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Wednesday Addams shoved a batch of black, used candles into her younger brother Pugsley’s chest. “Mother wanted me to teach you how to summon ghosts now that you’ve acquired your outcast ability.” Wednesday sighed, the prospect of having to teach him something she had done time and time again—the novelty having long since worn off—like Enid explaining one of the millions of dumb, brain-rotting, intelligence-sucking TV shows she was currently into. Pulling her eyes out of their sockets and using them in lieu of the plastic ball of a paddleball would be much more entertaining. “I’ll meet you down in the basement in five minutes.”
Pugsley perked up, “who are we summoning?”
She had started out with family members. Safer, known entities, and certainly less likely to cause too much chaos for a first timer; however, there was one person she had wanted to see roll in their grave at the knowledge that she had won. So she decided to ignore her mother’s suggestion and replaced it with one of her own.
“Someone who needs to know that I bested them in the end.” Perhaps teaching Pugsley how to summon ghosts could be fun, especially if the subject were a personal enemy of hers. A wicked grin stretched across her thin lips, “place the candles in a large circle, light them, then wait for me. Don’t touch anything else.”
Silently slithering away, Wednesday set course for her boyfriend, Tyler Galpin. She wasn’t quite sure where he was exactly, just that he was somewhere around the Addams plot.
Trying his bedroom first, she sharply knocked on the door. She gave five seconds of opportunity to answer before she opened it herself, peeking her head in to see if he were there. Maybe he was napping, fast asleep in his bed, or he could be blasting music in those huge headphones Pugsley loved. However, his room was empty, and void of any shuffling that would indicate his presence anywhere.
Stopping by her room next door, she snatched up one of Laurel’s journals, stuffing it into her black backpack that went with her everywhere she went. Enid had tried to convince her to get a purse, something slim and elegant like her mother Morticia would debut, but Wednesday would rather hack off her shoulder blades with an axe to avoid the very idea of anything related to that. It was her trusty backpack or nothing.
That did not apply to situations that need extra luggage, of course, such as moving into and out of her dorm at Nevermore. This was purely her every day bag—but the distinction must be made.
Next, Wednesday flew down the stairwell, following the scent of warm baked goods wafting out from the kitchen. Tyler dabbled in baking sometimes with her parents, and loved convincing her to try his newest creation. Dyed black, as always. They were… quite delectable, if she were honest with herself. He had mastered a similar texture of her favorite roadkill pot pies. His coffee skills were much more desirable, however, but baking made him happy and she was not going to skip out if he ever attempted to poison her. Oh, what a delightful day that would be.
Stepping in front of the threshold to the kitchen, Wednesday stopped short, finding her parents slow dancing in the middle of the room, music so low she almost missed it over the giggles that bubbled from her mother’s lips as her father kissed haughtily at her shoulder.
Disgusting…
Curling her lips, Wednesday asked, “have either of you seen Tyler?”
Her mother peeled herself off of her husband—not fully, of course, too drunk on the feel of his lips blotting at her skin like he was trying to devour her, but enough to be able to face and speak to her daughter. “Sorry, mon corbeau, I have not. Have you tried the tower? He likes to go up there to think sometimes.”
Gomez detched himself from Morticia with a sickening, wet suctioned kiss. “A couple of hours ago, your monster mentioned catching us dinner. I believe he still feels embarrassed about getting caught in one of our traps last week, and hoped this would obsolve him of any lost faith in his hunting skills.”
Wednesday frowned. Tyler was an incredible hunter, human or Hyde. And he certainly had no need to be embarrased over getting caught in one of their endless traps set strategically across the property’s surrounding forest. Pugsley knew of every single one of them—considering he had set many of them up in the first place—only to still manage to trip one at least once a month. It was quite a hilarious spectacle coming across a bitter, seething Hyde as he reluctantly yelped for help, but such an oversight did not take away her faith in his skills and she did not like his overreaction to something so irrevocably small.
