"C'mon boys, the weekend awaits! Who's up for pizza and movies at my place?"

The harsh trilling of the school bell heralded the end of another long and arduous school day at Peach Creek Junior High. The double doors swung wide as dozens of kids streamed down the steps leading to the main entrance. Trailing at the back of the crowd were three teenage boys, eagerly trotting out the door. At the front was a short, stout boy in a yellow and red jacket and blue jeans, his thin, slicked-back hair swaying in the breeze like tall grass. He grinned as he took a deep breath of the autumn air. For Eddy, there were few sounds more beautiful to his ears than the final bell of school on a Friday afternoon.

Not far behind was a rather taller and thinner boy, his hair hidden almost entirely under a black and white beanie save for a few stray hairs at the back and sides, dressed in a dark orange coat and purple shorts. Edd, or Double Dee as he was known to his friends, hitched his satchel up on his shoulder and followed Eddy down the path to the road.

"Now Eddy," Edd said, wagging a finger. "We really should get our homework completed tonight, and then have the rest of the weekend free for such things."

Eddy scoffed. "Oh please, everybody knows the best time to do homework is on the way to school on a Monday. Stays freshest in your brain that way, y'know."

"Makes sense to me!"

Trailing behind Eddy and Edd was a far taller boy, his ginger hair trimmed to a crew-cut, wearing baggy jeans and an equally baggy green jacket over a red and white striped t-shirt. His monobrowed face was adorned with a vacant grin as he absent-mindedly dragged his bag behind him.

"That's what concerns me, Ed," Edd replied with a chuckle.

As they followed the crowd of kids as they trailed off up and down the road to their neighbourhoods, Edd could not help but smile as he saw a few familiar faces. Rolf, a tall and lanky boy of indeterminate ethnicity waved to the three Eds as he trundled down the road on a tractor, no doubt breaking several road laws at once. Jimmy, a younger boy with impeccable blonde curls and an oversized retainer adorning his mouth, strolled past hand in hand with a red-headed girl in a pink tank-top and jeans, no less than Ed's younger sister Sarah. They swiftly dodged out of the way as a bicycle whizzed past, driven by a muscular boy in a red baseball cap, horn honking as he went. On the back of his bike, arms firmly wrapped around his waist, was a very attractive blonde girl.

"Hey Dorky, got any plans for the weekend?" the boy asked with a grin.

Eddy replied, "Nah, nothing doing Kev, what about you?"

The boy, Kevin, reared the bike back into a standing wheelie. "I'm heading over to the next town, apparently they just opened up a wicked skate-park, so Nazz and I are gonna test it out."

"Hey, if you wanted a skate-park, you could've just asked us and we could set one up for ya," Eddy replied, hands on his hips in mock-indignation. "We wouldn't even charge ya to use it!"

The girl, Nazz, giggled. "Well that's sweet of you dude, but... well, no offense but if it was built anything like your old scams, I think I'll pass."

Eddy shrugged. "Ehh, suit yourself. Lemme know what it's like there, maybe I'll try it out sometime. Maybe even meet some cute skater-gals while I'm there too."

As Kevin and Nazz drove off down the lane, Edd chuckled to himself as they went. To think, a mere few years ago Kevin and Eddy would never even dream of having a conversation as civil and friendly as the one he just witnessed.

It had been a long time since the Eds had attempted their 'ultimate scam', a scam so overly ambitious that its inevitable backfire had been enough to send them fleeing for their lives out of their cul-de-sac neighbourhood, all the kids in the cul-de-sac hot on their heels and out for revenge. In hindsight Edd realised that their escape plan of hiding out at the home of Eddy's older brother was a ridiculously dangerous plan. But after having finally met Eddy's older brother, and seeing what a, for lack of better terms, psychopath he was, he felt he had an idea of just how terrified Eddy was at the prospect of returning home to face their neighbours after what they did.

But in the end, mature heads prevailed and Eddy was able to finally admit his tragic reasoning for all the scams, cons and ridiculous get-rich-quick schemes. And when the other kids heard it from his own mouth, they found a new sense of respect for the three boys. They had all been on good terms ever since.

