Chapter 26
Wednesday was born fighting.
She had arrived exactly one month early with the cord around her neck, her tiny face a ghastly purple. She was born still and silent, caught between life and death. Her arrival was met, not with Grandmamma announcing that it was a girl, but with chaos as Grandmamma’s face fell and she and the midwife took her alarmingly quiet baby away from her, trying to get her to breathe.
One of the happiest days of Morticia’s life was also the most terrifying.
But just as Grandmamma solemnly said, “I’m so sorry, she’s gone” she coughed and began to cry on her own. Her first battle in life was drawing her first breath when the odds had been stacked against her. The first few weeks of her life were a constant battle, they even had to bring in normie doctors to help her as adding Grandmamma’s potions to her milk wasn’t enough. Plus, she was so tiny. But the whole ordeal demonstrated just how strong and resilient she was.
She was born fighting, and she would die fighting.
But not now. Not if Morticia could help it. She was not ready to let her go. She would never be ready and she would do whatever she could, whatever it took to protect and save her daughter. Any other outcome would not be acceptable.
She was barely sixteen, she still had so much to offer the world. She fought to protect her fellow students, she sacrificed herself to save a friend, she found someone who loved her so much she would go to Hell with no guarantee of coming back for her. Her life was just beginning and there was so much more than her life that was at stake.
Wednesday had faced many battles in her short life. This was one she could not afford to lose.
Morticia knew something was wrong. Because of the ritual, she could feel the energies of everyone pulsing through her and could feel Wednesday was fading fast; she could sense just how much she was suffering. She glanced at the monitors and saw her temperature was spiking and her heart rate was climbing. And Enid, brave, wonderful Enid was sporting new injuries and her body was reacting to whatever battle they were facing. It killed her not knowing what exactly was happening and being unable to do anything to help but have faith and keep the incantation going.
She gave Wednesday and Enid’s hands a squeeze, silently begging them both to not give up.
~~W~F~A~~
“Leave her alone!” Enid begged as the dark entity seemed to dig into Wednesday’s skull, her words drowned out by the sound of Wednesday screaming. But instead, more tendrils made from pure darkness shot out from the void, enveloping her, tearing into her as Enid and Wednesday both screamed for it to stop.
When it finally released her, she went limp, dangling from the ropes made from the darkness that held her up by her wrists. If it weren’t for the whimpers of pain, Enid would’ve thought she had passed out or died.
“You’ve forgotten your place, my little plaything,” it said to her, releasing the bonds holding her. She dropped limply to the ground with a thud. “You defied me, trusting this little parasite,” it gestured towards Enid before grabbing Wednesday by the neck and throwing her fragile body into one of the angel statues. Enid could hear the horrific sounds of bones breaking upon impact as Wednesday cried out and crashed to a heap on the ground.
“Stop! Leave her alone! Please!” Enid cried, struggling uselessly against the bonds around her waist, pinning her arms down at her side, as Wednesday slumped to the ground near her feet, unmoving. She was so close that Enid could almost touch her, but with her bonds she was just out of reach.
She was close enough that Enid could see her more clearly through her faint glow and Enid wanted to throw up at the sight of her but instead, her heart broke. There was blood pouring from her eyes, ears, nose and mouth and Wednesday’s bloodied eyes met hers, silently pleading for help. She gasped like a fish out of water, choking on her blood. Her shoulders were both dislocated, her back was twisted in an unnatural angle, her legs broken, bones were visible through her skin which was raw and blistered as though she had been burned.
She looked like she should’ve died ten times over, but she lay there, a living corpse. Barely alive, but not allowed to die until the curse that invaded her mind and body said so.
Enid struggled to break free so she could reach her, but it was no use. “I’m sorry,” she sobbed.
The dark entity approached them, stopping to tower over Wednesday who squeezed her eyes shut in terror.
“Leave her alone!”
“I should end you now,” the entity said to her, ignoring Enid completely. It knelt over her, reaching for her under her chin and lifting her head to look at him. “But I think you have a couple more rounds left in you...”
“N-no…” she begged in a quiet whisper, “p-please… please…I can’t…no m-more...”
A wave of dark shadows and smoke enveloped Wednesday and Enid flinched at the sound of bones grinding together and Wednesday crying out in agony.
“Stop!” Enid exclaimed, “Stop hurting her! Please!”
