Chapter 240: Halloween (4)

(Sorry I wasn't around. My mom was admitted at the hospital, so I had to stay with her for a few days. I just got back home cause my sister took a leave of work tomorrow.)

[Edward POV]

-Children Ward, Lobby-

"Wingardium, Levi-oss-sa." I said as I pointed at a snicker bar in front of me with my wand. Then, the bar slowly levitated from the table. The children exclaimed in amazement as I did, failing to see the thin fishing line I had connected to the Snickers bar.

"Ed! It's not Leviosssa! It's Levi-O-sa!" Marie, a 5 years old girl who was diagnosed with leukemia , said giggling as she approached me. I chuckled and played along with her words, "Is that right? I guess that's why I can only make one of them fly up each time."

"You're so silly," she giggled, her face brightening up. Her parents, watching the interaction, couldn't help but break down in tears. Despite their emotions, they tried to put on a brave smile for their daughter.

"Hey, can a silly person do this?" I reached out my hand towards Marie's ear and pulled out a single stalk of rose. She burst into laughter, and the other kids wanted me to do the same for them.

"Wait, hold on. I've run out of roses. How about I do it with a quarter instead?" I said, trying to hold back the eager children. An 8-year-old boy gasped and suggested, "What if you pull out candies from our ears?"

"That... could work," I squinted my eyes, realizing the genius of the idea and wondering why I hadn't thought of it before. "Ed! It's starting!" a 7-year-old girl with ginger hair exclaimed, sitting in front of the TV.

We had set up a flat-screen plasma TV for a special runtime of Wizards of Waverly Place, which premiered on the Disney Channel at 4 o'clock. The movie had a runtime of an hour and a half. 

I had one of my staff members set it up and connected it to the satellite using a simple Entertain Stick that I had created and plugged into the TV's USB drive. The device, along with my new communication line, would be launched together. 

The Entertain Stick had a quick installer that ran automatically, allowing people who bought it to watch Netflix on their ordinary TVs and use various streaming apps for entertainment. Well, only I have a streaming app right now, so I got the full benefit of that. (FireStick/Android stick inspiration)

{"I'm Jeremy Van Hellsing"}

As my character on TV made his appearance at the last scene of the first episode, the children were excitedly cheering for his appearance.

"Jeremy's so cool!" Marie shouted while she stood on top of her hospital bed after she was moved to the other side of the ward to get her treatment. I could see her through the glass door separating the two wards. She could still watch the show through the same glass door despite not hearing any of the dialogues.

The nurse who was administering the medicine through a syringe into her spine said, "You know what? He is cool. You just need to focus on the TV to see more of him."

As the needle penetrated her skin, Marie started crying miserably, which made her parents approach her and hold her hand. Her gut wrenching cries made her parents both break down too, but they couldn't do anything other than continue to comfort her.

She needed to rest after getting the treatment, but before she left, I walked to the glass door and waved at her. She smiled slightly despite having a painful expression on her face, and waved timidly back at me. I cupped my hands through the glass door and said, "Hey! Marie! You take that treatment like a champ!"

Marie was startled, but she wasn't focusing on me yet. So I pressed my nose on the glass door, making silly faces at her. "Hey, hey, Marie. Am I still handsome?"

She giggled a bit and then she complained to me tearily, "It hurts Ed. I don't want to do this."

"I know. But you have to do it to be better. You Marie, are really strong! I don't think I could even do that! Next time when I have to fight the monsters, and I need to get a strong girl to help me, I'll come straight to you to get your help. Then, you can teach me how to say the spell correctly again. We don't want me to be defeated because I said it incorrectly, right?" I joked and continued talking to her to get her mind off the needle. She finally smiled brightly, and she nodded in agreement, "I'll be sure to teach you!"

"Attagirl~ Now, Mommy and Daddy, you guys are strong people too. So make sure to continue to be strong for her, alright?" I said to the parents. They were startled and then they understood what I meant. They held back their tears and wiped down the marks from their faces before looking at their child. 

"Bye Marie. See you next week." I waved the little girl goodbye before the nurse brought her and the parents away. This all happened during the commercial before the next episode started. 

