CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT.   it's crazy what you'd do for a friend

After the blowup with Wednesday, Kennedy couldn't think straight. She paced around her room in anger. Presley was watching her from her bed. Kennedy told her everything. "Why would she do that?"

"Because she's selfish!" Kennedy snapped. She sucked in a deep breath and ran her hands up and down her arms. "I thought we were friends. I thought I was finally convincing her to lay off of Xavier. I feel so stupid."

"You're not stupid, Kennedy. Wednesday just does things for her own benefit." Said Presley.

As if on que, Wednesday came running into the girl's room. Kennedy groaned. "Wednesday, I told you—"

"It's Tyler!"

She blinked. "What?"

"The hyde. It's not Xavier. It's Tyler." Wednesday clarified.

Wednesday told them everything from the kiss she shared with Tyler to her getting a vision of him killing Dr. Kinbott. Kennedy felt even more stressed. She'd been friends with Tyler for a long time. She couldn't wrap her head around him being a monster.

"Who said I was alone?"

Upon hearing Wednesday's statement, Kennedy, Presley, and the Nightshades came out and made themselves present to Tyler. She crossed her arms over her chest.

"Okay, I don't know what kind of sick joke you're playing, Wednesday, but I'm out of here."Tyler hissed, sounding like a completely different person.

Bianca stopped him before he could leave. "Actually. . . you're coming with us." Her siren song put him a trance, making him pass out. "Okay, let's do this."

They moved to pick Tyler up but Kennedy only shook her head. "I don't feel right about this." She hesitated.

Ajax put a hand on her shoulder. "Ken, this is our chance to prove that Xavier's innocent." He told her.

She stared at him for a minute then sighed. She helped them drag Tyler to Xavier's art studio.

When Bianca snapped her fingers, Tyler began to wake up. "Welcome back." Wednesday said bitterly while standing in front of him.

"Where the hell am I?" He spoke groggily and tried to move his arms, but he realized they were chained to the chair.

Kennedy had to look away to avoid feeling the guilt.

"Somewhere no one can hear your screams."

"What's with the chains?" Tyler asked, his voice filling with fear.

"Don't ask stupid questions." She snapped.

"Wednesday, this is crazy. I'm a normie."

"That's only half true," Wednesday retaliated. She grabbed the photo of the fencing team from the trophy case and showed it to him. "Do you recognize her?  Perhaps if I hadn't been so distracted by my own mother hogging this photo, I would have noticed yours sooner. Your father fell in love and married an outcast."

"Fine. My mom was an outcast. This doesn't make me a monster!" Tyler fought against the chair.

"According to her personal medical records—"

"You stole her medical records?" He said in disbelief.

"Technically, Thing did. He took them from your garage. Your father's quite the pack rat." She read the documents. "Her postpartum depression triggered her condition."

Tyler glared at her. "My mom had severe bipolar disorder." He said roughly.

"We both know that's a lie!" Wednesday snapped.  "She was a hyde and your father has been living is life in dread, never really quite sure whether or not she passed her condition on to you."

He looked away from her and looked at the rest of them. "Are you all gonna stand here and let her do this to me?" He saw Kennedy standing in the back with Presley. "Kennedy, come on. We're friends. You know me."

Kennedy averted her eyes when she felt tears threaten to come. She wanted to prove Xavier's innocence but not this way. She didn't want to hurt Tyler. She didn't want to hurt anyone.

Ajax checked his phone. "Uh, guys? Enid just texted.  Thornhill's suspicions. How long until he morphs into that thing. . ." He panicked.

Kennedy hit his arm. "Don't be so ghastly."

"I'm not the monster!" Tyler said again, more forceful.

"You are. I saw it in a vision at the Weathervane." Said Wednesday. 

"Wait, you're basing all of this off after some vision you had after we kissed?" He asked like he couldn't believe it. "I mean, is that something you can trust?"

Kennedy's eyes widened when she saw the reflection of the saw that Wednesday was holding. Apparently, so did everyone else's. "Wednesday, what are you doing?"  Bianca asked.

"Just some light torture. Don't worry, I won't leave a mark."

Presley quickly shook her head. "Whoa, okay, I didn't sign up for this."

"Wednesday, hold on."

"Wednesday, you can't do this." Kennedy argued.

"Wait. Are you being serious?" Said Ajax, panicking even more.

Wednesday faced all of them. "There's only one thing that a hyde understands." She took a taser out of her pocket. "Pain."

She stuck the taser to Tyler's neck and they all gasped.  "Wednesday, stop!" Kennedy demanded.

"Wednesday!"

Bianca pushed her backwards. "Wednesday!"

"Tthat's it. I'm out!" Yoko declared and grabbed Presley's hand. "Come on, Presley."

