บท 109: Bad feeling
The days passed slowly. Classes and activities at Nevermore continued unchanged. The death of the botany teacher had been concealed, and everyone thought she had left the job due to personal reasons.
With each passing day, the lunar eclipse drew nearer. There were no signs of the hooded figures or the murderous Hyde. The regular people of Jericho breathed a little easier as the days passed without any murders, though the fear lingered within them, knowing the killer was still at large.
'Won't they gather the parts they were missing for the ritual?' thought Luke, who had a bad feeling.
Everything was too quiet, and he didn't think his arch-enemies had given up so easily after their first failure.
There was still no news of the evidence Luke had handed over, and Antony's colleague was in charge of bringing it to the council. Ideally, they should arrive at Nevermore with the device before the eclipse, but it wasn't easy. Time was running out.
The evidence needed to be examined thoroughly, and they also had to bring an expensive device to Nevermore, which could delay things for more days than anticipated.
Luke kept up his training and even increased his time on it. He sensed an imminent battle. After all, he had an aura of clairvoyance.
Training with Wednesday was the best thing that could have happened to him. She was an excellent training partner. However, not everything was perfect. His growing closeness to the gothic girl put him in a tough dilemma.
Never in his wildest dreams did he think he could be so close to Wednesday, to the point of kissing and being like a couple. They weren't a couple, since Wednesday didn't care about a title society put on a relationship, and Luke preferred to ignore the topic because he had feelings for Enid and didn't know what to do.
He had made a promise to Enid and hoped she wouldn't face or defeat the Hyde, so he wouldn't have to tell her about the Spellmans and why he left her. Yet, on the other hand, he wanted Enid to defeat the Hyde if it appeared, so they could be together again. It was all very confusing.
He decided to set aside these teenage dramas and focus on training like he did during the last holiday. Only this time, he was accompanied by a pretty gothic girl with a very sharp tongue.
He didn't always train with Wednesday; they were both very independent and often preferred to train alone. They had a lot in common in that regard, which is why they got along so well.
"Tomorrow's the day," said Luke, who was sitting on the gym floor, leaning against the wall. Sweat covered his forehead, and his breathing was labored. Today had been his last training session.
"Yes. There haven't been any murders since Laurel died," said Wednesday, who was also sweating and sitting next to Luke. Their shoulders were touching.
It had been more than a month since Laurel died from a sudden poison in her body. The wave of murders in Jericho had stopped. If they wanted to bring Crackstone back, they still needed two more murders.
"Did they chicken out?" asked Luke. On one hand, he hoped they did. That way, no one would attack Nevermore. On the other hand, he wanted them to attack, so he could have a good fight and increase the charges against the Spellmans once it was proven they were the hooded ones.
"I don't think so. There's a reason they took the mutilated parts that Laurel was keeping in the old Gates mansion, and they also took the Hyde. Either they killed him so no one could read his memories, or they still have him to attack tomorrow," Wednesday replied.
"Mm, true," Luke said with a thoughtful look.
"I have things to do. See you tomorrow," Wednesday said, standing up.
"You're leaving so coldly?" Luke asked, pretending to be hurt.
"How do you want me to say goodbye?" Wednesday asked, raising an eyebrow. Luke's acting seemed terrible to her. Besides, they would see each other in a few hours at breakfast the next morning.
Luke, who was about to respond, "With a kiss," stayed silent. After a few minutes, he finally said, "Never mind... See you tomorrow."
Wednesday nodded slightly, a bit disappointed as she had hoped Luke would say what he was thinking.
Luke didn't notice the slight disappointment in Wednesday's expression. Her face was impossible to read; she was an expert at keeping a blank expression.
'Damn it,' Luke thought, scratching his head as Wednesday left the gym.
Why was he in such an annoying situation? He felt like the typical main character in a romantic comedy, a genre he had always hated but somehow kept watching for some reason.
"Seems like you've got a problem..." Edgar said with a slight smile, noticing the look on Luke's face.
Edgar was always with Luke. He had met both Enid and Wednesday, as well as the other girls Luke had been with. He knew that Wednesday and Enid were the only ones who truly mattered to him and that he actually liked.
"Want some advice? I'm an expert on women," Edgar said, stroking his mustache as if he were a wise man.
"No, thanks," Luke said, shaking his head. He couldn't get distracted when the lunar eclipse was happening tomorrow. He'd leave that problem for after everything was over.
"You're so boring. I sense another concern in you. Is it about tomorrow?" Edgar asked, changing the subject.
"Yeah. I have a bad feeling, maybe it's my clairvoyant aura acting on its own," Luke replied, resting his hand on his chin. Normally, he was skeptical about these things—at least before finding out he had reincarnated and had psychic powers.
"An unconscious precognition of the near future. It's not the most accurate information, but it can still be useful," Edgar commented.
"What good is it if I don't even have the slightest clue about what's going to happen?" Luke asked.
"To mentally prepare yourself," Edgar replied, and Luke grimaced slightly.
What worried Luke, aside from his bad feeling, was that the hooded ones consisted of five people, plus the Hyde. The most powerful one was the gorgon named Atlas.
