Chapter 7: The Only Way Out is Letting Your Guard Down
It's been quite a while, hasn't it?
I'm sorry for the long wait. I like to write a few chapters in advance before I publish one. Anyway, I wrote everything and was almost done with the last chapter of the story when they all deleted. The stories, the notes, everything was gone. I was irate and figured that I should just leave it alone, as not to anger myself even more. This was a horrible decision, as the longer I left it alone, the worse my writer's block got. I finally got to the point where I just said, "You know what? I really, really need to do this."
It was then I realized that part of the problem was the format I chose originally, which was in a script. I grew out of it, and looking back, I don't really like it. So I wound up going back through all the previous chapters and rewriting it from a present-tense script to past-tense novel. This took even more time, but I definitely prefer it, and hopefully you all do too.
I do not own Monster High or any of the songs used in the making of this story.
"Wait, what am I supposed to do again?" Operetta slapped her palm against her forehead. Ianthe held the notecards in her hands, looking back and forth between Operetta's glare and the cardstock.
"Just read them aloud!" The phantom said. "We have to memorize these, so it's almost like testing us."
"Ah," Ianthe said, nodding. "Okay."
The classroom was unoccupied by any teachers, so Headless Headmistress Bloodgood allowed the team to use the room. Operetta and Ghoulia stayed with Ianthe in the room as the others went off to gather materials. Although Deuce wasn't in their group and the part he was needed for was completed, he still promised to help.
"Alright," Ianthe said. She sat on a desk, swinging her legs mindlessly as she stared at the cards. "How much time did you dedicate to this project? Was it thrown together at last second or crafted over the span of time between receiving and presenting?"
"What would you say?" Operetta asked Ghoulia, who had her face buried in her laptop. "A week?"
"I would suggest informing them that we assembled this presentation over approximately a week and a half after having acquired it," Ghoulia groaned, not looking up from her computer. Her periwinkle fingers typed rapidly on the keyboard.
"If you were to rate yourself on the work ethic you have used," Ianthe read, "what would you give yourself? What would you give the group?"
"Tens," Operetta answered. "All the way."
"What is the single most important thing you want the audience to remember? Wait, where are these questions even coming from?"
"The rubric," Ghoulia answered.
Suddenly, the door to the classroom opened. Frankie pushed the door open with her hips as she carried a cardboard box into the room. She set it down on a desk. Clawdeen and Draculaura followed behind her, placing plastic containers filled with art supplies on the desk as well. Frankie opened the cardboard box, revealing layers of papers. Ianthe slid off the desk. She walked to the trio and began digging through one of the plastic tubs.
"What do you plan on doing with these?" Ianthe asked. She pulled out pipe cleaners and bent them, marveling at the way the fuzzy wires held their shape.
"We don't know yet," Frankie said.
"We might do a poster!" Draculaura said. "Ooh! Or maybe a banner!"
"A banner would work," Clawdeen said. "It wouldn't distract from the actual presentation."
The door opened again. This time, Deuce entered with Madison, Lamia, Seth, Clawd, and Jackson. "We're good," Madison grinned. "Everything's set up. The drums, amp, everything's good to go."
"The guys pretty much did all the setting up," Lamia said, "but we couldn't do the soundcheck with Dr. Jekyll-Mr. Hyde over here." She pointed at Jackson behind her with her thumb.
"Why're you blaming me?" Jackson asked.
"Eesh! Don't get your panties in a bunch! I'm just messing with you." Jackson rolled his eyes, and Lamia trudged over to the art supplies. "That's pretty neat. What are those for?"
"We're thinking a banner," Draculaura said. Lamia nodded and took a seat on one of the desks. Draculaura looked towards the youngest gorgon. "Ianthe, wanna help?" Ianthe nodded enthusiastically and joined the vampire on the floor. Draculaura gave her a black marker and took a pink one for herself.
The door opened, and Lagoona, Abbey, Cleo, and Viperine entered along with all of the half siblings. When everyone was inside, Deuce grabbed a chair and sat in it backwards. "So what's happening tomorrow?"
"The plan is that you all," Frankie pointed to Madison and her siblings, "will wait in the back in the wing of the stage. We'll present the project, tell what happened, yada yada. When we're through, we're going to say something like, 'Oh, by the way, they're here' or something ridiculous like that."
"You'll come out of the wing, and we'll come out of the project with an A," Clawdeen said, cutting a piece of paper. "Simple."
"Anything we'll do or say in particular?" Madison asked, taking a seat next to her brother.
"Anything y'all want really," Operetta said. "We're reckoning you can just talk a little bit and give your life story. Maybe perform a song and give inspirational advice."
"So just like Music Festival?" She smiled.
Operetta grinned in return. "Yeah," she said, "just like Music Festival."
"So make sure you're ready by ten tomorrow morning," Lagoona said. "If you aren't, sneak in through the back when you're ready."
"Is that all we're needed for?" Jason asked. He picked up a bottle of glue and twisted the orange cap back and forth.
"Yeah," Frankie said, "I think so."
"Then, we probably need to head out," Gwendolyn said. Evangeline was halfway leaning on her shoulder. "It's been pretty draining being here. I think we all need the rest we can get."
"That'll fade eventually," Ghoulia said. "But in the meantime, if your body requires rest, give into that need and get sleep."
"Alright," Madison said, "then we'll see you tomorrow at nine."
"I can do your makeup!" Viperine said. "So as long as we're ready by ten."
"Sounds good," Frankie said. "We'll see you later."
"Tell me why I agreed to this again?" Madison asked Deuce. She fanned herself with her hands, which were sweating thanks to anxiety. She wiped her palms on her black skirt of her dress.
"Because you genuinely care more than you come across," Deuce answered. He reached into his pocket and pulled out an orange bottle. He removed the white cap and took Madison's hand in his, gently shaking two white pills out of the container and into her palm. "Take these. You'll be okay." Madison nodded and swallowed the pills dry. "My team's going out first. That gives you a bit of time to calm down before you go out."
"Okay," Madison said.
Deuce stood up. "Should I get Gwen or Gabe?"
"Either works."
"But right now, you'd prefer..."
"I guess Gabriel." Deuce nodded and walked off to find the angel.
Ianthe came over and sat down in Deuce's spot. "Are you ready?"
"Not really," Madison answered. "Are you?"
"Yeah, I'm really excited!" Ianthe said. "Will we get to go to high school too?"
"Yeah, probably," Madison said. "Mom would be pretty against us not going." Ianthe squealed in excitement. "Chill out. It's just high school. It's not as interesting as teen movies make it out to be."
"Deuce loves it here," Ianthe pointed out.
"Deuce is also nine levels of strange. He's also outgoing and oddly sociable."
"Everyone else seems to like it here too."
"It'll be like every other high school. Just wait."
Deuce returned with Gabriel, who sat beside Madison and wrapped her in his arms, followed by his wings. They were soft and feathery, and Madison relaxed immediately, resting her head on his shoulder.
"Keep an eye on her," Deuce whispered to Gabriel, who nodded in response. The gorgon looked back once before exiting the backstage, returning to his group. The team stood in front of Mr. Rotter.
"The presentation must be a minimum of seven minutes long," Mr. Rotter said. "This should be easy if you have the information." He looked around at the group. "And everyone speaks," the teacher said. "So I know you actually did something. The grade doesn't have to be the same for all team members, so I hope you know your material." Manny and Heath paled, knowing they'd fail the project and possibly even the class. "You are going first, so good luck." With that, Mr. Rotter walked away.
"Alright," Scarah said, "Slo Mo, you can control the slideshow. You can still talk though." He nodded. "As for you six," Scarah said, looking towards Toralei, Spectra, Meowlody, Purrsephone, Manny, and Heath, "you better not say a word. None of you deserve a grade any better than an F."
