I'm baaaaack!
To:
Anna: thank you for reviewing! And yes, I am a total Jaddie shipper too! Thank you for your kind words and support keep on reading and reviewing!
FanFicLover32: man, I love your reviews! I'm glad you were laughing in the last chapter (hope that's a good thing!) and yes, shit is about to go down! Keep on reading and reviewing your support!
Cap92A: I have my reasons for choosing pink… trust me, I'm not going crazy! I hope this chapter'll be a little scarier and I tried to make the Pure's more weird and creepy! Keep on reading and reviewing, I love your feedback!
Hp head: there might be a rescue gone wrong… ;) and yes, I too think the colour pink would be awful! Please keep reading and reviewing, I appreciate it!
Nina98155: nothing ever goes well for Maddie ;) keep reading and reviewing!
Readeverystory: I love cliffhangers… and I'm afraid one is coming up… ;) keep reading and reviewing!
BIG BOMBSHELL coming up ;)
Chapter 31: Pink is still everywhere…
Tyler, Lysandra and Lysandra's sister escorted me through never ending corridors. They all looked the same – boring, made of pale pink brick. Occasionally, we'd pass a steel door. We walked and walked until we came to a fireplace. It was positively huge. Surrounded by majestic, white marble streaked with grey. Lavish gold adorned the edges and the flames danced pink. I couldn't smell any smoke. The fire didn't crackle. It was… eerie. I'll admit, shivers went down my spine… which made me think of James.
James.
Oh my lord, I missed him so much. It felt like there was a gaping hole in my chest and a permanent lump in my throat whenever I thought of him.
No. I wouldn't cry. Not in front of… of these disgusting people. These… so called 'Pure' people.
They pushed me forward and I fell to my knees from the sudden movement. A jolt went through my legs as my knees stung from the impact.
"Ok, Lysandra can go first. She can scout ahead and give me the all clear. Make sure She is ready. Understand?" the older sister asked Lysandra.
Lysandra nodded. "Understood. Oh, and Peter gave me a message to tell you. It was 'if you come back alive, find me immediately'," each word she said made the older girl pale. Lysandra frowned. "Allie? Are you ok?" she asked, the older sister (Allie) looking up.
"Go! What are you waiting for? Your mission is on the line," Allie snapped, making Lysandra wince as she walked into the fire place, throwing down sparkly floo-powder, I assume.
"PHQ Australia," she said clearly as she disappeared into the pink flames. Pink flames? Pink bricks? Pink walls? Sparkly floo-powder? That weird, sparkly mist that knocked me out before? What kind of evil person is that deranged to think that sparkles and pink stuff would scare me? Honestly, I think all the pink and sparkles was the reason I wasn't as scared as I should've been. Don't get me wrong, I was suuuuper scared but… not as much I should've been in a life-or-death situation.
It was a couple of agonizing minutes before Allie looked down at a simple gold ring on her right hand. She nodded. "I'll take the prisoner. Tyler, you come immediately after," Allie snapped, yanking me forward.
She wasn't smiling anymore. We stepped into the fire place, the cool flames licking my ankles, making me tingle.
"Sydney Back Beach," she said as she threw down sparkly powder. My eyes widened – Sydney Back Beach… that's the beach right outside AIM.
Suddenly, I had a very bad feeling about what this mission was.
LINE BREAK
I couldn't watch. I couldn't. Even when one of the Pure's guarding me started threatening me, I couldn't watch as they vandalised AIM, bodies falling and the buildings burning.
The smell of smoke filled my nose and it stung my eyes as I looked down at my feet in the sand on Sydney Back Beach. I was about one hundred meters away from AIM, but I had a very clear view of what exactly was happening. At first when I'd arrived here, we popped out of some bon-fire in the middle of the beach, surrounded by Pure's, AIM a mere speck in the distance. Fear had gripped me so hard, unfallen tears had started pooling in my eyes and my breath quickened. I couldn't see any of the Pure's faces' as they were covered in that black mist like when some of them had captured me and Al.
Allie had dragged me over to a small group and gave them orders to 'make me watch' and to 'never let me go'. She'd then told everyone to… to destroy AIM as much as possible in their given time frame. It seemed as if within the Pure's there were smaller groups – and each person in each group had the same coloured hair. I recalled what Tyler had said, about hair colour meaning ranking. I saw Tyler with only a few more people with that metallic, silver hair (probably pretty high up in the ranking system). Lysandra stood among a large group of young people with pale pink hair (I'm guessing pale-pink meant a very low ranking). There were groups of teal hair, green hair, blue hair, red hair, purple hair, a very small group with gold hair, only three people were in the hot-pink hair group but Allie was the only one with that inky, navy-blue hair. The large men that held me had jet-black hair. It was… disturbing, seeing all that colour and seeing so many different people of different races and ages be a part of the Pure's.