The entity laughed, the sound echoing all around them, making Enid’s ears hurt as the blackness retreated revealing Wednesday’s quivering form, her body haphazardly put back together, but the wounds she had sustained in the outside world, including the ones that had been healed by Goody, remained.
It stroked Wednesday’s hair with a sickening gentleness, “A few more rounds and then I shall send you to Hell where you belong.”
Wednesday’s eyes looked up to meet Enid’s, silently begging her to save her.
She was in Hell already. If Enid didn’t do something, dead or alive, there would be no relief for her.
Helpless, Enid struggled against her bonds, “Leave her alone! Don’t you dare hurt her ever again! Please!”
“Don’t look at her,” it said gently tilting her head until she was facing it, “look at me. That thing over there isn’t real. It was a lie. It was a trap to bring you back to me – the real me. Back to the beginning. Do you see where you are, my little plaything? See where this false thing of light had led you?”
It gestured to the entrance of the crypt and the doors opened. Wednesday made an inhuman cry, panic and betrayal in her eyes as she tried in vain to scramble away.
“You know this place, don’t you?” It mocked. “Deep down. And yet you don’t even remember.”
She leaned against the steps and hugged her knees, shaking her head.
“You should know by now that none of what that creature of light promises is real,” it said gesturing to Enid. “There is no light. There is no love, there is no hope and no way out. You know this. It will lead you to a fate worse than what I have to offer.”
“Don’t listen to it, it’s lying!” Enid cried.
Moving between them it continued, “Is that what you want? To hope? Only to be betrayed again and again for eternity? I may take pleasure in torturing you; I may enjoy the taste of your pain, your memories, your soul, but that is only my nature, I cannot help but do what I was created to do. But at least I would never lie, I would never pretend to love you only to abandon you, leaving you alone with me for years and years and years…”
“Don’t listen to it!” Enid begged.
“What a foolish little creature you are to think that anyone would actually want to save you, to think that you would be loved. You are alone. You always were and you always will be. I may hurt you, but I am your only true companion my little plaything, and the one you deserve,” it taunted as though Enid wasn’t even there. “There is no saving. There is no way out. That intruder is not real, it only exists to betray you. It will only hurt you in ways that even I never could.”
“No…” Wednesday whispered, shaking her head, her bony fingers grasping at her ears as she rocked back and forth, “No, no, no…”
“Leave her alone, please!” Enid begged, struggling to break free of her bonds, but it was useless.
“That parasite is nothing but false hope. It will never love a pathetic creature like you, it deceives, it will build you up only to tear you down and leave you, again and again and again,” it continued.
“Wednesday, it’s lying!”
“You are alone, no one loves you, no one will ever come to save you. Your only purpose is to suffer – to feed my hunger for your pain,” it sneered, “as I was created to do. I wonder… who do you think created me in the first place?” It forced her to look at Enid, manipulating Wednesday to come to her own conclusion, implying Enid was guilty without having to say it.
Wednesday let out a cry of despair, her eyes reflecting back a look of confusion and pain.
“Liar!” Enid screamed, “Wednesday please, don’t listen to it!”
She seemed to be lost in a stupor of madness, still grasping her ears, clawing at her hair as she rocked and mumbled ‘no’ over and over again.
“Accept it. Surrender to it,” it said, “you have before. Maybe this time I will actually let you go. Take pity on you. Ease your pain.”
“No, don’t,” Enid cried, “Wednesday please don’t listen to it! It’s only trying to get to you because it’s threatened. I never left you, I swear it. That monster took me away from you, but I came back. I came back as soon as I could. Wednesday, I love you, I will do anything in my power to save you.”
“It lies. If it spoke the truth, why would it bring you here?” the entity asked. “Back at the beginning. You know this place, right my little plaything? Perhaps I should remind you. Here,” the black liquid-like entity reached for her, grasping her head with one hand, digging into her temple which had her crying out in pain as it swirled its other hand and a sickeningly familiar knife seemed to materialize in its grip. “Remember it now?”
Wednesday’s eyes widened at the sight of it and she whimpered as she tried to scurry away, clutching the perpetually bleeding wound on her stomach, frantically shaking her head.
“That creature of light didn’t come to save you, it came to destroy you,” it said.
“It’s lying!” Enid insisted.
“Why would I lie? Why else would this creature of light lead you to the place where you were meant to die?” it asked. “Where the very magic that created me was unleashed.”
“It’s threatened by this place, Wednesday, don’t you see?” Enid asked.
