Nevermore: Conservatory

Y/N goes to the massive greenhouse to look for something that could possibly help finalize his clue about the Cravens. It's a little silly, maybe, but he wonders if there's a spec of nightshade in here he could use for potential reference later down the line. It would help him figure out just why someone would need to attack a Craven for. 

He steps inside which provides no hassle, looking around at all of the plants he's seen over a thousand times, showing off to the ghosts about who's still alive in this world all about murder mysteries that fall to teenagers to help solve them. He ambles around until he comes across an interesting looking plant, crimson red as if tainted by blood that's infected it's leaves, though he knows that it's just its natural color. He raises hand and hovers it over the objects, considering the idea to touch them if only to check for poison.

"Excuse me?" Thornhill's voice suddenly chimes in from nowhere, causing Y/N to jump slightly as he turns around to find her standing behind him like she was always here to begin with. Which, technically, she was, but the guy could've sworn that the conservatory was empty has a zombie's skull when he walked in here. "Y/N L/N? What are you doing here? I thought Weems had you cleaning the school."

"Ms. Thornhill, hey, um....." Y/N swallows, realizing that he didn't really come up with a good excuse for the rare possibility of him getting caught. "I-I am, but Jonah disappeared on us, and I was trying to look for him." He blurts out, only to get a weird look from Thornhill in response. "Okay, yeah, maybe it's just me who wanted to disappear for a couple minutes."

"Y/N, you know what Weems will do if she catches you sneaking around like this. She's already on edge with Wednesday and such." Thornhill reminds Y/N with an alarming face, like he wasn't aware of those risks when he pulled this. "The last thing I want is for you to get in trouble over nothing."

"I appreciate the concern, Ms. Thornhill, but I'm fine." Y/N assures her with his hands raised and a tense grin on his face. He's already got enough people to worry about and make worry, thank you very much. "I just needed to.... you know, look for some Nightshade to see if it was around." He tells her with a shrug, causing the woman to blink at him.

"Nightshade? What for?"

"Project." Y/N half-answers, earning himself another look from the teacher. "Sorry, personal project, obviously. I'm not planning to unleash poison or something on the class tomorrow." He promises her, not wanting to make it seem like he's lying again to save his hide. Sticking to omission of truth will likely be the better option. 

"Well, I'm sorry to say that I don't have any Nightshade here, at least not yet." Thornhill answers with a sheepish chuckle, acknowledging that she's missing a few key pieces of her collection. "Though, I doubt that Weems would allow one to be shown anyway, after the Gates incident and the fact that a plant like that would be dangerous to even stand near."

"Well, if anyone would have some a cool looking piece of botany, I'm sure you will be grabbing some eventually." Y/N remarks with a tiny smile, though the woman still seems to be frowning for some reason or another.

"Y/N.... are you trying to figure out what happened?" Thornhill guesses correctly, as she seems to be noticing the patters in the boy's mannerisms, causing him to drop his smile on account of being called out. "That's not healthy for you, you know." She tells him as she steps forward. "Whatever you may be thinking, nothing was ever your fault."

Y/N drops his head with a loud sigh. "My best friend is gone.... and I watched him die right in front of me." He reminds her with a dark expression on his face, looking up so she can see what's behind his eyes. "There could be a million things in my way, nothing is going to stop me until I or someone else figure out why the heck a nice person had to go out like that, and another to go into a coma."

He stands up straight and heads towards the door, now seeing that he probably got a bit to optimistic with this room. There was another plan he had to figure out what happened to the Cravens. "Y/N, wait!" Thornhill calls out to him urgently, causing him to freezes and turn back around. She doesn't look sad or upset like she was expecting, instead, her mouth seems to be stuck in motion, opening and closing without anything else happening. Eventually, she opens her desk and pulls out some kind of to-go box, stepping forward and handing it to Y/N. "You should take this so you don't starve to death."

Y/N is perplexed as he slowly takes the offered meal. "When the heck did you conjure this up?" He queries as he smells the food, which allows him to eventually realize that his favorite is in this thing. "And why?"

"Well, I noticed you outside of commissary, so I assumed the principal gave you something worse than lunch detention, or maybe you just didn't eat." Thornhill answered with a simple shrug, having just assumed a thing about a few assumptions. "Anyway, just... keep it, at least to ease my anxious worries."

