Not Alone

Using her mother’s face and voice the entity scolded Enid as Wednesday’s fragile and thin body convulsed.

“This wouldn’t have happened if you surrendered her back to me,” it said, “I’m the only one who can fix her.  This was your doing and now we are all going to perish because of you.”

“Shut up!” Enid snapped, “You have no power over us now!”

“I have all the power,” it boasted, “her life and yours depend on me.  I can get you out of here if you let me, so you can save yourself.  Or, give her to me and I will fix her.  Buy you more of that precious time that you are running out of.”

Enid was tempted to dare it to come and fix her then but thought better of it.  What if an invite was all it needed to enter the crypt?  She didn’t know why it couldn’t or wouldn’t go in so she didn’t want to test her luck.

The entity scoffed, “You foolish child.  Fighting so hard to save a pathetic girl who is already gone.”

It continued to try and get to her, going on a tirade of how useless she was, pretending to be her mother and doing an uncomfortably good job of it, but she tried to ignore it and the deep ache in her body, especially her ankle that demanded her attention.  She rolled a seizing Wednesday into the recovery position, cupping her hand under her head to protect it from the cold concrete ground. She was shocked by how incredibly and unnaturally cold she was.

Soon, Wednesday’s seizure stopped.

“Wednesday?  Are you with me?” Enid asked.

She was met by silence and stillness which drowned out the entity’s tirade.  Wednesday’s wounds still bled, forming a dark pool under her.

“You’re too late, she’s dead – or will be any second now,” the entity said.

“Wednesday,” Enid said again, rolling her onto her back and lifting her head onto her lap, gently brushing her bangs out of her face, “please.”

“Let me in,” it beckoned her, “come to me and I can still save you.”

“No,” Enid hissed, “nice try but you have no power over us here.  You lost. We’re going to stop you.”

“You can’t.” the entity taunted, sounding different. She spared it a glance and swallowed her fear of it when she saw that it had changed its tactic and had shifted into Magnuson.  “I can’t be stopped.  You’ll both be dead soon enough. Good riddance.”

Suddenly Wednesday opened her eyes with a small gasp and grabbed Enid’s sweater sleeve, “Why are you still here?  It’s too dangerous to be here, if we fail while you’re here, you will die too!”

Enid was taken aback, she seemed lucid and her timid stutter was gone. There was also a slight accent in her voice that confused her. “I don’t know how to leave this place.  Besides, I’m not leaving you.  You sound different, are you OK? What’s going on?”

“I know what needs to be done,” she said, her voice hollow and distant. 

“What do we need to do?” Enid asked.

She weakly pushed herself up into a sitting position and looked at the stone casket.  “The sigil...” she said looking around for the knife and grabbing it.  She tried to stand but was too weak.  “Ugh…” she groaned, “it might be too late.  I don’t have enough strength to…” her voice trailed off and she went limp again but Enid caught her.

“Wednesday?” she asked, gently shaking her.

Her eyes fluttered open and she whimpered in pain.

“You need to get to the sigil? I can help you,” she offered.

“N-no…” Wednesday whispered, “y-you’re n-not safe h-here.”  The stutter was back, the clarity in her eyes was gone but she clutched the knife tightly in her bleeding hand and held it close to her chest.  “F-fails and y-your l-light will g-go out.  Y-you d-die.”

“I told you, I’m not leaving you,” Enid promised, “whatever you need to do, let’s do it together, OK?  You’re too weak to walk, so let me help.”

“You’re h-hurt,” Wednesday whispered, gesturing to Enid’s swollen and sore ankle. 

Enid couldn’t help but smile, “It’s nothing.”  Except that she suspected it was broken, but compared to what Wednesday was dealing with, it was nothing. 

She was touched and humbled that despite being tortured to madness and near death, Wednesday noticed and was concerned.  Further proof that no matter what the entity might try and say, there was something left to save, it wasn’t too late.  Wednesday wasn’t gone.  Not yet. And the husk that held what was left of her, maybe she was dying but not yet.  There was still a chance.  If she knew what to do, then Enid was going to do what she could to help, with or without a broken ankle.

