Work Text:
Friday, September 16, 2022
Nevermore’s new natural swimming pool was pulled straight out of a fairytale. Spanning its entire length were climbing hydrangeas and cypress that embraced you in secrecy and the feeling of being transported elsewhere. Somewhere untouchable to the rest of existence.
Ajax loved sunbathing by the shore of the pool with his fellow gorgons during their designated days. He told Xavier about how the water was charged with something and that it was never murky no matter how much you disturbed the sand below.
The vegetation in and around the pool were a mix of lotus, water lilies, pickerelweed, and sagittaria. A striking amalgamation of green, purples, and pinks.
Gorgons and sirens frequented the pool with a schedule as to when they can monopolize it. A week before the new moon for the gorgons and a week before the full moon for the sirens. Other than that, it was fair game for all of Nevermore.
Xavier has been a few times when Ajax needed company. But nothing could have prepared him and the rest of the Nightshades for how it looked at night.
From under the cypress leaves to the nooks between the plants and debris on the pool floor, specks of light illuminated the enclosure. It was as if the stars fell and decided to take a refuge in the recess of this little world.
The place was practically begging to be in a 24” x 26” canvas splattered in oil and pigments.
When he finally entered the water, Xavier noted that he felt like a Mako Mermaid. An opinion he wisely kept to himself among the company of actual sirens. He can never go back to the tepid waters of the lake at Raven Island.
“Are you guys sure you’re not coming in?” he asked Ajax and Rowan who were lounging on the camping chairs they brought and were content with their Netflix show and bag of popcorn.
“We’re good. Enjoy freezing your ass off, Xav.” Ajax grinned and tipped a can of White Claw towards Xavier.
“It’s actually pretty warm.”
“Ew, did someone take a piss in there? Was it you?”
“Gross, dude. It's probably the runes or something.”
“The lights?” Rowan asked, turning to the cypress behind him.
“Yeah. Addams said something about using them for heating too,” Xavier said which earned him two sets of brow wiggles. He responded with his own twin, flipped birds.
“Yo, Xavier!” Kent popped up from the water beside Xavier, siren form and all.
“‘Sup, man?”
“Wassup with you and that Wednesday Addams?”
Ah, here we go.
Xavier’s initial enthusiasm with Kent’s arrival dissipated into the cold night. He thought Kent would have been his ticket out of the conversation about Addams.
“We’re friends,” he answered simply and with finality, hoping Kent would drop the topic.
Kent shrugged, easily convinced. “Okay,” he said and dove back into the water.
Before Xavier could relax, Bianca replaced Kent with a flourish of her tail spraying him with water.
“Friends, huh?” she quipped.
Can’t a guy catch a break?
“Yes, Bianca. Purely platonic. Now, kindly leave so I can talk to the nice grass.”
Bianca gave what part of his body was visible above the water a once over. “So, you’re not working out to impress her?”
Xavier groaned and slipped lower into the pool. “I don’t want to talk about this.” Mainly because he did not want to explain that even if he bulked up, Addams would still be able to put a hole through him.
“Seriously, I didn’t peg you to go for the childish hairdo type.” Bianca rolled her eyes at him. It was high time to pull out that H2O joke. As one of their victims, Xavier could attest to the fact that Addams’ braids were lethal. They do not deserve this slander.
“If any of you are naked, I will lobotomize myself.”
Speak of the devil and she shall appear.
Wednesday Addams stood by the entrance, her trusty, black cloak blending into the night holding a basket that swayed large in her hands.
“This is a private event,” Bianca said haughtily.
Addams invites herself into the enclosure, ignoring Bianca and making a beeline for the camping chairs. “Hello, Ajax, Rowan. Thorpe, do not urinate in the pool.”
None of Xavier’s friends were spared from his middle finger, Addams was no exception. She signed a profanity back.
Ajax offered what would have been Xavier’s chair to Addams. “Hey, Wednesday. Was the woods positively eerie tonight?”
“It was adequate.”
“Addams, what in ‘private event’ did you not understand?” Bianca’s tail was making waves behind her.
“The Nightshades don’t own this place.”
Trust Addams to halt a party without any effort whatsoever.
It was chaos, the other Nightshades expressed their displeasure at Addams’ knowledge while Ajax and Rowan browsed through the witchling’s basket without a care in the world. Xavier, who was still in the pool, was cornered against a tall edge. His mind jumped to the day of his attack—he couldn’t help it. The water felt like the arms that held him down and there was more than one Tyler Galpin in front of him. His karambit was on his discarded clothes. Should he run or call for help? Help. Please help him. Please. Please.
Black obscured his vision but no pain came. Just Rowan’s gentle coaxing of calm pulling him from the trenches of his memories. He willed his lungs to catch his breath. The fabric billowed around him and circled his head with the smell of cherry and bitter almonds.
