𝖒𝖎𝖉𝖓𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙 // 𝐱𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐞

𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞 // 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠

as the gloomy haze of the day peaks through a small chunk of the large window that had been left uncovered, midnight can't help feeling something was wrong. well, aside from the boy she had seen get mauled at the harvest festival. rather than focus on such troubles, she quickly gets ready.

moments after leaving her dorm, wednesday walks up to her. "weems has summoned us. it has to be about rowan" her twin informs her, midnight nodding as she follows her twin through the halls. they quickly meet the principal and sheriff galpin, the girls halting as they stand in front of the duo.

"so, what's the news, sheriff?" midnight asks, unable to shake the memories from the night at the festival. for a moment the man is silent, the two twins growing impatient. "we didn't find the body" galpin states, the twins sharing a look of shocked contempt.

"how could you miss a dead body?" wednesday questions, clearly infuriated at the situation. "because it wasn't there. no footprints, no blood, no sign of a struggle, nothing. nada. my search party locked all night" sheriff galpin states.

"well you're search party must have left their seeing-eye dogs at home. we both saw it happen, we saw the monster kill rowan right in front of us" midnight argues. "did you get a good look at this monster thing?" the man questions, weems leading the trio.

"it didn't stick around for a chat" wednesday admits. "maybe it was one of your classmates" the sheriff suggests, midnight rolling her eyes. "sheriff, i find that question offensive" principal weems states, offering him an angry glance.

"well i don't care cause i got three other dead bodies in the morgue. hikers just ripped apart in the woods" sheriff galpin rants, the twins looking to each other with wide eyes. "the mayor said those were bear attacks" weems falters, looking to the man with a perplexed gaze.

"yeah well, the mayor and i disagree on that" galpin states. "so you automatically assume a nevermore student is the murderer, even though there's no evidence a crime was even committed" the principal jabs, clearly annoyed with the man. "i'm sorry. i forgot, you only teach the good outcasts here, right?" the man retorts, weems sighing as she glares at the sheriff.

"my guess is, rowan ran away. state troopers have put out an alert, and i've contacted his family, but they haven't heard from him either" principal weems admits, sitting at her desk as she looks to the twins and the sheriff. "dead people are notoriously bad at returning calls" wednesday states.

"what were you two doing out in the woods with him?" sheriff galpin questions, turning to glare at the twins. "we heard a noise in the forest and went to go investigate. that's when we stumbled upon the attack" midnight states, looking to her twin. "then what happened?"

"then we ran into bianca barclay, and we told her to go for help. next thing i remember, i was awaking in my dorm" wednesday adds. "and just to be clear, this monster wasn't a bear or some other wild animal?" galpin questions. "we've hibernated with grizzlies. we know the difference" midnight assures.

"thank you, sheriff. i think the addams girls are done now" weems smiles, standing up from her desk. "actually, we would like to speak to sheriff galpin. alone" wednesday admits. "i'm not sure i can allow that" weems states. "i'm sure i could take her to the station and get a formal statement" sheriff galpin taunts, the woman growing increasingly impatient.

for a moment, silence fills the room. "yeah, let's go" the man adds. "fine. you have five minutes; and everything is off the record. play nice, or i will call the mayor" weems spits, the woman storming out of the room and slamming the door softly.

"someone is trying to cover up rowan's murder. that's the only reason to scrub the crime scene" wednesday admits. "is that your professional opinion as the daughter of a murderer?" galpin questions. "our fathers twice the man you are, and the only thing he murders is the occasional opera in the shower" midnight argues, crossing her arms as she glared at the sheriff.