ornery

When the bag was finally pulled off Reena's head, she was beyond annoyed. For one, she didn't want to be in this secret library all night, and two, the ropes that they used to tie her and Wednesday up were tied horribly. 

"Who dares breach our inner sanctum?" Bianca tried to disguise her voice.

"You can take the mask off, Bianca," Wednesday told her.

Reena nodded. "You need a new way of hiding your identity."

Bianca huffed and took her mask off, along with the rest of the students, while Wednesday stared at her blankly. "Wait, I preferred you with it on."

"How did you get down here?" Xavier questioned.

"Rowan showed us," Wednesday answered. "Left pocket." Xavier grabbed the photo out of her pocket, opening it up to see the drawing. "We tracked the watermark to the Poe statue. Then we solved the riddle."

"It was too easy, especially for a secret society," Reena taunted. "Not too secret, huh?"

"Wait, there's a riddle?" the siren boy interjected. "I thought we just snapped twice."

"Well, aren't you the brightest in the bunch?" Wednesday noted.

"The Nightshades are an elite social club," Bianca informed them. "Emphasis on elite."

"We have roof parties, campouts, the occasional midnight skinny dip," Yoko listed.

"And Yoko's an amateur mixologist."

"She makes a killer virgin mojito. It can get pretty wild."

Reena scoffed. "Virgin mojitos? What are you guys? Twelve?"

"Wow. Do you guys even have a bedtime?" Wednesday joked. "Last I heard, the Nightshades had been disbanded."

"Yeah, the group kind of lost its charter thirty years ago after some normie kid died," Xavier confirmed.

"But we have a lot of wealthy alumni, so Weems looks the other way as long as nobody makes any waves," Yoko explained.

"Someone like Rowan?" Wednesday guessed.

"We booted that loser last semester," Bianca denied. "Question is, what are we gonna do with them? Only members are allowed in this library."

"I say we invite them to pledge," Xavier suggested.

"What?"

"Wednesday is a legacy," Xavier pointed out. "And Reena... is Wednesday's friend."

"Eh," Reena muttered.

"After the crap they pulled in the Poe Cup, there's no way in hell," Bianca shot the idea down. "We talk about not making waves? They're a tsunami."

"Just because I beat you at your own game? Let me save you the trouble. I'm not interested in joining," Wednesday turned down the offer.

"Yeah, there's no way I'm joining this loser club," Reena agreed.

"You're seriously turning us down?"

"Can you believe it?" Wednesday replied. 

"Untie them," Bianca ordered.

Wednesday held up the rope. "I freed myself five minutes ago."

Reena sighed in relief, moving her hands from behind her back and letting the rope drop to the ground. "Thank God. I was starting to get tired of pretending I was tied up."

Wednesday and Reena went to leave, but the male siren blocked their way. "Do you want a matching black eye?" The siren moved and the two girls continued on their way up the stairs. "It's amateurs like you who give kidnapping a bad name."

"You should practice some more before you try to kidnap us again," Reena mentioned. "But, you'll never get the chance to kidnap us again."

* * *

"All students will report for their volunteer jobs at 10:00 a.m. sharp, followed by a community lunch at 1:00," Principal Weems announced. "As you know, this year Outreach Day culminates in a very special event, the dedication of a new memorial statue in the town square, which will also include performances by Nevermore students. As representatives of our school, I trust you will all put your best face forward."

The teachers came around handing out jobs, and Enid was beyond excited about her. "Yes! I got Pilgrim World. I have natural people skills and a love of performing, so it's kind of the obvi choice. What'd you get?"

Reena rolled her eyes. "Stupid Pilgrim World. I'd rather smash my own brain in with a hammer than go to Pilgrim World."

"I got Uriah's Heap, whatever that is," Wednesday shared.

Enid frowned. "Ew. It's this weird, creepy antique store. You'll love it though. I'm crossing my claws Ajax and I will be outreaching together."

After Enid walked away, Principal Weems came over to the two girls, smiling. "Wednesday, don't worry about your cello, and Reena, don't worry about your guitar. I'll have them brought to the town square this afternoon."

