Chapter 153: Resurrection Ritual


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    Luke and Wednesday were in a small room with dampness and mold covering the walls.


    The room was a 4x4 square with a single old wooden door, no windows, and three candles faintly illuminating the space.


    Inside, there were rusty metal shelves holding various objects and dusty books that hadn''t been used in ages. In one corner, almost as if forgotten in that dark spot, stood a rectangr, horizontal freezer with worn paint and bent corners.


    On the shelves, the most recent and disturbing objects, free of dust, were six cylindrical ss jars of slightly different sizes.


    Inside each jar was a transparent, viscous liquid that contained human fragments. These were the mutted parts collected by Luke and Wednesday.


    Two jars held different arms-notplete, just a little less than half of the arm along with the hand. Two others contained iplete legs, while another held a brain, and thest one, a heart.


    Wednesday, holding arge suitcase, stepped forward. She began carefully cing the jars into the suitcase, wrapping each one with cloth to prevent them from breaking if they collided.


    "Do your part," Wednesday said.


    Luke, with a less-than-happy expression, walked toward the freezer in the corner. He opened it, and a cold breeze wafted out.


    Inside, resting on ayer of crystalline ice, was a human torso. Its skin, an unhealthy white, was so pale it almost appeared translucent.


    Luke, without haste, used his telekinesis to lift it out. The torso was wrapped in a strange substance that acted as a preservative-Wednesday''s handiwork.


    ''I never thought I''d end up doing this...'' Luke thought as he guided the torso with his telekinesis.


    He maneuvered it into arge jar filled with liquid and then ced the jar into arge backpack. The backpack''s zipper closed on its own.


    Luke handed the backpack to Wednesday, who slung it over her shoulder. She then passed the suitcase to Luke, who took it in his right hand.


    After that, they left the room, which was in the underground levels of the Addams mansion- awork of various subterranean chambers.


    They exited the room and headed outside the mansion in silence. Luke carried therge suitcase, and Wednesday had the backpack on her shoulders. The two walked side by side under the night sky during the eclipse.


    The eclipse had not yet reached its total phase, the moment when the moon turns its characteristic red hue. It was still in the penumbral phase. The time was 9:00 PM.


    The total phase (when the moon bes red or "blood-like") would ur at 1:00 AM. They had time to reach Nevermore and prepare everything.


    The Addams family always dined veryte, around 11 PM or even past midnight, so Luke and Wednesday had toe up with an excuse for their absence at dinner tonight.


    The excuse they gave was that they were going on a date tonight. Wednesday herself came up with this excuse, as it was the only way to avoid her family''s interrogation and keep them from thinking too deeply about their absence.


    Wednesday climbed on Luke''s back and he began to lift off the ground. He was gaining more and more altitude heading in a northerly direction. His speed was also getting higher and higher, reaching 120 kilometers per hour.


    Wednesday was not there just to enjoy the ride and the scenery. A current of dark energy began to envelop her body, slowly spreading towards Luke.


    Wednesday conjured darkness, causing the light around her and Luke to vanish. It was as if their surroundings had been switched off, leaving them in a shadowy void that rendered them almost invisible to any onlookers.


    As they flew toward Nevermore, they blended seamlessly into the night sky, leaving no trace behind.


    This method of travel was very secure, making it nearly impossible for the Spellmans and the Kairia n to detect them. They had departed the Addams mansion in invisibility mode, flying high above any prying eyes.


    This travel technique had been developed during their vacation to allow them to move incognito, which would be especially useful for reaching Ohio undetected. As for Natasha, she could reach the destination on her own using her shapeshifting powers.


    Once there, they would use their false identities and other measures to operate for as long as possible.


    The journey in the Addams limousine had been approximately 500 kilometers, but since they were flying in a straight line, it was shorter. Additionally, Luke''s speed was constant, unlike a car that had to slow down for turns, stoplights, and other obstacles.


    By around 12:30 AM, they arrived at Nevermore. They circled the gothic academy, heading toward Raven Ind, which housed Crackstone''s crypt.


    Luke and Wednesday were very cautious as they entered Raven Ind. First, Luke scanned the area with his domain, ensuring there was nothing unusual. The authorities, whether from the council or the school, might have ced some kind of protection or alert due to the Spellman attack.


    [Outcasts aren''t very careful] Luke remarked as they stepped onto Raven Ind. There was nothing out of the ordinary-no protections or anything of the sort.


