chapter seven!
•••

THE BELL HANGING ON THE DOOR OF THE WEATHERVANE CHIMED LOUDLY AS THE TWO GIRLS STEPPED INSIDE THE COFFEE SHOP.

"Hey." Xavier popped up from behind the counter, a uncharacteristically happy look on his face. "You guys finally went somewhere that you're allowed to be. Congratulations."

"We're looking for Tyler." Wednesday stepped up to the counter, Kamden right behind her.

Xavier's face fell, and he swallowed thickly before replying. "I told you he was bad news."

"Twice." Wednesday said. "But who I speak to is my business." She gave him one last look before reaching over and ringing the service bell on the counter obnoxiously.

"Who's Tyler?" Kamden leaned over to whisper her query in Wednesday's ear, but before she could get a reply, the boy in question stepped out from the employee's only room.

"Tyler Galpin?" Kamden scrunched up her nose at the familiar face.

"You've met?" Wednesday caught Kamden's eyes, taking in the repulsed look on her face.

"Yeah," Kamden wrapped her arms around her stomach. "He ratted me and my friends out for skipping class to go smoke behind a dumpster. When I went to Jericho High."

"Yeah, uh, sorry about that." Tyler looked sheepishly at the ground.

"I got freaking arrested!" Kamden cried. "For smoking weed! God, it was not as big of a deal as you made it seem to your dad."

Tyler squinted at her. "You were thirteen."

"Whatever." Kamden slumped against the counter, tapping her foot to try and burn off her frustration.

Xavier scoffed and moved away from the group, slipping behind the the counter. Wednesday tore her gaze off of Kamden, who was still leaning against the counter, pouting. She looked to Tyler, who sighed heavily, shaking his head to get rid of the heavy energy that hung over the room.

"You want your usual?" He asked Wednesday, a smile dancing on his lips.

Kamden peered up at the two of them from under her eyelashes. She furrowed her brow. The usual? That would mean that Wednesday had been here before, and that she had spoken to Tyler before.

Wednesday nodded briskly. "And your help."

She stepped over to the large bulletin board that was hung on the back wall of the shop, grabbing a pamphlet from on of the plastic containers. She brought it back over to a table, spreading the sheet out. She and Tyler slid into the booth, inspecting the paper closer.

"Stop grouching and come over here."

Kamden followed Wednesday's command, taking a seat next to the dark-haired girl, letting her eyes wander around the unfolded pamphlet, seeing that it was a map of the entire town of Jericho.

"You know the original pilgrim meeting house, the one from the 1600s?" Wednesday asked Tyler. "Do you know if it's still around."

"What's left of it is out in Cobham Woods, but it's pretty much just a ruin." He replied, shaking his head in confusion at her. He then turned to Kamden, saying, "And you didn't know this? I mean you grew up here, pretty much everybody knows about-"

"I had better things to do." Kamden narrowed her eyes at him.

"Like get high in middle school?"

"Oh my God, I am gonna-"

"Show me." Wednesday interrupted their bickering, getting them both to shut up immediately.

Tyler blinked, getting himself back on track. "Uh..." he looked out over the whole map, searching for the designated location. "There." He tapped a part of the woodland on the map. "But, look, it's kind of sketchy. Squatters and meth heads use that place as a crash pad."

"Did you just look at me when you said meth heads?" Kamden gasped.

"I actually didn't, and besides-"

"Thank you for the help." Wednesday interjected once again, bringing the top of the paper to meet the bottom, folding it up so she could shove it into her pocket. "Let's go." She nudged Kamden with her arm, silently telling the copper-haired girl to get out of the booth.

"Gladly." She muttered, climbing to her feet and making a beeline for the door, Wednesday right on her heels.

"Hey, listen-" Tyler stopped the girls. "The ruins are kind of tricky to find. I could take you this afternoon. My shift ends at 2:00."

"Principal Weems would hang, draw and quarter me if I miss the big statue dedication." Wednesday told him. "And that's not even starting on what Kamden would do if I let you tag along. We've got this."