She hummed, taking that into consideration. Then, perhaps he was out by the shed.
Right before she stepped away, her mother called, “oh, are you going to show Pugsley how to summon a ghost? You know he’s been eager ever since that time we tried to see your aunt Ophelia and ended up with some bitter farm boy intent on destroying the property. I’m still not sure what happened.”
Wednesday stared at her, “yes, mother. I’ve chosen to bring back Laurel Gates to taunt her about how she lost and I won. I’m merely trying to find Tyler to see if he wants to join.”
“Oh, how wonderful! Please, do make her suffer, dear,” Morticia cooed, “I hold no empathy for a woman who tried to kill my daughter.”
It wasn’t like Wednesday needed her permission, but the action throbbed inside her beating black heart just a little bit to have her mother’s blessing. “Of course. She hurt Tyler, I want to make sure she regrets ever having set her sight upon him.”
With that, Wednesday promptly spun around and left her parents to their gag-worthy romance in the middle of the kitchen, heading straight out the back door for the vast woods that stranded their house away from the clutches of society.
Nearby, they had a large shed they used as a kill room for hunting. A space for some of their weapons and traps, of course, but also a place to debowel, skin, and wash their game. If her father was correct in that Tyler had spoke about it hours ago, no doubt would the Hyde have been able to find and catch something within that time frame. He was an apex predator, and the surrounding woods harbored various types of wild and delectable animals, perfect for the Hyde to select a worthy challenge.
While her favorite was roadkill pot pie with its distinctive hint of rubber and thin layer of dirt and the warm, flaky crust, she did enjoy a good selection of venison every now and then. Especially when it was her own boyfriend who hunted and killed for it. She had seen it multiple times already, but the mere vision of the Hyde stalking its prey, moving in for the kill or relishing in the fear as the chase enacts, all the way up to when whatever caught his attention lays limp in his sharp maw, it filled her with an animalistic joy that she rarely got to indulge in before the Hyde became hers.
Coming up to the shed, she found her boyfriend’s fluffle of rabbits strung up along the fence, hanging like some of Enid’s dastardly fairy lights. These “rabbit lights” were certainly much preferred.
However, it has been hours since the Hyde had gone hunting. Surely, he didn’t just hunt down rabbits? Was the vast surrounding wildlife playing hard to get, or was Tyler just having a bad couple of days?
“Tyler?” she called, stepping closer to the shed to the soft ambiance of rock music playing from inside. Whereas she preferred classical composures like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Johann Sebastian Bach, Tyler was more into rock. She personally found it reminiscent of clanging pots and pans together, much like Enid’s blood curdling pop beats, but it helped put him and the Hyde at ease. It wasn’t like she cared, however. If they were together, they would be listening to classical music, but he was out here by his lonesome. He could listen to whatever he pleased so long as it wasn’t loud enough to disturb her from the house.
Besides, gun to her head, if she had to choose between Tyler’s music or Enid’s, and she couldn’t just pull the trigger, she would have to choose Tyler’s. At least his had some sort of emotional depth to it.
As she propped open the door, she found him by the radio, turning down the volume of his music. A smile graced his lips at her very presence. He was such a lover boy, and only he could get away with overt sappy things like that. Unlike her parent’s display in the kitchen… “Hey, Wednesday. To what do I owe the pleasure of seeing my beautiful girlfriend out from her writing session?”
She rolled her eyes at him, unable to help the ghost of a smile that that tugged at her lips, which only made his grin widen. “I was wondering if you would like to join my brother and I in summoning a ghost. Mother asked me to teach him now that he has acquired his outcast ability.”
On the table behind the Hyde laid his true kill. A male buck, larger than the last one they caught about two months ago, she noted. Tyler was mostly through the process of skinning it, which then he would have to start chopping up the pieces and prepping them for the freezer. Or to sell, of course. The antlers had already been sawed off, placed off to the side with the others yet to be sold or made into some godawful mantle her father loved to decorate the place with. She understood the macabre of it all, but to her, it just seemed tacky and unimaginative.
