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Truth be told, Wednesday goes very easy on Tyler. She doesn’t even use physical violence, only partaking in psychological torture - it’s so tame, she’s shocked with herself even as she does it. After all, Tyler is a serial killer, he is the Hyde. She ought to have pulled some nails, or - at the very least - broken a bone or two. (Or fifty-five, like last time.)
She blames it on the softies at school: they must have worn her down more than she had thought. A holiday in a Venezuelan prison is in order - preferably before she sees her family. It wouldn’t do for them to see her in such a weak state.
She turns on the voltage in the taser again and disgusts at the Hyde’s whimper. To think that she had been attracted to that.
Where is the strength of character? Where is the backbone, the balls? (There isn’t, is the thing. Tyler seems to have none.)
What the hell had she seen in him? What sort of a mist had descended on her mind, to have accepted such a subpar, pathetic person as her… amour?
It was truly terrifying, what a fleeting fancy could do to one’s mind.
She didn’t even shock him again. The wailing sirens were getting closer - the police were probably on their way, summoned by the weaklings. So, she took the hammer, and swung, in a last, desperate measure of attempted persuasion. She didn’t quite make it - though Tyler’s hysterical scream splits the air quickly enough to hurt her soul - her father would never cry like a whiny baby at such a pathetic threat. (To say nothing of her mother.)
And yet, Wednesday had fallen for the charm of such a loser. Such a thing was incomprehensible now and would have to be considered in any future conquests.
And so, Wednesday pondered. Had her acquaintances been in any pain since she had met them? How had they reacted?
Enid was the easiest. She was such a wet blanket, Wednesday had spared her even the idea of kidnapping the Hyde. Enid would not have wanted anything to do with it. She fainted at the sight of still pictures! She had whimpered like a puppy when Wednesday had dragged her to the last adventure. Yes, there was no doubt. Enid was a coward.
But what about physical pain, Wednesday wondered.
And then she remembered; Enid cutting herself on a piece of paper - proceeding to whimper about it for hours, Enid tripping on the smooth rock of their hallways - straight up whining about her dress getting dirty and her knees scraping. Not to mention the afternoon that Enid had spent straight out sobbing after some random person online cheated on their random partner.
Maybe the last one wasn’t physical. Well, it didn’t matter. Clearly, Enid was a complete wimp in any way that could exist or matter.
Now, what about the rest of the guys?
Xavier was whiny on a day-to-day basis. While Wednesday didn’t think she had ever seen him in pain, his reaction was rather obvious. Same for the vast majority of the other people Wednesday knew. The one person that was normal about pain - was Bianca. But the sole thought of pursuing Bianca romantically had Wednesday’s stomach lurch in not-so-mild nausea. That would be a nightmare. Bianca was much too forceful, too preachy. The one time Wednesday had been forced to do a project with her, they had almost burnt the school down.
And so, Wednesday had to conclude that any romantical pursuits would have to be put off indefinitely. It seemed like a person that was right for her just didn’t exist.
That was fine. Wednesday had more important things on her mind. She needed to get the mystery straight before she left the school. Anything else was of secondary importance at most.
And then, she no longer had time to think, because she was kidnapped - semi-competently this time. Used for great evil, nearly killed. Miraculously healed by the one person that could teach her magic. (What had her mother said? That Wednesday would lose her mind without a competent teacher?)
The Hyde nearly killed her. And in the last moment, a werewolf appeared, with a shocking, pink mane. It appeared that Enid had wolfed out (and looked very strong as she punted the Hyde into the ground). And, while staring at the death match of her acquaintances sounded great, Wednesday couldn’t. There was nothing that Wednesday would have liked more than to see Enid mutilate a serial killer (in Wednesday’s defense no less - for some reason, Wednesday didn’t really mind getting rescued by her nubile roommate). Unfortunately, Wednesday had to stop the resurrected evil normie from killing everybody - so she had to leave, stubbornly not glancing behind her.
The fur was a bit… hm. But the muscles! The strength! Hmm.
Anyway.
So Wednesday killed the fanatical normie, flanked by Bianca. Then, she also killed the teacher for good measure. Her kindness for the innocents’ eyes should have been noted: her modus operandi had shifted to such droll methods as bashing someone’s skull in. How… dull. To think that she didn’t even attempt to hide the woman in her luggage to take apart at home. Truly, her willpower was stronger than she had thought.
But that all lost importance the second she saw her; Enid.
She looked beautiful; drenched in vibrant, ruby-red blood. Her face was caked in the stuff, and it highlighted her features splendidly, making them stand out more than usual. And in direct opposition to the breathtaking show of aggression; her bubblegum pink coat. It was a look, as Enid would have said it.
