8:30 p.m.
Nevermore was bathed in the red light of the blood moon. The gothic school looked much more terrifying with the red rays of the strange lunar eclipse that was happening that night.
The school grounds were completely silent. Even in the four dormitories, no fly was buzzing, and they were in darkness. This abandonment in a school that houses hundreds of students was due to one reason: the lunar eclipse.
Over a month ago, the botany teacher died, and few know the truth behind her death.
With the evidence Luke gathered about Laurel Gates, Crackstone's resurrection, and the hooded figures helping Laurel behind the scenes, Larissa had a meeting with the board members, and they made a decision.
All students were required to return home on the day of the eclipse, as the likelihood of an attack was very high. The evidence Luke presented was overwhelming. The school staff would be useless if they didn't make a decision when they had that evidence right in front of them and an entire month to decide.
Luckily for the school staff, the day fell on a Saturday, so no classes were missed. The students wouldn't lose a single class and wouldn't fall behind. Bad luck for them.
High up in one of the academy's towers, Luke was sitting on the stone ledge, a wide structure that surrounded the tower and offered a great view of the blood moon.
Luke's feet dangled over the void as he lazily watched the blood moon.
Next to him, standing on the same ledge, was Wednesday. Her slim, pale figure gazed at the peculiar moon—a color she liked very much, though she preferred it thicker.
The two of them were the only students who had stayed at Nevermore tonight.
"Any sign?" Wednesday asked, breaking the silence.
"No. Nothing new," Luke replied, his domain expanded as far as possible, reaching Jericho's woods.
The only presences he sensed were the teachers who would be on watch all night to defend Nevermore. Both of them fell silent again, watching.
'She was the only one who stayed,' Luke thought, looking at Wednesday's upright figure as she observed the red moon.
All the other students had left on several buses back to their homes: Enid, Xavier, Ajax, Yoko, Bianca, etc. If you wanted to stay and defend the school against a possible attack, you could, but 99.99% of parents decided their children should return home.
He didn't blame Xavier and Ajax; the buses arrived in the morning, and their parents had already decided for them that they had to go back.
The school authorities had to give some explanations as to why they decided to evacuate the students. They had to mention a possible attack. They couldn't send all the students home without giving a reason.
Only one family allowed their daughter to decide whether to stay or leave: The Addams, even knowing that Wednesday was in danger since her blood was the key to reviving Crackstone. Wednesday, of course, chose to stay.
"What are you looking at?" Wednesday asked, noticing Luke's gaze on her.
"Why did you stay? You're the key to Crackstone's revival. The sensible thing would've been to go back with your family," Luke replied. That way, the demonic normie wouldn't be revived, and she wouldn't be in danger.
The teachers and the academy board wanted Wednesday to return home at all costs knowing this, but she refused to leave Nevermore. Since her parents respected her decision, they couldn't force her to go back.
"My ancestor's Book of Shadows hasn't been found. Laurel hid it very well. I won't let the Spellmans have even the slightest chance of taking it. It belongs to my family," Wednesday answered.
"Besides, I would never miss an attack of this scale. Do you think I'd let you have all the fun to yourself?" Wednesday said, a faint smile forming as she imagined the life-or-death battle that might happen tonight.
She had always wanted to leave school, but now it was the opposite. There was no way she'd miss tonight for anything in the world.
Luke was momentarily captivated by Wednesday's smile, illuminated by the reddish rays of the moonlight.
"And you?" Wednesday asked, returning to her usual expression and looking at Luke, who snapped back to reality.
"Me what?"
"Why did you stay here? You know they're coming specifically to kill you. The best thing would be for you to leave Nevermore," Wednesday explained.
"Why would I do that? I finally have the chance to kill those bastards. Especially that bitch Sabrina or whatever her name is," Luke replied, clenching his fists tightly. A strong murderous intent flashed in his eyes.
He had to hold back from killing Amaranth and the nameless one to gather evidence, but today he could finally tear them all apart. He wouldn't have a better chance.
This time, it was Wednesday who was fascinated as she looked at Luke's face. She leaned down and kissed him suddenly, surprising him, as his mind had been busy thinking of a thousand ways to kill Sabrina.
"Why so sudden?" Luke asked as Wednesday pulled her cold lips away from his.
"Just because I wanted to. Is that wrong?" Wednesday said.
"No, no..." Luke answered with a strange expression. Usually, kisses with the gothic girl were rare. Luke had to make the most of it when she felt like it, whether she approached him as she had now or if he somehow figured it out by reading her expression and taking the initiative.
Luckily, both of them weren't the type who needed a lot of intimate affection like other people. So, they were fine with this arrangement. That's why they got along so well.
"By the way," Wednesday said, changing the subject in her usual monotone voice.
"Enid told me, you had some kind of promise. What's that about?" she asked, looking intently at Luke, just inches away from him.
...
Luke remained silent, gazing at the beautiful red moon. His expression was blank and unflinching. However, if you looked closely, you could notice tiny, barely perceptible beads of sweat on his forehead.
