Wednesday

Wednesday's POV

It's been two weeks.

Two weeks since Lucius's dead body was found on the statue and the shadow-killer - like Ajax called him - vanished.

Two weeks since Tamara found that cufflink.

At the beggining we all thought that was the clue we needed to finally find out who was behind the fire at the cabin, the amethyst and, now, the magician's death.

But that geometric hourglass didn't bring us anywhere. Despite the hours spent in the library, looking in every book about symbolism and secret society, we didn't found anything.

At this point, the amethyst was probably in another country and the mystery would stay unsolved.

That thought hurted more than I would like to admit. I wasn't enough fast to steal the phone, to catch the killer, to put the pieces together.

What hurted even more was the thought that, without this mystery, nothing connected me to the group of people I started to call friends.

Withouth the mystery, Enid wouldn't have any reason to spend time with me and she would be all the time with Juliet. While I was doomed to see them walking around the school, knowing damn well how bad I would pay to be the girl next to Enid.

I took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of old books. It was time for me to leave the library.

- I'll go back to my room - I said to Xavier, Ajax, Tamara and Tyler who had spent the last hours with me at the library, while Enid had lacrosse training.

- I'll come with you - Tyler said, standing up and moving towards the door. He opened the door for me and, after I got out in the hallway, he closed it behind his back.

- You know the ball ended two weeks ago? - I asked him. - There's no need to keep this chaperon-chivalry-thing - I told him.

For the last few weeks, Tyler acted like a perfect gentlemen while kept teasing me, his smirk always on his face. I realized I saw him serious only the day he told us about the night he saw the guy with the scar who set the hut on fire. Since that moment, he always wore that smirk.

- Has ever occured to you that maybe - just maybe - I'm a real life gentlemen? - he asked me.

I catched his image with the corner of my eye - he was walking by my side, his arms crossed behind his head like he didn't have a thought. - No - I said dryly. He laughed.

We were almost at my bedroom when he started talking again.

- Well, you're not wrong. I'm not a knight - he said, against my ear. I turned towards him when he leaned in and kissed me.

I froze for a second. The feeling of his lips on mine was weird. And disgusting.

My body reacted without my knowledge. I took a step back, interrupting the contact between our bodies, and slapped him so hard his face turned over.

When he looked back at me, there weren't any traces of disappointment or regret on his face. Just his usual smirk.

- How did you do something so stupid and yet look so satisfied? - I asked him, about to slap him again.

- Oh, don't worry, darling. I didn't do it 'cause I'm into you - he said, rubbing his hand on the now-red cheeck. - I just thought you two needed a little bit of help.

-Who are you talking about? - I asked him, furious and confused, looking around to find the other person he was talking about. But there was no one in view. - There's nobody here beside me and you - I said, turning back to him.

- Oh, well... We'll see if my action will have the consequences I expected - he said, looking around with satisfaction. - See you later, Black cat. And don't overthink about this too much. Even if I think you and I are like fire and gasoline - together we could set the entire world on fire - I see you more like a partner in crime - he told me, before turning his back on me and going back in the corridor where we came from.

This didn't have any sense. And at lunch I would definitely stuck a knife in his hand. There was no way a boy could kiss me without my consent.

And without a reason. What was that delirious monologue about actions and consequences?

I had no idea. And I had no intention of thinking about this an instant more.

I got back in my room, decided to focus on the cufflink problem - maybe I could find if there was a place where you could engrave jewels - but as soon as I closed my door I realized there was something wrong.

Enid was standing there, fists clunched, and she looked mad.

- Enid... ? - I asked her doubtful. The full moon was gone and her reaction didn't have any sense to me.

- How long? - She asked like I didn't say anything.

- How long what? - I asked her back, using my monocord tone. It was a reflex. Everytime I was in trouble my I-don't-care-about-what-you-think attitude got back.

- How long have you been dated Tyler? - She asked me.

She thought Tyler and I were a thing. That was the reason of her reaction. A laugh was building in my chest at the absurdity of the situation. It stopped when I realized Enid was mad 'cause she saw me kissing Tyler. That meant Enid had a crush on Tyler.

I tought Juliet was the problem but the danger has always been by my side. I remembered Enid getting silent everytime Tyler was around and I felt that pain in my stomach again. That pain that had now a name: Jealousy.

I laughed out loud. I couldn't help myself. I've been jealous of Enid and Juliet for an insane amount of time just to find out she had a crush on Tyler. Who had just kissed me. The entire situation was so absurd I burst into laugh.

