The Twins let go of Madison a few feet in front of Gabby, her body impacted with the hard wooden dance floor with a loud thud. Her body went stiff as the pain from the impact travelled through her shell like a rolling wave.
The two hooded boys and Gabby were still arguing amongst themselves, their voices too low for Madison to make out what they were arguing about.
She turned to her side, laying her cheek on the cold, sticky wooden floor.
Salty tears slid down her cheeks and she curled herself up into a ball and led motionless – completely numb.
“Our master will not be amused if you do not give us the scroll! We’ve given you what you want! Now it’s your turn to give us what we want!” the husky, unnatural voice said.
“I can’t just give you the scroll, I haven’t got it!” Gabby said a flicker of fear in her voice.
“You have wasted our time. We will not allow you to do this again” one of the hooded boys said stepping towards her.
“Wait! Let’s not overreact here! I said I didn’t have it… not that I couldn’t get it… ” Gabby said throwing her hands up in defense.
“Explain” the boy demanded stopping to hear her explanation.
“I can take you to the scroll. I have access to codes to gain access to the building, but it’s heavily guarded and the scroll is protected. It will be difficult for me to get it without setting off the alarms” Gabby explained.
“Take us to it” said both the boys at the same time.
“If I take you to the scroll, I will be risking exposure. They will kill me for treason. We cannot enter The Coven unnoticed, there are powers working there that I can’t even comprehend. Seers will be aware of our attentions before we even enter the building” Gabby protested.
“Your personal circumstances mean little to us. We will consult with our master” said one of the boys.
The two boys tilted their heads backwards, their faces directed towards the ceiling. They made no movement, remaining motionless for a moment as if they were listening to something at a very low frequency. Gabby stared at their faces; she winced and directed her eyes towards the floor unable to hide the repulsion. The twins watched uneasily, shifting their weight from leg to leg.
The hooded boys stood with their backs to Madison, the top of their black hoods peeked in a point. Madison shifted on the floor, she tried to prop her head up for a moment but her head was too heavy and awkward on her shoulders. She lay against the cold wooden floor, her eyes directed to the empty space in the line of her vision. She had seen the two boys face once before at the train station when she had first arrived in London. The memory of their faces sent an uncontrollable shivers down her spine and she did not wish to ever look upon their faces again.
After a few seconds they lowered their heads back down to their normal hunched position, their head lowered and faces covered in darkness.
“Our master accepts your proposal. We will assist you in retrieving the scroll for him. He will cloak us from the eyes of the seers, allowing us to gain an element of surprise. Once you give us the scroll, we will honor our side of the deal” one of the boys said in his eerily, unnatural voice.
“And when we’re in the coven, how do you intend to get the scroll? The Coven keeps all their rare and dangerous artifacts hidden, unable to detect. It’s rumored to be kept in an alternative dimension, and when dealing with dimensions you have to have a key. No one knows what the key is apart from the elders, the key could be anything!” Gabby argued, regretfully of her own plan.
“You know where this key is?” the hooded boys asked together, raising their heads slightly.
“Maybe you should have thought about these issues before you made a deal that we could not refuse. You know the Black Orchid do not take kindly to traitors!” one of the boys spat.
“Filthy Vampire is blinded by jealousy” spat the other boy.
“I KNOW WHO THE KEY IS! I mean, I think I do. It has to be!” Gabby shouted, correcting herself, back tracking over her mistake out of fear for her own life.
“Take us to it” the boys demanded together.
“Ok, let me kill the girl and then we’re go...” Gabby said calmly, as if it was natural to just kill someone.
Madison did not flinch. The aspect of her life ending meant little to now and nothing seemed to matter anymore. The stone that has kept Madison grounded was now gone. There was no emotion left and she was empty. Gabby had ripped out every last spark that had made Madison, her, now she was no one - nothing. Madison knew that eventually Brendan would come for her, but the prospect of continuing her life without Stephanie in it was too much to bear.
