Chapter Text
It was in the early morning when the plan was put into motion. Droves of students leaving their beds and making their way to faculty quarters with pillows and blankets. Flashlights and lamps lit the way for them, the moon’s light occasionally peeking out to join them. No words were exchanged as they went, a mix of being too tired and too afraid of the consequences of being caught to begin a conversation. At any other time of the day, the adolescence army’s footsteps would have reverberated through the empty corridors giving away their presence but tonight their footsteps remained light and muffled keeping their march silent.
When they reached the correct door, the self-appointed leader knelt down and inserted her locking picking tools. Her efforts quiet until a heavy clicked echoed. As she stood, she put her hand on the doorknob and turned it. The door opened with ease. She stepped through, initiating the final step of the coup.
Low murmurs broke out as the students filled the apartment. The flat had elegant detailing but had obviously been neglected in recent times. The white marble kitchen island homed empty glasses and plates alongside piles of loose papers and pens. The curtains were drawn closed but had rips at the top letting the moon sneak into the room. To-go containers and cutlery littered most surfaces, white and green mold growing over the items and whatever food had been leftover in the containers. Dust blanketed most objects, dust bunnies roaming wild across the floor
“Jesus. When was the last time Weems cleaned?”
“It’s disgusting in here”
“Or had someone else clean?”
“We’re going to be sleeping here?”
“There’s no way I’m sleeping in this mess”
“I never thought she’d live like this”
“You think it’s a new thing or she’s always been like this?”
“If Weems’s always been like this then I want an apology for what she’s said about my room”
With everyone taking in the state of the kitchen and living room, Wednesday moved further into the apartment, going down a darkened hallway. Three doors stood before her, one to her left, one to her right, and one right in front of her.
She opened the door on the left first. An immaculate study opened up to her. The walls were lined with shelves of books and photographs, not a speck of dust in sight. A taxidermy crow and shrunken head, the same ones she’s seen before in the principal’s office, sat on the edge of the desk. A laptop sat in the middle of the desk, next to a pile of envelopes laying on top of a neat stack of papers. She ventured in, scanning the room for a few more seconds. Novels blended in with textbooks according to alphabetical order while a row of magazines stood off towards the bottom of the shelf. A picture of a man cradling a sleeping baby hung beside a white rose surrounded by ripples of water. A duckling flapping its wings was framed next to a strip of polaroid shots. Wednesday stepped closer, squinting her eyes to try and see the faces. The lack of daylight and obviously old quality made it difficult to see but she could make out the young face of Larissa Weems enough. She wasn’t sure but another looked similar to what her mother used to look like in her youth. She backed away, shuffling to the door. Diplomas and certificates wormed their way into the framed line up, offering no real pattern into their displayed position. A sentimental value most likely the driving force of framed moments and achievements.
Wednesday stepped outside of the study, closing the door behind herself. The two other doors stood still, patiently waiting for her to choose which to explore next.
She crossed over and opened the door on the right side of the hallway first. Inside was a washer and dryer stacked on top of each other. Beside the machines on the floor was a basket of clothes and a bottle of detergent. A vacuum, a couple of brooms, and dustpan were hung up on the opposite wall. So it wasn’t that there weren’t no cleaning supplies but something else that led to the disarray of the living room and kitchen, Wednesday thought. The cabinet doors weren’t fully closed, open enough for Wednesday to see trash bags, more detergent, and the shape of cleaning sprays. She stepped backwards, quietly closing the door.
She turned to the last unexplored room. An ever faint light leaked out from underneath. The last room of the apartment, and presumedly, the master bedroom. Wednesday stepped up to the door, her hand hovering over the doorknob. Behind her, her peers were still whispering about the mess, questioning how they could continue with the plan. Her palm connected with the round knob and her fingers curled around it, turning it and silently pushing the door inward.
Wednesday quickly stepped inside and shut the door behind her, cautious not to slam it. The whispers of her peers immediately died down and was replaced by robotics puffs of machinery. Low lighting from a nightlight casted near invisible shadows against the walls. The outline of a grand bed stood before her. Her feet raised up, balancing on her tipy-toes, and went forward. Her head cocked as she closed in on the sleeping headmistress.