The auditorium filled up quickly as the main lights shut off. Hoodude aimed the stage lights at the middle of the stage. Robecca, Deuce, Gil, Toralei, Heath, Spectra, Invisi Billy, Scarah, Melody, Purrsephone, Manny, and Slo Mo stepped on stage. Slo Mo sat in a chair off to the side, his attention focused on the laptop.
Robecca lifted the microphone to her cold, copper lips. "Ladies and gentlemonsters! Welcome!" Her chipper voice rang throughout the large room. "We are Team Two in Mr. Rotter's final project, of which we had to learn about the teachers at Monster High." She paced around the stage. "Sometimes we feel as if adults can't relate to us. They don't have the mindset of teenagers, and some of them haven't been teenagers for decades or maybe even centuries!" She stopped pacing. "But in this project, we learned that teachers were just like us. They still went through the same problems. They still went through stress and acne and hormones and and homework and sex and all of the parts of being a teenager that makes it so difficult." She grinned. "So without further ado, let us begin!"
Slo Mo flipped the screen. A picture of Headless Headmistress Bloodgood as a teenager appeared. Her black and purple, wavy hair was tied up into a high ponytail with a purple hairband. She wore a magenta cape, a blue polo, purple leggings, and black riding boots. She had a magenta bobble bracelet on her left wrist and purple horse-shaped earrings. Her periwinkle eyeshadow was blended to her crease, and she wore winged eyeliner. "This is a sixteen-year-old Headmistress Bloodgood," Robecca said. She saw her headmistress in the audience put her face in her hands. "She was the perfect student. She always got all A's and never received detention. She tried to keep the peace between the student bodies and would volunteer around the community. She was a role model to not just students but to teachers as well. This is what makes her such a great headmistress and faculty member at Monster High." Robecca said, smiling. She handed the microphone to Scarah.
"Dr. Clamdestine was a prep," the banshee said as Slo Mo changed the picture on the screen. The teacher wore a coral collared shirt, khakis, and boat shoes. He had a pastel green sweater tied around his neck. "He always wore expensive clothes, and they reflected his personality. He acted snobby and stuck-up. He pretended to be better than everyone else. He's matured since his teenage days, growing up and realizing that he's no better than anyone else." Scarah handed the microphone to Invisi Billy.
Slo Mo changed the picture on the screen. A young man with a leather jacket and a blunt in his hand came across the screen. "Mr. Fenderbender was a stoner," Invisi Billy said. "He always skipped class, and the days he was in class he caused a muck or just hung out under the bleachers or behind the school smoking weed and joints. He'd always start fights and was always in detention for one reason or another. He always got D's and F's."
Invisi Billy walked over to Slo Mo and gave him the microphone. The zombie flipped the screen to a blonde boy with glasses and a hunchback playing chess before he spoke. "Mr. Hack was a gamer," he moaned. "He'd have game nights with his bloodies. He was on the chess team and a had a thing for Mrs. Kindergrubber."
Gil walked to Slo Mo to take the microphone. Slo Mo flipped the screen to a seventeen-year-old wearing a black, white, and pink football uniform. "Coach Igor was a jock. He was on the football, basketball, baseball, and soccer team. One season, his football team only lost one game. Igor claimed to be the best one on that team. He dated Mrs. Maiden. He was also a narcissist, if you couldn't tell from the comment earlier." Gil handed Deuce the microphone.
The picture on the screen changed to a short girl who was only fifteen. She had oversized, round glasses with circle frames and blonde hair that barely passed her shoulders. She wore a light pink dress that exposed her black Mary Janes and long, white socks that went up to the calf. She had dried paint all over her clothes. "This is Mrs. Kindergrubber," Deuce said. "Back before she realized culinary was her calling, she loved art. Between drawing, painting, sculpting, and just getting her hands in supplies, she was insane! She was in the art club and was very shy. She liked Mr. Hack, and they actually went to prom together." Deuce tried to give the microphone to Scarah, but Toralei attempted to snatch it instead. Deuce tossed the microphone high up into the air, towards Robecca, who used her rocket shoes to reach and catch it. Once she grabbed it, she gave the microphone to Scarah.
On the screen, a young girl with perfectly straight hair and a wicked expression wore a cheerleading outfit. "Mrs. Maiden was the captain of the fearleading team," Scarah began. "Just like a typical teen drama like Mean Ghouls or Booless, she wasn't just the captain; she was snobby, stuck-up, and uptight. She dated Coach Igor, but they broke it off during college because he was too narcissistic for his own good. Her grades were good, and she usually got B's." Scarah passed the microphone to Robecca.
"Mr. Rotter was the Heath Burns of his high school," Robecca said. His image appeared on the screen. He held a large, Abraham Lincoln-style hat in his hand, and his style and color-scheme were roughly the same, just with different looks thanks to the time period. He sported Marge Simpson hair, and the entire student body guffawed at the picture. Mr. Rotter simply rolled his eyes and regretted his choices, but he smiled to himself. "He was a class clown that tried so hard to impress teachers, but to no avail. He was never in any clubs or relationships, and well, it isn't hard to see why." Robecca passed the microphone to Gil.
Slo Mo changed the picture to one of Verizhe. He too wore his football uniform. His smile was white as snow and dazzled even through the picture. "Coach Verizhe was a jock on the football, casketball, and baseball team," Gil said. "He attracted girls everywhere and made guys jealous. He was disgustingly popular, and his grades consisted of B's and C's, which were enough to keep him on the sports teams. Someone would spread rumors of him, resulting in never having a relationship." Gil passed the microphone to Deuce.
"Next is Mr. Where," Deuce said. Slo Mo changed the picture, and Mr. Where's bandaged face appeared alongside three friends- two girls and one guy. "Even back then, he loved drama. He took drama classes each year and was in the drama club. He was in every show and was usually one of the main characters. He and his group of friends- Ella, Natalia, and Hayden- all were huge about drama. That was his clique, and his love of drama in high school inspired him to become a teacher to get others to love it too." Deuce gave Invisi Billy the microphone.
"Finally," said Invisi Billy, "is Mr. Zarr." A picture of a scrawny, lanky boy in glasses appeared on the screen. He wore a white button-down and khaki pants. "Mr. Zarr was an all-A student. He was in the math club, science club, academic team, and chess club. He was a huge nerd and, as a result, was bullied. He'd often do their homework, but he'd always get his revenge by changing some answers." He handed the microphone to Robecca.
"As you can tell, many of the teachers we know and love were exactly like us. But after seeing how they matured, changed, and grew up, we can get a better understanding of how our own lives may turn out." The audience clapped, and the group bowed. Mr. Rotter walked on the stage, clapping. Robecca handed him the microphone before she and her team got off the stage and sat in the front row.
"Team One, are you ready?" Mr. Rotter asked. Frankie nodded, and the team got up and went to the stage. As they reached the stage, Mr. Rotter gave Frankie the microphone. She cleared her throat before lifting the microphone to her mouth.
"Hi! We're Team One!" She cheered. "We were assigned the project about a girl. A girl who should've gone to Monster High. A girl that should've lived her life. A girl whose name was Madison Jayne.
Behind the curtain on the wing of the stage, Ashton squeezed Madison's shoulder. "That's you!" He mouthed silently. Gwendolyn smacked him harder than she'd anticipated, and the whole audience heard a loud, thunderous slap. Everyone silenced immediately. Lagoona looked to the back of the wing to see what was the matter, but she only saw Iris covering her mouth to muffle her laughter.
"I...uh...anyway," Frankie said, struggling to remember what she was saying, "this is what she looked like." She nodded to Ghoulia, who was on her laptop. Ghoulia brought a picture up onto the main screen. The picture was of Madison, who appeared to not have realized the picture was being taken of her, as she was looking away from the camera. She wore a red and white lacy dress with a corset. She had three red roses tucked behind her left ear and rubies on her collarbone. The picture was taken at her home in Greece in the backyard. She sat underneath an olive tree, and she was frozen mid-laugh. Clawdeen took the microphone from Frankie.
