✓ 𝐖.𝐈.𝐓.𝐂.𝐇. | ʜᴏᴄᴜꜱ ᴘᴏᴄᴜꜱ

𝘀𝗶𝘅

"HOLY FUCK-KNUCKLES!"

out of the ground spewed a mummy-looking guy. the headstone was the same one thackery had shown us before: billy butcherson.

he shook the dirt out of his head, throwing it into our coughing and horrified faces. we all gasped when he locked eyes with us, dani even squeezed my arm until her knuckles were white and i had nail holes in my bicep.

we got up and ran, following thackery as far as we could. as much as i wanted to trip max and leave him for dead, i didn't.

we weaved through trees and branches and headstones, trying not to fall or stumble into each other. it was hard, being that none of us were too accustomed to running for our lives.

"in here!" thackery yelled, his black figure bolting into a small hole.

i pushed dani and allison down into the hole just to make sure they were okay before i went in. theo refused to let me go in last, even if max was still outside.

i slipped my foot into the hole and fell into what smelled like a sewer. it was like a well-house, if well-houses were covered in mouse corpses and cat droppings. it didn't take much to know that thackery had been staying here for quite some time.

"catch!" max yelled, and a second later, winnifred's spell book came falling through the hole.

max came next, falling into allison who fought to stay on her feet. we were all okay. shaken up a bit, but we were alive, so in my books it was definitely alright.

"what is this place, binx?" theo asked, his voice echoing on the stone walls.

i couldn't quite see the cat, but i knew where he was when he answered. "it's the old salem crypt. it connects to the sewer and up to the street."

"that explains the smell," max noted, flicking on his lighter and using what little light it gave off to look at the stone.

"charming," al said, holding onto dani just in case anything happened to her down here.

the lighter flickered on the remains of a skeleton. "don't look up dani," max told the young girl.

dani shook her head, keeping her eyes glued to the ground. "don't worry, i won't."

"relax," binx said from a small platform, "i've hunted mice down here for years."

dani groaned as we started to walk along the pathway. "mice? oh, god."

there was a silence as we walked through the pathway. max still held up his lighter as if it was actually giving off any light.

if this were a horror movie, he would be the first one dead. or, maybe he wouldn't be. everyone knows one sure fire way to stay alive in horror movies is to be a virgin, so i guess we were all safe.

unless thackery... nevermind.

"this way!" the cat called, climbing over a stone.

we all followed him. what else would we do? he was our only way out of this place.

"so... binx," theo prompted, following the cat shortly behind. "tell us more about this mystery girl."

binx ignored him and continued walking down the corridors. as much as i wanted to know, i knew i shouldn't pry. besides, if we annoyed him too much, we would all die. theo didn't seem to get this, though, so he kept pestering the poor thing like it was some kind of debate.

"could you quit asking?" thackery snapped. "there's not really much more to tell!"

allison was intrigued too, because she said, "well, why didn't she follow you to the sisters house."

"believe me, she wanted to," he whispered. "but i made her promise not to. especially since she was ex-ah, who am i kidding? it's been 300 years!"

dani took a more thoughtful approach. "well, what do you remember. we're only curious."

thackery nodded and continued leading us down the path. "she was an immigrant from scotland. she didn't want anything to do with her sisters, so she distanced herself away from them. far away from them."

"when did you guys meet?" max asked, suddenly caring about what binx was saying.

"she got along well with my sister, emily," thackery said. "eventually she met my brother thomas, and through which she met me."

dani grinned. "was it love at first sight?"

"i don't know what to say for her, but for me, the moment i saw her, something inside of me exploded." thackery took a pause. "is that sufficient?"

"what about your brother?" theo asked, his eyes on the stone ahead of us. "why didn't she marry him instead of whatshisface?"

thackery took a breath, his four paws pattering against the wet ground. "after they thought i was dead, she refused any contact with my family. she claimed it hurt her too much."

"why didn't you try to talk to her?" i asked. i didn't believe that thackery wouldn't try to get in contact with the love of his life. "if you loved her, you should have gotten her."

"yeah," theo agreed, nodding. "what were you waiting for?"

thackery slightly changed the subject, ignoring the invasive question. "i've watched over our families for years, making sure they prospered here in salem. it's what she would have wanted."

"where are they now?" max asked him as we turned a corner. "either family."

"i must admit, i've gotten awfully busy these past 100 years so i have forgotten to check up on them," he said. "i'm assuming they live in the same houses they always have. right beside each other as it was all those years ago."

"where's that?" allison asked, tearing a vine off of the wall. "maybe we can help find them."

thackery jumped over a fallen stone on the ground. "neibolt street."

"hey, rylan," theo said, turning to me. "we live on neibolt street."