The Addams family's vintage hearse wound its way up the mountain road. The tires crushed the damp, fallen leaves with a delightful, bone-snapping crunch.
Morticia sat in the passenger seat, elegantly pruning the thorns from a black rose, while Gomez hummed a Spanish ballad, sipping red wine and stealing affectionate glances at his daughter in the rearview mirror.
Wednesday Addams stared out the window, her expression a void. Her fingers drummed against her knee, keeping time to some internal calculation involving a premeditated homicide.
Her signature black braids hung neatly over her shoulders, her pale complexion looking especially sepulchral in the dim cabin.
"So, darling," Morticia began, her voice like silk wrapped around a razor blade. "Do you truly believe releasing piranhas into the swimming pool was a mistake?"
"Certainly not," Wednesday replied coldly, her eyes fixed on the decaying trees blurring past. "I only regret not starving them for three days prior."
Gomez burst into a roar of laughter, nearly spilling his wine.
"That's my girl!" He wiped a tear of joy from his eye. "Next time, though, do warn me in advance—I'll want to have the video camera ready."
The corner of Wednesday's mouth twitched imperceptibly. "Father, if you were present, the piranhas likely would have suffered indigestion from overexcitement."
Just then—
"Whoa! Piranhas? Wicked!"
A stranger's voice erupted right next to Wednesday.
The Addams family turned in unison.
A dark-haired boy had materialized beside Wednesday. He was sitting cross-legged, cradling a deformed human skull in his hands, wearing a grin that stretched way too wide.
He wore a black leather jacket with a silver spider brooch pinned to the collar. His eyes were like obsidian catching the sunlight—if obsidian could twitch with manic energy.
"Hiya!" He waved enthusiastically, his hand swinging dangerously close to Wednesday's face. "Mind if I bum a ride?"
Wednesday's eyebrow lifted slightly—her highest form of shock.
Morticia narrowed her eyes. "Child, where exactly did you come from?"
"The back seat," the boy shrugged, as if stating the obvious. "You didn't lock the doors."
Gomez blinked. "We definitely locked them."
"You did?" The boy tilted his head, looking genuinely confused. "Huh. Maybe I remembered wrong. The trunk, perhaps?"
He patted the coffin-shaped luggage beside him. "Seriously though, your trunk design is super considerate. You even have pillows back here."
Wednesday fixed him with a stare capable of freezing blood in the veins. "Who are you?"
"Ah! Right! Introductions!" The boy slapped his own forehead with enough force to cause a concussion.
"I'm Victor Black. You can call me Vic, or 'that psycho,' or 'the chocolate fiend'—oh, right!"
He suddenly thrust the skull toward Wednesday. "A getting-to-know-you gift! One of my favorites. I figured it was your style."
Wednesday accepted the skull, her fingertips tracing the fractures on the cranium. It had been polished, though traces of dried blood remained in the eye sockets. The corner of her mouth lifted exactly one millimeter.
"She likes it!" Victor leaned uncomfortably close to Wednesday's face—close enough to count her eyelashes. "I knew it! See, Venom, what did I tell you?"
Suddenly, his collar rippled. A mass of pitch-black, viscous sludge oozed from his shoulder, coalescing into a grotesque head filled with razor-sharp teeth.
"She smells sweeter than chocolate," Venom rumbled, his voice like sandpaper grinding against metal.
Wednesday's eyes widened a fraction. For her, this was the equivalent of a scream.
"Whoa!" Victor clapped his hands, nearly hitting the ceiling. "She actually has facial expressions! Venom, I think we just made history!"
"Shut your trap, Vic," Venom rolled his white eyes. "You're scaring the girl."
"I am not scared," Wednesday stated, instantly resetting her face to zero emotion, though her grip on the skull tightened possessively.
Gomez and Morticia exchanged a glance.
"So..." Gomez ventured tentatively, "You are...?"
