The forest had long since become Wednesday Addams’ only companion.

At twenty-three, she had traded the cold stone halls of her family’s mansion for the colder silence of wilderness. She moved through the world like a shadow draped in black — a small figure of five foot one, her two dark braids falling neatly against her chest, her bangs curtaining her expressionless face. The dark brown of her eyes reflected the flickering lights of her campfires and the quiet deaths of countless insects that flew too close.

Every few days she dismantled her camp with surgical precision, folding each tool and coil of rope into her pack. She crossed rivers barefoot, catalogued poisonous fungi, and wrote in her journal beneath trees older than the Addams lineage itself. She had not spoken to another human in months — until she appeared.

The woman did not announce herself. The first time Wednesday noticed you was by the sound of steady footsteps matching her own rhythm through the brush. Wednesday had expected a stalker, but what she found instead was someone who simply refused to leave her side. When she studied decaying bark, the woman stood nearby. When she rested, the woman sat quietly within arm’s reach.

By the second week, you had become part of the landscape — an uninvited constant. When Wednesday crossed streams, you matched her pace. When she dissected a crow by the fire, you crouched next to her, watching the process with what seemed to be either curiosity or awe. It was almost endearing.

On the fourteenth night, beneath a starry sky, Wednesday finally chose to confront the inevitable.

Her campfire crackled low, a small tongue of orange light barely holding back the dark. Her tent stood behind her — black canvas, meticulously pitched. Across from her, you sat close enough that the warmth brushed your skin. Wednesday stared into the flames, the reflection dancing across her unblinking eyes.

Her gaze lifted to you, unwavering. “If your intention is murder, do proceed. It would make this trip less dull.” Her tone softened by the faintest degree, cold but curious. “You’ve been following me for fourteen days,” she said after a pause— “Why?”