Spark • Xavier Thorpe

seventeen

Elvira woke to someone slapping her in the face. She groaned as her eyes adjusted to her surroundings. She focused in on Tyler standing in front of her, a sadistic smile on his face. She glared at him before looking around at their location. She realized immediately that they were in Crackstone's Crypt.

She then noted that her arms were chained above her, and that Wednesday was in the same situation, just to her left.

"Tyler, go wait by the boat," Laurel called out.

"Yes, listen to your master and be a good little Hyde," Wednesday snarled. Tyler bumped into Wednesday on his way out, the two hearing the door slam behind them.

"I have to admit, that shape-shifting stunt with Weems almost worked. But as my father always said, 'If you want to outsmart an outcast, you got to out-think'em'," Laurel told them, as she screwed lids onto the jars of body parts that she had collected from her and Tyler's victims. "You know, we have roots that go all the way back to Joseph Crackstone."

"So you come from a line of psychotic killers too," Wednesday commented.

"Joseph Crackstone was a visionary, dedicated to protecting normies from outcasts until his life was cut short by your ancestor, Goody Addams." Laurel defended, storming over to Wednesday, looking between the two girls. "And then to add insult to injury, they stole his land to build that abomination of a school."

Laurel finished her rant, and the cousins shared a look. They needed to figure out how to get out of this.

"But, throughout the centuries, my family has remained committed to Crackstone's mission. My brother died serving that cause. I decided to take a different approach," Laurel continued. Elvira looked at all the collected body parts surrounding the sarcophagus. "The supernatural."

"Tyler's been collecting all these body parts to resurrect Crackstone," Elvira realized, and Laurel smiled proudly.

"The one man who nearly succeeded in eradicating the outcasts," Laurel confirmed.

"You can't wake the dead," Wednesday called out. "Believe me, I've tried."

"I believe your ancestor Goody Addams would disagree," Laurel said, grabbing a book from the top of the sarcophagus.

"Goody's Book of Shadows," Wednesday observed. "You're the one that stole the original from Pilgrim World."

"It wasn't enough for Goody to kill Crackstone. She had to curse his soul too," Laurel informed them.

"What does all of this have to do with us?" Elvira asked.

"My dear girls, you two are the keys. At first I was going to have to adjust my plan because I was under the impression that only Wednesday was coming, but then I received the wonderful news that Elvira would be attending as well. Your arrivals at Nevermore set the chubby wheels of my plan in motion," Laurel informed them.

"Great, now how is that relevant?" Elvira asked, Laurel glaring at her for the snarky comment.

"Goody sealed Crackstone in his sarcophagus with a blood lock. Only one of her direct descendants can open it," Laurel explained. "A living descendant, on the night of a blood moon. So, I bided my time, and I made you feel special, until you were ready to be sacrificed."

"If you only need one descendant, why are both of us here?" Wednesday asked. Laurel smiled at her, and then turned her attention to Elvira.

"Because Goody also put in place another precaution. In order to complete the resurrection, I will need to harness the power of lightning. However, once again, it could only be the blue lightning that is the Addams family signature. Now, I had thought that the Addams family had long lost the ability to control electricity, so when I learned that Elvira had the ability I was delighted," Laurel explained. She titled Elvira's chin up and smiled proudly at her. "I will drain you of your powers, so that you will be utterly useless, because let's face it. You're nothing without your lightning."