Not Alone

Once outside of the hospital, Morticia appeared to be much better.  She was still weak, leaning heavily against Gomez for support and obviously sporting a nasty headache, but better.  And by the time they arrived at Nevermore, she almost seemed like she was back to normal - aside from the burst blood vessels in her eyes that turned the whites of her eyes red.

Enid wondered if she just got better at hiding it because Gomez was still fussing over her, making sure she wasn’t going to pass out. They were so in tune with each other, he would know if she was still unwell. But it was clear, even to Enid, that the poison was still having at least a small lingering effect on her.

“Gomez darling, I assure you, I am fine,” Morticia sighed as they headed for the secret passageway to the Nightshade’s library.  “I just have a nuisance of a headache, that’s all.  But that’s a good thing.  It means I might still get a helpful vision.”

Gomez frowned, “You drank poison, I would rather you rest.”

“And you gave me the antidote.  Part of me wishes you hadn’t,” at his quiet objection she continued, “It’s wearing off and I don’t know how much time we have before it’s worn off completely and considering all the dark forces we’re dealing with, I’m doubtful that even if I did get a normal vision that it would tell us what we need to know.  I will rest once I am confident that Wednesday will be all right – and by then what’s left of the poison will be out of my system anyway.”  She turned to Enid, “Speaking of rest.  Enid, sweetheart, while we search the library, I think you should go to your dorm and get some sleep.  Maybe grab something to eat, too.”

“What? No, I’m OK,” Enid exclaimed, “we’ll find what we’re looking for much faster if…”

“You’ve barely slept the last two days.  And when was the last time you ate?”

Enid frowned, “This morning.”  She left out the part where she did it because she had to and couldn’t even keep it down.  Ever since Wednesday got really sick, Enid hadn’t had much of an appetite.  She didn’t even feel hungry.  She knew she should be hungry, but she wasn’t.

Morticia looked at her with scrutiny, and while she didn’t say anything, Enid got the impression that she knew the truth.  “You need your strength,” she said, “I am worried about you.  Please, you need to take care of yourself, it won’t help you or Wednesday if you make yourself sick.  We will come get you once we find what we’re looking for.”

“But…”

“Enid, please,” Morticia begged, “I know you want to help. And you’ve helped already, tenfold. Now it is time to help yourself. You’re running on empty, and that’s not healthy.  You’ve done good, so rest.  You’ll need your strength for whatever lies ahead.”

Enid sighed. She was right.  How could Enid help Wednesday when she was so tired and dizzy and sore that she could hardly see straight? “OK,” she agreed, “but promise you’ll get me once you find something?”

“We swear it,” Morticia said. “And Enid?  If there’s someone you can maybe stay with tonight, I think you should call them.”

“Why?”

“Support,” she replied, “you’ve been through so much, you can use a friend.  I don’t want you to have to be alone and I’d imagine it may be hard trying to sleep in your room, with Wednesday not there.  Besides, I think it might be safer for now.”

“Why?  Did you have a vision?”

“No,” she said, “but I don’t think it would hurt to be extra cautious right now.”

“OK,” Enid said, “I’ll call Yoko.”

“Good.”

Reluctantly, Enid left and headed for Ophelia Hall while Morticia, Gomez and Pugsley headed into the Nightshade's secret library.  It was late, almost curfew, so there weren’t a lot of people out, which was a good thing because Enid did not want to talk to anyone. On the way to her dorm, she pulled out her phone, realizing she had been so wrapped up in worry for Wednesday she hadn’t even looked at it since this morning – something unheard of for her. 

Ignoring the overload of messages and, to her horror, three missed calls from her mother, Enid texted Yoko and asked if she was free.  While waiting for a response she skimmed Yoko’s concerned messages that she had sent throughout the day, asking if she was OK and expressing worry because she hadn’t messaged her back.  As she did so, she heard a voice call her name. 

“Enid! Wait up!”

She flinched, unexpectedly overtaken by an irrational anger as she spun around to face Xavier as he trotted towards her, “What?”

He seemed startled by her reaction but he ignored it and asked, “Hey, I’ve heard people talking, is it true Wednesday’s in the hospital?”

She bristled but nodded.

“Is she OK?”

“Oh, now you ask if she’s OK,” she scoffed.

