mere mystery, wavier

8. masked meeting

while wednesday was working on her novel at her desk, a small piece of paper slipped through the crack of her doorway. it read if you want answers, meet me where the crackheads sleep and the monsters feast. tomorrow at 10:00 AM sharp.

she doubted it was the sheriff because he wouldn't risk meeting her where so many people spent their time. perhaps it was xavier trying to get her attention in some strange way. she hoped not. she was too busy for his nonsense.

but of course, wednesday never turned down exploiting a potential fellow kidnapper and murderer. so, she went to the original meeting house.

the person quickly arrived after her and was wearing a dark cloak to hide their face. it resembled the nightshade's cloak. 

"have you come here to tell the truth or attempt to murder me?" asked wednesday. 

"i don't want to hurt anyone," said the masked figure.

"that is exactly something that a serial killer would insist on," wednesday remarked. "reveal yourself."

"i can't show you my face," the masked figure huffed. "i would, but i know he's somewhere near. he'll assume that i am one of the nightshades and forget about me meeting up with you here."

"and i assume the 'he' you keep referring to is the sheriff," said wednesday.

the cloaked figure nodded. "yes. he threatened that if i don't do his bidding, he'll kill others too."

"why did he target and murder yoko? was she of some obsolete use to him?" questioned wednesday.

the masked figure shook their head. "that wasn't him. that was thornhill's partner."

wednesday frowned. "laurel gates is dead. tyler was her only partner. who are you talking about?"

"let's go inside, i don't want to say it out loud out here," said the masked figure.

wednesday briskly followed the cloaked person inside the old meeting house. "who is laurel's partner? why have they come here, and why did they target and murder yoko?"

the person let out a weighted sigh. "it was one of her childhood best friends. his name is markus peterson. apparently, they were in love and working together. they didn't want any more suspicion, so he stayed a few towns away. when she died, he became furious. then when he heard about tyler's death, he went and joined forces with the sheriff. now they're working together."

wednesday stared, unamused. "the repellent act of making their lover's murderer pay. how thrilling." 

"i wanted to tell you sooner..." said the person behind the cloak, "but i didn't know how to. now that you know, you need to be careful. they're coming for everything that has to do with you, wednesday. your friends, your family, your lovers..."

"i am not worried about my family," said wednesday. "they are capable of defending themselves. some of my friends are capable of defending themselves, but i will have to keep a closer watch on them. i have no lovers, so there is no need to worry about that department. do you think that you will be able to update me again if we meet in secret like we have today?"

"i-- i think so. i just have to be careful," said the person. 

wednesday nodded. "that will work. then i can exploit markus and donovan. what is your name, and are you an outcast or a normie?"

"i'm an outcast," said the person. "you know me. but i can't tell you my name. i'm sorry, wednesday. i can't tell you anything else. i'll see you in class."

wednesday stared intensely at the person. "have i spoken to you before? would you consider yourself an acquaintance or a friend?"

the person shook their head. "i'm sorry, wednesday. i can't tell you. i'll see you in class. good luck with those ugly normie men."

with that last sentence, wednesday heard something else. she recognized the person's voice and instantly knew who she was speaking to. "yes. i'll see you in class."

.................................

"enid," wednesday acknowledged as she walked into her dorm, "how many times have you wolfed out since last year?"

enid smiled with bright eyes. "every single time there's been a red moon and my brothers have tried to attack me."

"so, you can defend yourself from normies?" asked wednesday. "would you know what to do if one of them had a gun and tried to shoot you?"

enid's eyes widened in confusion and fear. "i definitely wouldn't be staying near them. i would be running for my life. why are you asking? you're not going to try to get xavier to shoot me or anything, are you?!"

"no, enid," said wednesday. "you may be annoying at times, but i would not want someone to shoot you. xavier could not shoot you if he tried ten thousand times. he has terrible eye coordination."

enid gave her friend an unconvinced look. "uh, wednesday, he's literally an archer. i think he could shoot me with a gun faster than i could sing the song the archer by taylor swift."

wednesday sighed. "no, enid. when i went to shoot arrows last year when i joined the school, i had a perfect shot. he did not."

enid rolled her eyes with a sly grin. "you guys are on good terms again, right? i saw you guys walking with each other the other night."

"enid, were you stalking me?" wednesday asked, suddenly intensely intruiged.

enid shook her head. "no! no! i mean, i just saw you guys walking back together! i was on the balcony."

"i believe my stalking skills have finally started to wear off on you," wednesday said with a mischievous grin.

enid groaned. "no, wednesday! i'm not a stalker! xavier is!"

wednesday frowned. "what are you talking about?"

enid shrugged. "i mean, he left in the middle of class today and i found him snooping on the girl's sides of the dorms earlier trying to look for you. it's actually kind of embarrassing if i'm being honest."

wednesday couldn't help but ask. "what class did he live in the middle of, enid?"

"um, i think it was the history of outcasts. why? it's not like you were there anyways," said enid.

wednesday frowned. maybe it had not been the person she was thinking of earlier in the day. maybe she had been wrong. maybe it was xavier after all.

"i have to go somewhere," said wednesday, "but i will be back soon. goodbye, enid."

"bye, wednesday," enid said in return.

wednesday addams was going to confront xavier thorpe.