That was obviously the wrong thing to do, basing on what Enid did next.

- So, Miss Wednesday Addams, is able to lugh after all? - She said sarcastically, while my laugh consumed.

- Of course. I mean who, beside Tyler could make you laugh? - she asked, adressing herself more than me. - You two tease eachother everytime. It was so obvious. Probably everyone realized it. But not me. I'm always the last one to understand what's going on.

- You could have told me that - she said, now to me. - I'm your roomate. I'm your... bestfriend - she added, hesitant.

- No, you're not - I said, talking for the first time. - You're not my bestfriend, Enid.

I'm in love with you, you can't be my bestfriend, I thought.

But Enid couldn't read my mind. She probably thought I didn't care about her at all. She had all the rights to think I didn't care about anyone.

- No - she said, her voice broken. She was about to cry, I realized. - You don't have friends, do you? - she asked me.

I didn't. At least not before Nevermore. I barely know how to deal with this new friendship thing and now I had to deal with my crush having a crush over the boy who just kissed me.

I'm gonna kill Tyler, I thought.

- We're not together - I told her, hoping that would make her stop crying. I realized that maybe tell her Tyler was still available would confort her. I didn't consider how bad I would feel. The pain in my stomach was expanding to my chest. Maybe when people talked about heartbreak they were talking about the pain I was feeling.

- You're not? - Enid asked, rubbing her face with her hands, trying to dry the tears that had slided on her cheeks.

- No, Enid - I said. - You still have a chance with him, if you wanna try - I told her, feeling something shred in my chest.

This was Enid's time to start laughing while I stood there, confused.

- You think I have a crush on Tyler? - she asked me, taking a breath and trying to collect herself. Her beautiful smile on her face.

- Why would you be that upset to see him kissing me, otherwise? - I told her.

- Oh, Wednesday - she sighed, moving towards me and hugging me. I froze there, not knowing what to do. Or why this was happening. Should I pat her back?

Before I had time to do anything, Enid interrupted the contact between our bodies. I felt cold. She was so warm and cozy. Like her hand has been at the ball.

She was still near. Still in my personal space - that I would love to share with her if she wanted to - I could feel the heat of her body through the sweater she was wearing.

I looked in her eyes. So gray and cloudy for such a sunny personality.

Then, I don't know what happened. If I leaned in or she did, I just felt her warm lips against mine. It didn't feel disgusting like with Tyler. It felt right. God, it felt so right.

Then someone knocked at the door and we both took a step back, not knowing what just happened.

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

Enid's POV

I saw them kissing out of the door. I knew it was gonna happen. It was so obvious they had something going on. But this didn't reduce the pain I felt. I heard the wolf howling in my head. no matter which Enid's form - human or wolf - my heart has just broken.

When she entered the room nothing could have stopped me. I started accusing her. She hid it from me all this time. I was her bestfriend. At least I thought it was. I also thought that would be enough. But then she said I wasn't her bestfriend and my world - who revolved around her now - shred. I wasn't anything for her. I didn't matter for her as much as she did for me.

That was the moment I broke. My heart broke. And I started crying.

I tried to hold the tears back but they didn't want to collaborate. Then, she said they weren't together. My heart skipped a bit. Hope. I still had a chance. She said I still had a chance with him. Like I was the one interested in Tyler.

I went from crying to laughing. This girl has no clue how I felt for her. I hugged her. More 'cause I needed it. I needed to feel the warm of her body against mine, her heart beat in her chest against mine, her blood flowing in her veins. I needed to inhale her cinnamon and incense scent. That damn scent. And then... we were kissing.

I thought my heart was about to explode. Even the wolf was silent - shocked as much as me. I closed my eyes and focused on the only thing that mattered in that moment. Her lips against mine.

Then someone knocked at the door and we interrupted the kiss. The contact I've so long waited for - the one I've dreamed about - was already gone.

Wednesday opened the door and we found Tyler, Ajax, Tamara and Xavier waiting for us. Tyler looked at Wednesday, then his gaze move to me and back to her.

- Thank me later - he said, entering our bedroom and winking at Wednesday.

God, I would kill him the next time I turned into a wolf.

- Why are you here? - Willa asked, closing the door behind Ajax.

- We found something - Xavier said, dropping a dark leather cover book on Wednesday's desk.

- You found something - Tyler corrected him. - Xavier should work in a library for how good he is in researching information.

Xavier's cheeks turned red at that comment.

- Did you just compliment someone different from yourself? - Wednesday asked. - The end of the world must be right behind the corner. Finally. - She commented. - What did you find? - she asked, back to her detective mode.