The rabbits outside must have been a warm up, or perhaps he had a craving to satisfy.
“Oh?” Tyler wiped the blood off of his hands with a rag, peering down at her watching him do so intently. He bit at the inside of his cheek in a feign attempt at holding back an endearing smile, knowing what exactly was capturing her attention. The blood, the prospect of him killing and being covered in it was enticing to her. Always had been. Dipping his head down to try and snap her out of it, he continued. “Are you asking as a way to warn me that chaos might ensue, or are you trying to actually see if I would want to join?”
Wednesday blinked as his face stopped her from enjoying the drying blood on his hands, her gaze flickering up to meet his humored expression. She frowned, “I was enjoying my day that.”
“Sorry. Maybe next time you can come with me and watch it all from the very beginning,” he replied, leaning casually against the table, proud of himself for how he was one of the only people who could actually get Wednesday to react in such a way unlike herself that others saw. “So, ghost summoning?”
She huffed, “yes, I was wondering if you would like to join us. Not only to learn for yourself in case you’d want to one day speak with the ghosts of your dead parents, but my choice of ghost may be someone you would want to be present for.”
His eyebrows furrowed. “Dr. Kinbott?”
Oh. Perhaps that would be a good idea, to help Tyler speak to her and apologize as he has stated before that he wanted to.
“Next time, if you want.”
Then, his eyes darkened, pulling narrowly into a hard realization. “Laurel.”
Wednesday nodded. “I’ve been wanting to rub it in her face that not only have I survived despite everything, but you are thriving, free from shackles and the fear from society she wanted for you because of your betrayal to her. I figured you’d want to be there, or at the very least be aware it was happening.”
Tyler’s jaw tightened at the very idea of her, even if it were just her ghost. “I would prefer to be there, but I’m kind of occupied,” he explained, turning to bring attention back to his kill.
“Ask Lurch to finish up the butchering,” she prompted, “I asked my brother to meet me in the basement in five minutes and light the candles in preparation, and I was searching for you for longer than that. Lilith knows what he’ll do before I show up.”
He regarded her for a moment, the predicament and therefore time-restriction she was under. “I guess all that’s left is cutting out the selections of meat… I’ll wash my hands and join you in the basement in a moment.”
“Or you could keep the blood,” she hummed, not so innocently.
“I’m not getting freaky for her to watch,” Tyler laughed, shaking his head. “But, please, do keep that imagery for later.”
Playfully, Wednesday rolled her eyes. “I will find Lurch and let him know to come finish up your buck. Then, we’ll reconvene in the basement.”
Before Wednesday could turn away, Tyler stepped forward, delicately placing his stained hands on either side of her face to bring her in for a kiss. It only lasted for a couple of seconds, but it was certainly enough to make her head spin.
His touch, holding her promptly, mixed with the scent and the knowledge of the blood from the buck sent her senses into a frenzy—the Hyde knew exactly what he was doing and he also knew he was the only one who would survive deliberately messing with her like this. He echoed her with a grin as he pulled away, “we’ll reconvene in the basement.”
“So, in order to summon a ghost, we just need the lit candles placed in a wide circle, something that belongs to the ghost we are summoning, and the incantation?” Pugsley questioned for clarification, scanning the text he will be chanting once Tyler arrived. “What if you don’t have something that belongs to them? What exactly happened when we tried to summon aunt Ophelia?”
“What happened with aunt Ophelia is still unknown. We are unsure why she did not show up and someone else came in her stead, mother believes it may be a sign she is still alive. Opening up a door to her, who is not actually dead, could’ve allowed another to come through,” Wednesday explained, not allowing herself to hope that her aunt is actually still alive and out there somewhere. Until there was actual proof, she would remain realistic. “And as for not having an item that belongs to the deceased you are summoning, it is not wholly necessary. It merely helps strengthen the bond, that’s all.”
