Fred appeared at Madison’s side, her eyes lowered and glued to the lounge door.
She eyed Madison wearily as the sound of footsteps filled the hallway. Fred’s ears twitched at the loud sound of Madison’s heart beating rapidly next to her which muffled the sound of the footsteps in the hall. They both stared in anticipation as to who might appear in the doorway. Fred’s facial features became soft, her defensive posture eased and she moved away from where she stood protectively over Madison.
“It’s Leon and Brendan” she said flopping on the sofa.
Leon appeared in the doorway. Madison’s heart beat slowed and her pulse returned to normal.
“Everything okay?” he asked eyeing the fading worried look on Madison’s face.
She nodded and looked over to Fred who stared at Leon suspiciously.
“Everything’s fine!” Fred answered, making eye contact with her.
There was something in Fred’s expression that Madison found unsettling. She found all three of their facial expressions unsettling and she could shake off the daunting feeling that they were hiding something from her.
Madison had come to the conclusion that Fred’s horrific past was to blame for her hatred towards humans, but over the last few days she had come to look at Madison with compassion and sorrow. She had come to care about her new helpless human friend and this was something that unnerved Madison more than the odd looks Leon gave her. Fred cared for what was going to happen to her and Madison was in the dark to what that might be.
“What’s going on?” Leon demanded, staring at Fred for answers.
Madison stared at him; he seemed angry and uptight about something.
“Nothing! We just weren’t sure who it was? We didn’t realised you had gone out!” Fred said annoyed.
It was becoming clear to Madison something was going on between them and she was becoming increasingly more upset and anxious that she wasn’t a part of what was happening. She felt deceived by Brendan, they had confided in each other up until this point and now he was beginning to keep secrets from her.
“Where’s Brendan?” Madison asked abruptly.
“He’s upstairs” Leon replied.
“Ok. Thanks”
Madison walked past Leon and headed out of the lounge, along the corridor and began to climb the stairs up towards the spare bedroom. As Madison reached the top of the stairs she looked up to see Brendan blocking her path. He stood at the top of the stairs motionless staring down at her.
“Brendan! You scared me!” she gasped.
“Sorry, what are you up to anyway?” he asked a little too suspiciously.
“Looking for you! What’s going on?” Madison demanded, her patience beginning to wear thin.
Brendan looked down at his feet shyly. He was caught off guard but not surprised by her question.
“Shall we go for a walk?” he asked, his beautiful, crystal, blue eyes catching the light as he looked up at her.
“Ok” Madison replied slowly.
Brendan joined Madison on the stairs and they both walked slowly down towards the front door.
The wind was cool and refreshing. It lifted some of the fog which had been hanging around Madison’s head for days. The air was crisp, awakening her senses as if she had splashed freezing cold water into her face.
The sky had been a dismal gray since they had arrived and even now he seemed as if there was little chance of some blue sky breaking through. The clouds swirled around in a circle, a small black hole formed in the sky at the centre - it was the eye of the storm. Madison looked up towards the looming black hole above her head as she stepped down the creaky wooden porch steps with Brendan. There was something not right about the storm brewing above the wooden house. The weather had remained the same for days, it hadn’t broken nor had there been any change such as a quick shower or the wind had increased and everything was oddly ‘the same’. Madison noticed many odd aspects about the environment around the house. The birds sang for precisely one hour every morning from 6am-7am, she had timed them one morning during one of her particularly bad sleepless nights. What was even more peculiar was that Madison had not seen a single bird since arriving, but yet they sang every morning like clockwork. Although she thought these things were weird she couldn’t bring herself to mention her concerns to the others and some unknown forces seemed to prevent her thoughts from turning into words. This didn’t worry her though and she couldn’t help but just not care about the strange things that happened around the house. No animals, the weather remained the same, the wind blew at the same speed continuously and there was never the sound of rustling trees or bushes. The trees and bushes moved with the blow of the wind, but still there was no sound. Still, Madison carried on like normal, curious about the strange aspects but unable to ask.
Brendan stopped on the gravel driveway and stared at her.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“Yes, Sorry. I zoned out for a moment” he replied.
Madison nodded but she was not convinced.