“There’s no time, Brendan is coming for her. He will be here in little than five minutes” one of the boys said.
“That’s ok, I’ll only need a minute” Gabby said stepping towards Madison.
“No, she comes with us. You have failed to fulfill your side of the deal. Until you do, she remains under our protection”.
Gabby huffed and shot the two boys a frustrated, almost childlike look for not getting her own way.
“Brendan…..” Gabby whispered, jealously and hatred curling off her tongue.
Both boys turned to face her, there posture and movement mimicked. Their heads lowered to the ground, masking their faces. Gabby stared at them for a moment, but she did not protest any further.
“Fine! She comes with us…” Gabby spat.
Gabby span in a circle like a ballet dancer and made a beeline for Madison.
Madison lay motionless on the floor and watched as Gabby’s slender legs approached her. Her vision had not shifted since she had been thrown to the floor, shock had taken a hold and this time it was too strong to shake off so easily. Gabby knelt down over her and in one foul motion she grabbed Madison by the hair pulling her head up towards her. Madison sat upright without making the conscious decision to do so; she winced in pain as her hair was tugged from her scalp. She was completely at Gabby’s will.
“Tell me Madison, what does a guy like Brendan see in a girl like you?” Gabby joked, her words twisted with jealousy.
Madison didn’t answer. Her eyes were glazed, staring over Gabby’s shoulder towards the two hooded boys.
“Huh? You don’t know?” Gabby said forcing Madison to shake her head.
Madison squirmed and screwing up her face at Gabby’s persistence. This action awoke her slightly from her shocked state.
“Brendan could do so much better then you! Let’s face it, you’re no Angelina Jolie. And your fashion sense, it’s so 90’s. New Look Skinny jeans and a plain black t-shirt, have you ever heard of Gucci or Ralph Lauren? Brendan likes his girls with a bit of class. Although he was seeing this one girl... Fred? I think that what her name? And oh my god, she makes you look good!” Gabby said bitterly.
At the sound of Fred’s name, Madison made eye contact with Gabby for a moment before looking away once again. Leon and Fred had completely slipped her mind, but now Madison could see their faces in the emptiness of her mind. She remembered Fred’s funny, high pitched voice and Leon’s well thought out, witty remarks. She felt concerned for them, they had helped her when she needed it and now it seem she had unintentionally go them involved in her mess.
“Fred” Gabby muttered.
Madison blinked several times; unaware that Gabby had noticed her reaction to Fred’s name.
“Has Brendan ever mentioned Fred before? And… now what was his name? Oh yeah… Leon?” Gabby hummed, as pieces of the puzzle began to slot together.
Madison froze. She held her breath as Leon’s name rolled off Gabby’s tongue. She knew how important it was to protect Fred and Leon – so she ignored Gabby. The conversation that Brendan had had with Leon the first night they had arrived at the Lodge played over and over in Madison’s mind. How Leon had protested that he must protect himself and Fred from the Coven.
Madison would not allow Gabby the satisfaction of ruining anyone else life, not after everything they had don
e for her – offering her a roof when there was nowhere else to go. No more blood would cover her hands, she had already lost two dear friends and she wasn’t going to lose anyone else.
“Don’t treat me like an idiot, Madison. I know your pretending you don’t know who I‘m talking about!” Gabby said, pushing Madison’s face away from hers – releasing her grip.
“I don’t know anyone called Leon. I‘ve never heard of him before!” Madison said sincerity in my voice.
“I know you were lying, Madison. You stopped breathing” Gabby said softly, sharing down the bridge of her noise at her.
She stared into Gabby’s eyes sympathetically as her version blurred behind the tears that filled them. Madison’s face was pale and drawn; her lips were dry and cracking. She was at the end and her appearance was starting to show this.
Gabby’s face was calm and soft, a small smile crept across her lips. Her beautiful green eyes scanned every inch of Madison’s face, examining the worn, tired look that she now wore. Gabby’s eyes were full of satisfaction, she was pleased with herself for causing her so much pain and Madison hated her for it.