Wednesday stared at Luke intently, not blinking, her usual blank expression making her seem robotic.
Just then, countless presences entered Luke's radar, surprising him with the sudden number that kept growing.
Luke quickly stood up and looked eastward, from where all the presences were coming, growing more numerous by the second.
"Is it them?" Wednesday asked. She could interrogate Luke about that matter that bothered her later.
"Yes, but I'm sensing hundreds more presences. Strange, they're similar, yet not quite the same," Luke responded.
"Reinforcements?"
"I don't think so..." Luke said, shaking his head. After examining the hundreds of presences, he reached a conclusion.
"Undead," he answered after a few seconds.
"Interesting. It's been a while since I dug up and buried corpses," Wednesday remarked. There wasn't a hint of fear in her expression, even knowing that Nevermore was about to be besieged by an army of the undead.
"You'll just have to bury them again. Saves you some energy," Luke said with a faint smile.
"Where are the Spellman?" Wednesday asked.
"They're waiting on the sidelines," Luke replied.
"Hmm, while the teachers handle the army of undead, they'll try to kill you and capture me. Then they'll look for the Book of Shadows," Wednesday said.
"Yeah…" Luke responded, frowning.
He couldn't understand why they were so extreme, just to kill him. Did they want to revive Crackstone? They could focus solely on killing him during this attack. Why were they also after the Book of Shadows and trying to capture Wednesday?
Luke thought they'd only be here to kill him, but they had taken the Hyde and the body parts Marilyn had collected. What would they want with the limbs of the Hyde's victims if their only goal was to kill him?
Plus, Luke could have left today on one of the buses, incognito, without anyone knowing. Were they here just to kill him, or was there something more?
'I'll find out once I capture one of those bastards,' Luke thought, shaking his head. He especially needed to capture that damn Gorgon. He'd have the most information. Then he would kill him. It would be tough to capture him and read his memories, but he'd try.
"Do you think the teachers can withstand the attack?" Wednesday asked, not planning to move from her spot.
The undead were cannon fodder. She wouldn't engage in a fight against hundreds of them; the most annoying part was their sheer number. With Luke's extrasensory ability, they had a complete view of the battlefield. They could confront the real culprits behind this attack.
"They set up a decent barrier, and there are several professors. I think they'll have no problem," Luke replied, looking thoughtful. The only disadvantage they had was that Anthony, the outcast cop, wasn't around, and that posed a problem. He should have returned to Nevermore, but there was no sign of him, and he was a powerful force to consider in their defense.
After a few minutes of waiting, the undead became visible. Luke didn't warn the professors because if he did, he would have to tell them he possessed a white aura, and for now, he wanted to keep that card hidden. They already knew he had two auras. Thanks to everyone believing he had an aura, he was able to gather solid evidence.
The undead were ugly and disgusting. They were at the level of the hag Luke fought, perhaps even uglier. Not even the best zombie movies could match the true undead that attacked the barrier.
They were decomposed corpses, a mix of rotting flesh and damp earth. Torn, hanging skin revealed putrid muscles and yellowed bones, with patches of flesh falling away with every movement. Some still retained tattered pieces of clothing, now covered in mud and dried blood, while others were naked, exposing their bodies mutilated by death and decay.
The undead surrounded Nevermore; the only thing separating them from the academy grounds was the large barrier that continued to withstand the siege. The barrier was not only defensive; it disintegrated the attackers within seconds, but more undead returned to replace their fallen comrades.
"How many undead are there?" Wednesday asked. Luke was the one who could answer that question.
"More than a thousand, and they keep coming," Luke replied, a bit surprised by the sheer number of undead attacking.
"It makes sense. They must have used the main cemetery of Jericho to revive all these undead. A cemetery in a small town like this should be about two hectares in size, maybe three. Each grave occupies around two to three square meters. If we assume each grave occupies three square meters, there could be 6,666 graves in two hectares. So that would be the approximate number of undead attacking Nevermore tonight," Wednesday said without changing her expression at all.
"Whoa… You should tell that information to the professors," Luke said, his face showing a strange expression. He was more surprised by Wednesday's ease with calculations.
He wasn't very good at math. As for why Wednesday knew this, it was easy to realize that she had a fondness for cemeteries, corpses, and those kinds of things.
The undead kept coming and attacking the great barrier that disintegrated them, but it was of little use against such overwhelming numbers. It was only a matter of time before the barrier fell and the thousands of undead would besiege Nevermore from all sides.
The professors wore grimaces on their faces, but they did not seem worried about the undead. Their main concern was the individuals behind this attack, who would most likely be coming after Luke and Wednesday.
'Where are those two troublesome students?' thought Charles, the professor of Luke and Wednesday in the psychic powers class.
In the face of this attack, it was best to keep Luke and Wednesday close by to protect them, but they had disappeared. Unfortunately, he wasn't a clairvoyant psychic, so he couldn't locate them.
The professors began to move, covering the most important positions from where the undead would enter after breaching the barrier. Finally, the barrier could not hold any longer and shattered, allowing the undead to charge furiously toward Nevermore.
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