Chapter Text
The wood of the repaired porch looked naked compared to the white painted columns framing the entrance to Tyler Galpin’s childhood home. The pale blue of the house had faded and were marked up to a now damp grey but the windows were freshly installed with better insulation and the roof not even a year old.
Tyler tapped his foot, rubbing the back of his neck as he tried to stop pacing on to the patio that his dad had repaired barely a month before his demise.Tyler still couldn’t believe that it was a heart attack that did him in. Cardiac arrest in a police station; his mom would have had a laugh at the irony.
Well... Tyler could believe it but as he tried to wrap his head around the idea that yes, his dad had finally been laid to rest - right next to his dearly departed mother nearly 23 years after her own passing - Tyler felt almost bereft in all the unspoken conversations that he always wanted but never had with Donovan Galpin. Even now, after arranging everything into the basement storage until he had confirmed the sale of the house, Tyler felt the one-sided-ness of his grief more acutely; everything about his mom and his dad’s omisions would have to be left unsaid. Thirty-two years old and Tyler still felt like the miserable fifteen year old utterly furious with his father’s neglect and belligerence.
A pained whine called to him from the front screen door and Tyler withdrew his hands from his hair, sighed with a little relief at Elvis, the old dog she was, calling for Tyler to come back inside. The dark-furred pitbull breathlessly tried to jump on Tyler’s thighs when he came in. Tyler smiled sardonically, already imagining Elvis’ confusion when they left the house today.
Still for another twenty minutes, Tyler was hoping to finally sell to a new couple in the area; the couple had sounded exhausting over email so far but Tyler hoped given the proximity to Jericho town center and the large backyard and updated heating system from a state grant a few years back that the couple would up their bid.
Not that they had much competition so far.
Tyler dropped into the last bit of furniture in the kitchen, the rocking chair his paternal grandmother had left for his mother but only arrived at their home after Francoise’s death.
Being an adult sucked; despite all the freedom and finally getting out of Jericho, Tyler found himself pulled back once more into the fray. Even the silver lining that the Weathervane’s upstairs apartment was once again vacant with the out-of-state owner finally willing to sell both, the gurgling feeling in his gut of somehow returning back to the sleepy, bigoted town and knowing that on some level Tyler hadn't changed still unsettled him. He wished he had.
His Iphone vibrated and a text message popped up in his notifications. Tyler grimaced at the screen.
Happy 32nd b-day! Let's not run another bistro into the ground!
Tyler gave a measured exhale out his nose, dismissing the notification without response. If only he could buy the Weathervane from the current out-of-state landlord who was trying to get rid of the whole building.
Elvis went quiet, curiously greeting a little shadow as Tyler got up and pulled at one of the cabinet knobs for a mug.
*shink* *pop* *crash*
The cupboard door ripped off its hinges, now hanging in Tyler's hand.
“Fuck-”
“Could you move over? I need to see what else needs to be fixed.”
Standing abruptly, Tyler made room “sure, let me just-” Tyler stopped.
Beside him was a short woman, with two braids of black hair casually wrapped around her shoulders like twin snakes. She didn't look at him, but instead the inspected the status of the twisted hinges on the wooden panel in his hand
“Who are you?” Tyler cursed silently. If this was Mrs. Buckman-Glicker, he had just fucked up this showing.
“I'm Wednesday. I heard this house was haunted.”
Oh
“I swear it's not haunted.”
“What a pity.”
She walked away, greeting the pit bull with a cursory scratch of the chin before moving to the hallway. Tyler trailed after her.
“Has anyone died in the house recently?” As she marched up the stairs.
“No, my parents died elsewhere.”
The woman whipped around on the staircase, her hands jutting out to hold his face, angling it as if she was trying to find something hidden in the constellation of moles on his jaw line. Tyler swallowed a purr and took the opportunity to inspect her in kind.
Her nails were manicured and relatively soft save for some small scars along her middle fingers and left palm. Her black fringe cut hid the scrunch of her eyebrows but not the coffee brown of her eyes or the freckles dotting her darker skin. He spotted the hint of an old scar just above her temple from a blade. Remarkably, she had the visage of someone he struggled to recall from when he was very young but the memory escaped him.
