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Everything beautiful is ruined eventually.
It was a quote Wednesday had read in a novel about war when she was younger, and she remembered it having such a great impact on her that she decided to carve it onto the skin of any living person that even dared to look in her vicinity. Hence by the time she was twelve the entire neighbourhood had neatly written scars at some certain part of their body.
She had always looked back at her actions with pride and satisfaction.
Now she wished she could burn the words in a roaring fire fuelled by the very bones of Hell's demons instead.
"Enid? Are you hurt?"
Wednesday rushed towards the fallen wolf, who was lying on her side and groaning in pain. Thing was besides her, holding her hand. She noticed that he was shaking.
"Shit, ughh. I-I think so," Enid huffed, struggling to open her eyes. Struggling to keep herself awake.
Wednesday kneeled besides her, moving her arm gently to see where she's been struck. "Dios mío," she whispered to herself.
Besides the four scratches occupying the left side of her face, there was also a large wound near her ribs, so large that it also covered her chest, her heart. But what worried Wednesday the most was not the injury itself. Because for the seven minutes Enid had been lying there as Wednesday defeated Crackstone, then a further three as she looked for her the moment Ajax said that she was missing -
It had not stopped bleeding.
Enid coughed, gasping for breath. A soft whimper escaped her lips and it almost ignited a conflict within Wednesday's soul.
She took off her blazer and gently pushed Enid so that she was laying on her back, then tied the jacket around her body as a sort of makeshift tourniquet. Thing tapped besides her frantically.
"This will help stop the bleeding until someone comes. I've already alerted them in case..." she stopped herself. Nothing was happening to Enid. Not while she's there. "Just hold on a bit longer. You are strong. I believe in you."
Enid nodded, but it didn't make her sobs any less haunting.
"I'm gonna be honest with you Wednesday," she said, almost a whisper. She was breathing heavy yet barely taking in any air. "I think this is it."
Wednesday's jaw tightened at her words. This cannot be happening. She simply won't allow it.
She got on her knees and attempted to lift Enid, but she underestimated how heavy the wolf really was. She felt her legs buckle as she hoisted Enid up on her arms.
"Wednesday-" Enid yelped, her hands clutching her sides.
"It's alright, I'm getting you help. I'm getting you help." Wednesday didn't know who she was convincing at this point. She tried to get a better hold of Enid, but a yell of pain stopped her. She grimaced and looked down on the girl laying in her arms.
"Please just. Just put me down," Enid whimpered.
Wednesday scowled. "No. You are not allowed to be stubborn right now."
Enid let out a sob. And just that alone almost made Wednesday kneel down and clear her conscience.
"It hurts so much, I can't. Please."
Breathing heavy, Wednesday finally obeyed, placing Enid as gently as she could back on the forrest floor. She pulled her close, resting her head on the nook of her arm. Her shoulder ached while doing so, and for a second she wondered why until she remembered that an arrow had struck her merely minutes ago. Thing crawled towards her and placed a finger on her leg.
"I don't know. For the first time I don't know," she answered. If she was being honest with herself she almost sounded distraught. She hated that the word could even be used to describe her state right now.
She enjoyed the sight of people dying but - No. No one was dying. No one was dying. No one was dying. No one was dyi-
"Wednesday?"
"Thing, get help."
Thing nodded before scurrying away. Wednesday didn't care which direction he was heading. As long as he came back with anything to help stop Enid's suffering.
"We won though, right?" Enid breathed, a quiet smirk tugging at her lips. Wednesday wished she could kiss it.
"Of course. Thank you for handling Tyle- the Hyde."
Enid laughed but then stopped and groaned, settling for a small smile instead. "No worries. That's what friends do, right?"
Wednesday scoffed. Enid's hand found hers, holding tightly. She surprised herself when she held it back.
"It should've been me," she said. "You do not deserve this. You're too kind for the world you've found yourself in."
"Wednesday being nice?" Enid answered. "Maybe I really am dead."
"No," Wednesday suddenly says, her voice cracking. "If you do so much as close your eyes for a beat too long I will murder you."
"You've been a great roomie," Enid said, ignoring her statement. "We've had our... hardships but-" she moaned in pain, closing her eyes tight. When she opened them again she swears she saw Wednesday blink. "I wish we'd have gotten more time."
"Stop it. Why are you saying goodbye."
"You were amazing at the Poe Cup. You didn't really do it to see Bianca's downfall did you? You did it for m-"
"Yes, alright. I did it for you. You win. Now stay."
"I really don't think-" Enid struggled to heave, her grip on Wednesday's hand weakening. "I don't think..."
Wednesday ran her thumb over Enid's face, wiping away her tears and replacing it with a trail of blood. "I cannot, I refuse to. The universe obeys me. It listens only to me. It is not the right time until I say so."
But death never comes in the right time. Death always comes like a thief.
"I'm sorry..." Enid's voice was so small, and Wednesday wanted to yell at the world for it.
"Just stay with me for a little longer. Thing is almost back." She stroked Enid's hair with a shaky hand.
"Wednesday-"
"You're beautiful," she pleaded as a last resort. But Enid didn't hear her.
Everything beautiful is ruined eventually.
And for the first time in her life Wednesday hated that she was right.
It was the morning of the funeral, and Wednesday didn't go. She thought that she atleast owed Enid that, having been the reason on why she could never smile at a rainbow anymore. Never smile at anything at all, really. The thought only made Wednesday feel worse.
Grief was a strange thing. It was one of those concepts that only consumed and never gave. It was bits and pieces of floating despair, it was seeing an island amidst the sea yet drowning anyways.
Drowning doesn't sound too bad of a faith at the moment, she thought. It would atleast be a small comfort in this mortal nightmare.
And so, Wednesday hated a lot of things. But mostly she hates how Enid's world ended not with a bang, but with a whimper.
She heard a soft knock on her door. She hated that too. She knew that the person behind it was trying their best to lightly thread around her. As if she was some weak, vulnerable child. Wednesday was made of macabre poems and empty spaces. Though right now she really did just feel empty.
"Enter," she announced to nothing. She felt nothing too.
She heard her door creak open. She did not turn around.
"Wednesday?" a voice asked gently. "How are you feeling my dear?"
She did not answer.
"I know you're feeling.... hopeless. I myself have been there." Gomez sat down on the bed next to her. Wednesday continued to look out her window.
Her father opened his mouth to speak, then shook his head and smiled. He tried again.
"Mon chéri, listen to me. You'll never forget her, and you'll never stop missing her." He glanced at the roof, staring at the faded skulls from a time when his daughter was younger. "But the ache in your heart will change with time. You'll no longer hurt because you're sad that she's gone, you'll hurt because you were so happy that she got to live."
Wednesday remained silent, taking in her father's words. After a minute, she finally stirred, looking up at the ceiling like him, and a silent melody of understanding took over the room.
Gomez nodded. "If you need anything, me and your mother are just downstairs."
With a final incline, Gomez stood up and exited her room, carefully closing the door behind him. As she watched him go, the gesture felt weirdly melancholic.
Wednesday supposed that it was really two people who died that night. One was Enid when she stopped breathing. And the other was her, a bit later on, when she realised that she had heard Enid whisper her name for the last time.
Wednesday bowed her head and finally cried.