AN: I haven't started ward yet, but I've been poking around through Glowworm. It's interesting to me that Madison was the only one to feel remorse for the Bullying. Sophia didn't care and Emma tried to rationalize it to the end. This is just Madison feeling remorse far earlier than in canon. This chapter, and the next few, are really short for what they are, at just over 1k words. Interlude 1.c is the longest at nearly 2k. I've been trying to decide if I want to post them weekly or not since they're so short, but I'm still not done with Arc 1 by this point, so that's probably what I'll do. Anyway, enjoy.

Madison stared at herself in the bathroom mirror. Her eyes were dull and lifeless and she felt like she was getting bags from not sleeping well. She pulled down on her cheeks to widen her eyes. Her sclera were red despite her not crying. She couldn't really muster any actual emotion recently. She could fake it, that wasn't hard, but it was tiring. Constantly putting up with the social vultures she tentatively called friends. Putting on the cutesy act all the time to maintain her status. Bullying Taylor Hebert. It drained her.

All of it made her feel so… So hollow. At first she'd joined in on bullying Taylor because it was basically free social points. She got to be with the popular girls and free from their wrath, as well as being protected from anyone else who may try to come after her. It was little pranks at first. Pencil shavings in her hair, spilling stuff on her, calling her names. Generally school yard things. Then it all started escalating. She'd gotten a top spot with Emma and Sophia and now she had to constantly work to maintain it. That included thinking up bigger and more damaging pranks and spamming her email accounts with horrid messages. The longer it went on, the more empty she felt.

Now, she could barely muster the emotion needed for a frown, let alone a genuine smile. She brought her hands down and pulled the edges of her mouth up into a smile. She forced her muscles to stay there. She looked so wrong. A forced smile anyone should have been able to see. Sure, it looked real at a glance, but staring at her face in the mirror, just looking at the smile for more than a second, she could see it wasn't in her eyes.

She sighed, sagging down as the tension in her body released. Hanging out with Emma and Sophia was a job in and of itself. The former was a sociopath, having seemingly thrown away her emotions to be "strong". As if mocking someone for being sad that her mother died was strength. As if systematically torturing someone you grew up with was strength. As if shoving someone in that…

She shuddered at the thought of the Locker.

She almost broke down when Taylor hadn't been back to school for almost a month. She'd almost thought she had a hand in killing Taylor. She wouldn't be able to live with that. Sophia had threatened her pretty severely to keep her mouth shut in case Taylor did actually die. What kind of sick motherfucker threatens to string up someone's cat? Psychopaths do that. That's what Sophia was. No remorse for anything she did and no problem hurting others who didn't align with her world view. The only reason she hadn't been on the receiving end of Emma and Sophia's wrath was because she continued to play the role of "Predator".

She thought back to Taylor and Sophia's fight earlier that day. She actually felt a bit amused at how things had played out. She had seen Mr. Gladly watching and doing nothing and almost found herself gagging at the smile on his face at catching Sophia when Taylor had sent her through the door like a Matador dodging a bull. Emma had seemed a little satisfied at Taylor talking back while Sophia was obviously just mad about it. Especially the animal comment, but she'd more than earned it at this point.

Madison flopped back onto her bed and looked around her room. It looked like a child lived here. It was why she'd never invited Emma or Sophia over after the first time. They made fun of her stuffed animals and all the things she liked. The fact they didn't seem to be joking was the first time she really questioned their friendship. The constantly escalating abuse of Taylor had made her realize she didn't really want to be friends with them. She just didn't have a way out at this point.

She lazily reached her arm over and tapped play on her CD player. The most recent album from her favorite boy band wasn't all that great, but it was better than being left to the crushing silence of her room to stew in how empty she felt. The music didn't really help her emptiness, but it let her not think about it for a little while. The ability to just stop thinking would be one she'd welcome with open arms. Maybe then she could play her part without all the guilt. Maybe then she wouldn't feel so bad about the lengths she took to stay where she was in the social hierarchy. She couldn't decide if the fact she even felt guilt in the first place worked to partially absolve her of her sins, but it wasn't a question she ever felt like lingering on.

While the music played she felt herself drift away. The light and sound and feeling of her bed faded away, leaving her floating in a massive void. There was nothing but her and she had never felt more at home. The weightlessness of the void and the comfort of just being with no peripheral thoughts or worries of what was to come. No guilt over the things she'd done or her dwindling will to continue to do those things. It was moments like these that she lived for now. Moments were she could just drift away and let all her worries and troubles fade into the ether. It was the most relaxed she'd been able to feel recently.

Suddenly, like a bolt of lightning, She snapped up, suddenly back in her room.

She couldn't be sure what the sensation was, but she felt… Different was too broad to describe it. She still felt hollow, empty, numb, but now she didn't mind it. In fact, it felt like it served a purpose now. Standing, She drew a finger across the air, unsure what she was trying to accomplish. Until the line appeared. The air in front of her snapped open with jagged rectangles shaped like the gaping maw of some horrible monster. But she didn't fear it. She wasn't capable of that anymore.

She stepped through with no real consideration of what was on the other side.