The last week of November had begun. It was already starting to get much colder, and the skies were always cloudy.
Luke already had everything he needed to set in motion the plan to collect evidence that the Spellmans wanted to help in the resuscitation of Crackstone. However, he can’t leave
Nevermore on school days, so he has to wait for the weekend.
At breakfast on Monday morning, Luke sat at the table where Wednesday was eating breakfast with a listless expression. The Addams girl was sitting in solitary as usual and at a far table where there was less lighting.
“What do you want?” asked Wednesday, looking up from her toast.
“To talk about Crackstone. Didn’t we agree to talk the next day? It’s been two days,” Luke replied. He didn’t have time to talk to Wednesday as he left Nevermore and found out about Atlas, Sabrina, and everything they were planning.
As expected, Wednesday didn’t seek him out and most likely did her research.
“Oh, that. I’ve done some research, and I have a question,” said Wednesday, staring at Luke with her dark-as-the-abyss eyes.
“What is it?” asked Luke, feeling a little uncomfortable about Wednesday’s stare. It was rare for him to feel uncomfortable about anything.
“Crackstone in 1625 was one of the first pilgrims to colonize Jericho. He has a respectable reputation. He is respected by normies and the outcasts who know of his demonic personality are few. How do you know he made deals with demons? You mentioned it when we looked for the book the other night,” Wednesday said.
She learned that Luke came from a normie orphanage. How did he know about demons? That was a taboo subject in the outcast society. Only the elite outcast families had information about demons.
Luke came from a major outcast family, but that was in the past. Now it was almost extinct, and he was the last member.
“I lived in an orphanage, but I’m the heir to the Poe family. I have my inheritance. My housekeeper is still alive and told me important information,” Luke replied. He was lying about the part about Natasha telling him about demons. The ghost of Edgar Allan Poe told him about demons.
“Mm” nodded Wednesday without changing her expression.
“Did you find out anything else?” asked Luke.
“Not much. Just that he’s a hero to the people of Jericho, and in reality he’s a fraud, genocidal and xenophobic,” replied Wednesday.
‘You should ask your family… They should know everything,’ thought Luke.
Like the grudge between the Poes and the Spellmans, the Addamses had a grudge with Crackstone. If the Spellmans knew that Crackstone was still alive, sealed in a coffin with blood the Addams should be aware of that.
But Wednesday was a very stubborn girl. She didn’t want to seek help from anyone, not even her family. She was not on good terms with her parents, especially her mother Morticia. The last thing she would do would be to ask her for help and for her to tell her the story of her family.
“Did you get any information, or did you just waste your time these days?” asked Wednesday. ‘What a nice way to ask…’ thought Luke.
“A little bit. Crackstone’s history is full of lies. If you look it up on the internet or in books, he comes across as a kind and hardworking person. When in reality, he was a genocidal and xenophobic colonizer towards the outcast native inhabitants of Jericho. If we want to know details of his past it’s best to visit historical sites to see if we can find anything,” Luke replied. “That might do some good… What places?” asked Wednesday, who had not researched Jericho’s historical sites very thoroughly.
“Pilgrim World. It’s a modern recreation of the Pilgrim settlement, but they supposedly collected artifacts related to Crackstone. There may be something useful,” Luke replied.
‘His information was useful,’ thought Wednesday, surprised that she found someone else’s information useful. Her approach was not to visit historical sites, it was to get information on Crackstone’s true personality through books from the Nightshade Society or the Nevermore library, but she didn’t find much despite all the books she read.
“Fine, we will visit Pilgrim World. We have to wait for the weekend so we can get out of Nevermore. Do you still have the days off reward?” asked Wednesday.
“Yes, you?” asked Luke, and Wednesday nodded.
“Saturday?” asked Wednesday.
“Yes. 10:00a.m.? At that time Pilgrim World opens,” asked Luke.
“Yes. It’s all agreed,” said Wednesday getting up from her seat with her tray. She left the tray where it belonged and walked out of the cafeteria.
Luke decided that after that, he would visit the faceless Deacon again. He would plant the pen with the hidden voice recorder and camera on him. As for visiting the real dilapidated pilgrim house to get pictures, he would do that another day along with Wednesday.
In the next few days, Luke would already let Larissa and his dorm manager know that he would use a day off to visit Pilgrim World.
…
On Saturday, Wednesday woke up early as usual. At seven o’clock in the morning. She always has the same routine, no matter if it’s a weekday or a weekend.
