The woods lay dormant and unalive as Ember waited, hidden behind a tree, watching Tyler come into view.

After formulating a plan to accuse, capture, torture, interrogate and finally, lock up Tyler, Ember had gone to the Nightshades for help. They had relayed the plan to them, and had finally written a note to Tyler (from Wednesday, supposedly) to meet in the woods at midnight. Thing had delivered it.

So, whilst Ember and the Nightshades waited behind trees, Wednesday was in full view, watching Tyler come towards her.

"Thing gave me your note," he said, approaching her. "I was surprised you wanted to see me again after you ran out the other night."

Wednesday, meanwhile, stared him down.

"So, uh, is this a date?" Tyler asked her with a wry chuckle.

"It's a surprise," finally, Wednesday spoke.

Tyler smiled, walking towards her slowly. Ember knew he was moving in, but thankfully, Wednesday stepped out of the way.

"When I came to Nevermore, romance was the last thing on my mind," she said, walking past him and turning round. He looked slightly put-out at the failed kiss-attempt.

"But when you kissed me, I opened up my eyes and suddenly it all made sense," Wednesday said, staring straight at him as he turned to face her, chuckling. "Xavier warned me about you, but I didn't listen," Wednesday went on.

"Ironic now, huh?" Tyler smiled.

"Ironic would've been framing Xavier for murder whilst the real Hyde helped us put him away," Ember stepped out from behind the tree, speaking every bitter thought she had had about locking an innocent Xavier up over the past few days.

"Ember- what-?" Tyler stuttered, looking from Wednesday to her cousin. The rest of the Nightshades remained hidden. For now.

Then what Ember had said sunk in. "Wait... you think I- no-"

"I don't think. I know," Ember replied bitingly. "Kinbott probably discovered your secret during one of your sessions, so she unlocked you."

"Why'd you kill her?" Wednesday put in. "I thought Hydes were typically loyal to to their masters."

"Ember- Wednesday- seriously, this is nuts," Tyler stuttered.

"On Outreach Day, I told you I was visiting the Old Meeting House," Ember went on with her evidence. She remembered the Hyde staring at her through the wood planks- "Did Kinbott send you to spy on me?"

Tyler just shook his head.

"The night of the Rave'N," Wednesday took over, "you overheard Eugene and Ember discussing your cave in the woods. I saw you eavesdropping. You warned Kinbott, and then Eugene probably saw her torching it."

"Then she sent you to clean up her mess," Ember, again, took over. "I have to hand it to you Tyler, wounding yourself that night at the Gates mansion. Though I can not give you credit for the wound you inflicted upon me, it was still a masterstroke of misdirection-"

"Okay stop, do you know how insane you sound right now?" Tyler finally interrupted, his throat choked up. "I'm not the monster, okay?! And if you two really thought that I was, why would you drag me out here to confront me alone?"

"Who said we were alone?" Ember and Wednesday asked in unison.

Then, just like that, Ajax, Bianca, Kent, Davina and Yoko came out from the trees.

Tyler backed up in fear as the five Nightshades plus Ember and Wednesday circled him.

"Okay, I don't know what kinda sick joke you're playing, but I'm outta here," Tyler said warily.

"Actually," Bianca stepped in front of him as he attempted to leave. She didn't have her amulet on, so her siren song could knock him out. "You're coming with us..."

And just like that, he was out.

They took him to Xavier's art shed, as it was now deserted, given Xavier being locked up.

Once they had got Tyler onto a chair and Ember had chained him onto it (just as a precaution), Bianca snapped her fingers on either side of his head and he slowly began to wake, his head lolling from side to side.

He slowly looked around at all the canvases... the ones of the monster... the one of Kinbott...

Then his eyes rested on Ember. She was stood before him, her neck bent slightly which gave her a leering look. The rest of the Nightshades and Wednesday stood behind her, all looking inquisitive.

"Welcome back," Ember said coldly to the boy in chains in front of her. She showed no remorse for him.

He had hurt her. But for that, she could forgive him.

