Not Alone

Enid was awoken by someone nudging her shoulder.

She groggily opened her eyes to see one of the ER nurses standing over her. "You came in here with Wednesday Addams?"

"Yes," Enid perked up a little, ignoring the sharp pains in her bruised body and the kink in her neck from falling asleep in the chair, "how is she? Is she OK? Can I see her?"

Ignoring her, she just said, "Follow me."

"How is she?" Enid asked again, following her through the doors between the waiting room and ER. The nurse didn't answer and she followed her into what she had hoped was the room where Wednesday was being treated, but instead, she brought her into a private room that looked more like an empty office and told her to have a seat. "What's going on? Where's Wednesday?"

Suddenly, she was fearing the worst. Maybe she didn't make it. Maybe they had brought her to a private room to tell her the news. Of course, they would. They wouldn't tell her that Wednesday had died in front of everyone in the very public waiting room. That had to be it. But it couldn't be it.

"Please," Enid said, her voice breaking, "Is she OK?"

The nurse didn't say anything. She just turned and walked away, closing the door behind her.

Enid wanted to follow her but her knees went weak and she sat down in the chair where the nurse told her to sit. Her heart was beating a mile a minute in fear and anticipation, the room spinning. This was it. Wasn't it? This was where someone was going to come in and tell her that Wednesday was dead. Why else would they lead her here?

Enid's eyes filled with tears. At this point, she was surprised that she had any tears left. She clutched the desk, her hands shaking. Her whole body shaking.

Wednesday couldn't be dead. She wouldn't accept it. She was wrong. There was some other reason they brought her here because Wednesday was going to be fine.

But what other reason could it be?

After a few, excruciatingly long minutes the door opened and Enid's watery eyes turned to the doorway to see who it was. It wasn't a doctor, but a woman in a police uniform. Enid thought she may have seen her around Jericho working with Sheriff Galipin sometimes.

"What's going on?" Enid asked shakily, "How is Wednesday? Is she OK? Can I see her?"

"Hi," the officer said, closing the door behind her and locking it, "I'm Deputy Santiago. I have some questions for you about the attack at Nevermore the other night."

Wait, this was why they brought her to this room? To interrogate her? What about Wednesday?

Enid stiffened and folded her arms, balling her hands into fists and making her expression as neutral as she could. The puncture wounds on her palm from her claws had scabbed over, and she pressed her fingers into them, letting the sting anchor her. She had heard from Yoko last night that there were a couple of Jericho police officers canvassing the school yesterday, looking for answers about the attack, and Enid vaguely recalled seeing them wandering about after the assembly, but since Enid had spent almost all her time in her room looking after Wednesday, she had managed to avoid them.

"How's Wednesday?"

Santiago sat across from her at the desk, and shrugged, "As far as I know, no news yet. I'm here to ask a few questions though, if you don't mind."

"I do mind, actually."

Unphased, Santiago set a small microphone on the desk, "I'm going to be recording our chat. Can I get your name?"

"I'm not telling you anything until I get to see Wednesday."

"Your name," her voice was stern.

"I want to see Wednesday!"

"I understand that she's your roommate, is that correct?"

Enid stiffened.

Santiago pulled out a tablet and was looking at something as she said, "I take that as a yes." She put the tablet down and turned on the microphone. "This is Deputy Santiago. It is 7:32 am on Wednesday, November 9, 2022**, talking to witness Enid Sinclair, aged 16. Case number CA-91864-022."

Enid clutched herself tighter.

"Ms. Sinclair, tell us what you can about the attack on Nevermore Academy on the night of November 7."

"Am I in trouble?"

"No."

"Am I being detained?"

"No."

"Then I want to see Wednesday. I'm not saying anything until I see her."

"Answer my questions, and I will see what I can do or find out for you," she promised.

Enid wasn't sure she believed her.

Santiago sighed and turned off the microphone. "Enid, can I call you Enid?"

She just shrugged.

"Let me be honest with you," she said, "I know you're scared. But we just want answers."

"I don't know anything."

"Considering the scratches on your face and the fact your roommate was seriously injured I find that hard to believe," Santiago said.

"Should I get a lawyer? Are you allowed to talk to me without my parents?"

