Chapter 2: Nevermore's Abnormal Roommate
The dorm room door swung open to reveal Enid Sinclair sitting on her bed applying nail polish—a vibrant pink. Sunlight slanted through the window, catching on her golden hair streaked with shocks of pink and blue, making her look like a walking rainbow.
"Whoa!" Vic whistled. "I like your style!"
Enid looked up and froze. Her eyes darted between Wednesday and Vic before settling on the black head emerging from Vic's shoulder.
"Who are you?" she asked, her voice at least three octaves higher than Wednesday's.
"I'm Vic! This is Venom!" Vic pointed at himself, then at Venom. "We're your new roommates!"
Enid turned to Wednesday: "Is he serious?"
Wednesday nodded. "Unfortunately, yes."
"Hey!" Vic protested. "We're super fun!"
Venom nodded. "Especially when he goes crazy."
Enid blinked, then suddenly broke into a radiant smile. "Alright then."
She hopped off the bed and extended her hand. "I'm Enid Sinclair."
Vic shook her hand with exaggerated enthusiasm. "Victor Black! By the way, you smell like strawberry chocolate—"
"—I never said that!"
Wednesday walked to her bed, set down her luggage, and said coldly, "If you plan to chat all night, I'll nail your tongues to the wall."
Vic and Enid fell silent simultaneously.
Venom muttered under his breath: "She's crazier than we are."
Vic nodded. "I love her to death."
Enid glanced between Wednesday and Vic, then suddenly laughed.
"You guys are hilarious." Enid began looking forward to her upcoming academy life, though she would soon regret it.
When Wednesday pulled the first hammer from her suitcase, Vic was sitting on the windowsill chewing a suspiciously shaped chocolate bar.
"Whoa," he mumbled through a mouthful, chocolate crumbs tumbling from his lips. "Planning to demolish the place?"
Wednesday didn't respond. She simply arranged nails along her headboard in silence, like performing some dark ritual.
Enid stared dumbfounded, only snapping to her senses when she saw Wednesday splattering black paint across the wall.
"Wait!" Enid's shriek nearly shattered the glass. "That's my wall!"
"Was," Wednesday replied without turning. "Now it's the gothic art installation 'The Funeral of the Raven.'"
Vic jumped off the windowsill, hopping between them like an excited crow. "Venom! Look! It's an art war!"
Venom emerged from his shoulder, examining both sides with interest. "Left side looks like melted rainbow candy, right side looks like crushed cockroaches... I vote for Wednesday."
"Traitor!" Enid grabbed a pink cushion and threw it at Venom, who swallowed it whole.
"Hey! That was a limited edition unicorn cushion!"
Wednesday continued her renovation, replacing the originally pink curtains with black lace and pinning several bat specimens to them. Vic leaned in until his nose almost touched a bat's wing. "Are these real?"
"They were alive last week," Wednesday said calmly.
Enid gasped. "You can't just—"
"I can." Wednesday finally turned around, holding a gleaming pair of dressmaker shears. "Shall I demonstrate how to cut a rainbow?"
Vic suddenly inserted himself between them, holding a chocolate bar in each hand. "Truce! Enid, try this 85% dark chocolate—bitter yet sweet, just like Wednesday's soul! Wednesday, try this strawberry one—yes, the vulgar pink kind you despise."
Both chocolate bars simultaneously smacked into his face.
When Principal Larissa Weems arrived at the commotion, the dormitory had been clearly divided by a boundary line: to the left was Enid's "Exploding Rainbow Unicorn" themed zone, to the right was Wednesday's "Vampire Tomb" themed zone. And Vic...
"Why am I stuck by the bathroom door?" Vic protested, crouching on a bed-sized area where Venom was helping him outline "Vic's Territory" with black tape on the floor.
"Vote results." Enid waved her, and Wednesday's suddenly synchronized raised hands.
"And it's closest to death," Wednesday added, pointing at the noose decoration she'd just hung on the bathroom door.
Venom patted Vic's head. "Look on the bright side—at least we're closest to the chocolate reserves."
It pointed at the toilet tank—stuffed full with various chocolates.
"That's my emergency stash!" Enid shrieked.
Wednesday rarely curved her lips upward. "Now it's spoils of war."
Vic glanced at the fuming werewolf girl on his left, then the gloomy goth girl on his right, before suddenly grinning. "Venom, I think we're going to love it here."
"Provided you survive tonight." Venom watched as both girls simultaneously raised their "Territory Pact"—the first rule clearly stating "Vic prohibited from making noise after midnight."
Principal Larissa stood at the dormitory entrance, her gaze sweeping over Vic, who was crouched on the floor arranging his bedding.
"Why is your 'territory' by the bathroom door?" Larissa raised an eyebrow.
"The result of democratic voting." He said solemnly, "And it's closest to death." He pointed at the noose decoration that Wednesday had just hung on the bathroom door, "See, they even prepared the gallows. How thoughtful."
Larissa took a deep breath, as if silently reciting an incantation of "can't kill relatives."
"Enid, give them a tour of the academy." She warned before turning to leave, "Don't let Vic near anything flammable."
"—Or living creatures," Wednesday added.
Enid cheerfully jumped up, her golden short hair bouncing like dancing flames in the sunlight. "Let's go! First stop—the Quad!"
...
The Quad was Nevermore Academy's central plaza, surrounded by Gothic spired buildings, paved with ancient bluestone slabs, with a raven statue standing at its center.
"Why call it the Quad?" Wednesday asked coldly, "It's clearly a pentagon."
Enid blinked. "Uh... tradition?"
"Tradition is meant to be broken." Wednesday stared at the ground, "Like how there are at least three corpses buried beneath this slab."
Vic suddenly pressed his ear against the stone slab. "Venom! Listen! The bones are singing!"
Venom peered from his shoulder. "All I hear are your brain cells wailing."
Just then—
"Whoa! New faces!"
A tall boy wearing a beanie approached.
"Ajax Petropolus." He extended his hand with a brilliant smile, "Gorgon. Don't touch my hat unless you want to turn into a statue."
Vic immediately grew interested: "Gorgon? Like Medusa? Are your hairs—"
"—Snakes, yes." Ajax pointed helplessly at his hat, "They're quite temperamental."
"So cool!" Vic reached out to lift his hat, "Let me see!"
"Wait! Don't—"
Enid and Wednesday simultaneously took three steps back.