyond scared for a moment.

"Jesus Christ, Edge, I didn't realize how short you are." Ash mumbled. I laughed a little louder than intended.

"Fuck, did I say that out loud?" Ash asked. I nodded with a smile.

"Edge, I'm sorry about the gun. I really thought you were an executioner." Ash apologized. "Well, uh, two executioners I guess."

"It's okay. I'm fine." I lied.

"What are you doing here?" Ash asked.

"I wanted to talk to you," I replied, looking her in the eye. "Someone from your cult... um... killed one of our dearest members of the GMPS."

"What?" She said. "Who?"

"I didn't get a name, but the victim said they were dark-haired, tall, in trench coat." I replied.

A look of fury appeared in her eyes. "Jason fucking Dean."

"Wha-"

"Come with me," Ash said, grabbing my hand. She opened a dumpster that had what looked like the top of a slide. Ash perched at the entrance, holding her hand out to help me in.

I grabbed it, and she pulled me in. She closed the lid of the dumpster, holding me as we went down the slide.

I screamed at the speed of it all the way down. When we reached the bottom, I almost fell down due to dizziness.

Ash held me up. "You haven't been on many slides, have you?"

"I have!" I retorted. "Just not ones that go basically a million miles an hour."

Ash laughed. "Follow me."

She walked into what looked like a kitchen and grabbed a mini bag of Doritos. She then walked over to someone with dark brown hair dyed purple at the tips ties into a messy ponytail.

"Here's your gun, Briar." Ash said, sliding a gun across the table. Briar looked up and saw me.

Her eyes kit up with mischief. "Ash is this-"

"This is Edge Prince, say anything and I'll cover you in shrimp and feed you to sharks." Ash said, opening her bag of Doritos and eating it.

Briar laughed. "Ash called you a princess-"

"You're named after a cheese with an r at the end,"Ash said, cutting her off. "Anyways, do you know what room Jason Dean is in?"

"Room 666, floor five." Briar replied.

Ash threw the empty bag away. "Let's get to Dean's room."

Ash grabbed my hand again and dragged me to an elevator, where she pressed a button labelled 5.

"Figures he'd be in room 666," Ash muttered. "The bastard's a fucking demon."

I stayed quiet out of fear. The elevator rattled and moved down slowly, as if it were a warning-

Nevermind we're on the fifth floor.

Ash once again grabbed my hand with her left and pulled a dagger out of her boot with her right.

She dragged me to room 666 and banged on the door.

"JASON! LET ME IN MOTHERFUCKER." She shouted.

A guy with dark, messy hair and a black trench coat opened the door. He was at least six feet tall, definitely five or six inches taller than Ash. Yet the moment he realized it was her, it seemed like fear filled him.

"A-Ash! How can I help yo-"

"I'm coming inside, trench coat whore," Ash said, shoving past him. She'd let go of me at this point, so I awkwardly followed her.

Jason closed the door. "You know, you can call me JD-"

"I'll call you whatever I damn well please, you dim stop light," Ash spat. She grabbed ny shoulder. "Do you know who the fuck this is?"

His eyes locked onto mine, and a match of terror lit up in my mind. The "what if's" and fear of attack filled my mind. This was the guys who killed Evan Hansen with seemingly no remorse.

"This is Edge-fucking-Prince, you complete fish." Ash growled. "And something tells me you don't sit right with her."

"Why would you think that?" JD asked, still keeping a scary amount of eye contact with me.

Ash let me go and pinned him to a wall. "Don't play dumb with me, cold soup bowl! You killed someone from the GMPS, her gang!"

She raised her dagger to his throat.

"Okayokayokay, I killed the guy in blue! Happy?" JD admitted.

Ash lowered her throat. "You are never to hurt someone from the GMPS ever again. Got it?"

He nodded.

"I need verbal confirmation, coat hanger!" Ash shouted.

"Yes! Yeah, I got it! I won't hurt the GMPS!" JD said, almost begging for his life.

Ash backed down for a moment. "Good. Edge, come with me."

I nodded, walking up to her. She opened the door for me, and I walked out.

But she didn't.

She grabbed JD by the shoulders and kicked the back of his knees, making him kneel down. Ash raised her dagger to his neck again, slitting the skin on his throat first, watching the blood drip down his adam's apple. She then went deeper with the dagger, reaching his epiglottis and trachea. She pulled it out again, jabbing it in violently. Thrusting the blade, in and out, getting blood all over the room.

Ash dropped his body on the red stained floor, and I accidentally screamed.

"Shit! I thought you left!" She said in surprise.

I had no words. Don't cry don't cry don't cry-

"Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck don't cry you're gonna make me feel bad-" Ash muttered, rushing over to me. Great. I'm crying. Again.

I pushed her away.

"Edge, I'm sorry you had to see that." She apologized. "I'm gonna go clean myself up. Go to the lobby floor. Briar's there, and she'll get you something to eat."

I nodded, heading to the elevator.

I made the mistake of wiping my tears and looking at Ash. Her tattered suit was covered in blood. The dagger was still in her hand, making her look as though she was ready to strike again.

I turned back to the elevator, pressing the 'Lobby' button. It rattled all the way to the lobby, where I stepped out.

I looked around and headed to the kitchen, seeing Briar at a table.

"H-Hi." I muttered, waving at Briar.

"Period or murder?" She asked.

"W-What?" I replied.

"The blood." Briar explained, pointing at my gray hoodie. "Not judging either way, just asking 'cuz we've got pads and hydrogen peroxide in the cabinet."

"I, um... Ash killed someone..." I mumbled. "I guess she blood got on me."