Tyler did remember that the woman he was thinking of was a witch his mother knew and that with the light smell of burnt sage and myrtle on this woman holding his face, he would bet a lot of money that she was the same.
“So do you want to buy the house?” He asked. The little witch blinked, as if not expecting him to speak. Letting go just as quickly as she had grabbed him, Wednesday’s spine stiffened as she spun to finish walking upstairs. He winced as he heard the kitchen door slam shut in step with the squeak of the top stair. Tyler tapped down his frustration, hopping the witch wouldn’t notice the amount of old house noises that seemed to follow them.
“That depends greatly on the strength of the haunting.”
Tyler grinned. No need to mask the mixed and long history of the town for a normie.
“We’re in Vermont, not to mention less than a mile from Nevermore Academy; Everything is haunted.”
She frowned at him, reminding him of a pouting child, before she leaned into the master bedroom. He leaned against the door frame and asks, “What brings you to Jericho anyway?”
“You already said it.”
"Nevermore?”
She nodded, looking sideways into his eyes. Tyler smiled, “a new teacher, well great. We’re just a ten minutes drive from there.” The new term wouldn’t start for another five months but maybe she was running from something. Wouldn’t be the first time an outcast decided to hide in Jericho, in this house no less.
“I prefer to walk. Is there a shortcut in the woods?”
Tyler nodded, “Yeah, a half hour. I used to stalk my dad through there-“ Tyler clamped his mouth. “You must think I'm weird…”
“Not all.” She looked up at him directly now. “I used to stalk my parents when I was a teenager as well. How else are we to avoid them?”
Charmed, Tyler laughed at her agreement. A kooky one he thought.
“I’ll take the house,” She said.
Tyler pulls away from her face, surprised at how much he had leaned into her space.
“Uh, sure. I’ll take your bid and email you -“
“I don’t use email. How much is the asking price?” Tyler responds with the number on instinct, ready to expound about the new roof when Wednesday pulled out a wage of bills.
“I’ll pay double.” She handed him the cash and started walking away to check the bathroom.
“How-“
“If you would prefer gold I would need a day to arrange for it to be sent.”
“Gold? No, cash is fine.”
“Perfect,” She called back. “Where is the nearest coffee shop?”
Tyler called back as he counted the bills, all Ben Franklins, “The Weathervane downtown.” Not even halfway through and he could pay off the outstanding property tax on the house and buy the Weathervane…
“Alright; I’ll move in now.”
Tyler stared at her as she dropped a dark, large knapsack that seemed to appear out of nowhere. His jaw hung open, only startled when Elvis bumped his leg on his way to examine Wednesday’s belongings. He hadn’t even moved the last of the furniture that he hadn’t managed to sell but if she was ready to take that with the house that would save him a lot of time and money.
“I don’t pressume the dog here is included with the house.” She stated deadpan. Tyler suddenly felt on guard; he might had been desperate to get rid of the house but Elvis was not the house at all.
“No. Do you want her to be?” He asked airily with sharp eyes. Her next words would determine his next steps...
“I was joking.” She patted Elvis’ head nonetheless. Tyler nodded, pocketing the cash and not letting his gaze wander from the short woman. He dropped a set of keys on the window sill.
“I will need some time to move some things out from the basement but the house is yours.”
And with that, Tyler picked up his dog and left.
As he locked the front door with his own second pair of keys, a shivering pair of out-of-towners ran up the stairs to the covered patio. A bespeckled man pulled off his glasses and put his hand out in greeting as his wife waved her purse in a vain attempt to dry it. “Hello! Sorry we are a bit late, not used to slippery roads! We’re here for the showing-“
“Sorry, the house has been sold.” Tyler smiled, balancing his sad looking pitbull in his arms. He knocked the screen door shut and ducked down to run to his own car in the driveway.
The couple stared after him utterly baffled, turning to one another in complete shock and then looking back. Not far from then, inside the house, several other occupants watched as Tyler Galpin backed out in his car and drove back into town.
Wednesday Addams smiled secretly, ignoring her non-corporal house mates as they argued about unfinished business; She had more than enough inspiration here to finish her latest novel before her new job began.
And a new coffee haunt to visit.