Author's Note: Welcome to Chapter 10! I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 10
By the third day of Enid's visit, Tyler was growing haggard again and Wednesday decided that another reprieve from training was warranted. When she announced her intention during breakfast, her mother looked delighted.
"That's a splendid idea, darling. If you children are looking for something to do for the day, Pugsley's been wanting to go ice fishing, and I'm sure he'd adore the company." She turned to Tyler and Enid. "Have you dears ever been fishing before?"
Tyler replied that he had gone a few times with his dad when he was younger, but Enid shook her head.
"I'm not really sure if it's up my alley, Mrs. Addams," she said. "I'm not so stellar at the whole patience thing."
"Oh, no need to worry about that, dear," her mother smiled reassuringly. "Our family has a technique that makes the whole process quite efficient. You won't need patience to enjoy yourself, you'll see."
"I guess I'll give it a try," Enid shrugged. "Anything's better than spending another day as monster bait." She looked at Wednesday. "You're coming too, right?"
"I'd rather dig up graves," she replied flatly, "but I suppose there are less pleasant ways to spend a morning." She rose from her chair. "Pugsley, fetch the grenades. We're leaving by the end of the hour."
Enid and Tyler watched him scurry away, bewilderment painted on their faces.
"Wait, what—?" Enid began.
"No questions," Wednesday cut in firmly. "You'll understand when we get there. Also, Enid, I'd recommend bringing headphones."
The noise of the grenades was tolerable for humans, but it would be less so to a werewolf's sensitive hearing. Enid wasn't a connoisseur of pain like she was, so headphones would be necessary.
Once the four of them were packed and bundled up in winter clothes, they trekked to the pond at the back of the property. In the summer it made for a passable swimming hole, but at this time of year it was completely encased in ice.
Pugsley rolled out the tarp they had brought to sit on, while Tyler set the grenades down with an amusing amount of care.
"Look, I know I'm not an expert at this," Enid said skeptically, "but don't we need like rods and bait and stuff?"
Wednesday settled down on the tarp. "Just put your headphones on and watch."
She nodded to Pugsley, who removed the pin from one of the grenades and hurled it into the middle of pond. It exploded as soon it hit the ice, creating a sizeable crater. Several dead fish floated to the surface.
She turned to Enid and Tyler, who were gaping in astonishment. "Care to try?"
"Don't you need a license or something to use one of those?" Tyler asked.
"It wouldn't be an amusing pastime if it wasn't illegal," she said matter-of-factly.
Tyler shrugged as he took the grenade and flung it at the ice. Three more fish emerged, and he gave a low whistle. "Your mom wasn't lying when she said this was efficient."
"Uh, Wednesday?" Enid asked as she tentatively took a grenade from Pugsley. "I'm not so sure about this."
"Don't whine, Enid. It isn't becoming. Just remove the pin and throw. As long as you don't drop it, all of your limbs should remain intact."
Enid gulped nervously. She pulled out the pin with trembling fingers, then squeezed her eyes shut and threw. She shrieked when it went off, as if surprised that the grenade had actually exploded.
"So?" Wednesday queried.
A wide grin spread over Enid's face. "That was awesome! Quick, give me another one."
For the better part of the next hour, the forest resounded with grenade explosions. They had long since annihilated the entire population of fish, but Enid and Tyler didn't seem to notice.
"Aw, that's it?" Enid said as the last of the grenades went off. "I was just getting started."
"I have another bucketful back at the castle," Pugsley said, "but it was too much to carry so I had to leave it. I can go get it if you want."
"I'll come too," Tyler said. "They'll be too heavy for you to carry on your own."
Enid stood quickly. "No, I'll go. The whole point of today was for you to rest."
Tyler eyed her uncertainly. "Are you sure?"
"Positive," Enid said. "You stay here with Wednesday. We'll be back in a jiffy."
She caught Wednesday's eye and winked slyly before turning to leave. Despite their
previous conversation, the other girl still seemed to be holding out hope that she would eventually fall for Tyler. The whole affair irked Wednesday to no end. First her mother and now Enid. At this point, she wouldn't be surprised if the entire Nevermore student population showed up in Transylvania to play matchmaker between her and Tyler.
