All For Not - Wednesday

Page 69

"Hi."

"Um, I need to talk to you," my eyes swerved to the side, looking at the path ahead at the sound of a voice, Xavier appearing at a fork in the trail, "no, like... like, right now.

"Yeah, I know where that is." I looked to my other side with a single glance, our uncle disappearing into the tree tops right before Xavier walked down the path, quickly finishing his call as he noticed us, "okay, I can meet you there in, like, 20 minutes."

"Okay. Bye."

"Who're you talking to?" I side eyed my sister, looking up at the boy after he spoke to her with an angry tone. He was only trying to move past us when he replied viciously, "it's none of your goddamn business."

"I know what you are, Xavier," he tried to move past us, emphasis on tried but her words stopped him. His eyes glanced at me as I stayed quiet, glaring at my sister and not looking his way, "can you stay the hell away from me?" He moved, leaving, storming off with a scoff and I scolded her with a scorched look.

"Did you place the tracker?" The older man laughed maniacally, jumping down behind us as I turned to look at the trail line etched into the ground with use, Xavier now out of sight. There was no doubt in my mind that he was going to his little art shed, "don't worry. Uncle Fester's got you covered."

"Okay. Let's hit the road," she nodded at his words, turning to me swiftly, "you should go, you're not needed," my head tilted and my eyes narrowed at her sudden words, Fester watching us peculiarly, "oh how about we all meet at a coffee shop after this?" I sighed at his attempt to soothe the tension between us, the concern in his voice evident.

Glaring, I tilt my head and pile onto the bike, joining them. It of course wasn't a long drive and with Fester's uncanny ability to speed past anyone and through anything including a forest overrun with fallen limbs we made it to the Weathervane easily.

"Are we really sure this is the best place to talk?" Fester looked paranoid as usual as they took a booth to occupy, "yes."

"Faulkner describes Hydes as artists by nature, but equally vindictive in temperament. Born of mutation, the Hyde lays dormant until unleashed by a traumatic event or unlocked through chemical inducement or hypnosis." I sighed as she continued reading from the diary, annoyed with the situation I found myself in.

My ears perked up at the sound of a crunch, opening my eyes. I looked across the table with a glance, Fester had been picking dried ketchup off the red bottle's tip, eating it like a delicacy.

"This causes the Hyde to develop an immediate bond with its liberator, who the creature now sees as its master. It becomes the willing instrument of whatever nefarious agenda this new master might propose."

"Anyone willing to unlock a Hyde is a next-level sicko..." I sipped my coffee lightly as she frowned from across the booth at the bald man's gleeful comment, his giggle uncovered, "that means I'm not looking for one killer but two. The monster and its master, Kinbott has to be Xavier's master."

Fester only nodded, preoccupied as I frowned, "you're being ridiculous sister... You're placing all your connections together even though the people surrounding these incidents were far more than just Thorpe and Kinbott. To place all your bets on only one, you've lost your touch..."

"I haven't lost anything..." She seethed, leaning over the table slightly, "why are you even here, surely there's somewhere else you should be," I smiled almost sadistically with a tilt of my head, "not at all, sister. I'm here to grace you with my presence, therefore there is nowhere else I am needed."

She sneered, looking back down at the book as our Uncle started to drink straight from the bottle of ketchup, "the Hyde lays dormant until unleashed by a traumatic event or unlocked through chemical inducement or hypnosis."

Fester slurped the ketchup down and she almost snapped, "are you listening? She must've figured out he's a Hyde and used hypnotherapy to unlock him, that would explain their secret sessions."

"I think the kid behind the counter has clocked me." It was only Tyler, and he wasn't watching Fester, "yeah, he's walking over. I'm gonna put him in a Romanian sleeper hold. Cover me."

"Relax. He's not interested in you."

The boy had walked over, setting a cup onto the table, "uh, made you a quad, on the house." I watched as Fester slid his hand over, grabbing it and dragging it across the table to him, "Hey, thanks kid." He chuckled, "need a refill on this puppy too." My brow raised as he handed off the ketchup bottle to a confused Tyler, "Uh..."

"This is our Uncle, Fester..." I say lightly, a small smile gracing my lips. He notched his brows together at my words, nodding slowly, eyes narrowing, "oh. Uh... Hi, it's nice to..." I smiled when they shook hands, Fester shocking him and making the teen jump back in surprise, with a yelp.

"Is that...?" Tyler suddenly looks down, sliding into the booth up against me. I freeze, my breath hitching and my nose twitching. He swallows audibly, looking at me from the corner of his eye before Fester speaks, "It's called a Hyde."

Tyler looks away, touching the pages on the book as he peered at its pages in a peculiar way, "whoa, that's it. From that night." His fingers glide over the drawings with a careful touch as he speaks.

"Your father told you to stay away, Galpin..." He gazed up at me and responded, "Yeah, my dad's not here, and I'm on a break." His eyes stay on mine until Wednesday pulls a page away from the boy.

They looked at each other before she finally pulled her eyes away and began speaking to him about the pages before them, "well, apparently a Hyde needs to be unlocked by someone. Its master."

"Holy shit." I kicked Fester's foot at the sound of the door's hanging bell and he swiftly disappeared before the sheriff ever spoke, "Tyler. What'd I say?" The teen in question stood, turning to his father with an excuse, "for the record, Wednesday was trying to keep her distance. I was the one that sat down with her." He says as I grab the book and papers, closing and putting them away in my lap like a guard.

The man walked over as my sister stood, joining the Galpin boy and his fathers side, "all right, putting these up around town. It's a bank robbery suspect, and he's a real creep. You haven't seen him, have you?" I couldn't see the paper but I knew the subject that was plastered around town already, "no. Yeah, he'd be pretty hard to miss."

"I'll pin it on the bulletin board." I watched as the older man turned to Wednesday, scoffing and speaking, "ah, why waste my breath?"

"Morella..." I gave him a curt nod and a narrow of the eyes, enemies till the end possibly, "Sheriff Galpin..." I watched him, my eyes following him as he left the shop and Wednesday spoke again, "thank you, but you didn't have to do that."

"Yeah, your family's very... colorful." Tyler glanced back at me with his words and I narrowed my eyes, Wednesday not catching any of what had just happened, "ironic considering Fester's the black sheep, he's harmless."

"So, about rescheduling our date..." My brow raises at the word that falls from his mouth, looking over I catch his glance with a tilt of my head before looking away just as he does.

"Between the monster and my uncle... " Wednesday says only for him to shake his head.

"Hey, no excuses. Figure after what happened last time, you owe me." He had this smile on his face as he spoke to her, her reply clearly not phasing him, "I can't sneak off of campus. All eyes are on me."

"You won't have to. I'll come to you, 9:00 p.m. Crackstone's Crypt."

"You'll make sure she comes right, Morella?" I glanced up to the side of me, keeping my head faced towards the seats in front of me, "I have no care for this conversation," he looked at me for a moment, slowly nodding in humor of some kind, and yet he still smiled down at me, "okay then," he looked back at her with a smile, my sister turning to glare at me in response.

"Uncle, it's time we leave..." I stand walking away from the two, Fester joining my side suddenly as if he appeared from thin air, "onward." He exclaims, hand raised as if holding a staff that he'd march across the plains with.