Wednesday’s eyes turned to Enid, she looked so lost in her fear and confusion.
“I’m trying to save you!” she cried.
“There’s no way out my broken little plaything,” it said, making her look at it, “except through death. You were supposed to die before any of this could’ve happened. I can end it for you. This blade will not send you to Hell, rather, it will erase your soul from existence. You will no longer suffer at the hands of either of us. Would you like that?” The tendrils of darkness caressed her cheek, taunting her, tempting her with death.
“Don’t listen to it,” Enid begged, horrified.
“You’re already on the brink,” it continued, “so why not speed up the process?”
Closing her eyes, Wednesday whimpered, shaking her head.
“You have three choices,” it said, “I take you away from this place and we continue this dance of pain and misery until I can no longer fix you and you’ll fade away and die, left to burn in the pits of Hell. Or, we finish it now. Finish what was started and we use this blade to end your life. All your pain, all your suffering will cease to exist – you will cease to exist,” it offered and she continued to shake her head.
“But there is another option. I give you this blade and grant you the opportunity to get your revenge on this false light. The one who kept getting your hopes up, promising salvation only to abandon you again and again, for years, leaving you to suffer at my hand. My curse will pass onto this intruder who has betrayed you, and you will be free. Wouldn’t you like that? To be free?”
Wednesday looked at her. She was sobbing, confused and uncertain but it looked like she was considering.
“Don’t listen to it, it’s lying!”
“Have I lied to you my little plaything?” it asked. “I’ve never promised salvation only to abandon you, I’ve only done what I was created to do. I’ve only shown you the truth.”
She looked inside the crypt, the only place in this world that was clear of the fog and smoke and then she looked at Enid and then at the pilgrim shape the entity took. She took the knife from it, shocked that it even let her and then turned to Enid.
“The choice is yours,” it said.
She turned back to the entity and let out a desperate cry and slashed at it but the liquid-like and smoke-filled darkness dissipated and reformed where she cut. She slashed it again and once again it morphed back to its chosen shape. But she kept doing it. Stabbing it again and again until she quickly wore herself out. She choked out a hopeless sob.
“Did you really think that I would give you something that can harm me,” it taunted, stroking her cheek. “You cannot hurt me my plaything, I am far too powerful for a pathetic creature like you. I’ve given you your choices, now what are you going to do? End your own existence and end your suffering? Or end hers and be free?” it gestured to Enid.
Wednesday looked back at Enid with dark, haunted eyes. She seemed torn and unsure.
“Do nothing and I will see to it that your suffering will never stop.”
“Wednesday…” Enid cried, “please!”
She cocked her head and looked down at the knife in her hands and then again at Enid, “Y-you left me.”
“But I came back, I came back as soon as I could.”
“For years…”
“Not by choice,” Enid reminded her. “I will always find my way back to you.”
Wednesday choked out a sob, flinching, clutching her ears as though to muffle a horrible sound. “Years and years and years….”
“Not much time has passed,” Enid said, “it only feels like it. In the outside world, where your family is fighting to protect us right now, only a couple of days have passed.”
“Lies,” she mumbled, “lies. Y-you left…years…I f-fought t-to stay alive f-for you…’nd y-you left…I w-waited for you…it only made things w-worse…no way out…”
“The choice is yours my plaything,” the entity taunted. “Just remember, I did what’s in my nature, what I was created to do. That creature left you, abandoned you to suffer for years and strung you along, promising hope and love and freedom, all the things that don’t belong here, all the things you don’t deserve. And then she betrayed you by bringing you here.”
“No, it’s lying. I would never betray you, I am here to save you. It took me away from you but I found my way back,” Enid pleaded, “you need to believe me!”
“No one loves you,” the entity taunted. “They all leave. They all betray you. It’s what you deserve.”
She cowered as it loomed over her, clutching the knife tightly, mumbling inaudibly to herself, completely consumed with madness.
“It’s trying to turn you against me because it’s threatened, because it knows this is where it will meet its end,” Enid continued, hoping her words would reach her but she only continued to mumble to herself, uncertain and terrified.
“What’s it going to be my little plaything? Make your choice before I decide for you.”
Of the three options it gave her, none of them were good. Enid knew that killing herself wouldn’t end her suffering, and if it manipulated Wednesday into killing Enid, she knew that it would only then show her the truth and that would destroy her and give the entity a new way to torture her.