A heavy silence ensued with Pugsley and Enid's departure. She was perturbed to find that she was vaguely uncomfortable. It was an alien feeling.
"Your training appears to be going well," she said. Not to alleviate the silence, she told herself, but because this was a topic she had wanted to broach for a while. They had fewer opportunities to review their training sessions now that they no longer shared a room.
"For now," he said. "Until something ticks Laurel off again."
"That will improve with time. For now, you need to focus on gaining as much control as possible."
He nodded, but they both knew the truth. They assumed that practice was the answer, but their theory was still untested. If Laurel decided to throw a fit over prison food, they could easily find that all of their training had been futile. Wednesday occasionally found herself wondering if it was impossible for the Hyde to fully control the rage from the bond, even with the Jekyll's aid. She stubbornly pushed the thought away. The diary had said it could be done, so there must be a way.
"You're relying less on physical contact than before," she observed. Yesterday he had maintained control for nearly an hour without touching her. "Is there something that's brought about this change?"
He shrugged. "Maybe...I don't know."
"Elaborate."
He shifted uncomfortably. "I'd rather not talk about it."
"Well, I'd suggest that you find a way to overcome your pointless mental block. The information you provide will help others with the same affliction as yourself. You'll be able to make a difference in their lives. Isn't that what most of you consider to be the epitome of a meaningful existence?"
Of course, she herself couldn't care less about such things. She was doing this solely for the renown, although becoming independently wealthy was an added perk.
"I think of you," Tyler said reluctantly. "That's the easiest way to put it, but it's not that simple. The Hyde isn't capable of intelligent thought, so it's more like...images of you."
"What images?"
He hesitated. "It's just one."
She waited expectantly for him to continue. "Which one?"
"It's from that night at the Weathervane."
She didn't need to ask him to specify which evening he meant. Memories of that night flooded her mind, and she was unable to stop herself from asking caustically, "Was it before or after I had a vision of you murdering Kinbott?"
He flinched and lowered his eyes. "It's when we kissed," he said quietly.
"I see." Deep down, she had already known what his answer would be.
He met her gaze again, seeming to summon his courage. "I've been wanting to ask this for a while, but why did you kiss me? You said I'm nothing to you, right?"
It required some effort to keep her face smooth. "Call it morbid curiosity."
"Don't do that."
She raised a quizzical brow.
"I was there too," he said. "I could feel it when you kissed me—that wasn't the type of kiss you'd give out of morbid curiosity. You...well, you were into it, until everything got screwed up."
She stared at him in disbelief. She had been...into it? Words of denial sprang to her lips, but looking at Tyler's face, she knew that he wouldn't be convinced. She could think of only one way to end this.
"Fine," she said. "If you want the truth, I'll give it to you. That kiss was a moment of weakness. There was a time when I thought that I might be fond of you, but that's over now."
"Because you realized what I really am?"
"No. Because I remembered who I am."
He frowned, looking confused.
"I blame my momentary lapse of judgment on being thrust into a boarding school with teenagers who have as much inhibition as a pack of hyenas. I suppose you could say I was infected," she said dryly. "In any case, I should be expressing my gratitude. Because of what happened that night, I remembered what I had almost lost sight of."
She drew a deep breath, knowing that it was time to strike the finishing blow. "I've said it to you before. I am not girlfriend material. I don't do affection or love or anything like that. It's not who I am. You know all of this very well, so if you are still hoping that I'll return your feelings, you are a fool."
The hurt in Tyler's eyes—like the look of a kicked puppy—would have been enough to twist the heart of a serial killer. "I understand," he said dully. "Thanks for clearing that up." He stepped away from her. "I...I need a minute. Tell Enid and Pugsley I'm sorry."
He stumbled off into the woods, still looking slightly dazed. Wednesday was puzzled to find that part of her was tempted to go after him. What was wrong with her? Intentional or not, Tyler had made her feel like a fool that night at the Weathervane. What she had just done was fair turnabout. She should have felt a sense of triumph, so why did she feel nothing but emptiness?
Author's Note 2: Poor Tyler. My heart broke a bit for him as I was writing this. In other news, we are getting to the climax now, folks! Only three (maybe four) chapters until the end. Thank you for your continual support for this story—you all are amazing! As always, thanks for reading and please kindly leave a review to let me know what you think!