"No, you're not in trouble, you don't need a lawyer and your parents do not have to be present because, let me say this again, you are not in trouble. I know you were a victim in all this. If you would feel more comfortable, I can arrange for a hospital social worker to supervise. They have one on staff who is an outcast as well, would you feel more comfortable if I arrange for her to join us?"

Enid hesitated, considering.

"I am not the enemy here. This case, as you probably know, is a personal one for this department," Santiago added.

"Yeah, because your boss's son was the one who killed all those people and nearly killed our friend, tried to kill Wednesday and did this to me!" Enid snapped, gesturing to her scratched-up face and instantly regretting it for saying too much.

Santiago's face shifted into a stony stare, "So you're the werewolf. I thought as much. Thank you for confirming."

"I want to see Wednesday!"

"I know, I get it. Like I said, I am not the enemy. Sheriff Galpin's son was involved, yes, that does make it more personal for us, but maybe it would help to know that right now I am trying to build a case against Laurel Gates – you know her as Marilyn Thornhill," Santiago said.

Enid felt a lump in her throat. She stiffened at the mention of Ms. Thornhill's name. She was the one who was behind everything that happened. Her and Tyler. Enid was not one to wish harm on anyone, but she had trusted Ms. Thornhill and looked up to her, and she betrayed them in the worst way, and Enid wanted to see her suffer for what she did.

"Fine," Enid said, "I'll tell you what I know. But after this, I need to see Wednesday."

"I will see what I can do, but full disclosure, seeing as you're not family, the hospital might not allow it yet," Santiago said.

"I don't care. Make it happen or I'm not saying anything."

Losing her patience, Santiago sighed, "You're not in trouble, but if I want to I can detain you and hold you for not cooperating during an official police investigation."

"Make it happen or I'm not saying anything," Enid repeated, trying her best to channel her inner Wednesday, "I'm sure you can pull some strings. If you're truly not the enemy and want answers from us outcasts, who all think you're trying to find a way to cover up Tyler's 'involvement' by the way, you will make it happen."

"Fine," Santiago said, irritated, "I will do what I can to get them to make an exception for you."

"Thank you," Enid said, proud of herself for her resolve considering how tired and stressed and anxious she was. Wednesday would be impressed too. She seemed to respect her more when Enid stood up to her in their early days as roommates, before they were friends. Sure, when her anxiety levels were high, or dealing with certain family members, Enid could be a doormat, but when push came to shove, she was not going to let other people walk over her or intimidate her – not if she could help it. Enid was tired of her fears making her timid and anxious and Wednesday needed her. She was going to do everything she could to be there for her. Even if it meant talking to a normie cop.

"Ready?"

Enid nodded.

Santiago turned on the microphone and Enid told her what she knew about Thornhill and how she killed Weems and kidnapped Wednesday and how her accomplice, Tyler, was the monster and tried to kill her, but Enid had stopped him. Meanwhile, her other accomplice set fire to the quad and tried to kill everyone. When Wednesday 'escaped' captivity – because there was absolutely no way she was going to tell them that she was fatally stabbed and left for dead – and tried to stop him, he shot her with the arrow. She left out the part where her other accomplice was the undead version of the town's hero Joseph Crackstone. It would be too hard to explain and Enid still didn't know everything and she was so tired and just wanted it to be over so she could see Wednesday.

"This other accomplice, do you know what happened to him?" Santiago asked.

"No. Like I said, I wasn't there," Enid said.

"So, he's still at large?"

"No. He's gone."

"Did Miss Addams kill him?"

"I'm not answering that."

"Miss Sinclair…"

"He wasn't human. He wasn't an outcast. He's gone now and you don't have to worry about him. I don't know what happened to him exactly, but I know that much."

"What was he then, if not human or outcast?"

"A monster. That's all you need to know, and it's the truth. I'm not saying any more about it."

"OK," Santiago said, "do you know or suspect anyone else who might be an accomplice? Anyone else Ms. Gates might've been close to?"

"I don't know."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Santiago turned off the microphone, "Thank you, Enid. That was very helpful. Unofficially though, and off the record, what really happened to this other accomplice?"

"I told you, I'm not saying any more."

