COREY STOOD OVER THE WOBBLING WOODEN TABLE. This time— instead of grounding herbs and spices with a mortar and pestle for spells— her hands trembled as they pulled away the white sheet that covered Madison. She took in a deep breath, her shoulders rising as she stood taller. She swallowed hard and looked up at Misty. The blonde looked between the redhead and Zoe. The latter of the two secured a chain around Kyle, restraining him to a post in the farthest corner of the greenhouse.
"What can you do?" The brunette asked as she walked away from her zombie boyfriend. She moved to offer a reassuring hand to Corey. Instead, the redhead's hands found themselves weaving around Madison's locked fingers. Every inch of her body was set to become eternally doll-like unless they found a way to bring her back. Zoe's hands dropped to her sides with a sigh as she looked down at the actress. To her, the blonde didn't look restless, though she didn't seem to emit any peacefulness either.
Misty leaned close, taking in every inch of decay and rotted flesh. Her face trailed down the actress's abdomen, hovering only mere centimeters over her as she took in a deep breath, measuring her ability to bring the girl back by her sight and smell. Corey's breath caught in her throat as she watched the woman closely, forcing her bottom lip to remain still as Misty did her work. The woman sighed, leaning back into an upright position. Her gaze focused on the actress's face for a fraction of a second as she swallowed hard.
"I can help you dig a hole," she was matter-of-fact. Her eyes locked on the redhead planted across from her. Corey's brow furrowed as she blinked back her frustration. She could hear Zoe's shaky breath from the brunette's spot beside her as she tilted her head at the Cajun witch.
"She's already rotting. Plus, she's missing an arm," at Misty's quick detest of assisting in bringing Madison back, Corey's tongue slowly dipped out to drag across her bottom lip. Zoe leaned forward to speak but Corey's free hand raised to stop her, a silent plead to keep herself in check.
"I'm aware," the redhead nodded. "That's why I asked for your help." She leaned across the table, flicking away the extra fabric of the sheet that had covered Madison's severed limb. "There has to be a pumice or something that can be used as an adhesive. I don't trust Zoe's sewing skills after seeing Kyle."
"Hey!" The brunette scoffed, angrily folding her arms over her chest. "That was all Madison!"
"Have you seen his scars?" Misty rolled her eyes, her weight shifting. "You're not so hot with a needle and thread." She moved across the room, waving for the two witches to follow her towards the door. "Come on." Corey's hands fell to her sides. The disbelief rolled off her shoulders as her upper body turned to watch Misty.
Her angry eyes narrowed at the woman that looked so much like a younger version her mother. If Misty had known how much her idol had meant to the blonde— or vice versa— she would have agreed to help no matter the risks. Corey knew that for a fact.
"No," she stomped her foot. A gust of wind accompanied her bellowing voice. Misty stopped in her tracks, her brows raised at the redhead. "You have the power of resurgence." She paused. Her lip finally broke from the forceful hold she had over her emotions. Her own voice echoed in her mind, don't let the other girls see you being such a softy. She could feel the sobs that crept up the back of her throat, threatening to burst through her walls and overflow. "I can't do this on my own."
Misty stood taller, her shoulders squared as she moved towards Corey with a playful smirk across her lips. It was a look she had seen on Madison more times than she could count. The redhead swallowed hard, her breathing wavering as Misty pushed past her with her shoulder.
"Fine," the woman sighed. She pulled a jar of swamp mud from her bag. She knew she was going to help the redhead all along, but she needed to understand the urgency of the situation at hand. The questions had echoed through her mind from the moment Corey had told the woman her name.
Who is this girl?
How truly important was it for her to help bring this complete stranger back?
What would happen to her if she refused?
Or decided her powers were better used elsewhere?
Would they think she was naïve because of her unquestioned assistance?
Were these people even who they said they were?
Who is this girl in the relation to the others?
What if this girl was too far gone?
What if they couldn't bring her back no matter how hard they tried?
Misty slammed the jar of mud against the table closest to Zoe. Her eyes, however, remained locked on the musician. She shuffled to the opposite side of the table. Her focus moved to the actress that laid on the wobbling, uneven, table below her, though she looked up at Corey every once in a while. She grabbed Madison's loose, decaying limb with her bare hands.
"Hand me some of that mud," she nodded to the brunette who immediately did as she was asked. Corey looked at her with a furrowed brow, taken aback as she made a failed attempt to stand taller. She swallowed back her questions as they rose up her throat. Now wasn't the time to berate the witch that was helping without voicing her concerns.