She was beautiful when she was focused. I shook my head and leaned to the book, catching Tyler's smirk with the corner of my eye.

- Look! Here - Xavier said, pointed at a black and white photo in the yearbook. The guy in the picture had white eyes, like Bianca, so he was probably a siren.

Xavier finger was pointing at a pin on the guy's - Daemon Barrymore - blazer. It had the same geometric hourglass draw.

- Do you think he is our killer? - Wednesday asked, looking at the photo.

- That's the point - Tyler said, dropping another yearbook on the desk. - He isn't the only one with that pin.

Ajax and Tamara dropped an yearbook each one. Every yearbook had a picture of a students, in some cases more than one, with a pin, a cufflink or a ring with that symbol engraved.

- What's your theory? They don't belong to the same family, so it can't be a family emblem. - Wednesday asked, comparing the different pictures. - They don't even belong to the same species. There are werewolves, vampires, sirens... What's the connection between them? - she asked to no one in particular.

Obviously, Tyler answered her. - What do you know about Chronos? - he asked.

- He was the greek titan of the time. When someone predicted one of his children would kill him, he decided to solve the problem eating them - she said, looking at him.

Maybe they weren't together but they definitely had chemistry. Then, what did our kiss meant?

- Correct - Tyler started again. - And that - he said pointing at the hourglass draw - it's the symbol of the Children of Chronos. A secret society the best ex-students of Nevermore have been part of, through the years.

- How do you know it's a secret society? - Wednesday asked. - You're not supposed to know about its existence if it was so secret.

He smirked in reply and I heard the wolf in my head begging me to strangle him. Instead I clunched my fists in my pockets. - See, the point is that the society doesn't exist anymore - he explained. - The students who were part of it believed it was their right to bully others, since they were the best of the best. When the principal of the time found it out, it closed the society. The members scattered but one of them left the diary of their reunion here. Well, he hid it in the library - Tyler said, grabbing the black leather covered book I saw earlier.

- This diary - he said, lending it to Wednesday. She grabbed it without hesitation, her eyes fast scanning the pages.

- It's full of myths and rituals they tried or wanted to try - Tyler continued. - They were the best students, the most ambitious ones and the greediest. Always looking to something that might increase their power.

- One of the rituals they annotated included the amethyst - Tamara interrupted, probably as tired of the explanations as I was of Tyler's voice.

- So, that's the reason they came back to get back the amethyst. They wanna try the ritual - Wednesday said, collecting the pieces in her brain while turning the pages looking for the notes about the amethyst.

- Probably - Tyler said. - But you should read what the ritual needs to happen - he added. Wednesday was already reading the annotations when I heard her holding her breath.

- The mask of Anubi - she whispered. - The one at the museum. But that doesn't make sense. - She looked at Tyler and then at the others, paying attention in not meeting my gaze. - You can't mix artifacts from two different mythology. It's not gonna work. - She said, frustated.

- Wrong - Tyler said. - They can meet if they have something in common. You can mix Mars's artifacts with Ares's ones 'cause they are both gods of the war, even if they belong at two different pantheon. - He explained. - So, Black cat, what does the mask of Anubi, the amethyst of Baccus and the Children of Chronus has in common? - She asked her.

Black cat. Why did he keep calling her like that? Why did he give her a nickname?

- Nothing. They don't have anything in common - Wednesday said, after being silent for a while.

- I expected more from your brain - he told her. - In the myth, Diana turned Amethyst into stone, saving her from Baccus, and turning her into something immortal. Anubi was the Egyptian god who protected the deads. And Chronos, or Khonsu if you wanna call him with his Egyptian name, is the god of the time flow. If you put them together, in the same room, you will be able to open the gate towards the afterlife and turn yourself into an immortal god - he explained.

Silence followed his words while all of us realized how big was our discovery and the potential consequences it could lead to.

- We need to stop it - I said, talking for the first time. Four pair of eyes - and Ajax's head - turned to me.

- And how are we suppose to do that, Golden retriever? - Tyler asked me.

Great, so now I had a nickname, too.

- They need the amethyst and the mask for the ritual - I said, putting the pieces together in my mind, making a plan. - They have the amethyst. But we can still steal the mask - I said, sounding more confident than I felt.

- So, your idea is to rob the museum? - Tyler asked, while the others exchanged a look. - I'm in. This is gonna be fun - he said, grinning from one ear to the other.

That was the first time I didn't want to kill him, since we met.