Besides, Enid did not want to die. But she also realized why the dark entity made suicide and murder the most appealing options, why it kept her alive, and why it didn’t try to banish Enid this time around. It was self-preservation. If Wednesday simply died, so would the curse. But if Wednesday died while Enid was there, or if Wednesday killed her with the knife, maybe it would pass on to her.
Enid didn’t know how it worked just that either of those options would mean they would both die – unless Enid abandoned her. And she couldn’t do that. She wouldn’t.
“Please Wednesday,” Enid whispered, “you’re my best friend and I love you. It’s only trying to manipulate you because it knows we can stop it.”
She lifted her head and looked Enid in the eyes, and then she glanced inside the crypt and froze. She was no longer caught in her stupor of madness, instead, she looked into the crypt, wary as though searching for something with her eyes. Her lips moved as she mumbled quietly to herself but no sound came out.
Enid followed her gaze. The crypt looked the same as it did in the outside world, and it was still clear of all the darkness and smoke that consumed the world which made Enid absolutely certain that it was the key and that they were so devastatingly close.
“All lies,” it said, “make your choice!”
“We can stop it together,” Enid added, “you don’t have to face this world or this curse or anything alone ever again.”
Wednesday looked back at Enid then at the entity and then inside the crypt.
And then she gasped. As though she saw something in there she did not expect.
Her wild and haunted eyes rested on Enid again, silently pleading, “I w-want to b-believe you…”
“I swear it.”
Wednesday raised the knife over her, “B-but I d-don’t.”
Enid flinched when she suddenly brought the knife down.
~~W~F~A~~
She wanted to believe that the girl with the rainbow nails, the girl made of love and light was telling the truth.
She wanted it so badly.
All she had known in her pathetic existence was darkness and pain and sorrow and a crippling loneliness that coiled around her like chains and squeezed so tight it hurt to breathe.
And then she arrived and offered something different. Something good to hold onto. Hope. Love. Comfort.
She understood that once upon a time she was a different person, she had a life outside of this world and a family and a history and a name. But all that was forgotten, violently stolen from her leaving nothing but torture and torment in its wake and the occasional fragment of a long-lost memory without context or meaning.
This girl claimed to know her, kept calling her by a name that was foreign yet oddly familiar, she told her a story about her past – was it true?
Or maybe it was fiction. Maybe nothing she said was real. She said that she was strong, but that couldn’t be true. She couldn’t be this person that this girl spoke so highly of.
Maybe she just wanted to soothe her. Or maybe she wanted to torment her further with a reality that could never be.
She didn’t know and it hurt so much. It hurt, not knowing who she was, not knowing if this girl was even real or if she was telling the truth.
But this Girl of Love and Light, she made her feel something other than anguish and pain.
Where all she had known was a fire deep in her body and a perpetual chill in the air, she brought warmth.
Where all she knew was absolute darkness, she brought light. She brought love and comfort.
She made the world slightly more bearable, giving her the strength to carry on, even if it was just for a little while.
And while maybe she wasn’t real, maybe she was a trick, maybe her presence made her absence hurt more, at least in the short time she was around she felt something different.
But then she would leave, and the Dark Thing that Lurked in the Shadows would punish her, break her body and spirit beyond repair. Reminding her that no matter how bad it was, it could always get worse.
And then it would prove it. Over and over.
And she would always be left waiting.
Waiting for the light.
Waiting for the love and comfort, fighting to keep going in the hopes that one day she might see her again but she would only end up disappointed, over and over.
For years at a time.
And it would punish her for daring to hope.
Daring to fight.
Daring to keep going.
Daring to entertain even for a fleeting moment that maybe the girl would come back and save her as she had promised.
Until she couldn’t do it anymore and she finally surrendered, welcoming the darkness to open up and swallow her whole where she could drown in the abyss and this nightmare could finally end.
And cruelly, the Dark Thing that Lurked in the Shadows refused, not willing to let her go until it could no longer put her back together again driving the point home that there was no way out.
No way out…
No way out…
No way out…
And then she came back.
And as much as she tried not to get her hopes up, as much as she wanted to protect herself from the pain that would come when she’d inevitably leave her again, she couldn’t help but melt into her warmth. And this time… this time she stuck around. She promised her that there was a way out and they were going to find it. She protected her from the darkness and for the first time since…maybe ever, she was able to rest – actually rest – in the comforting safety of her embrace.
But she knew that sooner or later she would leave again, abandon her in this world. And then the Dark Thing would punish her tenfold for her transgression of believing her this time when she said that they will find their way out.