Y/N considers saying something to retort, but finds himself unable to generate a reason to say no. "Um... okay then." He accepts it with a nod as he steps outside, chuckling to himself as he walks out the doors. Thornhill appears like a Batman character and delivers a late rebound lunch instead of a pack of punches?

That is certainly not what he was expecting.

_________________________________________

Jericho: Weathervane

Wednesday needs a moment of peace after Thing the whistleblower practically announced her date of birth to the entire world. She assumed that the coffee shop would be a suitable location due to the booth she has officially claimed from all other wannabe usurpations like her old friends here in Jericho, or anyone else that dare question her place in this building.  

She's trying to discover what false story the people here have been fed about Joseph Crackstone, by reading a book that is based on his name. It's way too comedic once you know the full context, but for some reason, Wednesday wants to keep reading. Though, she's briefly interrupted when a small cup taps on her table.

"I know your usually a quad kinda girl, but I've been working on that all week." Tyler mentions as he slides into the opposite end of the booth, despite being on the clock apparently according to his uniform. Wednesday takes her eyes off her book and looks to see 'Happy Birthday' with an exclamation mark spelled in the creme.

"Birthday, yes. Happy, never." Wednesday remarks bitterly before holding her book back up, causing Tyler to nod slowly to himself, knowing that he shouldn't have expected the most excited of reactions. "Is there anyone Thing didn't tell?"

"Well, who do you think made you the snood?" Tyler brings up with an weirdly placed grin after admitting that he practiced knitting just for her, causing Wednesday to look up at him, surprised. "Yeah, I kinda had to sneak out on two separate days so my dad didn't know what I was doing, making a black-and-white plus pink-and-darker pink garmet."

"I would have assumed that you delivered the cake." Wednesday comments with a hum, though knows that someone else she knows is beating her to the punch. "I assume that you were furious when it ended up being Y/N."

Tyler looks down at the table....

https://youtu.be/N705E3s2oLE

"I was cool with it. Plus, I was still able to make a gift that you would be scared to try on sooner or later." Tyler answers with a small nervous chuckle, which makes Wednesday raise skeptical brow at him. Still, the thought that Tyler seemed to put into her and the coffee message makes her heart beat a little bit faster on the inside, or maybe that's just her being terrified that someone's showing a hint of affection just because she's herself. "Speaking of, did he give you one yet?"

"Why should it matter? I don't care if he wants to waste his money on something I'll probably throw away in a week, unless I'm forced to flee a war-torn country on foot." Wednesday remarks as if trying to seem glad that he didn't, though Tyler suspects her irritation to come from the vice versa, given the way she flips the book's page.

"Come on, don't you like a day where it's all about you?"

"Every day is about me." Wednesday corrects him with a matter of face tone, causing Tyler to humorously nod at her as if saying 'of course'. "This one just comes with cake and a bad song."

"So, if I asked you out to a non-cake, birthday song-free dinner..... would that be something you're interested in?" Tyler queries with a hopeful look on his face, the proposal is not unfound to Wednesday, but the idea of going on something like a date with anyone feels.... out of her character, as she likes to remind herself.

"I have a tight deadline." Wednesday answers harshly as she drops her eyes back to the pages, trying to hide her embarrassment as Tyler's happy expression slowly turns crappy. "Emphasis on 'dead'."

"Term paper?" Tyler guesses, trying not to show his disappointment too much.

"It's about how whitewashing the sins of our past will come back to kills us all." Wednesday tells him boldly, to which Tyler just hums and nods as if that's completely normal, though it's blatantly faked. Seeing the effort he's trying to keep talking with her, she pulls out the sketch from her inventory and slides it towards him. "Have you seen that before?" She asks the Galpin kid as he unwraps the folded piece of paper, squinting hard. Regrettably, he looks up at her with a bad smile.

"Um.... what is this supposed to be?" He asks her, obviously having no clue what the gate's design represents. Wednesday sighs in defeat, feeling like she should've known that she wasn't going to get anything.

"Never mind." Wednesday dismisses it with a sharp tone, sheepishly putting it back in his bag. She then goes back into her book, seemingly ignoring Tyler who leans back against the booth as they are once again at the part where things get uncomfortably awkward between them.

