Nevermore: Ophelia Hall

Now with Nathinal Faulkner's diary in her hands, she scrolls through it on her desk with purpose, glad to finally have something that will give her an edge over whatever monster has been stalking her everywhere she goes. However, she thinks about Y/N's monologue, and it makes her feel.... uncomfortable, in a way she doesn't like. 

"These are some sweet digs!" Fester compliments as he looks out the detail-less side of the clock window, taking in the night sky while he still can. "How'd you swing your own single?" He asks curiously, having noticed the obvious details that someone was originally living in here as well.

"My former roommate couldn't handle my toxic personality." Wednesday explains with a sarcastic edge to it, since Enid's made it pretty clear how she thinks of her and her little mouth now. Fester hums knowingly as she flips through pages every two seconds, not stopping until she sees a drawn image of her recent best friend. "Here it is." She points it out. Even though the eyes were drawn with a pencil, they still feel like they're bulging at her like always. "Faulkner describes Hydes as artists by nature but equally vindictive in temperament. Born of mutation, the Hyde lays dormant until unleashed by a traumatic event or unlocked through chemical inducement or hypnosis. This act causes the Hyde to develop an immediate bond with its liberator, who the creature now sees as its master. It becomes the willing instrument of whatever nefarious agenda this new master might propose." 

"Anyone willing to unlock a Hyde is a next-level sicko." Fester comments with a shake of his head, which is saying a lot when coming from him. After reading that out loud, everything now making sense to Wednesday. One person has been turning into a brutal, ruthless murderer, while the other has been doing things more cleverly, running people over with a car and cutting the life support, faking a suicide, etc.

"That means I'm not looking for one killer, but tow. The Hyde and its master."

Right after coming to this conclusion, they and Thing hear the door slowly opening with a loud creak. "Enid?" A boy's voice whispers, which Wednesday eventually recognizes as Ajax himself steps into the room and closes the door behind him, turning around and almost jumping at the sight of her as if not knowing she lives in here. "Oh, geez, Wednesday!" He puts a hand on his heart, before looking around with a confused look. "Is..... Is Enid not in here?"

Ah, the mischievous sneaking in, Wednesday almost suspected him of wanting to raid the pantie drawer, which she prepared more than a few hand-biting traps for. She glances back to find that Fester has somehow already disappeared. "She's not sleeping here anymore." She reminds Ajax as she awkwardly turns back towards him. "She's moved in with Yoko."

"Ah! I knew it I was forgetting something." Ajax remarks with a snap of his fingers, berating himself for once again forgetting something so simple. "Alright, I guess I'll just-" He's about to leave, until he does a double-take when his eye catches something on her desk. "Wait, what's that?"

Wednesday blinks sheepishly before glancing back and seeing the box Y/N left for her that is still wrapped. Given that her birthday was a week ago, she's not surprised it caught even the stoner's attention. "It's from Y/N." She admits, thinking it's safe to say with the man's fellow Gorgon. 

"Oh...." Ajax slowly nods, squinting in confusion at the bow. "And you haven't opened it up yet?" 

"I'm.... reluctant." Wednesday avoids the question with a non-answer, now going into territory she knows Ajax will not understand from being stoned up all the time, and never being involved in their business. Maybe she's too ashamed, or maybe she wants him to.... to be here when she opens it, because she never got the chance to earlier due to being so tired. But, who would believe her if she said that? "Besides, I don't see how it's any of your concern."

"Fine, whatever..." Ajax shrugs as he turns around to leave, but not before giving Wednesday a quick look over, looking like he's at the xeno-zoo where all the aliens who've crashed landed on planet Earth and have been captured for entertainment reside. "By the way..... when are you gonna take off that filter?"

Wednesday just stares at him emotionlessly in response, to which Ajax quickly nods and gets out to sneak into Enid's actual room, giving her, her privacy back. With her being gone, she looks around for the Batman to her Nightwing. "Uncle Fester?" She calls out his name, seemingly prompting a squeaking noise to emit nearby. She turns around right as a furball rolls across the floor from Enid's stuffed animals pile. "Uncle Fester?" He calls out again, this time, hearing his giggling.

Of course he chose there....

With a small sigh, she walks over and grabs the massive rabbit from the pile, revealing Fester's face. "Hey!" He greets with a happy grin on his face. "Being a solo lobo has its perks! You get to live by your own rules, do whatever you want! Just look at me!" He tells her as if trying to cheer her up from her earlier 'toxic personality' comments. Wednesday doesn't say anything, just walks off to put the rabbit somewhere it should be. "So, I assume we're now going to look for this Hyde?"