“Ah. Sorry about that, Thorpe. I meant to throw it at the center. There was an unidentified sea creature.” Addams’ voice lacked any hint of an apology. She stood over him now, the edge of the water licking her boots.
“I can’t believe you guys told her!” Bianca was too busy seething in anger and glossed over his little panic attack it seemed.
Thank, fuck.
“No one told me about the Nightshades, Barclay.”
He can see Addams peering down at Bianca with a lazy stare.
“Yeah, right. Don’t act like Xavier wouldn’t lay down all his secrets at your feet.”
Xavier pulled the cloak off his face, wondering if Bianca thought he was that desperate. Mild attraction aside, he would never reveal all his cards to Addams—that would be child endangerment.
“I already have Thorpe’s medical files, natal chart, and family registry in one of my armories. Would you like a copy? So you can properly uphold your title as his aggressor, I mean.” Addams threw the cloak at her feet in a loud splat.
She has what?
“Aggressor?! You don’t know anything!”
“I know enough. You may not have put a single hand on him but you did force him to do something outside of his own will.”
“It wasn’t like that. I just helped him sort out his priorities! I would never endanger the people I care about but the same can’t be said about a total psycho like you!”
Xavier stood to his full height in the water, looming over Bianca. He waded into her space. “Wednesday has been nothing but good to us.”
Bianca couldn't have chosen more painful words but Xavier brushed it off as a mere coincidence. Addams has been causing chaos left and right but they all ended up being inexplicably remedied or brushed under the rug before the authorities got involved. The rest of their friend group were unwilling witnesses or sometimes unknowing participants; it was hilarious.
“Yeah! Wednesday’s been super cool. Stop antagonizing her, you guppy.” Rowan sniggered. Xavier was glad for the sharp tongue that never failed to come to their defense.
“Your inhaler won’t do shit when I get my hands on you, Laslow.”
“I have a sick herb sauce for when Wednesday finally turns you into fish fillet.”
“We wouldn’t know, would we, when she doesn’t even have the balls to face me on the piste.”
Yoko wedged herself between the two sides. “Stop! Stop!” She pushed both Xavier and Bianca an arm’s length away.
“Bianca, the drink we had during the pledge is literally hush juice from the witches. We can’t. And I repeat; we cannot physically inform anyone about the Nightshades. Addams must have found another source or figured out the secret passage.” Yoko craned her neck to look at Addams. “Which is it?”
“Both.”
“Please, explain.”
Addams stared on, eyes glinting over Yoko’s shoulder. She sighed. “My ancestor, Diati Addams, founded the Nightshades. I have some of her diaries.”
Xavier thought that was as good as laying claim on their leaderless organization. He sneaked a peak at Bianca and wasn’t too surprised that she was embittered by the situation.
“I was there during your first meeting,” Addams said.
“What? Where?” Divina’s puzzlement was justifiable.
“In the walls.”
That checked out.
“You were spying on us?”
“I was enjoying myself in the hidden room where my mother left some nightshade wine to ferment.”
“Sounds deadly,” Ajax said.
“Two glasses are enough to kill an adult horse,” Addams lamented.
“How much did you finish?”
“All of it.”
Addams hesitantly returned Ajax’s fist bump. Xavier cursed inwardly, he was too far to offer one to her himself.
With a leveled glare, she addressed the people in the pool including Xavier, “I am responsible for the sustenance of this pool. If you contaminate it, I will know.” Then motioned for Ajax and Rowan to join her.
“She’s kinda funny,” Kent said quietly and was tackled into the water by Divina.
As the night grew on, the tension subsided into a relatively hushed atmosphere. Bianca still made irked glances towards their group which they collectively decided to dismiss. Kent was good company in the water and after some time, he joined Ajax and Rowan in Addams’ free tutorial about skinning and gutting the hare that she accidentally caught near a clearing in the woods.
“I can’t,” he told Addams when she stated that he needed to exit the pool if he wanted some campfire meat. The orange and red were so out of place yet so curious by the colors everywhere else.
“Get out.”
“Can’t.”
Ajax raised a puzzled brow. “Dude. It’s nothing we haven’t seen before. Wednesday can look away.” Addams nodded, respectfully covered her eyes and turned away from the water.
“No, it feels too nice to leave,” Xavier said. The water reminded him of his bed back home. He was practically floating at this point.
“Xavier, get out before I drag you out,” Rowan said without any actual heat or intent behind his words.
“No. I live here now.”
“Xav, what the heck—“
“He’s moon drunk,” Addams cut in, making no sense to Xavier who swore he hasn’t had a lick of moonshine. Drinks were limited to seltzers and beer. “Rowan, get him out now.”
