𝐌𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐤|| 𝗧𝘆𝗹𝗲𝗿 𝗚𝗮𝗹𝗽𝗶𝗻'𝘀 𝗧𝘄𝗶𝗻 𝘅 𝗬/𝗻 𝗟/𝗻

𝟜𝟙.

"Alright, don't you think that that's enough proof for today, Wednesday?"

Reaching the studio of Nevermore's resident tortured artist, Xavier Thorpe, who also happened to be Wednesday's number one suspect right now, I was too tired for yet another investigation. Especially since all I wanted to do right now was crawl into my bed and cry.

Just kidding, I'd probably just watch something funny to lift my mood up whilst eating large buckets of ice-cream since vodka wasn't an option. A lot of things went down today, and I haven't had enough time to process it entire, or get over my fight with my most hated weremutt.

"You don't have to come in, if you don't want to." Wednesday muses.

"Just stay here and keep an eye out for Xavier with Thing." She instructs before slipping into the cabin. Well, other than the fact that I was too exhausted to deal with addition drama, I also wasn't a fan of his creepy drawings.

Like, don't get me wrong. They're amazing, and the detail is EVERYTHING. No doubt in that. And that's what the problem is here. That monster freaks the absolute fuck out of me! I would rather bleach my eyes than to stare at his yoga ball sized head again. Even if it's just in a sketch.

Apart from that, I also, for some very strange reason, believe that Xavier isn't capable of this. All those murders. And I know it doesn't make much sense, especially since I don't even know the guy other than occasional texts and bump-ins...

But my gut tells me it's not him. 

As Wednesday shut the door behind her, while looking for proof that the DNA of the claw we found could somehow match with the artist's, I just hung out with Thing. And since Thing was also pretty convinced with my judgment, he didn't want to assist the girl either.

So, here we were... currently having a tree-climbing competition.

Two minutes had passed, and I had finally reached the tree-top, looking down to tease Thing, but just then I felt someone tap my head. Thing. "You cheated!" I scoff. "You don't even have that much of body weight to hold you down!" I point out bitterly.

Thing just dances around, insulting me, and I try to get him, but accidently slip, and fall down, only to be held back by a vine, holding my leg, dangling me upside down a few inches from the ground. Glad to be alive, I let out a sigh of relief, only that didn't last too long.

Though not clear, I could see a lanky figure lurk around. He looked like he was coming over this way, but wasn't close enough for me to tell. Holy shit- That could be Xavier! Quickly looking around for something to free myself, I ended up finding the spoon in my pocket.

Stabbing the vine a couple of times, rather psychotically, I finally managed to break free, and landed on the ground with a thud. It didn't hurt much since it was only like 4-5 inches from the ground, but unfortunately, Thing, who was swinging on the vine I just cut, slipped due to the impact, and fell flat on my face from 12 feet above, squashing it.

'Karma, bitch' Thing explains.

"I am so going to get you for that-" I groan, holding my bleeding nose. It wasn't broken or anything, thankfully. But it still hurt like a bitch, and I even got some on my shirt. After hopping around chaotically, I finally figured what the hand was trying to say.

"Shit- We have to go now!" I dash into the cabin after Thing told me that he was positive that it was indeed Xavier, who was lurking around. "Wednesday, we have to go now. Xavier's here!" I pant. The raven's void eyes widen, and she quickly hides something in her pocket.

But just as we reach to open the door, someone else beat us to it. Xavier... 

"The hell are you guys doing here?!" He questions, the fear flashing across his face. "Looking for... Atlas?" I lie nervously. "Bullshit. I know what happened between the two of you. And it isn't something you would apologize for either." He scoffs.

"So, why are you two really here?" He asks.

"How do you know what the monster looks like?" Wednesday asks him instead. "Or are these just self-portraits?" She then adds, pulling his leg. "Oh, what you guys think it's me?" He raises his brows. "I saved your life." He then turns to the nonchalant raven.

"So did the monster." She shrugs. "Or was that you  that night Rowan was killed." She deadpans. "You both are so out of line right now." He scoffs. "I tried stopping her. I only came in here to get her out." I admit honestly, not wanting to start drama with yet another person today.

"You should've stopped her before trespassing then?" He says. "I was just trying to uncover the truth." Wednesday speaks up. "And your art seems to have a recurring motif." She observes. "Yeah..." Xavier's face finally softens as he looks at his sketches.

"This creature's been haunting my dreams the last couple of weeks." He confesses.

"I try to block it out, but I can't. So I just... come over here and paint it." He explains. Sounds reasonable to me. "When I was painting this one-" He points at the biggest and scariest drawing, "the claws reached out of the canvas and took a swipe at me."

He then shows us his neck. "That's how I got these." He refers to the scratches. If it weren't for Sylvanne shoving me out of the way, it would've surely gotten my eye." He sighs. "Wait, Atlas knows about this too?" I ask.

"Yeah, I mean... I think he also has some sort of an idea about who it might be too. He just can't deal with it, so he resorted to drinking." He says. "Again..." He adds after a brief pause. "Is that why he has been avoiding us? Because he's been conducting his OWN investigation?" I scoff.

"Maybe he knows his friend might be behind it, after all. And the truth is too heavy for him to bear without additional substances." Muses the girl, not buying a thing. "Besides, I thought you were able to control your ability." She raises her brows at the boy.

"Not when it comes to this." Xavier sighs, glancing at his artwork, the terror evident in his hazel eyes. "Maybe it's just your guilty conscience." The raven mutters in a suggestive tone. "I told you, I'm not the monster, okay!" Snaps the boy, mildly irritated.

Whipping out the drawing we used to find the cave, Wednesday waves it in front of his face. "You just happen to draw pictures of it, down to the location of it's lair in the woods?" She raises her brow. "Those are some pretty vivid dreams." She scoffs.

"You were in here." He finally realizes. "Before I caught the two of you outside, you were lurking around in here, weren't you?" He figures, a hint of betrayal lacing his voice. "That's the only reason why you asked me to the Rave'N." He mumbles. 

"To try and cover-" He scoffs, glaring at the girl's mellowed down face as she looked away with guilt. "You are UNBELIEVABLE!" He yells, clearly upset. "It's nothing personal." Wednesday shrugs. "No, it never is with you, is it?!" He throws his hands up with frustration.

"I mean, do you even care about anyone or anything at all, Wednesday?" He questions, and the girl quickly glances over at me, before instantly looking away, realizing that I was staring at her. Wait, does that mean she care? I KNEW SHE LOVED ME!

"Get out!" The boy finally snaps after earning no response from her.

"BOTH of you." He then looks at me. Hey, what did I do? Why so rude... Rolling my eyes, I tried to be a little more understanding of his feelings, and decided to just do as he said, dragging Wednesday along. "I'm really sorry about this, Thorpe." I sigh apologetically walking out.

"But, if it makes you feel any better, I never doubted you from the beginning."