"Please Enid," Santiago said, "we have reason to believe that more people might've been behind this attack besides Ms. Gates and… and Tyler Galpin. So, if there's anything else you can tell me, anything, please tell me. Believe it or not, I am on your side."

Enid sucked in breath. She didn't trust her, but she believed her. Her words that more people might be involved triggered a memory. Wednesday's birthday. Enid had been too angry and scared to really pay attention, but when they searched the Gates Mansion, they found evidence that could not have been easily cleared out by one person. Tyler was with them the whole time between escaping the mansion and Wednesday returning to the mansion with the sheriff. But in that time, all the evidence they found was gone which meant that Ms. Thornhill must have had help and it couldn't have been Tyler.

Was there someone else out there, ready and planning to finish what she had started? Enid let out a shaky sigh, "To be honest, I don't exactly know what he was. I just know he's gone."

"OK," Santiago sighed, reluctantly accepting her answer.

"But I think… I think you're right about there being more people involved."

"Why do you say that?"

"I… I mean Wednesday was the one who was doing the investigating, not me," Enid prefaced, "but I caught bits and pieces of her investigation and some things…well some things wouldn't have been possible for one person to do." She quickly shared her realization about that night at the Gate's Mansion.

"Do you have any idea who else she may have been working with?"

"No. Not a clue," Enid said. "There. I told you what I know, officially and unofficially. Now let me see Wednesday."

"I'll see what I can arrange."

"Thank you."

She left the room and Enid followed. Santigo turned to her, "You should probably stay here."

"I need a bathroom."

"Fine," she replied, "I'll meet you back here when you're done."

Enid wandered through the ER, looking for a bathroom so she could change clothes since she was still in her pyjamas. But she also hoped that she might find Wednesday by herself. No one really paid too much attention to her or told her to get back to the waiting room or that she wasn't supposed to be there. She found herself in an almost empty short hallway where near the end of it she saw a room with two officers sitting just outside.

Since the Jericho Police knew that Wednesday was a central player in the attack at the school, Enid wondered if maybe that was the room she was in so she headed towards them, trying to remain casual. If it wasn't Wednesday's room, she could just keep walking and no one would be the wiser.

As she reached the room, a nurse stepped out and Enid caught a glimpse of the patient inside just before the nurse closed the door behind him. It wasn't Wednesday, but Enid knew exactly who it was. The person in the bed had a vibrant and familiar shade of bottle-red hair.

Maybe it was because of sleep deprivation or stress and trauma or all of the above, but the sight of her, knowing who she really was, knowing what she had done made something inside Enid snap and without thinking, Enid reacted. Filled with a sudden burst of rage and pain, she burst into the room, taking the officers by enough surprise that she easily got past them. "YOU!" she shrieked, "How could you?!"

The officers grabbed her arms and held her back, "Hey! You can't be in here…"

"How could you do this?!" Enid cried as they pulled her away. She took a small satisfaction at the sight of Ms. Thornhill's sorry state, her face heavily bruised, her eyes swollen shut, her nose broken, her face and body covered in welts from being stung by a swarm of bees with both her wrists handcuffed to the rails of her bed.

"Enid? Is that you?" she asked and then chuckled darkly. "You're so pathetic."

"I trusted you! You were my favourite teacher, I looked up to you! I admired and respected you! How could you?!" she cried, "Why attack us?"

"Because you outcasts disgust me. I hope to see you all burn in hell," she snapped. As Enid was dragged out of the room Thornhill shouted after her, "This isn't over! My crusade is only beginning, you hear me?"

The moment Enid was outside of the room the bigger of the two officers roughly shoved her into the wall face first and she smacked her forehead hard against the wall, leaving her in a daze. He pinned her there, his knee digging into the small of her back, his arm pushing against her shoulders, her scratched-up cheek pressed against the cold surface of the wall as he roughly forced her hands behind her back, while she instinctively struggled against him. She tried not to struggle and make things worse for herself, but she was too shocked to think clearly at first.

"You shouldn't have done that kid," he said, and she felt the cold metal of his handcuffs click around her wrists, and his forearm pushing against the back of her neck, immobilizing her, still pinning her to the wall, "you are under arrest." From inside the room, she could hear Ms. Thornhill laughing as the other officer closed the door and locked it.