A loud crashing sound shot through my thoughts. Tears started falling from my eyes. They were destroying my school – my home.
And I couldn't do anything, not when the thought of Al stuck at PHQ ran over and over in my head. Not to mention the men that held me captive were nearly three times my size.
Why were they making me watch? Why were they doing this?
One of the guards yanked on my now-pink hair and I screamed as I was forced to look through the broken window in the distance.
And then I saw them. Exactly as it had been in my dream. And my heart stopped in my chest. Max and Sadie dragging a dirty Able between them. Jeremy shielding Colleen, his wand out as he fired spell after spell that were all deflected by a huge Pure. I started sobbing. I saw the Pure fire a spell that made Jeremy fly into the wall. He slid down and I swear I could hear the glass crunching under him.
My hand flew to my mouth as I saw him stumble, trying to get up. Colleen fired spells at the Pure until one found its mark. He went stumbling back as Colleen flung herself on top of Jeremy, holding his face in her hands as she tried to help him stand. He stood up shakily and pulled Colleen as he limped down a corridor and out of sight. My respect for Colleen suddenly sky-rocketed.
The attack went on longer and longer. From my limited view, I couldn't see much – only one corridor through a broken window.
To my horror, a few bodies lay there, not moving. If they were dead, I couldn't tell.
And written on a wall in huge, block letters was the word 'Pure'.
And under it, a whole sentence:
'We declare war on any impure creature and whoever stands beside them'
I started shaking and sobbing and crying and wailing and screaming.
And I also started hitting and punching and whacking and kicking the strong Pure who held me. Suddenly, he released me from his grip and I fell to the sand. I saw boots start walking towards me. Hands gripped me as I was hauled up. The face of who had picked me up came into view.
Tyler.
He was dirty and covered in soot. It dawned on me he had been in AIM – he had been there, firing those spells and destroying my home. "Leave us. I'll attend to the prisoner. Complete Mission No. 76 please," Tyler said coolly to the men who had held me as they sprinted back towards the giant bon-fire in the distant beach. Mission no. 76? What's that?
"You dickhead!" I spat in his face as I started flailing, trying to be free of his iron grip.
What is with the Pure's and their creepy strength?
"Stop struggling. Relax. We didn't kill anyone. Unless they stand with the Impure's, we don't kill. It's a rule," he said, trying to soothe me.
"As if that makes it any better! You attacked helpless and defenceless kids to… to make a point and to send a message! You're messed up. You make me sick," I shouted, spittle flying everywhere.
Tyler's stone face showed no emotion. "Finished your 'heroic' rant? Good. Well, now we have a plan. And you're going to play along. I'm taking you back to Allie. Hopefully our little display just proved to you what we can do. Don't do anything stupid – we do have Albus. In cell block five. Cell thirty-four, if I'm not mistaken. And we can just as easily grab some people from AIM if you're not co-operating. Now, come," he said as he pulled me along the beach back towards the bon-fire. But, the bon-fire was bigger and the crowd of Pure's seemed to be cheering and dancing around it. And then it hit me – it wasn't grey smoke that flew into the air. It was multi-coloured.
"What is that?" I whispered as Tyler pulled me along.
"That, is Mission No. 76," Tyler told me, not even turning to look at me as he kept on ploughing through the sand.
Dread filled my stomach. I had a very, very bad feeling I knew what Mission No. 76 was… and what was burning in that huge bon-fire. A tangy, metallic, fishy smell filled the air. My head was filled with agonizing pain as I saw the same image I'd seen before and it made me scream-
A pile of broken mermaids, their once beautiful faces mangled, cut and bleeding. And they were burning, their colourful tails emitting the strangest, multi-coloured smoke…
I froze, sobs wracking my body. Tyler stopped, looking back at me. "What?" he said, concerned.
"You burned them. You killed mermaids… and then you BURNED THEM!" I screamed, hot anger rising inside me. "They are gentle creatures of THE SEA! And you BURNED THEM? You are disrespectful and I can't even bare to look at you! Or… or even be near you!" I screamed at him, pulling myself free from his grip. Stunned from my outrage and sudden strength to break free, he froze.