Brendan put one arm around her shoulders and ushered her over to the large stretch of grass which ran down next to the length of driveway. The garden wasn’t very wide, about 100 feet or so, but it was extremely long. It seemed to go on forever, the fern trees that towered over the bottom of the garden seemed small from where they stood. The grass was a lush green almost too healthy to be real but it crunched realistically under Madison’s feet. The garden was still and she felt the breeze on her face but it made no sound as it burst through the neighboring trees. There was no sound of traffic or another living soul, the whole garden was eerily quiet but neither Madison nor Brendan could bring themselves to mention this.
“Brendan, I need to know what’s going on?” Madison finally spat.
Brendan didn’t answer, his eyes darted around the landscape as he searched for the right words.
“Is it Gabby or The Coven? Do they know where we are?” she asked frantically searching for answers.
“No, they don’t know. Not yet anyway!” Brendan said hopeless.
“What then? Is it something to do with Fred and Leon? Leon’s being acting weird for days and now Fred’s off with me! Not to mention the atmosphere that’s been hanging around the house for days! All three of you are ganging up against me! Having your secret little meetings when you think I’m asleep or out of ear range! Yeah I know about them!” Madison protested a little too strongly.
“Leon and Fred are just worried, that’s all! Leon doesn’t want The Coven finding this place. It’s very important that we leave soon so we don’t draw and unnecessary attention to Leon and Fred” Brendan said defensively.
“Oh right….” Madison said embarrassed.
It hadn’t crossed her mind until this moment that she was putting Leon and Fred in danger just by being here. Her thoughts had been so wrapped up recently in the paranoid delusion that her three companions were plotting something behind her back that she had forgotten what was important in all this mess - that they were helping her. They were all risking their lives to ensure Brendan could save Madison’s – a selfless act for someone who hardly knew her.
Her face fell as she realised how foolish she had become over the past few days - her paranoia had finally come to a head.
“Don’t beat yourself up; none of this is your fault” Brendan tightening his grip around her shoulders.
“Yes it is!” Madison choked on her words; soreness began to develop in her throat.
“How is any of this your fault? If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine!” Brendan protested annoyance clear in his voice.
“Gabby’s not trying to kill you Brendan; she’s trying to kill me! Maybe I should just give her what she wants!” Madison spat in responds to Brendan’s tone.
She struggled removing his grip storming ahead along the grass in anger.
“Don’t talk like that!” Brendan shouted, grabbing her shoulder once again and pulling her back towards him - twisting her around so t
hey were face to face.
“…I’m not giving up on you, and you shouldn’t give up on yourself!” he continued.
“I don’t want anyone’s blood on my hands! I am so scared” Madison moaned angrily.
Brendan let his hand slip from her shoulder and slid down onto her arm. Slowly, he cupped her left cheek in the palm of his hand; this was something Brendan continuously did when he wanted to show her comfort.
“I won’t let that happen! You have to trust me!” he reassured.
“I do” Madison said calmly, looking into Brendan’s crystal blue eyes.
They held each other’s gaze for a moment, then Brendan wrapped his arm around Madison’s shoulders and they continued to walk silently down the front garden.
The continuous fog that had clouded Madison’s mind crept back in again. She felt emotionally numb a large proportion of the time and the rest of the time was plagues by paranoia, emotional outbreaks and confusion. She was disorientated all the time and the lack of sleep was beginning to take its toll mentally and physically. Madison found herself bumping into items she knew were there and sometimes it was difficult to even string together a sentence. Fred had mentioned a few days ago to Leon that Madison hadn’t seemed very well - she had overheard them while they thought she was sleeping. Leon had thrown Fred a worried glance but hadn’t seemed shocked by the news. Either way, Madison hadn’t complained about being ill or feeling strange, but this didn’t mean she hadn’t noticed something strange about her own behavior. But unfortunately for her there were no self help books about how to deal with the stress of being hunted by Vampires – so she had put her strange behavior and outburst down to stress.
They both continued to walk in silence; Brendan frowned as he lost himself in thought. However, Madison’s expression was blank and dazed in her surroundings.
“I still can’t shake the feeling something bad is about to happen” Madison suddenly said. She stopped dead in her tracks and shifted her weight to stare at Brendan. Her eyes narrowed towards him in confusion and she gazed at him as if he had made the statement rather than the words had come from her mouth.
