chapter eight!
•••

"THING, I LOVE YOU, BUT THIS IS A HORRIBLE IDEA."

Kamden muttered to the friendly appendage that was climbing up her shoulder as she slipped away from the crowd at the Dedication ceremony. She kept replaying Wednesday's plan over and over in her head, unsure as to why she found it difficult to tell the raven-haired girl 'no'.

Thing moved against her arm in a shrugging motion and Kamden sighed, forcing herself to keep walking onwards.

Mayor Walker began a speech from the town center, but Kamden was far enough away that she couldn't quite make out what he was saying.

"I can't believe I'm doing this." She groaned, coming around to the back of the rows of bleachers, slowly sinking down to the floor to conceal herself even more. Thing tugged on the top of her shirt sleeve, alerting her to a clear path to the statue. Kamden kept low to the ground as she crossed the last few meters between her and the bronze statue, hiding behind trash bins and food carts as she went.

Finally, she had her chance. With a mere flick of her wrist, the base of the statue went up in flames.

The crowd began to scream, horrified at the sight that was playing out before them. Flames crept up Crackstone's legs, and soon the whole figure was completely covered by the fire.

Kamden let Thing get off of her before she jumped to her feet, doing her best acting work yet; making berself appear to be just as frightened as the rest of the crowd.

"Kamden!"

She turned towards the voice, seeing a scared Eugene running for her. "What's going on?" She cried, her voice cracking with her faux conviction.

"I have no idea!" He replied, grabbing at her shirt sleeve. "But we should get out of here!"

"Yeah." Kamden nodded fast, letting him start to drag her away from the chaos. Just before the entire town square disappeared from her line of sight, she was able to catch Wednesday's eye one last time.

Her braids were swinging as she played her cello aggressively, staring straight ahead, expression blank, undeterred from the panicked crowd.

Kamden felt a smile creep onto her face, feeling a bit embarrassed that she would do anything for that girl. But she knew that there was nothing she could do to fight it.

•••

Kamden tapped her foot against the wooden floor boards, feeling nerves rippling through her stomach as she waited for Wednesday to emerge from Principal Weems office.

Finally, the door swung open and the shadowy girl floated out into the hallway. Kamden perked up and looked to her, waiting for answers.

"Don't worry." Wednesday spoke flatly. "She doesn't suspect you."

"I'm not worried about me." Kamden chuckled at her. "I'm worried about you."

"Oh." The usual emotionless expression that Wednesday kept glued on her face slipped for a moment, but returned quickly with her next statement. "Why?"

"Because I care about you." Kamden softened her voice, wanting so badly to bring back the momentary gentle look that had been in Wednesday's eyes.

"You should stop."

Kamden's shoulders slumped, and she let out a long breath, feeling slightly disappointed.

"I'm surprised you helped me today, anyway." Wednesday began to walk down the hall while she spoke, forcing Kamden to chase after her. "Why do you keep on endangering your safety and residence at this school?"

"Why do you?" Kamden reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her to a stop ever so gently.

Wednesday stared up into Kamden's blue eyes with her dark ones, her eyelids fluttering like she were tempted to blink. Kamden pressed her, asking, "Are you trying to get expelled?"

"You finally caught on." A dry smirk danced on Wednesday's mouth. "You deserve a gold star."

She pulled out of Kamden's grasp, starting to march down the passageways once again, her red-haired companion hurrying to catch up to her.

"Why?" Kamden asked, her heart genuinely aching when she thought about having to go through the rest of her time at Nevermore without Wednesday being around. "Do you not like it here?"

Wednesday skidded to a halt, turning quickly to face Kamden, who had stumbled to a stop to prevent them from colliding. "I am not going to join extracurriculars, make a plethora of friends, and beocme the queen of the school like my mother." She said, bitterness dripping from her voice. "That's the only reason that she sent me here. She wants me to become a carbon copy of her. And I will never be her."

Kamden couldn't find the proper words to say for a moment, taken aback by the unusual amount of personal information that the typically secretive girl had just thrown at her.