The front of Weems’s face was obscured by some type of breathing mask. It covered both her nose and mouth, straps circling her forehead and cheeks, while a tube connected the mask to a machine on the nightstand. Her chest steadily went up and down, matching its pace with the breathing of the machine. Wednesday inhaled, straightening her posture. She turned away, catching sight of a small collection of stuffed animals at the foot of the bed. The largest and most likely newest addition to the collection was the panda bear that she had bribed the carnival worker to give as a distraction. She glanced back to the sleeping woman, slightly curious as to why the oversized toy hadn’t been thrown away. To the left of the bear was an old, worn out bunny rabbit with a missing eye. Its long ears drooped down, vaguely hiding a small rip in the fabric and loose fluff. To the right of the bear were four small knitted ducklings. Their beaded eyes holding a soft innocence that only handcrafted gifts could be endowed with. She averted her gaze from the stuffed animals, certain that they’d keep at their watch, and fully turned away from the bed.
A side of the room opened up to a spacious bathroom and closet. A walk-in shower stood to the left side, a plastic chair positioned directly under the shower head. A toilet and vanity positioned to the sides of it. The vanity looked untouched for its true purpose, no makeup brushes or palettes out and about, but instead little folded up pieces of paper and multiple bottles of pills. Wednesday’s entire demeanor dropped at the presence of the orange bottles. She picked one up, cradling it in her hands. She turned it over, brushing her thumbs against the paper label. She gently set the bottle down before picking another one up. She blinked, raising the bottle up to catch on the light. She could see the word symbyax but didn’t recognize it. She set it down and picked a new bottle up, holding it up. Her eyes squinted and she picked up another, glancing between them. She put the bottles down and held one more up
“Wednesday?” Eugene’s hushed, timid voice cut into the mellow sounds of the bedroom
“Over here” She replied at a normal volume
He hesitantly entered the room, closing the door behind his back.
“You shouldn’t be in here”
“She won’t wake up” Wednesday said, holding the bottle out further so he could see it “Sleeping pills”
“Oh...o-okay”
Wednesday turned around, setting the bottle next to the others. Eugene glanced at the unconscious Principal Weems, shuffling on his feet
“Enid’s trying to convince people not to leave. They think its too dirty to stage a sleepover”
“Supply closet’s on the right” She said offhandedly, picking up one of the folded pieces of papers. She raised an eyebrow then set it back down
He brought his hands to his lips, picking at the skin on his bottom lip “Y-you still shouldn’t be looking through her things”
“I’m not looking through. Merely observing what is in plain sight” A beat passed “She takes a lot of medication”
Eugene looked back to Principal Weems then to the back of Wednesday. He inhaled, holding the breath as he bit on his thumb’s nail, then exhaled, making a decision. He tip toed over to where Wednesday stood, nervously glancing at Weems repeatedly as he did so. As he came up to Wednesday’s side, he noticed that Wednesday’s posture seemed stiffer than usual and she refused to meet his gaze, staring down at the vanity’s counter. His eyes wandered down, observing the plain sight
“Have you been needing to take this many as well?”
Her voice was tight and low, asking a question she already knew the answer to. He did need almost as much medication and was still in physical therapy to get back to the mobility he had before his coma but it seemed that he was doing better than Weems was
“That’s what this is all about? You’re feeling guilty?”
Wednesday’s eyes snapped to his, a death glare piercing into his soul “I have nothing to feel guilty about. Crackstone’s return and consequential battle was foreseen decades before I was even born. The only thing I actually did was try to find who murdered Rowen. Something that his own mother neglected to mention to him. It’s she who should feel guilt. She made Rowen think it was I who was destined to destroy Nevermore and offered no real help in how to defeat Gates, Tyler, and Crackstone. Sheriff Galpin isn’t blameless either. His wife was a Hyde. How could he think not that his son wouldn’t be one as well. If he was a better father, he would’ve seen the signs” She raised her arm, pointing accusatory at the sleeping woman “And it’s her fault. If she had been honest from the start, if she hadn’t been like them, using the same willful ignorant self-serving ideas then she could have paid attention to Rowen’s mother’s vision and done something for Tyler before Gates got to him. She could have saved Rowen, Dr. Kinbott, and you from being a victim in his mother’s prophecy. She could have had the nightshades acting as a defense team rather than an underage drinking club. If she had just listened to me from the start th-“
“I listened to you from the start” He calmly interrupted
His statement made her rant freeze. Her mouth frozen in an angry tirade.
