Medicine ━━ Tyler Galpin

𝟭𝟵. house of wolves

CHAPTER NINETEEN
all my troubles in a burning pile

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     𝐈mpulsiveness and curiosity never really mixed well altogether. It was just a disaster waiting to happen. Like gasoline and fire, the simplest things in each separate world but once they come together━they suddenly become this bigger, more dangerous thing that just burns everything in its way. Fire on its own is already a disastrous thing. Supposedly, that was also Agnes Turner, only the shape of a young girl with slippery fingers that shouldn't hold anything flammable.

    It turned out Xavier Thorpe knew what the gates were or where the gates were, which didn't surprise Agnes as he was an avid runner and he practically went everywhere. The only problem was that the gates were from an abandoned mansion not far from Nevermore Academy, and it was owned by a notorious normie family. The Gates. Fitting for a shitty mansion. At least from where she stood. Garrett Gates, the guy Gomez Addams was accused of murdering, lived there, too.

     "This looks worse than the mansion I burned down," Agnes muttered, studying her dead surroundings. Even the grass and trees were void of color, like whoever had lived there had somehow sucked all the life out of them. "Xavier better be right."

    Wednesday stepped forward after she compared her drawing to the closed gates in front of them. "This is it."

     She followed Wednesday inside the abandoned property, the rusted gates creaking uncomfortably, metal against metal as they left it open. From what she'd gathered, Garrett's family died, along with their legacy of hate (especially towards the outcasts).
   
     They ended up by the entrance of the manor with a stone archway. The door looked almost untouched but also old. The red paint was chipping off and the doorknob was rusted with copper. Everything looked dangerously hazardous. Like if you prick a finger, it will send you into a catatonic state. Wednesday went to open the door but Agnes suddenly heard something inside. She put a hand on the girl's shoulder, giving her a warning look. Thankfully, Wednesday understood.

    The girls didn't waste any time bolting away from the red doors with their quiet feet. They crouched behind a dead bush beside each other, Thing perched upon Wednesday's shoulder and listening intently as the person locked the doors and appeared. Her eyes narrowed, recognizing who it was. What in the world was Mayor Walker doing in an abandoned mansion of a horrid family that died long ago? One thought she had in common with Wednesday.

     "I need a distraction," Wednesday whispered.

    As soon as Thing slipped away, the girls shared a look of agreement with each other. Silently, they began to follow Mayor Walker through a patched dirt road, hiding behind thick dead bushes surrounding them. They watched him put his phone beside his ears, seemingly talking to someone on the other line.

     "Sheriff, pick up your damn phone, it's Noble. Listen, I might have figured out who's behind all of this." Mayor Walker went to continue but Thing━who was smartly hiding━threw a pebble at him. He looked a little confused but he ignored it. "It's a long shot so I'm gonna have to lay it out for you. We'll do it over pie at the Weathervane, just like the old days. See you soon."

    Just how awful Mayor Walker's peripheral was? Agnes almost laughed when she ran after Wednesday towards the back of his car. They crept around the back, making sure they weren't making any noise. Thing kept throwing random pebbles at him but the man didn't seem to realize where it was coming from nor was too bothered about it. His distractions did give Wednesday time to open the back━which truthfully made her a little uneasy━and jumped inside.