No way out…
And yet the Girl stayed. Even when the oppressive darkness that the world was made of went after her too. Finding her weak spots, breaking her spirit. Despite that, she still didn’t leave her. Even lost in her own despair the Girl of Love and Light tried to protect her. It confused her because she didn’t understand why this girl would endure the Dark Thing’s torment when she could leave at any time. She kept saying she wanted to save her, but why? Why fight for a wretched thing like her?
But watching this girl collapse in despair was a new form of torment in of itself. The thought of the darkness that encompassed her entire existence extinguishing the Girl’s light was unbearable.
It didn’t matter if she wasn’t real or if she was going to eventually leave again. She didn’t belong here. Her love, her light, her comfort belonged in a world where she could flourish. Not here. The Girl of Love and Light didn’t deserve to suffer, certainly not for someone unworthy like her.
And yet she stayed.
So, in return, she wanted to protect this girl from the consuming darkness of the world and did the only thing she could. She returned some of that love and comfort the girl had given her and chose to trust that maybe this time would actually be different. Maybe there was a chance.
And maybe she was real. Maybe what she said was true.
She wanted it to be true. She desperately wanted to believe that there was a way out.
But she knew that it wasn’t true. There was no way out.
No way out…
No way out…
But she did trust that the Girl of Love and Light believed it to be true, even if it wasn’t. Because why else would the Dark Thing that Lurked in the Shadows leave them alone for so long?
But then she brought her to The Forbidden Place and things quickly made sense while at the same time became so much more confusing for her muddled and broken mind.
She had stumbled across the Forbidden Place once before and the punishment was severe. It broke her in ways that she didn’t think possible and let the wounds fester for days before putting her back together and it warned her never to come back to this place.
The Girl of Love and Light said it was the key to her escape.
No way out…
The Dark Thing that Lurked in the Shadows said the girl tricked her and wanted to destroy her.
No way out…
And it made her remember why this place was forbidden.
No way out…
It was the place where the girl she used to be was left to die alone, and her wounds, the only ones that could never be healed ignited with pain as though they were fresh.
The Dark Thing showed her what happened there, in her past life. She saw a redheaded woman cut her hand and pressed it to the sigil on the tomb and a tall, menacing Pilgrim who looked so much like the form the Dark Thing took now, emerged. And then it thrust the knife into her and twisted and she was left to die. Alone.
Her hand and stomach burned as the disjointed flashes of memories played out in her mind. The flashes were brief, fragmented and jarring and she couldn’t fully understand what happened or why she didn’t die that night. All she understood was that this purgatory came after, though she didn’t know where that understanding came from since the memories were gone.
That was why the place was Forbidden. But the Girl offered another theory – it was threatened by this place. And maybe that was true. The Dark Thing didn’t just lurk in the shadows, it also was the shadows that fully encompassed this place. It was everywhere, everywhere except inside the tomb. Maybe that meant something.
Her confused and scrambled mind was quickly overwhelmed. When they first reached the Forbidden Place and the Dark Thing chose to attack, it had cruelly revealed shattered pieces of memories, taunting her, reminding her of how worthless and undeserving of salvation she truly was.
You’re toxic! All you ever do is make things worse.
None of the flashes made sense to her, but the feelings they brought weighed heavily. Feelings of broken trust, betrayal…
What’s it feel like? To lose?
Loneliness…
You want to be alone? Be alone!
She caught a faint glimpse of those words as they played in her head. Spoken in anger. Spoken to her. Spoken by the Girl of Love and Light.
Why would she say that?
No way out…
And to make everything even more confusing to her fractured mind, as it reminded her of her destiny to suffer and die alone and unloved, the girl kept insisting it was lying and that she loved her and wanted to save her.
She didn’t know who or what to believe.
She wanted to believe the Girl…
No way out…
You want to be alone? Be alone!
She wanted to believe it so, so badly. But hope brought so much pain and torment and yet she couldn’t help but think maybe she was real, especially now that the Girl was also caught in the Dark Thing’s terrible grip. If she was lying, why was the Dark Thing trying to stop her? Why not let her go, let her abandon her again?
No way out...
But then it materialized the knife that was meant to kill her and gave it to her as a way out. But none of her choices offered any comfort.
Either kill herself, or kill the girl.
Or do nothing and the torture would never stop.