The next episode was when me and Alex (Selena) went on a date while Justin tried to hide his vampire girlfriend from me. The simple comedic episode earned a lot of laughter from the children, and they thoroughly enjoyed it.

"Edward." The little girl who has a burn mark on her face, and carried a teddy bear with her, called me out meekly.

"What is it Jennie?" I asked her using a sweet voice.

"Um…" She hesitated.

"You know you can ask me anything." I rubbed her head to comfort her.

She thought about it for a while and asked, "What do you think I should wear for Halloween?"

"I thought you liked Cinderella? Didn't you like being a princess?" I asked teasingly.

She was taken aback before she said, "I wanted to…But no princess has a scar on their face."

Her words surprised me for a bit. I thought about it and crouched right next to her. "Maybe, it's because you're a different type of princess."

"What kind?" She asked with confusion.

"Yeah, you're…the princess that fought the dragon herself to get out of the tower. The other princesses needed to get help, but you did it all on your own. The scar on your face is a battle scar from your victory."

She giggled and said, "No princess ever did that!"

I acted goofily and said, "There are a lot of these types of princesses. But you know, they fight alone, so there's no one there to tell their story. So, what if, when you go out for Trick or Treating, you tell the people about her story to make everyone know about her."

"Really? Such a princess exists?" She asked with surprise, totally believing my lie at the moment.

"Yeah. Zuko. Wait, I'm sorry. He's a prince. But you know what? I even have a picture of the princess. You want to see it?" I asked.

She nodded her head excitedly and said, "I DO! I want to see it!"

"Robin. You know what to do." I mumbled slowly as I took out my phone. Robin replied, "Generating Warrior Princess."

Robin generated a picture of a tan skinned princess with messy hair, and notable burn marks on her face. She was wearing a mixture of gown and battle armor, which made Jennie exclaim in amazement. 

"Whoa! She's really pretty! What's her name?!"

"Her name's Fiona." I replied.

"Like Princess Fiona in Shrek?" Jennie asked again. I paused as I remembered that in Shrek Forever After, in the parallel timeline where Shrek never went to save Fiona, she bursted herself out of the tower. However the movie hasn't come out yet– It will be released next year in 2010 though.

"Yeah. It's exactly like Fiona." I replied decisively, which made Jennie squeal in excitement. She asked me to let her show the picture to her parents, which excited them as they had already bought her a Cinderalle dress for her to wear, but at the same time, gave her a headache as she wanted to have a sword too and battle armor to wear on top of her dress.

After my last episode was finished, the children had already changed into their outfits and we went trick or treating inside the hospital, visiting the wards one by one before we returned to the children wards. I didn't take any candies and was just there as a chaperone and was supporting the kids.

It was almost dusk, where Halloween would truly start when I finished spending my time with the children.

"Thank you Edward!" 

"Thank you Eddy!"

"Thank you Eduardo Newgato!"

"Thank you Jeremy Van Hellsing!"

"Thank You Harry Potter!"

"Merry Happy Halloween!"

"Bye Edward! Come again next time~!" The children screamed excitedly as they waved goodbye to me. It choked me up, but I didn't show it to my face.

I stood with my legs wide apart, threw my arms in the air, and shouted, "Goodbye, everyone! I hope you all recover quickly!" The children giggled, and I left the children's ward. Randall was waiting outside the room, and he handed me a bottle of water.

"You did a great job, Ed," Randall said, patting my shoulder. "No one asked you to do any of these, but you did it anyway. I'm amazed by you."

I opened the water bottle and took a few gulps. Suddenly, tears started streaming down my cheeks. I wiped them away with my palm and tried to maintain a smiling face.

While I acted silly, comforting, and encouraging with the kids, there were moments when it was hard for me too, to keep smiling and show everyone there that everything's okay.

[Flashback]

"Where's Aiden?" I asked Jennie, who was sitting next to the boy. Jennie smiled brightly and said, "He's all good now. He went back home. Last night, his parents, his grandparents came to pick him up. The doctor said he won't be in pain anymore. He must be okay now, right, Ed?"

I glanced at the nurse cleaning up Aiden's bed, and she subtly shook her head at me. Turning back to Jennie, my chin quivered, and my voice slightly shook as I casually replied, "You know what? That must be it. He must be in a much better place now."