Kamden, who had been staring at the ground, bouncing her leg impatiently, glanced up at Wednesday's words, a flicker of light rippling through her chest.

"We should go." Wednesday said to Kamden as she turned and placed her hand on the door. "We have to make this quick."

"Yeah, of course." Kamden found herself unusually nervous as she followed Wednesday out the door. Her stomach did flips as she replayed Wednesday's words over and over inside her head, and she couldn't help a smile from taking over her face.

•••

Branches cracked underneath their feet as they moved swiftly through the dark woods, just outside of the town premises.

An old shack that was extremely worn down and rotting came into view, right where Tyler had directed them to go. "Is that the meeting house?" Kamden panted, out of breath from their hike.

"It's just a little bit of a fixer upper." Wednesday had a devious smile on her face, and she trekked ahead of Kamden to get to the remains first.

She slipped past the door, stepping into the room - that was more like a fenced in area - with how many holes were in the roof. Kamden followed her inside, taking in the rustic look and all of the rotting planks that surrounded them.

Wednesday opened up her bag, letting Thing climb out and thud into the leaves on the ground. He looked all around for a moment before giving what appeared to be a shrug.

"I was expecting more too." Wednesday pressed her lips together, nodding in agreeing with him.

"What are you doing here, little girls?"

The low, gravelly voice cut through the thick silence of the forest, making both Kamden and Wednesday quickly turn towards the sound. A man wearing ripped up and dirty clothes hovered over them, glaring down at them angrily. Kamden sucked in a breath, feeling her chest start to squeeze with panic, but Wednesday remained as stone faced as ever.

"Use 'little' and 'girl' to address me again and I can't guaranteeyour safety." She snapped.

"This is my place!" The man was shaking with anger. "Get out!"

"Thing?" Wednesday glanced down at him. "A hand here?"

At the instruction, Thing sprung into action, scurrying across the ground until he reached the man's leg. Then, he crawled up his pant leg and up his chest until he could get a firm grip around the man's throat.

"Gah!" The man cried, gasping for air as a disembodied hand strangled him. "Get off of me!"

In their tussle, the two stumbled out the door, giving Wednesday and Kamden the space and time they would need to investigate. While Wednesday looked around, Kamden glanced over her shoulder, watching Thing get thrown off the man's neck. The angry gentleman began to sprint headfirst back towards the ruins.

With a flick of her pointer finger, Kamden lit up the bottom hem of his shirt in flames. This made the man finally run off into the woods, screaming for his life.

"Impressive."

Kamden turned at the sound of Wednesday's voice, finding that the she had been watching her the entire time.

She let her eyes fall to the ground, smiling to herself. After taking a second to breathe, Kamden was back with a snarky comment. "'Use little and girl to address me again and I'll' - ooh that was good! Consider me scared!"

A genuine smile crept its way onto Wednesday face, though it was a small one, it was real.

Their moment was broken up by Thing coming back into the building, signing something to Wednesday, who shook her head, her face back to being solemn. "No, I can't just touch something. My visions have to be triggered by something specific, and I don't know what that would be."

"Wait, wait, wait." Kamden waved her hands in the air to motion for them to include her. "We're triggering your visions now? Why?"

"Because I want to see if that girl from the picture and from my other visions will speak with me again." Wednesday told her, moving across the room to one of the walls. "Maybe she can tell me something useful and-"

Just as she laid her hand on the door to step outside, her neck snapped up until she was facing the sky, every muscle in her body stiff.

Thing quickly moved to tug on Kamden's uniform skirt, and while she might not speak fluent Thing-lish yet, Kamden knew what that little tug meant.

Catch her.

The raven-haired girl was already beginning to topple over, and Kamden took long strides to make it to her side, placing a hand on either one of Wednesday's arms, lowering her slowly to the ground.

