Wednesday

Wednesday's POV

The day after, I had botanic lesson - withc turned out to be one of my favorite lessons, by the way. Unfortunately, this time we had to go outside, wear gloves and put our plants - the ones we used during our first lessons, with the insects - in the dirt.

I wasn't enthusiastic about this activity but Enid was smiling like they've just told us we could torture someone.

I would never understand Enid.

Outside, in the plot of land around the institute, Enid and I were close to eachother more than had happened in the last few days.

- So... Have you heard of the carnival that's gonna take place outside the town this weekend? - She asked me while digging a hole in the flowerbed with her hands.

- No - I replied, putting my "filodendro" out of its vase.

- Do you wanna come with me? And the others, of course? - She said, doing the same with her plant.

I looked at her for a second before answering.

- I don't think that's a good idea - I told her. She stared at me, an interrogative look painted on her face. - The full moon is the next Tuesday - I explained - Putting yourself in a place full of noises, lights and smells while your werewolf's sense are more sensitive than usual doesn't seem like a good idea to me.

She looked at me, this time genuinely surprised. - Why do you know when is the next full moon? - She asked.

The answer to this question was pretty easy. Since Enid said I've "basic knowledge about supernatural creatures" I made some research about everykind of students who could live at Nevermore. I put particular commitment in my werewolves research cause, considering my roomate is a werewolf, I wanted to be ready in every case.

I wasn't trying to impress. Not at all. But she seemed impress and I was pretty sure if I told her I did make some research she would never stop talking about it.

So, I shrugged my shoulders. - My knowledge about the supernatural word isn't as basic as you thought. - I replied.

Even if that was my answer, Enid guessed the truth and clapped her hands in excitement, screaming. - You made research!?!

It was really annoying of her. The fact that she could understand me, my silences and my lies, so easily. - Maybe - I replied, trying to avoid the conversation.

After ten seconds of silence - a new record for Enid - she continued the conversation.

- Don't worry about the full moon. I can control my senses, and I love carnivals. We don't know when we'll have the chance to get out of the school again - She seemed really excited about this entire carnival-thing. - So... Do you wanna take a stab at being social? - She asked me.

I didn't have anything better to do next week, but I didn't want her to understand I was happy about her stop avoiding me, so I replied. - I do like stabbing.

She jumped on site, clapping her hands, obviously happy about my answer. - Great. We will organize at lunch with the others - She said, taking off the gloves. - I have Maths, now. See you later.

I didn't have any lesson till lunch so I decided to go to the library and look for that yearbooks.

I found them. The pictures of the mask belonged to the yearbook of 1981. It was golden and enough big to be actually wear by a person. That proved me thatit was too big to fit in the box I thought was hidden in the cabin. So, as I thought, it was probably the amethyst that brought someone to set the hut on fire.

I looked for pictures in the other yearbooks with the amethysy and found them in the 1983's one. The stone was round and crystal purple. Not bigger than my thumb's nail.

I needed more informations about that artifacts. Xavier told me about them and their myths but I felt the need of doing a deeper research by my own. I spent the next hour reading books about Egyptian and Greek mythology and taking notes about what I thought was relevant for the case.

It was enough. I signed to the librarian I took the two yearbooks with me and got out of the library.

On my way towards the dining room, I bumped into someone's chest and my books fell on the ground. I snorted and look at the guy in front of me.

It was the principal's son - Tyler. I didn't know he was still here - I haven't seen him till the fire, a few days ago. He wasn't wearing the scholar uniform, just a gray sweater and blue jeans.

I kneeled and pick up one of the yearbook while I picke up the other one. Then, he noticed the post-it I put to sign the page with the mask.

- Interested in Egyptians' fashion style? - he asked me, looking at the picture I marked.

- Pretty sure that's none of your business - I replied, landing my hand and waiting for him to get my book back.

- You know the mask you signed is at the Egyptian museum in town? - He said, passing me the yearbook.

What?!

- No, I didn't know about it - I replied, trying to not show how that information was valuable for me. - You don't seem to be a museum person - I said, staring at him from head to toe.

- I'm not but, since I'm moving here and going to the town's school with the normal kids,, I'll have to attend normal activities. Including museum visit, on Friday - He said, snorting. - Do you need a picture of that mask you were making research about? - He asked.

I did need that photos. But I wasn't that dumb to believe this guy wanted to help me out of nowhere. - What do you want in exchange? - I asked him.

