Eden's Jar of Hearts (Literally) and My New Friend The Killer

     I heard a loud rapping against my door, followed by Eden's voice, tinged with worry. "Nameless," he called, "I made us soup. Egg drop, your favorite. Please come out." My head was buried under the pillows, pressed so hard against them I had trouble breathing. I tried to drown out the boy's voice by humming Teenager In Love. It's the only song I know.

     I'd just started to drift into sleep when a huge bang came from my right. The door was knocked flat against the floor, and Eden stood there with a mini battering ram. At first we just stared at each other, then I sat up and asked, "Where did you get that?"

     Eden glanced down at the battering ram and shrugged. "I dunno, found it in the bathroom."

     After that, I really didn't know what to say, so I just flopped over and pulled the sheets over my head, feeling the mattress press down as Eden sat next to me. "What happened," he asked in a soft voice. I felt like I was supposed to cry, but I didn't. I mean, I'd just killed a little girl's dad. Wouldn't a normal, well adjusted person cry about that?

     "I don't know," I sniffle, flinching when a hand smacked down on my thigh. "Don't give me that, young lady!" The boy stared me down with a hard gaze. "Of course you know, or I wouldn't have to break down the door to talk to you!" His eyes softened when he looked into mine. "Please tell me, hun."

     I told him about Ren and the email, about Mary and Ryan and why the side of my face was bloody. I talked and talked while Eden cleaned up the wound and wrapped a bandage around it. I had to stop him from spoon feeding me. Then I finished the soup and he led me downstairs to the door of his room. "Are you sure?" I asked, uncertain. The key he shoved into the lock looked like it was centuries old, but it still worked just like any other. " Of course I am," Eden replied, leading me down the narrow steps into the carpeted morgue of a bedroom. "I have the perfect thing for you down here."

     "Hard to believe..." And it really was. Shelves practically covered every inch of the cement walls, lined with bottles and jars of liquids I didn't even want to distinguish. There was a bed pushed against the opposite walls, and I almost laughed when I saw a few stuffed animals substituting pillows. As I stepped closer to examine them, my face quickly changed from amusement to horror. "I figured Henry and his friends would get lonely on the side of the bed," I heard Eden call. Henry...I quickly stomped over to him, pointing furiously towards the bed. "You get rid of those NOW!" Eden gave me a puppy-dog look and shuffled over to them, scooping them up in his arms. "But look how adorable they a-"

     "Adorable?! Are you nuts?! That's roadkill, Eden! Dead. Animals. God, that's what stinks!"

     "You're hurting his feelings!"

     "He isn't alive, fuckwit!"

     "To me he is!!!"

     Taking Henry and the rest of the animal corpses, the little manchild disappeared around a corner, then popped his head out again to stick his tongue out at me. I flipped him off in return and continued scanning the place, running a finger along the bottles of goo and whatever the hell else he kept in there. When Eden returned again, this time empty handed, he came beside me and took one of the jars in his hands, beaming from ear to ear. "You know what this is?" he whispered in an excited tone. 

     "No," I replied cautiously. 

     The boy turned and grinned evilly at me. "A cow's heart."

     You can probably guess this is when I started to flip shit. I screamed and grabbed for the jar, smashing it against the floor and bolting out of the room, not caring whether I knocked over the other containers or not. Who knows what else was in them? I ran all the way up into the kitchen, slamming open the door and sprinting into the acres of land that was the backyard. On either side were small stretched of forest, but after what happened the other day, I really didn't feel like going there. So I ran farther back until I found a place to hide under a big trimmed bush in the mini garden.

     I sat there for a while, catching my breath. Shouldn't have come here. Crazy, nuthouse. I'm gonna kill Kieth. Kill him.

     "I can assist you," a man's voice said from somewhere to my right. Slowly, I turned and looked, meeting the crazed blue eyes of Ren. Surprisingly, I didn't actually attack him, but rather stood cautiously and pulled out my handgun. "No need for that," the Proxy said with a smile playing across his lips. "It isn't fair to fight an unarmed man with arms." He sat himself down cross-legged across from me, then gestured for me to do so as well.

     When we were both seated, Ren leaned back and sighed. "I saw you kill Ryan. Really, I hadn't ever planned on killing you. You have a good intuition. You know what we like to do." The grin curled up his lips, showing off a set of disgustingly yellow, chipped teeth. "You seem to know much more than that, though. You have a sense about you...You must know?" I nodded. "I once worked for Father myself, though I left that for a better life with my brother, Ronald. He...he died saving me."

     Suddenly Ren burst out laughing, tears coming to his eyes. I felt my own teeth grind together in anger and the urge to shoot take over. "How cliche," he chuckled, wiping his eyes. "No offense to you or anything, deary. But you must agree?"

     "I killed my entire family, but he still loved me. Enough to trade his life for my safety," I sneered. I saw his expression change back to a serious one. He knew I wasn't fucking around. My eyes must have said it: Cross me and I -will- kill you.

     "Let's get straight to the point then," Ren said as he lit a cigarette. "I came here to ask you to join me. Become an...alliance, if you will."

     "Why?"

     "It's a pesky group of runners, not unlike that idiot boy you killed."

     "You can't take care of them yourself?" My insults had gotten to him.

     Obviously angered, he said, "They're in Australia."

     I couldn't wipe the smirk off my face. "What are you getting to?"

     "Oh, don't tell me you don't know?"

     "What's the connection, moron?" I yelled, raising the gun to his head.

     "Well a little birdie told me something you're looking for can be found there as well."

     Ren's clever smile had to mean something. "I'm not currently looking for anything in particular except jobs," I said, lowering the weapon. "Oh, but you are," the Proxy whispered. "You telling me you already forgot about little ol' Lily?"

     "My sister?" I glared at Ren as he lifted himself off the ground, then offered me a hand, which I denied and instead pulled myself up. Then he nodded, turning away and taking a few steps in another direction. Before he could leave, I quickly called out, "Alright." This got his attention again. "I'll do it. As long as I don't have to pay for tickets."

     "Already taken care of," he called back, throwing me an envelope. "Use it for you and your partners. I'll meet you there." And with that, he disappeared.

     As for myself, I returned inside, just quiet enough to sneak past Eden't room and reach my own. Luckily, he wasn't waiting for me there, so I placed the envelope in a drawer and flopped back down on my bed, letting out a deep sigh. I didn't feel too good about teaming up with someone I was once suppose to have killed for pay, but if it meant I might be able to find my older sister, and get a free trip to Australia, it was worth it.