And then, Enid got closer. And, with a shudder of violent impulses, Wednesday realized that it was Enid’s blood. Wednesday’s fists clenched in sudden fury, as the plan to actually torture the Hyde seriously spun itself together in her mind.
There were large, bleeding gashes on Enid’s face.
Then, Enid was hugging Wednesday. It was strong, with a lot of pressure. Surprisingly, Wednesday didn’t mind it. She hugged back carefully, just as tightly, feeling so relieved to see Enid alive and well after facing the monster, her legs felt weak with it. Enid sagged against her entirely. Wednesday didn’t collapse, though it was a close call.
They hugged for a very long time - minutes, probably. By that point, everybody but Ajax had already departed. Ajax was standing there, looking rather lost. Wednesday was waiting for him to leave too.
Finally, Enid seemed to decide that she had had enough of hugging, pulling back.
That gave Wednesday the perfect view of the gashes. They were thick and deep, surprisingly upsetting, unsurprisingly murder-inspiring. They looked like they hurt. (Wednesday would know something about that, having been stabbed herself just hours prior.)
“Oh,” Enid sadly touched her face. “Those.”
Wednesday waited for her to elaborate; Enid didn’t.
So Wednesday waited her out. It wouldn’t do to say something hurtful right now, not when Enid looked so sad. (Wednesday had learned empathy, Xavier’s foolish, emotion-driven words were simply wrong.)
“I probably look super ugly.” Enid’s words burst out of her, stuck to each other and barely comprehensible.
Wednesday just blinked at her in honest flabbergastment, waiting for more clarification. Because, surely, Enid didn’t mean those marks.
“Do you mean the marks?” Wednesday had to make sure. There could be no room for uncertainty right now.
“Yes, Wednesday! Obviously! What else could I mean!”
Well. That was rather Wednesday’s question, wasn’t it.
“Why would the marks make you ugly?” Wednesday checked, trying to not sound ‘offensive’. Enid was in a delicate state.
"God, I don’t know! Maybe because they are awful and ugly and… and!” Enid took a deep breath, sounding winded. “And awful!”
Wednesday didn’t point out that Enid had already said that.
“No, Enid,” Wednesday told her patiently. “You don’t look ugly.” Obviously. When had Enid ever looked ugly? She could pull off anything with that face of hers. But Enid did not look convinced. “If you’re asking me,” Which she was right? Right? “They are awesome.” Wait. Maybe that wasn’t the best way to say that. Enid looked ready to cry too - abort, abort! “That is,” Wednesday coughed once. “You are awesome.” Wait. “That is.”
Enid did not look any happier. Wednesday could not say that discovering empathy was in any way a blessing. Actually, it was torture. Enid was amazing at that, too. Torturing Wednesday. Yes.
“I mean,” This was what happened when Wednesday talked spontaneously! She lost coherence and talked sheer nonsense! She had not even had the opportunity to practice this conversation beforehand! “You are…”
Enid looked expectant. Ajax shuffled his feet on the dirt nearby.
“It was cool?” Enid looked surprised, which was better than upset. So that was the way to go. Alright. “You um, helped me, there.” Enid’s back straightened out slightly. That looked promising. “And you were… strong.” Very strong. Very, very strong, throwing the Hyde around like a chew toy. The strength was very impressive. Very appealing.
Wait. What had she been talking about?
Enid was looking happier already. And that mattered. For some reason. (Wednesday was still struggling with that a bit.)
Roll back the tape. Muscles, strong, help, face.
“Okay,” Wednesday said, having remembered the topic again, before panicking very slightly. That was not normal conversation flow.
“Strong.” Cough. “Yes.” Enid was losing hope, clearly, closing off again.
“And pretty!” Wednesday squeaked out, before almost throwing herself face-first into the ground. That had NOT BEEN IN THE SCRIPT. What was she saying.
“You think I’m pretty?” Enid looked hopeful, twirling her hair around a finger, face now a maroon brown, blood flaking off.
“Yes!” Wednesday squeaked, again. “And cool! That was. Cool.” The worst part about saying these things was that nobody was forcing her. Not even the situation. In fact, Wednesday was remarkably certain that Ajax wanted to talk to Enid himself. (Unless he was hoping to talk to Wednesday, but that would be wholly weird.) “You, um. Really showed him.” Wednesday almost started making punching motions, brain fried.
“Oh. But how do they look?”
“Badass.” It slipped out before she could stop it. “Amazing,” she added. “Wow.” Where was her gun? Wednesday wanted to shoot herself in the face, right now.
“Are you sure?” The hair twirling was getting intense. Enid’s hair would be so tangled up later.
