Chapter Text
The cold stone floor of the crypt was slowly stealing all of the heat in her body. Her breathing became more erratic and scarce. The image of her surroundings was vivid, the resting place of a hateful bigot who had bested her. Her eyelids getting heavier with each opening, the blood loss making the task incredibly difficult. She could see the faint image of a spirit talking with her. With much effort she focused her attention and finally distinguished who it was, the faint image belonging to Enid. She seemed to be talking, but her voice was distante, barely audible. It took some time to understand the message.
“Wake up Wednesday”
She opened her eyes to find Enid staring and smiling weakly, those big blue eyes betraying her,full of worries. They were in their dorm, on the final days of the semester. Wednesday slowly pushed herself to sit with her back on the headboard, eyes still glued to the wolf.
“Morning Enid” Her voice seemed to calm the wolf. She quickly looked at the stained glass, a strange red light slowly creeping up to bask their room, it seemed to be early in the morning “Why did you wake me up before the sun?”
“Ah well, you seemed to be in distress” She could see the confusion of the raven “ Not in the kind you would consider good;and I also wanted to ask you something”Her face lost a little of the usual smile and there was a little pause before she continued “if you don’t mind”.
“I suppose I am already awake. Take your chance” She moved to get out of the bed and start her morning routine, moving in the direction of the bathroom.A few steps behind Enid broke her silence.
“Why did you let me die?”
She rapidly turned around and now found herself in the forest, on the night of the Blood Moon. Enid was standing still, the wounds on her face bleeding and mixing with the tears running down her face. Wednesday took a step forward, her mouth surprisingly dry,fingers prickling and eyes wide. She wanted to say something, but her voice refused to come out. Then the Hyde leaped from the shadows and the moment froze before her, with his giant teeth sinking deep on Enid's neck. Finally the words flew out of her mouth.
“ENID!”
She jolted up in her bed, the name still echoing in her chambers. Her heart was beating hard and fast, sending adrenaline through all of her body, sweat drenching her pajamas. The images were still vivid in her mind, her breathing taking some time to adjust to the standard.
The cold breeze of the window brought her senses back to the room. It was deep in the night and only the faint whispers of the dead could be heard, courtesy of the Addams graveyard.It was a full moon and its light filled the place with a supernatural aesthetic, the dead stuffed animals and her arsenal of favorite weapons displayed in the wall helped it too. After recomposing herself she quickly got out of bed, grabbed one of the sabers on the wall and walked furiously through the corridors of the manor.
The Crackstone incident had occurred almost two months ago. The school had decided on an early break and the students were quickly sent back home. She appreciated the return home,if she could avoid the overly affection of her parents, it was a place of comfort and tranquility. What annoyed her were the constant nightmares that plagued her sleep. Insistent useless things. She had experienced an almost death, and it was a lot less fun than she imagined.
Her body was perfect, even better than before. She suspected that Goddy had not just healed, but also reinforced her. Wednesday was faster, stronger and more perceptive. All of those things proved essential in furthering her mastery of skills. She only survived because of the unreliable powers of an ancestor. One that wasn’t available anymore.She needed to be better.
The doors of the practice room opened, revealing a place she had visited exhaustively on this break. It was dark with only the faint moonlight entering through the small glass opening in the ceiling, the training dummies filled with stabs and cuts from recent days. Her mind refused to heal completely from that night, so she dealt with it in the best way she knew. Training more.
She moved to the center, the grip of the sword more tight than necessary. Being here already helped, it focused her mind on the routine, away from invading thoughts. With a few deep breaths and feeling her body relax a little, she started to follow the steps of her training. Each cut and sway vanishing a lingering image from her nightmare. It made her remember what happened and not what could have been.
She was stabbed, but managed to save the school. Her footsteps echoed in the room.
The Hyde was defeated by Enid and was imprisoned, away from her and Nevermore. A deep cut destroyed a little of the wood in front of her.
Enid was alive and well. She had the scars to prove it and was a magnificent beast that night. She didn't die. The next strike only grazed her target. She stopped.
It was better to focus on the present. Attachment to things that were immutable were futile and only a hindrance to the future. These nightmares were going to leave her, she only needed to endure while it happened. Tomorrow she would leave for Nevermore once again, this time without the same resistance of before, and new things would be occupying her mind.
She wandered back to her room and gathered things to take a quick shower,at that moment her phone fell from the table and got under the bed. She thought of leaving it there forever, the hateful thing. At first, it constantly made annoying sounds, distracting her and Wednesday almost threw the damn thing out of the window, but then Enid taught her how to mute and it was bearable.The wolf was one of the only two people whose she didn’t immediately block, Eugene being the second.
It was fortunate to have news of the girl, not that Wednesday would ever admit that to anyone. It helped with her new nightly problem, the wolf making sure to give weekly, or sometimes daily, updates of her break. It was how she found out Enid would be going to Nevermore the very first day of the new semester. Which was uncommon,the first week reserved for small talk between the staff and the students, something that Wednesday(and almost all of the students) were more than happy to skip,but it wasn’t surprising to discover. A new found hate for the Sinclairs had made its way into Wednesday heart while she read Enid messages throughout the break, luckily for them the wolf made her promise not to maim anyone of her family when the school returned.
This discovery changed her plans, which was why she was going to Nevermore tomorrow. She had an idea that would surely be entertaining. Besides, what better chance to explore all of the school than this one?