"I have a couple ideas, but almost everyone I've accused have either proven themselves innocent or dropped dead." Wednesday responds oddly calm as she sets the rabbit down on Enid's bed. "In the meantime, there is one person we could check out." She claims, getting Fester's attention. "Y/N has been behaving the opposite of himself lately. He's been smiling every chance he gets, and the only time he'd do that is when he's sarcastic." She states, genuine heart-to-heart moments aside. "And, according to everyone else, he's been giving them his belongings, which they only learned was at the sometime during lunch. He's generous, but he would take every sentimental object to the grave. And there's the fact he's now smiling everytime someone calls him the 'Woods-Creep'. I saw him once beat down Jericho's rich kids when they tried using that past against him."

"Wow, you sure know a lot about this boy, dontcha? You sure it's not just suspicion that's on your mind." Fester points out with an approving smirk, earning him an unamused stare from Wednesday. "Geez, relax, I was kidding! Of course, I don't expect you to fall for anybody." He assures her with a comforting tap on the shoulder. "So, I guess we start tomorrow to see if he's your Hyde?"

Wednesday glances down with a mixed glint in her eyes.

"More like, I don't want him to do something worse."

__________________________________

Nevermore: Old Art Studio

Y/N needs to tell someone amongst the staff at Nevermore the bad news before he makes his 'big movie', that's what he's calling it anyway. He walks towards his second home away from home, the place that reminds him that he will never move on from his mistakes of being in a world that's not meant for him or the pain he's caused others. He dials the number on his phone, tapping on the back of it impatiently.

"Hello?" He's finally rewarded with the voice of Ms. Thornhill responding after only a few rings, thank gosh.

"Ms. Thornhill, hi, it's um.... me." Y/N informs her as he stops in front of the doors of the shed, putting on a show of friendly and anxiety.

"Y/N? Are you okay?" Thornhill queries, seemingly noticing the way he's talking. It's possible his mask is slipping a little bit. "Did something happen? If one of those Jericho kids said something again, I could-"

"No, no, it's nothing like that." Y/N quickly assures her with a shake of his head, idly glancing around after thinking he heard something, but focuses on the phone call. "I, uh.... I need to talk to you."

"Right now? Class just ended, and I tend to my plants at this hour."

"Yeah, I know, and I don't want to be a bother, but here's no one else I really trust with this right now." Y/N insists with a somewhat urgent tone, causing Thornhill to pause for a moment sensing the small begging underneath.

"Fine, you know the spot by the lake near Crackstone's Crypt?" Thornhill queries, and Y/N looks over at the shed, remembering the bike Xavier had in it. It's how they both get to Jericho for extra cardio other than running

"Yeah, for sure, I can meet you there, in..... twenty minutes?"

"Alright..... take care."

"You too, bye." Y/N replies before hanging up, letting out a small exhale, relieved that Thornhill accepted. 

"Who are you talking to?"

"Holy-!" Y/N exclaims as he jerks around to see Wednesday standing behind him all of a sudden, possibly for the entire second half of that phone conversation for all he knows. "You scared me..... again." He states the obvious with a fixed chuckle. "Don't you have a monster to chase?"

"What's so important that you don't want to tell me?" Wednesday questions Y/N with a raised brow, pointing out his blatant hypocrisy. He gives her a weird look before scoffing it off.

"It's nothing related to the case, if that's what you're asking." Y/N answers her without missing a beat, which would work if Wednesday hadn't been taught by her father and mother in terms of spotting lies. 

"I know what's going on, Y/N." Wednesday claims, trying to sneak in through his defenses. Y/N does seem to shift a little, but aside from a small twitch in his lips, he keeps his persona of normalcy. 

"I'm fine, promise." Y/N simply tells her with a fake smile before walking past her, into the shed.

 Wednesday takes the defeat of the easy approach, and walks away, but only to hide behind a couple of trees a few feet away. She and Uncle Fester wait until they see Y/N coming out of the shed with his bike, which he eventually gets on once he's on the dirt road. "Did you place a tracker?" She asks, and the man nods as he holds up the device that is beeping as they speak.

"Don't you worry, Uncle Fester's got you covered." He remarks as they both look down to see a red dot creating waves moving around like a GPS, only that it isn't the driver using it for directions.