Unfortunately for Xavier, Rowan was a little inebriated. Xavier was pulled up from the water by his feet and awkwardly dangled in the air like a new born child for a few seconds before being set upright. Upon making contact with the earth, he became a puddle on the shore. Ajax and Kent deposited him on one of the chairs while Rowan covered him with a towel.
“Thanks,” Xavier grinned sheepishly. He could not feel his body from the neck down. “Addams, my head feels like it’s attached to nothing.”
Addams turned around, her hands still covering her face. “Are you decent?”
“Yep,” he said. It’s not like she would have seen anything. He wore board shorts tonight.
“Good. My mother told me boys are particularly conscious of their bodies at this age.”
Addams examined him from head to toe.
Mrs. Addams was onto something.
“You’ll be fine, Thorpe. I would advise adding an hour or two to your run or strength training tomorrow,” Addams said before doubling down on him with a warning glare. “And whatever you do, do not, under any circumstances, engage in sexual activity within twenty-four hours.”
Rowan caught Ajax’s laugh with his palm.
“That won’t be a problem,” he whispered, not making eye contact. His body was starting to warm up.
“Thorpe, you’re literally the closest thing to a sex god right now,” Addams said and Xavier attempts not to choke on his own spit. Ajax had keeled over, Rowan fighting to keep both their laughter under his hands. Kent was just there.
“W-what?” Xavier croaked.
“You’re charged with lunar energy. Aside from enhanced physical performance. Those who have the slightest bit of attraction towards you won’t be able to keep their hands to themselves.”
He finally locked eyes with her. Disappointment thumped against his stomach—Addams was unaffected. She stood a meter away from him and showed no signs of desire, not even the rare blinks she did when overwhelmed. Xavier shouldn’t have expected anything. Like he told Bianca, he and Addams were just friends. And soon, he would be too busy with his online courses to afford a romantic conquest.
“It’s best if you stay in your room tomorrow,” Addams eyed Bianca from across the enclosure. Xavier feared for his modesty with the reminder of who was in the pool. He also knew Divina had a small crush on him before Bianca swooped in.
“You need to leave. Now.” The urgency in Addams’ voice lets him know that she at least cared as much. It’s a balm on an open wound that he should never let fester.
“I’ll take him,” Rowan raised the hand that was free of his inhaler. He stuffed his medication into his coat and clapped Xavier on the shoulder. “Put on some pants, Aphrodite”
~
Ajax waved bye as the partition Wednesday commanded in the foliage walls of the pool closed. Xavier cast Ajax one last weak smile as Rowan guided the artist away.
“Now, let’s eat some meat—“
“Addams?!” Kent cried.
A surprised hiss from his temple spurred Ajax to turn. Wednesday was kneeling on a rocky edge of the pool and had her entire head submerged in the water. Ajax ran to Wednesday's side. Part of him will forever fear her prowess but she was a friend. Possibly, the weirdest and most badass one he had.
“Wednesday?” he called.
She waved him off, not moving from her awkward position. Ajax patiently waited for her to surface and when thirty seconds past, he pulled out his phone and started the stopwatch.
Ten or so seconds after three minutes was when Wednesday pulled her head out of the water in her usual unimpressed gauntness. Ajax and Kent applauded her.
“What was that about?” He asked while chewing on a piece of hare. Rare. Just how he liked it.
“Divine intervention,” Wednesday replied dryly, devoid of any possibility for a further explanation.
Huh. He’ll pretend he didn’t see the damaging grip she had on the side of her skirt before Xavier left then.
~
Monday, September 19, 2022
Xavier thought Financing was just a fancy word for knowing where and on what to invest in. But after his first class of bookkeeping, he can say he was absolutely done with the subject. The thought that Steban hired accountants to do the actual math kept him optimistic. He only needed to understand what the numbers meant but in order to make decisions, he at least needed to have an idea why the numbers were like so. It wasn’t as complicated as calculus. Instead it was tedious and your entire world crashes down if your ending balance was off by even a cent. Xavier hated it all at once.
Paint smeared on his clothes as he dived deep into his painting. Channeling the stress and the lack of sleep from his recent nightmares, he commanded his brush to draw the pool which Addams named Inanna’s Mirror. It turned out he was right about the identity of the other psychic addition to Nevermore. He also confirmed that it was Gomez Addams that donated millions to the school as an excuse to spoil his daughter with a coven away from her own.
His strokes grew smaller as he started on the details. Xavier has not asked about the significance of the pool though he has a theory related to what transpired last Friday night.
The hairs of his brush met black all of the sudden. His eyes blurred and his hands moved without his consent as it often does when Xavier depicts the forgotten slices of his nightmares into his art.