"I know, right!" Jennie replied. "He's a bit rude, though. We've been bedmates for months, but he didn't even say goodbye to me before leaving."

"I'm sure he's just excited to go home and forgot about it. You know what we should do? We should write him a letter, telling him everything we love about him, just in case he misses you and wants to come back here."

"I don't mind if he wants to come …visit," she said timidly before shaking her head. "But you're right. I don't want him to come back here anymore. I'll write him a letter tonight."

[Flashback ends]

"Let's hurry up and go. Wait, why are you even here?" I asked Randall in confusion, trying to hold back my tears.

"Oh, I had to come," Randall replied, pretending not to notice what had just happened. "Your godsister insisted, no matter how many times I told her you'd be back. She even grabbed my collar," he complained.

"Sage?" I looked around in confusion. "Where is she?"

Randall was taken aback and quickly scanned the area. "Wait, where did she go?! I'll go look for her."

"Alright, I'll go to my car," I said, but Randall didn't even hear my response before rushing off. I shook my head slightly and turned to walk to the parking lot. Suddenly, Sage appeared in front of me. She had been standing behind me the whole time.

"Whoa, oh, hello there," I greeted her casually, acting as if her sudden presence didn't startle me.

"I don't have time to play General Kenobi. Here, take this," she said anxiously, handing me a small box.

"What's this?" I asked in confusion, but Sage was too anxious to explain. She scolded me, saying, "Just take it! Take the red one right after you get home. The green one when you're finished. Hurry up and go. I need to go too. No matter who asks about it, we've never met here today, got that?!"

"What on earth are you doing? Did you steal this? Hey—" I started asking, but Sage looked around anxiously and then ran away from the hospital hall.

She shouted while she was running away, "The green one will only work after an hour! Don't let it go more than 2 hours if you don't want to make it permanent."

"Make what permanent?!" I shouted, but the nurse passing by shushed me. "Sorry." I turned to apologise to the nurse for shouting, but when I turned back to Sage, she had disappeared. 

"What the hell just happened?" I asked. Sage came and went like a hurricane, leaving me behind, thoroughly confused by the entire thing. I grabbed the small box she gave me and opened it up.

"Gummy bears?" 

There were 2 gummy bears placed neatly on top of satin clothes inside the small wooden box.

…

[General POV]

Inside Edward's villa. Haley, who had changed into her costume, approached Cam from behind.

"Uncle Cam, how do I look?" Haley asked.

"You're beautiful Haley, do you think Edward will be disappointed about the candy tree?" Cam didn't look at her and instead was focusing on creating the candy tree. 

"Done." He took a step back as he looked at the candy tree he had meticulously crafted, adorned with an array of delicious treats. Lollipops, licorice, candy ribbons, and gummy bears adorned its branches, creating a sugary and attention grabbing centerpiece.

Next to the candy tree, there were two molten chocolate fountains, their cascading chocolate forming a river that meandered across a long table. Besides the table were fruits dippings, biscuits, and other foods you can dip the chocolate in. 

Suddenly, a group of waitresses dressed as Oompa Loompas caught his attention. They moved gracefully around the party, wearing colorful costumes that mirrored the distinctive appearance of the beloved characters from the chocolate factory. Their outfits were complete with short, striped pants, vibrant shirts, and curly wigs, capturing the whimsy and charm of the Oompa Loompas.

Casey, the stern looking CIA agent grumbled as he spoke into his earpiece, "I'm in position."

"As the Oompa Loompas. You know what Casey? It suits you." Chuck teased while hiding inside a van outside the villa.

"I'm going to kill you after the party Chuck." Casey vowed. 

The party itself was filled with various other elements inspired by the chocolate factory. There were oversized candy props scattered throughout the venue, such as giant lollipops, chocolate bars, and candy canes. However, Cam was worried that some idiot teenagers would try to eat the decorations made of styrofoam, so he placed a sticker that said, "Not Candy" on it. 

Haley grumbled, her frustration evident in her voice. "Uncle Cam! You need to at least look at me."

Cam, caught off guard by her remark, finally turned to face her. His eyes widened in surprise. "Wait, Haley!?"

