By the time they got back to Nevermore, Wednesday was already in the room.
She was sitting cross-legged on her bed, working through a box of items she'd lifted from the police station during the haunting. Sheriff Galpin's things. Or what used to be his things, until last night. Before he was murdered by a bunch of crows.
A murder of crows was, in her opinion, completely wasted on Sheriff Galpin. Something that deliberately poetic deserved a more interesting recipient.
He should have gotten something forgettable. A slip in the shower. Unremarkable cardiac arrest. The crows were almost a compliment and he simply hadn't earned them.
She reached into the box and pulled out a folder.
Whatever Galpin had been quietly digging into before the birds made their opinion known was still here—notes, photographs, something that had gotten him killed.
She reached into the box and picked up Galpin's phone, turning it over in her hands.
"I thought you hated modern technology," Enid said.
"I do." Wednesday didn't look up. "But if it's relevant to the case I'll tolerate it."
She looked up then, and took one look at Enid's face.
"I take it the driving lesson didn't go well."
"It didn't go well," Enid said. "Mostly because of Ethan."
She pointed at Ethan, who was standing by the window staring at nothing in particular, clearly turning something over in his head.
"Did someone say my name?" he asked, without looking away from the window.
Wednesday looked at him for a moment. Then back at the phone.
"Sit down," she said. "Both of you. I want to know everything that happened out there."
Enid dropped onto her bed immediately. Ethan finally turned from the window and pulled out the chair from Wednesday's desk without asking, sat down and leaned back in it.
Wednesday's eye twitched slightly at that but she said nothing.
"There was a demon," Ethan said. "Baphomet. He was possessing vice principal and tried to kill me with a car full of gas cans."
A beat of silence.
"Colorful," Wednesday said, and started taking notes.
"So currently we have a demon going around possessing people," Wednesday said, setting Galpin's phone down.
"And a murder of crows — possibly controlled by an Outcast — responsible for at least two deaths including Galpin and his friend." She picked up her notepad.
"Galpin was clearly digging into something before he died, which likely got him killed. So." She looked between them with the closest thing she had to a smile. "Which would you like to investigate first?"
Enid stared at her.
"Can we say no to both?"
"No."
"Can we say no to one?"
"Also no."
Enid looked at Ethan.
"Don't look at me," Ethan said. "I'd rather deal with the problem now than let it grow. Unless you'd rather wait until it's knocking on your door alone at three in the morning."
Enid had no response to that.
"One more thing," Wednesday said, reaching into the box. "The demon stole a key I took from the murder victim's house." She set a photograph down on the bed. "I also found a location connected to it."
She opened her notepad.
"The Abbey of St. Carta." She looked up. "There's a significant history of occult activity tied to that place. During the fifth century, a duke with a serious interest in Satanism built an extensive series of rituals into the foundations of his castle. His goal was to open a portal to Hell." She paused. "By most accounts, he succeeded. Partially."
"Partially," Ethan repeated.
"Before the portal fully opened, the Church intervened. They sealed it using the blood of Christ."
"Wait," Enid said. "Like. Actual blood of Christ?"
"Authentic. Not the wine distributed during communion — the genuine article." Wednesday turned the page.
"After that, the castle was converted into a monastery. Nuns prayed there for centuries, specifically to keep whatever came through that portal contained." She let that sit for a moment.
"During the Second World War, a bomb hit the structure. The portal reopened. A small group managed to close it again, at considerable cost."
The room was quiet.
"The murdered family," Wednesday continued, "are descendants of that group. Which means they weren't chosen randomly." She closed the notepad. "The demon didn't just steal a key. It stole the location of wherever that portal is sitting inside the monastery right now."
Enid stared at her.
"So the demon is trying to open a gate to Hell," she said slowly. "In a monastery. That's currently just. Sitting there."
"Yes," Wednesday said.
"And we're going there."
"Obviously."
Enid looked at Ethan again.
"Don't worry, it won't be dangerous… well, mostly," Ethan said. He didn't have a reliable way to deal with it if that demon got loose, especially after provoking it more than once.
"Fascinating," a voice cut in. "Can I come?"
Agnes stepped into view, dropping the invisibility without concern.
Wednesday's gaze shifted to her. "Who is she?"
"She's your stalker," Enid said. "The one who left the crossbow in our room."
Wednesday studied Agnes in silence. A fourteen-year-old. That was… underwhelming. She had expected something more refined. Reality, once again, failed to meet even minimal standards.
"So, am I in?" Agnes asked.
"No," Wednesday replied evenly. "You are a liability. And this is not a recreational outing."
***
A/N: It's decided—the next world will be .
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