She was overwhelmed by the noise. The voices…You’re toxic!.... You want to be alone? Be alone!... What's it feel like? To lose?... You want to be alone? Be alone! The flashes of what must have been memories of a time long forgotten made no sense in their fractured format. The Dark Thing threatening her to make her choice, the Girl insisting that they could stop it.
She knew it wouldn’t do a thing, but she cried out and slashed blindly at the Dark Thing, cutting through it over and over with the knife. It would break apart and take shape again but she didn’t care. It tortured her for decades, the action brought slight catharsis in the moment, but she was so weak she quickly grew tired. And in the end, it only reminded her that she was defenceless against it.
She collapsed and whimpered as the Dark Thing taunted her. She looked at the Dark Thing, the Girl, the Crypt and shook her head, overwhelmed beyond reason. She confronted the Girl, wanting to know why she left her and while she insisted it was not her choice, the Dark Thing insisted her words were all lies.
She covered her ears, closing her eyes desperate for some clarity over the onslaught of stimulation and pain. She rocked back and forth, trying to make sense of what was true, mumbling to herself, trying to drown out the noise. The Dark Thing reminded her that she was unworthy of being loved, the Girl insisted she loved her. Which one was truth? Which one was the lie?
Why did she feel like both of them were speaking the truth?
No way out…
She cried and shook her head, overwhelmed by pain and indecision. She couldn’t take it anymore. She didn’t know what to do.
No way out…
“Please Wednesday,” the Girl whispered, “you’re my best friend and I love you. It’s only trying to manipulate you because it knows we can stop it.”
She looked at her and then back in the Crypt.
No way out…
No way out…
No way out…
The Dark Thing consumed every inch of this world, except inside this crypt. Why? Could it not pass the threshold inside? Was that the real reason the place was Forbidden? There was no way out, but if she could get inside, maybe it couldn’t touch her again.
Or maybe she would be left to suffer a worse fate.
But what could be worse than what she had been dealing with for years and years and years?
No way out…
“All lies,” the Dark Thing hissed, “make your choice!!”
Except she didn’t like her choices. Being erased from existence or being set free seemed appealing, but then what would happen to the Girl of Love and Light? She was now trapped, so if she chose death, did that mean it would go after her once she was gone? She didn’t want that. She was a beacon of light and hope and for her light to go out would be a tragedy, one she couldn’t bear the thought of.
But she didn’t want to endure another moment of torture. She couldn’t.
“We can stop it together,” the Girl said, “you don’t have to face this world or this curse or anything alone ever again.”
Taking in her words she looked inside the Forbidden Place one more time and froze. For a split second, everything became silent in her head. Her body went mercifully numb.
There was someone in there. A girl with hair in long white braids.
She beckoned her to enter, pointing to the stone casket.
And then she vanished.
She didn’t know what to make of the apparition so she panicked, unsure if she actually saw anything, not able to trust her own senses.
Looking back at the Girl she said, “I w-want to b-believe you…”
She wanted to believe her. She wanted it so badly. She promised they could defeat the Dark Thing, she said she loved her and she desperately wanted it to be true.
“I swear it.”
And maybe she did care about her. Why else would she be here? Why else would she have stayed with her, even after the Dark Thing targeted her?
But there was no way out.
There was no way she could defeat the Dark Thing. It was far too powerful and she was a weak, pathetic and broken nothing. She wanted to believe she could stop it, but she didn’t. It just didn’t seem like it could even be possible.
She held the knife over her, “B-but I d-don’t.”
But that didn’t mean they couldn’t try. She literally had nothing to lose.
She brought the knife down, slashing at the bonds that trapped the Girl. The darkness tried to coil around her again but she brought the knife down again. And again. Screaming like a banshee, she blindly stabbed the knife at the darkness again and again to keep it at bay, even as it tried to wrap around her as well.
Meanwhile, the Girl wrapped her arm around her waist and pulled her towards the threshold into the Forbidden Place.
The Dark Thing was not having it and lashed out, “How dare you, you foolish, wretched thing!” it hissed as tendrils of darkness wrapped around her wrists, binding them together.
“Let her go!” the Girl screamed, quickly taking the knife from her hand to free her and they both stumbled in through the door as the Dark Thing screamed in fury.
She landed on the Girl and turned to see that the Dark Thing either could not or would not follow them inside. Confused and in awe she stared at the Dark Thing as it stood screaming in the doorway and then back at the Girl who sat up and cradled her in her arms, noticing how her light seemed to burn so much brighter in here.