The door opened, and in rushed Tyler. “Sorry! Your parents made me try their chocolate croissants. They’re delicious, by the way.”
“Aw, he got to try the first batch?” Pugsley whined, pouting. “Mom always lets me be her taste tester!”
Wednesday rolled her eyes, “let’s get on with this, shall we?”
Tyler joined the siblings on the outskirts of the black candles, each of them at three points of a triangle. Equidistant of one another, not that it was some form necessary for the summoning, especially once the connection is made. They could roam about the room all they pleased, it was merely happenstance.
“First rule of order: summoning a ghost may be one of the easier levels of necromancy, but it is to be taken seriously. The candles are to contain the ghost in a predetermined area—allowing the ghost to roam is a different set up that we will cover once you master this. So, do not mess up the structure or she will be able to manifest,” Wednesday glowered towards the two, adamant they got that idea through their thick skulls. Her brother’s however was becaause he was idiotic and clumsy, whereas Tyler could be hot headed due to the nature of being a Hyde. Both needed reminding to watch themselves. “Which just means she can interact with the area. If we do not have a boundary set up outside of it, unplanned chaos like the aunt Ophelia mishap can occur and no doubt Laurel would become more insufferable than she was when she was was alive. Got it?”
Pugsley and Tyler nodded.
“Good. Remember, Pugsley, since you have not met her, she may try to stir something up. Do not let her get the best of you, or any of us. If something is about to happen, say goodbye and blow out one of the candles so she cannot come back,” Wednesday stared at each of the boys, making sure they knew how serious this was. Typically, she did not care, but with this ghost in particular, she’d make sure nothing could allow her to gain the upper hand from six feet under.
Wednesday tossed Laurel’s journal into the middle of the circle carefully, then stepped back, glancing at her brother to start the summoning.
Pugsley inhaled deeply, then let it out as he began reading the incantation in Latin. “Spiritum nomine Laurel Gates invoco. Apparitio eius qui olim erat. Veni ad me, Laurel Gates.”
Translated, it said: “I invoke the spirit named Laurel Gates. The apparition of who once was. Come to me, Laurel Gates.”
Wind quickly picked up speed in the basement from nowhere, merely the opening of the portal between realms. If only she could create that weatherly chaos of her own merit.
The candlelights flickered, Tyler’s curls swayed, her brother’s stringy shirt fluttered, but Wednesday remained still, like a picture.
When the wind subsided moments later, the redheaded atrocity of a woman was standing in the middle of the circle. Upon noticing where she was and who was surrounding her, her expression fell. “You just can't stay away, can you, Wednesday?”
“Please. You're nothing but a ghost summoning lesson for my brother. You’re not important,” Wednesday bit back, not giving her the satisfaction that she was actually brought back to quell her own selfish desire to give her one last beat down while she was already six feet under. Though, the gall of her to even think she’d be worth anything of merit is laughable. She had to unlock a young Hyde just to try and enact her revenge plot, and she didn’t even win in the end. How utterly embarrassing.
Her gaze flickered over to Tyler, his glare fixed on her imminent and deadly. His reaction only made her realize what her presence did to the Hyde, cackling a hideous laugh as she bent down to pick up her journal. The only thing she could touch. It wasn’t a physical object to her, however. It was more like a copy, her own ghostly apparition of it, so Wednesday did not have to worry about her trying to ruin the journal for her.
Not like she hadn’t made her brother copy the entire book just in case, but, still.
She flipped through a few pages as if any of it had changed, clearly not too excited to be here as cannon fodder. “That’s all I am, then? Practice? I was a teacher, you know. I can teach.”
"A teacher who grooms kids and locks them up in a cave,” Pugsley grimaced, his disgust over what he had learned about Tyler and what he had gone through taking over his entire being. His lips curled like milk, arms crossed defensively, and he scoffed, shifting on his feet. “No, thanks, i’ll take my L.”