    [Crackstone''s crypt has been there for hundreds of years, and nothing has ever happened. They only think it was used to try to kill you, so they won''t waste resources] Wednesday replied through their telepathic link.


    Besides, Crackstone''s crypt was sealed. Even if someone wanted to destroy the door, they wouldn''t be able to enter unless they used Addams blood. And even then, the Addams must be alive and present at the crypt. It has to be fresh blood.


    Finally, theynded in front of Crackstone''s crypt. Thest time Luke had seen it was during the Poe Cup two years ago, where Sabrina and her followers had attacked him.


    The crypt had an ancient appearance, covered in the ind''s overgrown vegetation. On either side stood two humanoid statues over three meters tall, with wings stretching from their backs.


    Wednesday climbed down from Luke''s back and walked toward the crypt''s entrance, which featured a lock with no keyhole. Without hesitation, she brought her thumb to her mouth and bit it, creating a small wound that began to bleed.


    She extended her bloodied thumb toward the lock, letting drops of blood fall onto it. Secondster, a click sounded, and the lock opened as if by magic.


    ''First lock done,'' thought Luke. Now only the crypt lock remained. He wondered if his


    telekic sh, capable of cutting through mythical bronze, could break the lock.


    For a moment, he thought it might. What kind of lock could withstand that much force? But


    this crypt had been sealed for hundreds of years.


    Many must have tried to open it-whether out of curiosity to visit the archenemy of the outcasts, to attempt to rob his tomb, to spit on it, or for other reasons. Yet, no one had been


    able to break the lock.


    Wednesday entered, followed by Luke. They were the first visitors to the crypt since Goody Addams had trapped Crackstone in the sarcophagus.


    Suddenly, as if an invisible spell had been triggered, dozens of candles around the crypt began to light themselves.


    Freestanding candbras, some holding three candles, others more, were ced throughout


    the space.


    In the center of the crypt, on a circr pedestal, rested Crackstone''s sarcophagus, surrounded by deeply engraved pagan symbols carved into the stone that supported it.


    Above the sarcophagus, on the crypt''s ceiling, was a ss panel that allowed moonlight to filter into the room, bathing the sarcophagus in a silvery glow that would soon turn crimson.


    Luke let out a low whistle as he took in the crypt.


    "The prophecy ended uping true one way or another... Rowan was right," said Luke with a strange expression. The boy everyone had written off as a madman corrupted by his own


    powers had, in a way, been correct.


    "I told you not to take prophecies lightly," Wednesday replied, though she hadn''t expected


    that she herself would end up deliberately reviving Crackstone.


    Luke ced therge suitcase on the ground and opened it. All the jars containing the


    mutted parts were in perfect condition. They hadn''t been damaged during the journey, thanks to their careful handling.


    ''I''ve never seen a suitcase this big,'' thought Luke as he began removing the jars one by one, handing them to Wednesday. She ced them in a circle around the crypt, positioning each one at a cardinal point above the ancient symbols.


    In total, there were seven cardinal points to be used in this ritual and seven mutted pieces: north, south, east, west, northeast, southwest, and the center-the most sacred point where the soul connects with the material realm, ording to Goody Addams.


    "No need to draw the pentagram. Your ancestor saved us some work,"mented Luke,


    noticing that the circr pedestal already had a pentagram with the corresponding arcane symbols engraved in the stone.


    "Yes. Maybe she hoped that after hundreds of years, an Addams would finally manage to kill Crackstone permanently," said Wednesday, though she wasn''t entirely sure why the pentagram was carved into the pedestal in the first ce.


    "Better for us," Luke replied, starting to stretch. Wednesday gave him an odd look.


    "What? We''re about to face a demonic normie. I need to be ready," said Luke, preparing himself for the battle. He intended to take it very seriously-the quicker they finished, the sooner they could escape.


    "Our outcast bodies don''t need stretching. We''re always ready forbat," said Wednesday.


    "In ten minutes, the moon will turn red. We need to kill Crackstone as quickly as possible. Stick to the n," Wednesday said, ncing at a small watch on her wrist. Luke nodded. "Do you remember the spell to revive him?" Luke asked. Wednesday nodded in response. She had to recite a spell in Latin after unlocking the blood seal that kept the sarcophagus sealed.


    The two waited in silence until, at one moment, the light filtering through the ss panel


    shifted from silver to crimson, bathing the sarcophagus in red.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''It time,'' thought Luke.


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