Chapter 19: Enid Saint-Clair

 

The atmosphere had become unexpectedly joyful.

"Woe!"

Enid was the next to approach, smiling broadly and with her arms open for a hug but stopping at the last moment in front of the younger Addams with a questioning look. Woe merely rolled her eyes slightly before opening her arms as well.

"I'm open to the possibility of hugs, but it has to be briefly...Oof!"

Enid's hug interrupted her, lifting her slightly for a few moments before she was deposited back on the floor. Luckily the lycanthrope knew how to restrain herself despite her effusiveness and no broken ribs were to be bemoaned, though that was surely something any incarnation of Wednesday would actually admire and Woe was no exception.

No sooner had Enid's greeting ended that Woe again found herself caught in another equally gripping embrace.

"Woe, it's so good to see you again," said Pup, warmly.

Woe grunted slightly, and once separated again she stared for a moment at her counterpart quizzically, until suddenly her eyes widened in surprised recognition.

"Pup?", Woe looked her up and down, frowning slightly, "You were a pipsqueak. What have they been feeding you?"

"Heh heh, now I'm taller than you."

Woe merely nodded, with a slightly arched eyebrow. Finally, she shifted her attention to the rest of the visitors, finding faces she didn't know, "I'm afraid I'm not familiar with any of you, and I presume that your presence, Sinclair's and my counterparts' is the prelude to something horribly complicated."

"Ah, this is Taylor Galpin and my sister, Dora Addams," Theo said, pointing to the two young women beside him, "My name is Theo Addams."

Woe looked at the twins with momentary interest and at Taylor with mild suspicion. She was about to say something when she felt a slight tug on her clothing. Looking down she could see Pubert, pointing toward one of the sides of the mansion, "Visitors' lounge?" the boy asked.

"Excellent suggestion, Pubert," Woe replied, before turning back to the others, "Join us, there will be plenty of room for everyone to have a quiet chat," she said, as she began to lead the way.

"Where are Father and Mother? If yours are similar to mine they would already be here being inopportunely obsequious to a new visit," Wednesday said.

"Father, Mother, Uncle Fester and Aunt Dementia are guests in Romania for Aunt Westenra's fifth wedding," Woe explained, "They took Lurch and Thing with them. Pugsley, Pubert and I opted not to attend the celebration and after some convincing they agreed to leave us under Grandmama's care, although in practice that means she spends hours in the basement with her potions and we're a bit on our own. Pugsley right now is at the local quarry, experimenting with a new explosive of his own making."

Finally, the group arrived before a sliding door which Woe opened leading into a spacious living room with multiple couches and seating next to a fireplace. The decor was lavish and elaborate, equal parts gothic and baroque, but marked by a sense of wear and tear, accumulated dust and aesthetically pleasing, generously sized cobwebs visible in the corners.

"Please settle in," Woe said, gesturing to the seats, "If you'll excuse me for a moment, I must go find someone else. We have a guest with us these days and it is time to wake her up from her afternoon nap."

The group settled into the different couches. Wednesday and Enid together on one of the three-seater sofas, with Pubert sitting next to them watching them curiously. Pup opted for an individual armchair near the fireplace and Taylor stood next to her, like a silent guardian. Of the twins, Theo opted to sit in the armchair opposite Pup. Like Taylor, Dora opted to stand, walking in circles around the room observing the decor and shelves with an expression that alternated between surprise and familiarity.

Enid couldn't help but notice how the little Addams was watching them and returned his gaze, with a friendly smile.

"Hello," she greeted.

"Greetings," the child replied with a formality and clarity of diction unexpected in someone only four years old. Enid nodded unconsciously, remembering what Pup was like at six. It seemed that Pubert was cut from the same mold as his sister and her counterparts.

"Pubert, right?" continued Enid, "Your sister told us a little about you when we met her. Well, she told us that you liked to be thrown with catapults..."

"Sister mentioned you a couple of times, but only to Pugsley and me," said the boy, "But one day she told the whole story to Father and Mother when she had to ask them for advice."

"Advice about what?" interjected Wednesday, interested. Of all her variants Woe always struck her as the most like herself. If the wrathful young Addams had been inclined to ask her Gomez and Morticia for advice, it must have been for a very strong reason.

Pubert pointed to Enid, "About her," he replied, as if the answer should be a no-brainer.

"Uh?" muttered Enid, "What do you mean by that?"

The boy shrugged as the sliding door opened again, heralding Woe's return. Another person entered the room walking only a couple of steps behind her and instantly attracting the attention of everyone present. Especially that of Enid, whose blue eyes widened like plates as she met another blue eyes staring back at her.