“What?” he seemed genuinely confused by her reaction and if she wasn’t so stressed, terrified and exhausted, maybe she would’ve taken pity on him but Enid couldn’t let go of the fact that if he didn’t try to help, Wednesday wouldn’t be fighting for her life.  And she knew she wasn’t being fair, she knew it wasn’t his fault and that he probably felt terrible about it.

But she was too tired and scared to care and there was so much pressure building up, some that she wasn’t even aware of.  Seeing him, knowing that, even though it was unintentional, he was the reason Wednesday got hurt in the first place opened a valve and all she could do was let it out.

“You were the only one that saw that she got shot with an arrow,” Enid snapped, “to save you!  And when you messaged me this morning you couldn’t even be bothered to ask if she was OK.”

“She said she was fine,” he exclaimed, taken aback by her outburst, “and that’s part of why I wanted to talk to her.”

“She’s Wednesday, of course she would say she was fine!” Enid hissed.  “And then you left her to fight him alone? While injured?  Was that payback for getting you arrested or something?”

“Whoa, Enid,” Xavier held up his hands defensively, “first of all, she told me to go and help everyone escape.  I didn’t want to leave her but she was insistent.  I just wanted to help and she really did seem OK.”

“Well she’s not OK,” Enid’s voice broke as she tried to hold back her tears. 

Xavier dropped his hands to his sides and looking both concerned and hopeful he asked, “But she will be, right?”

Enid shook her head, her chin quivering as the tears started to fall.  “I don’t know,” she whimpered helplessly.

“But…I don’t understand.  It was a shoulder wound, it didn’t look like it hit anything vital…”

“It got infected, like septic shock levels of infected, but it’s more than that…” for a moment she couldn’t continue.  She was far too overwhelmed and if she couldn’t help the Addamses find a cure, she wanted to be back at the hospital to stay by Wednesday’s side.  But she was so exhausted she also wanted to collapse where she stood and cry herself to sleep.

“Shit,” Xavier’s voice got quiet and he swallowed hard, “that’s bad.”

“You think?!” she cried.

“But she’s strong, I’m sure she’ll…”

“No, Xavier,” Enid snapped, “she won’t.  That arrow had a Death Curse attached to it.”

“What?!”

“It’s killing her,” she continued.  “And if it weren’t for her, you…” she stopped herself before she could point out the obvious. Even overcome with the chaos of emotions flowing through her, she could see in Xavier’s eyes that he already put two and two together and it was already tearing him up inside. She pushed down her anger and tried to collect herself.

“It was supposed to be me,” he said, his eyes wide.  “If it wasn’t for her, I’d be dead right now.”

Enid nodded, carelessly trying to wipe her eyes.

He seemed to be taking it in, a strange look on his face, “How do we stop it?”

“We don’t know yet,” she sniffed, still trying to contain her sobs, “Wednesday’s family is here. They went to the Nightshade Library to research a way to stop it – or contain it.  Wednesday’s mom doesn’t think it can be stopped.”

Xavier stood silently in shock. “How can I help?” he asked quietly, his voice hollow.

“I don’t know,” she said between sobs.

“Is there anything more to this curse?  Do you know?”

“Just that…” Enid wasn’t sure how much to reveal, she drew in a few shaky breaths as she tried to calm down. “She’s in a coma, and she doesn’t have much time.  Her mom was able to slow the progression, but…it’s aggressive.  Her doctor said she might not make it to morning and maybe we bought more time but…I don’t know.”

He ran his fingers through his hair as she wiped the tears from her eyes, “OK, you said that her family’s trying to research a way to stop it?”

“Yeah.”

He pulled out his phone.

“What?”

“I’m messaging the Nightshades, calling an emergency meeting.  We’re going to help look,” Xavier said.

Enid perked up, “Really?”

“The more people looking, the faster we find a counter-curse or... I don't know, something, right?” he said. 

“Thank you,” Enid said, grateful.  She noticed that as he was messaging the group, his hands were shaking. 

“I can’t let Wednesday die.  Especially, not for me,” Xavier said, his voice trembling as it all seemed to sink in.  “What about you?  What are you doing?”

“I haven’t slept in almost two days except for maybe a couple of hours here and there,” Enid frowned, “I’ve been sent to get some sleep.”