“And I listened to you throughout”
She blinked, lowering her arm “No you didn’t. You went when I told you not to. I told you that we’d go together the next night and you didn’t listen”
“True but I heard you when you visited me. You blame yourself for going to the dance and kept me updated on where you were in the case. You thought it was Dr. Kinbott and Bianca told me that you thought it was Xavier at first, that you helped Sheriff Galpin arrest him”
“I have nothing to feel guilty for” Wednesday reiterated through clenched teeth “Admittedly, I did make a few mistakes but I don’t feel guilty about them”
“I think you do”
He watched with a heavy heart as her eyes glazed over with a shine. Her shoulders drew up and inward. With a snarl, she raised a fist then abruptly turned her back on him, lowering her arm to her chest. He opened his mouth to say something else but thought better of it. She marched away from him, emitting little huffs and growls, and stopped at the side of the bed. She stared down at Weems, studying the way her chest moved up and down. It was slow and steady, a smooth movement that couldn’t be said when the headmistress was awake.
“She expelled me” Wednesday whispered “The night before… we made a deal and I did what I had to and then Weems expelled me” She then turned around to look at him, really look at him. There were bags underneath her eyes, a tell-tale sign that she hadn’t been sleeping and was exhausted. Little red veins stood behind a bubble of tears. Her lips were pressed in a mostly neutral line, the corners just barely angled downwards. “She was taking me to the train station after I visited you. There weren’t any more chances to be had but after talking to you, I had to make another and I did. She finally listened to me but she didn’t fully believe me. I made her pose as Tyler and see the truth for herself. And then Gates… and Crackstone” Wednesday’s voice cracked at the end.
“Did you talk to her during the break… or since we’ve been back?”
She shook her head “An official apology letter was sent to my house with an invite to erase my expulsion. My parents all but threw a celebration at that” She sighed, looking back down at Weems “I don’t think I feel guilty for what happened to you two but I’m… displeased with the consequences that you’ve had to deal with”
“I think that… you made the choices you did as we made the choices we made and Rowen’s mom… merely saw them and didn’t have any context for why or really what was happening so she just guessed wrong”
Wednesday didn’t respond, mulling Eugene’s words over.
“We should get back”
Wednesday nodded and stepped towards the door. She put her hand on the doorknob then looked at him
“Mention anything I said or Weems’s medication and Thing will have a lefty to spend time with”
He smiled “Hive code”
She turned the knob and pulled the door open. They crept down the hallway for less than five feet before Wednesday broke off into the supply closet. She went towards the cabinets, pushing up onto her tippy toes and pushing the cabinet door open completely. She grabbed whatever she could carry and went back to the living room. Eugene followed her lead, grabbing items from the closet.
She entered the living room to see that the crowd had dwindled but most were still there, arguing with Enid in hushed tones. She forcibly handed the supplies off to Ajax to fumbled to hold onto them, dropping a can of raid onto his foot. He and his snakes hissed in pain, his hurt foot coming up and hopping pathetically on his other. The low murmuring turned into a quiet cry.
“Wait you actually expect us to clean?”
“It’s gonna take hours to clean this dump”
“I wanna go back to sleep”
“Can’t we offer to clean when the sun is actually up and then try this again tomorrow night?”
“This is soooo not what I agreed to”
Wednesday turned to address them all
“If you want to leave then go ahead, I won’t stop you. But I’m staying and sleeping here for the rest of the night. Anyone who wants to do the same is welcome to”
Eugene appeared behind her carrying brooms, dustpans, and a little scrubby brush. Enid smiled at him and he smiled back, the two wordlessly coming to an agreement of sweeping the dust-bunnies away together. Wednesday brushed past everyone and began collecting the empty glasses on the kitchen island, moving them to the sink. Bianca rolled her eyes then rolled out a garbage bag from Ajax’s hold. Yoko picked up two containers, patiently waiting for Bianca to open the bag before throwing them in. Divina dropped the blanket she was holding and gathered up the blankets that had been laying on the nearest chair.
“Did you find a washer too?”
“Yeah, right door” Eugene pointed over this shoulder
Divina nodded, making her way there. Kent took a few of the supplies from Ajax, easing his juggling. Xavier stepped forward, gathering the paper to be put into a single pile.
A silence fell over the complaining students as they watched the nightshades begin cleaning the quarter’s mess. Shared looks past through the waves of students, silently having debates amongst each other. A few people made their exit while others stood around still thinking.
One person stepped out of the crowd and picked up the can that had fallen on Ajax’s foot. Without a word, they set it on the coffee table and began gathering the cutlery together. Another person stepped forth and grabbed a mother trash bag from the gorgon, holding it open for the utensils. A third student set their blankets down and went over to the sink, wordlessly putting dish soap on a sponge. One by one, students put down their flashlights and pillows and blankets and joined the cleaning crusade.