"Us too." Said Davina and she and Kent fled the studio with the vampires.

Ajax held his hands up. "No. No, I'm done."

"Ajax." Kennedy started to say but he quickly fled the shed with the others. She and Bianca looked at each other.

"Wednesday, I didn't sign up for this."

"Yeah, Wednesday, we can go to Weems and explain everything."

"Weems won't help," Wednesday denied. "And Tyler is always one step ahead of his father." She took out another taser.

Bianca shook her head. "Then you're on your own. Come on, Kennedy."

Kennedy looked at all of them, feeling very conflicted. She didn't want to leave Tyler alone to get hurt but at the same time she didn't want to get caught torturing the boy.

"Kennedy, please." Tyler begged her.

But she shook her head, feeling so incredibly guilty.  "I'm sorry, Tyler." Her and Bianca left and when she got outside, she covered her mouth when she heard Tyler shouting for them to not go.

Bianca put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, everything's going to be okay."

Kennedy shook her head. "No, it's not. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. Not like this."

"Are you going to tell Weems?"

She was a lot of things but she wasn't a snitch.  and as mad as she was at Wednesday, they were friends. At least Kennedy hoped they were.

It was a gloomy day the next morning when Kennedy got the news of Wednesday's expulsion. It was inevitable but she was still shocked. She hadn't slept the night before and neither did Presley. Her heart was still broken because of Xavier and the guilt over Tyler was eating at her.

For as long as she had known Tyler, he was always kind to her. He was there to listen to her on her bad days when she would think about her dad and she would listen to him when he talked about his mother.  He and his dad didn't have the best relationship and that's something they had in common. Never on Earth would she think that he had anything to do with the murders.

But if not Tyler, and not Xavier, then who?

Kennedy was silently helping Wednesday pack her things in her room with Enid. "I can't believe I'm actually going to miss your cold, lifeless eyes waking me up every morning," said Enid. She was holding a dead squirrel that was strapped to a small chair that resembled an electric chair. "It won't be the same without you."

Kennedy grimaced.

"So I assume you'll be moving in with Yoko. Leaving me in the past." Wednesday stated.

"Not ever," she denied with a tear staining her face. "What about you? Will you forget about me? Or Kennedy?"

Wednesday paused what she was doing. "Enid. . . the mark that you and Kennedy have left on me is indelible. Anytime I grow nauseous at the sight of a rainbow or hear a pop song that makes my ears bleed, I'll think of you." she turned to Kennedy. "And anytime I watch a scary movie or fall asleep with my pet spiders because they bring me comfort, I'll think of you."

Weirdly enough, that warmed Kennedy's heart and she smiled.

"Thanks." Enid said, holding back the tears. "I guess."

"I always believed relying on other people to be a sign of weakness. That inevitably they would lead me to disappointment. Turns out I've been the disappointment."

"Are you kidding me?" Her roommate said in disbelief. "I've learned so much from you. Part of it is admittedly criminal behavior, but. . . most people spent their entire lives pretending to five zero effs, and you literally never had an eff to give."

Kennedy nodded. "Yeah. I've never met anyone like you in my life, Wednesday Addams. I don't think I'm ever going to again."

Wednesday blinked at their praise, almost in disappointment.

"Any chance you've got some sort of sneaky plan to elude Weems?"

"Xavier's right. This prophecy cannot come true if I'm not here."

Kennedy shook her head. "He's just upset,  Wednesday."

"But he's right," she argued. "But it still kills me to leave when Tyler is still walking around free."

"If he tries anything, we have a school full of gorgons,  vampires, werewolves, and telekinetics ready and waiting," Enid proclaimed. "We've got this Wednesday, I promise."

"Yeah, like I'm going to let anything hurt us. I'll make that monster explode." Kennedy promised.

"On a good note," she continued to lighten the mood. "I got a text from Eugene's moms. He woke up last night. Maybe Weems will let you drop by on your way to the station."

Thing snapped his fingers and motioned that it was time for them to go. Wednesday closed her last trunk. "I think we're all set."

"Thing, i'm going to miss our makeup tutorials," Enid said to the hand. "And you better keep sending me moisturizing tips. Stay in touch, okay?" They fist bumped.

Kennedy smiled and bent down to his level. "Thanks for being there for me when I shed some tears." She held out her pinky and Thing wrapped his around hers.

Wednesday put him in his backpack. She stared at her empty side of the room.

Enid started to cry. "So we're gonna. . ."

She took a step back when Enid went in for a hug. It made Kennedy frown.

She retracted her arms. "You're right. Not hugging is kind of our thing." She faked a smile.

When Wednesday left the room, she let the tears fall. Kennedy held out her arms. "I'll take that hug."

Enid fell into her arms and cried.