The other strong one would be Sabrina's older brother, Sebastian, though he wouldn't be a major threat to attack Nevermore. They knew that Nevermore had several teachers, including psychics, vampires, werewolves, gorgons, and sirens. Plus, there was the outcast police.
How did they plan to defeat that lineup? They also knew that Luke had defeated Sabrina, Amaranth, and the Faceless One. He had even killed the werewolf.
Attacking stealthily was difficult, if not nearly impossible since they had several objectives to accomplish: kidnapping Wednesday and stealing the Book of Shadows. Then, having Crackstone kill Luke. Although it would be easier to just attack and kill Luke, why did they take the Hyde and the parts that Marylin collected?
If they wanted to succeed, they would need a highly elaborate plan to attack Nevermore and achieve their goals. This was what worried Luke. He didn't know how they would attack, or maybe they had left Jericho, and nothing would happen. But that was unlikely, as Wednesday had said.
Ten minutes later, while Luke was still sitting in the same position, thinking about his arch-enemies possible plans, the gym door opened. The sound made him lift his head and look at the person who entered. It was Enid.
Enid was wearing pink sportswear, as usual for her. Luke hadn't known there were Adidas sets in that color. They looked great on her.
"Enid. You came," Luke said, standing up. He had sent Enid a message to meet and discuss a few things before the possible attack on Nevermore, as it was certain the Hyde would attack if that happened.
"Yeah. I ran into Wednesday on the way. Did you two train together?" Enid asked with feigned indifference, standing close to Luke and placing her arms behind her back. Her right hand gripped her left wrist, hiding her arms from Luke's view.
"Yes, her dark aura is very helpful for training," Luke replied. The situations he could create with Wednesday's dark attacks were numerous, giving them a wide variety of ways to train.
"Mm, I see," Enid said, lightly tightening her grip on her wrist with her right hand, her posture seemingly relaxed but with a hint of hidden tension.
"I wanted to talk about tomorrow. It's likely that they will attack Nevermore and the Hyde will show up," Luke commented.
"Yes, I know from the whole story you told me. What's the problem?" Enid asked one of the few students who knew everything that was happening in Nevermore and Jericho.
"About you, defeating the Hyde. You know he has an enhancement drug now; he's stronger than the first time we saw him in the forest. It wouldn't be wise for you to try to fight him," Luke replied.
"What?" Enid asked, her tone rising with anger.
"Do you want to break the promise we made? I've been training like a maniac since that day; I even managed to turn into a werewolf sooner than expected! I will fight that Hyde and defeat him!" Enid exclaimed with anger and determination.
'How cute,' Luke thought, taking a few steps back as Enid approached him furiously.
He was surprised to realize that Enid had already managed to transform into a werewolf. In the Netflix series, she was a late bloomer. However, here it was different. She accomplished it before her peers. Was this the power of love?
"Once I defeat that ugly monster, we'll be back together!" Enid added.
She was 99% sure that Luke ended the relationship because of the resentment from his family, which put her in danger on Raven Island when she was taken hostage.
She needed to hear from Luke's mouth that he left her for that reason. Then she would tell him that she could protect herself and didn't care if her life was in danger by being at his side. They would be back together and live happily ever after.
'It will be difficult to change her mind,' Luke thought, unsure of what to do. Why was everything so difficult? He would prefer to fight to the death with Crackstone or Atlas.
"Wait… Do you want to cancel the promise for Wednesday Addams?" Enid asked, her eyes glassy.
Everyone at Nevermore had noticed that Wednesday Addams was involved with Luke. The gothic girl was only seen with one person: Luke.
No one knew if Luke and Wednesday were in a relationship or anything, as they kept their distance in public and didn't show the slightest affection for each other. This was mainly because both of them disliked showing affection publicly, and Luke was also bound by the promise he made to Enid.
"No, that's not it. I just care about you," Luke said quickly.
"I don't want you to get hurt," he added, gently touching Enid's cheek and wiping away the tears that were about to fall. Part of this was true; on the other hand, he didn't want to face his feelings and make a decision.
"Oh, is that it?" Enid said, relieved, touching Luke's hand with hers and enjoying the warmth of his hand on her skin.
"Don't worry, I can take care of myself. I'll prove it to you tomorrow!" Enid added.
"Okay… Just be careful," Luke said with a soft smile as he watched Enid.
Enid still hadn't done her training, so Luke accompanied her for an hour. It was fun training with her, and it had been a while since he last did. Afterward, they each went back to their rooms.
Luke's last meal before the eclipse was pizza while watching the old movie Planet of the Apes with Xavier and Ajax, who also knew about the possible attack the next day.
"One last meal to remember. If we die tomorrow, I won't regret it," Xavier commented with a grin.
"Don't be so dramatic. We have the teachers and the agent on our side. It won't be like last year on Raven Island," Ajax said, not as relaxed as his friend. His girlfriend had died during last year's attack.
"We'd better get some sleep. Tomorrow will be a long day," Luke said, turning off the TV. The other two nodded, and within minutes, they were all sleeping in complete darkness.
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