What she couldn't forgive was the fact that he had murdered Rowan, the coroner, the mayor, and countless others, he had hurt Eugene almost fatally, and he had used her cousin to evade her suspicion.

But most of all, he had framed Xavier to evade Ember's suspicion. That was the most unforgivable.

Anyway, by now, Tyler was alert. "Where the hell am I?" He asked desperately.

"Somewhere where no one will hear your screams," Ember answered calmly.

"What's with the chains?!" Tyler also exclaimed, coming to terms with the fact that he was held down on the chair and rattling the chains; fighting against them to try and get out.

"Don't ask stupid questions," Wednesday chimed in from the side of the room.

Tyler just looked from cousin to cousin. "Ember- Wednesday- this is crazy- I'm a normie-"

"That's only half true," Wednesday strode forwards, holding up a picture she and Ember had retrieved earlier that day, having finally identified someone else in it. It was the photo of the old Nevermore fencing team; with Morticia at the fore.

"Do you recognise her?" Wednesday asked Tyler, jabbing her finger at a woman with a shiny, black bob in the side of the photo. "Maybe if I hadn't been so distracted by my own mother hogging this photo, I would've discovered yours sooner."

"Your father fell in love and married an outcast," Ember said disgustedly, was Wednesday put the picture down and Ember picked up another thing; Tyler's mum's medical records.

Meanwhile, the boy in chains was denying everything. "Okay, my mum was an outcast, that doesn't make me a monster!"

Ember ignored him and opened the record. "According to her personal medical records-"

"You stole her medical records?!" Tyler exclaimed.

"Not worried, are you? Don't be. I already know your secret," Ember spoke with anger. "But if we're being pedantic, then it was Thing that stole them. He took them from your garage. Your father's quite the pack rat."

Ember adjusted the record in her hand. "Apparently, her postpartum depression triggered her condition-"

"My mum had severe bi-polar disorder," Tyler looked like he was about to cry.

"We both know that's a lie. She was a Hyde!" Ember raised her voice. "And your father has been up every night since your birth, dreading the possible day when he finds out you're one too."

Tyler, now having failed to make Ember and Wednesday feel sorry for him, addressed the Nightshades, standing around the room. "You're all just gonna stand there and let them do this to me?!"

"Uhh, guys?" Ajax broke the silence following this comment. "Enid's just texted. Thornhill's suspicious."

Enid had been given the job of distracting the teachers, mainly Weems and Thornhill.

"How long until he morphs into that- thing?" Ajax finished.

"I'm not the monster!" Tyler tried again.

"You are. I saw it in a vision at the Weathervane," Wednesday spoke.

Tyler looked speechless, but he wasn't. "You're basing all this on some vision you had after we kissed? I mean- you can't even trust-"

"Yes she can. I saw it too, after I touched her shoulder," Ember had had enough. So, after answering Tyler's question, she dumped her bag on the table, rolling out all her torture weapons. She had had to pack light upon coming to Nevermore, but a couple of torture devices never did anyone any harm.

"Ember, what are you doing?" Bianca asked sharply, as Ember picked up a saw, but settled on a taser.

"Just some light torture," Ember answered. "Don't worry, I won't leave a mark."

"Ember-" Bianca tried again. "I-"

"Ember, are you being serious?" Ajax asked.

"There's only one thing a Hyde understands," Ember said, raising the taser. "Pain."

She walked towards the boy, giving him a five second tase on the neck.

"ARRRRGGGHH!" Tyler grunted, screwing his eyes shut and gritting his teeth.

But the shouts from the Nightshades were worse.

"EMBER!"

"Ember, NO!"

"Ember?!"

"EMBER, STOP!"

Ember stood back from Tyler.

"That's it, I'm out!" Yoko said, leaving putting her hands up and leaving the shed.

"Us too!" Kent and Davina said in unison, them too, leaving.

"No..." And Ajax, as well, was inching away.

"Wait-" Bianca tried.

"No, I'm done," Ajax sighed, him too, leaving.

