CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

There was something strange about the woman and I didn't trust her, at all.

From the very beginning, she was very passive aggressive towards me. It stemmed from her unrequited love with James March. If he hadn't fallen in love with her in the last… eight (?) decades they had been working together in the Hotel, then it was never going to happen.

Had her anger only involved me, I would've allowed her to have her way. It didn't bother me that she tried her hardest to tear us apart because James and I were stuck to the hip – quite literally at times. Getting the children involved, however, was a completely different story. No one was ever going to hurt the kids again if I could help it.

The incident with Alex and Scarlett was enough to traumatise the poor girl. I was going to do everything in my power to prevent it from happening, again.

"If you see any strangers, you have to let us know first before you talk or go off with them. We don't want anything to happen to you," John told them.

They bobbed their small heads up and down in understanding. "We will!"

I smiled. They were good kids.

We took them out the next day to give them incentive to listen to us. It had been such a beautiful day. T he sun was burning bright, so I had to lather up Holden and myself with sunscreen and bring a large parasol to prevent any injuries.

I was sure that we looked strange, but I didn't care. I was in such a good mood that I didn't think anything was going to bring me down.

It should've clued me in that something would go horribly wrong. Peace and quiet just wasn't a part of my life.

…

My eyes snapped open and I instantly knew that something was wrong. I was not in my room, but I knew perfectly well where I was. I had been here a few times before, but only for brief moments.

It looked very different in the darkness, but I was certain I knew where I was, which meant that I knew exactly who had taken me here. I just couldn't remember how it happened.

I wiggled around and felt that both my hands and my legs were bound. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get free. The only thing I managed was rubbing my limbs raw against the thick, scratchy rope.

"Mmph!"

Fuckin' Hell!

Did they really have to put duct tape over my mouth? It was going to be a bitch taking it off.

"Mmph!"

Footsteps outside the room began to draw near, until the door opened and a familiar face came in.

She gently placed a tray of food by my feet before backing away and closing the door behind her.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Really? How exactly did she think I was going to eat that or was that there only to taunt me?

Closing my eyes, I worked on calming myself down. I had to keep a cool head, but all I could do was think of all the ways I was going to tear them apart.

It must've been a good few hours later before she finally decided to grace me with her presence.

She had the most smug look on her face. I just wanted to rip it off. "Not so fun, is it – being stuck here?"

"Mm mm mph!" I wished that she could hear just how much I hated her. I hoped that she could feel it radiating off of me.

She threw her head back and laughed. "This. This is what you get for taking my children away from me. It's yourfault that I've lost everything. Was it you who also had John fuck a man? Was that funny for you – to see me lose to a fuckin' man?"

My eyebrows rose. How did she know about that? Had she been spying on us or did he flat out tell her? Then again, we did have that moment where we had sex with her on the phone. I wished that I could've seen her expression when it happened.

"Well, you got what you wanted, but I'm going to take it all back. I'll have my baby with me… Unless John wants you dead, he'll be here with Holden, soon," she taunted.

I gritted my teeth, glaring at her and hoping that she would just spontaneously combust.

At this point, I didn't even care about legality issues, anymore. I just wanted her gone. Whether she suffered for it or not didn't matter. Her existence was a continuous risk for all of us.

She looked down at the tray of cold food. "Don't you like my mother's cooking? It's rude to not finish what is given to you."

She stepped forward and tore off the duct tape from my face. I immediately spat at her and she backhanded me. It was worth it to remove her smug expression.

"Stupid bitch!" she cursed, wiping her cheek. "If you want to starve, then starve!"

With that, she finally left me alone, but she hadn't replaced the duct tape back over my mouth. I needed to be strategic about this. If I screamed my head off, now, they were just going to remove my only weapon and no one was even going to hear me.

Maybe I could get Mary to sympathise with me. When she came by to drop off the food, she knew that this was wrong. She couldn't even meet me in the eyes.

Unfortunately, it was going to be a few more hours before I saw anyone. It was Frank this time and he was a lot less merciful.