“You look like you need it,” he commented with sympathy.  He looked at his phone, “Haven’t heard from everyone yet but Bianca just messaged that anyone who opts out of helping are kicked out of the Nightshades.  I know we’re all going to do what we can.”

“Thank you, Xavier. I’m sorry I got mad at you.”

“It’s OK,” he said, “I... I can’t blame you.  It was my fault she got hurt.”

“Don’t say that.”

“It kind of is,” he lowered his gaze, “I just wanted to help, but…I keep replaying that moment in my mind thinking about what I should’ve done differently.”

“It’s not going to change what happened.”

“I know.”

Enid checked to see if Yoko replied to her message. She had, and after a brief exchange Enid said, “If anyone finds anything, I’m staying in Yoko’s room tonight.”

“OK,” Xavier said. He was still shaking, white as a ghost.

“You didn’t know this would happen,” Enid said, taking pity on him.  “I know that things between you and Wednesday aren’t very good, but… I know you didn’t want this to happen.”

He scoffed, “Honestly? When I was in jail and she told me about Tyler, I told her off.  I was harsh, I was brutal and a part of me wished for it. I was so angry.  I thought she was trying to ruin my life and she almost did ruin my life… I wanted to see her hurt.  But… I didn’t mean it.”

Enid tried to empathize, but all she could see when she closed her eyes was Wednesday on the brink of death, something that wouldn’t have happened if he hadn’t tried to help.

“After I got the chance to calm down and think more rationally, I realized that in her own weird way, she was trying to make it right.  I mean, I was framed – I guess anyone would’ve fallen for it.  It wasn’t personal.  She even said that and I threw it in her face.  She didn’t do what she did to hurt me.  She wanted to stop a killer and that was why she visited me. Not to rub salt in the wound, but to fix her mistake,” Xavier sighed, running his hands through his hair in distress, “that’s what I needed to talk to her about.  Oh god, there’s so much I need to say…what if I don’t get the chance? She took an arrow for me.  What if she dies, because she wanted to save me, even though she thought I hated her.”

“Xavier…” Enid sighed, not knowing how to respond. “You had every right to be angry and hurt but she…” her voice trailed off.  Her head hurt and her throat hurt from crying so much while sleep-deprived, “I think she was angrier with herself for what happened than you could ever be.  You know how she hates being wrong.”

He gave a small sad grin.

“And Wednesday wanted justice, so it had to have been hard knowing that she was the reason an innocent person was in jail.  And Tyler betrayed her.  He broke her heart,” Enid said, “I think she knew how you felt and wanted to fix it. I believe she was sorry, but she just doesn’t know how to express it well, you know?”

“So instead, she jumps in front of an arrow – a cursed arrow, to save me,” he lamented.

“Hopefully you can help save her.” She wanted to join him and help with research too, regardless of what Morticia said, but she backed up a step and stumbled dizzily. Her sleep-deprived and injured body had enough and it was catching up to her.

“You OK?” Xavier asked, reaching out to steady her.

“Yeah,” she breathed, “just…really tired.  The last couple of days have been…so much has happened...”

Xavier nodded, “Want me to walk with you?”

Enid smiled weakly, “It’s OK, I’m fine.  Thanks.”

After parting ways, Enid headed for her room to grab a change of clothes before going to Yoko’s room. Yoko was going to help the Addamses research, but she was waiting for Enid first to make sure she was OK. 

As she messaged Yoko to let her know she would be there soon, her phone buzzed as her mother called again.  Enid hesitated.  She just did not have the emotional capacity or strength to talk to her.  But, since she said she would call and had missed a few calls already, Enid heaved a deep breath and answered.

“Hi Mom,” she said, her voice slightly hoarse.

“Enid, where have you been?  I’ve tried to call,” her mom exclaimed.

“Sleeping,” she lied, “it’s been a rough day.”

“How’s your friend?”

“Not good,” Enid said, unable to keep her voice steady, “Mom, I’m scared for her.  She's in crit-”

“I’m sure she’ll be fine,” her mom’s tone sounded like she was attempting to reassure her, but she didn’t know what she was talking about and instead came across as dismissive. “How are you feeling?”

“Fine.  Just tired,” Enid said with a resigned sigh. 

Tired and spent.

“I still think I should be there,” she said, “and I still can’t believe you’ve been keeping so many secrets from me.”