"She's having a vision." Kamden breathed, watching Wednesday's eyes dart back and forth erratically behind her eyelids. She kept one hand on the unconscious girl's arm, squeezing her bicep in an attempt to comfort her through whatever she might be seeing.

Suddenly, a twig snapped in the woods a little distance away, grabbing Kamden's attention immediately. She sat up straighter, peering through the wooden planks to try and get a glimpse of what might be making the noise outside.

Her heart thumped loudly in her ears as another twig snapped, this time much louder and closer than before. Kamden rose to her feet, bringing her hands up and letting flames emerge from her fingertips as she prepared for the intruder. Cool raindrops began to fall from the sky, dripping onto Kamden's hair and dampening her face.

Just then, Wednesday gasped loudly and jerked forward, awake from her vision. "I saw her!" She exclaimed, catching her breath. "The girl from my visions! Kamden, I-" when she finally laid eyes on the copper haired girl, she immediately clamped her mouth shut.

"What's going on?" She said, lowering her voice, eyeing the flames adorning Kamden's fingertips warily.

"I heard a noise...coming from the woods." Kamden responded, the fire in her hand glowing almost as bright red as her hair.

Wednesday crept over to her, standing tall right beside her, both girls forcing themselves to appear brave despite both of their racing hearts.

With a loud thud followed by a growl, a bloodshot, bulging eye appeared on the other side of the wall, staring back at the two girls.

Kamden gasped and stumbled backwards, tripping over Wednesday's platform shoes and falling to the ground, the flames on her fingers going out as her hand slipped into a puddle.

Somehow, Wednesday managed to stay upright  while Kamden fell, but she seemed equally as frightened; her breathing was ragged and her eyes wide as she stared right into the pupils of this monster.

To both of their surprise, the large, thundering creature turned and walked off in the opposite direction of the girls. But still, they weren't going to talk any chances, and Wednesday held out her hand for Kamden.

"Come on," she urged, helping her back onto her feet. "Let's get out of here."

"I couldn't agree more." Kamden panted, following right behind Wednesday as they fled the ruins, going in the same direction as they came, back towards the town.

Once they had run far enough away and there was still no sign of the monster following them, the girls dared to stop and catch their breaths.

"What...the...hell...was that?" Kamden gasped out, putting her hands on her knees to take some breaths.

"It's the monster. I've seen it before." Wednesday replied. "I saw it the night that Rowan died."

Kamden furrowed her brow. "Rowan Laslow?" She shook her head, growing more confused by the second. "He got expelled, he's not...he's not dead."

"Yes he is." Wednesday insisted, grabbing Kamden's wrists and pulling her so that they could make eye contact. "The monster killed him, I was there. And Weems is trying to cover it up."

"What?" Kamden stared into her dark irises, finding nothing but earnest. "Why would she do that?"

"I don't know." Wednesday sighed frustratedly, dropping her grip on Kamden.

After a moment of silence, she peered up through her wet bangs at Kamden, eyes pleading. "You believe me, don't you?"

Kamden couldn't tear her eyes away from her usual so solemn face, never having seen Wednesday exude so much emotion in one day. She started to nod, slowly at first but quickening eventually.

"Yeah," she said, hesitant. "Of course. I don't think you'd lie."

"But?" Wednesday could tell that there was more.

Kamden sighed, sucking in a breath before continuing. "But what if it was another vision? What if it wasn't real? I mean, I watched Rowan walk out to his car just last week."

"You don't believe me." Wednesday's voice was back to its usual dry tone, but with a twinge of sadness dripping from the words.

"No, I do!" Kamden blurted. "I do." She made her mind up, her lips pressing together in a firm line as she nodded once. "I believe you."

Wednesday let her tense shoulders drop ever so slightly, before she began to walk further down the path. Kamden hurried to catch up to her.

"You said you saw the girl again?" She asked.

"Yes," Wednesday said, keeping her eyes straight ahead. "Her name is Goody Addams. I believe that she's my ancestor from 400 years ago."

