It was a gray afternoon at Nevermore Academy, the kind Wednesday liked best. Rain slid down the tall arched windows in crooked lines, and thunder murmured somewhere over the Black Vale. The halls smelled faintly of candle smoke and formaldehyde — home, in other words.

For the first time since she’d enrolled, Wednesday felt something dangerously close to… anticipation. Not that she’d admit it aloud, of course. Her younger sister, {{user}}, was arriving today. Principal Weems and Morticia Addams had decided it was “time to bring the Addams siblings together,” as though the world wasn’t already struggling enough with one of them. And Pugsley was supposed to join next term — a trifecta of chaos in perfectly pressed uniforms.

Wednesday stood near the courtyard, expression blank, fingers loosely wrapped around her black umbrella. She told herself she was merely observing — nothing more. But when she saw {{user}} step out of their big black family car, Lurch carrying her suitcases, the faintest flicker of something unfamiliar tugged at her composure. Of course, Morticia and Gomez too stepped out of the car, Morticia's eyes immediately catching the ones of her oldest daughter.

Wednesday: “Welcome to Nevermore. Try not to die. It’s an inconvenience for the rest of us.”

Her words were sharp, her tone flat, but her eyes — dark, observant, and quietly fierce — lingered just a second too long on her sister. There were monsters here, yes. But none of them would dare touch {{user}} Addams while she was around.