They were safe. At least for now.
A new, foreign feeling washed over her. Relief. It was overwhelming and brought more conflicting and confusing emotions she could not fully identify or comprehend. She broke down in sobs, clutching the Girl, grateful, basking in her warmth and love, holding on desperately, afraid that if she let go the Girl would leave her again. She was safe so what incentive did the Girl have now to stay?
She wanted to beg her not to leave her, but she was suddenly overcome with pain and weakness as decades worth of torture caught up to her. Something was wrong. She cried out in pain and she closed her eyes, going limp in the Girl’s arms.
~~W~F~A~~
Enid flinched when Wednesday brought the knife down, but quickly realized what she was doing. Since the darkness kept taking shape Wednesday screamed and blindly slashed to keep it from trapping her again. She grabbed Wednesday and made her way for the entrance, ignoring the sharp pain in her ankle. The pendant around her neck pulsed and glowed which helped assist in keeping the black binds from coiling around her again.
As Wednesday blindly fought back the darkness, the entity restrained her wrists so Enid took the knife from her and freed her just as they stumbled inside the crypt.
The entity screamed in fury but did not follow them inside as though there was some invisible barrier that prevented it from entering. Enid breathed a sigh in relief. At least for now they were safe and had time to figure out what to do next.
Lying in her lap, Wednesday looked at the entity warily and then up at her and broke into sobs, clutching her sweater and burying her face in her chest. Enid held her and soothed her but she tensed up, her sobs of relief turned to sounds of pain and she suddenly passed out.
“Wednesday?” Enid said in alarm, but she was out cold.
The entity stopped screaming and changed its tactic. It shifted, taking on a new shape.
“You foolish child,” it said, taking on the appearance and voice of her mother, “do you really think you’re safe? Do you think you can still win? You’re too late!”
Enid did her best to ignore it. They had now reached the one place in this world the entity wouldn’t go and she was positive that this was where they could stop it. She looked down at Wednesday and lifted her, intending to carry her deeper inside the crypt, away from the entity but noticed that something was wrong.
The wounds she had in the outside world, including the ones Goody healed, the wounds to her head, hands, stomach and shoulder somehow always seemed to be new, slowly seeping fresh blood yet they always looked the same, never bleeding out. But now they were bleeding heavily, especially the one on her stomach. And the wound on her shoulder, visible under her tattered dress was suddenly infected, just as it was on her real body.
“No!” she cried, “No, no…”
The taunting sound of her mother’s laughter rang through the crypt, “You really thought you were clever, taking her here. You foolish, stupid child. Her worthless life depends on me. Without me to put her back together she will soon perish and burn in the depths of Hell where she belongs. Is that what you wanted?”
“No, you’re lying!” Enid exclaimed, pulling Wednesday further into the crypt.
“She’s too far gone to be saved,” the entity, wearing her mother’s face said, “she needs me to survive. Our fates are too closely connected now. You’re too late. If you want to save her, save yourself, you’re going to have to surrender her to me. I can fix her.”
“So, you can torture her again? Never.”
“Then she will die. And if you’re still here when she does, so will you,” it said.
“And you will too!” Enid snapped, “So at least there’s that.”
“Is this really what you want? To die for someone you’ve only known a few months? Who doesn’t even care about you?” it asked, taking on the familiar, scolding tone her mother had mastered. “If you had any sense you would leave now. Before it’s too late.”
Enid glared at it and then turned her attention back to Wednesday.
“Do you think that’s what she would want?” it asked. “For you to join her in death? She’s already gone. But you still have a chance.”
The entity’s statement gave her pause. But she pretended not to listen as she tried to put pressure on the wound on her stomach. She was so rail thin she feared that she might be hurting her, but she had to do something. But it soon became apparent because of the supernatural way her injuries worked while in this world, they would never clot. Maybe it was the entity’s doing, or maybe not. Either way, her attempts to stop the bleeding were futile. Wednesday was dying and she couldn’t stop it. She didn’t know how to contain the curse and now they were out of time to figure it out.
She didn’t want to die. And she knew that Wednesday wouldn’t want that for her either but she didn’t even know how she could leave, even if she wanted to.
All she could do now was make sure Wednesday’s last moments were as comfortable as possible and reassure her that she wasn’t going to die alone. Neither of them will. They had each other. Enid took some small comfort knowing that. And maybe since the curse could no longer touch her, maybe Wednesday’s soul would be safe and she would find peace in whatever came next.