Brendan studied her expression silently. The large fern trees at the very bottom of the garden stood about thirty feet away them. The wind blew rapidly through the large thick leaves of the trees, but yet not a single rustle could be heard. The fern trees lined the boarder of the garden, the only exit being a large rusty 10 foot gate which stood in the center of the driveway. A large chain and padlock secured the double Iron Gate together, no one would be able to enter or leave without the key to the oversized padlock.
The wind swirled around them as they stood in silence - lost in thought.
“Madison, are you alright?” Brendan whispered concern stricken.
“I’m fine” Madison replied without even considering the question.
“You just don’t seem yourself lately...”
“I’m fine, just a headache” she said blinking several times in confusion. She hadn’t been suffering from a headache, but she felt compelled to lie to him and had no idea where these thoughts or feelings were coming from.
Brendan eyed her suspiciously. Madison wasn’t very good a lying and her lifeless voice made her words even more unconvincing. However, he didn’t question her and instead he ushered her back towards the house.
They walked the remaining distance to the house in silence, Brendan leading her back up the rotten, wooden porch steps of the old house. The rough material of Brendan’s grey coat was beginning to rub against the exposed soft flesh of her upper arm. Randomly an odd observation popped into Madison’s head, Brendan was wearing different clothes. Since they had arrived at Leon’s, Brendan had borrowed some his old clothes while his clothes were cleaned. Now he was wearing completely different, new, stylish clothes rather than the old t-shirt and jeans Leon had loaned him. His clothes were a little too expensive for Leon taste as he preferred to wear old torn jeans and faded t-shirts rather then something as fashionable as what Brendan was wearing now. He now wore dark blue jeans, a clean, white, plain t-shirt and a very expensive looking grey, waist-length jacket.
“Are those Leon’s clothes?” Madison asked eyeing up the new black leather shoes Brendan was wearing.
Brendan froze on the porch, he towed over Madison awkwardly.
“No, there mine. I picked up our stuff…” Brendan said causally.
“What?! When did you do that?” Madison shot an angry look up at him.
“Earlier…” he said reluctantly, fully aware and ashamed he had done something without considering the consequences of not making her aware.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were leaving?” she asked, hurt clear in her voice.
“Because you don’t need to know and it’s safer for you to stay here” Brendan said, confused once again at Madison’s outburst of anger.
“You always do this! Think you can leave me out, when this concerns me too! You three are always plotting something and I’m sick of it!” Madison spat waving her arms in the air dramatically.
“What is wrong with you? Do you not think you are slightly overreacting?!” Brendan said calmly.
Madison’s cheeks flushed red with anger, her eyes brows narrowed and her pupils dilated as she squinted her eyes furiously at him.
Brendan tightened his body and took a step back as the realisation struck that he had almost definitely said the wrong thing.
“Don’t tell me what an overreaction is!” Madison fired, envisaging on each letter of each word.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t understand what the big deal is? I collected all your stuff too, it’s upstairs in the spare room”
Brendan stared at Madison in amazement. She slowly began to realised she was overreacting to the matter but it still didn’t change the fact she was furious at Brendan for not telling her. The anxiety was beginning to build in her chest again, compressing her ribcage. Madison rubbed her chest trying to ease some of the discomfort and lift the baby elephant of anxiety which had now settled on her ribcage.
“Please don’t get cross, but I really think we should talk to Leon. I don’t think you are very well?” he said concerned once again.
“I just need to be by myself for a bit” Madison exclaimed, more calmly.
She turned hard and processed to run back down the porch steps with Brendan hot on her heels.
“Don’t follow me!” she protested.
Brendan stopped reluctantly, he watched as she began to trek once again down the lush green grass of the front garden.
Madison’s legs ached as she pushed herself faster and faster down the garden.
She was furious, but she couldn’t pin point as to why. She knew Brendan’s intentions were good and honest, but she felt he had left her out the loop in the last few days and she was beginning to feel betrayed.