I saw my chance and ran. Ran away from the mangled bodies of the mermaids and the crowd of Pure's. But the smell… the smell of burned flesh and fish… the overpowering saltiness made me sick to my stomach – literally.
I fell to my knees, gagging and vomiting up anything I had left in my stomach. Mostly bile and the little bit of water they'd given me earlier.
Tyler was suddenly there, pulling my hair back, his warm fingers grazing my neck. I flinched from the touch and pushed him away.
"Don't… Don't touch me!" I yelled, scrambling back on the beach. I didn't get very far until Tyler was suddenly there. My mouth gaped open. "How… how are you so fast? And strong? It… it doesn't make sense… it doesn't add up…" I whispered in fear as he stood over me. Fear of him gripped me so hard I didn't even realise I was starting to feel extremely hot and lightheaded. A pain was growing in the front of my head and it was only when it felt like a knife was stabbing me repeatedly in the brain did I realise something seer-y was happening. I screamed, doubling over on my knees, gripping my head as hard as I could. The pain… it was unbearable… I couldn't take it… I was going to die… my throat was sore from screaming… and I gasped as my back arched and I felt myself break-
And suddenly I didn't know my name. Gasping, I stood up and gripped onto the silver-haired man's shoulder in front me. He tried to pull away but I was stronger.
I took a huge shuddering breath, pain rippling through every inch of me.
"The descendant of the Chosen One will be the one tasked with the final blow… But She will not go down without taking another along with her… As the End near approaches, Time is running out for the Snake and the Lion… If the Snake and Lion do not set aside Pride She will forever reign… it is the descendant's choice…"
I took one more breath and felt the pain leave me-
As I sagged to the sand, my knees buckling.
"What the hell was that? Snake's and lion's… what just happened?" Tyler asked, his voice sounding extremely rattled.
I glared at him, shaking my head. "What are you going on about? Just… just let me go! I need to make sure Jeremy is ok…" I trailed off, my throat closing up. I knew I needed to run, to hide from Tyler.
Tyler frowned. "I told you, we didn't kill anyone! But back to whatever just spurted out of your mouth… can you please explain what happened? And… now you're running away. Why? Why do you make this so difficult? Petrificus Totalus," Tyler fired the spell at me as I started stumbling away from him. I screeched as I fell to the ground. I couldn't move. I hate Tyler! I hate him! I hate his gods' damned pretty face and his bloody awesome hair and this stupid Pure cult shit!
Tyler walked over and looked down at me. "Like I said before, Allie needs to brief you on the plan before time has run out."
Then he picked me up and carried me bridal-style to the group of Pure's surrounding the burning mermaids. I tried kicking him and hitting him and cursing him but all I could do was lie there like a potato.
Harrumph.
As we neared the group, my anger turned to fear as all the Pure's started leering at me in Tyler's arms.
"Honestly, Tyler. Did you have to bind her?" Allie said, her pretty face coming into view. The smell of burning mermaids was overwhelming and I almost vomited. I would've if I could've.
"She was running. She wasn't going to stop even for Al. Well, she might've but I binded her before I could find out," he drawled in that god-awful voice.
"Well, at least she can hear our plan. Pure Team Blue tasked with burning the library should be returning shortly – they are the last team meant to return back here. They will wreak havoc for a while longer while we set our plan up. Our plan is to basically rid the world of any magical creature that is a threat to our daily lives. And how we plan to do that… well, that's none of your concern. Now, we need you to do one thing for us. Just one teeny, tiny favour," Allie said, her smile returning. Ugh. Bitch. I would've slapped her if I could move.
"Shall I bring her back to PHQ Australia? Or should we do Plan No. 133 here?" Tyler asked.
Allie frowned and tilted her head. "Would it be more dramatic if she stood in front of a destroyed AIM or a burning pile of dead mermaids?" Allie contemplated.
She. Makes. Me. Sick.
And what was she even talking about?
"I think tied up in front of the mermaids with AIM burning in the distance would be great!" Tyler said, his voice chipper.
He was talking about fifty dead mermaids and a burning school full of children like… like it was Ben Hur!
Allie smiled. "I knew She liked you for a reason. Ok, set it up," Allie dismissed as she turned to address the Pure's. Tyler motioned for the rest of the silver haired group to follow him. Their faces were still masked behind black mist so I couldn't make out any features to tell anyone when I escaped.
If. If I escaped. There was a chance I wasn't getting out of that situation… but I threw that thought to the back of my mind and tried thinking positively.
Yeh…
Kind of hard to do when you're being held captive and can't move.