- A few things, actually. - He said, smirking. - First thing first, this place is a maze. Would you mind tell me where's the dining room? - He asked me, putting a hand on his stomach to emphatize how hungry he was.

I rolled my eyes. - Follow me - I said and started walking towards there.

- Secondly, I'mma need to know why you are making research about an Egyptian mask. And don't tell me it's for homework, I won't believe you - he said, walking by my side. His voice was spilling satisfaction about his joke.

Ughhhh, boys.

I was silent for the next minutes, thinking about a good lie, when he interrupted me again. - Your research has something to do with the fire, right?

I looked at him with the corner of my eye. His arms crossed behind his head. That guy wasn't as stupid as I thought. - Maybe - I replied, dryly. - Why are you asking?

This was his time to be silent for a while. - I think I saw who set the cabin on fire - He whispered.

I froze, turned around and looked at him. His expression was serious. - You are not kidding - I said, more a statement than a question. He shook his head in denial.

- I'll tell you what I know if you tell me what you know - he said, looking straight in my eyes.

That could possibly be the only real clue I might have about all this thing. I couldn't say no.

- Fine. - I said. - Follow me. I'm not the only one involved.

We went into the dining room and I felt the students sight over the guy next to me. If he wasn't already known for being the principal's son, his clothes would be enough to make him stand out among the black and blue crowd anyway.

We sat in front of four - well, three considering Ajax - couple of eyes staring at us.

- Hi, I'm Tyler. Nice to meet you - the guy said, shaking everyone's hand. He didn't seem to mind Tamara's blood sack or Ajax's face. He was looking at the food and, once grabbing a plate with hamburger and fries, he just started eating. All the eyes moved from him to me. They were probably waiting for an explanation.

- Ok, Tyler will be part of the investigation -I said. - He seems to have some valuable information - I told them, before anyone could reply. - But first, the yearbooks.

I put the books on the table and opened them at pages I signed.

- Alright, these pictures proved me that the amethyst was probably the item which have been hidden in the cabin. - I turned to Tyler who was dunking his fries in the ketchup. - We found out that there was something hidden in the cabin and we think that probably that something was stolen by the school and hidden there by one of the ex-students. The night you appeared, the culprit came here to get back what they hid and set the cabin on fire, so nobody would notice something was missing. - I explained him. - There were two possible stolen items: the mask of Anubi and the amethyst. Since the mask is to big to possibly being hidden in the hiding place we found that's not an option.

- Especially after I told you, you can easily find it at the museum in town - he add, looking at me.

- The mask is at the museum? - Xavier asked, interrupting our gaze war.

- Yes - Tyler replied, looking at him. - I said to your friend I'll visit it this Friday and I can make pictures of that mask, if she wants proofs I'm not a liar - He said, smirking.

What an annoying guy.

- He said he probably saw who set the cabin on fire - I said. The looks were back on him now.

Tyler pushed the dish away and crossed his hands. Everything seemd so dramatic but I needed informations, so...

- I saw something. Someone, actually - He started. - The night I arrived, my father left me on the road and I thought it would be easier if I walked through the forest instead of walking around it. I did it and I got lost in the woods. After twenty minutes of wandering with my bag on my pack, I saw a light. I thought I was enough near the school to saw one of the rooms lit up. After a few minutes of walking in that direction I got hit by the smoke and realized the light I was moving towards was a fire. I stopped there, not knowing what to do. - He said. - That was the moment I saw something moving. I throw myself on the ground and tried to be as immobile as I could. I saw someone against the light of the fire. I wasn't that far so I saw him pretty well. It was a man with brown hair and a scar on his face, from his eyebrows to his jaw.

He stopped. Somehow we've all moved towards him, like he was telling a secret.

That was an useful information.

- Xavier, do you think we can find an ex-student with a scar like that looking at the yearbook? - I asked, my brain working super fast.

- Sure- he said taking the yearbook from my hands.

- Yearbooks - Tyler said. I looked at him, a question painted on my face. - That yearbook, 1983, is the year the amethyst was at the academia. You should check all the yearbook till the amethyst wasn't here anymore.

- Why? - I asked. Ok, maybe I took the wrong yearbook, cause I didn't check if 1983 was the last year the amethyst was at Nevermore, but why check the yearbooks before that date?

