Chapter Text
They were back where it all began. Stood facing each other across their room.
Everything seemed so similar, and yet, so much had changed since their first meetings.
Wednesday's defeat of Crackstone, Enid's defeat of the Hyde? They'd grown to be close friends, even though it horrified Wednesday to admit that to herself. Enid had no such qualms.
Still, they'd never quite dispatched the acrimony of their initial encounters. There had been a lot of water under the bridge since then, still. They both remembered the tension, not actually so very long ago.
Enid was the first to break the silence.
"So, can I sleep safely, without, you know, you smothering me with hospitality?"
Wednedsay would have winced at the barb, if she was in the habit of letting her feelings show. Which she wasn't - and besides, today she'd been stabbed and shot with an arrow. A sharp word wasn't even comparable.
Then Enid smiled, and she realised that it was in good humour. She tried not to smile back, but, despite herself, the right corner of her mouth lifted slighty. Damn, I'm really off my game, she thought.
"Don't worry Enid. I only murder people that I find intolerable and cannot respect. People that I respect and find tolerable, I let them murder me. Everyone else, I try to ignore."
"So which one am I? Do you respect me, or find me tolerable?", quipped Enid.
"Well, when we first met, I had no reason to respect you, and your blasé style, I found rather intolerable. Hence my sincere threats to murder you."
"But?" Asked Enid.
"But, since then, proximity has meant that I have had to find your ways tolerable. Not by choice, you understand".
"Ah, so you tolerate me, but don't respect me" Enid pouted.
"I wasn't finished." Wednesday continued. "But, after tonight, conquering the Hyde, I have to respect you. It may be grudging, but respect it is".
Enid beamed. But she was slightly surprised when Wednesday continued talking. Wednesday wasn't usually the chatty type.
"Which I find puts you in a rather unique position. See, I've never actually combined respect and tolerance before. My parents, I respect them, but I cannot tolerate them, their incessant snogging for starters. My brother, I tolerate, but cannot respect, he's such a weakling (and make no mistake, when he's being intolerable, there have been... umm... attempts). Uncle Fester, he's very tolerable, but too much of a clown to be respectable. Which leaves you."
"Me?" Enquired Enid.
"Yes, you. At this moment I both tolerate and respect you. That is a feeling that I've never had before. What's more, you saved my life earlier. So, if you desired to send me to death's cold embrace, I'd have no right to complain."
Enid wasn't quite sure how to respond. She managed an "I'm honoured", although her mind was racing of what Wednesday had said, trying to work out what she meant. Confusion adorned her face.
"Well, Enid, you may think I'm a sadist, but I have a big masochistic streak. If it involves death, I'm generally in. Although today was quite close run, even for me".
"Wait a minute, I wasn't around you for most of this evening, what did happen?" asked Enid.
"Well, first off, Miss Thornhill killed Principal Weems and then knocked me out with a shovel. When I woke up, I was chained up. Tyler was there, and Miss Thornhill used my blood to free Crackstone. Who then stabbed me in the abdomen".
"Oh my God! Are you alright!?" Exclaimed Enid.
"I was certain that I was going to die. A simple enough death, a little generic, but deliciously painful. It was like my own personal torture session, a parting gift from Crackstone".
Enid looked mortified. "So how are you... umm?"
"Alive? Well, Goody Addams' spirt passed through me and healed my wounds".
"Wow... so your ancestor saved you?"
"Well, she's an Addams. She didn't do it for me. We know not to stop a good death. No, she did it to save the school. I was just the tool".
"So what happened next?"
Well, Miss Thornhill set Tyler on me. This is where you come in and save me again.
Enid howled at being acknowledged in Wednesday's telling of the story. It was a frighteningly realistic werewolf howl, thought Wednesday, but then again, Enid was very much a real werewolf.
"Then I followed Crackstone to the school. He was a bit surprised to see me still alive, shall we say. Xavier then shot at him with an arrow. Of course, Crackstone as an undead demon had telekinetic powers, so turned it around and shot it back at Xavier".
"But Xavier looked completely fine..." Enid was again confused.
"Well, I took the arrow for him. It hit me in the left shoulder, about..." Wednesday trailed off. "Well, that is strange".
"What, that you've got an arrow wound and haven't noticed? That's very on brand for you." Enid quipped.
"No... look. You can see the deep tear in my uniform right?" Wednesday enquired.
"Yes, it's pretty obvious..."
Enid gasped as Wednesday nonchalantly threw off her blazer and shirt. Enid couldn't help but notice that her upper body was well toned. But it was also blemishless. There was no arrow wound in sight, just a red smear of blood (and let's be honest, that wasn't so unusual for Wednesday). Wednesday poked experimentally at her shoulder.
"Now this is concerning" Wednesday said thoughtfully.
"What, that you're fine?"
"Yes, indeed. It seems that Goody's magic went further than I expected. She's not just healed my mortal knife wound, but wounds I've picked up since. If this means what I think it means..." Wednesday trailed off and seemed lost for words. A look of dread spread across her face.
"What, you're invulnerable or something?" Enid was confused at Wednesday's reaction.
"Exactly. If I'm right I'm currently unable to embrace death, or suffer lasting physical injury. Isn't that quite horrid!?"