"You brought this on yourself," he told me with a shake of his head. "My daughter is a good woman. All she wants are her children. You've done her wrong. You should've returned them back to her."

"Do you even know what she did to Scarlett?" I whispered in disbelief. "She had Scarlett and she held the girl at gunpoint, demanding to trade her for Holden. A good woman doesn't do that. She doesn't love her children; she's just obsessed with Holden. Can't you see that she needs help? There's something not right about her head."

He let out a long sigh. "No, this is on you. Everything that's happened is your fault. You've torn or family apart. When I heard that you were a user, I knew that you were going to be a bad influence. Look at what you've done to my baby and even your own brother. They're jobless because of your actions!"

I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes. "Everyone is responsible for themselves. I've learned from my mistakes years ago and look at how far I've changed from that foolish teenager. I had a very successful business. I'm making nearly seven figure salaries a year. The past doesn't define who we are, Frank. We don't have to be enemies. Don't you want what's best for the children?"

He swallowed. "I… I know about your mind games and they're not going to work on me. Children are best with their mother."

Giving me a very stern look, he left, giving me no more chances to change his mind.

How could he be so far into his delusions? Surely, anyone could see what she was doing was wrong. How was I going to convince him otherwise? There had to be a way…

I wiggled my wrist some more, wincing when the rope finally broke through several layers of skin.

Could I try to use whatever pathetic powers I had to break free?

Maybe I could generate enough smoke to trigger the water sprinkles and fire alarms…

So useful…

I let out a sigh and tied to clear my mind that way Queenie had taught me. It helped to calm me down, but really not much more than that. I wasn't even able to conjure up a wisp of smoke.

It was many hours later before Mary came back with a new tray of food and taking away the uneaten one from the day before.

"What's the point?" I croaked. "How am I even supposed to eat with my hands tied?"

I was so tired, but too uncomfortable to sleep for more than an hour at a time. I was also starving.

She shrunk away, quickly leaving the room with the scent of eggs and bacon wafting through the air.

My stomach gave a loud rumble. I would be happy with just about anything to satiate the bag of bile. I was even happy with water.

Suddenly, there were several loud bangs from within the house and shouting. Alex was angry about something or another.

"I only want what is mine! Wouldn't you do anything for me?" Her footsteps raced up the stairs. Her voice grew louder and louder and then, the door swung open.

She was in that ridiculous black dress, again. Her undo hairstyle was a mess, strands flying in every direction and her eyes were bloodshot.

"Do you think someone like her deserves happiness more than me?" she shrieked, brandishing a steak knife in her hand.

"Honey, th – that's not it at all," Mary tried to reason, staring fearfully at her own daughter. "Of course, I want what's best for you. I love you, sweetheart. Your father and I are just worried."

Alex rolled her eyes. "There's nothing to worry about. As soon as John is here with Holden, everything will be right again. We'll be one happy family."

I let out a small sigh. "Do you really think John will bring his son here, where the boy will be hurt by a lunatic woman? He has a little more common sense than that. He loves his children. He would never put them in danger."

She glared back, storming over, and pulling me up by my hair. "So you think he'll leave you here to die?"

I closed my eyes with a taunting smile. "At least I'd die protecting the people I love. I can't say the same for you."

Suddenly, there was a blinding pain somewhere on my upper body. I let out a pained gasp, my eyes snapping open to see the knife protruding out of me.

My shoulder.

She had only stabbed my shoulder. That was… kind of good, but it hurt like a motherfucker!

"Alex!" Mary cried in horror. "What are you doing?!"

"Shut up!" she snarled. "I'm teaching her about pain. It's not even a fraction of what she's put me through. Do you know what losing Holden has done to me? I'm not complete, mother. It's as if someone had torn my heart apart and she did this!"

She dropped me back on to the floor as she ripped the blade out of me. Blood flowed freely, blossoming and staining my filthy white blouse.