"Okay, did..... did I do something?" Tyler asks her seriously, prompting Wednesday's eyes to glance back at him. "I.... just feel like ever since the Rave'N, you've kinda been ghosting me. Usually, you come looking for me, now it's only been me that's checking on you. I gave you that gift after your father got released and you barely said two words to me per sentence. Am I wrong?" He asks her, causing the girl to struggle maintaining eye contact with him.

"It's nothing...."

"Does it have something to do with Y/N?" Tyler brings up, causing a few bits of goosebumps to creep through Wednesday's skin, and her organs to spike up. This prevents her from giving a verbal response. "Guess I got my answer...." He mutters as his jaw clenches, failing to hide his hurt emotions. "You know he and Divina are trying to get back together, right? Wouldn't that be kind of.... awkward?"

"It has nothing to do with whatever you're assuming." Wednesday retorts in a defensive manner, borderline hating that everyone keeps assuming that her actions have to do with that one betraying emotion.

"Oh, so that's what gives you your voice back?" Tyler remarks sarcastically before standing up with a large sigh, having heard enough from her. Wednesday feels horribly conflicted as she just wishes she could tell the guy what's on her mind and be done with it, if someone or something didn't hint that it comes with drastic consequences every time she considers it. 

Just as he goes to walk back to the counter, Sheriff Galpin steps through the doors. "Tall black, two sugars to go?" The barista assumes, as his dad gives him a confirming nod.

The Sheriff and Wednesday share a look as he passes her, prompting the girl to jump out of her seat. "That threat that burned onto the lawn and school, it's also etched on the wall inside Crackstone's crypt." She speaks to the man in spite of his mental wishes, so the man forces himself to turn around and acknowledge her.

"Don't tell me you've been out there digging up more bodies."

"There's a connection there, I know it." Wednesday insists, trying to get the supposedly more resourceful police man to keep doing his job while people are dropping dead in his town. 

"Alright, well, I'll make sure I put out an APB on a dead pilgrim." Sheriff sarcastically responds in a way of telling the girl that he much rather keep himself awake than talk to a troublesome girl while unbearably tired. 

"I figured since you no longer have an old vendetta to obsess over, you're free to solve some real crime." Wednesday quips with a similar tongue, reminding the cop that he should be taking this seriously as much as she is.

"Your father and I buried the hatchet." Galpin mentions with a small growl. "Maybe you should do the same."

"I don't bury hatchets.... I sharpen them." Wednesday promises the Sheriff, walking away back to her table as she thinks about how lost she apparently is, trying to figure out how to find the house on that sketch.

One candidate seems likely. 

________________________________________

Nevermore: Old Shed

https://youtu.be/onXPkk_VYjA

Y/N L/N has a map layed on a table in front of him, pretty much one of those things you would expect a tourist to have since it covers pretty much the area surrounding Jericho and Nevermore combined. It's weirdly therapeutic, staring at something that could or could not be related to what he's searching for. The only frustrating part right now is that he's not exactly a criminal expert and being accused of one he didn't commit doesn't count.

As he continues writing circles with a red-colored pencil, he hears the doors opening with a quiet creak, prompting him to glance over and see none other than Wednesday and Thing slowly stepping inside, prompting him to stand up straight. "I need your help." She simply states.

"That was quick." Y/N remarks with a hum as he sets his pencils down,

"Don't gloat." Wednesday demands before he can drop anymore 'I told you so's'. The boy chuckles as he steps over to her reaching into her bag and pulling out the sketch. "I saw this in a vision." She explains as Y/N takes it and turns off his loud music. "Do you recognize it?"

Y/N eyes the detail in the gate specifically. "I do, actually." He answers with a nod, able to recognize it in spite of Wednesday's shaky lines. "It's the old Gates mansion, one of those.... spooky scary stories Nevermore created after that, you know, thing with your father. He explains to her, going to his map and scrolling around until he finds it. "Right there."

"What kind of spooky story?" Wednesday queries curiously as she follows his eyes to the location, wondering if there's something she should prepare for even if it ends up being nonsense. 

"That the family dying within a decade of each other was no accident." Y/N replies with a small sigh, almost wanting to laugh due to how cliche it is. "Allegedly, their ghosts came back to this place, which is supposed to explain the flickering lights, silhouettes in the windows, or whatever else they come up with." He explains, it sounds superstitions as with little experience Wednesday has as a psychic, she doubts that's how ghosts work. Still...