From a face identical to her own.

"What the...?" she began.

"... fuck?", finished the recently arrived new Enid.

Woe cleared her throat, again attracting the attention of those present, "Allow me to introduce Enid Saint-Clair," she said pointing to her companion, "My paramour."

The girl's eyes and face were absolutely identical to Enid's, as was her height and general build. But after that initial jolt of similarity, some more noticeable differences became apparent.

To begin with, the skin of her face was not grazed with scars from a fight with a Hyde, totally free of marks or other wounds. Her hair was not blond but a light brown color that contrasted with the blue of her eyes, and there was not the slightest trace of colored dye of any kind. Instead of the brightly colored clothes and occasionally elaborate outfits Enid usually wore, this variant displayed only a simple striped short-sleeved T-shirt in a sober green color and reddish corduroy pants instead of the lycanthrope's usual mini-skirts and leggings.

Another difference was accentuated when Enid Saint-Clair began to speak as she held Woe by the shoulders, shaking her gently without taking her eyes off Enid, "Γαμημένη κόλαση, Willa!" she exclaimed, with a slightly accented voice, "Fuck, they really exist! It's like the goddamn Invasion of the Body Snatchers!"

Woe looked sideways at her, "You told me you believed my story."

"And I did believe you!" retorted Saint-Clair, "But holy shit, it's not the same thing to be told about it as it is to meet your Twilight Zone twin right in front of your friggin' nose."

The young woman seemed elated at the visit of her dimensional counterpart, approaching Enid with a swift step and offering her hand for a greeting. The she-wolf rose to meet her, returning the handshake firmly.

"Enid Saint-Clair!" she said, "Ah, σκατά, you've heard that already."

"Enid Sinclair," Enid replied, smiling, "This is... well, it's a new experience. Meeting the variants of Weds was a shock at the time but I never thought I'd run into another me."

"Weds?" asked Saint-Clair with a smile that showed a hint of a pair of sharp fangs, "I call mine Willa!"

"Willa?" asked Enid.

"Don't ask where she got it from," said Woe, "It's a mystery for the ages."

"Mmm, Sinclair. Funny we don't have the exact same last name," observed Saint-Clair, ignoring her girlfriend's sarcasm.

"Well, technically they are the same last name," Dora interjected, "The Sinclair family name comes from a Scoto-Norman clan with Frankish ancestry from the Saint-Clair or the du St. Clair family and..."

Dora interrupted herself as everyone watched her, perplexed (except Theo, who seemed to be smiling proudly).

"What?" she asked defensively, "Our father is a Sinclair and I was curious about the family name."

"Dora always claims to have no inclination towards the more intellectual sides of the family, but genealogies have always been of interest to her," Theo explained.

"Wait, your father?" asked Saint-Clair, bemused.

"Theo and Dora are from another dimension other than ours, and their father is a variant of both of us who was born with a different sex," Enid explained, shrugging and trying to ignore the stupefying matter-of-factness with which such an explanation now spilled from her lips.

"Huh...," Saint-Clair muttered, taking in what she had just heard. Next to her, Woe watched the twins intently.

"When you introduced yourselves you used the surname Addams," observed Woe, "Not Sinclair."

"Ah, we took our mother's last name. It's...," Dora began to say before being interrupted by Wednesday.

"Their mother is Friday."

Woe's eyes widened disproportionately and her eyebrows rose in sheer astonishment. But the process was so gradual that her expression seemed to change in slow motion, giving it a slightly unnerving effect.

"Yes, for us it was a shock as well. In their dimension it's been quite a bit more time than in ours," Enid said, "By the way, that makes three variants of mine with three variants of yours," she added, looking at Wednesday.

Wednesday nodded, "It may be a constant or simple coincidence, mia lupa, let's not jump to conclusions."

Standing behind the armchair where Pup was sitting, Taylor Galpin folded her arms and addressed Pup, "If there is an Enid Sinclair in our reality I will find her, bring her before you and have her prostrate herself at your feet."

"Aaww, thanks Tay… But there's no need, really," the Addams replied with a nervous hint in her smile.

"Friday is a mother," Woe said, still in semi-shock before turning her attention back to the twins after a slight shake to her head, "For her children you are noticeably less pink than I would have expected."

"Ha!" laughed Theo, gesturing to his black and dark purple plaid suit and his sister's all-black outfit, "This is teenage rebellion, you should see our baby pictures."

Dora growled, "NOBODY is going to see our baby pictures."