“Mom, I haven’t been keeping secrets,” Enid protested. “I tried to tell you but you won’t let me…”

“It just makes me wonder what else you’ve been keeping from me.”

“…get a word in.”

“I just hate having to hear about all these things like the attack on the school and you getting hurt from other people,” she said. “It’s like you don’t respect me. You should be coming to me with these things and…”

Enid could feel another tirade coming on so she said, “Mom, I have to go.  I can’t talk right now.”

“No, you will listen to me, Enid…”

“Love you, mom!”

“Eni—”

She disconnected before her mother could get another word in.  Her mom tried to call back but she ignored it and went to her room.  She could deal with the consequences later.

She wished that her mother could be even half as supportive as Morticia had been and of the two, Morticia was the one who would’ve had a good reason to make the situation about herself.  Her daughter was dying, and she made herself sick trying to find a way to save her. She was going through hell, but somehow still had it in her to care for Enid as well as her family. 

When Enid opened her door, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. 

The room felt different.

Off. 

And profoundly empty. 

Wednesday’s side of the room had most of her things packed away and the things that weren’t were oddly messy.  Wednesday’s blanket was on the floor, and the paramedics had knocked over a chair. 

She drew a deep breath, trying to keep it together.  As much as she wished she could be with Wednesday, at this point, all she wanted to do was sleep. She desperately needed it. 

She picked up the chair and Wednesday’s blanket and placed it on the bed.  Enid considered making the bed with fresh sheets, but she was too tired and she imagined that if – when Wednesday got better she probably would be going straight home. She was still expelled.  This technically wasn’t her room anymore.

Wednesday saved the school and she wasn’t welcome there.  That wasn’t right.  That was something that needed to be fixed.  But that problem could wait.  Still, it made Enid irrationally sad, but it could’ve been sleep deprivation making her emotional.  It still wasn’t fair, considering how hard she fought and all she had been through to protect everyone in the school.

Wednesday hated messiness so Enid decided to quickly tidy her side of the room, just in case she did get better and was welcomed back.  There wasn’t much that had been unpacked, so it wouldn’t take much time. But as she worked, Enid had a strange feeling of being watched.

She brushed it off as paranoia.  She was exhausted.  She had a traumatic couple of days and her encounters with Officer Magnuson were still fresh on her mind.  It was only early this morning that he hurt her – yet it felt like it was yesterday. Either way, she had a good reason to be on edge, but it was probably nothing.

Still, something felt off. 

She was almost arrested this morning – no, it was more than that.  She was attacked under the guise of an arrest.  Santiago said there were probably more people who might want to finish what Laurel started.   Magnuson was in Wednesday’s room when he had no reason to be just before she had a seizure or vision.  He threatened them both.  He was a threat.  What if he came after her?  After Wednesday?

Enid’s breath quickened and her heart raced from adrenaline. Her claws instinctively came out and she was too nervous to retract them.  

She was paranoid, she was just being paranoid. 

But Morticia, with her heightened psychic powers, specifically suggested she stay with someone. Not that she gets someone to stay with her, but that she goes to them. Did she know something?

Nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary, maybe she was just so tired and had been through so much trauma that her mind was just playing games. That had to be it.  And yet, suddenly, Enid didn’t feel safe where she was. 

The feeling of being watched was only getting stronger.

Wanting to get out of there, Enid grabbed a set of pyjamas and quickly left, taking the long way to Yoko’s room.

When she got to Yoko’s room she was trembling, on the brink of hyperventilating.

She knocked on the door and when Yoko opened it she took one look at Enid and wrapped her arms around her. 

“Oh my god, Enid,” she murmured, “sweetie, you’re shaking.  Come on, come in.”

Yoko guided her inside and led her to the spare bed in her room.  The one Enid had been sleeping in while she and Wednesday were fighting. 

“Breathe, girl,” Yoko said. 

Enid nodded, taking a deep breath.

“Oh, you poor thing,” Yoko soothed, holding her gently, “your anxiety must be through the roof.”

Enid nodded again, “Y-yeah.”

Yoko rocked Enid soothingly as she tried to quiet her brewing panic, and cried, wondering how she could possibly have any tears left.  As she cried she told Yoko everything that had happened.  She left nothing out.  She told her about what happened when Magunson tried to arrest her, the investigation, the fact that Laurel wasn’t working alone, Wednesday’s condition, what she knew about the Death Curse, Magnuson’s shady behaviour, the fact that Morticia had to take a poison to hopefully get a vision to save Wednesday. 

