Author's Note: Welcome to Chapter 7! I've been looking forward to this one for a while, so I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 7

Wednesday held the Hyde's gaze steadily. The creature looked back at her, whining quietly.

"Good boy," she said. "Pugsley, come."

Her brother took a tentative step forward. The Hyde's eyes flicked to him, but she tugged on his hands lightly, directing his attention back to her.

"Focus," she commanded.

Pugsley took another step, approaching until he was an arm's length away.

"Good," she told the Hyde. "I'm going to let go now, and I want you to stay right here."

She slowly disentangled her hands. The Hyde's whimpers grew louder, but he remained rooted in place. They had been working on lengthening the amount of time he could maintain control on his own. He would be fine for the next five minutes or so, then once he started showing signs of increased agitation, she would reinitiate contact and they would start the whole process again.

She let herself relax slightly, settling in for the usual wait. It was at that moment that everything went wrong.

The Hyde jolted suddenly—as if he had been given an electric shock. His eyes took on a feral glow and he gave a screeching roar that made her ears ring.

Wednesday lunged for his hands, but he swatted her away viciously. She flew into a tree and crumpled to the ground, gasping for air.

"Sis!" Pugsley screamed.

The Hyde turned on her brother, roaring again. There was no quenching the bloodthirst in his eyes. Even if she could get close enough to touch him, it wouldn't bring him back. Not this time.

"Pugsley, run," she said breathlessly.

Her brother started running as fast as his pudgy legs would carry him, but she knew that he wouldn't make it far. She reached into her pocket and pulled out two daggers. She aimed one at each of the Hyde's thighs, intending to slow the creature down, but he scarcely even staggered before resuming his pursuit.

She continued throwing daggers at him, even though a part of her knew it was futile. She had already seen how this would end. Daggers wouldn't stop the Hyde. Nothing would, except—

Pugsley let out a sharp cry as he tripped over a root and went sprawling to the ground. He scooted backward desperately until his back hit a tree. He stared up at the Hyde, face ashen, as the creature loomed over him.

Wednesday eyed the final dagger in her hand. She knew what she had to do. With a last glance at the Hyde, she turned the blade on herself and drove it deep into her side.

The pain was even more intense than it had been in her vision. She clenched her teeth to prevent from screaming. It was as if the entire right side of her body had been set on fire. She tried to steel herself before pulling the dagger out, but the fiery agony made her stagger as black spots danced across her vision. She tossed the blade aside, her hands sticky with blood.

Feeling light-headed, she was suddenly staring at a gray sky heavily encumbered with clouds. The sky from her vision, she thought wryly. She should have noticed it earlier.

"Wednesday!"

Tyler appeared above her, blocking her view of the sky. His expression was stricken with terror. Under other circumstances, she would have been proud to be the cause of such intense fear.

"Sis!" Tears made pale tracks down Pugsley's cheeks, but her pathetic younger brother was still in one piece. That was what mattered.

Tyler's hands shook as they hovered over her helplessly. "No...this can't be happening."

She tried to tell him that he was being unnecessarily dramatic, but the words wouldn't

come. Slowly, their faces grew hazy, and then everything slipped into blackness.

When she opened her eyes again, she was staring at the familiar stone ceiling of her room. She turned slightly and found Tyler slouched in a chair beside her bed.

His face flooded with relief when he saw her. "Hey. How do you feel?"

"Like I've been stabbed," she said flatly.

"You lost a lot of blood, but your mom stitched you up. She said that you'd be alright after a few days' rest."

"I see." She struggled to sit up, her floundering movements making her feel like a beached whale. She raised her chin slightly in an effort to regain her lost dignity. "Get my journal and pen, please."

"You should really be resting—"

She sent him a withering glare. She would not put up with being treated like an invalid. "If you don't get them, I will."

He shook his head in disbelief. "You're the most stubborn person I've ever met, do you know that?"

"I prefer obsessive for its greater negative connotations," she said dryly.