“Y-you s-stayed ‘n’ p-protected me,” she said, “s-saved m-me…n-now g-go.”

“I told you, you’re not facing this alone.  I’m not leaving you,” Enid insisted.

“B-but I…s-saw…v-vision,” she insisted, “white r-room…c-code blue.  Y-you…” she made a whine of distress, seemingly struggling to come up with the right words.  She instead made a gesture, mimicking CPR. She started to cry, “S-stay here…d-die. You c-can’t…p-please…”

Enid swallowed at that.  She didn’t want to die.  Did Wednesday really have a vision of her death?  She didn’t know how to leave so what else was she supposed to do?  “I promised I wouldn’t leave you.  We’re going to see this through to the end, together. OK?  I’ll leave once I know you’re safe and that entity out there can’t hurt you anymore.”

“I’m s-safe h-here,” she protested, “c-can’t get in…’c-cause of y-you.”

“Safe maybe, but you’re still trapped,” Enid argued, “and…” her voice trailed off.  She was sheet white and still bleeding.  She didn’t have much time.  “Come on,” she draped Wednesday’s arm around her shoulders and rose to her feet, taking Wednesday with her and reaching under her knees to lift her.  “We’re finishing this together.”

Each step was agony on her ankle, and she couldn’t hold back a cry of pain as she hobbled the short distance to the sarcophagus.  Wednesday didn’t argue, but the entity screamed at her. 

“You stupid freak!” it yelled, using Magnuson’s voice. “You don’t know what you’re doing! You’ll destroy us all!”

Enid nearly collapsed when she reached the step up to the casket, her ankle unable to hold her weight any longer.  She tried not to look at the spot where Wednesday nearly died once before. She set Wednesday down at the base of the stone casket near the sigil and sat next to her on the step taking a moment to inspect and rub her injured ankle, warily looking at the entity that wore Officer Magnuson’s face.

Wednesday noticed the new form the entity took and let out a fearful gasp. 

“What’s wrong?” Enid asked.

“I d-don’t know,” she whispered, “s-saw him…b-before. C-can’t remember wh-where… Who is h-he?”

Enid frowned, not sure how to answer that.  As far as she knew, Wednesday hadn’t met Magnuson before, at least not while she was conscious, and if she did it was unlikely she would remember him in her current state.  But then again, she did technically encounter him while he was taking unsanctioned pictures of her. 

“Someone who is a bad person,” she replied, trying not to think about the troubles that awaited them if they managed to escape this hell-world. “Where did you see him before?  Did you have a vision?”

Wednesday seemed confused and distraught, covering her ears and closing her eyes, curling into herself as it screamed at them.  Enid rubbed her back to soothe and calm her.  “I th-think so?” she whimpered.

“Do you remember what your vision with him was about?”

She shook her head in distress, crying, stammering out a broken apology.

“Shh, it’s OK, it’s OK…” Enid soothed.

“It w-was s-so long ag-go…” she cried.

“It’s OK.  It doesn’t matter.  What matters is getting you – getting us out of here,” Enid said, “after we trap that thing so it can’t hurt you ever again.”

Wednesday nodded.

“So, what now?” Enid asked, looking at the sigil engraved on the stone outer casing of the sarcophagus. 

She let out a cry, grasping the bleeding wound on her stomach, “Bl-blood lock…” she stammered, lying on her back at the base, struggling to find the strength to get up but too weak and in too much obvious pain to move.

“What does that mean?”

“There’s no point you stupid girl,” the entity screamed, “she’s too far gone and it’s not going to work.  All that’s going to do is let me take over your mind.  She knows it.  She’s manipulating you to save herself.  I can’t wait to devour a pure soul like yours.”

Enid rolled her eyes, turning to face the entity, “Shut up.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time she tricked you into endangering your life for her,” it continued.

“What do I need to do to help you with this blood lock?” Enid asked Wednesday, turning away from it, but keeping a wary eye. 