Wednesday just nodded, not yet resigned to her fate. Perhaps if she shut up now, she would avoid making a fool of herself.
Enid hummed, looking much happier than she had been. In fact, Wednesday would go as far as to say that her job here was done.
She kind of didn’t want to leave alone (without Enid) ((with Ajax)). So she stayed, pretending to look at the sky.
Next to her, Ajax flailed.
“Are you okay?” He asked clumsily. Well then. Perhaps Wednesday wasn’t the worst at talking. Color her surprised. She had certainly not fallen so low.
“Yes,” Enid replied woodenly. “I’m fine!” She smiled forcefully, pulling at the holes in her face. The smile grew forced, a bit rotten. (A bit like when Wednesday would let Enid paint her nails - before amending that the color would have to be black.)
“Okay! Uh… Good!”
Oh for fuck’s sake.
That was when Wednesday stopped listening to them. Instead, she started plotting. The Hyde would need to be put down for hurting Enid, there was just no way around it. The question that remained was of course, how.
There were many options. Wednesday could chop off his limbs one by one. She could rip out his innards. She could torture him psychologically (weakling). She could maybe rip out his eyes, or make him a shooting practice mannequin. Or maybe…
“Wednesday!” Enid snapped.
Wednesday’s eyes snapped to her in a panic.
“What?”
“We’re going.”
Ajax was nowhere to be seen.
Now, Wednesday’s first guess would have been to suggest that Enid had eaten him - but she wasn’t sure if Enid wasn’t feeling a bit delicate still. Wednesday couldn’t risk Enid thinking that she was trying to bully her. (For her cool, badass new slashes.)
And so go, they did.
—
Later on, it occurred to Wednesday that the wounds had to hurt. She had already showered, having won the impromptu paper, rock, scissors match, and was just waiting for Enid to be done with hers. No overt screams were coming out of the shower, so perhaps Enid had skipped washing her abrasions.
Wednesday took a seat on Enid’s bed and got her first aid kit ready. They could have gone to the infirmary. But somehow, neither of them had wanted to. Maybe it was the clinical white walls that were putting them off - or the killer stench of antiseptic. In any case, they had passed the entrance to the nurse’s office carelessly, not even glancing inside.
Five minutes later, Enid came out of the bathroom, in a pink fluffy bathrobe. Her face was clean if one were to ignore the streaks of blood on Enid’s face where the deep gouges were still bleeding lightly. Had it not been Enid’s blood, Wednesday would have been into it. As it was, her stomach curdled even more with murderous intent.
Enid saw Wednesday on her bed and froze, staring at Wednesday. So, Wednesday stared back and waited.
Finally, after a ten-second stare contest - which Enid lost pathetically - as always - Enid finally made her way over silently. Usually, they fought about who would turn the light - or the alarm - off. Enid lost the vast majority of the time.
Finally, Enid sat down beside Wednesday. She was biting her lip, and her eyes looked very shiny. Would she start crying? Was it the physical pain? Enid was a total wuss, so Wednesday wouldn’t exactly be surprised.
“It doesn’t look badass.” Enid said, no context. What didn’t look badass, she didn’t say. “It looks ugly!”
It could be assumed that Enid was back to talking about the gauges in her face.
“They don’t.” Wednesday honestly had no clue what Enid was hoping for here. For Wednesday to change her mind? For Wednesday to actually call her ugly? For Wednesday to lie? Did Enid not know her at all?
“No!” Enid howled loudly in abject misery, tears flowing freely. “It’s awful! Didn’t you see Ajax’s reaction?!”
No?
Now, wait a second.
“Did Ajax say something?” Wednesday would murder him. Perhaps she could tinker with his hair, make it stone him properly this time. (Enid had made sure to share every single detail of her dating life with Wednesday.) It wouldn’t even be unbelievable. Ajax had almost killed himself before. What bad could be just a little bit of help? Helping people was good! Enid had lectured Wednesday on that rather fervently and very extensively.
“He didn’t have to!” It came out as a wail. The lower part of Enid’s face opened up anew, blood starting to drip onto her bathrobe. Enid’s emotiveness truly was immense. “Did you see how he looked at me?!” Wednesday looked at her blankly. “Like I was a monster!”
Perhaps a dive from the highest tower.
“You’re not a monster, Enid.”
A wail of despair.
Wednesday was not getting anywhere with this; how frustrating.
“Let me tend to your wounds,” Wednesday ordered and noted with satisfaction that Enid moved to do her bidding instantly. Good dog.