"Sounds like that's where I need to go." 

"Hey, while we're on the topic of dead people..." Y/N brings up really quick to bring the conversation going, grabbing one of the red pencils and handing it to Wednesday. "Hypothetically, if you wanted to, say..... make a few people 'disappear' from reality, where would you hide them?" He asks curiously, earnestly wanting her opinion. 

Wednesday looks perplexed by the question coming from him, but he can see that the guy is not trying to set up some kind of joke. Guess he knows that she's way too into grave-play. She stares at the map before noting an interesting location. "The quarry." She answers, circling the location a couple times. "Remote, silent, and deep enough to ensure permanent disappearance, provided the soil isn't too close. Only way someone would find them is if they were looking for the dead." She states, looking to see Y/N's impressed brow. "What?"

"Remind me to stay on your good side." Y/N quips with a tiny smirk, to which Wednesday mentally scoffs.

"That's assuming my good side doesn't involve electric eel baths." Wednesday remarks with a seemingly serious tone, causing Y/N to nod with a 'touché' face. "Which I'm in major need of, since I was forced into this school."

"You know, Xavier was the one who told me about the story of the Gates mansion." Y/N mentions with a small exhale, causing Wednesday to turn to him with a mixed glint in her eyes. "He always passed by it when he was running, he probably would've gotten a vison about it too in his dreams, wanting to go with you." He adds with a weak chuckle. "He really felt like he owed you."

"A blood debt would have been welcomed." Wednesday notes as if regretting she ever called it in, to which he nods agreeingly. "How was it like, having someone like Xavier as your roommate?" She asks before realizing it, as if wanting to know if they were as different as she and Enid. 

"Well, he didn't really like me at first, to be honest." Y/N answers honestly with a shrug. "Not because of the Woods-Creep thing, more just that he was just hesitant to trust anyone again after forcing himself to cut both Bianca and Rowan out of his life, those two seemingly meant a lot to him."  He shares with Wednesday, seething a little bit at the mention of the latter. "Which is why I was so.... pissed off that he never got to learn the full truth about why his ex-best friend become nothing, even when dead."

"My brother would probably become a version of me if that happened." Wednesday guesses coldly as the thought of her disappearing like that frustrates her, especially while she's still trying to get her work published. 

"I shouldn't have done that whole thing at the Rave'N...." Y/N laments with a sorrowed expression on his face as he once again plays the image of the monster coming out of nowhere and killing Thorpe right in front of him. "It's all my fault." 

"Granted, he was the calmest out of everyone when the sprinklers turned on, he just walked out like someone simply turned off the music." Wednesday mentions to him with a voice that seems to be joining him, despite her face still being as dead as ever. Y/N chuckles as that does sound like him. "I guess part of him admired the theatrics too."

"I saw you and Tyler dancing earlier before the fireworks." Y/N brings up as he turns to her with a seemingly admiring look, which Wednesday feels terrifyingly satisfying to see.  "You're not mad that I ruined the moment you were having?"

"I did fail to finish that one move I was going to make...." Wednesday does mention now that she thinks about it, making Y/N nod guilty at first. "But...... what you did was what really made my day.... at least for a few seconds." She then confesses to him, making the boy stare at her surprised. "The pig's blood was an addition that deserves..... recognition. I think that was very enticing to have rained down on me."

"Thank you." Y/N replies with a tiny smirk, which somehow creates this moment of silence where the two stare at each other for a few seconds, though it feels like minutes as his eyes hypnotize him in a way she can't explain. "Do you think I'm being silly? Making this place my second home?" He breaks the silence, looking around. "Maybe Xavier will come back if I just.... keep everything the same." He mocks himself with a shake of his head. "How silly is that, huh?"

Wednesday glances down as she thinks about it, finding herself confronted with a question she never thought she would have a hard time answering. "I'm in no place to judge..... yet." She tells him before grabbing her bag which Thing hops in, before turning away. 

"Hey, Wednesday." Y/N calls out to her before she leaves, grabbing her attention one more time. "You okay? You've been cautious around me, again." He simply asks her, no suspicion, no trouble behind it, he's just concerned about her. The girl takes a moment before answering.