"Man, how did Kevin get so lucky?" Eddy wondered aloud as they watched him and Nazz ride out of sight. "Captain of the football team, and dating the hottest girl in school? It ain't fair, I tell ya."

Edd jogged a bit to walk alongside Eddy. "Now Eddy, these things take time. I'm sure you'll find the girl for you all in good time. Perhaps after you graduate?"

"Yeah, you might be right there Double Dee," Eddy replied. "Once we're in middle-school, we'll have a whole new crowd of smokin' hot ladies to lay the charm on."

Ed nodded. "Charmin' Marvin will rise again!"

Eddy playfully nudged Edd "Who knows, maybe we'll even find the girl willing to put up with you, egghead!"

"There's nothing wrong with having an intellect, Eddy!" Edd replied, nudging back. "Not that you'd understand."

The three boys laughed as they walked down the road towards the cul-de-sac.

"So sockhead," Eddy said, referring to the beanie atop Edd's head. "You in for the movie night? It's a safe bet Ed's on board."

"All aboard and ready to cast off, Cap'n," Ed quipped, giving a clumsy salute.

"I'm sorry gentlemen, but I must decline. As I said before, homework takes priority, then I'll be free all weekend for whatever you have planned."

"Whatever," Eddy said with a roll of his eyes. "I guess it'll just be me and Lumpy here then. No biggie, that means cheesy monster movies courtesy of Ed and a whole lotta riffing from yours truly."

"Come on Eddy!" Ed shouted as he took off down the sidewalk. "I just got the new Killer Confederates movie in the mail this morning, the sixth in the series. The South rises again, from beyond the grave!"

Edd rolled his eyes. How someone was able to make not one, but six movies based around the concept of undead Confederate soldiers was beyond him.

"Hey, wait up Ed!" Eddy cried as he ran after him, leaving Edd to walk the remainder of the way home on his own. Not that he minded. As much as he loved spending time with his two closest friends, a bit of peace and quiet was always nice after a long day of studying. it allowed him a moment with his thoughts.

That said, however, he found himself dwelling on what Eddy had said earlier, about finding the girls just for them when they reach middle-school. In the past year it seemed that Lady Love had been rather busy in the cul-de-sac. Kevin and Nazz had officially become an item and had been going steady almost six months at this point, and Sarah and Jimmy had recently progressed their relationship beyond a simple childhood friendship, quashing quite a few rumours and speculations about Jimmy's preferences. Even Rolf had received a letter from his relatives in the Old Country (Wherever that may be) telling him of a very nice young lady from a neighbouring farm who was interested in him, and the two had been penpals ever since.

But for the three Eds, Lady Love had apparently chosen to pass over them once more. The only romance they had seen was the same amorous onslaught from Lee, May and Marie Kanker, the trio of trailer-park girls who had apparently make it their life's goal to torment the Eds for life. However, since the incident with Eddy's brother, even they had let up somewhat, reducing their typical persistent pursuit to mere teasing. Edd had to admit, as much as he loathed and feared Marie, he did rather miss the attention, as in-his-face as it had been.

As he mused, his attention wandered. His feet were practically on autopilot as he walked, deep in thought. They knew the sidewalk well after so many years walking to and from school, so that he could remember every crack, every dandelion sprouting up between the pavement slabs. But today, his feet found something they were altogether unprepared for. Edd stumbled and staggered as he felt his feet tangle up in something, and he whimpered as he fell forward, flat on his face.

Pulling himself up off the concrete, he rolled over on his back, rubbing his scraped forehead. He had a small cut, thankfully nothing serious, though a small red stain came away on his hand. He would have to put some antiseptic on that when he got home.

"What on earth was that?" He asked aloud to himself as he sat up, looking down at his feet to see what he had become entangled in.

It appeared to be a cord, about a foot and a half in length, strung with alternating red and black beads. At one end there was a small silver charm in a vague human shape, and at the other end a small silver cylinder, like a smaller version of the plastic tubes camera films used to come in. As the string swung in the breeze, he could hear something faintly rattling inside.