Haley had donned a costume inspired by Wednesday Addams. She had two black braids neatly framing her face, black lipstick that accentuated her pale complexion, and dark eyeshadow that added an air of mystery. Her dress was adorned with a garter belt, and long stockings completed the gothic ensemble.

Cam couldn't help but express his astonishment. "Oh my god. You're going all out for the party! Are you planning to utilize his weakness for alternative, or more widely known as…the goth girls? Are you making a move tonight?"

Cam was excited to hear some gossip, but Haley played it coy and said, "I don't know what you're talking about? I'm just wearing something that I think is party appropriate."

"Talking about appropriate, your mother doesn't know you're wearing this right?" Cam asked as he pointed at Haley's outfit. She rolled her eyes and said, "Of course not. Do you think she'll approve?"

Inside the Dunphy's house, Enid had changed into a Catwoman outfit, but she didn't wear the face helmet, but instead drew a cat mustache and nose on her own face.

"Why is he wearing a Harry Potter outfit?" She grumbled as she looked at Edward's photo taken by the paparazzi as he left his house before.

"He's going to change." Alex replied as she wore a white lab coat and styled her hair into a messy bun. On her right hand was a bottle of green rocks, labeled Radium.

Enid suddenly teased Alex, "If you're wearing a Marie Curie costume, will Finneas be her husband?"

Alex however replied casually, "No. He'll be Oppenheimer."

Jenna, Enid and Elsa were confused. "What's the relationship between them?"

"She discovered the elements, he made bombs with them." Alex replied casually, which made the others nodded even though they didn't really understand it.

Jenna was wearing a Katara costume (LOL Just found out the girl I based her on played as Katara in a 2010 live action movie) and she asked, "Who's going to be the one who'll ask Edward about his date?"

The girls truly thought that he went somewhere with a girl before. They have been speculating about this mysterious girl he was dating, but they couldn't decide on anyone specific. 

Elsa wore a simple cop outfit, and she twirled her fake handcuff as she said instigatively, "Well, the question is not who's going to ask him, but rather, is he even coming to the party?"

"His own party?" Alex retorted sarcastically while Jenna and Enid were taken aback.

Elsa teased, "If he has a great time with this girl, then maybe they'll go somewhere to make out…You know, time passes quickly when you do that. You guys know what I'm talking about.."

"I don't! I've never made out with anyone!" Enid said angrily before hitting Elsa with a pillow.

"I usually thought time couldn't go fast enough. And never did I lose track of it." Jenna said begrudgingly.

Back to Edward. As he was returning home to his neighborhood, Edward found himself getting stuck in a traffic jam. "Damn it." He cursed. As the car was at a standstill, he opened the small wooden box Sage gave him, and ate the red gummy bear.

"Well, I am almost home right?" Edward chuckled to himself. As soon as he swallowed the gummy, he suddenly felt searing pain in his heart.

"What the— AHHH!!" Edward screamed miserably. But he forced himself to keep calm and thought about the matter. He knew that Sage wouldn't harm him, so there must be something more to it.

"Robin. Override the ride home. Block the agents from me too." Edward said with panting breath before he pressed the accelerator while getting the car out of the queue and onto the opposite road.

"Where is he going– Follow him! QUICK!" The agent who was following him tried, but he was blocked by the oncoming traffic when Robin messed with the traffic lights. 

"We lost sight of "PlayBoy"! I repeat, We lost sight of "PlayBoy"! Someone find him, now!" Agent Smith screamed through the walkie talkie to the other agents. 

A helicopter flew over the street, trying to find where Edward had gone. However, they only found his car parked near an empty house.

"He's gone." Agent Smith muttered frustratedly.

On a street nearby, a pale faced Korean man had cornered Sage as he captured her from continuing to run away. He placed his hand on the wall, trapping Sage with his body.

Sage looked at him defiantly, and asked, "Why are you here, Gong Shin?"

"You know why I'm here?" Gong Shin asked, unsmiling. "Did you take it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about?" Sage lowered her head as she avoided looking at him. However, he placed his hand on her chin and moved it forcefully to make her look into his eyes.

"Don't joke with me. Were you the one who took the APTX 4869 drug from my desk?!" Gong Shin asked angrily.