When she was done Enid was so drained she couldn’t keep her eyes open. 

“Damn,” Yoko said as she took in Enid’s story, “I’m so sorry you’ve had to go through all that.”

“I’m so scared,” Enid whimpered, “I don’t want to lose Wednesday.  I don’t think I can handle it.  And… after that officer…I’m so paranoid right now.  When I went to my room, I felt like I was being watched. There was no sign of anyone, but I was scared to be in there alone.  Isn’t that crazy?”

“After the day you had?  Not at all,” Yoko assured her.  “It’s probably nothing, but I wouldn’t want to be alone either.”

Yoko gave her another hug. 

“Get some sleep,” Yoko said, “I'll be right here.”

"No, it's OK," Enid said, "I'm fine. I'd rather you stick to the plan and help Wednesday's family research - the more people looking for a cure or counter-curse or whatever…the better.”

“I don't think you should be alone right now, E. You don't look so good. I'm worried about you," Yoko said.

Enid whimpered. She wanted as many people looking for a way to save Wednesday as possible, but she also didn't want to be alone either.

"Tell you what,” Yoko offered, “I’ll tell Ajax to come and stay here with you.  He’s terrible at research anyway and I’m sure you’d feel better if your boyfriend was here.”

“I’d like that,” Enid said, but she wasn’t sure if she meant it. 

She had a crush on him all term, and she liked that she was his girlfriend.  But since the attack on the school, her priorities had changed.  He was her boyfriend and yet even though by now he had to have known about Wednesday, since rumours had been going around about the ambulance, not once did he text her to check to see if she was OK.  He was terrible at communicating, but it still stung. 

But Enid didn’t feel safe being alone, so she may as well have her boyfriend there. Yoko was right that he wouldn’t be much help otherwise.

“Could you stay with me until he gets here?” Enid asked, her voice small.

“Of course.”

Too tired to even bother to change, Enid collapsed into the pillow on the spare bed and closed her eyes, aware of Yoko sitting beside her, gently rubbing her back in comfort. Even though she was scared, uncomfortable and in pain, it didn’t take long for her to pass out.

~~W~F~A~~

As she slept, she dreamt about the events of the day.  She was in a hallway at the hospital.  It looked like the ICU but also like the ER.  She was looking into Wednesday’s room as she was having her seizure or vision while the doctors and nurses tried to stabilize her.  From one side of the hallway Magnuson approached and on the other side, she saw her mom.  Magnuson pinned her to the wall and then beat her while and when she begged her mother to help her, she instead nagged at her for being a weak and useless disappointment and not talking to her sooner.  She tried to get away, and then Wednesday’s doctor, Dr. Milford, ignoring the fact Magnuson was physically assaulting her, told her Wednesday was dead.

Screaming in despair she scrambled away from them and the scene shifted to that of a dark, foggy realm. 

Enid didn’t know where she was, just that she had been there before.  The smoky fog seemed to be repelled by her and kept a clear circle around her and she headed down a dirt path in what looked like the woods.  She approached what looked like a stone structure and when the smoky fog cleared enough out of her way to get a good look, she gasped.

No, she did know where she was.

She was just outside of Crackstone's crypt, staring through the opened door. 

Terrified of what she would find if she entered, she backed away from it.  For a split second, she thought she saw a shadowy figure standing inside, pointing to the opened tomb in the center of the room. She looked almost identical to Wednesday, except her hair was white. But she vanished the moment Enid noticed her, and Enid questioned if she saw anything at all.

Behind her, she heard a terrified and anguished scream.  It sounded close and yet far away.  Enid turned to the sound and then back to the crypt but the door was now closed.

“Wednesday?” she called out turning her attention back to the screams.  She raced towards the desperate sound, calling Wednesday’s name.

It was so hard to see anything from all the fog in the darkness except for the circular area surrounding her that moved with her.  But as she got close enough to the sound for the fog to part and reveal the source, she saw something even darker than the rest of her surroundings, a dark, pitch-black, liquid-like mass. As she neared it, it retreated leaving a broken heap of blood, bone and flesh in its wake. 