“Have you been staying with Uncle Leon and Auntie Fred?” Gabby asked again softly, the smile on her face grew wider.
She made eye contact with her, but did not answer. She didn’t want to put Leon and Fred in the same danger that she had unintentionally put Stephanie in.
Gabby smile sank, her lips hardened and her expression flickered to anger.
“Tell me!” Gabby shouted, angrily.
Madison turned her face away from her as Gabby raised her hand to release some of her frustration. Madison shut her eyes waiting for the impact; she was becoming accustomed to being knocked around and knew that it would just be a case of waiting for the pain to take hold. No impact came. Slowly, Madison opened one eye at a time, looking sheepishly to where Gabby had been crouched.
Gabby was no longer crouched in front of her; instead Madison was confronted by a pair of black jeans. Slowly, she raised her gaze up towards the black jumper which covered the torso of the person who stood in front of her. Her heart thumped wildly in her chest as she longed for the figure before her to be Brendan. As Madison’s eyes rose higher she caught the sight of a ghastly face that had haunted her for some time after her arrival in London. The face was horror stricken, the creature’s mouth open wide, its features distorted and its eyes covered with circles of darkness. The skin of its face was a transparent white with purple and pink veins raised underneath the skin. The boy’s hood was pulled up over his forehead and from the angle Madison sat she could see his face clearly.
Horror and disgust flooded through her, but she was completely hypnotized by the boy’s face. He stretched out his hand towards the top of her head.
“Our Master wants to see…” he said in his deep, unnatural voice.
Slowly, he lowered his hand down onto the top of her head.
A gust of wind blew through her, swiping her long tangled brown hair out behind her. His touch was like being electrocuted, as soon as the boys palm touched the base of her head a flash of light erupted from her body. She felt light, like she was floating through space. A brilliant golden light surrounded her and she could no longer see the boy or the other vampires. Her whole body tingled with waves of pleasant shivers as she floated through a golden ghostly atmosphere. White sparks of light floated down from the edge of atmosphere, they crackled and flickered like sparks of electricity. Every inch of Madison felt weightless, relaxed, she had no thoughts, no feelings – she was completely at peace. It was kind of like how she had imagined Heaven to be.
A quick flash of eye piecing bright white light shook Madison from the peaceful blissfulness she was experiencing. She threw her hands up over her eyes defending herself against the blinding light. Pain screeched through her entire body, making her jerk and spasm out of control. Her hands moved from her eyes to either side of her head as she screamed in pain. Her head felt like it was going to explode, the pain was agonizing - like nothing she had experienced before.
Madison’s eyes were closed tight, but she saw flashes of different faces and images as the boy tried to pull memories from her mind. A random image popped into her head. Madison could watch the image as if it was a fly on the wall documentary of her life. The pain subsided and her eyes still tightly closed with the golden obsess still surrounding her, she could see her memory as clear as day. It was a memory that Madison had no recollection of, something she had completely forgotten until it was thrust out in front of her so the boy could see.
She was ten years old and playing happily on the grubby carpet of the lounge at home (Phil’s house). Madison sat crossed legged cradling a doll with short black hair, she chatted happily to the doll and brushing its slinky soft hair. A loud noise startled her younger self, causing her to leap to her feet and drop the doll in the process. She was frozen, staring curiously towards the doorway. Madison hadn’t realised how small she had been for a ten year old until this point and she looked so fragile.
Phil stood in the doorway, one hand gripping the doorframe to balance him – clearly drunk as usual. The red jumper he wore was stained with alcohol and cigarette ash smeared all over it. There was mud on the knees of his jeans – probably due to lying flat on his face in the dirt at some point over the last week or so. His face dirty as usual, although he looked younger and slightly more coherent then Madison remembered him. The dark circles still clung to his eyes even earlier on in his life.
