ᴍᴏᴄʜᴀ | ᴛʏʟᴇʀ ɢᴀʟᴘɪɴ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ ✔︎ [ON HOLD]

XII

Wednesday cared. Or at least, she cared enough to find Bianca and make her bring me back to our dorm. But that was the extent of our acquaintanceship. As soon as Bianca watched me sit on my bed, she gave a sigh and left.

I knew that she wasn't talking to me because of Xavier. And she had every right to be mad, especially after he dumped her. But it wasn't me that broke up with her, was it? I hated how she was mad at me. I hated when anyone was mad at me. I needed to keep the peace at all costs; keep people from being hateful; keep them from hurting me.

Like how the monster didn't hurt me. Or maybe, it had left me alone for the sake of Wednesday. She had been right beside me, after all. But Rowan...

Was it an accident?

Was his death just by chance?

He tried to kill Wednesday.

The Rowan that taught me how to control my telepathy, the awkward one among our group. I was regretting every time I had ever called him a pick-me boy— but come on, "I'm the outcast among the outcasts"? That was the biggest "I'm different from the other boys" I had ever heard.

But he was dead now.

A life for a life.

He was killed. He tried to kill. But he was my friend. And he was gone.

I shuddered and lowered myself onto the floor, resting my chin on my knees, looking at the dark room. I didn't want to think about it. I was too scared.

I shrugged my coat off violently, kicking off my muddy shoe. Scrolling to my playlists, I clicked on, "Angst Emo uwu" and set it to max volume. "Car rides, to Malibu, strawberry ice cream, one scoop or two."

I'd forgotten it was 2021 when I first made this playlist, when I'd first joined Nevermore. It was weird how such a recent song was already considered outdated.

Doing my best to shove all of the memories from my mind, I went about undressing myself, changing into my most comfortable clothes and rolling onto the bed. "Do you get deja vu when she's with you?"

I had bigger problems than teen romance and drama now. There was a killer monster out there, and my friend was the first victim of it's killing rampage. The bloody, gory, horrible, killing.

His screams in my head was louder than the music.

"I know you get deja vu."

~~~

"How do you miss a dead body?" Wednesday scoffed.

I had fallen asleep before Bianca got back, assuming she had even returned to her own bed for the night. We had been called to the foyer before I even got to eat breakfast. Not to mention there were already rumours circulating; I hadn't even managed to clear things up with Xavier and Enid... and Rowan's mysterious disappearance.

"Cause it wasn't there," Sheriff Galpin walked along with us up the staircase. "No footprints, no blood, no sign of a struggle. Nothing, nada. My search party looked all night."

"Well, your search party must have left their seeing-eye dogs at home. I saw that monster kill Rowan right in front of me. We both did." She turned around from the top of the staircase, seeking support.

I gave a small nod, keeping my gaze focused on Wednesday, away from Tyler's dad. "Get a good look at this monster thing?"

"It didn't stick around for a chat."

"Maybe it was one of your classmates."

Which one of our classmates would want to unalive Rowan? "Sheriff, I find that question offensive." Mother said.