“Oh god…” she cried at the sight of her best friend, looking like a mangled corpse yet somehow she was still alive.  

Enid had forgotten, but now that she was here, she remembered being here before and how damaged Wednesday had been, but Wednesday looked so much worse than last time.  She was practically unrecognizable -  impossibly thin, her bones looked like they had been broken multiple times and healed without being set properly, her skin covered in scars and scabs, her head, hands, shoulder and stomach still weeping blood. 

“S-s-stay away…” she croaked, her battered, skeletal, disfigured body tried to crawl away from her, but she was too weak to get anywhere.

“It’s me,” she said, reaching out for her, “Enid.  We’re trying to save you.”

“Lies,” she muttered, her wide and wild eyes didn’t seem to recognize her, “T-trick…”

“No,” Enid soothed, “not a trick.  I promise.”

Wednesday, who seemed irreparably broken, whimpered, “L-liar you, you d-don’t belong h-here…not real…”

“I am,” Enid said, “I am real.  And I am getting you out of here.”

Her eyes were distant as she shuffled back to lean against a tree, hugging her knees, “N-no point...t-too late..there's n-no way out…”

“There is,” Enid cried, “and we’re going to find it, so you need to hold on, OK?  Keep fighting.”

“Tried…m-made things w-worse... angrier...” she mumbled, her eyes sliding closed but she opened them again with terror, startled by nothing. "H-help never came...why b-bother..."

"I'm here, I'm going to help you..."

“Stop!! Go away!" she begged, weeping. "S-stop torturing me with hope! P-please!”

Enid let out a sob. It was so wrong to see her that way.

"It's too much...too much...it's worse than b-being t-torn to pieces and carelessly p-put together again wrong..." she slurred, her hoarse voice breaking as she wept.

Enid reached for her, pausing when Wednesday flinched.  “Please Wednesday…”

“Whoever she was…she’s not m-me…” she muttered, almost to herself. 

“Please, don’t give up...”

“W-won’t let m-me die…” she whispered to herself, “’til I s-surrender…'m so t-tired of fighting...”

“Don’t,” Enid begged, “don’t surrender to it!  We’re going to save you, I swear.  Me, your parents and your brother and now our friends are helping, OK?  So, don’t let go now!  You are Wednesday Addams, you’re too strong and stubborn to quit, and we love you too much to lose you, so you need to hold on!” She reached for her, ignoring her as she cowered in fear and grabbed her bony hand.

Suddenly Wednesday’s head flew back and she went stiff, like she was having a vision.

When it was over she looked Enid in the eyes, her dark eyes shining with fear and recognition, suddenly lucid.  “Enid,” she gasped, “don’t try and save me.  It’s too da—”

Before she could finish the dark creature swept in with fury and knocked Enid aside where she landed hard on the ground, banging her elbow, sending a shooting pain through her arm.  Wednesday meanwhile screamed in agony as it jammed its dark tendrils into her skull, violently coiled around her, and dragged her away. 

At almost the same moment, the ground suddenly disappeared from beneath Enid’s feet and she found herself falling.

~~W~F~A~~

She woke up with a startled gasp, crying and breathing heavily.

“Enid?”

She flinched as the light turned on and Ajax rushed towards her, pulling her into a comforting embrace. She clutched him tightly, burying her face into his shoulder as she broke into sobs.

“It was a nightmare,” he soothed.

“I don’t know,” Enid cried, “it seemed s-so real.  I saw her, I saw Wednesday and she…” The memory of her dream was quickly fading, despite the fact it was so vivid that it was like she was actually there. “Ajax, quick, I need some paper…”

“What?”

“Ajax, now, before I forget!”

He nodded and went to Yoko’s desk, looking for something to write on.  “What was your nightmare about?” he asked as he found a scrap piece of paper and started to look for a pen.

Enid tried to think, but her head hurt and she was so tired, “I r-remember Crackstone’s crypt and…I saw Wednesday, she…she was barely recognizable.  She was being t-tortured by this…this thing that…it…and Wednesday didn’t know who she was or who I was and… she had a vision and she…um…” and the memory was gone except for a few scattered fragments, leaving behind only the sense of dread that weighed heavily on her soul.

Ajax handed her the scrap paper and a pen, “Here.”

“Never mind,” Enid cried, “it’s gone.”