No, no, no… what had she done? She needed to see Wednesday, and Wednesday needed her. She promised to be there for her. She couldn't get arrested. Why did she let her emotions get the better of her? She was so close, so, so close to being able to see her and she screwed it up. She knew they were going to kick her out, but she had no idea they were going to arrest her.

"I'm sorry," Enid cried, "I'm sorry, I didn't…please don't…" If it were anyone else, she might've used her full strength to fight back, and she resisted that urge. Fighting them would only make things worse and she could not afford to get arrested and abandon Wednesday when she needed her. But if she cooperated, apologized, and could placate them, maybe they would give her a warning or something?

Her efforts did not work and he roughly shook her, shoving her again into the wall and ramming his knee into her backside. Enid let out a little cry of pain, "Please, I didn't mean it…" Why was he hurting her? She shouldn't have barged in to confront Thornhill, but he was hurting her and the punishment was not fitting of the crime.

"Oh? Resisting arrest, I see," his tone was mocking.

"I'm not I swear…please, I'm sorry…"

"Maybe I should put you in your place," he shook her and held his baton in her line of sight, Enid squeezed her eyes shut and whimpered, anticipating him acting on his threat.

"Stop!"

Through teary eyes, Enid glanced up and saw Santiago approaching.

"It's OK, Officer Magnuson," Santiago said, "she's with me. Let her go."

"She ran past us and broke into the room and threatened our suspect," said the other officer.

"She's a scared kid who was a victim of an attack and her friend is fighting for her life. Kid's not thinking clearly, let her go. It's not worth the paperwork, and you know it."

"But…"

"While Sheriff Galpin is on leave, you answer to me. I am your superior officer and I will write you up if you don't let her go now," she said calmly. "And she's a kid, Magnuson, is all that manhandling necessary? You know I can have you suspended without pay for that."

The officer that was pressing her against the wall, Officer Magnuson, let out a sigh, "Yes Ma'am." Enid felt him lean in close, his breath brushing against her ear and he whispered, "Outcast freak. I hope your friend doesn't make it."

A chill rushed through her body at his words as he roughly unlocked the cuffs and shoved her forward. Enid stumbled dizzily catching herself before she could fall, but she felt something pull at one of the few gashes on her body that Tyler left that had required stitches. She reached her hand to the tender spot on her side and it was wet and warm. She pulled her hand away to look. Her fingers were bloody.

Overwhelmed Enid closed her eyes, her head was pounding where it hit the wall and she was so exhausted and shaky that her knees suddenly felt weak. All she could see was Wednesday passed out on the floor, and her blood soaking Enid's fingers when she touched the wound on her shoulder.

Wednesday. She needed to see her. She needed to know she was going to be OK and Wednesday needed her.

She felt a hand grip her arm in a tender spot and Enid hissed in pain, blinking up at Santiago. "Are you all right?"

Slowly, Enid nodded, too overwhelmed to speak. She turned her head towards the other officers, eyes wide. While the one officer returned to his post, the larger of the two, Magnuson, remained where he was, glaring venomously at her and she turned away. If Santiago wanted to find out who Thornhill's possible accomplices were, maybe she should start by investigating her own colleagues. Accomplice or not, it was terrifying to know that someone like him seemed to share Laurel Gates's opinion on outcasts.

"No, you're not," Santiago sighed, "you're bleeding. Come on." she pulled Enid to come with her and guided her to the ER nurse's station.

On the way, she considered telling Santiago what Magnuson had said and done, but she didn't know how, and even though she was helping her so far, Enid wasn't sure she could trust her. Not with that. Outcasts looked out for their own, but so did cops. If she was going to make any accusation, she would need to do it right and Enid didn't want to push her luck. Dazed, all Enid could say was, "No, I need to see Wednesday."

Santiago ignored her and said to the nurse, "I think she pulled some stitches in her side."

"I'm OK," Enid murmured, her voice hollow, "I just want to see Wednes…" her voice trailed off as her vision wavered and went blurry. Santiago suddenly lunged toward her, and the world seemed to topple over before everything went dark.