It seemed Tyler could read my mind 'cause he said: - Maybe an ex-student used one of the 1983's ones to let him in, have you thought about that?

I didn't. I hated this guy. He seemed to be here to outsmart me. - I'm curious. How do you know that would work? - I asked him, instead.

- I did that at my former school - he said, obviously proud of himself. - I asked a sophomore to left one of the first floor's windows opened. I got in that night and made graffiti over the lockers. I was expelled but I was about to move out of the town, so I couldn't care less. Nobody thought one from the inside let me in.

I had to admit I was impressed. He obviously had talent for troubles. Maybe I could use that talent during the investigation. Maybe Tyler wasn't that bad as a new member of the team.

- Fine, we'll check the yearbooks - I said, putting enphasis on the plural. - How many years before we shoud check, in your opinion? -I asked him.

- Four. No five - he said, playing with his fingers on the table like it was a piano. The bell rang and I had to attend Mythology with Xavier.

As we stood up, the students were moving towards the exit. I felt something catching my waist and I stopped, looking at Tyler's hand. I frooze there while he put his phone in my hand and let me go. I looked at it and then I looked at Tyler. - What am I suppose to do? - I asked him.

- If you want me to sent you pictures when I'll be at the museum, I'mma need your number - he explained. - Do you have a phone, right? - He asked me.

I had a phone and, even if I didn't like the idea, I saved it in his contacts under the name "Wednesday Addams" then handled his phone back to him.

- Well, at least now I know your name, Wednesday Addams - he said. We got out the room together, then I turned on the right and he went on the left.

I didn't know if I liked Tyler or not. He was smart, a trouble-maker and had a sarcastic attitude. All characteristics I shared with him. Potentially, we could turn this school upside down. But he was too melodramatic. Probably 'cause he was a boy.

When I got in the classroom, the lesson was about the Egyptian gods, so I put extra attention at the lesson. Tyler soon left my head.

*************************************************

Enid's POV

I was okay. I had found a way to keep my crush on Wednesday under control. I just needed to be as far as possible for her. It wasn't ideal considering we shared our bedroom but it was better than kept gravitating around her.

For the last two days, I've been avoided Wednesday and even if when we were together I kept hearing the growl inside me wanted to be close to her, I could control that instinct. At least whe I was awake. When I was asleep it wasn't like that. I had dreams about her. About her petting me when I was a wolf, about kissing, about how good her blood would taste. These were the dreams that scared me the most. I dreamed of it last night and this morning I woke up on the ground, in front of her bed.

It seemed my body reacted to her, probably to her smell. That smell of cinnamon and incense that kept hunting me all over the academia, no matter how hard I tried to hide from it. It was all over my clothes. It was tattooed in my brain.

The last two days left exhausted. But it was nothing compared to the pain I felt when I saw Wednesday entering the dining room Tyler.

It was a physical pain. I had to stick my nails in my hands to stop them from turning into claws.

I thought the wolf under control. This morning I was even able to talk with her, like having a normal conversation. I thouhgt it was over.

But now she was sat in front of me, next to this guy, and looking at him like I - no one - existed.

It hurted. It hurted way more than I thought it could possible. I read tons of books about love stories and I knew I couldn't get free of my feelings so easily - especially, considering my supernatural nature. But I thought I would never fall in the jelaousy cliché. "I'm not a jealous person", I thought. "I don't understand how someone could be jealous of another human being", I said.

But now I was feeling it, I realized jealousy wasn't just caused by lack of trust towards your partner, it was more similar to not wanting someone play with your most beloved peluche.

Willa would definitely kill me, if she knew I compared her to a peluche. I thought.

During the lunch, the entire conversation was led by her and Tyler. They looked at eachother for almost all the time and, finally, when the bell rang and I thought that torture was finally over, I saw it.

Tyler grabbed Wednesday's arm and I didn't jump on him just cause I was pressed in the crowd. I saw him putting hin phone in Wednesday's hand and set her free. She pressed some buttons and gave it back to him. The crowd kept pushing me towards the door, till I got out and waited for her in a corridor. They got out and moved in two different directions.

I tried to stop thinking about what I've just saw but my mind wasn't collaborating. I had lacrosse training that afternoon, so, luckily I had the chance to took out my energy on the field.

The other members of the team were werewolves like me and vampires, so I didn't have to worry about the fact my powers made me faster than any humans. It was a fair play. We trained for two hours then got back to the locker rooms.

