Chapter Text
Wednesday should’ve said no. She wishes she had said no. If she had, she wouldn’t currently be holding Enid Sinclair in her arms as the werewolf bled out on the forest floor.
The evening had started out normally enough.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Wednesday internally grimaces as she comes face to face with her roommate at the top of the stairs. She had hoped to leave before Enid got back from her social outing to avoid this very question. She gives her bag containing Thing an annoyed shake. It was his fault they were behind schedule. Him and his ridiculous moisturizing routine.
She puts on her best poker face and stares down the werewolf, ignoring the familiar feeling of electricity in her chest as she does so. “To collect data for my investigation.”
Enid, never one to be fazed by Wednesday’s death stares, raises an eyebrow in challenge. “Is it dangerous?”
“No more than anything I do.” The raven does her best to sound casual.
“That’s Wednesday code for incredibly dangerous, bordering on psychotic.”
“It’s not-”
“I’m coming.”
“You aren’t.”
Enid places her hands on her hips. “I am.”
Wednesday’s eye twitches. Curse this werewolf. When was the last time she ever refused Enid anything? She honestly can’t remember. It was truly pathetic.
The wolf smirks, already knowing she’s won. “Come on, every Batman needs his Robin!”
The seer clenches her jaw and pushes past Enid on the stairs. “I’ve told you how much I despise your pop culture comparisons to real life.”
Enid rolls her eyes as she follows Wednesday back down the stairs like an eager puppy. “I know but you have to admit it fits us well.”
Wednesday pauses and turns toward her roommate. “I’m unfamiliar with such trivial stories, but from what I’ve gathered, isn’t Robin Batman’s sidekick?”
The blonde tilts her head, “Yes?”
“Then it does not fit us.”
Enid frowns and chases after the seer who has begun moving again. “Why not? You’re definitely Batman. Vigilante that throws themself into danger as if their own mortality doesn’t exist? Check. Super rich? Check. Only wears black? Double check.”
“And how do you suppose you’re Robin then?” Wednesday sighs, somewhat disbelieving she is even indulging this conversation.
Enid shrugs, “I’m loyal and I’ll always have your back. Plus I bring the much needed color to the duo.”
Wednesday huffs as she easily picks the lock to the gate of the campus. “I suppose that’s not…inaccurate.”
Enid beams, “See?”
“You’re not my sidekick though,” the goth mutters without thinking as she pushes open the gate.
“Then what am I?”
Wednesday freezes and hopes her roommate doesn’t pick up on the cardiac event in her chest. Does the werewolf even know how loaded of a question that is? She considers ignoring it altogether, but she thinks that would make her true feelings too obvious to the annoyingly perceptive wolf.
“You are my…” Best friend? Not inaccurate, but Wednesday Addams didn’t use such immature vocabulary. Pack? Also not inaccurate, but not something that needs to be vocalized again. Everything? Perhaps the most terrifyingly accurate description of all. One that must be shoved away and avoided at all costs. “Equal. You’re not my sidekick.”
Enid’s grin softens at that, and her blue eyes shine with that emotion that always comes through whenever Wednesday says something sweet only to her. An emotion that Wednesday refuses to name, lest it cause her heart to beat out of her chest onto the pavement.
“You’re sweet Wends,” Enid says softly, reaching out as if to touch the girl’s arm but not quite making contact.
“I’m nothing of the sort.” Wednesday retorts quickly. Her eyes follow her roommate’s motion, unsure if she wants Enid to pull back or lean forward. She crosses her arms, trying to claw back some semblance of control over the moment. “I am only giving a logical explanation. You’re far more my equal than my sidekick, especially given your abilities. Nevertheless, I can handle myself. You do not need to be here.”
The blonde sighs and wonders how many times the seer is going to give her this spiel. “I know you can handle yourself, Wends. But isn’t it better to have a super strong and fast alpha werewolf by your side?”
