Chapter Text
Wednesday.
Wednesday.
Wednesday.
Wednesday.
The same name, echoing relentlessly through his mind, like a curse he couldn’t break.
Sleep refused to come. Tyler lay awake, staring into the darkness, his thoughts consumed by her. By her black hair, always perfectly braided. By the freckles scattered across her pale skin. By her sharp brown eyes that had seen straight through him- seen things he wished she hadn’t.
She was everywhere. In every breath he took, in every memory he tried to bury.
He was lost. Completely.
He had done cruel things to her. Things he could never undo. He wasn’t proud of them- never had been. The guilt sat heavy in his chest, a constant reminder of the damage he’d caused.
But God… how he missed her.
He missed her silence, sharper than words. He missed the way she looked at him, like she already knew how the story would end. And worst of all, he missed the version of himself he’d been before he destroyed everything.
Wednesday haunted him.
And he knew she always would.
He turned over, but sleep still refused to claim him.
He lay there, staring into nothing, his mind crowded with her. He wanted to rip her out of his head, tear the thought of her apart until there was nothing left. He didn’t want to spend another minute thinking about her- about her beauty, her sharpness, the way she had cut deeper than any blade ever could. He had to get out of this place. Had to breathe.
Finally, he pushed himself up and left the wooden house, stepping outside beneath the night sky. The air was cold, biting against his skin, and for a moment his head felt lighter.
But she was still there.
In every shadow. In every quiet sound of the night.
He started walking, boots crunching softly against the ground, not knowing where he was going- only that standing still hurt too much.
He kept walking for what felt like forever, his feet carrying him forward while his mind stayed trapped in the past. He couldn’t stop replaying everything that had happened between them- every word, every glance, every moment that had once meant something.
God, he felt sick with guilt.
Guilty for something that wasn’t even entirely his fault… yet somehow still felt like it was.
He wished he could erase every mistake, every lie, every choice that had hurt her and her family. He kept thinking about the time before it all fell apart- before his secret was exposed, when everything had been so perfect it felt unreal. Like a dream he didn’t deserve to have.
Before her vision ruined everything.
Before he ruined everything.
He could still see her face as if it had happened seconds ago. The way her expression shifted after the vision- after it showed her what he’d been hiding from her since the day they met. After she finally understood who he truly was.
‚It was all my fault.‘
‚She chose to trust me… and I destroyed it all in fifteen seconds.‘
‚What was I thinking?‘
‚Was I even thinking?‘
‚No. I wasn’t.‘
‚Not because I didn’t want to, but because I was too afraid to.‘
Even though he was one of the most powerful creatures to ever exist, someone had still managed to control him completely. And Tyler knew he would never forgive himself for it.
For trusting Laurel.
And why would Wednesday forgive him?
If he were her, he would hate his own guts. And he’d have every right to.
Some mistakes couldn’t be undone. Some damage couldn’t be repaired- no matter what he did, no matter how hard he tried, no matter what kind of person he became in the future.
Because the truth was simple.
He had broken something sacred.
And maybe it was already too late to ever fix it.
He hears a stick snap, and his Hyde ears immediately perk up. A second later, his Hyde sense of smell kicks in, sharp and unforgiving.
Blood.
He knows that scent.
His body reacts before his mind can catch up- his legs moving fast, instincts taking over. But he doesn’t run toward where the blood is.
He runs in the opposite direction.
Straight for the bell.
Because blood doesn’t just mean someone is hurt.
It means trouble is already here.
He pounds on the bell- hard, relentless, so loud the sound slices through the night and jolts the entire camp awake.
He doesn’t need to explain much. They already know.
Footsteps thunder toward him, voices rising, chaos stirring as tents open and bodies rush outside. Capri is the first to reach him, breathless, her eyes wide with alarm.
“Tyler! What’s wrong?!” she calls out.
Tyler’s jaw clenches, his Hyde senses still screaming.
“Blood,” he says sharply. “Directly north. Not far from here.”
That’s all it takes.
A few of the Hydes don’t hesitate- bones cracking, skin shifting as they transform within seconds before sprinting into the darkness like shadows unleashed.
Because blood this close doesn’t mean an accident.
It means someone fired a weapon near the camp.
And if someone has found them…
Then all of them are in danger.
“Stay here,” Capri orders, grabbing his arm firmly. “Don’t move a muscle, Tyler.”
Tyler jerks away, his chest heaving, his eyes wild.
“No,” he snaps. “I can’t stay here-” His voice cracks, his Hyde instincts clawing at him from the inside. “The blood… it smells like someone I know. And that can only mean-”
He can’t bring himself to finish the sentence.
Capri does it for him.
“Enid.”
Her voice is barely more than a whisper.
Tyler freezes, swallowing hard, and then gives a tense, silent nod.
“Stay. Here. And. Do. Not. Move,” Capri tells him firmly, her voice leaving no room for argument.
Then she turns and heads off into the darkness, straight toward where the blood is coming from.
Tyler stays behind.
He forces himself to.
Even though every instinct in his body is screaming at him to follow.
His chest rises and falls rapidly, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. He stands there like he’s rooted to the ground, staring into the night, listening- waiting.
Seconds feel like hours.
“Fuck,“ he mutters under his breath, dragging both hands through his hair as if he could pull the frustration out of his skull.
An arrow suddenly rips through the air- and slams into his shoulder.
Tyler lets out a deep, strangled groan, stumbling back as pain explodes through his body. His breath catches, his hand instantly flying to the wound as warm blood spills between his fingers.
His heart pounds violently as he forces his head up, eyes scanning the darkness.
His eyes widen.
A shadow moves between the trees.
“How-„ is the only word that manages to leave his lips.
But before he can even finish the thought, something heavy crashes into the side of his head.
His vision blurs.
His knees buckle.
And within seconds, everything fades to black.