“You mean F?” She clarified, like he was no dumber than a bag of rocks.
Which, sometimes, he was, but that kind of attack could only come from his sister. However, instead of reacting and coming up with a plan to make her feel some modicum of pain in her safe bubble on the spiritual plan, she allowed her brother to refute, handle himself instead. Not only did he need to learn, but this summoning was for him, and he should be prepared for anything.
“No. L. Like, loss?” Pugsley responded, just as condescendingly as she had corrected him. “Right, I forgot, you're old and wrinkly and irrelevant.”
“I am not any of those things! The Gates name is and will forever be known as the founding family of Jericho,” Laurel snarled calmly, though the edge in her voice gave her bubbling displeasure away. She was never good at feigning her true emotions. Even whilst trying to be a trusted normie teacher, Wednesday had never trusted her for a moment, far too repelled by her ‘sweet’ persona being more vomit-inducing than Enid’s was. At least Enid was obviously true in her kindness, despite how she let people walk all over her because of it.
Pugsley didn’t even know her. He knew of what she had done, but that was about it. And Wednesday was realizing that he was the perfect type to aggravate her without even trying. Maybe Wednesday should reward him for this unseen ability later.
“Your legacy is being genocidal wannabe victims who use children all to try and destroy the very existence of outcasts, only to fail in the end because you are incompetent and deciding against your better judgement to take on Addams,” Wednesday straightened her back and raised her chin, unblinkingly staring at the red fury that roared within Laurel’s brown eyes, calm and collected. Why would she have reason to be anything else? She won, and where they stood was proof of that. “All anyone thinks about when they speak about you, or your family, is how you tortured and unlocked a deadly outcast to use as your lackey and even with a Hyde as your arsenal, you still lost.”
“I had the misfortune of a defective Hyde,” she defended, glaring at the boy who scoffed at her jab.
Neither of them were going to take her bait, especially knowing it wasn’t factually correct. “Right. That reminds me,” Wednesday murmured. “What does it feel like?”
She noticed Tyler hide his smile in the corner of her vision—he, too, remembering where this was going seeing as it was their infamous conversation in the first place.
Laurel growled, “what does what feel like?”
“To lose?” She tilted her head, mimicking the Hyde, wide innocent puppy eyes and all. When Laurel didn’t bite, she continued, much like Tyler had back then, explaining to her about how penchant for revelling in the scent of his victim’s fear. “I remember your so-called defective Hyde cornering me in the sherrif’s office saying the exact same thing, trying to be a loyal mirror of his master in a feign attempt at unnerving me. Except now he has a master who understands what it means to be a master of a Hyde and how to use one to their utmost potential. And now that he’s on the winning side, I have no need to rub his face in it like a disobedient mutt.”
Laurel scoffed a laugh. “Typical, a cocky psychic and a cocky Hyde thinking they’re on top of the world because he’s begging for your scraps of love you pretend not to have.” She then shook her head dissmissively of her rising bitterness and stepped forward, standing mere inches from Wednesday as she glared down at her. “I saw you die. You were supposed to be dead.”
“I did die. For a moment,” Wednesday hummed in agreement, nonchalantly walking towards Tyler. “My spirit guide gave her essence to save me, thus bringing me back to life to distract Tyler and take you and your genocidal ancestor down for good.”
The redhead worked her jaw, peeved. Her eyes flickered between the couple, the psychic and the Hyde, thinking up some way to get a rise no doubt. They had been successful in getting one out of her, but they had no need to get worked up over a dead woman who was at the whim of a circle of candles that Pugsley spoke into existence. “Tyler wasn’t supposed to be there. But he didn’t want to believe me when I told him that you were dead, so he whined and bitched and yapped about how you were too smart to just die like that until I let him make sure for himself.”