Seeing Phil brought back emotions that Madison had long forgotten, anger, guilt, neglect and abandonment. She felt severe hatred towards Phil and she hated him for all the emotional and physical pain he had caused her throughout her life. Even now Madison suspected that because of Phil she was emotionally programmed to seek out pain and destruction that he had caused to her. After all, what was happening to her now didn’t happen to a lot of people, probably one in a billion, but it had to happen to Madison - Phil had programmed her that way. Just seeing his blank, haggard face brought back the brokenness that she had felt for so long. All those feelings she had promised herself that she would never feel again, slowly began to creep back in. Phil was a disease that would always infect her.
Phil wobbled towards young Madison, his eyes focused on her scared little face. She now gripped the dolls tightly in her arms, tears streaking her cheeks.
Phil’s mouth moved as if he was talking, but Madison heard no sound – she had forgotten at an early age what Phil had said to her that day, or possibly blocked it out. Phil reached for her younger self; he towered above her and his eyes hard with anger. He wobbled. For a second it looked as if he was going to fall on top of Madison little body, but he manage to balance his self before he toppled over.
Phil’s eyes slowly slipped down towards the doll, he slurred some more words then quickly snatched the doll from little Madison grip. Her ten year old self jumped up and down trying to get back the toy that had been stolen from her. Phil held it up high so she was unable to reach it, she pleaded with him to give it back, but Phil shook his head, a sick, twisted, smile creeping across his lips. Slowly he brought the doll down to his chest and with his free hand he twisted the head and broke it off from the dolls body. Casually he handed the doll back to Madison as if nothing had happened, she staggering around tearful and flopped onto the sofa. She held the broken dolls body in one hand and the head in the other - tears poured down her face. All Madison could remember was sobbing uncontrollably that night.
She watched in shock, just another cruel act Phil had tormented her by. Madison had forgotten all the things that Phil had done to her when she was little. When she was old enough to realise, she convinced herself that it wasn’t Phil it was the drink that was making him do these things and on the most part this was probably true, but Phil was so twisted and torn up by Madison Mother’s death – it had changed him. The pain Phil felt had made him evil and there was no doubt about that.
Everything around her went
blurry, like a car travelling at high speed. The bright white lights flashed around her body and the pain returned again causing her to jerk and flinch uncontrollably. The hooded boy seemed to sift through Madison’s memories as if they were no more than DVD’s, picking and choosing which ones to play or which ones to discard. He saw things that Madison had never told anyone, not even Stephanie. It was intrusive and he seemed to get some sick pleasure out of knowing Madison first kiss, first sexual experience and other details of her personal life. She could almost feel his excitement and arousal as he passed these memories.
Suddenly, her mind went blank as another memory was reopened. The pain subsided and a flash of colour aroused her senses - the images settled and came into focus. Madison saw herself again curdled up in a dark blue sleeping bag on Stephanie’s bedroom floor. Stephanie was led in her bed, a pink checkered duvet pulled up to her chin. She looked cute and relaxed, not a care in the world.
They were both 16years old, it was one of the many sleepovers Madison had at Stephanie’s when things got too bad at home. Stephanie’s bedroom looked bigger then Madison remembered it and the walls were painted a rose pink. This had been changed to neutral colours in the next year or so, as Stephanie decided it was time to ‘grow up’. They chatted happily to each other, as their eyes grew heavy with sleep. The colours of the room started to bleed into each other, the pinks and purples mixed together and zoomed past the corner of Madison’s eyes. The brilliant white light lit up her surroundings again and the pain flooded back in as another memory was plucked from her brain. Madison’s eyes rolled back in her head, the pain was becoming more and more intense as the boy dove deeper and deeper into her memories. It was like a drilling sensation in the base of her skull and he was beginning to tear her mind apart. She wasn’t sure what the boy was looking for, probably answers to her and Brendan’s plans or where she had been hiding out. But whatever the boy was doing would slowly kill her if he didn’t find what he was looking for soon.
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