“It's OK, it was just a horrible nightmare,” he said, “maybe it’s a good thing you can’t remember anymore.”

“But I feel like…like it was real and I’m missing something important.”

He held her comfortingly, Enid returned the hug, wincing when she became aware of a new ache in her elbow. “Ow!” She pulled away and twisted her arm to investigate, noticing a scrape that hadn’t been there before, and unlike all the other scrapes, bruises and scratches on her body, this one was fresh.

“You were restless and started thrashing,” Ajax said, “you must’ve banged it on the wall or something in your sleep.  Are you OK?”

Enid nodded and collapsed into his arms again, “How long was I asleep?”

“A few hours,” he said.

Not enough, but at least it was something.

“Any word on a cure for Wednesday?”

“Not yet.”

She took the pen and paper from Ajax, trying in vain to remember her nightmare, so she tried to think of how she had described it to Ajax and scribbled it down, about the crypt and the state Wednesday was in and that she had a vision when they touched.  “I feel like she was trying to tell me something,” she muttered, "but I can't remember what.."

She growled in frustration, tossing the pen across the room.

“It was just a nightmare, that’s all,” Ajax said again.

“It didn’t feel like just a nightmare…I think it was...I don’t know, like, I wandered into Wednesday’s head.  I don’t remember it anymore, but I still feel it.  And I do sort of remember what I had been dreaming before that, and that felt more like a dream than the other part.”

“Babe, you’re not a psychic, you’re a werewolf,” he reminded her. Even though he was trying to comfort and reassure her Enid was offended at his unintentionally condescending tone.

“But Wednesday is,” she snapped, “and her mother says that she’s a powerful type of psychic.  What if…I don’t know, we don’t know the extent of her abilities, I don’t think she even knows the extent of her abilities. What if she’s trying to reach out to me somehow?”

“Enid that’s…” he shrugged, obviously skeptical as he decided not to finish his sentence and gave her a sheepish look.

She glared at him, “What, Ajax?  What were you going to say?”

“Nothing.”

“You think it’s stupid - crazy, right?” she snapped.

“I think you’re under a lot of stress right now.  And it’s understandable.  I’m sorry,” he said, reaching to give her another hug.

Enid leaned back, still upset, still shaken by the sense of dread. But despite being angry with him for not taking her seriously, she craved his comfort. She dismissed her frustration and leaned into him and cried into his shoulder.

The moment was interrupted when her phone rang.  It was the Addamses.

“Hello?”

“Enid?” Morticia’s voice said, “I was expecting Ajax to answer, why aren’t you asleep?”

“Nightmare.”

“I see,” she replied quietly.

“Did you find something?”

“We think so.”

“What did you find?”

“There’s a... ritual,” she said, “I’ll tell you all about it soon, but we need to get back to the hospital.  They just called.  Wednesday had another seizure.  She’s taken a sudden turn for the worse.  They don’t think she’ll last the night.”

“B-but the poultice…it was working.”

“I guess it wasn’t strong enough to last,” she said, her voice breaking.

“I'll be right there.”

“Wait,” she said, “you know that necklace of Wednesday’s, the one with the ‘W’?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know where it is?”

“I think so,” Enid replied.

“We’ll need that and we’ll need to make a quick stop to get some ingredients for…for a potion,” she said and Enid caught the cryptic hesitation.

“What’s wrong?”

“We’ll tell you soon on the way,” she said quietly. “Go get the necklace.  We’ll meet you at the car.”

“OK,” Enid said, as Morticia disconnected.

She jumped to her feet but then nearly collapsed as the action made her suddenly dizzy.  Ajax steadied her.  “You OK?”

“No,” Enid whimpered, telling him what Morticia had said as she put on her shoes.  “I have to go.”

Ajax walked with her to her dorm room and Enid hesitated before opening the door, reminded of her earlier paranoia.  Taking a calming breath, she opened it and stepped inside.

And then she screamed.

The room was a mess. Both hers and Wednesday’s belongings were scattered everywhere, some of their things, including Wednesday’s crystal ball, were destroyed.  Worst of all, on the floor were a bunch of pictures, lined up forming an arch, like how a street magician would spread out a deck of cards. 

They were all pictures of Wednesday, taken without her knowledge throughout the term, including a picture of her lying comatose in the hospital, all with X’s scribbled over her eyes.