mere mystery, wavier

10. twisted logic

two weeks after wednesday had the meeting with the masked figure, she decided to do some late night snooping in the nightshades library. it was a tuesday night, and right before she was about to walk down the stairs, she heard voices echo from below.

"i'm just saying you guys have to be more careful," xavier said.

"no one saw us," kent exclaimed, "and it's not like the sheriff is gonna come look around! he's too afraid to be accused of y--yoko's murder!"

xavier shook his head. "he didn't even kill her, kent."

wednesday quickly realized it was not just kent and xavier, but the entire nightshades society. they must have been having a meeting.

"that's not true, xavier," kent gritted through his teeth. "she was innocent, and he killed her. there's no other explanation."

"kent, i hate to admit it, but i think xavier might be right," said bianca. "although, it does look like he's hiding something. care to share with the rest of us, xavier?" she asked, turning to face him.

xavier shrugged. "i can't tell you guys much, but i know that it wasn't the sheriff who killed yoko."

bianca stared him down. "how do we know we can trust you, xavier? for all we know, you could be lying to all of us. you're going to have to give us more information for us to believe you."

xavier sighed. "look, it's not that i'm trying to keep anything from you guys but--"

"xavier is telling the truth," wednesday's voice echoed as she walked into the light and made her way down the stairs.

"wednesday, what are you doing here, and how long have you been here?" bianca asked. "this is a private meeting."

wednesday looked directly at bianca and said, "if you want to consider something a private meeting, you should consider having your meetings somewhere that is not so easily accessible to the naked eye."

bianca rolled her eyes. "look, i'm not mad or anything, but you're not supposed to be here. you should leave. this is a private conversation."

"considering the fact that i am the one who told xavier the information he just gave you, i believe you are in desperate need of my assistance," replied wednesday.

"how do we know we can trust you?" asked kent. "you sent xavier to jail!"

wednesday glared at him. "i know who is behind yoko's murder. do you or do you not want that piece of information?"

"well, spit it out already. who killed her?" asked bianca.

wednesday stared blankly back at the girl. "that piece of information does not concern you."

"you're kidding, right?!" bianca exclaimed. "you literally know her murderer and you aren't going to tell us?! we're here to work as a team, wednesday!"

wednesday glared at the siren. "we are not a team, bianca. i do not trust any of you any more than a normie who is unaware of the things taking place at this school."

"come on, wednesday," xavier said with an annoyed look on his face. "you've gotta give them more credit than that. they literally helped us save--"

"no i do not," wednesday seethed. "they are just as responsible for yoko's death and the threat of harm that has this school is facing as anyone else."

xavier shook his head. "that's totally unfair. they wouldn't do anything to hurt the school! we're all in the nightshades for a reason!"

"have you forgotten your old acquaintance rowan? he tried to murder me, and he once was a nightshade as well," wednesday commented.

xavier shook his head. "i caught him acting weird weeks before you showed up. we have those kind of things under control."

"that is a lie in the third degree," wednesday replied. "i am not going to argue with any of you any further. you are impossible to reason with and it has been a waste of my intensely valuable time."

before anyone else could say another word, she was headed up the stairs and out of the library. 

xavier sighed and looked at the others before saying, "i'll go talk to her. i trust you guys. i know that we all wanna help protect the school. i just need to get her to trust you guys too."

"no, i will go talk to her," bianca replied. "if anything, she will listen to me. you two have been in more arguments than everyone in the entire school has as a whole."

"she won't listen to you," xavier countered. "i'm the only one who knows who she's talking about."

"well, then, if you're so proud of it, then tell us," bianca told him.

xavier raised an eyebrow, taken aback. "what? i can't. it's not something i can just go share with people without talking to the person who told me!"

"if she is not willing to let us help, then it is your job to be the one to make the right decision. it's simple," bianca said.

kent nodded. "bianca's right. just tell us, xavier. it's not like wednesday has to know."

"i-- i can't. it's not right. i can't betray wednesday's trust like that," xavier replied.

"it wouldn't be betraying her, xavier," said bianca. "it would be helping her out. if she can't help herself out, you should do it for her. especially if you're able to. she's just made your head foggy. this is why i warned you about her in the first place."

xavier frowned. "fine. i'll tell you guys some of what's happening. but... just don't go around and tell everyone. actually, don't tell anyone else. it wouldn't be smart."

bianca nodded. "we weren't going to anyways. we're good at keeping secrets. that's why you didn't want to tell us in the first place. it didn't have anything to do with wednesday. it had to do with you only trusting select people."

kent shrugged. "she's not wrong, xavier. she's actually the most understanding person i know. i don't know why you broke up with her. she'd never treat you how wednesday does."

"i guess that's fair," xavier muttered. "wednesday doesn't know what she wants."

"exactly," bianca agreed. "so it doesn't matter what she thinks. so, tell us who killed yoko."

xavier took in a long breath as he wrung his hands anxiously. "okay, fine. the guy who killed yoko was thornhill's lover, markus peterson. he's teamed up with the sheriff out of pure hatred... and now all of the outcasts are in danger."

little did he know, even though wednesday had exited the library, she heard every single word uttered in that conversation,

and she was beyond angry.