mere mystery, wavier

7. wood walk

as wednesday trudged through the forest wearing her black boots, she began to wonder if donovan galpin was even still out there. there was no new sheriff at the time, and the town of jericho was in shambles. 

thing rested on her right shoulder as he watched behind her to make sure no one or nothing was following them. tap tap tap. a person is coming. it looks like someone we know.

wednesday tirled around in silence to face the figure. she had not been expecting the person it was, but should've. "xavier," she acknowledged. "what are you doing here?"

the boy scratched the back of his neck nervously. "uh-- i thought i might be able to find you out here. i just wanted to talk to you. we haven't talked to each other in a while."

"the last time i talked to you," said wednesday, "you said you were done with my bullshit. you told me to leave and that you never wanted to speak to me again. why have you suddenly had a change of heart? was someone murdered at the school tonight? is enid okay?"

xavier shook his head with a bitter laugh. "no, enid's fine, and i'm sorry i said those things to you, wednesday. ajax told me that you were just trying to protect me when you were distancing yourself, and i guess i kinda overreacted in general. i'm sorry about that. i just came out here to-- uh-- talk to you."

"you seem unsure of yourself," replied wednesday. "why do you suddenly have the urge to speak to me? are you going to throw yourself at me romantically? if that's your intention, i suggest you leave. i am only interested in suicidal monsters who hurl themselves off a balcony at the occasional serial killer festival."

xavier raised an eyebrow with a sly grin. "well, i'm definitely not a suicidal monster, so that's outta the question, but i am here to just talk to you. do you mind if we walk back to the school together?"

"i am not going back to the school," wednesday said with a death stare, "but there is nothing stopping you from skipping back to the school in your exuberant solitude." 

xavier rolled his eyes playfully. "i don't skip in joy." wednesday's eyes lit up like a full moon. "i have witnessed it first hand, xavier. there is no denying how strange you are."

"i'm strange?!" exclaimed xavier. "you killed a goddamn dead pilgrim and willingly took an arrow for me! that's not exactly a normal occurrence where i'm from."

wednesday almost smiled when she said, "yes, xavier, you are strange. you should probably head back to your dorm room before your patron figures out that you have snuck into the forest to stalk a busy stalker."

"wait," xavier mumbled with a frown, "who are you stalking? since when have you been stalking people... i mean, other than me?"

wednesday glared at him as she told him, "i do not stalk you, xavier. i did not think that you would be caught off guard. i stalk my parents in regular activity. you should truly do the same to your father. he is such an elitist snob that i am sure he is hiding something."

xavier shook his head and said, "yeah, i'm definitely not going back now. i'm gonna stay out here with you until you tell me who this person is you're stalking or until you go back to the school."

"i keep secrets for a reason, xavier," said wednesday, "and i am not ivory glade, so i can not be tricked into telling them. if you attempt at trying to get me to spill them, i will hire a fang to suck the blood out of your body until there is nothing left but a skull and the constant peeling of dead skin."

xavier shuddered at the thought. "that's not gonna fly by me. i'll get you to tell your secrets, wens. just wait. i'm a mastermind at this kinda thing."

wednesday glared at him and said, "i thought we agreed that you would not call me that anymore." xavier flashed a haughty smile in return. "nope. you're still wens to me," he told her as he slung an arm around her shoulder.

wednesday glanced at thing and he knew what to do. he pushed xavier's arm off of her shoulder and flipped him off. "hey!" exclaimed xavier. "how is that fair?! i thought we were friends, thing!" thing continued remaining in the flipping xavier off position before bouncing back onto all of his fingers. tap tap tap. we are, but no one messes with my great niece.

xavier was taken aback and glanced over at wednesday. "wait, how long has thing been around?" wednesday didn't bother to look at him as she replied, "longer than anyone else in my family has. he is the family's golden grandparent."

thing then continued to flip her off and tapped, i am not a grandparent! and i'm not old! i'm just smarter and contain more wisdom than the rest of you! wednesday squinted at him and said, "if you were so wise, you would have figured out a way to escape me when you first arrived at nevermore and tried to spy on me."

"he's just a hand, wednesday," said xavier. "leave him alone." thing flipped xavier off for saying he was just a hand, and wednesday glared at him. "thing is my family, xavier. i don't think that i need your advice to tell me how to treat him."

"sorry," muttered xavier. "anyways, uh, how have you been with, you know, the whole murderer on the loose thing? have you gotten any leads yet?"

"no," said wednesday. "but i have plans on what i need to do to get them. how have you been, besides having the most insidious roommate?" 

xavier frowned. "what are you talking about? ajax is the best. i mean, he's the reason i started talking to you again. and also, why are you tryna hide this stuff from me? why don't you want us to work as a team? we can be partners. we would be good partners. we could have like a detective agency once everything ends too."

"ajax is a horrible person, xavier," said wednesday, "and we are not partners. i work alone, and for good reason. i am the only person at nevermore who knows how to correctly follow leads."

xavier shook his head. "you might be able to get leads from your visions, but it would be better to work as a duo on this. my dreams were connected to your visions with tyler, so it's probably gonna be the same for this too."

"no, xavier," wednesday said, shaking her head. "i won't be your partner. that is my final decision."

"fine," muttered xavier. "can we just walk back together to the school in silence?"

"yes," said wednesday. "this night has been much different than i planned. it would be better to take a walk alone in the woods another night."

they walked about two miles back to nevermore, and when they reached the school, xavier hesitantly glanced over at his friend and said, "look, i'm sorry if i got in your way tonight. i just wanted to talk to you again. i've missed having you as a friend and someone to talk to."

wednesday nodded. "i have missed you too, xavier, but i can't share my leads with you. i hope that you understand it's not personal. it is for your own safety."

"yeah, i get it, i guess," said xavier. "see you tomorrow."

"evil dreams," wednesday called back.