Ethan pulled open the back door and got in.
The instructor spun around. "This is a driving lesson. Not a taxi. You cannot just board this car like—"
"You might need to get your eyes checked," Ethan said, looking at him. The man was already wearing glasses. "Maybe get those checked again too."
"Excuse me—"
"You just watched a man appear out of a burning forest, in the middle of the road, on fire." Ethan tilted his head slightly. "And you're questioning whether he should be allowed in the car." He held eye contact.
"Your common sense should be telling you not to annoy the individual who might burn your car if you keep pushing it."
The instructor stared at him.
Then at the treeline still going up in the distance.
Then at Ethan again.
He turned back around very slowly, clicked his seatbelt on, and stared straight ahead at the road.
Enid checked the rearview mirror, caught Ethan's eye for half a second, then looked back at the road and said nothing, which took visible effort.
"So," she said after a moment. "Where are you headed?"
"Back to the academy," Ethan said. "And one more thing — our vice principal is dead."
Enid had just started the car. She stopped it again and slowly turned around in her seat to look at him with an expression that was doing a lot of heavy lifting.
Ethan read it immediately.
"I didn't kill him," he said. "The demon got him."
Enid held the look for one more second, then turned back around.
"Okay." She started the car again. "The demon got him. Sure." She merged onto the road, both hands on the wheel. "Normal sentence that a normal person just said to me."
"Enid."
"Driving," she said. "Eyes on the road. You said it yourself."
"And Agnes." Ethan glanced to his side. "What are you doing here?"
Enid looked over at the seat beside him. Empty. She looked back at the road, then did a slower second look.
A girl was sitting there now — auburn hair, Nevermore uniform, hands folded neatly in her lap like she'd been there the whole time.
"When did you get in?" Enid said.
Still not really a question. Her day had already gone completely sideways — vice principal dead, burning forest, random guy appearing in the road — she had absolutely failed this driving lesson and she was at peace with that now.
"I let myself in," Agnes said, looking directly at Enid. "I was following you."
Enid's eyes cut to the rearview mirror. "Ew, why are you following me?"
"Enid, this is Agnes," Ethan said. "You might know her as Wednesday's stalker."
Enid frowned at first, not following—then it clicked, and her expression shifted sharply.
"Wait." She leaned forward, staring at Agnes through the rearview mirror. "You're the psycho who put that crossbow in our room."
Agnes didn't react to the word.
"I left a message," she said simply.
"With a crossbow," Enid shot back, her voice rising. "In our room. It almost took off my head. Do you have no common sense?"
"It wasn't meant for you," Agnes replied.
"It was in my room."
"It was meant for Wednesday."
"She shares my room!" Enid threw her hands up in frustration.
Agnes paused, considering that, her expression unchanged, as if Enid had just pointed out a minor logistical detail she hadn't fully accounted for.
"So Agnes," Ethan said, glancing sideways at her. "Did you come here to kidnap Enid? Some kind of plan to get close to Wednesday?"
He could already see it. That was exactly the goal.
"Yes." Agnes said it the way someone else might say obviously. "As expected from one of my idols — you identified the entire plan in a single glance."
She said it with a small, genuine smile, like this was a compliment to both of them.
Enid's eyes found the rearview mirror. Then she looked at the road. Then back at the mirror.
Kidnap. The word just sat there. This girl — who broke into her room and left a crossbow as a message — had climbed into a moving car and sat herself specifically to kidnap her. The entire reason being that she wanted to be Wednesday's best friend. Which made Enid what exactly.
Collateral.
She was collateral damage in a psycho's plan to befriend her own roommate.
Then she lost it.
Her claws shot out and she launched herself over the front seat into the back, going straight for Agnes.
"Pint sized psycho—" she grabbed for her, "—you want to get close to Wednesday?! Let me help you! Wednesday likes dead things, let me just—"
Ethan caught her mid-lunge with one arm, pulled her sideways and sat her firmly on his lap before she got anywhere near Agnes, who had not moved or changed expression at any point during this.
Enid struggled for exactly two seconds before Ethan put a hand on top of her head and patted it.
"There, there," he said. "Easy, wolfie."
"Don't you there there me—"
He patted her head again.
Enid's claws were still out. She was breathing hard through her nose, glaring at Agnes across the seat, who looked back at her with the same mild, slightly curious expression she'd had since she materialized in the car.
"You have very fast reflexes," Agnes observed.
"I will end you," Enid said.
"Enid," Ethan said.
"She wants to kidnap me—"
"She's also about half your size."
Enid looked at Agnes. Agnes looked back. The claws stayed out for another moment.
Then slowly, very reluctantly, they retracted.
The instructor was staring at the back seat through the rearview mirror.
***
A/N: It's decided—the next world will be .
And on Patreon, The Boys arc started.
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