Corey watched as Misty reset the girl's limb and slathered the swamp mud across the blonde's injuries; an attempt to seal the wounds as best as she possibly could. Her hands hovered over Madison's abdomen as Misty's fluttered around the girl's face. They both took in deep breaths as the woman's hands gently rested against the actress's cheeks.
Misty placed her cheek against Madison's, her ear against the girl's dry, cracked lips in an attempt to hear her take in a breath. Corey's hands pressed down against the blonde's abdomen. She could feel movement under her fingertips. Whatever made the actress its home was jittering and frantic, clearly unhappy over their abrupt eviction.
The swamp witch exhaled slowly. Her eyes squeezed shut in an attempt to breathe life back into the girl that rested between her palms. Corey felt the energy trickle through the girl's core and flutter up her arms. It sent a chill down her spine and she clenched her jaw as she shifted her shoulders to shake the feeling. Misty looked back at the other witch, her features worried as she shook her head.
"Too much death inside her," the blonde said sadly. Her gaze moved between Zoe and Corey as she pursed her lips. The redhead looked down at Madison, her brows furrowed as she clenched her jaw.
"No," she shook her head. The tears threatened to fall. "No, I won't give up that easily. I refuse." She looked to Zoe, the brunette already prepared and eager to help. She didn't have to vocalize her request. The girl immediately rushed to the opposite side of the table, her hands finding their place in between Corey's.
"I need you both to push," Misty said with a sad nod. Corey immediately felt the pressure of both sets of hands pressing down on the girl's abdomen. Underneath the vintage gown, millions of tiny feet ran rampant. What previously felt like hundreds of insect inhabitants under Madison's skin now felt like energy bubbling up and threatening to escape in any direction it could. Corey could feel the blonde beginning to convulse under their collective hands.
"Turn her head so she doesn't choke," she snapped. Her eyes moved from her own hands to Misty. The blonde nodded, immediately doing as she was told. The small tremors that had erupted through Madison's body came to a stop as she spat up the blood coated blow flies that had resided in her stomach. Zoe pulled back, a quiet eugh escaping her throat as she recoiled.
"Keep pushing," Misty remained focused on the actress. She watched intently as the girl took in a few gasping, struggled breaths. Immediately, Zoe's hands returned to Madison's abdomen. The woman stabilized the blonde's shoulders as she began to rock in her spot against the table once again. Corey's eyes landed on Madison's face, her features contorting into concern and sorrow as she continued to press against the girl's stomach. Misty turned and nodded to the redhead, a sign that whatever they were doing was working.
"Keep her stable, please," Corey croaked. Her eyes moved from Madison's face to Misty's. The blonde nodded in response, holding the girl in place. Corey squeezed her eyes shut as she heard Madison begin to gag, struggling to catch her breath. Her hands trailed up the blonde's stomach. She pressed her palms in as she continued to push the death up and out of Madison in the only direction it could escape.
Madison began to cough, finally getting enough of a breath to allow her shoulders to rise. A small smile peaked out at the corner of Corey's lips, overly hopeful for a positive outcome. She swallowed hard as she watched the large cockroach hurry up and out of Madison's mouth as she continued to walk her pressed palms up the girl's center. Quickly, the last of the blow flies followed. As they did, Madison's eyes flew open.
Her right hand gripped the bottom of Corey's shirt as she let out a piercing scream. It was her final state before death, her cries swallowed and muted by the bubbling of the open wound across her throat. Zoe took a step back as Misty lifted the girl into an upright position. Corey's hands immediately found themselves gently pressed against both sides of Madison's face. At the immediate contact of live bare skin, the sight took hold.
Madison flirting and playing pool, learning how to use concilium to her advantage.
Looking to Fiona for approval, constantly wanting to be told that she's good enough.
Laughing with Fiona in the back of a taxi, one arm dangling out the window with a lit pearl white cigarette between her fingers.
Stumbling into the parlor, attempting to mimic the Supreme with a toss of her cellphone and failing.
Finding comfort in the spot on the floor looking directly into Corey's office.
The pain of Fiona's forceful fingers clenching over her frail hand.
The panic, knowing there was no escape.
Fiona angrily shaking the blonde's arm, her features and her voice full of anger and determination.
Do it. Do it. Do it.
Madison stepping back, finally able to free her hand and make an attempt to find safety.