"You don't have to be like anyone, Wednesday." Her voice trembled as it fell from her lips, as if she were afraid to say something wrong. "You're an individual, and you lean into that so incredibly, it's enviable honestly."

She sucked in a breath before continuing on. "I think that your mom just wants the best for you, and wants you to have a good highschool experience with people who understand you, where you can learn to be yourself. I think you might need that, or even want that, more than you'd like to admit."

A thick silence fell over them, but Kamden found the quiet to be comfortable. She watched as Wednesday's eyes flash down to her lips for the briefest of moments, then back up to her eyes, a typical smug look on her face.

"Are you finished?" Wednesday asked. "One more sappy word and I might be sick."

"Yeah." Kamden laughed softly, dropping her chin to her chest to stare at the floor. "Yeah, I'm done."

"Good." Wednesday paused, and even though she wasn't looking at her, Kamden could feel the other girl's eyes staring at her intensely. "Meet me at the morgue tonight. Seven'o'clock sharp."

With this, Wednesday spun on her heel and walked off, leaving Kamden alone in the hallway. She threw her hands in the air, furrowing her brow with confusion. "The morgue? Seriously? There is actually something wrong with you!"

"Thank you." Wednesday spoke again without turning around.

Kamden sighed, wrapping her arms around ber stomach, already starting to mentally prepare herself for that night.

•••

The small sectional door slid up on its hinges, folding up on itself to create an entrance, just big enough for Kamden and Wednesday to slip through. Thing was working the door's controls, and he quickly closed it again once the two girls were inside the morgue.

"While I do the autopsy," Wednesday said, getting straight to the point. "You two find the files of the monster's other victims and make copies."

Kamden smiled to Thing, shrugging playfully. "That's fine, I prefer working with him anyways."

While Thing bowed slightly at her kind words, Wednesday merely scoffed. "And I prefer to work alone. I guess it works out perfectly."

"You've gotta stop saying you prefer to work alone and then inviting me everywhere with you." Kamden teased her. "It makes you sound like you're trying to convince yourself that you haven't grown to like me."

"I don't like anyone." Wednesday said, moving over to the other side of the room.

"But?" Kamden could sense that there was more she wanted to say.

"But..." Wednesday froze, opening and closing her mouth like the words were difficult to say. "I don't...not...like you."

"I'll take that." Kamden beamed for a moment before turning back to Thing. "Let's go."

The two left the room through a side door, ending up in the hallway. They found the room that was labeled "Photocopy Room", finding drawers and drawers full of files and reports.

Thing scrambled up to the top of one of the metel organizers, opening up a drawer. Kamden peered inside, flipping through the papers with her fingertips, not finding anything until Thing tapped her hand.

She paused, lifting the file that he had forced her to stop on out of the drawer, holding it up so she could see it better in the dim room.

"Bear attacks." She read the lettering on the top of the folder. "Perfect." She held the file out to Thing. "Can you copy these while I check to make sure we got everything?"

Thing stuck out two of his fingers in a quick salute before snatching up the folder and making his way over to the copying machine.

Kamden continued to flip through the drawers, searching for any information or files that they might have missed.

The sound of a car door slamming in the parking lot made both Kamden and Thing freeze in their tracks. They exchanged a frantic glance before rushing into action. Thing rounded up all of the copies that he had made so far, while Kamden ran back down the hall to warn Wednesday of the surprise visitors.

"Wednesday!" She hissed, throwing the door open. "Someone's coming!"

Wednesday whipped around, eyes wide, hovering over a body on a mortuary cooling tray. "Who's coming?" She whispered back.

"I don't know!" Kamden snapped. The front door opened and creaked loudly as the strangers stepped inside the entry hallway.

"Hide!" Were Kamden's last words before she had to dive under one of the examination tables to get out of sight.

"Whatever or whoever is responsible for these killing," an unfamiliar man's voice spoke. "In all my years, I've never seen injures like them. I thought you should see this before I issued my report of the latest victim."

Footsteps could be heard crossing the room, and from what Kamden could see from her hiding place, there were two men approaching the stand freezer in the corner of the room.