Just as it had tried to turn Wednesday against her, now it was trying to turn her against Wednesday.  Did it seriously think it would work?  Just because it was true that she had tricked her before and they were put in danger because of it?  Wednesday was sorry for the Gates Mansion incident, she never wanted to put anyone in danger, she just wanted to investigate a mystery with her friends for her birthday.  Wednesday was clueless on how to be a friend but she learned from that fiasco so how dare the entity try to use it as a weapon to drive another wedge between them. 

All its pathetic efforts to try and convince her to stop and turn back was proof that they were on the right track.  It was threatened, throwing whatever it could at them to save itself. They were so close.

“How do you know that whatever she plans to do won’t pass me onto you, my little pure soul?  She’s done being my plaything, and I’m quite tired of her now.  So, go ahead, do whatever you plan to do.  I will wait and I will devour and you will satisfy my hunger for suffering.  She’ll be dead in a moment, something that became inevitable the moment I was created, but once she’s gone you will be mine.”

“G-go,” Wednesday urged quietly, “p-please.  What if it’s t-telling the t-truth?  Go…be s-safe.”

Enid shook her head, trying not to let on that she too was afraid of that possibility.  She didn’t believe it when it tried to drive a wedge between them, but she didn’t know what was going to happen once Wednesday did what she needed to do. There was a plausible danger that there was some grain of truth in its last-ditch efforts to save itself.  Maybe her very presence was giving it a way to survive even if Wednesday died.  She didn’t want Wednesday to die and she didn’t want to endure the same fate she was dealt with either.  They were essentially winging it, neither of them knew for certain what was going to happen and that was a terrifying thought.

But she promised she wouldn’t leave her, and even if she wanted to she still had no idea how to leave and wake up and return to her body in the outside world.  The entity needed to be stopped, Wednesday’s soul was in danger.  She needed to know that if Wednesday didn’t make it, that at the very least, her soul would still be safe.

“I will, but first, how can I help?”

Wednesday’s haunted eyes looked up at her and she seemed like she was struggling to comprehend the fact that Enid wasn’t going to leave her; like she wasn’t sure if it was a trick or real or if Enid was just insane. 

“I love you, I’m not leaving until I know that you’ll be OK, alright?” Enid offered, “We’re in this together.”

She gave a small smile, tears falling from her eyes and she nodded slightly.  She took the knife with trembling hands, and even though her hands were already bleeding, she widened the cut on her left hand, making it bleed more heavily.  Enid made a sound of protest but Wednesday seemed to silently ask her to trust her.  Still lying on her back next to the sigil on the sarcophagus she lifted her left hand but she was shaking and her hand dropped.

Behind her, Enid could hear the entity trying to convince her to stop and surrender and threatening to take over her mind, but she ignored it - or tried to.  The fact it was taking on Officer Magnuson’s voice was unsettling. 

Wednesday groaned, looking up at Enid with pleading eyes, clearly in pain and lacking the strength to lift her arm so Enid took her hand and following Wednesday’s silent guidance pressed her bloody palm to the sigil.

All at once the entity made a loud, deafening screech and there was a powerful, sourceless gust of wind that sent debris flying everywhere, creating a vacuum that drew everything toward them.  Wednesday cried out in agony, her hand seemed to be stuck to the sigil, and it seemed to burn her.  Enid instinctively draped herself over her to protect her from the howling wind and debris as the fog and smoke seemed to be forcibly pulled into the mausoleum and into the stone casket. 

Amidst the chaos Wednesday grabbed her necklace with her free hand, “Go!” she demanded, yanking the necklace off her just as the entity, being pulled inside by a supernatural force shifted between the shape of Magnuson and Enid’s mother, Crackstone, the Hyde and Thornhill.  It lashed out at them both, grabbing them in an attempt to drag them both into the sarcophagus with it. 

But once the necklace was off of her, Enid was met with a bright light and the feeling of something rhythmically pressing hard against her chest.

~~W~F~A~~

Morticia could hardly see through the tears in her eyes. 

