Chapter 80: Rewards
Rowan was admitted to the hospital as a victim of a bear attack. Larissa had to personally talk to everyone involved in the Hyde attack to conceal the incident.
Also to hide the fact that Rowan attempted to murder Wednesday. It would not be good for the school for those two things to come out. Luckily for her, Wednesday did not report Rowan. As for her parents, they heard about the incident and respected their daughter's decision.
Morticia and Gomez believed it was a good experience for Wednesday to try to get killed. That's why they sent her to Nevermore. Strange Parents.
Of course, Rowan was expelled from Nevermore. They couldn't leave a psychologically unstable boy at the school. The reasons were secret. All the students (except those involved) thought he left school because of personal problems.
Rowan was still in Jericho General Hospital recovering. The normie cops asked them some questions about the attack on Rowan, thinking it might have something to do with the murders of the past few days, but they came up with nothing useful. The attack on Rowan was sealed as a simple bear attack.
...
The hospital ward was plunged into almost total darkness. Only the soft hum of the machines and the occasional beeping of the vital signs monitor broke the silence of the night.
Rowan lay in bed, his breaths slow and heavy, still recovering. The curtains, drawn tightly closed, kept the moonlight from entering the room. The darkness was total. Suddenly, one of those shadows seemed to move, slowly taking shape.
A figure emerged from the darkest corner of the room. It was Wednesday, and she walked slowly toward Rowan. She stopped at the side of the bed and watched him without saying a word.
Rowan's eyes opened slowly. As if he felt the presence of something or someone watching him in the dark. His eyes met Wednesday's black eyes that looked like the abyss itself.
A great fear invaded Rowan. His heart rate began to rise, and his breaths increased. He thought Wednesday was coming to murder him and end the grudge.
"Calm down," Wednesday said, her voice monotonous and cold as always.
"I'm not here to kill you. Though if you scream, you will lose your head," she added, materializing her dark scythe that made Rowan tremble.
Rowan tried to sit up, but a sharp pain forced him to lie down again, gasping, "What... do you... want?"
Wednesday leaned slightly, stepping into the meager beam of light coming from the hallway under the door. Her face seemed paler than usual, and her presence was very scary or so Rowan thought, who feared for his life.
"I want to continue our conversation from a few hours ago. Before the Hyde almost murdered you. Why did you want to kill me instead of Luke Poe?" asked Wednesday in a threatening tone. They were both in the stupid drawing Rowan showed her, but the boy only wanted to kill her.
"I-it's not because of what you think. My mother told me, that you would be the main cause of Nevermore's destruction. Luke Poe's importance was minor, though he must also be eliminated," Rowan replied quickly. He didn't want Wednesday to cut off his head with the scythe.
Wednesday nodded internally. If she was the main cause, it would be better to eliminate her first rather than focus on another variable.
"So, what did it mean that Luke Poe appears in the drawing?" asked Wednesday.
"I don't remember..." said Rowan, gripping his hundred painfully.
'His powers are driving him crazy,' thought Wednesday disdainfully. Psychics with weak and unstable minds were prone to being driven mad by their powers.
"Remember, or else you'll lose your head," said Wednesday, pressing the scythe to Rowan's neck. She didn't feel sorry for Rowan. She just wanted answers, and if those satisfied her she would let this pathetic psychic live.
Rowan with his life threatened closed his eyes, and began to remember as painful as it was. He wanted to live if possible.
"Your partner," Rowan said after a few seconds haltingly.
"My partner?" repeated Wednesday, thinking of Enid, who was her roommate.
"Luke Poe is your partner... The person who will help you destroy Nevermore... Or not... His role is changeable. I don't understand... Hurts..." said Rowan. For every sentence he said, his tone increased, and he felt more pain in his head. As if his brain was about to explode.
Before Rowan could scream any louder, Wednesday gave him a sharp blow to the back of the head, knocking him out on the spot.
'How useless,' thought Wednesday, who had more questions than answers. At least she got some information. She heard footsteps and knew someone was approaching.
'Luke Poe, my partner?' thought Wednesday with a strange expression, as she disappeared into the shadows.
...
Several days had passed since Hyde's attack. Rowan had already left Jericho and was no longer a student at Nevermore.
That day after class, Luke was called into Larissa's office. When he walked in he noticed another person sitting across from Larissa. Her two long braids and black hair made him recognize the person immediately. Wednesday Addams. It looked like she had been there for a while, as they were both having tea. So, they had to have had a conversation.
'Would she like to talk to both of us?' thought Luke as he approached Principal Larissa's desk.
"You wanted to talk to me, Principal?" asked Luke.
"Yes, Luke. Sit down. I wanted to talk to both of you," said Larissa, motioning with her hand for Luke to take a seat.