"Friday is the main reason we're here," Wednesday said, turning to Woe and Saint-Clair, "You two better sit down, we have a lot to fill you in about."

The next few minutes were another update similar to the one that had occurred earlier in Pup's apartment, adding further to the events with the attack in her dimension. Everything was explained: Dora and Theo's arrival, Friday's abduction, the attack on Nevermore, the rings for inter-universe travel conceived by Grandmama, the plan to unravel the truth behind the Shadow Hyde attacks....

Throughout the explanation, Enid Saint-Clair listened to the narration with growing excitement. Wednesday thought for an instant that the girl was showing the same concern and apprehension that her Enid usually did, but was surprised to realize that the dimensional variant seemed expectant.

Woe for her part, maintained an expression of attentive calm throughout the conversation, but the white of her clenched knuckles suggested a seething homicidal rage.

"Well... Any questions?" ventured Enid, somewhat sheepishly. She had seen the same signs in Woe and feared an explosion of anger from the Addams.

"No," replied Woe, coldly calm, "Everything is crystal clear. Give me a few minutes to inform Grandmama and have her take care of Pubert and we can leave right away."

"Huh? But Woe, if we're here it's to try to capture the Shadow Hyde who is probably looking for you at this very moment," said Enid.

"And the best thing to do is to offer bait and orchestrate a situation that will strengthen our control," the murderous Addams replied.

Wednesday straightened in her seat, as if a thought had just crossed her mind like a bolt of lightning, "I think I know what you're suggesting," she added, "And it's true, it's time to be more proactive."

"Oh... Oh!" said Theo, "If you come with us to another dimension right now..."

"...it'll automatically foil the Shadow Hyde hunt in this one," Pup finished, clapping her hands in satisfaction.

"Uh, that sure would piss off the bastard who controls those things," Dora said, grinning.

"Which would make them intervene directly, or redirect that Shadow Hyde to the new location we end up at," Enid said, "And if we pick the location..."

"We can count on a tactical advantage and ambush the creature," said Wednesday, "Some of the dimensions we've already visited would be ideal, like the Addams Manor of mine."

"Before that I suggest a few more jumps between universes," said Woe, "Seek out more Wednesdays from other dimensions and have them join us. We'll gain strength in numbers and have a better guarantee of attracting the attention of the mastermind behind the attacks."

Sitting next to her, Enid Saint-Clair seemed to be restraining herself from jumping up and down in excitement, her lips tightening into a smile that failed to disguise a pair of fangs even sharper than before.

"Looks like you approve of the plan, cara mia," Woe said, a faint smile on her face and a gleam of softness in her eye that would normally have been unnatural for her.

"Γαμώτο, ναι!" exclaimed Saint-Clair rising to her feet and extending her claws, "Shadow monsters that only I can slash? Do you know how long it's been since I've been able to use these cuties without holding back?"

"Since your duel with father last Christmas, four months ago," Woe replied.

"Exactly! Too long!" said Saint-Clair, with an open, unhinged grin that showed off the sharpness of her teeth.

Enid and Dora instinctively tensed, though they couldn't figure out why. Wednesday, for her part, observed the details.

Saint-Clair's claws were as sharp as Enid's, Dora's or any other werewolf the Addams had ever met, but the shape was slightly more curved. Her fingertips also seemed to have pads of a slightly darker shade than the rest of her skin. Her fangs were as sharp as those of a lycanthrope, but Wednesday had spent countless hours admiring Enid's teeth in her various transformations and the configuration of the teeth on Saint-Clair had nothing lupine about them per se. And her eyes...

Saint-Clair's eyes had begun to glow, but it wasn't the golden glow of a lycanthrope transformation.

"You're not a werewolf, are you?" asked Wednesday, suddenly interested.

Saint-Clair focused her attention on Wednesday, staring at her. Her eyes glowed emerald green, and her pupils had become thin and elongated.

Her only response was to smile again. A catlike smile.

 

 

NOTES

 

Introducing Enid Saint-Clair, the half-Greek unhinged murderous werecat Enid variant. Also prone to foul language 😁

In the future there will be some conversation between Wednesday and Woe where we will touch in more detail how she met this Enid. I hope you like her 😺

 

Some translations… I have no idea how accurate they will be, all the Greek words you will see here come from automatic translators (Google, DeepL, etc.). Apologies for any mistake.

Γαμημένη κόλαση!: (greek) Fucking Hell!

σκατά : (greek) shit.

Γαμώτο, ναι!: (greek) Fuck, yeah!

 

The art of Wednesday and Enid in the collage comes from @kris-6758 in Tumblr.