Wednesday opened the door to the Weathervane with her usual impassive face and lack of flair with a hint of impatience. Her usual black eyeliner hadn't worked as it normally did, a miniscule detail but it wasn't even! She'd had the irrational urge to ask her mother for help before she's quickly squashed it and strode out of her room in need of the four shots that gave her an edge for the day. Unfortunately, it was a bright and cheerful Saturday and she'd had to dodge people on her way to the café that was unpleasantly full. The case was taking up too much of her time, she'd spent too long last night trying to piece together the clues that she's snatched from the pathologist's lab.
As she stood in the queue her mind wondered back to the conversation with Uncle Felix, although he'd known the Hyde was monster he hadn't been able to give any more details. Blast the man and his love for electrotherapy! He may have remembered more if he hadn't been for those daily rounds…
"Hi Wednesday just give me a minute I'll bring it over." Came an annoyingly peppy voice that broke through her thoughts and she spared Tyler a single glance before passing over some cash and removing herself to the booth that she'd become quite attached to. Tyler was also another problem, becoming too involved, too interested in helping her. It was a strange and unusual situation, and she wasn't quite sure what to make of it or him. Shaking her head to clear it, Wednesday stared silently out of the window and tried to think of the next few pages for Vipers story, the words being frustratingly allusive.
"Here you go, how's your day going?"
The blank, dark gaze slid over to the bright blue that rested on her.
"Fine." She replied shortly. "Your workplace seems astonishingly full today."
"Yep, Brett will be happy. So what's the next step?"
Just before Wednesday could bring herself to make a disparaging remark about his lack of help a sound caught her attention.
It was not uncommon for strange vehicles to make their way through the small town, there was also quite a few hikers that drew some tourism in but this was not a truck. This was the sound of a classic 1993 Triumph Trophy motorcycle…And Wednesdays attention was immediately caught to it as the only other person whose company she didn't immediately reject, rode one.
Within 20 seconds the gleaming black bike swerved into the town centre, a leather clad individual perched on top, a familiar coat of arms plastered against the back of the bulky jacket.
Wednesday stood up with more of a gleam in her eye than Tyler had seen and immediately headed for th door. The few classmates that had been in the café looked on in curious amazement as the controlled girl moved quickly through the door and toward the figure who swept off their helmet to reveal a petite face wit dark hair that had twin streaks of red framing her face. Wednesday reached her and the faces of those watching dropped in astonishment as the woman wrapped her arms around the younger girl in a fierce hug.
Enid, who hadn't hidden her interest in the happenings had sat frozen in surprise but now at the incredible proceedings she decided she simply must be a part of it and dodged out the door as quickly as she could; reaching the pair as a soft English accent flowed from the blood red painted lips.
"Well good morning my little viper, how are you?"
"Its too hot." Wednesday deadpanned. "And its incredibly dull here."
"Indeed it is darling, but your Uncle informs me that you have managed to keep yourself busy." There was a light enquiring undercurrent to the tone.
At this point Enid realised this was as close to knowing her elusive room mate as she could get and perhaps even get some more information on her.
"Hi, I'm Enid Wednesdays roommate, Wednesday aren't you going to introduce your friend?" She said bluntly, stepping forward and holding out her hand to the stranger.
"I wasn't going to."
The woman huffed a laugh and nudged the braided girl with a look that caused her to sigh.
"Enid this is Hecate."
"How do you do." She said with a beaming smile and held out a dark red leather clad hand.
"Nice to meet you."
"Thankyou dear feel free to call me Hex, now please say this café is open as I am in desperate need for a hot chocolate."
Wednesday turned and quickly strode back into the café and to her booth, Hercate obviously had no trouble with the solemn attitude displayed and walked after her, subtly checking out the students and townspeople that were watching and sat with her eye on the door. Wednesday was already sat opposite and Enid smoothly slid next to her with Hercate sitting opposite. Tyler immediately came up to them and handed the usual coffee to Wednesday and hesitated. A look in his blue eyes causing Wednesday to sigh once more and with barely restrained annoyance introduced them.
"Pleasure to meet you Tyler, could I get a hot chocolate please?"
"Of course, I'll bring it right over. Anything for you Enid?"
"Chai with extra hot milk and foam please."
With a nod, the boy left. Turning back to Wednesday the woman stripped off her coat revealing a brown corset style waistcoat.
"Now tell me about your classes, darling."
Knowing that Hex was unlikely to reveal any information without gaining something Wednesday indulged her most trusted relative and gave a rundown of the classes, people, powers and also the annoyance with her parents. She didn't appreciate the way the lips twitched.