"Umm, Wednesday, that sounds absolutely awesome!"
"But I'm bound to this mortal coil against my will! It's not the sort of bond I appreciate being in."
"I can see how immortality could be a problem, but who's to say it's going to last forever. That would be incredibly powerful magic..."
"Oh, no, like most long term Addams spells it will be limited to the next blood moon. But that's five years away. Imagine, five years, where I cannot die! How very horrible". Wednesday did that most unlikely thing. Tears started rolling down her cheeks.
Enid knew Wednesday better than to be utterly confused by her macabre outlook. Still, an idea to cheer Wednesday up formed in her head.
"What you were saying about murdering you... if you're right, I couldn't actually do you long term damage, but you'd still get, umm, the murder experience. Right?"
It was almost like Enid could see the gears turning in Wednesday's mind, one after another slotting into place. The tears stopped rolling and instead she started forming a rather lewd smile.
"So what you're saying is, I can experience being the victim of multiple murders, not just one..."
"Indeed. But are you actually sure you're invulnerable?" Enid was a little concerned that her best friend was going to end her life accidentally...
Wednesday wasted no time. "Only one way to find out", she said. Then she reached into her stocking, pulled out a rather wickedly long knife, and drove it into her heart. She then looked at Enid and managed to say "now pull it out".
Then Wednesday slumped over, dead.
Enid carefully approached her roommate's corpse, both horrified and fascinated. If Wednesday was right, it would be fine. If she was wrong... well, Enid would probably have to kill herself from the guilt of planting the idea in her best friend's mind.
Now standing over her friend's body, her black eyes staring beyond Enid unseeingly, she looked both pained and peaceful. Enid reached down. Before performing her assigned task, her hand found Wednesday's neck and checked for a pulse. Her body felt cooler than she'd have expected, but that was just Wednesday. She had no pulse, but there'd been no time for her body to cool down. Enid then pulled the knife out of her chest.
As Enid watched Wednesday's flesh knitted itself back together. A few moments later she took a shuddering gasp for breath.
Wednesday Addams had definitely just come back from the dead. She looked at Enid and smiled.
"Well, that's quite enough with knives for today. That's getting just a little bit boring."
"Understandable. I guess you've had quite enough of death today?" Enid responded.
Wednesday sounded exasperated. "Enid, an Addams never has enough of death". No, now I've tested the waters, I think it's your turn to murder me. Just don't use those claws of yours, too much like knives for today".
Enid blushed deep red. Her best friend was asking her to kill her. I mean, not permanently, she thought.
"Umm..." Enid was struggling for ideas. "Oh!" she squeaked.
"Got something for me?" Wednesday asked darkly.
By way of an answer, Enid walked over to Wednesday and wrapped her hands around her throat.
"Good..." purred Wednesday. She was going to taunt Enid to spur her on, but there was no need. Enid squeezes hard.
There were few dalliances with death that Wednesday wasn't familiar with. Asphyxiation certainly wasn't one of them. When alone and enjoying her solitude Wednesday might forget to breathe on occasion, until the burning in her lungs reminded her. Or when bathing she'd occasionally hold her head underwater.
But having someone to help her go all the way to sweet death? That was new.
Wednesday offered no resistance to Enid, she was doing this willingly, after all. Instead she tilted her head back, allowing her friend the easiest access to her throat.
Enid felt Wednesday's head tilt back under her fingers. She was being careful to avoid using her werewolf strength to choke Wednesday - she could quite easily end up snapping her friend's neck if that happened. It would probably disappoint Wednesday to have proceedings end so suddenly. However, she made sure that not a wisp of air could pass through Wednesday's windpipe. She felt Wednesday's pulse beating against her fingers, the beat remaining steady.
Wednesday kept her body calm. Panic would speed her pulse up, which would exhaust her air faster. She felt her complete inability to breathe, and the beginnings of a burning sensation in her lungs. She wanted this delightful torture to last as long as possible.
As Enid watched, Wednesday's face turned from its usual deathly pale to a shade of pink, the first sign of asphyxia's effect. Wednesday maintained eye contact with her, watching her killer strangle her.
Now Wednesday's face turned towards a light purple. Her lungs were on fire, her muscles burning in agony. It was exactly her kind of party. Now the steady beat of her heart finally broke, slowing down as she started to approach unconscious. The vivid colours of Enid's clothes faded into monochrome, giving her some relief through her enjoyable ordeal. Her lips turned blue, as her vision faded to black and consciousness slipped away.
Enid watched as Wednesday's eyes rolled back and her eyelids fluttered. This movement was soon joined by the involuntary spasms of her limbs. Now she was unconscious she made choked gasping noises as she tried in vain to breathe. Under Enid's fingers she felt Wednesday's heartbeat slowing and fading. She held her windpipe closed until Wednesday's heart stopped beating, which took another couple of minutes.
She then let go of Wednesday's throat. Please please come back Enid thought.
10 seconds passed, 10 seconds which felt like a lifetime to Enid. Then Wednesday drew a deep shuddering breath. The purple colour faded from her face and her eyes rolled forward to meet Enids.
"That was excellent, my little murder kitty". Even immediately after returning from death, Wednesday had a wicked tongue.
Enid beamed at the compliment.