Medicine ━━ Tyler Galpin

𝟭𝟲. under pressure

CHAPTER SIXTEEN
we've gotta unlearn all our faults

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    𝐀gnes ran. She ran like hell. She could hear Wednesday behind her. Breathing heavily and trying to catch up with her pace. But there was no time to stop. This was a matter of life and death. Eugene's life. And they were not going to let the innocent boy die just because they dragged him into their mess.

     The woods in the night had never looked so frightening. It was definitely because the monster prowling at this time. Darkness encased them like a blanket. The moon didn't do so much from the abundance of trees around them. Agnes was never scared. Not until tonight when she knew a little kid was in great danger.

     "Eugene!" Wednesday yelled behind her. She was hoping he would hear her. "Eugene!"

     "We have to hurry!" Agnes said loudly between deep breaths. Her eyes were wide and alert. She swore she could almost hear everything, Their heartbeats. The cicadas. Every rustle of leaves and crunch of twigs. "Come on!"

     "Eugene?" Wednesday called once more as she kept running.

     Agnes gritted her teeth, ripping half of her dress in the middle of running. She threw the fabric away and began muttering under her breath: "Come on, kid. Come on."

     Despite being covered in fake blood, Agnes looked more bothered about the fact that Eugene could die tonight if they didn't find him soon. They stopped halfway through the woods, looking around in a hurry, desperate to find the little boy. Wednesday Addams had never looked so worried in her life.

     "Eugene!" They yelled, hoping and begging that someone would answer them in this dead of night.

     "Wednesday! Agnes!" Then they heard it. Eugene. "Over here!"

     They didn't need to be called twice. Immediately, as fast as their feet could bring them, they ran towards the sound of his voice. Yet as they neared him, something that they'd been dreading to hear echoed throughout the forest. Agnes felt her stop but she didn't stop running and neither did Wednesday. They didn't even look at each other as Eugene's frightful screams entered their ears.

     Then Agnes heard that oh-so-familiar growl fading into the distance. But the bloodthirsty monster wasn't her worry for tonight. It was Eugene, lying idly on the forest ground, with real blood all over him.

    She couldn't even move on her feet. Wednesday rushed over to his body, looking like someone just took a knife to her heart. Yet she looked more furious than worried. They were too late. The monster had gotten to him before they did.

     Suddenly, Ms. Thornhill came running towards them. It seemed like she had followed them all throughout the school. Agnes hoped it was to see if they were alright. Because the red-haired lady really has a knack for showing up at places where nobody needed her.

     "Oh my God!" She gasped, staring wide-eyed at once was a bubbly and kind Eugene Otinger lying deadly still next to Wednesday. "Is he alive?"

     Agnes went to answer her, but instead, all she got was a quiet noise of nothing. Her words got caught up in her throat like a sick feeling. She hated being sick. Because she couldn't do anything when she was sick. She tried to take a deep breath and closed her eyes as if the gruesome image of Eugene horribly hurt would disappear.

     It didn't. Because it was right in front of her. But she did stop breathing for a while and listened to his heart. For a second, there was nothing. There was a pause. Like before a beat drops in a song. Or before a person tells a deep secret no one ever knew. Thump. She took a deep breath. Then thump-thump-thump again. This time her facial expression relaxed.