So Bianca, the only one left, approached Ember and Wednesday, both of whom were standing over Tyler, Ember with two tasers in one hand.

"Ember, Wednesday, I didn't sign up for this. Let's go to Weems, explain everything-"

"Weems won't help," Ember said, still looking straight down at Tyler, who was panting, looking very afraid now.

"And Tyler here is always one step away from his father," Wednesday added, signifying that the sheriff, too, was out of bounds.

Bianca just sighed. "Then you're on your own."

And with that, she too, left.

"WAIT, don't leave me alone with them!" Tyler cried desperately, looking up in fear at Ember and Wednesday, as Ember held the two tasers she had up and crackled them with electricity.

❣︎❣︎❣︎

"Sheriff Galpin? Yes? We have a problem.

"And her name is Ember Addams."

❣︎❣︎❣︎

Whilst the Nightshades were at Weems, Ember continued to question Tyler.

"What is Kinbott, or should I say Laurel Gates, using you for?" She asked Tyler, after his sixth or seventh tase. Wednesday was standing behind her, also giving the boy a deathly stare.

"Ember... please..." Tyler's head was lolling; his eyes were crossed and unfocused, and he was painting heavily.

"Tyler, the body parts in the basement of the Gates mansion. What was she using them for?!" Ember questioned.

"I-I- don't understand- why are you doing this?" Tyler's eyes focused and he looked up at her.

Ember didn't answer. He knew why. Instead, she turned to Wednesday. "Cousin. The hammer."

Wednesday instantly handed her a hammer with a metal head. Ember turned to face the boy. "Let's test your reflexes."

However, that was when the sirens began to sound outside.

So, just as Ember raised the hammer above her head, a whole bunch of people burst into the shed.

"GET AWAY FROM MY SON-"

"DROP IT! DROP IT!"

Ember turned round with the hammer in hand, a panting Tyler behind her and a smirking Wednesday.

Then she turned her attention to what was in front of her; Sheriff Galpin, with a gun trained on her, and five back ups behind him.

Slowly, she let the hammer tumble to the ground.

❣︎❣︎❣︎

They met Weems at the police station and went in. Their party contained a recovered Tyler, a defiant Wednesday and an irritated Ember. Now, as for the adults, the sheriff was furious, but Weems was beside herself.

As Tyler signed various bits of paperwork, the sheriff took the principal, Ember and Wednesday aside to his office. Both adults were hiding their anger, but barely.

"Sheriff Galpin isn't pressing kidnapping charges, which is a miracle," Weems informed the two girls in a low voice. "And given the circumstances-"

"Of course he's not. Let's skip the lecture and get to the information that's actually of use to us," Ember said coldly, turning to Sheriff Galpin. "How long have you known?"

The sheriff just stared. "Excuse me?"

"When I gave you that claw from the cave, did you already know the truth?" Ember asked, threatening and low.

"Ember, that's enough!" Weems raised her voice.

"Xavier Thorpe is our Hyde," Sheriff Galpin said definitively.

"No he's NOT!" Ember suddenly shouted, overtaken partly by guilt for her false accusation, and partly by a motive she didn't know. Either way, she marched up to the sheriff. "Tyler used me to frame Xavier he is the monster surely you must-"

"No, actually, Miss Addams," Sheriff Galpin told her. "We now have evidence, thanks to you, of Xavier's guilt, and that's why I'm giving you one last pass."

"Tyler is going to turn on you too," Wednesday suddenly spoke, for Ember was beside herself by now.

"You seemed happy for evidence when I was suspecting Xavier," she finally said. "Hmmm, I wonder what's changed?"

"Let's go!" Weems yelled, her heels slamming against the floor as she left the office.

Ember's eyes flickered from Wednesday, to Weems, and to the sheriff, until finally, the latter told her what to do. "Get out."

But, upon leaving the office, before Ember could get out to Weems' car, with which she would be driving back to Nevermore with, Tyler came up behind her. "Ember, wait!"

