Chapter 6: It's a Woeyard Smash
Cobwebs hung like lace from the ceiling, catching the glow of colored lights. Nevermore's great hall pulsed with life—green, orange, and red strobes threw shifting shadows that crawled like spirits across the walls. Music shook the floorboards. Voices joined in, a hundred throats chanting the same wicked chorus:
"He did the mash… He did the monster mash!"
It was the Halloween Dance. Once a year, Nevermore let loose the spookiest and most daring students for a night that felt stitched into their bones.
The doors creaked open. Two figures entered, hands linked. One was a burst of energy who might squeal at the moon. The other was marble-cold, a faint, betraying smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.
Pink dresses shimmered under the lights.
Enid practically bounced. "We did it, Weds, we did it!" she squealed, breathless with joy.
"Kill me and strangle my corpse," Wednesday muttered, deadpan.
Across the floor Bianca sparkled in an azure-cyan gown beside Ajax, who held a drink and a goofy grin. Outside, under a crimson moon, Lilnette smoothed the skirt of a red dress, fingers trembling.
Footsteps announced someone else. El glided forward—a black gown, gothic elegance, a dark wig framing her pale features.
Lilnette froze. "Stunning…" she breathed.
El offered a hand, grin sly. "Let us make this a night to remember, aye Lilnette?"
Lilnette's heart stuttered; she slipped her hand into El's.
Deep in a cave, Tyler and his mother waited in silence. Heavy breaths. Then Judy's voice.
"Helena is at Nevermore," Judy spat. "You promised you'd deal with her, Tyler."
Tyler's mother stepped forward, steel in her voice. "Time to cut the hydra."
Tyler's eyes flicked to the vial in Judy's hand. "What's that?"
"Insurance policy," she muttered.
Back at Nevermore, Barry's voice boomed. "Now, ladies and gentlemen—time for the danceeee off!!!"
The hall erupted. Wednesday took Enid's hand and pulled her into the light. Behind them, Lilnette and El found the center.
El leaned close to Wednesday as they passed, venom-soft. "Should've minded your own business. Now the furball pays."
Wednesday's jaw hardened. She pulled Enid closer.
"You good, Weds?" Enid asked, head tilted.
Wednesday nodded, eyes trained on El.
El and Lilnette opened with a left step, a right step. Arms rose and fell like mirrored shadows. El spun Lilnette; the crowd whooped. Lilnette pulled El back into a chest-to-chest hold. They paused, faces inches apart.
"You're… a hydra," Lilnette whispered.
"You don't seem to care," El replied, spinning her again.
"I'm lonely," Lilnette admitted, voice small.
"Not anymore," El murmured.
With a flick, Lilnette's wings burst free. She rose and twisted around the crystal ball glittering above, then leapt, letting El fall into her arms. The crowd roared as they landed, locked, perfect.
Wednesday's hands carved the air—sharp lefts, precise rights, fingers moving like spider-legs. Enid laughed, grabbed her wrists, spun her through the steps. The pairs drew together, syncing into a choreography that twisted thrill and tension into one thing: dance as a dare.
Wednesday leaned close, voice cold. "Leave Enid out of this."
El spun Lilnette, whispering back: "I want the Galpins."
"What did they do to you?" Wednesday muttered.
At the edge of the action, Judy slipped in, handgun at her hip. Crows circled like living punctuation.
El's tone softened, almost sorrowful. "They took everything. I have nothing. I don't intend to take Enid from you—but I will have my revenge."
Wednesday hesitated. She pulled Enid a step back.
El pushed Lilnette away, smiling something that didn't reach her eyes. "It was fun, Lilnette."
The roar came without warning.
The ceiling exploded inward. Tyler in Hyde form smashed down into the hall. El ripped off her wig—Helena stood revealed beneath.
Gasps tore through the crowd. Hydra heads erupted from Helena's arms, lashing at Tyler and wrapping him in coils. Crows dove, their feathers flashing metal—blades on wings—and they tore into skin. Students scrambled, screams rippling like static.
"Enid!" Wednesday screamed. Enid sprinted to help Lilnette. Wednesday followed, lungs burning.
Tyler ripped through a hydra coil and slammed Helena into a pile of chairs. Enid grabbed Lilnette's trembling shoulders. "Let's go!"
"No… El…" Lilnette begged, wings unfurling.
Enid's jaw clenched. "She's a monster," she said, fierce.
"No—she's my friend!" Lilnette cried, launching herself at Tyler. She seized him by the neck and slammed him against the stone, the force knocking columns to dust.
A second Hyde barreled in—Tyler's mother. She slammed a palm into Helena's gut and threw her across a table. Helena's body convulsed and cracked, then a hydra head lunged, sinking teeth into the mother's shoulder with a horrific crunch.
The crows swarmed, metal feathers cutting through air. Helena wrapped herself in hydra coils, using them as a shield.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
Then the crows detonated—explosions ignited pockets of flame. Smoke and chaos filled the hall. Helena swiped at her face, wiping gore away and smiling as if it pleased her.
Tyler's hand tightened around Lilnette's throat. "Stand down or she dies," he snarled.
Judy tossed Helena a vial. "Take it. It'll slow your regen long enough for me to finish you," she said, voice flat.
A gunshot cracked. Donovan surged into the hall, breathless and raw.
"Judy—stop," he pleaded. "If anyone dies tonight, it's my fault. I— I took this girl from her family. I tried to remake someone I loved. I was wrong."
"Save it," Judy spat. "She rejected it. Take the vial, or your girl dies."
Donovan sank to his knees, shaking. "Please—kill me and end this."
Helena stared. Slowly, she lifted the vial, uncapped it, and drank.
"You're foolish if you think it ends with you," she hissed.
Judy stepped forward. "Goodbye, Helena."
"Rot in hell," Helena said, a smile like a blade.
A single shot rang out. Donovan's voice cracked, "KILL ME—!"
Time warped as the bullet flew.
Lilnette lunged, knocking Tyler back. She shoved Helena aside.
Helena reached; "Not again…" she breathed.
A spray of blood spattered the marble. Enid staggered—a single gunshot had found her side.
Wednesday's world narrowed to one white-hot point. She threw herself toward Enid, pressed a trembling hand to the wound. "Stay with me! Stay!" she shrieked, fingers working in frantic pressure.
Helena's body began to twist and split—hydra heads erupted and reared, five awful mouths snapping in the smoke.
"Fuck!" Judy screamed, releasing her crows to harry the beast. Bombs went off, more smoke and alarm.
Wednesday cradled Enid and, with Isadora's help, carried her to the exit. "She's breathing—move! My car, now!" Isadora shouted.
They shoved into Isadora's car and tore into the night, the engine keening.
Back in the hall, gunfire rattled. Judy fired until her weapon clicked empty. Desperate, she yanked a grenade and slammed the pin—
Helena lunged, a hydra head catching Judy and throwing her back. The grenade flew from Judy's hand. Helena snatched it.
She did not hesitate. She detonated it—Judy was killed in the blast.
Donovan staggered, voice breaking. "Stop this…"
Helena's face gleamed with blood and exhaustion, voice ragged and half-human. "As you once said… I'm nothing but a monster." She grabbed Donovan and vanished into the smoky night with him.
Ritchie and her squad arrived, firing into the dark. But the Galpins and Helena were gone.
In Isadora's car, Enid breathed shallowly as Wednesday held her tight, refusing to let go.
"Don't you die on me," Wednesday whispered, voice raw. "Don't you dare die on me."
The car screamed away into black, the Halloween lights fading behind them.