"And she's talking to you through visions? That's so cool." Kamden spoke earnestly. "I wish that my-"

"Wait!" Wednesday cut her off, holding up a hand in her face. Slowly, she turned her palm around until she were pointing at the ground.

Kamden followed her finger, breath catching in her throat when she saw the large footprints that ended in sharp claws that were pressed into the ground all around them.

Wednesday moved her finger, tracing a path that Kamden kept up with using only her eyes, gasping when she saw what was being made a fuss about.

The clawed toes slowly turned human.

"The monster's human." Wednesday breathed, voice trembling slightly with disbelief.

Kamden held her breath. "Holy-"

"What the hell are you two doing?"

Flinching, the two girls turned to face the new arrival, seeing it to be Xavier.

"We were following the monster." Wednesday squinted at him.

"You saw it?" He glanced around, now looking nervous.

"Yeah, it was this close to my damn face." Kamden held up her hand to show how near the monster had been to her.

"Shit." He breathed, eyes darting between them both. "Are you guys okay?"

"What are you doing here?" Wednesday threw his earlier question right back at him.

"I heard you talking to Tyler about checking out the old meeting house." He explained. "I guess it's lucky I showed up when I did."

"Lucky? Oh, so you could save us from the scary monster and be a hero?" Kamden scoffed, pushing her wet hair off of her face. "Boys are so stupid."

Xavier merely blinked at her, and Wednesday still had her mind on the monster. "I did learn one thing." She said, almost as if she were speaking mostly to herself. "The monster is human. Its tracks turn from monster prints to human ones."

"Show me." Xavier requested, and Wednesday turned to show him the once deep tracks in the mud, only to find that the rain had washed them away.

"You've gotta be kidding me." Kamden groaned.

"They were right there, I swear." Wednesday inhaled sharply, frustration obvious on her face.

Xavier scoffed in disbelief and Wednesday shot him a look. "We both saw it. Why would we both lie?"

He shrugged, moving his umbrella that he brought so that it covered the already soaked girls. "I'm trying to keep an open mind."

"How big of you." Wednesday was not impressed.

"I do think you might be right about Rowan, though." Xavier changed the subject.

Kamden peered up at him curiously. "And why's that?"

"I texted him today. I said maybe we could meet over spring break and go snowboarding like we did last year." He explained, following with the umbrella as the two girls began to walk down the path once again. "This time he texted right back. Said he wouldn't be able to make it."

"Only you never went snowboarding last year." Wednesday pieced together.

Xavier nodded and Kamden looked down at the wet ground, thinking.

"See, Kamden?" Wednesday nudged her gently. "I'm not crazy."

"I never said you were." Kamden defended herself. "I just had my doubts. I literally saw Rowan leave the school, that's all."

"I did too." Xavier said. "But, I still think Wednesday might be onto something."

The town came into view and the heavy downpour started to lighten up, allowing Xavier to put away his umbrella.

"The dedication ceremony is starting soon." He stepped in front of the girls and faced them. "I'll see you there. Unless you're planning on sneaking off somewhere else."

"We'll be there." Kamden gave him a disingenuous smile.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." Wednesday added, and Kamden caught the mischievous twinkling in her eye.

Xavier gave the two girls one last look before be shook his head at them and walked off. Kamden turned to Wednesday, squinting at her suspiciously. "Okay, what on earth are you planning? Because I know that you would never be this excited for a dumb ceremony."

"You'll see." Wednesday walked past her with a smirk. "Oh, and I need you to help me."

Kamden watched her walk away, crossing the road to get to the town square. She let out a long breath. "Dear lord, why do I do everything this girl says?"

With this non-rhetorical question, Kamden picked up her pace to catch up with Wednesday.

•••

hey everybody!

THANK YOU FOR ONE THOUSAND READS!!! i've never had a book hit that number so quickly!! i'm so glad that y'all are enjoying it so far!! special thank you to anybody who leaves their comments, they make me smile and laugh so much, and give me so much motivation to keep going!

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~ cat