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Little Dragon

Summary:

Gomez Addams always knew Wednesday was different from other children. He didn't begin to fully grasp this difference until a little obsession with dragons happened when she was six years old.

"Wednesday, sweetheart, there's a time and a place for beheading your brother. This is not that time, nor that place," Gomez reached out, separating his 6-year-old daughter from his 3-year-old son with a firm hand.

"The sky is dark," Wednesday replied, glancing toward the windows, "my books say night is the best time to commit a murder. Or do crime in general."

"Your books aren't wrong. Though, my dear, there is something called hiding in plain sight. Let me give an example of that for your story tonight," Gomez said, following his daughter's gaze to the windows. The moon was full against the dark sky, its light gently sliding down the floor of his son's room.

It was a tradition to hold his children in his lap and tell them tales of horror before they slept. Just like his father had sat with him and his brother and done the same, and his father before him and so forth. He had fond memories of gruesome tales of dismemberment that still lingered in his mind, waiting to be told once his children were just a bit older, and Pugsley wasn't quite so wide-eyed.

"So, children, you know of the lake near our house, correct?" Gomez asked, Pugsley climbing into his lap, the boy resting his head against Gomez's stomach. Wednesday crawled beside him, her eyes focused on the moon as her father pulled her in closer,

"We know the lake, father," she said.

"Yes, it looks like it would be a fine spot for swimming, does it not?"

"Yes!" Pugsley said, putting two fingers in his mouth and smiling as one of the shadows against the wall took form and started to dance. It abruptly stopped when Gomez laid eyes on it.

"And yet we do not swim there, we walk down further to a different lake. I will tell you why now. Many years ago -"

"-How many?" Wednesday interrupted, "many years can mean almost any amount of time."

"-A hundred years ago, my little cobra, the previous owners swam in that lake. They called it the Black Lake, like we do, because they couldn't see the bottom through the murky water. They couldn't touch it either, and no matter how far they swam it didn't appear. But the children were good swimmers, so they didn't fear drowning in it. And their parents didn't either."

"All lakes have a bottom," Wednesday said, tracing her fingers against the floorboards. Pusley giggled for no apparent reason, wiggling his toes.

"Of course, my little storm cloud. The lake does have a bottom, just no one has ever reached it," Gomez chuckled, kissing her head. She stiffened like she always did, then relaxed after a moment. "Now, there were two children, a girl and a boy, just like you two. They often invited their friends over to swim. One day, five total children got into the lake to swim. Four got out. A little boy had gone beneath the surface, to see if he could touch the bottom. He never swam back up. Everyone tried to look for him, but they couldn't swim deep enough. No body was ever found."

"What happened to him?" Wednesday asked, staring intensely at him. She either made intense eye contact or avoided it altogether. She'd been that way since she was a new baby, who wasn't even supposed to hold people's gazes.

"Nobody knew. Nobody swam in the lake ever again. But that wasn't where it ended. People nearby reported hearing a howling noise every night. Like a restless spirit. Or a wild beast. One day, the little boy went walking alongside the lake at night. And he vanished, just a bloody shoe found in his place. The girl reported seeing scales in the bushes before the family moved away. Then the Addams family took over. We had no problem with the lake. But perhaps there really is a creature in there, just waiting for its next target. And since it seems to love children the most... perhaps it's waiting for a new little girl and boy," he finished. Pugsley snored in response, Gomez chuckling. He lifted up his sleeping son once Wednesday exited his lap, laying him down in his tiny bed and tucking him in.