Tyler set me down in front of the mermaids and I felt something inside me break – these were innocent creatures who had been slaughtered. Why? I still didn't know. To prove a point? For fun?
He un-binded me but quickly tied me up, my hands behind my back and feet tied under me as he positioned me on my knees.
"Ok, Maddie. Look right at the camera – and smile!" Tyler said, pointing to a silver-haired person who was holding a camera. I looked right at the lens and glared.
Tyler pouted. "Now, Maddie. Say cheese! For Albus!"
Albus… they still have him…
I cursed under my breath and broke into a small smile. It was probably pained and unattractive. My dry lips ached as they cracked and split open, the salty taste of blood lingering on my tongue.
"Better, Maddie! Better! Now… show me, Abercrombie! How about Victoria's Secret?" Tyler mocked, laughing at his own joke.
Ha. Ha. Ha.
I wasn't laughing.
The camera person nodded and showed Tyler the result who grinned, his perfect teeth gleaming. "Excellent! She will be very glad. Send that to PHQ immediately. Ok, let's get Maddie back to PHQ Australia so we can finish the plan. Let's roll!" Tyler said happily as two men with jet-black hair hauled me up and dragged me after Tyler.
I'm guessing jet-black hair meant thug-ranking. Strong, ox-like but probably not too bright.
I sighed, going for the 'pretty prisoner who is silently strong and forever looking into the distance'.
Instead, I coughed, sand scratching my throat as my eyes turned red from the wind. "Buhagghhh…" I screeched, my throat scratchy as spittle flew everywhere. My ankle rolled and I awkwardly stumbled until I found my footing.
I heard Tyler snort.
Fuck him.
LINE BREAK
PHQ Australia was exactly the same as the real PHQ back in England… at least, I think PHQ was in England…
And before you ask, no, I don't know where PHQ Australia is. They knocked me out again with that silver-shimmery-mist-thingy. I woke up, tied to a chair with Tyler sitting across from me. My eyes cracked open as he grinned at me.
"She wakes! Finally! Ok, how is your throat? Sore and scratchy from little water?" he asked.
"Yeah," I croaked, my voice basically a thin crumble of words.
Tyler grinned. "Perfect! Water and food will be available after you finish our simple request. Remember, we still have the Potter boy," Tyler said, his eyes glinting knowingly.
Prick.
"What do you want?" I mumbled, still sore and tired from the past couple of days of captivity with little food and water. Plus, I was still emotionally drained from the AIM experience.
"Just simply say the words written on that piece of paper in front of you. And then, you're done! Back to solitary confinement! Or prison. However you wanna phrase it!" Tyler said, motioning to the paper in front of me.
I quickly scanned it, my heart beating faster and faster. I… I couldn't read that.
But they have Albus…
My heart wrenched as I locked gaze with Tyler. "I'll do it," I said, my voice scratchy.
Tyler grinned.
Silence ensured.
What do I do? Do I say it? Do I wait for him to say something? Is someone else going to come in?
You know, I never was taught how to handle hostage situations. It's not as simple as it is in the books or movies.
More awkward silence.
"Are you gonna say when or…?" I asked Tyler, my hands gesturing.
Tyler jerked suddenly and his neck turned pink. "Oh, sorry… I just assumed that…"
"So should I go now-"
"I'm kind of new at this whole 'Pure' thing…"
"Ok, but should I say it now…?"
"And I only just moved ranks from Blue to Silver and it's so hard to find respect-"
"Great… now do I say it or…?"
"But all the silvers aren't listening to me even though I'm the Head Silver-"
"Cool, so I say it now-"
"I'm feeling a lot of pressure lately-"
"Ugh, can we move on?"
"And my mum is always sending me howlers-"
"Seriously, just shut up."
"And She really wants me to do well-"
"How new are you exactly at the 'Pure' thing? Because you kind of suck."
"But I think I'm failing miserably…"
"Can you even hear me? Are you listening to me at all?"
"And now Allie is on my back constantly-"
"No one cares."
"And Lysandra is making goo-goo eyes at me ever since my new promotion to silver-"
"Honestly, can I just go?"
"But that's all beside the point!"
"Thank you! We're moving on!"
"The point is, is that Allie won't take me seriously."
"Are you kidding me? Worst. Torture. Ever."
"Wait, what's the worst torture ever?"
"Listening to your problems! Can I just say the bloody thing and then go to prison or solitary confinement or whatever? I really gotta pee again!"
"Oh, right. Yeah. Go ahead and read it in about five seconds while I set up the recording device."