"No one really knew she existed," Clawdeen said. "No one knew her name or her story. And when we did, we uncovered secrets from someone we all knew well." She didn't look at Deuce, who was thankful for that. "We found out who she was after watching a video of her performing for Music Festival when she was thirteen years old. It was for the county competition, and that year, it took place at Monster High. A video of her and her family performing was found by the teachers, who gave it to us and told us to investigate it."
"I knew something was odd the second I saw it," Operetta said, taking the microphone from Clawdeen. "I recognized her although I couldn't put my finger on it." Operetta handed the microphone to Draculaura.
"We went to Headmistress Bloodgood," the vampire said, "to ask about her. We knew nothing but her name. How were we supposed to find out who she was?" She passed the microphone to Lagoona.
"But then, the information came to us." Lagoona looked out into the crowd. "We received a note, telling us to meet the anonymous monster. She set the gears in motion, but none of us had known how deep the waters we were wading into were. Or how murky."
"But we will not waste the time on that," Abbey said. "Is not necessary."
"Madison's story began on March 5th," Frankie said as the microphone was passed to her. "She was born the middle triplet, yet the youngest had died before she was born. So it was just her and her brother."
"Her mother and father struggled with many issues during their short-lived marriage," Ghoulia groaned. "Between the alcoholism and infidelity, they divorced when the twins were merely four. Her mother fought long and hard for the custody of her children, but to no avail. Custody was given to their father, Mark."
"Her dad hurt her and her brother," Cleo said. "They survived off each other. And when their half siblings and stepsisters came into play, it was them against the world. Yet, Mark didn't want his secret exposed, so he would kill off the children one by one to silence them. Not only did it permanently hush one child, but it was a threat to the others."
"She turned to music as an escape," Operetta said. "She was beaten, locked up, raped, and silenced, but she looked to music as an outlet."
"That's when we saw her on the video," Clawd said. "She was performing for Music Festival, a competition she'd won consecutively for seven years. She went to Monster High to perform at county level. Then to state. Then to nationals. She took home first."
"Only a week or two after," Jackson said solemnly, "she too passed. She and her brother were at the cemetery visiting their siblings when Mark chased them down. He stabbed Madison before impaling her on a headstone. She died in her brother's arms on April 17th, 2007. She was only thirteen years old." They stood in silence for a second, taking the time to recognize Madison's death. The air in the room was tense, and it was so thick, you could cut it with a knife.
"Wait," Heath shouted, "so who's her brother?" The room quieted. Frankie looked to Deuce. Reluctantly, he stood up, and audible gasps were heard throughout the auditorium. The mint-skinned girl motioned him up to the stage, and he complied. He stood on the stage, looking down at his feet until the whispers softened.
"I am," Deuce said quietly. Frankie handed him a microphone, and he repeated it. "I am. I'm Madison's brother. I was born with her. I lived alongside her. I've been through things no one should have to go through and went through hell and back. I was abused by my father and watched my siblings die from my own eyes. And I still live. I still smile. I still learned how to love life. Everyone's going to die, and you might as well make the best of what time you have left." He returned the microphone to Frankie.
"But thanks to Ghoulia, we have a surprise for you," Frankie said, looking to the back of the stage. "Come on out, guys!"
On cue, the dozen walked out on stage in order from oldest to youngest. They stood in a line in the front of the stage, and Frankie walked up to Gwen.
"The oldest is Gwendolyn Evie Demõn," Frankie said, motioning to Gwen. "She's half normie-half demon, and she died when she was eight. She was shot in the temple." Gwen gave a tight, close-lipped smile as she pushed her straight, black hair out of the way to reveal the bullet wound.
"The second is Gabriel Angelus Halo, who is half normie and half angel." He smiled at the crowd, his pearls sparkling under the stage lights. "He drowned when he was seven."
"Next is Madison's stepsister, who wasn't born from Mark. She too is half normie, but this time, she's also a rainbüster, which is similar to a werewolf or wendigo, but it can change the colors of pretty much anything," Frankie clarified. "Her name is Kira Rainey Pallen, and she starved to death when she was seven." She gave a small smile.
"Then comes Jason Jael Buck, who is half-normie half-satyr. He was eleven when he was electrocuted." Jason crossed his arms but refused to make any other motion towards the crowd.
"Iris Iraine Pallen is Kira's sister and is stepsister to the others. She fell to her death when she was six." The blue-haired beauty gave a large smile and waved to the crowd enthusiastically.
"Next is Evangeline Pixie Wings, half-fairy half-normie." Evangeline smiled and curtsied. "She died from food poisoning when she was six."
Frankie walked past Madison and skipped to "Ianthe Gorgon." The triplet gave small smile. "She is the youngest triplet and was the only one to have never been born."
"The tenth is Caleen Lily Eucalyptus," Frankie said as Caleen waved. "This normie-dryad was the only one to have never died."
"Next is Ashton Faunus Buck, who is Jason's brother." Ashton smirked and waved awkwardly. "He died when he was eight thanks to suffocation."
"The youngest are the twins," Frankie said, motioning to Lacie and Roxie. "Their names are Alessia and Roxanne, better known as Roxie and Lacie. They're sylphs, air elementals. Lacie was burned to death when she was two, and Roxie was hung when she was five." Roxie stayed stiff while Lacie blew kisses to the crowd.
"And last, but not least," Frankie said, walking back to the middle, "is Madison Gorgon, the middle triplet." Frankie smiled at the gorgon. "And I'm going to give her some time to talk to you guys." She handed the microphone to Madison, who stepped forward.
"Hey," she said. She leaned back and forth a bit, uncomfortable with the attention. "I honestly don't know what to say to you," she admitted, "but we'll see what we can do.
"Our family's had problems before Deuce and I were born," Madison began. "Someone was always screaming or yelling. If it wasn't death threats from Mark or complaints from Mom, they were the unfaithful, hushed screams of women I don't know the names of. My mom caught my dad several times, but nothing ever really changed. It didn't stop until she noticed Deuce and I getting hurt. The night she found out we'd been raped was one of the scariest nights of my life." Madison paused, trying to contain herself. "She put a knife against his neck. She would've ended his life then and there. But instead, she drove us to our aunts', where we stayed until they were divorced. Mom wanted custody of us, but the judge determined that we were to live with Mark yearlong, and Mom would get us in the summers. The judge knew about everything, but he didn't believe it. Humans are never in the wrong; it's always the monster's fault. If he'd only made a better decision, none of this would've happened.
"We moved to Oregon after they got divorced. It was where Mom and Mark met. A year later, Mark remarried a drug addict named Marisa, who was just as abusive as he was. To hide their secret, they killed their children. One by one, until there were only three of us left: Caleen, Deuce, and me.
"When we were six, someone had mentioned Music Festival to us. We gave it a try and came back every year. When Deuce and I were twelve, the judges announced we'd be going to county, something they'd never done before. Then, we went to state. That was horrifying, as it took place at the bar Mark always went to, and he sat in the front row. We went to nationals, which were in Boo York.
"We got back, and our cousins had left to go halfway across the world like usual. Deuce and I went to the cemetery to visit our siblings. It was there Mark killed me. Now, I'd been stabbed plenty of times, but none like that. It felt like my chest had been cut open with like, an ice cream scoop or something before my heart was skewered out. Acid rain had been poured in the hole, and salt was rubbed into the open flesh. There's no pain that can describe that, and the sensation only got worse when he pushed me into the headstone. The same feeling entered my back as well, and I felt as if I were on fire from the inside. But the worst part was bleeding out. It was like a period- you feel every ounce of blood leak out of your body. But worse. And Deuce looked so upset, and as if my heart wasn't already hurting, that didn't help in the slightest.
"Feeling my spirit leave my body was interesting as well. It felt like someone took a vacuum and attached it to my chest. But it was the holiest, best air sucking me into the vacuum." Madison stopped. "There's really not more I can tell you guys."
"Does anyone have any questions?" Frankie asked. Hands shot up in the air. "Yes?" Frankie pointed to one.