“I can help you,” it said, “you just need to come to me and I will set you free. Your friend will die and you can move on and live your life. Please. Let me in honey, let me help you. I’m your mother, I only want what’s best.”
Enid glared at it and hissed, “Fuck you! You are not my mother!”
The entity grinned, “You’re right. That’s true isn’t it? You and I both know what she would say if she were here…”
Suddenly, Wednesday let out a gasp of pain, her eyes opening and seeking her out. Enid took her hand, “I’m here, I’m here,” she soothed, cradling her in her lap.
“…you’re such a disappointment.”
“I’m not leaving you,” Enid promised.
“Y-you n-need…t-to go!” Wednesday choked out as an unworldly chill suddenly filled the air. She blindly grabbed the pendant around Enid’s neck, not breaking eye contact with her, “Now!” As she gasped her final word, her eyes rolled back and she began to seize.
~~W~F~A~~
They lost track of how long they had been chanting the incantation, but Morticia could see Pugsley and Gomez were growing tired. She herself felt a light scratch in her throat but she didn’t dare break the circle or stop. But she could feel Wednesday’s essence was fading.
She could sense the energies of everyone in the room as they chanted pulsing through their hands, giving Wednesday and Enid strength. But with Wednesday there was a sudden shift that startled her. It was like being zapped by a bolt of electricity that ran cold like ice.
Moritica gasped and let go, both breaking the circle and the incantation. Gomez looked at her incredulously. Pugsley seemed confused. Silently, Gomez seemed to ask if they should start again but Morticia shook her head.
“It’s out of our hands,” she said, “I could feel it. Something’s happening. They’re on their own now.”
“Did they trap the curse?” Pugsley asked.
“I don’t know,” she replied, blowing out the candles and gathering them up, stopping to kiss Wednesday’s forehead, unable to contain her distress. She didn’t know what was going on and not knowing was killing her inside, overwhelming her with a powerful sense of hopelessness and failure. All she knew was that something interfered with their efforts, blocking Wednesday’s energy from all of them. She didn’t know if they trapped the curse or if it had overpowered them, and that was the worst part. They needed to try something else, and hurry. But she didn't know what else they could try.
“What do we do now, my love?” Gomez asked.
“I don’t know,” she lamented, looking through her bag of oddities, glancing at Enid who seemed to be struggling, her body coated with a light sheen of sweat with new marks and small injuries. She looked frantically for something, anything that could help them both. There had to be something. There had to be…
The machines that Wednesday was hooked up to suddenly began to beep and wail in alarm. Outside the room, she heard Nurse Gina demand Lurch let her in and she burst inside.
“What is going on in here?” she demanded her eyes taking in the scene as she rushed to Wednesday’s side. She took one quick glance at the monitors and shook her head, pressing a button to call an alarm. “Out of the way,” she exclaimed as a team of doctors and nurses rushed inside.
They moved aside, unable to tear their eyes off of Wednesday. Morticia felt sick and helpless as they said something about cardiac arrest and tried to shock her back to life and whatever else they needed to do to resuscitate her.
It was a whirlwind of activity and chaos. Holding her family, she watched in horror and despair and then turned to Enid who was still lying unconscious and ignored on the other bed, seemingly oblivious.
Morticia’s breath hitched as she let go of Gomez and Pugsley who instead clung to each other and approached Enid.
Wednesday was dying. Enid needed to wake up now or they’d lose them both.
“Enid?” she said softly, glancing back at Wednesday’s bed, her body obscured by the team trying to save her life. She pressed her fingers to her neck and gasped, immediately going into action with chest compressions. Her attention divided between her dying daughter and her best friend who was willing to go into Hell to save her.
But she was supposed to come back.
In theory, stopping the incantation was supposed to pull her back into the waking world. So why hadn’t she woken up yet?
“Enid, please,” she begged, sparing Wednesday another glance.
It should’ve been her. She should’ve been the one to go in and try and save Wednesday.
It should’ve been her. She should’ve been the one to risk her life.
It should’ve been her. It didn’t matter that Enid was their best chance and she was needed to lead the incantation. She was her mother. It should’ve been her!
“Please Enid!” she cried, pressing down on her chest, continuing CPR, glancing helplessly at her family as they held each other, so focused on Wednesday that neither they nor the doctors and nurses were even aware of what else was happening.
It should’ve been her.
And she failed them. She failed them all.