"Okay, let's hit the road." Wednesday remarks and Fester nods, taking them over to the spot he parked their special shadowing vehicle. Once they're standing in front of it, he removes the sheets and reveals.... a Penny's Pooch Patrol motorcycle, created for motors and dog owners. Now she understands where her uncle got the tracker from.

"What? I picked it up on my way out of town." Fester explains with a small shrug, noticing Wednesday's judging eyes as she glances between him and the vehicle. "You know me, I like to travel incognito." He remarks with a small cackle. Because, you know, nothing says 'harder to find' than a motorcycle-puppy-car hybrid with helmets that have flappy doggy ears on them. "Come on, let's roll!

Whatever, Wednesday reluctantly gets into the puppy seat while Fester drives the motorcycle. The two of them then following Y/N's dot vibrating on the tracker GPS the entire time. She couldn't believe she'd look anymore stupid, in fact, she worries she may accidentally be playing the role with her normal face.

Eventually, she sees the dot, or at least the bike, coming to a stop. She uses her fingers to gesture for him to stop, and the two park at the edge of the road, dragging some dirt that hints it was a good idea to not do it right near the bike itself. They lift up their doggy goggles and hide behind the narrow trees while Wednesday watches the scene with her monocular. 

Y/N gets off of the bike with the face he had on while standing in front of Wednesday still on, just slightly more blank. He walks towards a car where she sees a woman getting out. It's..... Ms. Thornhill? "Hey, Y/N, are you okay?" The woman asks the boy in a seemingly worried voice, walking up to him the second she steps out of the car.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, stop worrying about it." Y/N quickly assures her again with a fake chuckle, looking around but seemingly not able to spot Wednesday or Fester. "Can we talk?"

"Of course." Thornhill accepts with a calm smile as she gestures towards the passenger seat. "What's wrong?" She asks him, but Y/N's voice gets muffled when he starts talking while getting inside the car.

Wednesday lowers her watching device with a curious squint.

Meanwhile, Thornhill drives the car back into the dirt road, the two of them not knowing that they are blowing past two people that are watching them for specific reasons. "So, do you want to wait to wait first, or do you mind talking about it in here?"

"I think it'd be better if I did it around mother nature." Y/N responds with a small happy glance, even if that's just an obvious excuse. He just wants the irony of it being the place he slipped off that cliff and fell into the water like an idiot, only this time, he knows to be more careful. He looks up at the sky, admiring it's beauty, the small fog in the air reminding him of his uncle. "Hey, mind if I play something?" 

"As the driver, I don't think I can really stop your from changing my music." Thornhill quips with a knowing look, causing Y/N to chuckle earnestly a bit as he connects his phone to an outlet and picks a song from his personal music app.

"For a man who was sometimes skeptical about our country's government, he said this was always his favorite song for some reason." Y/N explains with a small mile, nodding his head to the country song. If there was now a time to enjoy something, today is definitely that time. Plus, it's oddly fitting as well, given the situation.

"I see." Thornhill comments with a seemingly envious smile as she glances briefly to see him enjoying the music like it's the last time he's going to hear it. Eventually, they make it to the spot they were talking about, Y/N is happy that she remembered him talking about during one of their talks. "You picked the right time to ask me here."

"Yeah, one of the other reasons I called you." Y/N tells Thornhill as he steps out, walking up to about nine inches behind the edge before he stops, taking in the beauty of mother nature around him. "You know, somehow, the lake knows to make the perfect reflection at this specific hour. I come here every time I'm about to do something stupid, like yelling a Principal Weems that one time."

"Not the, um..... approach I would've taken at that moment, but you clearly had a in-the-moment reaction." Thornhill comments on that last part with a anxious chuckle, clearly not trying to fully agree with his low-tempered outburst. "Did you want me to just enjoy the view with you?"

"No, no, uh....." Y/N stutters a bit, a little nervous as he turns around to face her, a friendly smile no longer needed for this moment. "I'm moving out." He informs her, with a blank face that indicates he's being serious, causing Thornhill to blink rapidly in response. "Uh... I still got some Aunts over the western Seaboard, so I'll probably be giving them a visit."

"You're.... leaving?" Thornhill repeats it with a bewildered expression, not expecting to hear that Y/N of all people is dropping out. The boy looked like he was finally getting his life together from her point of view. "Did... did something happen again? Bullying?"

