Chapter Text
Enid winced as she propped herself up on her elbow to lean across and unplug her phone. The bruises and joint pain had reduced somewhat from their peak but still ached like a bitch. Having to exit her makeup live chat forum brought her back to reality, which she really hated doing.
Her shitty reality was a high school experience which, she believed, was the worst any person could imagine. But she wasn’t imagining it, she was living through the damn nightmare herself.
The rancid icing on the vomit flavoured cake was that when she eventually graduated she knew it wouldn’t get any better. She was a lone wolf, abandoned by her pack, unable to wolf out, with no support system in place. When she left Nevermore she would have nowhere to go, no parents to support her and no money. Her only hope was that her mediocre grades would be enough to get her a job with wages enough to pay for rent and food. That was hardly something to look forward to. So she tried not to think about it.
For now at least she had a roof over her head. She was still at Nevermore as her parents had paid the non-refundable fees years ago and the faculty were supporting her during term breaks.
It should have been a safe place for the girl to live but it was the complete opposite.
Unfortunately Nevermore was filled with students who seemed to almost universally hate her. All the furs knew she was a lone wolf and refused to speak to her at best, at worst ganging up to bully her, subjecting her to regular beatings where no one could witness it. That was the source of her never-ending aches and pains. Enid didn’t dare report her attackers as their parents had strong connections with the school and it would only end up with the situation getting worse and worse for her - no one liked a snitch. So she endured it, trying to stay away from all the Nevermore packs as best she could.
Did any other students speak to her? Not really - as the furs were the dominant species at Nevermore no one else wanted to be friends with her - they didn’t want to become the target of the furs abuse through association with a pathetic lone wolf.
The only group who couldn’t care less about the fur cliques were the fangs. Yoko, a 127 year old vampire - in a 17 year olds body - was the one person who looked out for her and shielded her as best she could. But Yoko could only do so much - at least she took the sting away from the worst of the bullying when she was able to.
The one positive was that Enid had her own room. She could lock herself in there and immerse herself in online games, TikTok dances and makeup tutorials - pretending she was someone else entirely was her escape from her depressing school life.
Unfortunately that one good thing in her life was to be taken away from her. She slipped her shoes on to head to the Principles office - apparently to meet her new room mate. Enid looked back at her room, decorated in multiple colours with banners, bunting and tints on the windows, and wondered how long it would stay like this. With a heavy heart she shut the door behind her and trudged downstairs to the school offices, taking the long way round to avoid the areas she knew the werewolf gangs tended to hang out.
As she stepped into Weems’ office it was just the two of them at first. Weems explained that the new student was a difficult one - oh great Enid thought - so needed to be supervised as much as possible. Weems must have seen the frightened look on her face as she quickly added that as this was an imposition on Enid the new girl's parents had offered to pay Enid a handsome daily allowance for her assistance. All Enid had to do was make sure their daughter looked after herself, took her meds and got to classes at the right time. Seemed relatively easy but Enid was still feeling negative about the whole situation.
The negativity soon dissipated as Weems explained how much Enid was to be paid - $100 a day. This was way beyond any amount Enid had ever had to herself and she quickly sketched out a plan in her head - she decided she might treat herself initially but would save most of it for her unknown future after Nevermore. She had wondered how she could build up some savings for when she left school and this was the golden opportunity she would get to do that. It would be like a job, but one she could do without having to leave the dorm or the school itself - so much more practical than trudging to Jericho to work in a minimum wage position.
Weems handed her a folder with all the information about the new girl which she would need to read as soon as possible. It was a leather bound folder, very ornately decorated with the new girl's name in gothic style text.
“Wednesday Addams”
Weems instructed Enid to come back an hour later when she had spoken to the new girl and her family and she would be introduced to them together.
Enid almost bounced out of the office with glee. Maybe things were looking up eventually for her. She found a quiet corner of the library next door - most of the furs didn’t read much so she would be safe there - to have a quick read of the file.
After skim reading the first few pages her mood soured again - she could see that this girl was absolutely unhinged. Several counts of assault, threatening behaviour and two attempted murder charges. Most had been dropped before going to court but it appears Wednesday had done some court ordered community service and a short spell in a juvenile detention centre. Which she had apparently escaped from. Twice.
Enid was wondering if the money was worth it - this girl sounded like a complete psychopath. The final section detailed the drugs she was now taking to control her behaviour - holy fuck she thought as she read through the list. There was enough tranquillisers, mood stabilisers and high power ADHD style drugs to calm a stampede of buffalo, never mind a 17 year old girl. Maybe she wouldn’t be much of a handful after all. Only time would tell.
The hour soon passed so Enid went back to see Weems and the new arrival. As she walked into the office after being waved in by the secretary she could see the girl’s parents - a tall elegant lady and a well dressed shorter man - but didn’t see Wednesday until she walked round them to take a seat next to the principal’s desk
The new girl was sat low in a chair between her parents, slumped down to such a degree that her torso was pretty much horizontal, her neck awkwardly cranked forwards against the backrest. She was dressed completely in black - massive hoody, joggers and high platform creepers, her hair a matching colourless tone. Her skin was alabaster smooth and was weirdly both pale and a tanned Latina tone at the same time.
None of those details were what Enid concentrated on most of all, no it was instead how absolutely out of it she was. Her dark eyes stared into nothing, almost as if she had been given a lobotomy. Her mouth lolled open with her chin resting on her chest, drool sliding out from the corner of her mouth, creating a disgusting damp patch on the otherwise spotless hoody.