And so, the next cycle of wound-tending began. Enid actually didn’t flinch at all. She only cried soundlessly, staring into a hand mirror in misery, getting in the way of everything that Wednesday was trying to do. Finally, Wednesday lost her patience with her and yanked the thing out of her hand. From then on, Enid only whimpered sadly at random intervals. Interestingly, they didn’t have much to do with what Wednesday was doing with her face. (The antibiotic cream came on, and Enid didn’t notice. Wednesday prepared a tiny bandaid - not touching Enid’s face at all - Enid let out a series of whimpers again.)
It could be concluded that Enid was not as much of a wimp as Wednesday had thought. Though she did despair over some cuts much more than they merited: they were in no way a danger to her life. They were as far from any organs as it was possible. So what was the issue?
—
That night, Enid woke up and sobbed about those eyes for an hour straight.
Right. So the eyes would have to go.
Enid might have asked Wednesday to explain, Wednesday wasn’t sure. She was busy imagining the Hyde’s delicious agony from having its eyes ripped out.
The next morning, Enid tried again:
“What was that about eyes last night?”
Normally, Wednesday would have told a person - some person all about her plans. A person that wasn’t Enid. The thing about Enid though - was that she was painfully ineffective when it came to plotting revenge. And, even worse: she had the annoying propensity towards making Wednesday promise not to physically harm people. And absolutely worst of all? Wednesday couldn’t ignore such promises.
It was not fair play at all on Enid’s part: she’d stare at Wednesday with those pretty, wide eyes of hers and beg her to promise to not torture this or that person. Wednesday’s torture statistics were down to five people this month. That was… incomprehensible!
So instead of answering, Wednesday played dead and waited for Enid to give up with a sigh. The Hyde would be hers to torture, and properly this time.
They were leaving the next day. Wednesday would do her very best to not let herself be wrangled into any stupid oaths. But, while avoiding Enid would make Wednesday’s life easier; Wednesday had to prepare the list of people to break. She couldn’t exactly gather that while away from Enid - that would defeat the point.
And so, every time Enid would look down in shame, Wednesday would stare into the eyes of the person responsible, and she’d burn their face into her memory. They would all be joining her fun summer break project. (Well. Fun for her at the very least.)
Any time Enid would whimper, the person would additionally earn themselves a ticket to tomorrow’s coke shower party (or, their luggage would).
Any time, Enid would flinch, Wednesday would fight off the murder shivers while she’d fiddle with her knife in frustration. They didn’t really need some of their organs. Perhaps she could just… help them feel a little lighter.
In the end, over a hundred people were added to Wednesday’s list. Her summer would be fun.
But first, she had to leave them each a letter. After all, attacking with no warning lacked sportsmanship. (And Wednesday loved when her victims tried to run.)
Enid must have been truly distraught, as she did not even notice the sudden nervous energy their peers showed. How they suddenly didn’t look at Enid at all. (That was also bad. Enid loved attention.) It wasn’t a huge problem. The sheep would need to be lead - and Wednesday happened to be the best shepherd.
(In the end, pulling the Hyde apart, piece by tiny piece worked very well indeed. It certainly let Wednesday relax after a stressful school semester. It took Wednesday the better part of the first week to find the beast. The next month was spent showing the Hyde what Wednesday thought of it daring to harm Enid. The recordings of the pathetic slime’s screams of pain were Wednesday’s lullaby for four months straight - only stopped by school starting again and Enid rebelling against them very firmly.)
(The people from school were all too easy to set straight. All it took was some light stalking, some light threats - and they understood the right way to treat Enid’s new badass accessories.)
(So, when the school year started anew - and nobody seemed to notice anything out of the ordinary with Enid’s face - Wednesday felt understandably smug.)
(And when Enid had that same nightmare again, Wednesday could assure her confidently, that those eyes don’t exist anymore. What’s more, she could prove it to her: Wednesday had made certain to create a full documentation of every single part of the fragmentation process. After all, why would Enid take Wednesday’s word on the alleged felling of the beast? There needed to be proof.)
(Enid didn’t seem to find that very fun at all. In fact, she went on a rant about trust, most of which sounded so ridiculous, Wednesday could barely fight the incredulous stupor from her face. She also got tortured most viciously for a month afterward, having to sit through approximately five hundred ‘rom-com’s to - supposedly - show her the good side of life. Wednesday was certain that Enid was fully aware of how agonizing seeing such nonsense was for Wednesday. But Enid only smiled cheerfully any time Wednesday groaned in pain. Sometimes, Wednesday thought that Enid was a better torturer than her.)
(And yet, even with the torture, all Wednesday could do was feel grateful that Enid was spending so much time with her . (Not that Wednesday was needy or anything. She just... appreciated Enid.) Devil damn Enid’s… everything.)
(Wow.)