"Are you single?" Heath asked.
"Next question," Madison said. She pointed to a hand.
"How old were you the first time you were raped?" Howleen asked.
"I was two," Madison answered. "I remember not knowing what was really happening. All I knew was that it hurt. A lot. And it felt wrong. I felt...dirty. Like I needed to take a shower afterwards. But no amount of scalding water and soap and scrubbing at my skin gets rid of that feeling. Even years later."
"And Deuce?"
"I was four," Deuce answered. Howleen nodded and sank deeper into her seat uncomfortably.
"Yes?" Madison asked, pointing to a scaly hand.
"Why did you turn to music specifically?" Jinafire asked.
"It definitely takes your mind off it," Madison said. "Between coming up with lyrics and riffs and harmonies and everything that goes into it, it takes a lot of time and attention, and there's no room left to focus on the negatives of your life. Music was also a way to express my feelings to everyone, since not many people listen to mere words. Music gets their attention. And it generally improved my mood, so that's pretty nice." Madison looked around. "Anyone else?"
"Did you ever try committing suicide?" Avea asked.
"It had definitely been a thought more than once. I only tried it a time or two by attempting to overdose."
"What did you try taking?"
"My life. What about that didn't you get?"
"No, I mean-"
"Oh, the medicine?"
"Yeah."
"My antidepressants. Ironic, isn't it?" Madison pointed to Venus.
"What was one of the hardest parts about your life?" The plant monster asked.
"Definitely trying to start the day. Dragging myself out of bed took a lot, whether that was because physical pain or just the need to not want to face people. The people at home, the people at school, just everyone in general. Abuse hurt, but it's easy to forget the bruises when they're always there and you don't remember life without them. The war inside your head? Not so easy to block out." Madison pointed to someone else.
"What experience impacted you the most?" Skelita asked.
Madison paused, unsure if she really wanted to let everyone know or not. She stared at her hands, scratching at the cracked, dry skin with her fingernails. Finally, she sighed. "When Deuce and I were twelve, we were kidnapped. Mark had hired someone to take us, but he never knew where we were. He didn't want to know and didn't care. We were leaving school. It was the first day of March. We walked out the front doors and went down the stairs. Immediately, a white van pulled up to the curb, and three men in all black came out. They grabbed us, and although we fought tooth and nail, they won. They knocked us out. When I woke up, I saw we were tied up and in the back of the van.
"They drove us out to Portland. Their hideout was an abandoned warehouse. They locked Deuce and I in separate cells. They stripped me of everything. My clothes, my weapons, my humanity. I was chained by both my wrists and my ankles. They'd unlock one or two every so often if we were good, but it wasn't often. We'd get water once a day a food once every other day. It was usually something small. Bread or broth, things like that. They'd often bring people in who had paid to do whatever with us. We were objects- whether that was a sex toy or a living, breathing punching bag to get out their anger.
"We were never allowed to see each other either. They were too afraid that we'd plan to escape. They only let us see each other once. It was two weeks into the ordeal. It was only five minutes before they yanked us back into our cells. After a month and a half, they knew it was getting riskier. They planned on selling me off into child prostitution and killing Deuce." Madison stopped, feeling her throat close up. She gave the microphone to Deuce and let him tell his side of the story.
"They told me they were planning on killing me about a few days before the date," Deuce said. "They said I was well-behaved and therefore I could get one dying wish. I told them I wanted to talk Madison. They said they couldn't allow it. I asked to call Mom. They wouldn't let me do that either. It wasn't until that morning that I told them I wanted to die outside at night. I wanted my last view to be of the stars. They agreed and said it would be arranged.
"It was about ten at night when two men pulled me out of my cell. They took me the long way so that I could see Madison one last time. She was out cold but alive, and for that I was grateful. They brought me outside to a grassy area that was hidden from main streets. They laid me on the grass and let me look at the stars. They put the gun to my right temple. I was anxious. But I felt...at peace. Sirens went off, and the one holding the gun got scared. He pulled the gun away from my head before pulling the trigger. The bullet grazed my ear and made my scales bleed, but other than that, I was fine. I did, however, pass out. Of what I know, the guys ran, the cops found me, and I was put in a hospital. Although I don't remember it, the doctors said I woke in the middle of the night screaming for my sister. They told the police that there was someone with me and I wasn't the only one."
"The two men who tried killing Deuce told me he was dead," Madison said. "They said that police killed him, and they needed to get me out of there, so they wouldn't get me too. They put me in the van and drove off to Eugene, Oregon. They tried selling me off to a pimp, but I ran off that night, and the man didn't realize until it was too late. The police found me somewhere in Corvallis and took me to Salem. Deuce and I were given back to Mark, and by that point, it was mid-April. That was one of my worst memories." Madison pointed to another hand.
"If you could tell your younger self anything, what would it be?" Neighthan asked.
"I would tell myself not to worry. Don't worry about Mark or Marisa or abuse or alcohol or rape or hate or anything along those lines. Focus on the things you love and the things that make you happy. Because your life will be over in the blink of an eye, and in those last moments, when you see your life flash before your eyes, you want to see the good times not the bad." The zombie-unicorn nodded. Madison pointed to someone else.
"Is there anything you think we should know?" Rochelle asked.
Deuce came up behind Madison and leaned into her microphone. "Don't walk on eggshells around us."
"No more questions," Cleo said. "She just got back and doesn't need any more."
"Do you have a song?" Operetta whispered to Madison, who nodded. Operetta took the microphone. "Madison is most known for her voice. Who wants to hear her perform?" The crowd cheered. Operetta grinned at Madison and handed her the mic.
"This is called 'Lithium,'" Madison said.
Seth sat behind the drum set as Deuce grabbed an electric guitar and Lamia grabbed a bass. Madison walked to behind the piano and put the microphone in its stand. Her fingers danced across the keys, and she leaned in to sing. "Lithium, don't want to lock me up inside. Lithium, don't want to forget how it feels without." Her voice was a million times better in person. The audience sat wide-eyed, and not one person said a word. "Lithium, I want to stay in love with my sorrow. Oh, but God, I want to let it go." The guitar, bass, and drums kicked in. The music became heavier. "Come to bed, don't make me sleep alone. Couldn't hide the emptiness, you let it show. Never wanted it to be so cold. Just didn't drink enough to say you love me. I can't hold on to me. Wonder what's wrong with me.
"Lithium, don't want to lock me up inside. Lithium, don't want to forget how it feels without. Lithium, I want to stay in love with my sorrow." Her voice suddenly became full of strength and passion. "Don't want to let it lay me down this time. Drown my will to fly. Here in the darkness I know myself. Can't break free until I let it go. Let me go!" Her voice lost its intensity, but the passion remained. "Darling, I forgive you...After all, anything is better than to be alone. And in the end, I guess I had to fall. Always find my place among the ashes. I can't hold on to me. Wonder what's wrong with me!
"Lithium! Don't want to lock me up inside." Her voice became stronger than the first time as the climax of the song approached. "Lithium! Don't want to forget how it feels without. Lithium." Her voice reached an incredible pitch, very high but surprisingly still sounding amazing. Chills were sent up the spines of every monster in the crowd. "Stay in love with you. Oh! I'm gonna let it go." The audience remained silent for three seconds before erupting in applause. The auditorium shook, and Madison smiled brighter than the sun.
"Thank you!" She said, smiling. For the first time in a long time, she finally felt happy.
Frankie walked across the lunchroom with her tray in her hands to the table she and her friends always sat at. When she reached the table, she put the tray down and sat in the seat next to Draculaura. "Did you guys get your grades?"
"Yep!" Draculaura cheered, holding a paper that had "100" written in red pen.
"Did we all get hundreds?" Abbey asked.
"I guess so," Cleo said. "I wonder if he was in a good mood. He never gives A's."
"We did go above and beyond," Lagoona said, using chopsticks to pick up her sushi.