Wednesday was dying and there was nothing she could do but stand aside and let it happen and hope that the normie doctors and nurses could bring her back.  The pain was unbearable and unreal, and if they couldn’t save her she didn’t think she could ever recover. 

Meanwhile, Enid, who was still psychically linked to her was also in danger. 

It was her fault.  She asked her to do this.  She asked Enid to do this when she knew that it was dangerous.  She saw the powerful bond they shared and asked her to risk her life for Wednesday and Enid did it without hesitation.  They should’ve found another way, a safer way.  She should’ve done better to protect her, to protect them both. 

She continued her chest compressions, watching helplessly as Wednesday teetered on the brink of death, surrounded by the chaos of alarms and doctors and nurses working together to get her heart beating again. If she couldn’t bring Enid back before it was too late, Morticia would never be able to forgive herself.

“Please,” she murmured, quietly addressing them both. 

Suddenly Enid’s eyes shot open and she gasped, jackknifing into a sitting position before collapsing back into the pillow. Her blue eyes were wide as she fought to catch her breath.  She glanced at the bed next to her, alarmed by the chaotic and desperate sight.

“Enid,” Morticia soothed, relieved to see her awake.  She gently prevented her from trying to sit up again, acutely aware that Wednesday’s fight was still not over and the more time that passed, the less likely her chances were. It was a fear unlike anything she had ever felt before.

“Send me back,” Enid whispered hoarsely, barely audible over the sounds of the alarms and hospital staff working on saving Wednesday. She struggled to try and get up, desperate to get to her, “it’s not over, send me back!”

“I’m so sorry,” she was unable to hold back her tears, “it doesn’t work like that.  I can’t.”

“But I need to go back…” Enid cried, “she needs me…it’s not done…”

Morticia pulled her into a hug, unable to take her eyes off of Wednesday, “You did all you could.  You were wonderful.  But right now, it’s her fight, and hers alone.”

“No,” Enid cried, reaching helplessly for Wednesday as they tried again to shock her back to life.  “Send me back, I need to go back!”

~~W~F~A~~

The powerful vacuum from the wind and the Dark Thing’s screaming hurt her ears as it was pulled into the stone casket.  It tried to grab her and the Girl of Love and Light and take them down with it, but she wasn’t having it.  Almost as though on instinct, she grabbed the necklace which she noticed no longer had a pulsing glow and took it off her.  In that moment the Girl vanished, leaving her alone as the Dark Thing screamed and did everything in its power to save itself or destroy her. 

She smiled as the wind and the fog, smoke and debris stung her scarred and broken body.  The Girl was safe, the Dark Thing was losing and even though she was now alone to face it, she didn’t feel like she was alone.  It was like the Girl of Love and Light, and the family she couldn’t remember but the Girl insisted was protecting them, were still there. 

Her hand sizzled and burned as it seemed to be stuck against the sigil, but it was the kind of agony that she welcomed.  It meant that it was almost over.  The Dark Thing was being forcibly yanked into the sarcophagus and soon it would be trapped and she would be free.  If she died, it would be OK, because she would be free.

But even as the supernatural vacuum sucked all the fog and smoke into the tomb, the Dark Thing still fought to protect itself, maintaining its shape, screaming at her, threatening to destroy her and take her down with it.  She tried to make herself as small as possible, but the Dark Thing, now taking on the Pilgrim shape grabbed her head, trying to steal away everything the Girl had given back to her.

She screamed and tried to pull away from it, even though she was still stuck to the sigil.  It wrapped a hand around her chest and lifted her, trying to take her with it but suddenly an unnatural icy chill enveloped her and it let go as it was sucked into the void of the sarcophagus.  But the last thing she heard before it disappeared was its laughter.

“I will find my way out, my little plaything, and I will destroy you and everything and everyone you’ve ever loved!”

Then it was gone.

