As Viktor opened the door, he was met with the sight of Wednesday and her family trying to open it from the other side. He was a bit surprised.
"Hello there, young man," Morticia greeted him.
Viktor greeted her back as he walked past on Wednesday. He turned to look back, only to see the door closing behind them.
"She smells good. I thought she'd smell like a corpse," Viktor muttered.
"You're weird, big brother," Agnes said, giving him a strange look.
"What? I can't help it. I mean…" Viktor trailed off, then reached over to pinch her nose. "Why don't you take a shower? You've been stinking a lot!"
"No, it's you!" Agnes giggled, slapping his finger away.
Just then, a student approached them. He was there to lead them to their dorms. Viktor asked him a few questions before suddenly noticing a certain group of students not far away. They wore dark robes and sat gathered around a single table. Despite being in a group, no one seemed to be talking; they looked like a gathering of introverts.
But what really caught Viktor's attention was their skin, paler than candle wax, even paler than a vampire's.
"Who are they?" Viktor couldn't help but ask.
The student glanced toward where Viktor was pointing and replied, "They're the Shadow. They call themselves the Shadow Masters. They're usually quiet, but don't mess with them unless you want to sleep in darkness."
'Shadow Masters? I never heard of them in the show…' Viktor thought. He knew the world of Wednesday was changing, but he still couldn't help being surprised by all the differences.
Soon enough, they reached the dorms. Viktor was surprised and happy to find that his roommate was Jass.
"Viktor!" Jass laughed, spreading his arms. "Welcome to the dorm! I'm glad you're my roommate. I've been feeling lonely for a while!"
"Me too," Viktor said with a small smile.
The dorm was small but big enough for two people. It had a cabinet, a desk, a chair, and a double-deck bed. Viktor began to unpack his belongings. After finishing, he decided to follow Agnes to her dorm room.
"Hi," a young woman greeted him as she passed by. She brushed her fingers over his shoulder with a flirtatious smile before disappearing from view.
"Oh, hello there," Viktor said uncertainly, not sure how to react.
"Hmm… who was that woman? Maybe we should have a little fun with her." Agnes said, glaring at the young woman, though a mischievous smile spread across her face.
She suddenly disappeared, but Viktor quickly grabbed her shoulder.
"Don't cause trouble on your first day."
"Hi."
And suddenly, that same young woman appeared again. Viktor avoided her hands and frowned; she had just passed by a moment ago. How could she appear so quickly?
"What's going on?" he muttered, turning to Jass, who chuckled.
"Ah, she's a Duplicator. They're a fun bunch. They like to prank new students with their ability. Since you're new, I didn't stop her. Think of it as a little ritual for joining Nevermore." Jass grinned as he explained.
"Oh…" Viktor nodded but narrowed his eyes slightly.
Another unfamiliar word entered his mind: Duplicator. Like the Shadow Masters, they hadn't existed in the original show. Perhaps more hidden Outcasts were starting to reveal themselves in this strange new world.
"But what about me, huh? Why didn't they prank me?" Agnes seemed more interested in being pranked than annoyed by the idea.
"Maybe later." Jass smiled.
After getting Agnes settled in her dorm and helping her unpack, Viktor left her to bond with her new roommate. Tomorrow would be their first day of class, and he didn't want to get in the way. Jass went off to meet his own friends and invited Viktor along, but Viktor declined. He had already taken up enough of Jass's time and decided to explore the academy on his own.
Nevermore Academy felt like an entirely new world. Viktor quickly realized how much larger and stranger it was compared to what he had seen in the show. During his wandering, he encountered another group of Outcasts. Like the Duplicators, they didn't belong to any official clique. They called themselves the Dream Walkers.
They were cheerful at first, but interacting with them was unsettling; they were emotionally unstable, shifting from joy to rage within seconds. They laughed like children one moment, then shouted like madmen the next.
Viktor learned quickly to avoid them whenever possible.
As he turned a corner, something caught his eye: an old painting hanging on the wall. Six figures stood around a roaring bonfire, their faces blurred and their bodies wrapped in black cloaks. Each one held a torch aloft, the flames curving inward as though feeding the fire instead of fighting it.
At first, it looked like nothing more than a strange ritual scene. But the longer Viktor stared, the more wrong it felt. The bonfire didn't look like fire at all. It burned in sharp, unnatural lines, its shape eerily similar to the tall spires of Nevermore. And the shadows cast by the six figures weren't random; they curved inward, connecting like fragments of a broken circle.