Deuce walked over to the table and sat next to Cleo. "Where are the rest of them?" Cleo asked.
"Somewhere in the line. Hopefully not causing the lunch ladies too much strife."
"They know they can sit with us, right?" Frankie asked.
"You really sure you want to agree to that?" Deuce chuckled.
Frankie shrugged. "Why not? I mean, the more the merrier, right?"
"Alright," Deuce said. He motioned to Madison with the same gesture she used to Ianthe the day before. He put the palm of his hand down before squeezing his hand opened and closed, whereby his fingers went up and down. It almost looked as if he were saying "go away" or "back up a little bit" instead of "come here." Madison and Ianthe came to the table first, sitting together across from Deuce. The others followed soon after.
"Are you enjoying it here?" Draculaura asked Madison.
"It's okay," Madison said as she pushed food around her plate. "It's better than it was before but doesn't have the same perks as being dead."
"Such as?" Jackson asked.
"Spying." Madison smiled. "Stalking. Watching from afar instead of being put directly in the center." She looked up and leaned in. "Not to mention people keep staring at me," she whispered. "I mean, half the people at this d*mn school are dead. What makes me any different?"
"Maybe the fact that you have a hole in your chest and another in your back," Deuce said.
"Well, Gwen's got a hole in her temple!" Madison said. "And she lost her index finger!"
"Wait, really?" Clawdeen asked. The table looked towards Gwendolyn. She rolled her green eyes and put her left hand on the table. Alas, her pointer finger was completely gone, only a small bump remaining where the bone in her hand would've met with the bone in her finger. Draculaura turned away, feeling nauseous.
"How did that even happen?" Clawd asked.
"Mark," Gwendolyn answered.
"...Oh." Frankie looked down. Clawd growled under his breath.
Ianthe looked at Lagoona's sushi with curiosity. "What is that?"
"Oh, this?" Lagoona asked. "It's sushi. Here." She handed her chopsticks to Ianthe. "Try it." Ianthe attempted to hold the chopsticks like Lagoona had, but it didn't work in her favor, and she settled for a substandard job holding them. She tried picking one up, but it fell. She tried again, and it fell again. She tried thrice, but this time, it fell over on its side. Ianthe stabbed the sushi in the middle with one of the chopsticks. Ashton sprayed water out of his nose as he guffawed at her. He covered his face with a napkin in attempts to hide his red face.
"Same, Ianthe," he laughed.
Ianthe ate the piece and gave the chopsticks back to Lagoona. "It's good, thank you," she said. "Strange, but good."
"It's raw fish," Jason said. Ianthe smiled tightly and uncomfortably as she drank her water, trying to hide the sick feeling in her stomach.
Caleen put her hands into a terra-cotta flower pot. She sunk her fingers into the soft, brown dirt. Her fingers transformed into tree roots as they absorbed the nutrients from the soil. "How did the project go?"
"Great!" Draculaura said. "We all got A's!"
"And we couldn't have done it without you all," Frankie said. Madison rolled her eyes at the cheesiness but still smiled nonetheless.
"What do you even do in that dead place?" Abbey asked.
"Spying, stalking, watching from afar instead of being put directly in the center," Iris quoted. Madison snorted as the others chuckled.
"So today, we're taking y'all to the mall," Operetta said. "Y'all are teenagers, so we're gonna act like it."
"Ooh! And there's a sale at Boo-mingdales," Draculaura said. "I could use a few more outfits."
"Draculaura, you've got hundreds of thousands of outfits that you've only worn once," Lagoona said.
"At least donate a few," Clawdeen said. "Do you even have room in your closet?"
"Of course!" Draculaura said. "There's always room somewhere."
"I still think you should clean it out before you add more," Lagoona said. "You shouldn't have more outfits than the ocean has fish."
Draculaura shrugged. "It's fine. I'll clean it out...eventually." Everyone rolled their eyes.
"What's happening now that we're alive?" Madison asked. The others looked around, not sure what she meant or how to react. "Do we stay here until we die again or is there a time limit that once we get to, we got back?"
"I guess that's up to you," Lagoona said. "Do you want to be here?"
"I don't...I don't know," Madison answered truthfully. "I'm scared. I'm scared I'll have to continue taking medicine. I'm scared I'm still going to have the entire world against me, mocking my every move. I'm scared Mark's going to come back. And I'm petrified for...well...some others I left behind."
"You really shouldn't have to worry about that one." Jason said. He stabbed a piece of chicken with a plastic fork. "He's in prison with a life sentence and no possibility of parole. You shouldn't worry too much."
"Well, I don't know so much about the life sentence...but I'm still nervous," Madison said. "What if he gets out? What if he tries to find us or Mom? What if-"
"What if, for once, you stopped making a bunch of outlandish comments and actually realized that the most you have to worry about is this," Gwendolyn said, putting her arms out and motioning to the high school around them. "And even if he did get out, we're older and stronger now. Hell, look at the guys. Just the guys. They're all ripped and can take down a bear if they wanted to."
"Well, I wouldn't say that," Ashton said, chuckling as his pride was stroked.
"Either way, them alone can take Mark down. And there's still nine more girls, who aren't exactly weak, sit-back-and-watch, dreadfully sweet, bubblegum b*tches. Well, except Lacie and Evangeline and maybe a little bit Caleen. Anyway, my point is that there's thirteen of us and one of him. We can take him down."
"Tell my anxiety that," Madison said. "But I'll keep that in mind."
Caleen felt her mind get foggy. She started getting nauseous and put her head on the table. Gabriel stroked her caramel waves.
"You okay, Calla Lily?" He asked soothingly. She simply groaned in response. "I'll be back," the angel said. Gabriel stood up and lifted her up bridal style before carrying her out of the lunchroom.
"What's wrong with her?" Frankie asked.
"She's a dryad," Deuce said. "After a certain amount of time indoors, she starts getting really sick."
"So this is odd, considering she's only been indoors about ten minutes," Jason mumbled.
"It's the biggest reason why she didn't come to Mark's as often as the others did," Madison said.
"That's a shame," Clawdeen said.
Iris shrugged. "It kept her alive."
"Almost didn't," Kira said as she flipped a page in her book. "That was almost was killed her."
"Wait, what?" Frankie asked. "What happened?"
"It was December in 2000, and we were all planning on celebrating Christmas together at Dad's house," Gabriel said.
"We were watching The Nightmare Before Christmas, and she left the room for whatever reason," Gwendolyn said. "After about ten minutes, we starting getting worried. She hadn't returned, so we went out to look for her. Mark said she left to get air or whatever, and she always did that, so we believed him. She didn't come back at all that night. Or the night after. Or the night after. We finally found her on the fourth day in the basement with bloodshot eyes. She was super weak and sick and coughed up blood and couldn't breathe and was just a total mess."
"Did Mark do that to her?" Clawd growled.
"He didn't have to do anything," Lacie said. "She's like a wind up doll. Put it into motion and sit and watch it happen. All he had to do was lock her inside, and she'd deteriorate herself."
"That's horrible!" Frankie said.
"She's usually pretty good about it though," Roxie said softly.
The table sat in silence for a moment, not sure what to say. Finally, Gabriel entered the lunchroom. He was alone.
"Caleen's still outside," he said. "She feels better now but would still rather stay out there a bit longer just to be safe."
"Does she ever take medicine when this happens?" Clawdeen asked.
"Only herbs none of us know the name of," Gabriel said, sitting down. "She's huge on botanicals."
"She'll be okay though," Lacie said. "She always is."
"But can we take a moment to realize that with us, the world's always against us," Iris said. "What if he does come?"
"Are you serious?" Jason grumbled. "This again?" He slammed his large fist on the table. "As far as he knows, we're all dead. Once he comes out, he's not going to look for us. He's going to go drink himself to death."
"Wait," Frankie said, "he thinks all of you are dead?"
"Well, except Caleen, yeah," Jason answered.
"Even Deuce?"