Her hand, no longer stuck to the burning sigil dropped and she collapsed to the ground, breathless.  She clutched her stomach, surprised to see the wound was gone. Three of the five wounds that could never heal were gone, even the new gash and blistering burn on her left hand, but the wounds in her shoulder and right hand remained. 

She grabbed her shoulder, alarmed by how much more it seemed to sting and burn and the pain seemed to move through her arm and chest and she couldn’t breathe.  Every breath was agony and took up all of her remaining energy.

The Dark Thing was gone, but she was still dying.

At least she was free of it.

She looked up at the skylight in the crypt and saw that the moon and stars were out, something she had never seen before in this world. The darkness was no longer the oppressive and horrifying force it once was, now there was beauty and peace in it. 

She clutched her chest, finding it next to impossible to draw a painful breath, but she smiled.  Her ordeal was over and she could die in peace.

Slumping against the stone wall she kept her gaze on the starry skylight, the pale and full moon reminded her of the Girl of Love and Light and she clutched the necklace she had worn. The power from it was gone, but she could still feel the love in it and she knew that even though she was dying, she wasn’t alone.

She couldn’t remember a time when she wasn’t consumed by such a crippling loneliness, but she didn’t feel it now.  Wherever she was now, she was safe and she was still with her in spirit.  She didn’t just believe it, she knew it to be true.

Letting out a sigh she closed her eyes, too tired to keep fighting to breathe. 

It was over.  It was finally over.

~~W~F~A~~

The sudden transition from the dark, oppressive mindscape to the artificially bright hospital room in the waking world was nauseatingly jarring, though both locations were chaotic.  Where one world had a dark entity screaming as it was fighting to stop whatever magic was forcing it into its tomb and trying to drag Wednesday down with it, this one had alarms and doctors and nurses gathered around her trying to bring her back to life. 

Enid didn’t know if the entity was gone or if it managed to pull her in with it and destroy her.  From her perspective, it wasn’t over and she needed to protect her and save her but now all she could do was watch helplessly as she and Morticia held each other while Gomez and Pugsley did the same from their spot closer to the foot of their beds.

She wanted to throw up, and she wasn’t sure if it was because of the poison she drank for the ritual or the pain of watching her best friend, whom she tried so hard to save, die anyway.  Probably both.  She swallowed hard to keep from throwing up and tried to ignore the nausea and sharp pain in her stomach as she quietly pleaded for the doctors and nurses to save her.

But as much as she hoped that they would succeed, her heart sank when the doctor who appeared to be in charge shook his head and they stopped.  “We’re calling it…”

“No!” Morticia cried, “Try again!”

“Time of death…”

Nurse Gina turned to her, “I’m sorry.  But we all knew that the infection was spreading too fast, it was more than her body could take.”

“… 4:39 am on Thursday, November 10, 2022”

“We did everything we could aside from surgery,” she continued.  To her credit, even though her opinion on their decision not to proceed with surgery was clear, she did not say it to rub salt in the wound and there was nothing but sympathy in her voice. 

“Try again!” Gomez insisted.

“It’s too late, Mr. Addams, I’m sorry.  I know how hard it is to have to witness this but…”

Enid was speechless, but inwardly she wanted to also scream and beg for them to keep trying but couldn’t find the words.  And she was afraid that if she opened her mouth she wouldn’t be able to keep from throwing up.  She buried her face in Morticia’s shoulder, trying to comfort her while seeking comfort from her, but so heartbroken she could hardly breathe.

“Wait, stop!” Pugsley exclaimed interrupting her and the nurses who were already starting to unhook her from the machines, “Look!” he pointed to her still attached heart monitor. 

~~W~F~A~~

She felt something ice cold lightly brush against her cheek and could’ve sworn she heard a voice.

Wednesday…

The name was familiar.  The Girl called her that name, didn’t she?  Was she back?

Hoping to see her one last time she opened her eyes again but there was nothing there.

The ice cold seemed to wrap around her like a blanket made from ice, making her shiver uncomfortably.  Was that what a peaceful death was supposed to feel like? 