Her roommate, Enid, was still sleeping peacefully, while she started to get ready and have breakfast. Then she began her daily routine at her typewriter where she continued with her novel.
As she was quietly typing, a hand came up to her desk. It was just that: a hand that moved and had great agility. The hand looked like it belonged to a corpse and had seams like it had been stabbed or something.
The hand’s name was Thing. A servant of the Addams who performs various useful functions for the family. Gomez had sent him on a mission to keep an eye on Wednesday, but he was discovered by the girl.
So, he ended up pledging loyalty to her. It was either that or be locked in a box for the rest of the year.
Wednesday paid no attention to Thing and continued writing undisturbed by his presence.
The hand began tapping on the table. It was Morse code. He was using it to communicate with
Wednesday.
“Yes, today I will visit Pilgrim World. In search of clues about the supposed prophecy,” Wednesday said without stopping typing. Thing tapped the table again.
“It won’t be convenient for you to come,” said Wednesday, and Thing tapped the table harder
than before.
“That’s not why I’m saying it. With Luke’s telekinetic powers and my dark powers, we’ll be able to deal with any situation in the Pilgrim World. Infiltrating and stealing some stuff will
be easy,” Wednesday said.
Thing tapped the table several times, and this time Wednesday stared at him, stopping
writing.
“A date? You think I’d go on a date?” asked Wednesday in an icy tone.
“If you say that again you’ll have a new scar on your little body,” she added, and Thing left
the table quickly and climbed up to Enid’s bed.
“Is it time to train already?” murmured Enid slowly, as she opened her eyes. She got out of
bed with a sleepy expression and tousled hair.
“What’s wrong, Thing?” asked Enid, noticing the hand trembling near her.
Thing began to give Enid several signals that she could understand.
“Wednesday! Threatening poor Thing again?” asked Enid in an accusing tone, looking at Wednesday, who rolled her eyes for a second.
“You already fought, and you managed to apologize. I don’t think you want to go through that again,” said Enid, getting up from the bed completely and putting Thing on her shoulder.
“Believe me, I don’t want to go through that again,” Wednesday said standing up. She put on her black jacket and started heading for the door.
Thing began to make a lot of signs to Enid, who after a few seconds understood the whole
situation and put on a surprised expression.
“You’re going on a date with Luke!?” exclaimed Enid, stopping Wednesday. She stepped in front of the door so she couldn’t get out.
“…” Wednesday looked at Enid without changing her expression. She was getting used to how annoying her roommate was. Luckily, since Hyde’s first attack, Enid trained a lot and was always exhausted, so she wasn’t as enthusiastic as she was in the beginning.
“It’s not a date.” Wednesday said definitively, and her gaze settled on Thing, who went back
to hiding behind Enid.
“To me, that sounds like a date,” Enid said, crossing her arms and not moving from her spot.
“It isn’t. Besides, why do you care? He’s your ex-boyfriend,” Wednesday said with a hint of curiosity about these irrational behaviors of people.
If you broke up, you should stop thinking about your ex-partner, and it shouldn’t affect you what he does with his life.
“It’s complicated… I’m his ex-girlfriend for now…” said Enid with a confused expression. In these days, Enid realized that Luke stopped being a womanizer, although, in reality, he had only been with three or four girls. So, she was very happy and thought he was waiting for her.
‘For now?’ thought Wednesday with a raised eyebrow.
“You must remember about the prophecy Rowan talked about.
Luke and I are involved because of what we’re investigating. One of the places where there may be information is Pilgrim World,” Wednesday said. If she didn’t explain this, she would have to fight her way out of her room, and she didn’t want to waste energy.
“Oh… that’s it. Makes sense,” Enid said with a relieved smile, letting the exit clear. Thing seeing this began to make several signs in protest. He didn’t want to be left out in uncovering
the mystery.
“At least take Thing with you. He can be of help. You don’t want to apologize to him again, do you?” said Enid, putting Thing in her hands and extending them toward Wednesday. “Fine,” said Wednesday, taking Thing. She didn’t want the hand to be offended and have to apologize again. She’s not good at that and hates having to apologize.
“Good luck with your investigation,” Enid said, signing off with a smile. Internally, she
thought about questioning Thing, once he returned. She had to make sure it wasn’t a date.
Wednesday and Luke met at the entrance to Nevermore. Without much conversation, they hailed a cab to Pilgrim World.
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