The Thing About Hydes

4

Two weeks.

It had been two weeks since Wednesday captured Tyler. He'd kept track of the days by making marks on the cave's wall, like he'd seen people do in old movies he watched as a kid. In the beginning, Wednesday had waited a week before coming to see him. He had almost starved and was pretty sure she'd left him to die. But then, she visited him in the middle of the night. She continued to do so the past few evenings, interrogating him for at least an half an hour. Initially, Tyler didn't want to talk, but he did anyways because she brought him food and water. However, something was happening to him. Tyler was starting to hear voices in his head. At first, he thought he was just going crazy, being locked up in a cave for so long, but as the hours passed by, he began to recognize the voice. It was the same voice he'd heard when Laurel Gates had first unlocked his Hyde. 

Kill, it hissed. We need to kill. 

His body seemed to respond to the voice. It felt like there was a bottomless pit in his stomach, which was never satisfied by the food Wednesday brought. It could only be cured by bloodshed. The voice was most powerful after Wednesday's visits. 

She needs to die. 

The voice itself was surprising to Tyler, but not as much as the fact that a small part of him always resisted it. Something inside of him didn't want to rip and tear and kill. Usually, that small part of him was overpowered by the scratchy, primal voice that rang through his head, but he couldn't shut it out. The two opposing voices were constantly at war with each other. 

Kill Wednesday! 

No! We don't want to kill people! I don't want to be a monster anymore!

Wednesday Addams ruined us! She got our master killed. We're getting weaker by the hour. 

You're getting weaker. I wish you would just die!

Tyler, I made you who you are! Without me, you're nothing! You're soft, emotional, and weak. If it weren't for me, you'd be dead by now. 

You will NOT hurt Wednesday Addams!

YES. WE. WILL. 

"STOP IT!" Tyler screamed, hitting his head against the wall. He wasn't sure which part of him prompted the outburst. A warm drop of blood dripped from his forehead. 

"I didn't do anything. Yet," a familiar deadpan voice rang out from the cave entrance. Tyler looked up to see Wednesday, who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. 

"W-Wednesday," Tyler stammered, caught off guard. "It's still daylight. I didn't expect you to come early."

"Family's on vacation. Bahamas. It's a dreadful place, really. I opted to stay home." 

"And... what does that have to do with me?" 

"It means you're getting a shower. You reek. I've seen rotting corpses with better hygiene." 

"You were the one who decided to keep me locked up..."

"Get up!" Wednesday snapped. 

Tyler did as he was told. Wednesday unlocked the shackles around his wrists, then his ankles. The moment he was finally free, Tyler lunged at Wednesday, gripping her neck and pinning her against the back of the cave. "Wrong move, Addams," he snarled. "There's no one here to save you this time." He grinned manically and waited for Wednesday to react. He wanted to smell the cold, emotionless girl's fear. However, she didn't seem alarmed at all. In one swift movement, she dislodged his hands from her neck, swept his knees out from under him, and brought a dagger to his throat.