"Oh you poor thing, you'll scar that hand one day you know."
"Then he shouldn't have been spying. Or at least not so obviously."
Hex sighed and leant over, placing her hand so that just her finger tips brushed against Wednedays.
Her eyes those focused on the dark orbs still took note of the way Enids eyes widened in surprise.
"Sweetheart , do you think that this is less about spying and more about wanting to make sure you're okay?"
"Impossible." Came the succinct response. With a light chuckle Hex drew her hand back and shot Tyler another stunning smile as he set their drinks in front of them. She also took not of the way he glanced at her substitute niece who shot him a dark look but nevertheless tipped her chin minutely and with a sickeningly sweet smile the boy sat next to her.
"Now that we have all assembled, may we begin?" Wednesday asked dryly.
"Tut tut, patience is a virtue."
"You need that, I don't."
"I have plenty of it, why else am I so good at what I do." Hex replied with a wink.
"What do you do?" Enid asked eagerly.
"The simple title is problem solver, I get employed by people to take care of their pesky little problems."
"Oh so like a technical analyst." Enid said, a little disappointed it wasn't something more exciting.
The women let out a musical laugh and even Wednesday's face managed to become slightly less stoic for a moment.
"Oh no darling, something much more hands on than that but it can be rather dull on occasion which is why when Fester rang to suggest my seeing Wednesday, well I couldn't say no." She said and turned back to Wednesday, hazel eyes curious and focussed.
"Uncle Fester didn't have the required information, he indicated that you might have more."
"Felix doesn't have all the answers? Well colour me blind, how can I help/"
"With any information regarding a creature called a Hyde." Wednesday responded shortly.
The reaction was instantaneous, the elegant eyebrows rose and Hex leaned back in her seat, back perfectly straight as she surveyed the trio.
"Indeed, how mysterious…what has Fester told you?"
"That they were dangerous. He said he didn't have any other details and perhaps you would, he did also say I wasn't allowed to press."
The porcelain face relaxed slightly.
"Dear Felix, very well I shall quench your curiosity but I will ask how much I should trust your friends?"
"They will learn about anything later." Wednesday replied without glancing at the other two and so didn't see the shocked but pleased faces on the others.
"Indeed, well first of all the Hyde is not just a creature they are also people and will be treated with the same courtesy that you would afford a person, siren, werewolf etc, are we clear?" The tone was hard as was the gleam in the eyes which had the others nodding quickly.
"Well fester was correct, I met a young woman when I was taking a sabbatical from work. She was very controlled about her behaviour but rather carefree, relaxed but incredibly tense and always fragile…frightened and vulnerable of herself. The slightest thing would scare her. One day after we had spent at least a month, she opened up to me she explained that she was a Hyde and what it meant. She said how it was just like the novel Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, the Dr Jekyll side was the human her, in control, vulnerable, always wanting to please and help. The Hyde creature can grow up to 11ft tall, large eyes, giant claws and incredibly long poited teeth like a dinosaur might have had. It was rather… interesting to see when she transformed." Hex said gently, taking a sip of her drink. " The Hyde could be aggressive and violent but it was at the will of its master. You see the master is whoever has manage to 'unlock' the creature side in the first place, however this person has released the beast then it is indebted to it and the control is absolute."
"So what your saying is that this side, the Hyde side might not actually be in charge of its actions?" Wednesday asked, in a far softer tone than he would use for anyone else.
"Exactly. From what Marissa said The hyde is usually unlocked by something deeply traumatic, the emotions the person feels causes the Hyde to rise to the surface in order to protect the weaker side of themselves, in thanks for saving them the Hyde looks to it as its master. It has total power over the person and creature, nothing is too big or too small, if the master wills it then the Hyde is completly reliant on them and follows their orders. There are times when the Hyde attempts to rebel against their orders; in Marissa's case it caused her mind to snap. She spent to the remainder of her life in a sanctuary, her mood could shift instantly. The monster inside and the human both vying for control and essentially splitting her mind in two. I remember her saying that the times when the Hyde was in control were completely blank unless the person also accepts their role in what is being done. Marissa explained how when she was still under control she would wake completely naked with no idea how the last few hours had been spent.
They were all quiet, digesting the ladys words before Hex started to ask about Enid and Tylers families and school lives too. Another half an hour passed in this way with Wednesday making small comments before glancing as the front door opened and the Sheriff walked in. Immediately Tyler was on his feet and away from the booth.
"Dad, hi this is Hecate."
"How do you do, Sherrif Galpin. Your son seems quite charming." She said, holding out a hand.