The moon glints off Enid’s fangs as she smiles. Wednesday finds herself wondering if her roommate also has vampiric abilities because she’s completely enthralled by the yellow tint in the wolf’s blue eyes. She can’t help but agree. It was better to have a werewolf by your side. Preferably forever. Where did that come from?
The seer huffs and forces herself to move again, lest she keep standing there and do something stupid like press Enid against the gate and run her tongue over the werewolf’s canines. “I suppose it’s…convenient at times.”
Enid grins as she continues to follow the seer. “That’s me. Enid Convenient Sinclair.”
“Hardly.” Wednesday grumbles, not appreciating the smugness in the roommate’s voice. “The amount of nail polish you leave all over the bathroom counter is the last thing that I would call convenient.”
“At least I didn’t leave a gross human eyeball there,” Enid shoots back.
“At least that has some semblance of intrigue,” Wednesday mutters and she continues pressing forward.
“Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t know the items on our bathroom sink had to be murder mystery worthy,” Enid grumbles. Then she frowns as she takes in their surroundings. Having just been blindly following Wednesday, she has no idea how they ended up in the middle of the woods yet again. “Where are we?”
Wednesday pulls out a flashlight and switches it on. A small rundown and abandoned structure comes into view in front of them. “Calloway’s hideout.”
Enid gulps, “The serial killer? Wasn’t he just found dead?”
“So the sheriff’s office claims. They don’t have the right body though.”
“You snuck into the morgue again??”
The raven doesn’t respond and walks toward the dilapidated house, hoping to avoid the scolding she knows is coming.
“Wednesday!” Enid whisper-yells. “You’re not supposed to sneak into the morgue!”
“And we’re not supposed to sneak out of the school and hunt down a serial killer, yet here we are.” Wednesday pushes the front door which opens with a deafening creak.
Enid gives a nervous squeak behind her. “Wednesday…I’m not sure this is a good idea.”
“You say that every time.”
“And I’m usually right?”
“We’ve survived this long.”
“Multiple near-death experiences later!”
Wednesday raises an eyebrow, “You can leave if you want.”
Enid frowns, “No way in hell am I letting you go in there alone. Let’s go.”
The seer takes a moment to admire the wolf’s courage. Wednesday genuinely wasn’t afraid of much, so didn’t often have to find courage in the face of her fears. Enid had plenty of fears though, but she always faced them head on, especially when it came to protecting people she cared about. Well at least…protecting Wednesday. The seer decides not to linger on that thought as she enters the house of a serial killer.
Her flashlight sweeps the room, reflexes on edge for any sudden movements. Thing scuttles out of her bag and turns on the lights that flicker above them.
“Yikes, and I thought Thornhill’s lair of disgusting body parts was creepy,” Enid wrinkles her nose as she takes in the room filled with chains, axes, and stains that look disturbingly red. She had gotten more used to the macabre after being roommates with Wednesday for nearly three years, but she still had her limits. “This is like, serial killer stereotype to the max.”
“It is a bit predictable,” Wednesday agrees, continuing to canvas the area. She glances at the werewolf, “Do you sense anything?”
This was a recent development since Wednesday started letting (after much coercion) Enid accompany her on investigations. Werewolves, especially alphas, had extraordinarily heightened senses. It had saved them on more occasions that the seer was willing to admit, and she figured she may as well start to use it to her benefit proactively this time.
The wolf pauses and focuses hard. A second later, Enid’s eyes have turned fully yellow as she lets her inner alpha rise to the surface. The wolf’s eyes dart around the room at superhuman speed, searching for any threats.
Wednesday tries not to stare. She fails miserably. She had found werewolves incredibly fascinating as a child, but never did she expect to be so taken by one in real life. Curse whatever gene her father passed down to her that made her yearn this much.
After a moment, Enid shakes her head and her eyes turn back to that brilliant shade of blue. “Other than a horrifying amount of dried blood everywhere, I don’t sense anything.”
