Escape
He was sitting at the organ, playing a few tunes, when the reverend came out of a room. The reverend was coming for him but he fled up to the bell tower, followed by his pursuer. They were struggling up on the tower until he somehow managed to hang the reverend with a rope he found in the truck back at the asylum. Then he was climbing down one ladder and was sitting on the wooden railing for who knew how long. He remembered Edna suddenly appearing and he was reprimanding her for freeing him. Then she was making noises to the point that he put on the headphones that had suddenly shot up from an organ pipe. Next thing he knew, he was pushed off of his seat and lost his consciousness.
Yes, that was what happened. And, upon further inspecting the church and himself, he came up to several conclusions; he was covered in bruises and blood and one arm felt like it was broken, the key for the church was gone and the door to the church was open. Edna must have done this to get to her father’s home, he concluded. One part of him was in a rage for her attempting to kill him, yet another part could not really blame her. She did mention she needed to know the truth about what happened years ago. Maybe he should leave her in peace for now; besides, there was not much he could do to her with a broken arm anyway. Still, he should get away from here, lest the police and the guys from the mental institution found him. He was not going back until he found the girl with the blue rabbit...
She breathed heavily, polo mallet in hand, her eyes fixed on the unconscious man down the stairs. This was the second time in her life she pushed a member of the Marcel family down but, unlike last time, this one survived. His breathing was swallow but she reckoned he was going to survive. Yes, it was easy to kill him right there, for all he put her through, but one thing stopped her from doing this. She had enough blood on her hands; no one else should die because of her, no matter how much they deserved it. Still, she should better get away as fast as possible...
Without hesitating, she ran down the stairs, polo mallet in one hand, Harvey in the other. She jumped over Doctor Marcel’s unconscious form, down to the kitchen and to the basement, where she climbed out of the window. The police had already arrived, the blue lights of theirs illuminating whatever Edna could see of the forefront of her property. She snuck towards the light, careful not to make a sound, and peeked around the corner. Several policemen were entering the house through the front door. She reckoned it was now open, Doctor Marcel had to get in somehow; he sure did not fit through the basement window. Seeing the policemen were too preoccupied, she decided it was safe to walk quietly past them. However, luck was not on her side; after she walked a few steps, she heard someone from the mob call:
“There she is!”
“Oh, oh...“, Edna mumbled as she started running as fast as she could. Behind her, she could hear some of them pursuing her, but she did not bother to look. She had to get away; she had to get rid of them. But she heard them coming closer and closer; she was just not used to running. She needed a hiding place but where?
Her running led her to the forest, in which she and Alfred used play. Memories returned about times when she hid somewhere when she wanted to get away from him. If only she could remember where it was, then maybe she could get rid of the police. For now, she just let her feet lead her the way, it was better than getting caught.
“Edna! Run to the convent school!“, Harvey advised. Edna would have asked him why, but she had no breath to ask the question. “One of your hiding places was near the convent school.”
Edna knew where this place was. She could see where it was when she looked through the trees to the horizon. Hopefully, she was lucky and the police would not find her. Still, she was not going to count on it. Sooner or later, she would need to find a better hiding place but, at least for tonight, her hiding place near the convent school was as good as any. She was so focused on the convent school she did not see the river until it was too late. Suddenly, she lost solid ground from under her feet and landed in the river. For a moment, Edna was unable to breathe until she swam to the surface and took a deep breath. She had to get out, quick! Trusting her instincts and her memories of her swimming lessons, she swam to the shore and got out of the water. She ran farther away from the river until she reached a tree almost a kilometer away from the river and sat down underneath the tree to catch her breath. It was only then when she realized something, or rather someone, was missing.
“Harvey? Harvey! Where are you?”
Edna looked around but was unable to find her blue, lagomorph friend.
“I must have lost him when I fell into the river... But I can’t go back now. I have to look for him when it’s safe...”
After resting a brief spell, Edna continued on until she was out of the woods and found herself in a four-way fork on the road. One led to the convent school, another to the village as she could see, the third one led to a marsh and she came from the final one. She decided to take the way to the moor. By now, she could not hear her pursuers anymore. Maybe they had given up... Still, she could not be so sure but at least the path she was walking was dangerous, so maybe the police was too afraid of looking for her here and would not suspect her hiding out here. Edna smirked as she thought about the police being too cowardly when she spotted a cave. Looking inside, she saw it was empty. It was a good hiding place until she could come up with a better plan...
Edna decided to wait until the following night until she decided to sneak back to the village and her house. She was in need of new clothes; after all, wearing the gown from the asylum was anything but pleasant. It felt cold and too exposed for her liking. Not too mention she was freezing when she slept in her wet nightgown. There were no police cars anywhere near her house, so it was safe for her to get in. This time, she went through the front door since no one bothered to close it. Edna wanted to hurry, in case the police came back and because the sight of her old home being so rundown just depressed her. She ran up to her father’s room. Perhaps she could wear something of his for the time being until she found something better.
“Hm, where did Mattis keep his clothes?“, Edna mumbled to herself, her eyes scanning the room. She spotted a closet. “Maybe in there...”
Without further ado, she approached the closet and opened it. Mattis’s clothes still looked good, though a cardboard box in a corner caught Edna’s eyes. Silently, she took it out and opened it to find women’s clothing, clothing she barely recognized...
“Are those... mom’s?“, she wondered in a voice that was barely above a whisper. Hesitatingly, she took a sweater out and held it out in front of her. It looked like it could fit. Quickly, she changed into her mother’s clothing and took some spare clothes from both her deceased parents with her, as well as her items from the breakout. Perhaps she could need those again. She kept the gown with her; she would discard it somewhere else, maybe at sea...
Once she had everything, she returned to her hideout. She was aware she could not escape or hide from the guilt she felt for the deaths for Alfred, Mattis, the reverend and even the Key Master but she had hope she could make peace with this someday.
