Chapter 16: Crackstone's Resurrection - Part 1
Wednesday's dorm had been transformed into a command center that would have impressed military strategists. Maps covered every surface, historical documents formed precise stacks, and her laptop displayed genealogical charts that traced bloodlines back three centuries.
War planning. This is what preparation for battle looks like.
"Laurel Gates didn't infiltrate Nevermore for a simple revenge killing," Wednesday began without preamble. "She's implementing her ancestor's final solution—the complete eradication of outcast bloodlines."
She gestured to a reproduction of a historical painting: Joseph Crackstone, first settler of Jericho, eyes burning with fanatic certainty as he condemned supernatural beings to death.
"Crackstone possessed abilities that transcended normal human limitations. Pyrokinetic manipulation, supernatural durability, and most critically—the power to permanently destroy outcast abilities through direct contact."
Resurrection. She's going to bring him back.
My damaged voice made the observation cost effort: "How?"
"Blood magic. Specifically, Addams family blood combined with lunar eclipse amplification." Wednesday's smile was winter-sharp. "I'm the last living descendant of Goody Addams. My death during tonight's eclipse will provide the spiritual anchor needed for Crackstone's return."
Eugene asked the tactical question: "How do we stop a resurrected colonial fanatic with supernatural powers?"
"Kill him before he kills us," Wednesday replied with characteristic directness.
Simple strategy. Probably suicidal execution.
"We need to evacuate the school," I said. "Get everyone away before he manifests."
Wednesday shook her head. "Laurel's already positioning Tyler to hunt any who flee. It's a trap either way—we fight here or die running."
Classic pincer movement. Force the enemy into a killing ground.
"Then we prepare for siege," Eugene said, voice steadier than I'd expected. "Defensive positions, coordinated resistance, make them pay for every inch."
When did Eugene become tactically minded?
Near-death experience. Changes perspective.
Wednesday delegated with general's efficiency: "Eugene coordinates student evacuation to fortified positions. Enid rallies the Furs for defense—her natural leadership will emerge under pressure. Aron provides reconnaissance through Unnoticed Mode surveillance of Laurel's preparations."
Intelligence gathering. Plays to my strengths while keeping me away from direct combat.
Also keeps me alive longer than frontal assault would.
"Before we separate," Eugene said, gripping my arm with surprising strength. "Come back alive."
My rasp-voice carried more confidence than I felt: "That's the plan."
"Since when do your plans work?" Eugene's gallows humor made us both almost smile.
Fair point.
The ruins of the old meeting house squatted in the woods like a cancer that had never fully metastasized. Laurel Gates moved through the crumbling foundation with ritual precision, arranging stolen blood samples and arcane symbols according to patterns that hurt to look at directly.
Unnoticed Mode active. Background noise observing the apocalypse.
She'd stolen outcast blood from the infirmary—dozens of vials representing every supernatural bloodline at Nevermore. But Wednesday's sample sat at the pattern's center, crimson liquid that would serve as spiritual anchor for whatever was coming.
Resurrection requires sacrifice. Wednesday's death powers Crackstone's return.
Tyler arrived mid-preparation, still human but visibly fighting transformation. The chemical compounds Laurel had been feeding him were breaking down his resistance, turning voluntary participation into involuntary compulsion.
Victim or monster? Both?
"It's almost time," Laurel said, voice carrying maternal warmth that made my skin crawl. "Joseph will rise, the outcast plague will end, and humanity will be pure again."
Tyler's response came through gritted teeth: "And the people at Nevermore?"
"Obstacles to purification." She kissed his forehead like a mother sending her child to war. "You'll help Joseph eliminate them, and then you'll be free. Human again. Normal."
Manipulation. Promise of redemption through genocide.
Tyler's expression cycled through hope, horror, and resignation. When his eyes met my position despite Unnoticed Mode, I realized with ice-water shock that the Hyde could sense me through Laurel's growing power.
Compromised. Time to leave.
I melted back into darkness before transformation could begin, but not before cataloguing architectural layout, ritual timing, and the absolute certainty that Tyler Galpin was fully lost to whatever Laurel had made him become.
"You'll need to use the Cursed Speech," Wednesday stated when I returned with intelligence. Not request or suggestion—clinical observation of tactical necessity.
Three commands maximum before complete voice failure.
I touched my throat, still aching from yesterday's single-word test. "Maybe three commands before I lose the ability permanently."
"Then make them count."
She left to position her pieces—students in defensive formations, faculty coordinating evacuation protocols, everyone preparing for a battle most of them didn't understand.
Eugene cornered me before I could follow: "Promise me you won't burn out your voice completely. I need you alive more than I need you heroic."
Can't make that promise.
The math was simple: Eugene's life, Wednesday's survival, and Nevermore's continued existence versus my ability to speak. Not even a difficult calculation.
I clasped his shoulder instead of answering, feeling bone and muscle that had survived the Hyde's claws through my desperate intervention. Found family, chosen obligation, the first person who'd mattered enough to risk everything protecting.
If using Cursed Speech saves him, I'll use it until my throat dissolves.
Some prices are worth paying.
Outside, the eclipse began its slow consumption of the moon, and somewhere in the ruins of colonial hatred, Joseph Crackstone stirred toward resurrection.
Final battle incoming.
Time to find out if a transmigrator with damaged powers can help save the world.
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