"It's a real nose scratcher." The freezer door was swung open, then some heavy silence hung over the room before the first man spoke again.

"The killer cut off two toes from the victims left foot." He informed the other man. "Best guess; they used a surgical saw."

Kamden furrowed her brow, taking in the information.

"'Minute you're done," Kamden recognized the second voice, remembering it to be Sheriff Galpin, the head of police in Jericho, and Tyler's dad. "Send it straight to my desk."

"Sure thing, Sherrif." The coroner was polite.

Kamden watched the sherrif's boots walk back towards the door, stopping only when the first man tried to talk to him again. "Busy couple of weeks, huh? At least I'm going out in style. Friday's my last day."

"Happy retirement, Doc." The sheriff's voice was cold, and he tried to turn and leave again but the coroner was not yet done with the conversation.

"Gonna surprise Mrs. Anwar with a four-week cruise." He gloated. "Excited to trade rib shears for Mai Tais."

The sherrif only chucked wryly, clearly not in a talking mood. The coroner's energy shifted and be stopped trying to be friendly. "See yourself out. I'll lock up."

The door swung open as the sheriff left the room, leaving the doctor alone with the two girls and sentiant appendage that the poor,  unsuspecting man had no idea were even in the same room with him.

Kamden pulled her arms impossibly closer to her body, hoping with every fiber in her being that she was completely out of sight.

The coroner crossed the room, heading straight for the table that Kamden was lying under. She squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for her discovery, already searching her brain for any excuse that she could use on the doctor, who was about to get one hell of a surprise.

However, he walked right past Kamden's hiding spot, approaching the wall of mortiary coolers instead. Kamden moved her head a few millimeters so she could watch, seeing that he was bending down to an already half open drawer.

Kamden's breath got caught in her throat when she realized that Wednesday must have climbed into one of the freezers. She tried to keep her panic silent as she watch the man pull the drawer the rest of the way open.

He pulled out the tray, staring down at the pigtailed girl inside. He remained silent for a moment, and Kamden braced herself for when he would inevitably start screaming, but it never came.

Voice soft, like he were speaking to himself,
he said, "I don't remember this one coming in. Full rigor. You've been dead for a while."

Kamden's eyes shot open and she bit down on her lip to stifle her laugh. The man continued, "Guess you won't mind waiting another day for me to cut you open."

He closed up the drawer before leaving the room, and Kamden didn't dare make a noise or move an inch until she heard the main entrance door close and lock.

Then, she scooted out from under the table, brushing the thick dust off of her pants as she got to her feet. She approached the wall of freezers, wrapping her fingers around the handle of the one that Wednesday was in, giving it a strong pull.

The tray slid out, revealing a relaxed Wednesday staring up at the ceiling. She didn't look at Kamden when she said, "Five more minutes. I was just getting comfortable."

Kamden pressed her lips together firmly. "Wednesday, get out."

With an exhasberated sigh, Wednesday sat bolt upright, shooting Kamden a glare. "You're no fun."

Kamden gave a quick nod and a sarcastic half-smile. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. We have to go."

She held out her hand, and to her surprise, Wednesday took it with no hesitation. Kamden helped her climb out of the cold box, trying not to focus on the feeling of their palms pressing together and their fingers sliding across one another's.

Of course, Wednesday dropped her hand the second she was on her feet, but Kamden could feel the way she let her fingers linger, slipping them slowly away from her own. She was suddenly aware of how cold Wednesday had made her hand become, and how empty it felt without the dark-eyed girl's small one interlocked with it.

"Why are you just standing there, I thought you were eager to leave?" Wednesday questioned Kamden's sudden change in energy.

The red-haired girl shook her head quickly, getting back on track. "Oh, sorry. Let's go."

They left the building together, with Thing crawling across the fall leaves after them.

•••

hii guyss!

thank you so much for reading! i hope you enjoyed the update!

i'm updating again tomorrow, and i just want to say that the next chapter is gonna be a little bit shorter, but for a good reason 🤭 i bet you can guess what's gonna happen tehehe....

please vote, comment, and follow me if you'd like, to be notified when i update!

~ catie