Tighter

Gathering the information that she desired was not a simple matter for Wednesday.

First, it would be required that she speak about such topics. Such, vulnerable, topics. Showing vulnerability has never been Wednesday's modus operandi, as such, she felt it would be beneficial to approach the matter in a way that it could be executed with the least amount of blood spilled.

Definitely. Not. Her. Style.

And yet, there she was, waiting for Enid to return from her date, in order to allow herself to bleed. Such a shitty situation.

Enid entered the room.

Or, would it be better to say, Enid barged into the room.

She appeared distressed.

Immediately, Wednesday recognized the opportunity to evade her own dilemma. Normally, she would never advocate for procrastination or avoidance. Favoring a method of simply charging straight through an obstacle, however some matters required adaptability.

She approached Enid, who had thrown herself face down on her bed, and stood there, waiting for her to finish her...tantrum? The multi-colored decorations that plagued Enid's side of the room did not help the matter, as she could feel the blood just the surface of her eyes threatening to burst forth. It was not the type of bleeding she thought she would be doing when she decided to engage.

Finally, Enid "finished" and turned towards her. Her eyes were red and swollen from the tears that had been spilled.

"I'm guessing your date did not go well?" Wednesday attempted a light-hearted approach. She thought it sounded better than any of the other options that went through her mind. Comforting is not an adjective that has ever been used in her description.

However, Enid did not seem to mind.

"He never showed," she spoke, her tone down and defeated.

She hopped off her bed, face to face with Wednesday, "why wouldn't he show? Do you think he doesn't like me? I mean, I was the one to ask him out. Should I have waited for him to ask me out? But he seemed to go for it. Ugghhh! I don't know what to do." It was that moment that Wednesday realized that the advice that she sought, could not be obtained from her desired target. Her roommate appeared to be just as uninformed as she was. Very disappointing.

With that discovery, Wednesday decided to simply allow Enid to continue her rant and then proceed to live her life.

She had many matters that required her focus.

Murderers, monsters, and mysteries abound.

She had a lot that could be used as sources of distraction...no not distraction, those should be the main focus. Her priorities were in disarray.

She needed a mission.

Luckily, one presented itself the next morning.

The monster had claimed another victim.

The old man from the old meeting house had been mauled. His body taken to the morgue.

It had been a while since she had treated herself. A trip to the morgue could be just what the coroner ordered.

"Thing," she called out upon returning to her room from her day of schooling, only to find him and Vlad playing cards with what appeared to be diamonds as the gamble, "we have a mission."

"Is it urgent? I'm very close to losing this game, and I always finish what I start." Vlad stated, as he threw down a card in a relaxed manner that did not fit with the situation of losing diamonds.

She looked at him for the first time since she entered. Naturally, she knew he was there, however, she did not want her focus to be once again pulled in by him. It was quite irksome being in his presence some moments. She knew he knew everything that she wanted to know. She knew Vlad, her Vlad, incredibly well. He once told her, long ago, that the only way to control a situation was to be the one holding all the cards, no pun intended. He had information. Information that would prove useful, however she wanted to gather her own knowledge.....or maybe she just didn't want to rely on others. Either way, she knew he would not volunteer what he knew, and he knew, she would not ask. Thus, his only purpose, at the moment, was to pull her attention from her mission.

However, "finish your game. Thing and I will move on the morgue tonight, after it closes," she put down her bag and sat on the floor beside thing, opposite Vlad, as she picked up a set of cards for herself that just so happened to be laid there. There was a time and place for everything, and since she had a goal for later, there was nothing wrong with indulging in a game of chance with him...but only because she had time.

*Time skip*

The mission to the morgue proved to be more enlightening than she had previously assumed possible.

The victims each had missing body parts, taken post-mortem, reminiscent of a seasoned killer collecting trophies.

Are the killings for sport? Pleasure? Compulsion?

There was no point in speculating. Not until she had more facts.