"Tyler!" However, the sheriff was now in on the act, striding towards his son and warning him not to go near Ember. The latter had no idea where her cousin and Weems had gone; they appeared to have vanished.

"No, no, no," the sheriff said upon reaching his son.

"I need to talk to her dad," Tyler appealed. "She was my friend. We're in a police station, what's going to happen?" He added, as on desperate last attempt.

The sheriff looked round at Ember. "Your little Hyde is okay for now," she told him coldly.

The sheriff rolled his eyes and turned back to Tyler. "Be quick."

So then, suddenly, it was just Ember and Tyler. Alone in a hospital corridor.

"What do you want?" Ember asked Tyler, as he stepped forward.

"To ask a question," he answered. "What does... it feel like?"

"What does what feel like?" Ember asked sharply.

Then Tyler answered.

"To lose."

Ember felt her heart clench. She had been right. Because, at that moment, the 'nice' Tyler, the 'funny' Tyler, the 'good' Tyler... they were all gone. A cruel smirk won its way onto his face along with a pair of darkened eyes.

He started to advance towards her. "You know, at first, I'd waked up naked... covered in blood," he told her in a low voice, taking another step forward. "With no idea what happened.

"But over time..." He went on, advancing further. "I started to remember... everything," he was almost at Ember now-

"The sound of their screams... the panic in their eyes..." his voice dropped to a whisper. "And a fear so primal... I could taste it.

"And it was delicious."

Ember just stood, frozen. She knew he couldn't transform here, they were in a hospital... but that didn't mean-

She tried to move away, but Tyler trapped her in a hug. Well, a 'hug' where he was hugging, and she was stock still.

"You have no idea what's coming," he whispered into her ear; she could feel his hot breath on her neck-

Then he drew away, and walked off.

'Mr Innocent' again.

❣︎❣︎❣︎

"The quid pro quo for Sheriff Galpin not pressing charges is your immediate expulsion from Nevermore," Weems told Ember later, as the two stood in her office.

Ember just shrugged. "If you're expecting me to grovel for forgiveness at your knees, you should know I'm not that type."

Weems just scoffed in disbelief.

Then Ember remembered something. "The others had nothing to do with this. Including Wednesday. I acted alone."

Weems didn't move a muscle. "For someone who claims to have no friends, you sure do go out of your way to protect them."

"They didn't have the guts to do what needed to be done," Ember retorted.

"You mean kidnapping and torture? I should hope not," Weems snarled.

"You do realise that Tyler brutally disemboweled six people, then harvested a variety of their body parts for good measure?" Ember tried. She knew it wouldn't work.

"Perhaps if you'd come to me with your suspicious, instead of taking matters into your own hands, we could've worked together," Weems said, her anger slowly floating to the surface.

"Oh yes, because trust and co-operation have always been the hallmarks of our relationship!" Ember let out a sarcastic scoff.

Weems stayed silent for a second, then spoke, her emotions barely coming through this time. "I admire your ability to be your own person and follow your own rules. But it also makes you impatient and impulsive. Your actions have put me and the school in an impossible position-"

"TYLER is the Hyde!" Ember shouted, slamming her hand on Weems' desk. "And he has framed Xavier! He confessed everything to me!"

"I wish I could believe you," Weems clenched her jaw.

Ember paused, wracking her brains for something, anything- anything that would get her to believe her-

"You know his mother was an outcast? She was a student here, you must remember her- she was a Hyde!"

"Yes, Francois, she was a lovely woman," Weems snapped back. "I didn't ask what she identified as-"

"Well then give me more time and I can prove to you that they are Hydes!" Ember yelled.

"Time is up, and so are special deals, Ember," Weems told her. "Pack your steamer trunks, we will have them shipped, and say your goodbyes. You're on the afternoon train out of here tomorrow."

Ember stayed still. "What about Wednesday?"

"Your cousin is staying here on detention for a month, as Tyler included in his statement that she didn't do any torture," Weems said.

Ember was done. But, going to leave Weems' office, she heard the principal offer some last words.