Luke sat down and looked at Wednesday, who was also looking at him. Both with thoughts of their own. Luke was tempted to read the goth girl's thoughts but held back. He didn't know if she had any defense or anything.
Although he could read her mind, since he considers his mind reading much better than before, Wednesday could feel someone's intrusion into her mind and here there is only one psychic without telling her. So, she would know it was Luke.
"You both fought the Hyde, right?" asked Larissa, and they both nodded slightly.
"I heard they gave him a good fight and had the upper hand. Thanks to that none of the students were hurt. Thank you for protecting your classmates," said Larissa gratefully. If these two genius students were not there Rowan would likely have died, and who knows what other casualties there would have been.
"I didn't fight that Hyde to save anyone. I only fought because I wanted to," Wednesday said without agreeing to receive thanks.
Luke only nodded slightly. In his case, he did protect Enid, Xavier, Gia, and the others. Otherwise, he wouldn't have flown at full speed to kick Hyde in the head, who was about to jump at Gia and the others. He even saved Rowan, though he did so in consideration of Larissa and Nevermore.
'I fell in love and saved several people,' thought Luke, looking back on what happened. When he walked into Nevermore, he would never think he would save anyone let alone fall in love with a girl.
"Well, if you say that, I don't know about giving you the rewards I had thought about," said Larissa, taking a sip from her cup of tea.
"What rewards?" asked Luke, interested. He had already lost the VIP badge that allowed him to go to the exclusive bathroom with a Jacuzzi and many more amenities. As for the exclusive swimming pool, it wasn't something he cared much about.
"Three months to use the reps' bathrooms. Also, I will give them two days off so they can visit Jericho. You haven't used the ones you won in the competition yet so you will have four days. If you want something specific, just ask me. I will see if I can offer it to you or not," Larissa replied with a smile. She had to reward the heroes of her school.
Wednesday's face wavered at the use of the exclusive bathroom for three months. It was much better to bathe there because of all the amenities and that it was a bath all to yourself. You weren't supposed to share with the other students.
However, she is very stubborn and would not back down, "I don't want the reward. Don't fight to protect anyone," she said again.
"Fine. If that's what you want," Larissa said with a shrug.
"Then I'll have six months to use the VIP bathroom?" asked Luke, hopefully.
"Just because she turns down the reward doesn't mean your reward is twice as valuable. It stays the same," Larissa replied.
"Wednesday, you can come back now. Luke, you stay," said Larissa, and Wednesday left the office without even saying goodbye. Typical of her.
"Natasha still hasn't returned. Do you know where she went?" asked Larissa after they were both alone.
"You know to collect evidence against the Spellmans," Luke answered vaguely.
Larissa from the letter she read from Sophie several months ago, was aware that the Spellmans had made deals with demons. Although the only proof she had was the letter written by Sophie, Luke's deceased mother.
"Where? If she told me, I could help her," Larissa asked.
"You know she wants to keep almost everything a secret. She won't even tell me one hundred percent of things to me. Who knows where she is now," Luke replied, shaking his head. It was a lie though.
Natasha had told him where she was. Besides, they weren't just the clues his parents had hidden. Besides, they weren't just the clues his parents collected, they were also the clues from the previous Poe, who fought and died fighting the Spellmans. Like his grandparents.
So, searching for these clues was a very delicate matter. The information had to be kept as secret as possible. So, Natasha told him not to tell anyone about this. Only he, she, and Edgar (who is a ghost) know.
"Mm, it's true. She was always like that. As for the four days you can leave Nevermore, I'm sorry, but I won't let you go out. It's dangerous," Larissa said, changing the subject. If he were a normal student she would allow it, but he's not.
She even thought the Hyde attack was about the Spellmans, but after learning that Hyde wanted to murder Rowan and not Luke, she dismissed it.
"As for that. Natasha permitted me to leave if I want to, and I have days allowed," Luke said, showing a conversation he had with the redhead on his cell phone to Larissa.
They usually talk telepathically, but it's over 1000km away, so the link doesn't work.
"Oh, I see. I'll get in touch with her to confirm. If so, you can leave, though I don't recommend it given your situation," Larissa said with an odd expression. The sensible thing for her to do is for Luke not to leave Nevermore.
"I'll only go out if I have to," said Luke.
Natasha let him roam free in Jericho for a reason. Luke told her that he possessed three auras. Since he discovered his third aura at Nevermore, he hadn't had time to tell her that he discovered he possessed a white aura, as the redhead was too busy tracking down clues.
Before she left Luke at Nevermore this year, she was able to test his strength and was no longer worried about him. She knew he could stand up for himself. After all, he was a three-aura user. She had never seen a natural three aura user, until now.
"That's all. If we need anything just tell me. I'll help you," Larissa said, committed to helping her best friend's son, who had died.
"Okay, thanks," Luke said gratefully, saying goodbye to Larissa and leaving the office.
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