What on earth were the drugs doing to this poor girl?
Wednesday slumped in the chair in the principals office, flanked by her parents. She didn’t really know where she was, but she knew why. This was her last chance at education, the one place left that accepted her application to study. Her parent’s money may have helped out getting her a place here as her criminal record would certainly not have been the highlight of her enrolment information.
She sat in silence, her slightly blurred vision noticing the height of the principal but her fogged brain not remembering her name. As usual when she was on her meds she had no energy to move beyond the essentials needed, not even to keep her mouth closed. She must have looked a pitiful sight to anyone watching, which of course they all were, given her well earned reputation.
All she knew was that she was to finish her education here - or else - and the only way to do that was to take her court ordered meds. Red pill in the morning - it would wake her up and enable her to get ready for the day. Blue pill at night - or actually straight after lessons and evening meal. That would knock her out until morning so she didn’t get up to anything illegal. In between she could take a green pill which would allow her to listen to lessons, take information in and memorise it. She had four of those per day she could take when she needed them.
The only reason she was taking these pills was her parents. She trusted them and if they said this was necessary she would obey them. They always wanted what was best for her and wanted her to succeed. The fact that they were court ordered made no difference to her. She didn’t want to go back to prison if she was being honest but that would be where she would be headed if the meds weren’t taken - that would have broken her father’s heart.
She had taken the red pill an hour before they entered the school but no green pills yet so she was awake but fairly useless as a human being. Her brain felt like it was made up of a hundred different coloured ice creams which had all melted together, everything slushing together in a brown sludge. No thoughts she had were processing properly, nothing coalesced into something more meaningful. The only outside stimulus that generated a sharp thought was the stinging from the cuts on her knuckles and forehead, the scabs of which pulled at her skin painfully as she moved.
Then there was another sharpness that entered the room.
The sharpness wore bright pink clothes and sequinned accessories, which glinted in the sunlight streaming in through the tall windows straight into Wednesday's eyes. It was painful but welcome, a new thought to concentrate on instead of the ice cream goop in her mind.
Words floated by her which she struggled to hold onto - roommate, werewolf, tour - which she hoped would make sense later. As the girl’s overbearing strawberry scent drifted up her nose her mother leaned into her, choosing her words carefully so Wednesday could concentrate on them one by one.
“She is your last chance. Do not mistreat her, she has been punished enough.”
Wednesday wasn’t really sure what this meant but stored it away as she rose slowly, following the girl upstairs to their dorm, an endless stream of words coming from her which Wednesday couldn’t process into coherent sentences, never mind responding to them.
As she slumped on her new bed and started to drift off into oblivion, her last memory before sleep took her was the girl standing over her, then speaking to her - or was it to herself? - in a shaky whisper.
“I hope they don't get to you as well.”
Then nothing.
Morticia allowed Gomez to assist her into the plush red leather back seat of their family hearse. Gomez always treated her as his dark princess - his words - lavishing praise and affection on her constantly, but even he was quiet now. Morticia knew he would be having the same thoughts as her - they both cared deeply for their daughter - and they were deep, dark unwelcome thoughts. Having to leave Wednesday in such a state was distressing to them both. They would discuss it and console each other later, but for now they were silent as the car pulled off down the drive, the only noise the rumble of the engine and the gravel crunching under the tyres.
Gomez wasn’t a seer though. He hadn’t experienced the visons Morticia had been having, or more specifically hadn’t been having.
Morticia was a dove, her visions were hazy and lacking in detail but were always positive and life-affirming. What worried her was that she hadn’t had a single vision about Wednesday for two years, ever since her first court case. There was clearly nothing positive in the future for her young daughter, which was deeply unsettling. The biggest concern was that her daughter had been wracked with constant nighttime visions, screaming out in her sleep. These had only increased in recent months and the drugs did nothing to reduce them. Her daughter was a raven, her visions were only negative and nightmarish, and Morticia knew if they had only been happening in her sleep they must have been only about Wednesday's own future, not anyone else’s.
Gomez clutched her hand tightly, not even needing to look at her to express his worry. Morticia used her other hand to stroke her husbands leg to calm him, Gomez letting out a sigh of content. They would get through this together as they had so many times, but this was something neither of them had tackled before.
As she relaxed a little when the car pulled onto the interstate, she pulled out the details of Wednesdays new room mate from the school file. As soon as she saw the picture of Miss Sinclair her eyes snapped open and her body went rigid.
Pink jacket
Werewolf nails on black fabric
A darkly lipped smile
Two bodies entwined
A child
As she snapped back out of her vision Gomez’s face was in front of hers, his strong hands holding her face, his eyes bearing into her soul.
“Cara Mia, what have you seen?”
“Our daughter is going to be just fine mon amour, I have seen it.”
“The pink werewolf?”
“I think so”
“What did you seen my dark queen?”
“I saw a child, dressed in black, with werewolf fangs.”
“Are you sure?”
“It was the one part of the vision I could be 100% sure of.”
“A granddaughter? Or grandson?” Gomez asked excitedly.
“Does it matter which?”
“No it does not my love. It really doesn’t.”
Gomez brought Morticia into a tight bear hug, which calmed her already slow beating black heart even further. She now knew choosing Enid Sinclair was the correct decision. The Addams family had always been outcasts from all the other outcast groups, and a small pink werewolf who couldn’t transform would fit into their family tree perfectly.