Hopeful that she can get out this situation alive.
Sharp, quick pain across her throat.
Unable to breathe, to yelp, to use her voice
Frantic hands fall against her throat, a worried Fiona struggling to hold in her crocodile tears.
Madison pulled herself into Corey's chest, her arms shaking as she finally caught her breath. The redhead stiffened for a fraction of a second before instinctively wrapping her arms around the blonde. Somehow, she'd seen more with her power than she had in the past. Madison never truly saw her own death coming. Part of her didn't believe that what the blonde had seen in the end was truthful, either.
She had known— from having seen the encounter from an outside perspective the night it happened— that Madison had been preoccupied with her own objectives: finding safety, getting away, surviving. The blonde shook against Corey's chest as she calmed down, the last of her coughs meeting the redhead's light, peachy, freckled skin. Misty continued to rub her palm up and down Madison's back, making sure everything that needed to be pushed out made its way through the proper exits.
"Holy shit," Zoe muttered. Her brows raised as she wrapped her arms around herself. "It worked." There was a light laugh that accompanied her quiet voice as she held herself in disbelief. Misty took a step back, a small smile on her face as she observed the girls in front of her. Madison leaned back, her gold eyes scanning Corey's face.
The redhead lifted a hand to cradle the side of the blonde's face as she took in a deep breath. She closed her eyes, basking in the small window of relief she allowed herself to feel in that moment. She felt Madison's hands pulling her closer, causing her eyes to flutter open. She used her thumb to push away the hair that fell into blonde's face; it clung to the blood that smeared itself across the girl's cheek.
When their lips connected it was gentle, gingerly. It took everything Corey had to hold herself back. She wanted to completely unfold. To let the blonde feel every emotion that she'd felt over the last two weeks without her. She wanted to display it all through her lips, a kiss filled with pain and despair, but she remained restrained.
Yes, she'd just watched everything that would usually send a shiver down her spine march out of her girlfriend who, before this moment, was nothing more than the butler's personal doll, but she couldn't have cared any less. She didn't notice the tears that had started streaming down her cheeks until it was too late.
"You're crying," Madison's voice was hoarse, no more than a croak that escaped her throat. Her fingers brushed away the other girl's tears with the pads of her thumbs. "Ugh, ew, and you have blood on your lips." Her nose scrunched. A crinkling sound emitted from the skin that cracked and flaked across her face. Corey smirked, a silent laugh escaping through her nostrils.
"And you have blood all over you, but you don't see me complaining." Her eyes narrowed at the blonde, a playful tone in her voice as she shook her head. There was a spark in her green eyes that had been absent without the other girl— something the coven as a whole had noticed as she fell through her escalating downward spiral.
Kyle let out a loud groan, the same tone and pitch as when he had been yelling inside of Misty's shack. His chains shook against the pillar, loudly clattering and clanging as he demanded attention. The four witches turned, their eyes landing on the zombie frat boy restrained in the corner.
"Oh fuck," Madison muttered. Her voice was barely a whisper. "It really did work." Her gaze landed on her feet before shifting to the ground beside her. She paused, shaking her head as Corey's hands rested against her sides. The redhead looked up at Misty. Her features had softened as she mouthed a silent 'thank you' to the other witch. The woman bowed her head, a single hand raised as a nicety.
"I need a cigarette." Madison let out a groan. One arm loosely snaked back around Corey's waist as she let her head thud against the girl's chest. The pout across the blonde's lips was heard in her voice; a cranky whine as if she was an overtired child. Within seconds, Corey was fishing the blonde's pack of cigarettes from the front pocket of her black stonewashed jeans. She flipped the pack open with one hand for the other girl to slowly remove a stick.
Corey lit the pearl white stick for the actress. She knew Madison wasn't strong enough to light it by herself. She was barely strong enough to hold her own head up against the other girl's chest without being almost completely supported by the musician. Corey rested her chin against the top of the blonde's head as Madison leaned all of her weight against her front. Her arms tightly hugged the fragile girl as one of the blonde's arms remained loosely draped around her side.
If it weren't for the musician, Madison would have nothing holding her in place. Nothing supporting her full weight only moments after resurrection. She didn't dare think about what else could have happened if it weren't for the other girl. Instead, she remained thankful that the redhead was able to find her, to find other witches to help her, knowing that it took the energy and power of three Salem witches to bring her back from the complete nothingness she had been trapped in.