Zachary's eyes nearly bulged out of his head. "What do you mean she's missing?!"
Xavier rolled his eyes. "This isn't time to play stupid, Zachary. I know what your dad is planning and I know that you're somehow in on it. Where did he take Wednesday?"
"He's working with his father?!" Enid asked in horror.
Zachary sighed out a shaky breath. "My dad sent me here to do something bad to someone, but I haven't done anything, and none of it has to do with Wednesday. I would never hurt her."
Xavier sighed. "Okay, well where is she?"
"Why are you asking me? The principal literally has me on dorm arrest because I was around her when I wasn't supposed to be," Zachary replied.
Xavier let out a shaky breath. "You-- You haven't seen her at all?"
Zachary shook his head. "Why? Should I be worried? Is something wrong?"
"I haven't seen her since breakfast. NO ONE HAS! SHE'S MISSING, ZACHARY, AND IT'S ALL YOUR FATHER'S FAULT!" Enid shouted at the normie.
Ajax rested a hand on his girlfriend's shoulder. "It's okay, Enid. She's tough. You don't need to worry."
Fear pierced Zachary's heart as he looked Xavier, Enid, and Ajax in the eyes. "If my dad's involved, she's in really really deep shit."
"We should probably wait until the morning. We'll get in deep shit with Principal Opal if we go to Jericho now," said Ajax.
Enid shook her head with tears streaming down her face. "NO! I'M NOT LEAVING WEDNESDAY IN THE HANDS OF AN EVIL NORMIE!"
Xavier shook his head wearily. "I hate to admit it, but Ajax is right. We'll group up in the morning and go look for her together. No one splits up, okay?"
The other two boys nodded.
Enid didn't agree with Ajax, but she took his advice anyways, knowing it would be the safer route in which to do things.
...
As soon as Wednesday awoke from being drugged, she believed that she had found herself to be in complete solitude.
"Don't worry. They're gone," A familiar voice called from the opposite wall of the room.
Wednesday tried to move to see the best she could, but one of her hands was chained to the ground. "Who are you?"
"It's Sana. How did they find you, Wednesday?" The girl called.
"I snuck into the Chapman's house. Timothy Anderson was the one to find me. He isn't as stupid as I took him for," Wednesday called back.
A sigh came from the other side of the hall. "They're going to kill us if we don't escape. What are we supposed to do?!"
"There is nothing we can do now, Sana. There is no hope left. No one knows where I am, which means we are all doomed to an eternity of hell with the most psychotic, murderous normies I have ever seen," Wednesday replied.
The girl had been captured less than twenty-four hours prior and was already losing hope.
Would her friends be able to save her?
...
Before getting on a bus to Jericho, Xavier, Enid, and Ajax spotted Zachary on the phone.
"Hurry up, dude! We don't have time to waste!" Xavier shouted over at the normie.
Zachary quickly hung up the phone and trotted over to the bus.
About thirty minutes later, they arrived at the town square.
"There's only one place Wednesday could possibly be if my father got involved," Zachary announced, "Dunn Rock."
Xavier frowned. "Shit, that's even closer than I thought."
"Why is it such a bad thing? It means less walking for us," Ajax commented.
"It's less than half an hour from Nevermore, Ajax. All of the outcasts are in more danger than I realized," Xavier muttered.
Enid frowned and squeezed her boyfriend's hand exceptionally hard. "Can we just start walking? I need to find Wednesday."
"We need to find Wednesday," Xavier corrected.
"Don't you have a girlfriend or something? Milky? Millie? Milwaukee? Morbid? What's her name?" Ajax asked.
Xavier stared at the ground. "Mila. Her name's Mila."
"Yeah, and she's my sister, so don't be talking about shit you don't know anything about," Zachary chimed in.
"Xavier?!" A feminine voice cried out. "I never thought I'd see you again!"
To the artist's surprise, his girlfriend ran and jumped into his arms, sobbing.
"Xavier! OH MY GOD! I've missed you so much!" Mila Chapman cried out.
A dark, eery shadow passed over Zachary's face. "Mila, what are you doing here? You need to leave."
The girl ignored her older brother. "Xav!" She continued to cry as she held tightly onto her boyfriend.
Instantaneously, Zachary pulled his sister off of her boyfriend and pushed her backward. "Go home. Now."
Xavier stared at the ground. "You should probably listen to your brother, Mila. You can't come with us. It's not safe."
"What do you mean it's not safe? I don't want to go back home. It's torture, Xav. I just wanna stay with you. Can I? Please," She begged.
Xavier shook his head. "I'm sorry, Mils, but you need to go home. It's seriously not safe to be anywhere with me."
The blonde stomped her foot stubbornly. "That's it! I've listened to your requests long enough! This time I'm coming with you."
"You're not invited," Enid muttered back.
Mila glared her down. "I just invited myself. Back off, bitch."
"The only bitch here is you. You're going to get us all killed," Enid growled back.
Mila angrily balled her hands into fists. "Where's Wednesday? She'd let me come."
Xavier stared at his girlfriend. "Wednesday's not here. She's at school studying. Come on, Mils. I-- I'll-- I'll walk you home."
"No you won't," Enid intervened. "We have somewhere to be, Xavier. Let's go."
Ajax nodded. "Come on, dude. It can't wait all day."
Mila crossed her arms. "Whatever it is, I'm sure it can. If you won't let me come with you, you're staying here and spending the day with me," She told Xavier.
Xavier walked over to the girl and kissed her cheek. "I can't do that, Mila. This is urgent. A friend of ours is in really bad trouble."
"Yeah right, a friend," Enid mumbled under her breath.
Zachary glared at the girl. "Shut up."
Ajax glared back at him. "Don't tell girls to shut up."
Mila's face fell once she heard what her boyfriend had just said. "Really? You won't come to my rescue when my father does anything evil to me but when it's just some random friend you're there for them? How does that work, Xavier? I deserve better than that."
Xavier stared at the ground. "You do, Mila, and I'm sorry. I promised you I'd help you, and I will. But I can't help you right now. I wish I could explain."
A single tear struck the girl's face. "But you aren't sorry. You would've changed by now."
Xavier kissed his girlfriend's cheek once more. "I really am truly sorry, Mils. But I know there's nothing I can do to make it up to you now. Just hold on a little longer. I'm coming back for you."
Mila immediately kissed him back on the lips. "Be safe, Xav. Life isn't worth living if it doesn't have you in it."