Viktor's pupils throbbed, and the strange mark in his eyes shifted. For an instant, he could swear the painting moved and breathed. He blinked hard, rubbed his eyes, and reached for his phone to take a picture.
But he stopped when a familiar voice entered his ears.
He turned and saw two familiar students approaching, one bright and colorful, the other dark as a raven. Viktor recognized them immediately: Enid and Wednesday. Enid seemed to be giving Wednesday a tour of the school.
"Hey, no way, it's you!" Enid beamed when she spotted Viktor. She jogged over, her bracelets jingling as she waved. "You and your sister were amazing back there. Instant legends! Seriously, everyone's been talking about it."
"Legends?" Viktor gave a modest smile and offered his hand. "I'd just call it… a very eventful first day."
'Nevermore must be starved for celebrities if we become 'legends' just by showing up,' Viktor thought, amused.
Enid shook his hand with enthusiasm. "Eventful is basically Nevermore's middle name. You'll get used to it. Anyway, come meet my friends! Wednesday's new here too, so you're, like, in the same boat."
"Correction." Wednesday's flat voice cut through Enid's excitement as she stepped forward, arms folded neatly across her chest. "I never asked to be in any boat with anyone."
"She means 'hi.' Don't worry, she's always like this," Enid said with a grin.
"Always?" Wednesday's dark eyes shifted toward Viktor. "I consider consistency a virtue."
Viktor coughed lightly, unsure whether to laugh. This was his first time speaking to both of them.
"Well… friends or not," he said, "I don't see the harm in trying."
"That's exactly what people say before they're betrayed," Wednesday said calmly.
"Yikes." Enid elbowed her. "Ignore the doomsday commentary. She's just allergic to normal human interaction."
"Normal human interaction is overrated," Wednesday replied smoothly.
'Wow… so cold.' Viktor smiled faintly, deciding to push past the chill. "Still, I'd like to know who I'm dealing with."
Enid's eyes lit up. She eagerly shook his hand. "Oh! Right! I'm Enid Sinclair, a werewolf, still figuring out the whole alpha thing, but we'll get there."
"Viktor DeMille," he introduced himself. "Invisible man."
Enid gasped so loudly it echoed down the hall. "Invisible? That's so cool! You've got to show me sometime! I mean, think of the possibilities, sneaking snacks after curfew, avoiding awkward conversations—"
"Or hunting prey undetected," Wednesday interrupted suddenly. Her expression was unreadable, but there was a faint glimmer of interest in her eyes. "Invisibility lends itself to darker pursuits. I find that… admirable."
Enid's lips twitched, and she groaned. "She means it's cool. Her version just comes with extra ominous vibes."
For a moment, Wednesday's lips barely curved, but enough to catch Viktor off guard. "Ominous is far more interesting than ordinary."
'Wow.'
---
After parting ways with Enid and Wednesday, Viktor returned to his dorm as night fell. Interacting with the two of them had been… unusual. Enid's cheerfulness was almost overwhelming, even more than Jass's, and Wednesday felt like the kind of person you don't want as a friend: cold, sharp, and unsettling.
However, Enid must have been proud to call Wednesday her best friend.
The dorm door opened, and Agnes entered with her new roommate. Viktor recognized her. She was the shapeshifter outcast who had helped Wednesday unlock Galpin's phone.
Agnes invited him to dinner. Nevermore had a canteen where all the students gathered to eat.
The canteen was packed with students the moment they arrived. Viktor scanned the room, but there were no free tables until he spotted Jass sitting with the Fangs. Jass waved him over enthusiastically.
After grabbing their food and chatting for a while, Viktor and Agnes eventually returned to their dorms.
His first day at Nevermore had been eventful, strange, yes, but strangely comforting too. There was something about this place that gave him a sense of home. The students around him were friendly.
Outcasts truly treated other outcasts like family.
Viktor pulled the blanket closer around himself. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Jass checking the door and windows before heading to bed. Viktor didn't think much of it; his eyelids were heavy, and within seconds, exhaustion overtook him, dragging him into sleep.
But suddenly, he opened his eyes.
He was standing in the cabin again, holding the letter he had read before, only now it was slowly turning to ash, leaving behind nothing but the book on the table.