Last Sleep

Horrors of a Lullaby Collection

He never did anything bad.

He was the town's fool.

And now he's dead…

But what happened to Edward nobody knows…

No one should know.

"Ugly, ugly, young ugly Ed," The children chanted. "Mad as a rab'd cow, smelly as a bad egg!" Then they proceed to throw rotten eggs, specially saved, just for such a horrid purpose.

Now, Ed the Fool, as the others would call him, was not a bad young man, he was simply misunderstood. Odd and sometimes delirious, he was usually shunned and mocked whenever he walked around town. Laughed at, pointed and spat at… despised.

When Ed died, no one cared and no one felt bad, all except for Jacques…

Jacques, the same age as Ed, was handsome, well liked, and he was wanted. Whenever Jacques went around town, he was smiled at, waved at… loved.

"Good morning, sire!" The town's blacksmith would call. "How does the king fair?"

"He's just fine," He would, as usual, answer.

"How did he like those blades I made? Did he like them?"

"Yes, sir, he enjoyed them very much, thank you for your great work," Jacques would smile, but he knew that his father hasn't even seen the blacksmith's work, in fact, he's been bed ridden for almost three years.

Jacques was merely showing himself to gain the acceptance of the town, and so they would welcome him in gentler as their new mayor when his father's time would pass.

During the times where he wanted to talk to someone, he went to Ed, a very good friend. Ed had always listened, and he kept the secrets of the royal family well… secret.

"Good evening, Edward," Jacques greeted him. "How was your day?"

"How was it? As usual, what else? Bloody little kids…" He grumbled. "I spent my whole morning cleaning out the eggs they threw last night,"

Jacques laughed, "Well, I'm sorry. You know how ignorant these people are…"

"I'm the town's fool; I'm probably the most ignorant here…" Edward rolled his eyes, reaching for a loaf of bread, "Want any?" Jacques nodded grabbing half of the loaf.

"You're not stupid," Jacques said, biting on the bread. "They just think you're odd, hidden away from the crowd and all…" He laughed as heavy rain started to fall.

Ed nodded, "Yeah, yeah," He said. "I'm just trying to live in this town,"

Jacques sighed and ran his hand over his hair, "Father's not doing too well,"

"Really? The king is pretty strong to be that sick," Ed said.

Jacques laughed, "I can't wait to be king though,"

Ed sighed, and looked around his empty house, "Be careful of what you say," Ed said, "People might start talking…"

Jacques gave his friend a wide smile, "Have you seen the way they adore me?"

"What?"

"I wouldn't spend my time talking to the townspeople if it wouldn't give me some kind of benefit…" Jacques replied. "With my father withering away faster than I expected, I could be king by tomorrow!" he declared.

Ed cleared his throat, "Really Jacques, it's really the way you say things that make me suspicious…"

Jacques chuckled, "Maybe you are truly such a vacuous man…" he sighed. "Do I need to tell you directly?"

Ed stared at his feet, "This is big Jacques…" he mumbled.

"And?" Jacques' smile twisted into a smirk. "You're not going to tell anybody are you?"

Ed laughed incredulously, "This is big Jacque…" He sighed nervously. "It's a crime,"

"If you feel the need to tell, go ahead," Jacque said, smiling. "Who would the people believe? Ugly, poor, stupid Ed? Or kind, caring, liked and loved Jacques?"

Ed briefly closed his eyes, "You…but in these years, people have been paranoid… a single word of this to anyone, it can eat at a person until they finally get suspicious," he suddenly bolted up, running out into the cold storm.

"Ed!" Jacque yelled. "What—!" He chased after him, what Ed had said was true. A tiny rumor can develop into something greater, especially in these years. Jacques ran after him. Ed was fast, but Jacques was faster, it wasn't long before he had caught up to him.

"Get off me!" Ed yelled kicking at Jacque who grabbed him. Soaked and muddy, Jacques shoved his face hard into the ground, one, two, three…three times before he stopped.

"Ed…" Jacque whispered when he felt he had let out his frustration. "Ed?"

He took a deep breath and prodded Ed's body, it wouldn't move. He took another deep breath, the heavy rain pelting his face.

This was something that he couldn't afford people knowing about. The townspeople knew that Jacques was the only friend to Ed. If Ed suddenly disappeared…

He had to get rid of the body.

Jacques grabbed his friend's body and dragged it up the hill where a well resided.

With a deep breath and a grunted effort, he successfully threw the body in, but the heavy rain had not let up. Jacques blinked to get the water out of his eyes, but he mistakenly took a step. With the earth drenched in so much water, Jacques slipped, his whole body falling backward. In a split second, his skull connected with the well's hard stone edge, and with a slight thud on the wet muddy ground, Jacques body tumbled down into town, blood trailing behind him.

A/N: Re-Upload and major editing. Ugh, it was part of the Horrors of a Lullaby Collection. Where I took children nursery rhymes and turned them into what they really are… I might decide to upload the other ones too, after I clean them up. Hope you enjoyed.

This was a cross over between Nursery Rhymes Jack and Jill and It's Raining it's Pouring. If you haven't heard of it, here you go:

Jack and Jill

Jack and Jill went up the hill

To fetch a pail of water

Jack fell down and broke his crown

And Jill came tumbling after

It's Raining it's Pouring

It's raining it's pouring,

The old man is snoring

He went to bed

And knocked his head

And couldn't wake up

In the morning!