Her eyes scanned for a sign of the voice or the Girl because it didn’t quite sound like her…what was her name again?  It was there, in her mind somewhere just beyond her reach.  Everything was, but the Girl’s name seemed closer, like maybe if she concentrated on that she could find it.  She could at least hold onto that one memory and take it with her so she could remember the Girl who fought so hard to protect and save her, the Girl who loved her and brought light to balance the all-encompassing darkness that once consumed her world and would know her name.

Wednesday, we don’t have much time…

“H-hello?” she choked out, confused, finding it difficult to speak or breathe. 

You need to let me in or you will die.

“Who’s there?” she asked, looking around but finding no one. The ice cold wrapped tighter around her chest.

Let me in, Wednesday…I cannot heal you this time for I do not have the strength, but I can save you from death…but for that to happen you need to let me in…

“I- I… I don’t know wh-who you are.,” she said, wondering if a part of the Dark Thing still remained and was trying to trick her as a way of escaping its prison.

I’m family…I have guided you and helped you in life and in this world.  I told you how to trap the Curse, let me in and I can help you once more…

“N-no,” she said, “show y-yourself s-so I know I c-can t-trust you…”

I’m afraid I cannot.  But you need to trust me or you’ll die…

“No,” she said again, “it c-can’t b-be that easy…t-trick…I’m f-free so let me d-die in peace…”

She could’ve sworn she heard a weary sigh and the supernatural chill around her grew even colder. She wondered if the voice was even real.  Maybe it was a hallucination.  She was dying, after all.

Is that what you want?  To die?

“N-no, of c-course not b-but…” 

Wouldn’t you rather live?

“Y-yes I-I would but…”  But something didn’t feel right, deep down. There had to be a catch, a cost to letting this voice in, but she didn't know what it would be.

That is good enough…

The chill in the air seemed to pass through her body and she let out a shocked and pained gasp, her body shuddering.  For a moment, her mind and body no longer felt like it was her own, and what felt like an ice-cold electric shock jolted in her chest but then she drew a deep breath and she felt…different. 

Confused, Wednesday sat up and glanced at her body. It was no longer rail thin, broken and scarred, but her shoulder still burned with a raging fire that spread down her arm to her fingertips and through her chest and her hand was still bleeding.

“Goody?” she murmured in confusion, not sure what prompted her to say that name.

Rest child…heal. 

Suddenly dizzy, she collapsed back to the ground, overcome with weakness but also relief.  The ice-cold chill that wrapped around her soothed the fire in her body instead of clashing with it like it did before.  But despite the relief, Wednesday couldn’t shake the feeling that something was still wrong.

I know, child.   I know.  Your mind is so confused, I know how frightening this must be.  But I mean you no harm, though I apologize for the challenges you will now face. There is no doubt that you will have a long and difficult journey ahead of you…

She wanted to ask what the voice meant by that but along with the chill that washed over her she felt so weak she was practically paralyzed and unable to speak.  

But for now, you must rest and heal so you will be ready.

The fight is not over.

There is still so much we need to do.

~~W~F~A~~

Morticia could feel her heart flutter in her chest with adrenaline and anticipation.  They called her baby girl’s time of death, but just as it was when she was born and Morticia was told that she didn’t make it, she defiantly proved them wrong, surviving anyway. 

And now, the heart monitor showed a heartbeat when a moment ago there was none.

The medical staff were just as shocked and dumbfounded as they were but they didn’t hesitate to get back to work to stabilize her. 

She glanced at Gomez and Pugsley beckoning them over and wept into Gomez’s shoulder as the four of them held each other in relief.

And even though they would be told later that the fact she still had a heartbeat didn’t mean she was out of danger and the chances of her surviving the morning were still unlikely, Morticia was filled with hope.  Enid had said that she wasn’t sure if Wednesday was able to trap the entity since Enid had been booted from her mindscape before it was over, but it had seemed like it was working.

That was enough to convince Morticia that her quest and the ritual had been a success.  She might not be out of danger yet, but now she had a fighting chance. 

Against all odds, Wednesday was still alive.