Then he’s conscious again, his vision breaking through the clearing of darkness. He shook his head and massaged his temples.
On the once empty pool, lies a girl shrouded with black. No face but a familiar fringe. A black slip stuck to a petite figure Xavier dared not think of under the layers of non-colors. The ink staining around her stopped at her hips and he realized it was her hair in a way he has never seen worn before. Suddenly the painting was too intimate and he turned away to find a fabric to drape over it.
Leaves and twigs crackled under his boots as he made his way through the woods. It was a peaceful walk. Not another being in sight and no bugs strumming their instruments. The silence was deafening.
“Insects aren’t just great for snacking, kiddo. They’re friends! If you don’t hear any…”
Xavier ran.
Bolting through the path he knew with his eyes closed, he ducked and jumped through fallen debris. The sounds of heavy footfalls followed his; an interval for two of his. Whatever it was, it was bigger than he could possibly handle. He passed the wards but his unknown pursuer was not deterred.
Outcast.
Xavier was being chased by a fellow Outcast in the woods. Again. He hoped this was not going to become a running theme.
The full moon was days away. So it was not a werewolf on his tail. He springs back a low branch and a thwack explodes a low pitch groan unlike anything Xavier has ever heard from videos and class demonstrations.
“Mr. Thorpe! Over here!” Principal Weems shouted up ahead.
A sliding crunch of leaves and a thump. The Unknown stopped but Xavier didn’t and almost barrels into his Principal’s awaiting arms.
He immediately regretted looking back when he made eye contact with a humanoid creature, alarmingly pale, and gorilla in stature. Its bulbous irises stared back into his own. With a sharp snarl, it turned back and disappeared into the trees.
Xavier survived a Hyde.
~
Tuesday, September 20, 2022
He’s confined to his room come next morning per the Principal’s orders. Rowan asked why he was so shaken and he corroborated that he was chased by some werewolves as a sick prank just like he was told to. As expected, Rowan is livid and demands for names and Xavier said he was too busy running to ask names.
And just like he was told to, he pretends to be in shock and pleaded for his condition to be told as a cold so Rowan would let it go and give him space. It works and Xavier is left to marinate in questions inside their room.
Lunch came quickly and a knock woke Xavier from his second round of sleep that morning. He needed rest after having nightmares about the Hyde that he knew would come after his head hit his pillow last night.
Xavier opened the door and was poked by something on his stomach. He looked down and was genuinely surprised to find Addams holding his lunch tray and another.
“I don’t think moral support can help colds, Addams.” Xavier smiled. He hasn’t seen her since last week.
“You don’t have a cold,” she said.
“I don’t?”
“I can smell sickness. You just smell like boy and linseed.” She pushed through him and set the lunch trays on his desk. Addams patted his chair.
“Eat.”
The desk was wide enough for both of them. Addams ate while only using her right hand so as to not accidentally trigger her psychometry. Xavier could still remember the uproar when she walked in on their first session for the special class for psychics. As far as everyone was aware, Addams was a witch. Already a rare breed but one with clairvoyance? It was epic; Eugene was gobsmacked, Rowan had been so confused, and Professor Cyfrin got a new favorite.
“What happened?” Addams asked as she set down her utensils.
His first instinct to adhere to the Principal's instruction is blown over by the questions he wanted to ask and the severe glint of Addams' stare.
“It was a Hyde,” he said, abandoning his lunch as well. The lingering feeling of danger gripped his shoulders. “It—They? Let’s go with they… They were waiting for me outside the shed. Chased me until I reached campus. Principal Weems was waiting for me. Probably triggered the wards or something.” He sucked his lips over his teeth. “If I hadn’t undergone training with Uncle, I don’t think I would have…”
“But you did,” Addams shifted towards him and blinked, slow. “I think he favors you over me and my cousins.”
Xavier smiled at the obvious attempt at making him feel better. Wednesday Addams lacked the typical filter of propriety and let’s the occasional intrusive thought win. He often talked with Enid about their friend’s constant failure to read more subtle social cues. When Addams does manage to catch one, she would often approach with caution and mince her words or if you’re lucky you would witness her wrangle a conversation with the best responses.
“Uncle Fester doesn’t have a mobile but I can contact him through my crystal ball. Feel free to schedule a call.” She then extended her hand out to him. “Phone,” she said.
Xavier reached for his phone and handed it over, unsure of why she needed it. Fascinated, he watched her fingers type something. She did it with clear expertise that it raised even more questions in his addled mind. The phone was back in his hand and it displayed a new contact that read ‘moral support’.
“What’s this?” he tilted his head.
Addams looked at him expectantly and when he stared back, confusion evident between his brows, she frowned an are you an idiot?
“That’s my number,” she finally said.
“You have a phone?!”