I had to talk with someone. There were the older team's training after us, maybe they could give me some idea about how... deal with all of this.

I took a fast shower, wore my normal clothes and waited for them on the bleachers. I was looking for a particular person. Juliet, alpha of the school's pack.

Werewolves moved in packs, like wolves. One of them, the strongest both mentally and phisically, was called alpha and was the one any werewolves went to when in trouble. I didn't know if my crush for Wednesday fell under that category but I was about to find it out.

- Juliet - I called the brunette girl, at the bottom of the like of 17 and 18-years-old teenagers entering in the locker rooms. Juliet stopped, signed the others to get back inside and get ready adn moved towards me.

I never connected with Nevermore's pack. I thought it would somehow be considered a betray towards Romeo and the pack at San Francisco that raised me. But now I was desperate looking for answers and advices and Juliet could give me that.

- Enid - She said, sitting next to me - How can I help you? - She asked and before I knew what I was doing I threw all my problems over her. She listened to me, without interrupting and then said: - Well, fuck.

Yeah, I agree with you.

- Alright - she said, looking me in the eyes - First thing first, we need to understand if it's imprinting or love, crush, however you wanna call it. There are some sign that allowed us recognise Imprinting. One: the smell. You said her smell kept hunting you, even in your dreams, right?

I nodded. - Ok, that could be a clue. - She continued. - Second, we call it "gravity". Somehow you always get back to her, even if you're just wandering in the hallway, you end up bumping into her 'cause of your instinct.

Considering I sleep-walked towards her bed, we can check that box.

I nodded again. - Ok, last one to check. Did you turned, partially or totally, in your wolf form while with her or while you were just thinking about her? - She asked.

This morning I felt my nails turn into clows but it could be my immagination. Claws usually left some scar behind and, since I stuck my nail in my hand this morning, I should have had some sign on them. I checked my hands but they were my usual hands.

- I don't think so - I said.

- Okay, so it's probably just a crush. It's the first time you have a crush on someone? - She asked me. It was. I nodded, hiding my face behind my blonde and blue hair.

- I know it's hard - She said. She sounded so... understanding. - It's gonna take a little bit of time to learn how to control your instincts. Especially the jealousy. Wolves are territorial, you know.

So, that was the reason of the jealousy. Thank God, I thought I was going crazy.

- Call me, if you need any question about this or other topics, Enid - She said, standing up.

- I have another question - I said, standing up like her. - If it was imprinting, like I thought, what would have happened? - I asked her.

- You know what's the imprinting, Enid? - She asked in reply.

I moved my weight from a feet to the other, not knowing the other answer. - It's when you feel connected with someone. It's like love but, for werewolves, it's a deeper connection - I tried.

- Basically, yes - she said. -It's the moment when you realize that person isn't just a person, it's what hold you here. That's the reason one of the "symptoms" it's called "gravity". You'll do everything for that person, you'd give your life to protect them and just being around them as a friend is enough. You will want more but you will set your expectations at the bare minimum just to have them in your life. - She was talking out of her experience, I realized. - If that's what you feel towards your friend, you'll have to learn to live with that feeling of never having who you want.

She left me with this words and went to the locker rooms. I moved back in my room, repeating what Juliet just told and how painful it must be to live with that feeling.

When I closed the room behind my back, that damn cinnamon and incense scent hit me and briught me back to reality.

- Everything okay? - Wednesday asked from her bed. - You're late than usual.

- I stopped by talking with a girl from the pack - I said, putting my bag on the floor and placing my lacrosse racket in the wardrobe.

- Mmm - She murmured.

- What about you? - I asked, trying to sound excited at the idea of working with Tyler. - How did your research went? Any suspect found?

- None - she replied. - No one with the scar Tyler described.

That name, out of her lips, hurted like a knife in my stomach. - How did you two become friends? - I asked, ignoring the pain.

- We're not friends - She said and I felt the pain lowered. - We're working on the same case. That's it. - I felt the joy flew through my body for a second before she said: - But I have to admit he's not that stupid, after all. His informations were useful.

- Mmmm - I said, this time, biting my lower lip.

An instant later, I felt the taste of my blood on my tongue. I moved to the bathroom to check if I bit myself so hard.

It was worst. My canines turned into fungs.

Fuck. I did the imprinting over Wednesday.