Still shaking his head, he dragged himself to his feet and walked rather drunkenly to her desk. When he handed over the requested items, she noticed that his eyes were ringed with exhaustion.

"How did I get back to the castle?" she asked.

He glanced away uncomfortably. "I carried you. I knew you wouldn't like it, but it was the fastest way I could think of."

No wonder he looked like a wrung-out rag. He could usually barely walk unsupported after transforming, yet he had somehow managed to carry her corpse-like form half a mile through rugged terrain.

It was clear that he needed rest, but first she needed answers. She flipped open her notebook, holding her pen poised to write. "Tell me what happened."

He took a shuddering breath. "It was Laurel. I don't know how it happened. I've barely been able to feel her since I got here, but back there I could feel her so strongly—it was like she was right next to me. She was furious about something. Her anger flowed through the bond to me and..."

He shook his head miserably. "I don't think the Hyde has ever wanted to kill so badly before. He was hell-bent on destroying everything in his path...until he saw you stab yourself. That stopped him in his tracks, and I was able to regain control after that."

She wrote down his words in her signature scrawling hand. So it appeared that if Laurel

experienced extreme emotions, she could still affect the Hyde, even at this distance. That was certainly...inconvenient.

"Why'd you do it?" he asked quietly.

She paused, looking up at him. "For some unfathomable reason, the Hyde doesn't want me dead. My theory was that if he believed my life was in danger, his protective instincts would overpower everything else—including his bloodlust. It turned out I was right."

"But you didn't even know if it would work. Why would you—?" He cut off sharply. "Wait, this is what you saw in your vision, isn't it?"

She gave a short nod, and he ran a hand through his hair.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"It wouldn't have changed anything even if I did."

"But you could've died!"

"My life was never in danger," she said, feeling slightly irritated. "I've studied every aspect of human anatomy since I was a child—did you really think I wouldn't know how to insert a knife without hitting any organs?"

"That's not the point," he said impatiently. "Wednesday, you stabbed yourself because of me. I almost ate your brother alive. Don't you see how messed up that is?"

"Have you met my family?" she replied without inflection. "Messed up doesn't even begin to describe us."

He shook his head. "I don't know if I can do this anymore. I'm tired of everyone around me getting hurt or killed." He looked at her bleakly. "I really thought that I had lost you today."

"Yet here I am, still haunting your every waking moment."

He didn't smile—only rubbed a hand tiredly over his face. "I don't want to ever go through that again. I can't lose you, Wednesday." His voice was tinged was desperation. "I just...can't."

His irrational declaration should have filled her with annoyance, but instead she felt a strange sense of...satisfaction? Disturbed, she forced her mind back to the matter at hand.

"I have no intention of going anywhere until our work is finished." She wasn't trying to comfort him—she was merely stating the truth. "This situation does pose a problem, however. We don't know if or when Laurel's emotions may affect you again. Pugsley is too weak to defend himself, and unfortunately, stabbing myself likely won't work now that the Hyde knows the trick."

"Even if it did, I'm not letting you stab yourself again," Tyler said fiercely.

Not even deigning to reply to such a foolish statement, she reached for her cellular phone instead.

"Since when do you have a phone?" he asked.

"Xavier gave it to me at the end of term."

Her eyebrows furrowed as she typed painstakingly. Why on earth were the

buttons so small? She would never understand why people preferred these infernal devices to typewriters.

Tyler stiffened. "Are you two, I mean, you know—?"

"If what you're so eloquently asking is if we're involved in the foolish social ritual

referred to as dating, then no. Xavier and I are acquaintances, nothing more."

He relaxed again. "So, what are you doing?"

She hit the 'send' button and looked up. "I've just contacted our new bait."

Author's Note 2: Thanks for reading! Writing these two is so much fun, I literally can't get enough of them. As always, please take the time to leave review to let me know your thoughts on the chapter. I've been so encouraged by the support for this story—you all keep me writing and updating as quickly as I can!