Wednesday nods in satisfaction, fully trusting the wolf. She pretends not to have been staring just seconds before. “Thing, look for Calloway’s knife. We know he uses it on all his victims and it wasn’t found with the body.”
Thing nods and scuttles around the room.
Wednesday continues to walk through the rows of bloody saws and axes. Enid is glued to her side, clearly terrified but doing her best to hide it. Their fingers brush as they walk and the raven allows it. Only to provide the blonde comfort of course.
They walk deeper into the lair and a gust of cold wind blows in and rattles the saws. Enid squeaks and fully grabs her hand this time. Wednesday still can’t bring herself to pull away. In fact, it may provide her just a bit of comfort too, knowing the wolf is right there.
“Wednesday, I really don’t think we should be here.”
“Calloway has murdered five people in the last five days.”
“That seems like it’s just proving my point.”
The raven sighs and presses forward, though her hand tightly grasps the wolf’s now in reassurance. “I just need evidence for the sheriff that he’s not dead. Then we can go.”
“But-”
“Enid. You said you didn’t sense anyone and I don’t doubt your senses. That makes you and your inner wolf the most terrifying thing here right now.”
Enid stops in her tracks. “Do you find my wolf scary?”
“No,” Wednesday quickly responds. I find it absolutely breathtaking. Perhaps the only thing scary about it is how much the beauty of you and your inner wolf undo me. “I just mean you’re stronger and faster than any threat that could come at us at this point.”
“Thanks,” Enid mumbles, grasping the seer’s hand tighter. “I suppose.”
Wednesday’s not sure how well she did at calming the wolf’s fears, but she’s happy to note the slight pink on the blonde’s cheeks at the praise.
She presses forward until they reach the end of the room. Thing comes scuttling back and shakes his hand. She huffs. “Looks like we’ve reached a dead end.”
Enid breathes a sigh of relief, “Okay let’s go back now.”
The raven nods and lets the wolf turn them around and start pulling her out of the house by their still connected hands. She sends a sharp glare at Thing who gives her a smug wiggle as they pass by.
They’ve taken two steps out the door when Wednesday knows something is wrong.
Enid, the infuriating, magnificent wolf, is faster.
“Wednesday!”
A gunshot rings out, echoing through the woods.
Wednesday watches in horror as her roommate jumps in front of her to block the bullet that was surely meant for her own heart.
“Enid!” Wednesday hardly recognizes the sound of her own voice as she lunges forward to catch the blonde before she collapses. She stares with wide panicked eyes at the blood pooling around the wolf’s stomach.
Another shot rings out and hits the tree next to her.
Despite her legs feeling wobbly at best, Wednesday forces herself back to her feet. She couldn’t help Enid if they were both dead. She runs behind a tree as another bullet flies by and pulls out her crossbow from her bag. She looks rapidly around the dark woods, eyes finding nothing. Oh how she wishes for werewolf senses at this moment.
Snap.
The sound echoes between gunshots. Thing found him.
Wednesday lets her arrow fly in the direction of the snap. A pained grunt follows.
She runs toward the sound and soon stumbles upon a man collapsed on the forest floor, holding his leg that now had an arrow buried in it. He grins wildly up at the seer, blood foaming in his mouth. “I knew you’d come looking.”
Wednesday shoots him in the other leg for good measure. She doesn’t even get to enjoy his howls of pain though because the only thing going through her mind is Enid Enid Enid. She forces herself to stay in the moment a second longer. “Thing, get his gun.”
The hand complies and grabs the weapon from the ground.
The serial killer continues to grin. “I thought your little werewolf friend would be with you too, so I brought her an extra special present. Didn’t think she’d jump right in front of you though. Made it super easy on me. That’s one loyal wolf.”
Wednesday’s eyes widen as she drops to her knees and grabs the gun from Thing. She yanks the barrel open.
Silver bullets.
For the first time ever, pure panic rises in Wednesday Addams’ veins. She looks desperately at Thing. “Get help!”
