Chapter Thirty Six
And as the world comes to an end
I'll be there to hold your hand
Because your my King and I'm your Lionheart
Of Monsters & Men – King and Lionheart
Something was wrong, Maddie could feel it in her racing heart as she jolted awake, her muscles knotted with tension as she lay there in the dark drenched in sweat. Her pulse was racing she could feel it thrumming through her veins, the rush of blood vibrating through her ears as she sat up in her lonely double bed. She placed the palm of her right hand to her thudding heart, feeling the panic surge through her like electricity.
Something was wrong.
She didn't know how she knew or what it was but she could feel this burning urgency building up within her bones as her hand moved to the lamp on the night stand, flicking the bulb on and bathing her bedroom in a low, soft light.
Sean, she thought, something was wrong with Sean.
Maddie could feel his agony vibrating through every fibre of her being like a scream. His anguish was bubbling up underneath her skin, flooding her senses like a nightmare. She was out of bed in an instant, her dainty hand snatching up her side arm off the chestnut night stand and fastening it to the SPD sweat pants she had worn to bed that night. She didn't remember grabbing the faded black N7 hoodie from the back of the couch and zipping it up over her purple Batgirl T-shirt but she became aware of the fact she was wearing it as her car keys bit into her skin as she ran down the driveway to her car clutching them in a death grip.
It didn't matter that Sean had left her and the two of them had barely spoken in the past six weeks. She pushed all of that aside because she knew deep inside that Sean needed her right now and she was going to be there come hell or high water. His anguish tore at her like claws, stabbing into her skin and scratching at her heart. Maddie threw herself into her car jamming her key into the ignition it and turning it before putting both hands onto the steering wheel and putting her foot down on the gas pedal.
She did not want to consider how many speeding laws she had broken on the way through the duration of the drive over to Sean's apartment. She was lucky she didn't get stopped on the way over. Maddie had barely pulled up to the building before she she tore open the door of her Ford and spilled out onto the side walk. There was a Radio Cab pulling up behind her car, she barely registered it as she literally collided with someone else who was hurriedly leaving the building. She muttered a sorry before raising her eyes surprised to see her own face staring back at her.
There was a moment where the two women stood still in shock, one Madaline Hart to another. The other Maddie was better dressed than her, she found herself acknowledging as a wave of nausea crashed over her. In fact the other Maddie was practically glowing, her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were bright and feverish as a perverse, twisted smile graced her pert pink lips.
"He's all yours." the other Maddie told her, her tone sickly and sweet as she patted Maddie in an almost sisterly way upon the shoulder before climbing into the Radio Cab.
Maddie stood there on the pavement, her jaw hanging open as she watched the Radio Cab pull away from the curb and pull out into traffic. She was bewildered, her brain stumbled over what she had just seen, trying to make sense of it all. A stab of uncontrollable terror tore through her once more and Maddie switched her focus back to the task at hand. She was in motion once more, using her good arm to barge through the glass doors before she thrust her shiny police badge in the face of the security guard perched at the main desk. She took the stairs two at a time, her weaker left arm clutching the polished bannister as she hurtled up them after deeming the elevator far too slow.
Her Glock was already in her hand when she got to Sean's floor, it felt solid and familiar like an old friend and once more Maddie's police training took over as she checked the hallway for any other unwelcome guests. There was nothing she wanted more tight now than to burst into Sean's apartment but it would do neither of them any good if fake Maddie had left a surprise for them.
The door was a ajar and that had never been a good sign in any situation that she had been in. She could feel that sickness raising up again in her stomach as the apprehension grew, making the air thick with tension. There was dread building in her chest and she found it almost oppressive as she nudged the door open with the nub of her gun before allowing herself to peer thorough.
"Sean." she called, her voice quivering slightly as she stepped even further into his barely lit apartment.
There was a low, rough groan from in front of the couch that sent Maddie's hackles raising in a way that was almost otherworldly. It was followed by a violent animalistic snarl that made Maddie's blood practically freeze in her veins.
Wesen, she thought, her finger tightening on her trigger of the Glock. It occurred to her that she would be ill equipped to deal with this situation if it went south. If it had managed to get the drop on Sean who was a skilled hand to hand fighter in the prime of his physical condition then she wouldn't stand much of a chance with one weak arm. That didn't stop her from trying though, if Sean was in here injured and hurt somewhere then the Wesen would have to get through a rain of bullets to stop her from reaching him.
Maddie edged around the side of the couch, her vision barely landing on the naked man in front of her before she was slammed into the cream coloured wall so hard, she saw stars when her head smashed into it. The Glock slipped from her lithe fingers as she impacted the wall, spinning across the laminate floor and sliding straight under the glossy coffee table. There was barely a second for Maddie to register what was happening before a forearm was jammed under her chin, applying enough pressure to her wind pipe to disable her completely. She was acutely aware of the nude body pressing along the length of her own, it pinned her in place leaving her completely helpless in the face of her attacker.
The face was one she recognised, both the Wesen and the man underneath. Sean Renard was glaring back at her, his breath coming in wavering pants as his face twisted into something Maddie could only describe as corpse like. Half of his face looked as if the flesh had been stripped away leaving her to see the crooked, ragged, pink scar like skin underneath. The left side of his mouth drooped down revealing yellowing teeth under the ruined facial muscles.