“And for that, we became your undoing,” Wednesday leaned against Tyler now, a proud, coy smile warping her lips like a kept promise. “If Tyler had been at the school instead of being taken out in the woods, perhaps you would've won. But, alas, your forced mastery of the Hyde and therefore Tyler’s wavering devotion to you as you shoved him directly into my path to learn that all the crap you were spewing into the brain you fried to your behest was nothing more but sweet maternal lies to earn his loyalty was a demise of your own making.”
Laurel flew forward in a striking hot rage, flailing here arms in hopes it would collide with them, but the barrier sent her stumbling back with a loud shriek.
Tyler chuckled in amusement. “You have no power here, Laurel.”
“You have no power either,” she bit back. “Any power you do possess belongs to your master.” Laurel’s peeved, electrified eyes darted over to Wednesday, snarling. “Her.”
“That’s the difference between you and I, Laurel,” Wednesday started, “yes, Tyler needs a master to live and his entire state of being is at the mercy of whoever holds his leash, but whereas you believe Tyler’s abilities, his Hyde, are for you to exploit, I believe that mutual respect and trust go much farther than any command could ever enforce.”
Laurel let out a cackle, something akin to a donkey bray. Which is probably why a laugh escaped past Pugsley’s mouth, finding it childishly hilarious. “You really think… you really think that you can give the monster born to submit choices and expect him to fear you? In the end, he’ll remember he’s on his knees and rise to strike you down, too, Wednesday.”
Pugsley furrowed his eyebrows. “You’re saying a whole lot of nothing for someone who was gutted by said Hyde, completely unaware that their bond is totally different than whatever you had with him… you’re so annoying, goodbye.” He picked up a candle and blew it out, and Laurel shimmered out like a cooling ember, leaving her presence with nothing but an echo of her screaming for one last bout of displeasure. “Can we choose someone more interesting next time?”
Wednesday held back a humorous smirk, stepping into the circle to pick up the journal. “Perhaps a relative, like mother originally suggested. Goody is quite interesting to talk to, though she likes to hear about how women and outcasts have persevered and it gets a bit… long.”
“Okay… This was fun, though, despite Laurel being a total loser,” Pugsley shrugged. Suddenly, then, he perked up, “oh, Tyler, did you catch any rabbits for Eugene? He’s coming over later.”
Tyler nodded with a smile. “I got a few, Lurch is finishing up with them along with the buck I got. Just make sure you tell him at least one is from me, okay? I can’t have the credit of my kills completely taken away, alright?” The Hyde winked playfully at him, “besides, it’ll sound cooler when you say it was a competition and you managed to get one over on me.”
Pugsley taking credit for Tyler’s kills… that’s odd. All that for Eugene? The only explanation she could possibly come up with would be… Wednesday narrowed her gaze, “brother, are you attempting to court Eugene?”
Her brother looked like the buck Tyler caught right before he plunged his claws into it. Not that she was there, but the idiom ‘like a deer caught in headlights’ surely also would tranfer to a big, scary monster. “No. Of course not. Eugene just… said he’s never tried rabbit in passing and I overheard Tyler was going out to hunt, so I asked for a favor.”
Wednesday turned to Tyler. She didn’t even have to say anything as he smiled endearingly, “yeah, he has a big crush on Eugene.”
“She didn’t even ask you anything!” Pugsley whined, “damn, so down bad she didn’t even command the truth out of you.”
“As I told Laurel, trust and respect take you much farther than treating him like nothing but a silent, obedient soldier,” Wednesday hummed, satisfied by her brother’s pout. “I didn’t have to ask because he knows there is no reason to withhold such information from me in the first place.”
“You're not… mad?”