"You did this… You did this…" she mumbled, stumbling out of the room as if she was sleepwalking.

I curled up into a ball, trying to ease some of the agony, but nothing helped. The way my hands were tied behind my back stretched painfully at the newly made hole in my body.

Mary lingered in the room for only a minute more to stare at my pitiful state before quietly walking away. How could they go on day after day knowing that there was a bleeding captive in their home? Perhaps monsters bred monsters, after all. These people were really no better than Alex.

They wouldn't help me…

As I continued to drown in self-pity, I nearly missed the sound of the door opening again and the tiny woman came back in. Her arms cradled a large towel, bandages, and hydrogen peroxide.

She wordlessly knelt in front of my body.

I looked away when she poured the clear liquid on to the wound. Even then, I couldn't suppress the whimpers of pain. My body was beginning to shake violently.

"She's a good girl," she quietly told me. "She's just lost, right now. If only you knew her when she was a young girl. She was the smartest in her grade and whenever anyone needed help, she'd be the first one there." The tears began to fall from her face and she allowed them to drop into her lap. "Of course, I know what she's doing is horrible. How can I not, but what can I do? I don't know where we went wrong. It's like one day, I woke up and I can't recognize my own daughter anymore…"

I didn't know how to respond to that. I had hated them for so long, but now, I found myself sympathising with her. She was caught between doing what was right and her love for her daughter.

"We can… We can still have a family. Th-This doesn't have to end in bloodshed." It was a little too late for that, but this was my chance. "We can get Alex some help."

She looked down, pulling one last time at the bandages to make sure it was tight. "I'll talk to Frank and… m-maybe we can see our grandchildren again, soon?"

I nodded. "Once we know it's safe, John and I can bring them over. I know they miss you."

She finally wiped away her tears and gave me a watery smile. "Thank you. I – I'll try my best to help you out of here. You don't deserve this."

I returned her smile.

That was probably the best I'd get without pushing my luck.

I was still skeptical that Frank would be as kind about my predicament, but I didn't have much to lose at this point.

Who knew that this was the moment of my life where I would really be on the verge of death so damn often? If the drugs and alcohol didn't kill me back then, I didn't think anything would. I never though I'd end up being kidnapped in my in-laws' home.

Eventually, exhaustion overwhelmed me and the darkness consumed my world. I was alone and this place seemed all too familiar, now.

I lay on nothing until its cold body slithered up against mine.

"Madi…" Its head nudged my cheek in affection. "Madi…" There was a tone of sadness in its voice as it brushed a tendril against my wound.

"I'm alright," I sighed.

I was, at least, finally away from the physical pain here. It was strange that an eerie place like this could bring such comfort.

Sure, it was a little lonely and this creature was a little strange, but I was at peace here.

This was where I could forget about my problems.

It hummed, causing a rumble to vibrate through my body. "Madi safe…"

"Won't let anything happen to Madi…"

"Madi mine."

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Since this story is finally coming to an end (I can't believe it's over 100k words now!), does anyone want to see Madi in Roanoke? It's probably my least favourite season, but I have a bit of an idea of how I want to do it and since I didn't like much of what happened, a lot of it will probably be original work.

Thank you Brookie Twiling, BOOdalinski, guests (Guest, anonymouscsifan, Guest) for reviewing!

Brookie Twiling: Thanks for pointing out the typos and grammar mistakes! I liked Hotel waaaay more than I thought I would. Also, I think James and John would rather just give into the kids' requests for sweets rather than have to deal with them crying xD

Guest: Hehe… Whatever is Ms. Evers up to?

anonymouscsifan: I'm kind of excited and dreading the next season. Murder House will always be my absolute favourite and Cult is a pretty close second (if they only had a different ending!).

BOOdalinski: HAHAHA! Is she? :P Maaaaaybe

Guest: Thank you! I'm debating that. If there is enough interest for a Roanoke story, I'll go with it!

Thank you as well to everyone who has favourited and followed this story.

Please, leave a review if you enjoyed this!