"Nope, nothing like that." Y/N declines with a shake of his head. "It's just.... things have changed, and.... I don't think I belong here anymore." He says with a blank face, unsure what kind of way he should say this. Thornhill glances down, obviously looking disappointed to be hearing this.

"Um..... w-when are you planning to drop out?"

"Around the time the current term ends, so.... about a week." Y/N answers with a small shrug, still needing to burn all his bridges before he goes, and that'll probably won't happen in a single or couple of days, assuming he's trying to contact everyone he knows here. "I'm sorry, I know this sounds like I'm given up, but...." He sighs. "I'm not comfortable around death, and... what happened to Divina was the straw that broke the camel's back, you know?"

Thornhill takes a moment to process this, emotions that Y/N feels like he hasn't really seen before plastered all over her. "Okay..." Is all that she says when her eyes come into contact with his again. "I guess you needed an adult to tell this, right?" She assumes correctly, to which Y/N nods.

With another nod, Thornhill nods for him to get into the car again. Y/N takes one more glance at mother nature, that beautiful bitch, before eventually sitting back in the passenger seat.

He's gotta do what he's gotta do.

_______________________________________

Jericho: Weathervane

Wednesday wasn't able to see much, but having seen the small comparison of Y/N when he's in front of her to being in front of Thornhill, she's now able to confirm that her hunch was right. There's something wrong that he's not telling her, and seemingly keeping it a secret from her for a reason. Guess this must be what it feels like to have a taste of her own medicine, and she'll admit, it isn't fun.

"I knew something was wrong when we never saw Y/N again after he disappeared at the Gates mansion, whatever he saw or did must be why he's been avoiding me lately while being overly nice to everyone else." Wednesday rants while sitting at a booth, opposite to her uncle, Thing just idly sitting in the bag like normal. "And this mostly makes it blatantly obvious that it got to him in some way. There's something about the case he's not telling me, and I know it, despite his blatant deflections!" She says as she clenches her fist tightly. However, when she's done, she looks up from her book to see that Fester has been drinking the Ketchup bottle this entire time. "Are you listening?"

Fester quickly snaps out of his enjoyment and looks down at her with a hum. Wednesday shakes her head at him, waving it off to say, 'never mind'. After realizing that he's consumed the entire thing, Uncle looks over, only to accidentally make eye contact with one of the staff. "I think the kid behind the counter has clocked me." He expresses his worries to her, causing the girl too look over and see Tyler staring anxiously at them, picking up a plate with a coffee cup on it. "Yup, he's walking over. I'm gonna put him in a Romanian sleeper hold. Cover m-"

"Relax." Wednesday cuts him off before he jumps to conclusions, already having enough killers in this town that she doesn't require a third. Leave that to the psychotic family in a theater. "He's not interested in you."

Fester blinks before squint at the barista as he comes with a peace offering in his hand. "Uh... made you a quad, on the house." Tyler says to Wednesday as he sets it down on the table with a surprisingly modest expression on his face, much different than comparison to fake smiles or aggressive ex-roommates.

"Hey! Thanks, kid!" Fester exclaims with a grin as he almost instantly pulls the plate to his side. One can probably tell where Wednesday got her favorite kind of coffee from. "Need a refill on this puppy too." He adds as he hands the condiment over to Tyler, who takes it a bewildered look. Even the old dry ketchup is gone. (Spoiler alert, Fester ate that part too)

"Um....."

"Tyler, this is my Uncle Fester." Wednesday introduces the two before thinks get even more awkward. "He was the one who taught me my 'martial arts'." She adds to create some familiarity between the two, referencing the small brawl that took place in this very building and at this very booth.

"Oh!" Tyler utters as he turns to the man with some kind of respect now. "Uh, hi, it's nice to meet you." He greets politely as he holds out his hand, and Fester immediately shakes it..... with a powerful shot that makes the poor barista jump with a yelp. The Uncle laughs at his reaction while Wednesday holds in an amused smirk at the guy's suspense.

Tyler chuckles nervously as he tries to remind himself that this is Wednesday's family he's talking about. He tries to make conversation but doesn't know what to say, until he sees the diary she has on the table. "Is-Is that...?" He questions as he sits down next to the girl in spite of his father's boundaries, getting a closer look. 

"It's called a Hyde." Wednesday explains as she slides the book over to him.

"Well, t-that's it, from that night." Tyler recognizes as he brushes his thumb against the drawings of the Hyde monster. Wednesday notices his haunted expression, glancing at his chest and back, wondering if they still hurt whenever he goes to bed, reminding him of the night he almost died. 

