Gomez’s office was at the end of a long, very dark hallway. The door was larger than usual and a deep reddish color.
Luke entered for the first time and observed the room with curiosity. The room was bigger compared to Morticia’s, which he and Wednesday had visited during their mission to read Goody Addams’ Book of Shadows.
Unlike his wife, Gomez was much more disorganized. His desk was covered in papers scattered everywhere, and books were piled up even in the corners since the shelves were crammed.
‘One of these books must be some kind of mechanism that leads to a secret room,’ thought Luke. If it was like the movie, the secret room would open if you picked the right book.
Supposedly, in that room, Gomez kept a vault full of money, gold, and other valuables.
Luke wasn’t planning on stealing or anything like that; it just reminded him of the movie he’d seen in his past life. Money wasn’t something he lacked, and he wasn’t so heartless as to think about robbing his father-in-law.
“What happened?” Luke asked, curious. It had to be something important if Gomez had called him just minutes before the start of his beloved daughter’s birthday party.
“I just wanted to show you something. It’ll be quick,” Gomez replied as he walked toward one of the office walls.
Luke looked at the wall for the first time. Unlike the others, it had no shelves, statues, or decorations. The only thing on the wall was a dark fabric hanging discreetly, covering something of considerable size. It was made of a heavy, slightly worn material, with silver- gray details, and hung from a rod at the top.
Luke walked over with Gomez, stopping and looking at the fabric on the wall, wondering what it might be hiding. It could be a painting, though he doubted Gomez wanted to discuss art with him.
Without wasting time, Gomez gave a quick tug on a side cord, and the fabric lifted and rolled smoothly upward.
Before Luke’s eyes appeared many faces, both men and women, some adults, others teenagers, and some children. Below each face was the person’s name.
‘A family tree,’ thought Luke, quickly realizing what he was looking at.
It was the Addams family tree. Each family member was represented in detailed portraits, with their names carefully written in Gothic calligraphy below their faces.
The arrangement formed a structure that descended from the oldest ancestors to the most recent members.
Luke examined the tree, his eyes moving up, down, then right, then left. There were hundreds of members in the family, and at the very bottom, he could see Wednesday, Pugsley, and Wednesday’s second cousins whom he had met today.
Almost at the top was Goody Addams; although she wasn’t the oldest of the Addams, she was close to it. Luke estimated that the Addams ancestors must date back to the 14th or 15th century.
Just as Luke was about to ask why Gomez was showing him the Addams family tree, he held back as Gomez spoke first.
“Our founding ancestor had three sons. One of them was Abraham Addams. I come from that branch,” Gomez said, looking upward, nearly at the very top. Luke followed his gaze to see a bearded man with yellowed teeth and a crooked smile.
“My cousin Octavius is a descendant of Alaric Addams, Abraham’s younger brother. Lastly, there’s Donovan, the youngest of the three brothers. My cousin Itt is a descendant of him,” Gomez continued, as Luke listened attentively and looked at the family tree, wondering if the Poe mansion in Boston had something similar.
Alaric Addams had a slight, confident smile, with impeccably groomed hair and beard. He also appeared to be wearing a clean suit, though it was only partially visible. Donovan, on the other hand, looked very peculiar, as he was completely covered in hair. Only two small sockets were visible as his eyes.
These were the three main branches of the Addams family. Luke now understood more precisely how the Addams family was structured-a family of psychics. No book offered clear information on these topics, and Edgar had always been ambiguous, speaking in riddles.
From what he knew, Octavius, Gomez’s cousin, was the father of the twins Luke had struck. He hadn’t yet met him in person. As for Itt, he remembered him from the show-it was hard to forget a human covered in hair.
By the end of the brief explanation, which lasted a few minutes, Luke had gained a rough idea of how many members currently made up the Addams family. This information was crucial since the Spellmans likely had a similar number of members, perhaps a bit more or a bit less.
‘They have over fifty members, not counting Edward and others who are still alive due to their pact with the greater demon…’ thought Luke, furrowing his brows slightly as he realized the numbers he was up against.
And this was without including the servants under the Spellmans’ command, such as Atlas, Amaranth, and Deacon.
If each main branch of the family had approximately 20 members, this would imply a total of nearly 60 members for the Addams, who had three main branches.
In Gomez’s branch, the family consisted of Wednesday, Gomez, Morticia, Pugsley, Fester, and Eudora. However, these weren’t all the members. Psychics often had longer lives than normies, making it common for great-grandparents to still be alive.
With this in mind, and considering that psychics generally have one or two children, in a family tree spanning around three generations, there could be almost 20 people in each family branch.
With the members still alive due to demonic deals, plus the servants under their command, the Spellmans could have around 100 members in their ranks. Compared to the Poes, who consisted only of him and Natasha, it was a daunting situation.
‘Maybe it’s fewer, since they were in a war,’ thought Luke, trying to be more optimistic. After all, in the war against the Poes, they also suffered losses, the most recent being Sabrina and
Sebastian Spellman.
“Thanks for showing me this,” Luke said sincerely. Now he had a rough idea of the Spellmans’ strength. More than fifty psychics-that was no small matter.
In the fight between Edgar and Edward and Elton, they destroyed a city, and it wasn’t even their goal. Those were collateral damages, though they were the strongest psychics of their respective families.
“It’s nothing,” Gomez replied with a slight smile, as the curtain covered the family tree once
again.
After that, they headed to the hall where the celebration and banquet in honor of Wednesday would take place.
The hallways leading to the room were illuminated and decorated for the occasion, creating an easy path for anyone to follow.
As Luke walked with his father-in-law, he checked the time on his wristwatch-it was 9:05 p.m. The party should have already begun.
‘I wonder if he would help me in the war,’ thought Luke.
The person whose help he wanted was Gomez. Their relationship had improved greatly over time. Aside from Wednesday, he spent the most time with Gomez, either training or talking about a variety of topics.
He also learned from Wednesday that Gomez belongs to the demon extermination department, and it’s highly likely that he holds a high position or is even the leader.
So, if Luke tells him that the Spellmans make deals with demons, it could be very advantageous for the Poes, as long as Gomez believes him, since Luke has no concrete
evidence.
The only “proof,” if it can be called that, is that Atlas and the others tried to revive Crackstone, a demonic normie. Though everyone thinks it was to kill Luke, it did tarnish the
Spellmans’ reputation.
If Wednesday believed him, why wouldn’t Gomez? However, Luke pushed those thoughts aside. It would be best to gather solid evidence and expose the Spellmans so everyone targets
them, rather than relying on trust alone.
Wednesday only believed him because she trusts him, but not everyone will be the same. Even the Umbrio family, after reading Sophie’s post-mortem letter, were skeptical about the Spellmans making demon deals, and they’ve yet to take any action despite having read the
letter.
Wednesday did say that her family loves war, and Luke doesn’t doubt that the Addamses are willing to defend him-they invited him to their home knowing the Spellmans might attack or turn against them for protecting him.
But it’s different to accept, without any evidence, that the Spellmans make pacts with demons
– a taboo subject, even for psychics who love dark witchcraft like Goody Addams and likely
the Frumps.
Gomez opened a pair of dark double doors and entered the room. Luke followed him, and the
view that greeted him took him by surprise.
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