✓ | 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐅𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐒, larissa weems

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄

˗ˏˋ༻ʚ♡︎ɞ༺ˎˊ˗
𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐎𝐍𝐀'𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐕

as i slowly came to, a searing pain shot through my forearm. the last thing i remembered was the explosion, so i assumed that the fire must have reached me. i caught a glimpse of my bright red, aching, and dry skin before a medical professional wrapped it with bandages. a second-degree burn, it seemed. It could have been much worse, but i had a gut feeling that it would have significant consequences.

as i slowly regained consciousness, i saw wednesday's worried face staring at me. she instantly bounced up from her seat, rushing over to check on me. to my surprise, her face was flooded with concern, a rare sight from my usually apathetic sister. "winona, you don't understand how sorry I am. please forgive us," she pleaded with me. in a dazed and confused state, i struggled to sit up, feeling the terrible discomfort taking over my body.

"why, it's not your fault," i said, pressing my palm against my forehead in an attempt to relieve the headache that had intensified due to the bright light in the room. wednesday's sudden silence made me suspicious, which caused me to rethink the situation. "was it?" i asked, my tone revealing my suspicion.

"technically, my hands are clean..." my sister trails off, turning her gaze to the table beside us. a shy finger pokes out from behind a tissue box. "thing?" i furrow my eyebrows, recognizing those stitched thumbs anywhere. he gradually peeps out, seemingly sorry for what they had done together.

"next time you plan to blow up a monumental statue, please fill me in so that i can stand more than five feet away," i spoke sarcastically, trying to ease the tension. a doctor came into the room, causing us all to fall silent. i noticed how thing quickly scurried away into hiding, which made me smile. i missed that silly hand more than i thought i would.

as the shock wore off, i realized the gravity of the situation. if word got out that an outcast was behind this attack, it would cast a dark shadow on nevermore and jeopardize all that we had built with jericho. and if the principal found out about wednesday's involvement, she would surely be expelled. we needed to keep this quiet and figure out a way to fix things before they spiraled out of control.

the bigger question was why? as far as i knew, wednesday had nothing against joseph crackstone or the memorial statue. i couldn't wrap my head around how this sudden hatred had built up so quickly. but then again, with wednesday, there was always a method to her madness.

"wait, no one saw you, right?" i asked, glancing at both of them with panicked eyes. "not a soul," wednesday replied, trailing off and averting her eyes from mine as if she wanted to tell me something but stopped herself. i couldn't help but feel a knot forming in my stomach as i thought about the possible consequences of getting caught. our reputation in the community would be ruined, and my sister's future at the school would be at risk.

"as expected, weems suspects me," wednesday said with a grimace. "she wants to talk to you about my whereabouts during the blast."

i let out an exasperated sigh. once again, i found myself using my abilities to cover up for my sister's mischievous behavior. "can't you just tell her the truth for once?" I said, my frustration clear in my voice.

wednesday looked at me with a pained expression. "i can't, winona," she said softly. "you know what they'll do to me if they find out the truth."

i knew all too well what would happen if the school administration discovered the truth behind the explosion. my sister would be expelled, and we would lose everything we had built with jericho. not to mention the damage it would do to nevermore's reputation as a safe and welcoming community for outcasts like us.