"Well, we all know that if he knew, he'd go after him in a heartbeat. No one is stupid enough or daring enough to tell him," Gwendolyn said. "Not even Lamia."
"Speak of the devil," Ashton said, "there she is now." The table turned around to see Lamia, Seth, and Viperine walking up to the table. Seth and Viperine took a seat next to Gabriel, while Lamia sat on the table itself.
"Where's the hippie?" Lamia asked, looking around the table.
"Outside," Kira said. "She needs the air."
"And we need the break," Ashton said, stabbing a hole into the cap of his water bottle with one of the prongs of the fork. Kira rolled her dark blue eyes and pulled the fork away from him. Ashton sprayed the water into his mouth like a water gun.
"What we need to be doing instead is learning to fit in," she said. "Learn not to make a fool of ourselves after so many years away from this place."
"True, very true," Iris agreed. "But if Frankie can do it, so can we."
"Frankie also had fifteen or sixteen years of information inserted into her brain before she actually awoke," Madison pointed out.
"Yeah," Ianthe said, "we just have the years of watching."
"And most of us are visual leaners," Ashton said. "What's to worry?"
"How about worrying about giving ourselves away?" Kira said. "Mark has friends on every corner. One slip up, and he's informed of our existence."
"There's not really a need to change your identity much though," Deuce said. "No point in dying your hair and investing in colored contacts and changing your entire name. Honestly, just your last name will do."
"And most of us already go by our mom's last name anyway," Gabriel said.
"Most," Madison pointed out. She looks over at her stepsisters. "I'd suggest switching to Roygip instead of Pallen."
Iris groaned. "I hate Roygip," she said. "I always get those dumb comments like 'Why is it Roygip instead of Roygbiv?' I dunno. Maybe Roygip just sounds better. Maybe blue is close enough to indigo and purple is close enough to violet that it doesn't matter. Ooh! Or maybe- this one's hard to grasp and wrap your mind around, but maybe it's because I don't get a choice in my last name!"
"Either way," Evangeline said, "if it means protection, do it. Why take the risk?"
"Anything that protects us," Madison said, "do it. I don't know how long we'll last here, and I'm not going back by the hands of my father again."
The bell rang, and Frankie walked with Draculaura and Clawdeen to their next period.
"Do you know where Caleen is?" Frankie asked.
"I thought she went outside," Draculaura said.
"That was an hour ago," Frankie pointed out.
"She could just still be out there," Clawdeen said. "Or maybe she's with one of the others."
"But the others are all inside," Frankie said.
"Why are you worried?" Draculaura said.
"Out of thirteen monsters, she's the only one that lived. She's stronger than she looks and can probably handle whatever's happening," Clawdeen added.
"I don't know," Frankie said. "Maybe it's my gut feeling acting up, but I'm going to go look for her. I mean, it's study hall next period anyway."
"Alright," the werewolf shrugged. "Just let us know what happens."
"Okay, I will." Frankie went through the double doors and left Clawdeen and Draculaura in the hallway.
Deuce and Cleo walked to their next period together. They held hands as the people in the hallway almost seemed to move out of the way for the power couple.
"How do you feel about them?" Deuce asked. "My siblings, I mean."
"They'll take some getting used to for sure," Cleo answered. "It's scary how much I see you in them. You and Gabriel look the exact same. You've got Ashton's sense of humor and laugh. I know you and Madison look the same, think the same, and are genuinely similar because you're twins- triplets- but it's still scary. It's insane how similar you are to all if them."
"It's not much different than the Wolf family."
"Except that it is! Everyone has a different mother and-"
"That's not true."
"It's pretty close to it though." They walked in silence for a few feet. "What's scarier is how much you were hiding from everyone."
"Cleo, you know I-"
"I know, I know," Cleo said. She looked at her feet. Her toes were painted teal rather than their usual gold. "It just makes me uncomfortable. But it makes sense the more I think about it."
"Don't think differently of me," Deuce said. He refused to look at her and instead decided on staring straight forward. "I'm the same person I've always been. Don't let this change anything. Don't let them change anything."
"I won't." Cleo said, stopping in the middle of the hallway to look at Deuce. "I promise." Her lips met his, and all of a sudden, they both heard wolf whistling coming from behind them. Deuce broke the kiss to look behind them. Ashton and Iris were cheering. Ashton's index finger and thumb made a circle while the other three fingers stood straight up, and Iris made a thumbs up. Deuce made a middle finger, and the couple kept walking. All the while, Deuce smiled to himself.
The sun shone down on the mint-skinned monster's arms and cheeks, but the wind made the air comfortable instead of hot. Frankie looked around the courtyard, desperately trying to find the girl with caramel hair. Her gut feeling told her something was up, but she desperately wanted her gut to be wrong.
She walked through the garden and the rows of trees, but to no avail. The dryad was nowhere in sight. Frankie was about to give up hope when she saw a vine of ivy snaking up the side of Monster High. The green vines looked like a ladder, and the monster had no problem climbing up them. The trail of foliage stopped at the roof, and it was there Frankie saw Caleen sitting on the edge. Her legs dangled off the roof, and her hands rested in her lap. She looked out over the land, her meadow green eyes lost in the view.
"Hey," Frankie said softly, gently, "is everything okay?"
Caleen turned around. Her eyes were red. Sad. "Just needed some time to myself is all," she said, turning back around.
Frankie took a seat beside her. "You lost your brothers and sisters. Some of them over a decade ago. Now that they're back, you're hiding up here? What gives?"
"I don't want to talk about that. About Dad."
"So you didn't feel sick because you were inside," Frankie said. "You felt sick because the conversation topic?"
"Maybe." Caleen sighed. "I don't know."
"You know you can talk to me about anything right?" Frankie asked.
"Yeah," Caleen said, "I know. It's why everyone seems to like you. You're nice. Contagiously so."
"Well, then you know you can trust me." Caleen sighed again.
"Don't tell them I told you this," the dryad said. Frankie nodded. "I'm scared this world's going to eat them alive, especially the younger ones. Lacie and Ianthe mostly." Caleen's mind wandered as she looked at the tops of all the trees. "Even the nicest ones, the younger ones, the ones that always seem happy, they're the ones hurting the most." Caleen broke her gaze and turned to look at Frankie. "How much do you know about the siblings?"
"I'm guessing not enough," Frankie said. Caleen lowered her eyebrows in sadness before looking down at her lap.
"Dad isn't our only problem," she said. "We're all fighting. Some with the people around us. Some internally. Some both."
"Are you all this cryptic?" Frankie asked.
"Do you know why Gwendolyn is as protective as she is?" The question caught Frankie off guard, but she shook her head. "It's because of her mom. Amarantha wasn't cut out to be a mother. As she was pregnant and as she raised Gwendolyn, she would ignore her. She'd drink. She'd smoke. She'd go out to parties. She'd get high. She'd bathe herself in sin. Amarantha neglected her to the point where everything Gwen learned she learned herself. How to walk. Cook. Protect herself. Everything. She knows what it's like to grow up without that maternal figure, and she doesn't want the rest of us growing up like that too. She's also the oldest. That means that the responsibility sits mostly on her. She feels like it's her job to be the mom of the group. The serious one. The protective one. The mature one. She's scared to let her guard down for a second because that second will be the time we need her. When Mark aimed the gun at Deuce that night, she took the bullet. She doesn't care what happens to herself because she knows no one else besides us cares about her anyways. But she could't live with herself if one of us got hurt. She's the protector. The mom.