“Why would I? Suppose you were stupid enough to fall for someone as annoyingly boring and absolutely dreadful as Xavier Thorpe, perhaps then I would find every imaginitive way to squander it. I managed to evade him once, and if he ever tries again he’ll get much more than a beat down and a ruined mural,” Wednesday grit her teeth at the reminder of how Xavier made her feel, how he felt entitled to her merely because of their past. Even if she hadn’t of fallen for Tyler, she certainly would’ve asked him to help get the other psychic off her back. Like one of Enid’s horrid romance books, the fake dating trope Enid squealed over. She was certain that in any universe, she either ended up with Tyler, or she ended up alone. If she were to find out one ended with Xavier, she would positively save her parallel self and kill him on sight.
Pugsley shrugged meekly, swiftly reminding her to continue her lessons on teaching her younger brother how to grow a spine. “I don’t know… I just… other than Tyler, you’re not really one to understand or care about these kinds of things. I didn’t want you to make fun of me for it because I really like him and I don’t want anything to ruin it.”
She swallowed down the gentle, sharp pain that stabbed at her ribcage at the realization of her brother thinking she would ruin it, which she could see if, again, it was anyone other than Eugene. In hindsight, them being together would benefit her. No more pesky younger brother acting like a child, begging her to let him see the Hyde. Eugene would be over more, and therefore his slow acceptance of Tyler would continue much faster. They would have each other, someone good for the both of them that she wouldn’t feel the need to drown.
“I do not intend to stand in your way, Pugsley,” Wednesday started, taking a step towards him tentatively. “I like Eugene. He is loyal, smart, and brave, and he reminds me of you. It’s why I was so drawn to him in the first place, why I felt so protective over him and why I felt so guilty when he was almost mauled to death because of me. Unless he becomes a threat to you or our family, I have no qualms about your crush and no reason to ruin it, as you put it.”
Pugsley’s lips stretched into a soft, grateful smile, prompting her to step back from the oncoming hug but he pulled her into his body anyway, wrapping his arms tightly around her midsection. “Thank you, Wednesday.”
She didn’t hug him back, but she did pat at his shoulder—all she could muster in giving him the affection he was thrusting at her uninvited.
“Don’t you have a crush coming over to impress, Pugsley?” Wednesday muttered, trying to pry him off of her. He peeled himself off with that same stupid silly grin on his face.
Pugsley nodded, “right! I have to make sure it comes out perfectly. Thanks for the summoning lesson, love you, bye!”
The basement door slammed shut behind her brother, and she felt Tyler nudge at her. Smart—considering she was at her quota for touch thanks to her love-starved little brother. “So, I helped you understand love? Is that what I heard?”
“It is not, and you would do well not to fabricate such atoricious lies about my character if you do not want to find yourself finding out just how much stamina the Hyde can handle before his body breaks down. I wonder; would it be his legs, or his lungs to give out first?” she spit out threateningly, which annoyingly only brought out a humored puff of hair from her boyfriend. “You can think i’m joking all you want, but when you find out I am not, you will have no ground to stand on being pissed at me.”
From the way a smirk pulled at the corner of his lips, he had a quip armed and ready, but he wisened up and held his tongue, instead, and relented with a soft touch of his hand at her fingertips. “Thank for for inviting me to this. I didn’t speak much, but I think it was good to remind myself that she has no hold over me and never will ever again.”
Wednesday pursed her lips together. “I am glad it was good for you. I had feared maybe it would set you back, but you were right—you are stronger than you look. You just don’t have to hide it anymore.”
“Yeah… thank God,” he muttered. “Pretending to be a normie for so long, unable to truly unleash in a way I wanted to was draining. Plus, having to also pretend I was unable to break the door down at Gates’ Manor truly hurt me.”
“Poor little Hyde,” she mocked, mostly in a loving Wednesday-like manner, grabbing a hold of his hand. “Let’s go, the stench of her perfume somehow managed to overtake the basement and it is revolting.”
He was well aware that was not true and completely unable to happen because she was dead, but he let Wednesday pull him out of the basement anyway. “Lead the way, I will follow.”