The hand scuttles off as fast as his five fingers will carry him.
Calloway continues to laugh as blood gushes from his wounds. “She’ll die because of you.”
Wednesday knocks him out with the barrel of the gun.
Seconds later she’s sliding on the ground next to the crumpled form of her roommate. “Enid!”
She scrambles for a pulse, and for a terrifying moment the only one she can feel is her own pounding in her head. But then she finds it, faint, but there.
“Wends?” Enid says raggedly, blue eyes looking up but unseeing. “Are you okay?”
Damn Enid Sinclair and her incessant need to make sure Wednesday Addams was alright.
“I’m fine, Enid.” Despite having faced multiple near-death experiences in the past, it’s the first time Wednesday hears actual terror in her own voice. She wasn’t fine. In fact, she’s never felt less fine in her life.
“That’s…good.” Enid says tiredly, her eyes starting to droop.
“Stay with me, Sinclair,” Wednesday growls, grabbing the blonde’s hand. With her other hand she lifts the wolf’s shirt and feels bile in her throat. The silver bullet shines like a death sentence in the moonlight, still embedded in Enid’s stomach.
For a terrifying moment she feels frozen in panic. She never freezes. The last time she froze like this was…when Enid pranked her that day on the balcony. Damn this wolf.
“I-I have to take the bullet out.” Wednesday forces herself back into action. Enid was not going to die from her inactivity. Enid was not going to die. She’s not. Wednesday gulps and grabs the first aid kit from her bag. She’s vaguely aware her eyesight is clouded with tears, but she can’t bring herself to care.
“Hmmm,” Enid mumbles groggily. “That seems less than ideal.”
Wednesday doesn’t trust herself to respond so just grabs the tweezers and sterilizes them.
“Wednesday?” The seer can hear the fear in Enid’s voice. She can taste it in the midnight air. Feel it in her own chest.
Her hand shakes as she holds up the tweezers but she forces it steady. With her free hand she grabs the wolf’s desperately again, more for her own sake than Enid’s at this point.
“It will be okay,” Wednesday links their pinkies together. “I promise.”
It will be okay. It has to be okay.
Enid just nods and looks up with such complete trust in her eyes that Wednesday almost stumbles back onto the forest floor. She doesn’t deserve that trust. Not now. Not when she’s the cause of this mess. She shakes her head and forces herself to focus on what needs to be done. Now was not the time to get caught up in her roommate’s devotion.
With a steady hand that only years of practice could teach, Wednesday grasps the bullet and slowly extracts it. Enid’s grip on her other hand is strong enough to crack her bones, yet she relishes the pain because it means the wolf is still with her.
Despite the clear agony she feels, Enid doesn’t cry out, only bites her lip hard enough to draw blood. If she wasn’t so terrified of losing her, Wednesday could’ve kissed her.
“It’s out,” The seer takes a shaky inhale and discards the silver bullet. “I just need to clean it and stitch it up.”
She freezes as she feels a hand on her cheek, wiping away a stray tear.
The hand is cold.
The werewolf was never cold.
“It’s okay,” Enid says softly, her weakened voice barely audible over the shattering of Wednesday’s own heart.
“E-Enid…” The raven trembles.
The wolf’s eyes drop closed as her hand falls back to the ground. Wednesday wants to beg the wolf to stay awake, to stay with her. But that would be a futile endeavor at this point and she needs to focus. Enid can’t lose anymore blood. She wipes away the tears in her eyes with her sleeve and sets to work.
When she’s finally done with the stitches, Enid is fully unconscious. She looks so still. Stiller than Wednesday had ever seen her, even in sleep. The only thing that provides Wednesday any comfort is that she can see the werewolf's pulse in the moonlight, though it’s fainter than it ever has been.
She laces her fingers with her roommate’s, black nails intertwining with bright colorful ones.
“Stay with me, mi lobo.” Wednesday whispers in the dark. Her tears fall freely, unashamedly, against the forest floor.