"Holy shit," Briar said, standing up. "JD?"

I nodded.

"Dude I am so sorry you had to see that," Briar said, getting up and boiling some water. "I'm gonna make you some ramen. It's not much, but we don't have a wide variety."

"Thanks..." I said.

"I don't get it... I mean, I get why she'd kill JD, but as to why she let you see that..." Briar pondered out loud.

"Why would she kill someone from her own gang?" I asked. "I mean, I know you guys kill gay executioners, but a member of your cult?"

Briar laughed, taking the already boiling water off the stove and pouring it into an instant ramen cup. "JD killed a member of the GMPS, right?"

"Yeah," I replied as she handed me the cup, some Chez Itz, and a pair of chopsticks.

"So that's why she did it." Briar said, as if that magically mad everything clear.

"But that doesn't make sense!" I exclaimed. "Evan was from my gang! Why would she-"

"You don't get it, do you?" Briar asked.

"What am I supposed to get?" I asked in reply, eating the ramen.

"Ash's gonna kill me if she finds out I told you this, but..." She sat down across from me. "She likes you."

I almost spat out my ramen. "What?!? No, that can't be it."

"Believe what you will," Briar replied.

"Did she tell you that?" I asked.

"Not... exactly..." Briar admitted.

"So you're just theorizing here." I stated.

"Edge, she legit just killed someone for you!" Briar exclaimed. "You can't take something like that lightly!"

"I guess you're right." I mumbled. "But... why would she like me? Especially where we are now. We're all basically forced together for the sake of survival. How are we supposed to distinguish romantic feelings from gratitude or-"

"You could be right," Briar said. "Or, you could look at her. She gets this look in her eyes when she talks about you. Her voice gets lighter, and for a moment you think she'll stop being closed off-- until she dismisses it and continues being your typical emotionless cult leader."

I stayed silent. Is that true? Ash talks about me? Is she telling them something bad about me?

"You know, she cried the first time she killed someone." Briar said, seemingly trying to change the subject. "We were, like, eleven or twelve. We'd both ran away from home. Some executioner got his hands on me," She lowered the bandana on her neck, revealing scars that looked like gripping marks. "He ended up scarring me. But, Ash grabbed a glass bottle and pulled him off me. And, um, I guess you know the rest. She killed him. She cried. After around a dozen, she seemed to be... almost... desensitized."

"How about you?" I asked as she pulled the bandana back up, covering her neck. "Have you... y'know..."

"Killed?" Briar finished my sentence. I nodded. "I have. But I don't take that shit lightly. I've never killed because of some petty reason. Just executioners and others who deserve it just as much."

I was scared to ask who the "others" were.

"I'm back," Ash said, sitting down in a seat next to me. "What'd I miss?"

I stayed silent, nor exactly knowing what to say to someone I'd just seen brutally stab a guy.

"The ramen's good..." I mumbled, continuing to eat it and trying to avoid the awkward topic of murder.

"Look, Edge, I know I screwed up. I'm really sorry." Ash apologized.

"I'm aware." I muttered.

"This is weird," Briar pondered. "Ash, you never apologize to strangers."

"Ignore her," Ash said. "What can I do to make it up to you?"

I wanted to say something snarky, like "maybe erase my fucking memory?" but I didn't.

I stayed silent.

"Please, Edge, you're making me feel bad." Ash begged.

"I have an idea." Briar said.

"You are not being taken seriously anymore, you burnt piece of cereal," Ash growled.

"I'm gonna say it anyways," Briar replied.

Ash sighed. "I'm sure you will."

"Take Edge out." Briar suggested.

"Are you fucking joking?" Ash asked  threateningly.

"Not with a gun!" Briar said, putting her hands in the air. "Y'know... out. Like, outside. Fancy French restaurant, Lady-and-the-Tramp the spaghetti, music, whatever."

"That sounds like it came straight out of some dumbass fanfiction." Ash scoffed.

"I mean yeah but it sounds kinda nice," I mumbled.

Briar smiled. "So neither of you object per se?"

"I'm not gonna be the one planning something like that," Ash spat.

"Okay! I'll do it!" Briar suggested.

Ash's expression fell. "What the fu-"

"I know you... kinda..." Briar tried to reason.

"You don't know Edge-"

"Edge!" Briar said, suddenly turning to me. "Who's your second-in-command? Who in the GMPS knows you best?"

"Um, Aston Rift. Why?" I asked.

"I'll get in contact with him! He knows you, I know Ash, we got this!" Briar said.

Ash turned to me. "Are you... comfortable with this?"

I giggled. "I'm a sucker for cheesy stories."

"Alright," Ash said. "Don't fuck this up."

Briar pumped her fist in victory. "Let's GO! Number one ship of 2069! Waiwaitwait- ship name?"

I thought for a moment.

Edsh? Asdge? G a y -

"Trashprince," Ash said. "My last name is Hsart, trash backwards. Her last name's Prince."

Briar's eye lit up like a child's "YesyesyesYES!"

Ash scoffed. "Alright, you go find whoever the fuck Aston is, I'm gonna lecture the cult."

~

I wonder if anyone has tried putting the name of the city here into Google Translate? (͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

And yes I'm aware Hsart is not a real surname but it's for this story and irony purposes so shhh

Anyways, within the next few chapters, I'll be introducing a couple new characters because I'm just full of surprises like that.

If we've been messaging and you know the two already, don't spoil it for others please and thankya

Btw if you ever need a chapter you didn't read (triggers and all that jazz) summarized, feel free to pm me to know what happened without all the gory details