"Oh! Right!" Victor bolted upright. "I'm a new student at Nevermore! A shapeshifter! Uh, sort of... Actually, I'm the host of a symbiote, but the Principal said, 'Let's just call you a shapeshifter so you don't terrify the student body,' so—"
"—So we are masquerading as a shapeshifter," Venom finished, his voice reverberating through the car. "Though I think the disguise is pathetic."
Wednesday stared at Venom, a flicker of genuine interest sparking in her eyes. "It speaks?"
"It?" Venom snarled, baring his teeth. "I have a name, little girl."
"Ignore him, he's just hangry," Victor waved his hand dismissively. "Anyway, you guys don't mind me hitching a ride, right? I was gonna take my motorcycle, but Venom was all like, 'Hey, remember when you almost flattened those three ravens?' so—"
"—So we are hitchhiking," Venom sighed. "For the record, those ravens sued us."
Morticia smiled, revealing teeth that seemed just a little too sharp. "Of course not, darling."
Wednesday looked down at the skull, studying it. "Why did you choose this car?" she asked flatly.
---
Wednesday looked down, studying the human skull in her hands. "Why did you choose this car?" she asked, her voice flat.
Victor grinned, flashing teeth that were unsettlingly white. "Because your ride is the coolest."
"—And because it smells like murder," Venom added, inhaling deeply. "Ah... the scent of fresh expiration."
The corner of Wednesday's mouth lifted another millimeter.
Before long, the Addams family and Victor arrived at Nevermore Academy.
The academy's sharp spires loomed in and out of the dark clouds like some slumbering beast.
Victor hopped out of the hearse and stretched. Venom let out a lazy yawn from his shoulder.
"Ah! New life! New friends! New... uh, corpses?" Victor tilted his head, staring at the raven statues perched on the iron gates. "Venom, you think those are real or stuffed?"
"If they're stuffed, that's a tragedy," Venom licked his lips. "I bet they're delicious."
Wednesday stood beside him, still cradling the skull.
"Oh! Right!" Victor slapped his forehead. "Venom, do me a solid?"
Venom rippled, extending a slick black tendril that wrapped around the skull in Wednesday's hands and slurped it back inside Victor's body.
Wednesday raised an eyebrow. "...Convenient."
"Super convenient!" Victor beamed, gesturing wildly. "We can store chocolate, keys, daggers—"
"—And your brain, if you ever manage to find it," Venom deadpanned.
"Shut it, Venom."
Principal Larissa Weems stood at the top of the stairs, arms crossed, her sharp gaze sweeping over them. Her towering silhouette looked particularly imposing in the twilight, her silver-grey hair perfectly coiffed.
"Wednesday Addams," she nodded, her voice low and commanding. "And... Victor Black."
"Hi, Auntie!" Victor waved enthusiastically, nearly backhanding a Faceless student walking past him.
Larissa's eye twitched. "I am your second cousin."
"Close enough!" Victor grinned, completely ignoring the warning glare. "My mom's a shapeshifter, my dad is... eh, who knows? An alien?"
"—Or an idiot," Venom muttered.
Wednesday glanced at Victor. "You are related?"
"Distantly! Super distant!" Victor made a grandiose gesture. "Like, three or four galaxies away."
Larissa sighed, a gesture that seemed to age her five years in an instant. "Your dormitories have been assigned. Wednesday, you are with Enid Sinclair. Victor, you are with—"
"—With Wednesday!" Victor shot his hand up like an eager elementary schooler.
Larissa narrowed her eyes. "No."
"Why not?!"
"Because you are a boy."
"That is sexism! And how dare you assume my gender? What if I identify as a Walmart shopping bag?" Victor protested, turning to his shoulder. "Venom, back me up here!"
"She is the Principal, Vic."
"Traitor!"
Wednesday spoke up, her tone indifferent. "I don't mind."
Everyone turned to look at her.
"If he can remain quiet," she added.
Victor immediately clamped his hands over his mouth, nodding maniacally, his eyes wide as saucers.
Larissa massaged her temples. "Do whatever you want."