"And Gabriel. He always tries to be perfect. He tries to keep the peace. He tries to be flawless. That's because he knows he's not. He's an angel, which means he's supposed to be perfect and flawless and holy. But he's also a human, which means he's sinful and evil and corrupt. With him, it's an internal battle. He knows he's not good enough. He couldn't be in heaven until he died. His mom had the choice to leave him on earth with someone else or leave heaven and stay with him. She left heaven, and he hates that. He feels like it's his fault she's not happy anymore. He thinks if he's the perfect son, it'll make her happy again. So he tries to be the golden boy to regain her love and approval. He tries to be the role model child in hopes that maybe they can go back to heaven. He's a Christian. He believes in Jesus Christ and accepted him as his Lord and Savior. He knows that's the only way to get into heaven. But something inside him tells him it's not enough and he'll never make it to heaven. The angels look down at him because he has sin running through his veins. He's a sinner by nature and by choice. He cries when he's alone. He cries because he's not good enough and he knows he's not good enough. Some days, Laila can't even look at him because he looks exactly like Mark. He hates himself for that too. He's letting this destroy him, and he tries to cover it up with a smile and false perfection, which makes it even worse.
"And we can't forget about Kira and Iris. Jedrick was a good father and all, but he didn't do anything to stop his wife when they were married. He heard his daughters' cries and left. He wanted to live in silence until he learned that he couldn't. And when he and Marisa finally divorced, he didn't question the judge that said his three-year-old daughters were living with a psychotic drug addict. He shrugged and went on living his life, only coming to get their happy, squirmy selves in the summers and their dead, cold corpses when they finally gave out. And after they died, he cut off all contact. He ignored the other two children living there. That wasn't his business. But this isn't about him. This is about his daughters. You know Kira can't see? Nope. Not at all. She can't read anything more than a few inches from her face. She's told Marisa over and over again that she needs glasses. But her mom doesn't listen. She says that she's ugly enough already and glasses will only make it worse. No guy will ever date anyone with glasses. And glasses can be expensive. Why waste the money on them?
"Kira used to be talkative, you know that? Almost as much as her sister. But Marisa beat that out of her. She learned not to open her mouth unless it was necessary. She became a recluse because it was safer that way. She'd only talk to Iris. That was until Deuce and Madison came along. They taught her to speak her mind. She opened up more and more. Progress was made, and Kira learned to laugh. But all that was quickly lost when Iris died. She was back to stage one. And Jedrick did nothing to help. Deuce and Madison tried and tried, but there was no use. She turned to books because they offered a world outside of reality. There, Kira could imagine she was safe. She could pretend that everything was okay. Up until the point where she died too.
"And Iris? She likes to act because she can pretend she isn't herself. She can pretend her mom isn't abusive. She can pretend Mark doesn't beat her. She can pretend all that is a lie. She can drop everything and just be someone else. Someone she likes better than herself. You see, those sisters believed that imagination was better than reality, and they did everything to live in that pretend world they created. Nothing we could do could pull them out of those worlds, so we let them be. They destroyed themselves before Marisa did it for real.
"How about Jason and Ashton? A young mother should be able to relate to her kids' problems. Nope. Fawn was extraordinarily young when she had Jason. She went after Mark herself. No rape involved. Her parents were pissed, but that didn't stop her from returning to him, resulting in Ashton. Fawn's parents never liked her sons. They only put up with them. Jason and Ashton knew they weren't wanted. Fawn still lived with her parents and would often leave her sons alone with them without telling them. She'd go out and party and return completely wasted and higher than a redwood. Jason and Ashton stayed with each other because Fawn was never there and their grandparents weren't their caretakers. Jason would work out constantly to become strong enough that no one would ever stand in their way. He wanted to build up the strength where no one would cross them ever again. He taught Ashton how to run farther and faster than anyone else. He said that if there came a day when people came after them, he needed to know they could run away. Jason planned on taking Ashton with him when he turned eighteen. They were the best of friends. Jason is serious for the same reason as Gwendolyn: he's older and has someone to protect. Ashton is the opposite. He's goofy and loves to laugh because he felt like he couldn't around Fawn and his grandparents. When Ashton died, Jason died with him. He'd work out even more to distract himself from the pain. He'd push all the memories of Ashton out of his life. He'd never speak about him. Try to never think about him. No amount of begging could get him back to the boy we once knew. He was planning on committing suicide to rid himself of the pain, but Mark got to him himself that same night.
"But what about Evangeline? She looks happy, right? Wrong. She's a fairy. Fairies are known to be pretty and perfect and flawless. They can't have scars or birthmarks or freckles or anything that denounces them from perfection. It was just like Gabriel. The only difference is that she didn't care. She didn't let it bother her. She didn't let it eat herself alive. Her happiness was the only thing that mattered to her. There were a group of fairies a few years older than her that would always get onto her. They'd bully her, and it wasn't the typical names and rude remarks. They'd scratch at her arms and sink their nails into her skin and tear out her hair and try to rip her wings and push her in mud and destroy her. But Evangeline still didn't care. It wasn't until her funeral that she really changed. Once you die, you can watch the world from inside the other side. The siblings all had the opportunity to watch their funeral, and everyone took it. No one knows why those fairies went to her funeral. No one knows why they cared enough to come. But they did. They talked and laughed through the whole thing. They mocked her and tore at her corpse's wings. They spit on her dead body and on her grave. It was only then that Evangeline broke. She'd hoped they'd realized their wrongs when she died, but it was the opposite. They'd been grateful for her death. The siblings who were still alive at the time and I were all there, and we were irate. Gwendolyn and Evangeline are closer than most people would think. Gwen screamed at them, and when they refuse to listen to a six-year-old's words, she grabbed them by their arms and burned them with only her hands. Third-degree. She ripped out one of the fairy's tongues and burned another's hair out at the root. They never returned and never said a word about her again. But Evangeline was still hurt. She doesn't like to be alone with fairies anymore. She won't even see her mom, Faye, because that means going through the forest and passing through fairies. She lives with Gwen for the time being, and Faye doesn't even know her daughter's alive.
"We already know a lot more about Deuce, but he's still hiding quite a bit. Before Mark and Medusa divorced, he knew something was wrong. He knew fathers shouldn't hurt their children the way Mark did. When Deuce was raped for the first time, he had no idea it was wrong. He knew it hurt like a motherf*cker and that Mark would do more harm if Medusa found out. That night, he woke up to his bed soaked in his blood. He ran to the bathroom and sat in the tub. Blood was everywhere. He screamed and cried, and Medusa found him. She knew immediately and went after Mark. They screamed and fought, and Medusa went into the kitchen and pulled out the largest kitchen knife she owned. She put it up against his neck and pressed it to his skin. Deuce begged her not to kill him, and if he hadn't, Mark would've died. Medusa tried desperately to get custody of her children when she and Mark divorced, but it never happened. Deuce and Madison were always close and relied on each other for survival. They got a ton of a*sbag comments about incest from the students at their school, but they didn't let it faze them. But Mark knew how close they were. He knew he could do more damage to Deuce if he hurt Madison. Every time he hurt them, he always did Deuce first. He'd then lock Deuce in the closet in the basement, so he'd hear Madison cries and screams. And he could do nothing about it. Madison was never in that closet- not once, but Deuce was put in there for hours, sometimes days on end. Did you know that he would cut open his skin and drink his blood when he became so desperate to quench his thirst? Did you know that he'd resort to eating the insects that crawled up the walls of the minuscule closet when he knew if he didn't eat he'd die? Did you know that he was once put into that closet for two weeks straight?
"When Madison died, he just got worse, but we all knew that, right? He tried killing himself. Not once. Not twice. Not thrice. Multiple times. Seth, Viperine, and Lamia had to stay with him until that summer after she died to make sure he didn't hurt himself. He said he saw Madison. She was always beside him. He'd talk to her, and she'd respond. They called him crazy. They said she was dead and couldn't still talk to him. And after the summer, he came back alone. He was empty. A shell. A corpse. He too had died alongside her. Mark hurt him more, but we knew that too. But he tried murdering Mark himself. That's how he got that large scar on his stomach. And Deuce became less and less himself. And we can't forget how Mark began getting arrested more and more. Deuce went to foster home after foster home. Once, he ended up with his aunt on his dad's side. She had a family reunion, and he realized how much the Jaynes couldn't stand monsters. He was dead to them.