The sheriff was obviously surprised with this smiling young women and hesitantly gripped her hand.
"Welcome to our town, what brings you by?"
"Mostly to see Wednesday but I also needed a short break from work. This is really quite a delightfully quaint town."
"Oh you know the Addams do you?"
"Yes, Morticia helped me out with a little problem years ago and we kept in tough. I just travel so much now for work that it can be quite difficult to connect."
"And what is it you do?" Asked the Sheriff rather suspiciously.
"The technical term is content analysis and distributor."
"So suits, boardrooms and businesses?"
"Exactly that, sir."
"Enjoy it?"
"Most of the time it is rather dull, but I do occasionally murder in the conference room." She said with smile that had the Sheriff quirking his own lips back at her.
"Well I didn't come to take up all your time, I just wanted to get a coffee." He said directing his statement towards Tyler who immediately nodded and headed back to the workstation with nary a backward glance. Hex watched speculatively over the rim of her hot chocolate, Wednesday was glowering at the Sheriff and Enid was watching the whole thing with nervous amusement radiating from her.
"Viper, when do you have to get back to school?"
"Soon
"Would you accompany me back to my bike, I fear I must be getting on."
With a look to Enid that had her scrambling out as Wednesday shuffled herself out. Pulling her jacket back on Hex held out her hand to the Sheriff, gripping it slightly to get more of an understanding of his energy before releasing it.
"Lovely to have met you sir, good day."
"Oh erm thank you miss, good bye."
"Thankyou for the hot chocolate Tyler, Enid lovely to meet you. Mayhap we will meet again."
After a brief round of goodbyes the two left. Wednesday standing stoic to the side as one of the most trusted people in her life leant against their black motorcycle.
"I won' t offer you much in the way of advice or anything because I know you'll hate it but one thing if I may and this is simply what I took note of in the last hour. Keep a closer eye on that young man, and you can take that whatever way you like, but something about him is interesting and you need to be aware of it."
Wednesday nodded slowly, brushing off the remark in her head but not wanting to get into more a discussion about it.
"Well Addams, at least you have someone in your family with style." Came a high pitched voice and the two women turned to see Bianca standing there with her two friends.
"Your uniform does nothing for you, you realise it's the informal time for outfits." Wednesday said bluntly.
"Sorry to interrupt this delightful repertoire, but you look familiar. What's your name?" Hex asked, staring intently at the light eyes and it was as the girl smiled with superiority that she made the connection.
"Bianca Barclay, whats yours?"
She grinned wickedly back at the barely out of puberty teen.
"No its not but oh well, mine is Hex."
"Hex? What sought of a name is that?" Bianca replied rudely.
"One that describes me very well, how's your mother?"
The question took the girl back and Wednesday watched in interest as the eyes narrowed.
"How do you know my mother?"
"Oh an old acquaintance. Is she still refusing to see how much of a pathetic bastard and down right creep her husband is?"
The siren was quite obviously lost for words.
"Hm, I'll take that as a yes. Shame, such brains that one…Ah well I hope she figures it out soon, now if you'll excuse us. I'm about to be off and saying goodbye to one of my favourite people."
At the clear dismissal, the Sirens merely opened their mouths a few times before leaving in a huff.
"Whose her parents?" Wednesday immediately asked.
"Nothing you need to know but can always find out, something else for you to investigate, my dear." Hex replied, her tone one of non-negotiation as she swung her leg over her bike and pulled her helmet on.
"Right, if you need me, find me. I'll stay in the area for a little while but not long. Anything else?"
Wednesday hesitated.
"Hey, you got this. You're a smart, beautiful whose stubborn as a mule and enough ideas to wite an entire library. I believe in you, and if you require anything there's easily several people who will do anything for you, okay?"
Wednesday nodded minutely.
"Alright, I would like to see you soon."
"I'll make sure to drop in before I leave. Oh and before I forget, I used this on my last job."
Leaning down and drawing it a long, thin dagger from her boot. Wednesday took it, excitement gleaming in her dark eyes. The scabbard was made from thick brown leather with metal decorations sewn around the top and bottom of it. The dagger itself was 11inches, the handle made from silver birch with a single red jewel on it and the blade made from –
"Silver, not just metal. Not quite one of a kind but certainly rare, try not to scare the hand off."
"Thank you." The word said with more feeling than any of her school people had heard from her.
"You're welcome, love. I'll see you soon, try not to endanger yourself too much."
Wednesday let a faint pull on her lips change her face for a moment as her friend flipped down the visor and the bike roared off, the figure on it raising her hand in farewell.