"Hmmm, what is this?" Edd disentangled the string from his legs and held it close to examine it. It was quite unlike anything he had ever seen. The closest similarity he could think of was a Catholic rosary, but he had never seen one that was just a straight string and not a loop, and certainly not one with the strange silver charms hanging from either end.

"It looks far too well-made to just be garbage," he said to himself. "Some poor individual must have dropped it, maybe one of the other kids at school."

He coiled it up into a small bunch and tucked it in his jacket pocket. "You can come with me, you curious little thing. I'll find your owner tomorrow, don't you fret."

Suddenly, he caught himself and got to his feet. "Oh wonderful, as if talking to myself wasn't enough, now here I am talking to inanimate objects!"

"Hello, I'm back!"

A short leisurely walk later, and Edd was pushing open the front door of his home. Inside the humble house was unlit and completely silent, no sign of life to be seen. For any other child this would probably be a cause for concern. For Edd, however, it was family life.

Even as a young teenager, Edd's parents had always been the hard working types. His mother was a live-in carer, and she was currently working with a client a few neighbourhoods over, and his father, being the most multilingual employee at his office, was frequently away on business trips. And with Edd getting older, his parents had become more lenient for how much they would leave him home alone. While he appreciated how much trust his parents put in him, Edd could not deny how lonely it made his household. If it weren't for his ant-farm and the spiders he monitored in his garage, he would have next to nobody to talk to at home.

Heading into the kitchen, Edd opened the fridge and pulled out a few vegetables and a jar of sauce and set to making a plate of healthy spaghetti for himself. As he ate, he got to work on his homework from that day. Or at least, he attempted to. For something other than quadratic equations and Pythagorean geometry was playing on his mind tonight.

Reaching in his pocket, he took out the string of beads again, uncoiling it and letting it hang between his fingers, the silver cylinder and figurine dangling before his face. Just what was this curious object? Some sort of jewellery? A collectible toy of some kind? A lucky charm?

He shook his head like a dog shaking water from its fur. "Come now Eddward, you're getting distracted! The curio can wait until after dinner and study."

He rolled up the string again and replaced it in his pocket, and focused his mind on his work and his dinner.

Hours later, his dinner and his homework completed, Edd sat at his desk in his bedroom, casually flipping through a book when his mind returned to the strange artefact that sat in his pocket. Uncoiling it once more, he peered closely at the cylinder. A hairline crack at one end gave away a small opening.

"Aha, there we go!" Edd muttered to himself. Rifling through a drawer in his desk, he pulled out a tiny screwdriver, the sorts one would get as a prize in a Christmas cracker, and wedged the flat head into the crack. There was a faint click and the flat end of the cylinder flipped open.

Within the cylinder was a tiny rolled up piece of paper. Edd smiled in satisfaction as he unrolled it. It was similar to a sort of religious talisman or charm he had read about, where certain verses or 'magical' incantations would be written on paper and worn in lockets by the faithful. But while there was a short text on the paper, what caught Edd's eye was the image above it.

It was a peculiar geometric design, with a vague resemblance to a bunch of random letters smashed together into a form that was almost humanoid in its design. Beneath it was a short line of text, or rather, an equally random assortment of letters slapped together to vaguely resemble words.

"Beronit... Physcla... Fum?" Edd read aloud the strange text. "What on earth is that supposed to mean?"

He read the paper upside down, backwards and every other which way he could think of. He referred back to every foreign language he could think, modern and ancient, but nothing even came close to resembling the absolute car-crash of letters that was scrawled before him.

Edd shrugged. "I suppose it must have made sense to whomever this belongs to. Heh, perhaps when I return it to them they can enlighten me," he chuckled to himself.

"Ah well, no sense in dwelling on such strangeness, high time you were in bed, Eddward," he said to himself, stretching his arms high above his head. Switching off the light of his work desk, he rested the strange charm on the desk and changed into his pyjama onesie, slipping into bed ready for a well-earned sleep.

But sleep did not come easy for Edd that night. No matter the relaxation techniques, breath exercises or postures he tried, he just could not switch off his mind and go to sleep. All through the night that same nonsensical phrase coursed through his mind as if on an infinite loop:

"Beronit... Physcla... Fum... Beronit... Physcla... Fum..."