"Caution is a natural state for those who wish to survive." She states before exiting the shed, closing the door behind her. Y/N exhales as he glances down at the map, not really having any more answers, just more questions.

Is she trying to keep everyone at arm's length?

_________________________________________

Gates Mansion:

With all of the clues being connected, and having a location to boot, Wednesday Addams agrees to finally go to the old Gates mansion to figure out what connection this has to her case and what answers lie inside. Hopefully, it's more of that instead of new questions, she's been bomb shelled with enough of those already. She compares the gate to her note, and confirms that she's at the right building.

As she slowly opens the gate which creaks loudly with all its rust, stepping inside, she wonders if whatever religious being someone believes has an ironic sense of humor in bringing her here. After all, this is the same place the boy her father was once accused of murdering lived, along with his family and legacy of hate. Still, Goody showed her this for a reason, and with her time running out, who is she to ignore her?

Either she unlocks its secrets, or she dies trying. 

She circles around the house until she finds what she believes is a door that could lead her inside. She steps forward and looks through the glass, but before she can put her hand on the handle, she sees a silhouette approaching the foggy see-through, causing her to quickly rush back before the door opens and she is spotted.

Noble steps out, none the wiser as he locks the front doors behind him before walking off of the front porch and back towards his car while Wednesday watches from behind a dead bush. The man pauses and looks around before putting his hands in his coat pockets, making her suspect that he's found something he didn't expect.

Wednesday feels Thing hopping out of the bag and crawling onto her shoulder, perfect timing. "I need a distraction." She tells him, deciding to put the mansion on hold for a little while longer since it appears to be that the mayor has beaten her to the punch. Better to do it the easier way than the hard way. 

The hand crawls away while the mayor paces in the middle of the street, impatiently calling a number and sighing heavily when it goes to voicemail. "Sheriff, pick up your damn phone, it's Noble." He scorns as he taps his foot on the concrete. "Listen I may have figured out who's behind all of this." He reports while a smile, before getting a pebble suddenly tossed at him, causing him to jerk his head towards where it came from. Wednesday uses that moment to tip-toe hop behind him, into the back of his car. "It's a long shot, so I'm goin' to have to lay it out for you. We'll do it over pie at the Weathervane, just like the old days. See you soon."

He hangs up the phone before curiously scanning towards where that tiny rock came from, trying to see if someone or something threw it, but can't really see much due to being extremely skeptical that a walking hand could have done it. Wednesday, during this brief moment, opens up the trunk and stuffs herself inside along with Thing who hops in as well, closing it before Noble can see it moving.

The mayor then drives away, not knowing about the stowaways in the back.

___________________________________________

Wilderness: The Quarry

I knew this was guesswork, but what am I supposed to do? Not look for them? Everyone may pretend that the Cravens didn't exist, or that they fled, or that it's a cold case, but I'm not. Whatever happened to them is related to Xavier, and I'm going to crack it open.

Y/N walks across the old quarry that's now turned into a tour park for tourists along with Kent. The two of them aren't exactly supposed to be in here, since it's currently closed with the you-know-what closing off all potential hiking trails for until they catch the thing, but that would also make it the perfect time for someone to mess with their old past. All that's left is the mill 

"Didn't you, like... already get arrested for grave-digging a few days ago?" Kent brings up as he reluctantly follows the kid, having only brought himself along so Divina didn't come and try to volunteer. The two march down the hill-like path with a tiring huff. "Why are you trying this again?"

"I'm not digging anything, they could be anywhere in the ground at this point." Y/N corrects him as he gestures towards the pit around them. The place isn't as big as the usual quarry one would imagine, but this land did have some interesting ores once upon a time, if you can believe it. "All we're looking for is something that's out of place."

"But this is mother nature, isn't it? Doesn't she cover stuff up with vines and grass eventually after a little while?" Kent mentions as he glances around with an uneasy look, as if being that incredibly nervous from being that far away from water. "Shouldn't you more focused on Wednesday, and Ajax, and Divina, and all that stuff?"

"Not everything has to be high-school drama, Kent." Y/N remarks with a cold glare. The siren raises his arms up in surrender as the pause at the widest area of the quarry, looking around and all of the dirt and rocks to see if they are just assuming something crazy. "Hey, your sister isn't.... getting the wrong idea, is she?"