"I'm sorry Nevermore didn't work out for you, Ember" she said, clenching her jaw almost tighter than before. "I'm sure your aunt will be very disappointed. As would your mother be."

She waited a second before adding. "And as am I."

Ember held her gaze for a second, before thinking about what to do next.

And she knew exactly what it was going to be.

❣︎❣︎❣︎

The chains Xavier was attached to rattled as Ember entered the cellblock. She knew going to him for help was a risky decision, but she had to do it.

But, walking in, the task became a bit more daunting.

Xavier had disheveled a lot since the other night when Ember had sent him to jail; he was in grey prison overalls, instead of the orange ones Gomez had been in on his brief stint, and his hair was matted and greasy. He was chained on the wrists, ankles, and neck, all feeding back to the same ring on the ground.

Nevertheless, Ember just had to walk in, and address the boy.

"Xavier," she said, making the chains rattle and the boy turn around. "I'm not sure how much time we have," she urgently added, coming to the bars of the boy's cell and standing opposite him. "Thing distracted the guards and is looping the cameras."

Xavier just stared, in awe of the girl. But Ember couldn't tell if he was angry or pleased to see her. His first question gave nothing away. "What are you doing here?"

Ember took a deep breath. "I know you're not the Hyde," she started. "Tyler used me and Wednesday to frame you, he is the actual Hyde."

Xavier stood, speechless. "How do you know?"

"Wednesday told me," Ember said evasively.

Xavier shook his head, scoffing. "No. You- you had a vision. Didn't you?"

Ember didn't deny it.

"Which means you and Tyler got some action in," Xavier's bottom lip curled.

"No," finally, Ember spoke. "It was Wednesday. She kissed him, and then I touched her shoulder."

Xavier stood there. "So you- you and Tyler-"

"I'm not going to bother explaining," Ember said, moving a step closer to the bars. "I should've believed you."

"Wow, Ember Addams admitting she did wrong?" Xavier gave a hollow scoff. His voice almost broke.

Ember rolled her eyes. "But since you seem to have some psychic connection to the Hyde, I was curious to know if you'd drawn anything recently that might shed some light on this-"

"You want my help?" There was no doubt about Xavier's feelings towards her now, as he scoffed and curled his lip. "No, no," he leaned forward and yelled at her through the bars. "You ruined my life! No..." he said again to himself. "I tried being your friend. And I'm going to be honest, I wanted to be more. But look where that got me-"

"This isn't about us, Xavier," Ember interrupted-

"No, it's about YOU!" Xavier yelled, coming close to the bars again, his voice echoing against the walls. Ember didn't jump, but she moved back a little. "Every time you get involved people get hurt!

"You're toxic!" Xavier went on. "All you ever do is make things worse!"

For the first time in her life, Ember felt impacted by what someone else thought of her. Xavier had snuck up on her, sure, but she had always been indifferent to him. She swayed on the spot, toxic, toxic, toxic... rattling round her head.

But she wasn't giving up yet.

Digging the picture Rowan had given her out; the one of her and Crackstone in the quad, she held it up to the bars. "Tyler warned me something bad was coming. I think-"

"No! You've already shown me that! I don't care!" Xavier shot her down angrily. "Do you wanna stop this? Then leave. Go far away and never come back. That can't happen if you're not here," he added, gesturing to the picture.

"Do you understand?" He asked, leaning close through the bars, his eyes wide and filled with loathing for her. "That's how you save everyone, okay?

"So go," he said, as Ember stood silently, shook. His chains rattled as he gestured to the door. "LEAVE!"

That hit her.

Leave, leave, leave...

She put the picture down.

She wanted to stay. She wanted to say she was sorry, to make them alright again, to finally gain a friend so strong that everyone would say she was becoming soft and gaining feelings...

But Ember Addams didn't do feelings.

And she wasn't soft.

So, folding the picture and putting it into her pocket, she left the cellblock.

Leaving Xavier, who wasn't exactly feeling too pleased with himself either.