Woe Is Love (Wednesday X Male Reader)

Chapter One - Welcoming Committee

Jericho - New England

A soft melody filled the atmosphere within the car. Y/N tapped his fingers along to the tune on the radio, uncaring of the conversation occurring in the front seat. He was lost in thought, watching the countryside pass by as the family sped towards the small town ahead. All the old trees and fluffy clouds were a welcoming sight for Y/N's sore eyes.

"Y/N? Y/N, are you listening?" His mother asked as they turned off the main road into a heavily wooded path.

Sarah L/N was a caring individual who would always do her very best to make everyone happy, no matter how sad it made her. She shared her son's H/C hair and chiselled nose... oh, and she was also a mage.

Y/N's father seemed like the polar opposite of Sarah. Y/N could never tell what was going on in his brain, not that he'd ever ask. The only thing the two had in common was their E/C eyes. He had his mother and that was enough. Richard L/N was an outcast of outcasts, and why Y/N's mother fell for him, he would never know.

"Totally," Y/N replied. "Yeah, I'll do it."

"You'll become a vampire tonight?" Sarah replied with a questioning gaze, turning around to look at her son properly. Richard was focused on the road, ignoring the two as he tried to see the asphalt ahead through the dense fog of the night.

"Did I stutter?" Y/N didn't back down.

"You weren't listening, were you?" She deadpanned.

"No," Y/N stretched out the word. "Hey, where are we?"

"If you weren't so interested in that damn phone, you'd know," Richard spoke up in a gravelly voice. However, Y/N just glanced at the zipped-up bag set beside him that housed his unused mobile before looking back at his mother with a vacant expression.

"We're going to Nevermore, Sweetheart," Sarah smiled. "I have a friend there that owes me a favour."

"What's a Nevermore?" Y/N questioned.

"It's where your father and I met. An academy for people like us. We're going to meet Lariss-"

<[•]>

Y/N awoke with a sharp intake of breath to the sound of crackling and a painful ringing in his ears. Every muscle in his body was aching and begging for him to move. The taste of copper was unmistakable to the boy as he slowly pushed himself off the ground.

Y/N's head was spinning. Grabbing a nearby tree to stabilise himself, he looked around at the wreckage of the car. Flames engulfed the entire thing and nearby leaves were turning to ash on the dirt. He had to shield his eyes from the bright orange light flickering and blinding his vision.

"Mom!?" Y/N yelled. The only response was the distant sounds of sirens, growing closer by the second. "Dad!?"

He slowly made his way towards the burning vehicle, stumbling as he did. He felt his stomach sink when he saw her. Sarah L/N, laying still across the muddy road, looking lifeless with large cuts across the entirety of her body and a hole in her chest.

Y/N was by her side in an instant. Grasping her hand. Shaking her. Performing all the life-saving acts he could think of. But nothing could bring her back.

Sarah L/N was dead.

Y/N fell back onto his knees as reality hit him. Blood mixing with tears. All the sounds of the forest had gone silent to him. The crackling of the fire ceased to exist. He felt numb.

He barely even noticed the officer prying him away from his mother's corpse. He hardly felt anything as he was placed in a car and drove away from the scene. Even when they pulled up beside Jericho police station, all he could feel was an overwhelming sense of grief and despair. His family... gone in an instant.

<[•]>

"Name is Y/N L/N," Y/N overheard someone say from the office behind him. He was sitting outside the room on an uncomfortable metal seat, waiting for something, anything, to happen. People passed by, all giving him sad, sympathetic looks, but Y/N gave no notice. "Age fifteen, son of Sarah and Richard L/N. The mother died on scene and the father is... unknown."

"What do you mean, 'unknown'?" Another deeper voice butted in.

"There was no body found at the site, sir."

"Then send out the dogs-"

"We did, Sheriff. There was nothing there... just blood that confirms he was there in the first place."

"What about the car?" The Sheriff asked, changing the course of the conversation. "What caused the crash?"

"Forensics found evidence of a slashed tyre on the right side of the car... and claw marks, sir."

The Sheriff let out a low growl of annoyance. Similar stories had been popping up more and more recently, with hikers being dismembered or cars being torn apart by, what Mayor Noble Walker calls, a wild bear.

"Dismissed," the Sheriff states, however, he's confused when the officer reporting didn't move. "Is there something else, Officer?"

"Just one thing: he's one of them."

The Sheriff took a long breath. He could see the back of Y/N's head through the blinds of his window. He sneered in slight disgust and anger at the boy.

Y/N could feel his piercing gaze, bearing through him like an arrow does a target. He resisted the temptation to turn around as the doors to the station opened to reveal a rather large woman with silky blonde hair and a shorter black man with an air of authority about him.

The two new arrivals walked briskly towards the Sheriff's office while exchanging hushed whispers and sneaking quick looks at the L/N boy. Y/N recognised the woman from photos decorating his family home. She was a friend of his mother's back when she attended Nevermore.

"My name is Larissa Weems," she introduced herself, stopping in front of Y/N. "And this is Mayor Walker." She pointed to the man next to her who held his hand out to greet him.

"Y/N L/N," he replied quietly, standing to shake the Mayor's hand.

"Heard a lot about you son," the Mayor said.

"You have?"

"Well, of course, Larissa here couldn't shut up about her 'best friend Sarah's' kid." Walker side-eyed the woman with an unnaturally jovial expression.

"You're the person we came here to see," Y/N revealed quietly, looking at Larissa. "My mom said you owed her a favour..."

"Well, I think it's time I repaid her," Weems muttered, placing a delicate hand on Y/N's shoulder. "You'll be coming back with me to Nevermore for a while. Make sure you have everything because we'll be leaving shor-"

Principal Weems cut herself off when she noticed that Y/N barely even had the torn clothes he was wearing, let alone any belongings.

"Maybe we can stop off somewhere and get you a few things before we go," she corrected herself.

"Good luck, son," Mayor Noble cheered, ruffling the boy's hair. The two adults left him and went into the office and greeted the Sheriff, who gave them the short version of what had happened to Y/N.