Kent scoffs. "I thought you just said that we're going to talk High-School-"

"I'm serious, man, just hear me out." Y/N persists as he holds up a hand, begging the Siren to let him talk. "Her and Wednesday keep getting into these.... well, they're acting weird, and for some reason, I'm worried that Divina thinks I'm trying to get back together with her." He shares with the brother, nervously biting his lip. "And I have no idea what to do about it."

"Well, that.... depends, do you still like her in that way?" Kent asks him curiously as they lean against the dirt wall, the Siren having his arms crossed. "Like, you know..... you want her back, kinda way?"

"Honestly? I'm not sure how to answer that." Y/N tells him while blowing out some air, feeling extremely conflicted right now. He keeps waiting for some kind of sign to tell him what to do next, but it's always more cryptic than the next. "All I know is, that I don't wanna use either as some kind of.... rebound girl."

"Good answer." Kent notes with an agreeing. "Because I was about to kick your ass if you said anything else." He tells Y/N who bursts out laughing in response.

"Yeah, that's what I was scared of."

"And also...." Kent awkwardly clears his throat, having been wanting to say this but never really had a chance thanks to all of the prying eyes. "That thing with the knight statue earlier?" He brings up hesitantly. "You're not a..... a creep." He tells him sheepishly, causing Y/N to blink rapidly at him. "You're just.... scary sometimes, even when you try not to be."

"That's.... nice?" Y/N responds with a slightly confused voice, not sure how he should respond to that. Kent chuckles awkwardly.

"Yeah, I know it's not the best-"

"Wait." Y/N presses a hand to his chest as he looks over at something in the ground. He walks over to it with his investigating face back on as he notices something wrong with the ground. He taps his foot, feeling something jelly, and compares it to a tap somewhere else, which is a little harder. "This was dug in recently." 

He pulls out some shovels and tosses one to Kent, who almost gets smacked by it thanks to his poor reflexes. Y/N immediately begins digging, unlike the Siren who seems extremely hesitant. "Shouldn't we just... um.... call the-" He tries suggesting, only for the 'scary man' to give me one of those glares, which instantly makes him change his mind. "Y-Y-Yeah, sure! Let's do it!" 

The two dig up the hole which takes some time until they get to the bottom, where they find nothing inside. "I thought there was supposed to be a body in here?" Kent questions with a confused look. 

"There was...." Y/N answers with a small nod, as he now knows why the texture looked like the way it did.

"Someone moved it.'

_______________________________________________

Jericho: Weathervane

The car drive to the coffee shop takes a little longer than Wednesday was expecting, considering that this was a faster vehicle in comparison to her preferred method of walking, but that only means she doesn't mind it. She looks out the trunk's window as the moon takes over and covers the town in a gothic medieval darkness, the only thing that would make it prettier is if the moon was pitch black.

They eventually stop and park from across the coffee shop, where it's arguably midnight now. When Wednesday hears the creak of the driver's door opening, she peaks her head upward and watches as the mayor walks over to the Weathervane, sharing a greeting nod with the Sheriff from across the window.

Until he then gets run over.

Wednesday jumps as she watches Noble's body rolling over the car before he lands onto the street with a hard thud, the back of his skull cracking open due to the impact.

 "NO!" Galpin yells as he runs out of the shop and onto the street, watching as the unknown driver drives out of the scene, officially marking this as a hit and run. "Noble!" He runs over to his old friend and kneels down next to him, holding up the guy's head as he chokes on his own blood.  "Call 911! Get an ambulance!" He frantically yells to everyone else that's watching in shock.

Wednesday steps out of the car, seeing just how hard he hit the pavement. Galpin looks up at her, confused to see her coming out of the mayor's own car, the two of them sharing the same befuddled look together.

As her fellow peers would usually say...

What the hell was that?

__________________________________________

(A/N) New chapter!

Thanks for the comments last chapter, I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks that red velvet is a undeniable blessing. Though, I'm sure there's people who don't like it, because.... well, obviously.

Anyway, I'll drop a new chapter as soon as possible, though I'm not exactly sure when it will happen. I don't have any schedule to operate under since that originally hurt my writing experience. I tried to also publish some memes to this book, but U.S banned CapCut, so that's not happening anytime soon, sorry y'all.

Plz vote and comment, any kind counts as feedback, and I'll see you all in the next one!