Glory and Gore | Edward Nashton (The Riddler)

Prologue

Edward Nashton grew up in an orphanage his whole life. And living in the Gotham City Orphanage took a toll on him. He was never treated with any kindness when he was there and barely survived the harsh conditions. As soon as he could leave the orphanage, he did. He didn't look back. He was seventeen. Edward walked the city streets of Gotham, looking for a place to live. In his days at the orphanage it was every man for himself. Edward had worked while living there. He had saved up enough money to rent a motel room. Just so he could escape the orphanage. And he still had his job so he'd be ok. He didn't have much to his name. A bag full of clothes and some puzzle and riddle books. He needed to eat tonight and decided to go to a convenience store. He cringed when he heard the laughter of some classmates of his. Edward was also forced to go to public school. Everyone there knew he was an orphan. "Check it out! It's Ed-Weird!" One of the boys said. Edward looked down, his shoulder length hair hiding his face. "Whatcha doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at the orphanage?" Edward never fought the bullies back. He'd just sit and take it. He was shoved against the wall and watched the bully raise his fist. Edward prepared himself for a beating that never came. "Hey, jerks! Leave him alone!" A girl's voice said. Edward opened his eyes to see a girl a few years younger than him standing across the aisle. "Awe, what're you gonna do about it?" The bully asked. "My dad's a cop. I'll call him right now and tell him you're beating an innocent person. That's battery, you know. You can go to jail." The girl stood with her arms crossed, smirking at the bullies. That girl was Juno Gordon, the daughter of James Gordon who was a very respected cop. These bullies must've cared about consequences because they immediately let go of Edward. "Hey, sorry man." The two of them scurried out of the store and Edward pushed his glasses up his face. "Are you ok? I hate bullies." Juno said. Edward nodded and said "I'm fine. T-Thank you." Juno smiled and said "of course. You're tall enough, punch them next time." "Juno! I was looking all over for you!" Velma, her mother said. Juno rolled her eyes and said "I'm fine, mom." "Let's go. You're father's waiting on us." Juno nodded at her mother. She was only ten at the time and wanted to help people like her father did. Velma grabbed her daughter's hand and pulled her out of the store. Edward watched as the little girl who saved his ass disappeared. He had wanted to thank her profusely and tell her she had guts for a young girl.

Thirteen years later:
Edward now sat a desk, sighing. He was a forensic accountant. He somewhat liked the job because he got to work with numbers. He checked his watch, wishing he could get off work but still had another two hours left. "Nashton, you almost done with this form?" One of Edward's supervisors asked. "Yes, sir. It's almost finished. Wrapping it up now." The man nodded at him and said "when you're done with that, you can go home." Edward watched the man walk away and was puzzled. He figured they'd make him stay his full duration of hours. But, no. They were releasing him early. Edward quickly finished up the form for the account and quickly left the office. He was slightly buzzing with excitement, not really knowing what to do since he had been let out of work early. He figured he could at least go get a slice of pumpkin pie. He headed to the diner he spent the majority of his free time at and ordered a pumpkin pie with a coffee. "You're earlier than usual." The waitress said. She was always there when Edward visited. "My boss let me leave early. I-It was honestly unexpected." "That's great, Edward." She said with a smile as she walked away. Edward half smiled and looked down at his pumpkin pie. He picked up his fork and went to bite into a piece of pie. "Gosh, the rain is so annoying." A girl's voice said. Edward looked to his right and his eyes widened. The most beautiful girl he'd ever seen stood at the bar. She was wet from the rain, her wet hair sticking to her shoulders. She noticed Edward staring at her. "Sorry. Didn't mean to disturb you. I just say whatever's on my mind sometimes." Edward almost swooned at the sound of her voice. He never understood love at first sight. He'd call people stupid when they'd say it. 'Now I'm the stupid one.' He told himself. "Y-You didn't disturb me." Edward said. The girl smiled and said "good." She sat down and awaited the waitress, looking over the menu. Edward would sneak glances at her every now and then, trying to be discreet. Her phone rang and she answered it, bringing it up to her ears. "Hi, Lena. I'm just at the diner, what's up?" He watched her face fall, looking down at the ground. "Another one? I hate those things." An apple pie was sat in front of the girl with a cup of tea. "Ugh, ok. I'll come dress shopping with you tomorrow. Just text me in the morning." The girl took her apple pie home as she rushed out of the diner. Edward was finished a long time ago and followed the girl out of the diner. He stayed a good distance away from her, watching her every move. He watched as she walked to a somewhat lush apartment building. He grimaced at the building, hating how nice it was. He didn't follow her inside as he wasn't ready to do so. Juno walked into her apartment, dreading the dinner party she'd have to go to. All of Gotham's socialites would be there. Her family wasn't super rich or anything but her mother had a decent amount of money. She barely used the money from her mother but was forced to go to dinner parties and such because of her mother. Juno's father was a cop and made good money but not anything like her mother's. Lena, one of her friends was the daughter of the mayor. She had always invited her to the dinner parties she had to go to. Juno was currently dating a boy named Harry Bingham. He was unbelievably rich and practically showed Juno off to everyone he knew. She hated it. She liked him in the beginning but now he just treated her awfully and only treated her nice to get things out of her. Juno was tired of him. She was twenty three years old and somewhat hated her life at the moment. She had her best friends and her job at the orphanage that was brand new but wanted a man who could make her happy. Edward ended up going home, back to his apartment. He sighed sadly as he opened the door, closing it behind him. He kept his apartment very clean. Even though it was in a rundown building. He changed into some joggers and a t-shirt. He figured he'd get ahead on sleep as he fell back onto his bed. His stomach growled, telling him he needed to eat more than pie. Edward grabbed his phone and ordered pizza, not wanting to leave his apartment. He stared at the ceiling, his mind going from pizza to the girl at the diner. Edward was a thirty year old man who wanted someone to care for. And wanted someone to care for him. He didn't have many friends growing up. In fact, he didn't have any now. He barely talked to anyone, only when they addressed him first. Edward wished he had the guts to talk to her. Even get her name. He just wanted to hear her voice again. Hopefully he would. "You're so stupid, Edward. Falling for a girl you haven't even properly met. You're stupid." He said to himself out loud. Loud knocking from the door broke him from his thoughts. He got the pizza and then closed the door. He went to his living room couch and turned on the tv. He used the current animal show to distract him from his thoughts. His stomach got the better of him as he ate half of the pizza. He groaned softly and shut off the tv, retreating to his bedroom. He curled up in his bed, dreaming about the girl at the diner.

Here's the prologue!! Ok so before this book officially starts, imma just list some stuff here that'll be in the book. There will be smut. Might be some harsh language but nothing too crazy. Imma just warn y'all now, Harry's gonna be an asshole. Edward might be slightly creepy. I don't think I'm going to write him being dark or anything. I preferably don't like him that way. I've read all kinds of different imagines and fics on tumblr. He's definitely going to be creepy, slight stalking and such. But, I don't think I'll take it farther than that. That's just how I'm deciding to write him. There's plenty of stuff out there with him being dark asf. I don't really write super dark themes but yeah. And please don't make a big deal about the age gap. It's literally seven years I'm not hearing it😂😂
~skylar🖤🫧🖤🫧