Facts that may prove to be in her reach, based on what she saw in class earlier.

The ant, as Vlad likes to refer to him, had scratches on his neck, that he claims were from fencing, however she was no fool.

Even before her body had been enhanced and her eyes grew sharper, she still would not have believed that those evident claw marks, could have been obtained from a sword. There was simply no way it was possible.

An animal made those claw marks...or a monster.

Following Xavier had never been simpler.

Her control over her body and her synchronicity with her mind was at a level that she had failed to originally notice. Her steps became lighter, quicker, more self-assured. Training with her father and Uncle Fester had given her a foundation that made her capable, however her mind and body had limits. Limits that were easily surpassed with one drink. One delicious drink.

She tracked Xavier to a shed. A secluded one.

She waited for him to leave, and once he did, she made her move.

Her approach was silent, steps quick, and the door, not even locked. He would be returning. She focused on her hearing, picking up sounds, too many sounds. Luckily, one of them was footsteps, however they sounded both close and far. Like they were right beside her, yet a distance away.

Her mind moved quickly, attempting to comprehend the stimuli that was barraging her ears, though it was proving difficult. She lacked time.

She stopped trying and focused once more on what was in front of her.

The shed was dark, however she could see clearly enough with the light provided from the daylight outside.

Everywhere she looked there were pictures, paintings, of the monster.

For so long the ant had been denying her claims, and yet, the proof was clear. Xavier knew the monster was real. He knew and had seen enough to put it likeness on paper, using paint.

Suspect #1, acquired.

She examined a few of the drawings, attempting to gather what information from them that she could. None showed any distinct features that would point to a specific identity or location, so she grabbed a few, at random and placed them in her bag, just as a shadow appeared in front of the door beyond the glass, reaching out for the handle.

Shit.

She had been too focused. Too focused on trying to discern what she could from the pictures and seeing as much as she could, that she unknowingly blocked out sound. That could be inconvenient if left untrained.

Options?

Her mind moved quickly.

There were several options, none involved not giving up her current advantage that was acquired with Xavier being unaware that anyone was on to him.

If known, he could be more careful.

She did not want that, therefore, she went with the only option available. Literally, the only one.

{Get me out of here.}

Immediately, she felt a pair of arms wrap around her from behind and the world around her went dark for a brief moment, before she was back in her room.

In her room. Still being held.

She let her head fall back.

The only thing that could make the embrace more comfortable is if he were, at the very least, attempting to squeeze her to death, however he just held her. She supposed she could accept it, for now.

His hold became tighter.

Perhaps she would have her wish.

Tighter and tighter.

She could not help the smile that spread on her face.

He knew her well.

She could feel the arms squeezing her upper stomach, just under her breasts. It was becoming difficult to breath.

Her chest grew tighter as her lips parted, and without meaning to, a moan escaped through the opening.

It felt like the pit of her stomach was being dug out and between her legs...before she could react, he removed his hold, spun her around, and picked her up, wrapping her legs around his waist as his mouth met hers.

She was hungry.

Very hungry, and he tasted better than anything she had ever consumed.

She had the urge to eat him whole.

Her mind, no matter how fast, could not keep up.

If her hearing being overloaded was a 1 on a 10 point scale, then Vlad was definitely a 10.

That might be why, it wasn't until he put her down, and she was able to regain her equilibrium, that she was capable of taking in the eyes of her roommate that were very close to popping out of their sockets from where she sat on her bed.

For a brief moment, very brief, Wednesday had the notion that she should be embarrassed. Though, it passed immediately. There was nothing embarrassing about what she just did, nor that Enid had seen. Instead, she found it....interesting.

She looked to Vlad, to see that he did not seem to mind, himself.

Of course he didn't, she had no doubt that he was already aware of Enid's presence, even before they appeared in her room. She doubted he would appear anywhere without first knowing what awaited at that location.

Clearly, he did not mind and if the smirk on his face was anything to go by, he seemed to find it...funny? She was not sure.