"My cello?"

"My guitar?"

"I caught your rooftop serenade the other night. Impressive. I volunteered you to accompany the Jericho High School marching band at the ceremony. I'm sure it won't be too challenging to play an uplifting Fleetwood Mac melody."

"As long as you promise to hang me as a witch afterward," Wednesday responded.

Reena leaned down to Wednesday's ear. "We're messing the ceremony up, right?"

Wednesday nodded. "What else would we do?"

* * *

As Wednesday and Reena got off the bus, they spotted Xavier staring at a blank wall not too far away. "Why are you staring at a blank wall?"

Xavier had his arms crossed. "It wasn't blank last Outreach Day."

"Are you still stewing because we rejected your invitation?"

"I did go out on a limb for you."

"Please. We're just cannon fodder in whatever cold war you're waging with Bianca. We have more pressing issues."

"Like what?" Xavier questioned.

"Tracking down the monster that killed your roommate," Wednesday answered.

"And figuring out that drawing," Reena added.

Xavier scoffed. "Oh my god. For the last time, Rowan was expelled. Everyone saw him leave."

"Have you spoken to him since?" Wednesday shot back.

"I texted him a few times, but I never heard back. I just figured he wanted Nevermore in his rearview mirror."

"Or he's dead," Wednesday pointed out.

"Or he's ghosting you because you were a shit roommate," Reena suggested. "But he's most likely dead."

Xavier started walking away from them. "I don't know why you care. It's not like you knew the guy."

Wednesday and Reena went after him. "I'm not sure why you care so little. People can dismiss us and make a million other excuses, but we're not gonna stop."

"We're too far in to stop now," Reena agreed, getting the book out of Wednesday's backpack and handing it to her.

Xavier rolled his eyes. "Oh, great. I guess you can add 'thief' to your resume. I don't know what the big deal is about an old Nightshade's journal anyways."

Wednesday opened the book and showed him the full picture. "You didn't seem surprised when I showed you this last night. You've seen it before, haven't you?"

"Yeah," Xavier confirmed. "A couple days before the Harvest Festival. It was open on Rowan's desk. I assumed he stole it after we kicked him out of the Nightshades. Then I confronted him about it, and he kind of went ballistic on me."

"He threw you against the wall with his telekinesis."

"Yeah. How did you know that?"

"Lucky guess."

"It's weird that you're in this. Xavier motioned to the book. "This journal is like, what, 30 years old? What's Crackstone doing in the picture with you?"

"Crackstone!" Reena exclaimed. "Joseph Crackstone! I knew he looked familiar!"

"Who's Joseph Crackstone?" Wednesday asked.

"He's, like, Jericho's founding father. He's a big deal around here." Xavier pointed to a poster for Pilgrim World. "Yeah, look. That's him.

Reena looked down at Wednesday. "We need to get you into Pilgrim World."

* * *

The kids were all gathered in the town square, Wednesday and Reena standing behind the rest of the students.

"All right. Everyone take a seat," Principal Weems instructed. "We have a special announcement."

Mayor Walker smiled at the kids. "Welcome, welcome, Nevermore Academy. Now, on behalf of the entire Jericho community, we are so, so pleased to have you all here today. Your generosity and hard work are truly... outreachous!"

Principal Weems got up and stood next to him. "Okay, everyone. We'll see you back here at one o'clock for lunch. Enjoy!"

As the crowd was leaving for their jobs, Wednesday and Reena found Enid. "Enid. Switch volunteer assignments."

"What? No," Enid rejected. "Uriah's Heap is definitely not my bag."

"It's an emergency. I need to check out Pilgrim World."

"But Wednesday, this is not a fair trade. Why would I agree to spend the entire day at some dumpy emporium of crapola? And why can't Reena switch with you."

"One, I need Reena to be there. Two, because Ajax is volunteering there. Thing sneaked a peek at his assignment. But if you're not interested..."

"No!" Enid cut her off. "Oh my God, thank you. You're the best!"

While Enid ran off, Reena smirked. "That was far easier than I expected. Now, time to figure out why the fuck you're battling Crackstone."