Hexenbiest, she found the word springing to mind as she took in this darker version of her lover. Nick had showed her the pictures in his book when he'd been telling her about Adalind. There were implications there, ones she couldn't deal with right now. Instead she met Sean's cloudy black eyes with her own, there was nothing there beyond the monster. She knew something had happened and her brain was putting the pieces together from the brief glimpses she had managed to get before she had been attacked.
"Sean." she hissed through barely parted lips appealing to the man on the other side of the monster. "Sean your hurting me."
"Good." he croaked through his cracked lips. His voice was different in this form, it was deeper, more primal. "You deserve this."
He exerted slightly more pressure against Maddie's windpipe causing a choked gasp to escape her lungs, her athletic body wrenching against his as she struggled to breath.
"You should have killed me." Sean snarled Maddie as her nails raked across his forearm tearing at his flesh. "You should have slit my throat after you raped me."
The words hit Maddie like a sledge hammer as her detective's mind finally put the puzzle pieces together. She suddenly understood what had caused Sean to loose all sense of control and let the monster free. There were so many emotions bubbling up inside her at that revelation and she struggled to push them down as she faced her lover head on, trying to maintain some air of calm.
"I'm not her." Maddie told him through grinding teeth making eye contact with the monstrous version of her lover. There was rage in those fathomless depths, so much rage that Maddie wasn't sure that she would be able to get through to him. "I'm the real Maddie, I'm the one that loves you Sean."
"Don't say that." Sean spat venomously, the spittle landing on Maddie's cheek. The cracking of plaster echoed through the air as he slammed his fist against the wall next to her head making her flinch. "You don't get to say that."
"You left me Sean." Maddie found her voice raising an octave as she stared met his dark eyes once more. "You left me and the past six weeks have been a living hell. So if you want to lash out go ahead because you can't hurt me more than you already have. There is no physical pain that will even come close to what the two of us are going through."
There was silence between the two of them for a moment as they stared at each other. Maddie wasn't sure if he was processing the information or contemplating the best way to kill her. There was nothing in his ragged features that gave away his thoughts, it wasn't until he moved his arm away from her throat that she realised he believed her. Sean turned his back to her, she could see his naked elegant shape in the dim lightning and she realised that when the monster came out to play it wasn't just his face that changed. She could see his ivory ribs and the vertebrate of his spine protruding from the grey, crumpled looking skin. The monstrous part of him looked old, practically ancient and vaguely she wondered which one of his parents he had inherited this from.
"You need to run." he said, his voice distant and cold. "You need to get out of here and stay as far away from me as you can."
Maddie bent down and scooped up the royal blue dressing gown from the floor. It felt warm and familiar underneath her fingertips, her eyes lingered on the uncapped syringe resting on the glossy coffee table and felt a surge of toxic rage beginning to swell in her gut. She remembered what it was like not to be in control of yourself and now she saw how the other Maddie had managed to subdue her lover. She knew what it felt like to be violated and she knew that Sean was shutting down so he could try to process the attack. He needed to do that in environment where he felt safe and right now this apartment was a crime scene, one that only the two of them would know existed for the moment. Wordlessly she handed him the dressing gown, watching as he pulled it on over his powerful shoulders and tightened the belt on his waist.
"I'm not going anywhere." she told him, surveying the rest of the room and cataloguing the evidence. "This doesn't change things."
Sean didn't react to her comment and Maddie hadn't expected him to. Right now Sean needed someone in his corner and that was her. She would fight for him and she would protect him no matter what.
"We can't report this." He said suddenly, the cop in him pushing to the surface and recognised this as his way of distancing himself. He didn't want to be a victim and he wanted to limit the damage that the attack could cause on a much wider scale. "It'll change everything and I can't let that happen. I won't let that happen."
Maddie wasn't sure what that meant but she assumed he meant his career, he was right it would change things. People would know and he would feel judged by them the same way as she had when she'd returned after her own attack. The fact he was a male who had been sexually assaulted would make everything worse, especially with his position in authority. Male sexual assault was still a taboo topic in some ways and there was a stigma that came with it even thought there shouldn't be.
"Your face is on the cameras." Sean stated suddenly, holding his arms across his chest. He knew that he was erecting a barrier and she understood that, Lord knows she did the same thing after Capra. "If we report this, it will be you they come after."
Which made everything all the more complicated, how could they explain that another woman had come to Sean's apartment wearing her face. When she thought about it logically, Maddie had no alibi, she'd been home alone sleeping when the attack had occurred with no one to collaborate her story.
"How do you want to proceed?" Maddie asked him, looking to the Captain in him for a way forward. This was his decision and she would back his play no matter what the choice.
"Get rid of it." Sean said, the harshness in his tone the only thing that betrayed how he felt about the prospect. "Get rid of the evidence."
"I'll handle this." Maddie uttered soothingly, gesturing to the soiled couch covers and the uncapped syringe. "You get a few things together, you can't stay here tonight."
"I need a shower." he responded, his voice devoid of emotion as he tilted his head away from Maddie's kind gaze. "I need to get her off me."
"Ok." Maddie said in a gentle tone. "Take your time. I'll be here when you get out."
Sean didn't speak, he simply walked into the bedroom, closing the door quietly behind him. Maddie reviewed the evidence in front of her before cataloguing her next steps before her gaze slipped back to the closed bedroom door. She didn't have the first clue on how she could begin to make this right.
Hi guys, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. King and Lionheart is one of my fav songs and it always inspires me to write about this couple. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to review and like this story. I sincerely appreciate it and will be back to normal review replied during the Christmas period.