"Your father gave you explicit instructions not to be near me." Wednesday reminds him with a blank look, wondering why he's trying to test boundaries again. 

"Well, my dad's not here right now, and I'm on a break." Tyler responds with a mental scoff, relaxing his arm against the rest of the booth with a face that says he doesn't care what he says, he still wants to be near her. Wednesday blinks, but lets it be for now.

"Well, apparently, a Hyde needs to be unlocked by someone." Wednesday continues as she points towards the paragraph. "It's master."

"Unlocked?" Tyler utters as he looks down at the page and seems to give it a thorough read before his eyes go slightly wide. "Holy shit...... that means it could be-"

"Tyler!" Mr. Galpin's voice calls out to the man. Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. The two look back to see the Sheriff walking into the coffee shop, them cuddled together being the first thing he noticed. "What did I say?"

"Dad, I-" Tyler glances back, before he and Wednesday see that Uncle Fester has once again disappeared, this time, able to do it amongst a public building somehow. The boy sighs as he stands up to address his father directly. "Okay, for the record, Wednesday was trying to keep her distance. I was the one who sat down with her."

Donovan moves his jaw left and right as he glances between the two of them, before letting out a sigh. "Hmm, alright." He hums, having way too much on his hands right now to care at the moment. He reveals some fliers he has in his palms and hands one to Tyler. "Putting these up around town. It's a bank robbery suspect, and he's a real creep." He shares with them as they look and see that wanna-be neighborhood watch figure is...... Uncle Fester, clearly wearing same thing in this security cam photo. "You haven't seen him, have you?"

"No." Wednesday immediately answers, obviously not going to fall the temptation of reward money that easily. Tyler glances at her before deciding to play along.

"Yeah, he'd be pretty hard to miss." Tyler remarks with a soft chuckle, not selling him out either since it's Wednesday and the two clearly had a happy bond going, in comparison to whatever was going on with her parents. "I'll pin it on the bulletin board."

Galpin nods before sharing a hardened look with Wednesday. The two stare each other down before the Sheriff shakes his head with a sigh. "Why waste my breath?" She can hear him grumble before he marches out the door.

With him gone, the two then face each other again. "Thank you, but you didn't have to do that." Wednesday tells Tyler with her hands modestly folded, to which the barista humbly shrugs.

"Yeah, your family is very...... colorful." Tyler comments, yes, that's the word he went with when describing an Addams. He's sure she appreciates the style of humor/

"Ironic, considering Fester is the black sheep." Wednesday quips as she glances out the window, mentally wondering how deep the man's put himself in. "He's harmless."

"So..... about rescheduling our date....?" Tyler then brings up with a slightly expecting grin, causing Wednesday to mentally shudder. She was really hoping he didn't bring this up, the lump in her throat feels like a poisonous dagger jabbed in her neck. 

"W-Well, between the monster and my uncle-"

"Hey, no excuses." Tyler playfully interrupts her with a raised hand. "Figure after what happened last time, you owe me." He mentions with a teasing smirk, his stubbornness rivals her's, that's for damn sure.

"Well, I can't sneak off of campus, all eyes are on me." Wednesday says as an excuse. She hates it, but she has to separate herself from all of these advancements she's thrusted upon herself and by boys. Like she's said half a dozen times so far, love is a weakness. 

"You won't have to. I'll come to you." Tyler assures her with a look that says she can't trick her way out of this one. "Nine pm, Crackstone's Crypt." He states with an excited glint in his eyes before walking past her to put this wanted poster out on the board. Wednesday hates how conflicted she is right now, but after everything that's happening, part of her says that she has to go, just to humor the experience. 

After all, she's never gone on a date before....

_______________________________________________________

(A/N) Yes, new chapter already. I'm just as shocked as all of you.

This chapter didn't take as long as I thought, and I ended up finding a lot of motivation to write. I hope you're enjoying this second to last episode so far, as we've finished the first half and are now at the point where everything is slowly coming to it's conclusion, that means no more setting up stuff. (Which might explain the shorter word count that is likely going to be the case for the rest of these chapters)

So, yeah, Wednesday and Tyler's date is still happening here, but how you guys think it's going to go? I bet you already know, but I'll let you guys guess. Who knows, it looks like the Galpin has her pretty hooked like in canon, and he still went with her to the Rave'N, so......

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