He tossed and turned in bed, his bedsheets twisting this way and that. The words streamed through his mind like some maddening mantra, refusing to be silent, somehow getting louder and louder in his mind.

"Beronit... Physcla... Fum... Beronit... Physcla... Fum..."

It was as if his inner voice had suddenly split into a dozen voices, a veritable choir of inner monologues, all repeating the same nonsensical phrase, shouting, screaming in his mind.

"BERONIT! PHYSCLA! FUM! BERONIT! PHYSCLA! FUM! BERONIT! PHYSCLA! FUM!"

Edd sat up in his bed, his head feeling as if it was about to burst. No matter how hard he held his throbbing skull, the words would not stop! He felt close to screaming aloud in agony…

When just as soon as it had started, it stopped. The mantra faded from his mind, and all returned to silence. Edd flopped back in his bed, sweat dripping from his brow, his chest rising and falling as he breathed heavily. His eyelids fluttered as relief gave way to exhaustion, and the veil of sleep began to overcome him once more.

Before he drifted off for the rest of the night, Edd could have sworn the swimming mists of sleep in his eyes formed a shape that was almost human, sitting before him. But he did not have long to regard it before he found restful slumber at last.

The shrill chimes of Edd's alarm clock stirred the boy from his dreamless sleep. Rubbing the grit from his eyes, he slapped the top of the clock to silence it. As his room came into focus, he peered around. Despite the strange events of the previous night, the mysterious words that plagued his mind, all seemed as it should be. His desk was still there, the strange charm sitting right where he left it.

"Oohh, what an odd night that was," Edd yawned. "I'm sure an extra few minutes will do no harm…"

He rolled over and pulled his blankets up to his chin, smiling contently, but rather than finding more rest, he instead found the perfect incentive to leap back, tumbling from his bed in shock.

Peeking up from over the bedside he saw lying there, fast asleep right next to where he was, a girl. And as he looked closer he took notice of three things that altogether startled him, even more so than the scandalous fact that a girl had been asleep in the same bed as him.

First of all, it was no girl that he recognised. She appeared to be his age, if not slightly younger, of slight build. Her short blonde hair reached her shoulders at the back of her head, with bangs framing her face and curling in by her cheeks and a short fringe swept to one side. Her mouth was curled into a slight smile in her sleep, gently snoring to herself.

Second of all, far more startling, she appeared to be completely naked. Mercifully, when Edd had jolted off the bed in shock, the blanket had been flung off of him and draped over her sleeping form, exposing only her head, shoulders and one arm. Edd noted with no shortage of curiosity that on the exposed arm, just below the shoulder, the girl had a marking almost like a tattoo, in a light blue colour. His eyes widened as he recognised the design as being the exact same geometric design as on the slip of paper he found inside the silver charm.

Third, and strangest of all, was that she appeared to have upon her head a pair of furry brown ears, pointed and tufted like those of a fox or wolf. There has been a recent trend of animal-ear headbands among younger girls in alot of fashion stores, Edd noted, too shocked by the strange turn of events to even speak aloud to himself. Perhaps she was one such girl?

And yet he could not see any band that the ears would be attached to upon her head. Nor could he see any sign of her real ears hidden under her hair. Gingerly he reached a trembling hand towards the left 'ear', in an effort to find out their means of attachment, when the girl stirred, faintly mumbling in her sleep. And the ear twitched and fluttered gently.

It was as if a pit had opened up and all of Edd's internal organs had fallen out, leaving nothing behind but a feeling of empty shock. He could feel the colour drain from his face, and any sense of rational thought gave way to what could only be described as a mental Blue Screen of Death.

"Th-they're…. Real… Those are r-real…" was all Edd could manage before he felt his legs give way beneath him and he slumped to the floor in dumbfounded disbelief.

Then the girl's eyelids fluttered open and Edd found himself staring into a pair of electric blue eyes. She smiled at him.

"Oh, hi there!" she said in a cheerful voice. "So you're my creator then, it's nice to meet you."