"We like to think we know about Madison, but oh no. No, no, no, no, no. Sure, she was abused and hung onto her brother like a lifeline. But she also was a murderer. Yeah, that's right. Madison killed someone."
Frankie's eyes widened. This must've been what she wrote about in her diary entry!
"When she was eleven-"
Never mind, Frankie internally groaned.
"She and Deuce were separated. They went to different foster homes, and Madison met a boy named Elijah. His parents had died, and he was left with nothing but a picture of them. Eli and Madison became great friends. They found the good in each other that no one else had ever seen in them before. The foster parents hated them. Hurt them. Punished them. Neglected them. So one day, Madison and Elijah wanted to get back at them. Back at the world. Back at everyone who wronged them. They were going to burn the house down.
"One night, when the foster parents were sleeping, Maddie and Eli coated every room of the house in gasoline. They split up, making sure to get each room, before they met back outside. Madison lit a match and threw it on the house. It caught immediately. The foster parents didn't wake up as their bodies burned to death. If that wasn't bad enough, Elijah realized he was missing something. As Madison walked to another side of the house, throwing another lit match on it, Elijah ran back inside the house to get the picture of his parents. He went to the second floor to get the picture, and Madison threw another match at the back side of the house- the side closest to the room he was in. He screamed, and Madison knew she made a mistake. She ran back into the house. Flames engulfed every which way, but she refused to stop trying to find her friend. She was on the stairway when the wall crumbled. She couldn't reach the second floor. He burned to death, and the last thing Madison heard were his screams. She hates herself for that. She gets recurring nightmares of Elijah's screams. Of his body burning to death. She has scars and burns on her feet and legs and hands from when she ran through the burning house. She killed her friend. And she can't live with herself because of it.
"And Ianthe? She didn't live in this world, so what's she got to hide? She's seen her siblings die one by one. She's seen her brother and sister get raped. She learned by seeing everything happen to the people she loved. She grew up hearing everyone say she didn't exist. Deuce and Madison would say they were triplets. They'd talk to Ianthe the same way Deuce would talk to Madison after she died. And everyone would yell at them. Say they were liars. Say that Ianthe didn't exist. She grew up knowing she was worth less than her siblings because no one believed she was real. So she wanted to prove she was. She'd lie and cheat her way into making them believe. She'd control them from inside the other world. She'd change their mind and control their thoughts and make them believe things they didn't. One day, she put one of them into a coma. He didn't wake up for two months, and Ianthe was petrified she'd killed him. He finally woke up, but to this day, Ianthe refuses to talk about it.
"What about Lacie and Roxie? They were both young when they died, so they should be fine, right? Their mother, Ziarre, favored Lacie by a landslide. So when Lacie died, that's when the downfall occurred. At her young age, Roxie hadn't yet grasped the concept of death. She'd constantly ask her mother when Lacie was coming back. And every day, Ziarre would tell her daughter that Lacie was dead, which meant she was never coming back. One day, Ziarre snapped, and when Roxie asked, she kicked her out of the apartment, telling her to come back inside when she learned how to be a good girl. With that, she locked the door. It was December, and it was freezing out. Roxie knew she couldn't stay but didn't know where to go. So she walked to Mark's house, a risky move since he was still married to and living with Medusa, who didn't yet know about his infidelity. After about thirty minutes, a man found her and thankfully didn't do anything to her. He brought her to Mark's house. She knocked on Deuce's window, and he let her in. She slept in Madison's room. Ziarre found her the next day and was fuming. She locked her in the attic and didn't let her out until a week after. She didn't give her food or water. Like Deuce, Roxie ate the insects that lived in the attic. Mostly silverfish, spiders, and beetles. There was a leak in the roof, and rainwater dripped down into the attic, which is where Roxie drank from. When Ziarre finally let Roxie out, she pretended as if nothing happened. She began calling Roxie by her sister's name. But if Roxie did something wrong, Ziarre called her by her real name and screamed at her until her throat was sore. Roxie shied away from everything she used to be. She didn't want to be confused with her sister anymore. She hated that her mom was pretending that she was Lacie to hide the fact that her favorite daughter had died. Roxie was at Deuce and Madison's new house in Oregon when she said she wanted to dye her hair.
"She went from being the perfect girl with blonde hair to the haggard daughter with black locks. Like Lacie, she used to only know how to make clouds that were fluffy and white as snow. She knew how to make a gentle wind and light. But she abandoned that alongside her looks. She learned to make storm clouds and harsh winds and rain. She taught herself how to make tornadoes. That's why she always practices making tornados; she's afraid she'll lose the technique if she stops practicing. She's no longer like Lacie, and when Ziarre noticed this, she stopped calling her Lacie. But she also started pretending she didn't exist. She'd only talk to Roxie if Roxie asked her something. When Roxie died, she and Lacie saw Ziarre remove them from her life completely. They saw her get rid of all the pictures of them from the house. She painted their bedroom walls, over the pencil markings of their heights and over the handprints they made with paint. She sold their furniture and toys and buried the memory of them alongside them. It stung, but Roxie and Lacie refused to dwell on it longer than they had to. Roxie pretends like it doesn't bother her, but it does. And Lacie is completely hurt and betrayed by it. They too haven't seen their mother since becoming alive.
"But what about me? There's got to be something, right? Being the only one to live isn't some great accomplishment. It isn't some award or trophy or medal to be worn around. It hurts. It hurts knowing the only reason I managed to survive was because I wasn't there for them like the others were. I couldn't be. I became sick and weak when I did. I tried my best to help whenever I could, but I couldn't stay with them like the others could. I tried to be there for Deuce when Madison died. He went to a foster home that locked him outside. I got him food and medicine. When he went to the next foster home, I helped him escape. But I couldn't do much more than that. It was early March when I had a dream that Deuce died. I ran to the hospital, and I found him in the morgue. That was the worst feeling of my life. He was unrecognizable. He was a mess. And I...I'd never felt so alone. The tree spirits aren't my family; they are. It hurt. I was the last one. There was no one that could help me now. No one would help me because I wasn't there. I wasn't there when he died. I wasn't there when he needed someone. I wasn't there when he needed protection. I wasn't there. I felt darkness. Loneliness. I felt cold. I was the last. I was alone. Alone. Alone. Alone."
Frankie was in shock. There was nothing she could say to make the situation any better. Nothing would make it hurt any less. The damage had been done, and now, all she had to do was let it heal.
"I'm...I'm sorry," Frankie said.
Caleen looked down at her lap. Tears welled in her eyes. The saltwater stung them, so she blinked and released them. They fell down her petal-soft cheeks. And she was silent. "They're okay now," Caleen barely whispered. "Why can't I be?"
"How dare he take the microphone from me?" grumbled Toralei as she stepped into the brick building. "It's my d*mn project too!" After checking in with the lady at the counter, she walked to the elevator. She smashed the button, her claws scratching off the paint. She screamed and hit the elevator's cold wall with her closed fist. "It's not fair! Mr. Rotter won't even let me make up the grade!" She took a breath, trying to clear her mind as the elevator rose higher and higher. Finally, it reached the desired floor, and Toralei stepped out. Her wedges clicked on the white tile as she stomped her way across the hall. She stopped about midway through and turned to look past the bars at a man with mousy brown hair and striking green eyes. His cleft chin was hidden behind stubble, and his muscles were large. He was definitely well-built. He looked up at the feline, his green eyes hard and cold.
"Your son isn't the only one alive," Toralei said. She shoved a bobby pin into the lock. "Your daughter is too. They all are. Every last one of them." She twisted the pin and pushed the door open, but not far enough to gain attention. "And I want Deuce to pay."
Mark Jayne grinned. "And he will."
Oooh! Cliffhanger!
I hope the long wait was worth it. I know this chapter isn't as long as ones prior, but I didn't want it to be boring.
The song used in this story was "Lithium" by Evanescence
The song title for this chapter is "You" by Breaking Benjamin.