Although she was aware that she had become irrational, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something strange was going on - something all three of them were keeping from her. There was nothing right about this situation or this place for a start. Every second in this place dragged but in reality it seemed like days were flying by. It was as if Madison couldn’t recall how long she had spent in the house, it seemed like she had been here longer than she thought. The fight with the Skin Crawlers and her run in with Gabby all seemed like a dream now. Recalling any aspect of what had happened was difficult and her memories were clouded with the same haziness you get when you try to recall a dream. Madison knew her paranoia, the insomnia, mood swings, haziness and confusion meant that something wasn’t right with her, but still she felt offended by Brendan’s realisation of this. She wasn’t ready to admit that she was slowly loosing it and she didn’t want to face up to it either.
Her mind span so fast that she still deep in thought before she realised she had reached the bottom of the garden. It seemed like it had only taken her seconds compared to the length of time it had taken with Brendan.
Without a second thought Mad
ison crossed the grass onto the graveled driveway at the foot of the gate. She grabbed the rusty padlock in her hand and pulled it - it remained locked firmly in place. She let go of the padlock and rubbed the rust from her hand onto the thigh of the jeans Fred had lent her. An unbelievable desire for freedom overwhelmed her, she felt like she was suffocating within The Lodge. Her desire to escape growing stronger and claustrophobia began to set in.
The gap between the bars of the gate were too small for her to squeeze through and the frame was too close to the gravel driveway for her to slip underneath, the only option left was for Madison to climb over.
The urge to escape the boundaries of the lodge if even for a second had become instincts, before Madison consciously made the decision to climb the gate she stuck her right foot between the tick solid bars of the gate. Her foot slid in easily enough and fitted firmly between the bars so she was able to get some leverage as she pulled herself up towards the iron gate. This gave her enough height to grab the top of the gate and pull herself up further. Once secure enough on the frame of the gate Madison swung her free leg over the top of the gate, pulling herself up fully so she was straddling the large cast iron gate. Slowly she slipped over the gate and hung for a second before dropping to the ground. She stumbled slightly, the distance between the very top of the gate and the ground below was further than she had first anticipated. Steadying herself Madison wiped the rust from her hands again on the thighs of the blue skinny jeans.
The plain black t-shirt Madison wore was now covered in brown lines of rust which would not rub off, there was no hiding her escape from the others when she returned to the lodge – by that time she would have contacted Stephanie and wouldn’t care.
A blur of white caught the corner of Madison’s eye as she looked down to see the pavement below was covered with a ghostly, thick, white fog. It swirled around her feet as if it was being pumped out by a smoke machine, it grew thicker ahead from where she stood and was almost waist height. Madison could just about make out the distinct shape of a fence and surrounding field about 50 feet away from the lodge - a black tarmac road separate the distance. The fog appeared to be like a special effect in a horror movie; it was misplaced and moved oddly in comparison to any type of fog Madison had seen before. She took a step forward and the fog seemed to grow thicker in response to her movement. Before she could take a second step forwards she held her hand out in front of her, guiding herself through the White Sea that tried to pull her under. She continued to move onwards, confused by her surroundings. Stepping slowly, her feet feeling the pavement as she walked, she was aware there must be an approaching sidewalk and she couldn’t afford to stumble and be swallowed by the thick white fog. The more steps she took the more the fog grew thicker. It was like a living organism, trying to defend itself from an unknown intruder. A small patch of fog cleared at her feet allowing Madison to see the edge of the side walk and the black tarmac road ahead. For the first time in days Madison saw a beam of sunshine which had escaped from the thick clouds above and was now warmed the tarmac in front of her. In that single moment the golden glow of sunlight was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen, it was what she had been longing to see and feel for days now. And now it was finally at arm’s reach and all she had to do was reach out and grab it. Looking back, Madison saw the large Iron Gate had become consumed and swallowed by the thick fog. No aspect of the gate remained; all that was left was a mass of ghostly, white fog swallowing up the landscape around her. Everything had been dissolved by the fog the only scenery that remained was the road ahead. Although, like the lodge there was something ‘not right’ about the white fog that surrounded the neighboring road - Madison didn’t feel afraid by it not did she question it aloud. Like the house she couldn’t put her finger on what was wrong with it, but none of it seemed to worry her or frighten her in the slightest. The sight of the clear road ahead comforted her all the same and there was nothing to fear, but there was also an escape from the looming whiteness.
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