I counted five seconds in my head.
1… 2… 3… 4… 5-
"Hello, my name is Madison Taylor and I have been-"
"No, wait. Wasn't ready. Just go when I nod. And sound super scared and frightened and sad, got it?"
Holding in a sigh of frustration, I glared at Tyler.
Finally, he nodded.
"Hello, my name is Madison Taylor and I have been missing for a couple of days. I am being held at the Pure's Head Quarters. They have captured me. They only have me. And the Pure's want the Minister of Magic to concede to the requests stated on the back of this flyer or else I, and many others will… will die," I faltered that last bit, my voice cracking. Tyler nodded for me to continue. "Don't come for me. Don't look for me. And remember, the Pure's will," I swallowed a lump in my throat at this point, "hurt me if the requests are not met in time… thank you," I finally croaked out, tears pooling in my eyes.
Jeez. It seemed as if all I could do was cry. Cry and cry and cry.
I didn't want to be useless. I didn't want to be a crier… but they might kill me. Or hurt me.
And that's scary. Scarier than you can imagine. The fear of being hurt, the fear of dying, made my chest ache.
And the fear of Albus being stuck in PHQ… a lump formed in my throat. Again.
"That was great! Now, we'll attach this recording and play it in all the right places – Hogwarts, AIM, the Ministry, Diagon Alley, the Leaky Cauldron etc. etc. Also, we'll distribute flyers with your pretty picture with the mermaids and our requests. Just thought you should know," Tyler said as he stood abruptly and left the room.
And I was alone again.
LINE BREAK
The room was exactly the same as the last one – pink. And empty. And it smelled weird.
I was left alone with only my thoughts for company. Which meant I rethought every possible rescue attempt or escape route. I just wanted to get out! I wanted to see my family, friends, Albus… James…
I didn't want any of this. I don't even know why I'm here.
Out of everyone, the Pure's chose me. I mean, they have Harry Potter's son! And yet, they make me the person everyone has to want to protect.
It just doesn't make sense.
Nothing added up.
Nothing.
LINE BREAK
Some random Pure with green hair was giving me my daily meal. It had been days since I had recorded that message.
And nothing had happened. No rescues, no nothing.
I guess I told them in the recording I didn't want that, but surely they must be planning my rescue.
Surely…
I ate my bland meal of plain rice and water in silence. Silence.
Always silence. Never ending silence.
And the pink! Oh god, the pink. I once thought pink didn't make me scared. But now…
Imagine being stuck in a pink room. Small, empty, pink. For days. Sooner or later, you'll learn to hate and fear that colour.
More days passed. Silence. Nothing. I didn't see Tyler or Allie or Lysandra. Just a green-haired person whose face was covered with black mist.
I bombarded them with questions, but they never answered.
I spent most of my time sleeping. Or thinking.
Mostly thinking.
Thinking about why and how and what and who and where.
Thinking about James and Albus and Jo and Scorp and Rose.
Thinking about mum and dad and all my siblings.
Thinking about the Pure's and the many ways I'd kill them all.
Once I got out, of course.
But that 'once' turned into a bigger 'if' with each passing moment.
LINE BREAK
It started like every other day – wake up, eat, sleep, think, go crazy, think, sleep, think, ponder, sleep, eat, sleep.
And then, the green-haired person didn't walk in. A pink-haired person did. That annoying black mist was still there so I couldn't see a face.
I sat up straight and eyed that person wearily.
"Who are you?" I asked, my voice better from the water I'd been given. I still sounded like a scared, cowering child. I wondered if that'd ever go away.
"Well, I'm quite disappointed you didn't recognise me. I mean, I am your boyfriend and all," the pink-haired person said in a familiar drawl.
My eyes widened. I froze. My heart swelled and I think my grin was too big for my face. "James?" I asked, too excited to comprehend why he'd be here.
"That's what they call me!" and with a wave of his wand, the black mist disappeared.
And there he was. With those blue eyes and slightly bumped nose and tanned skin and that smile. Oh, his smile. He was smiling like he couldn't quite I believe I was there. I probably wore the same grin. His black hair was ruffled and messy, just the way I-
I burst out laughing. James frowned, not pleased. "What?"
"You're hair!" I laughed, pointing to his pale pink, fairy-floss hair.
James burst out laughing too. "Gods, your hair!" he said, pointing to my drab, greasy and matted pink hair.
We were both laughing, tears in our eyes until next thing, he'd pinned me to the ground and was kissing me. I held his face in my hands, kissing him like I never would again. His fingers played with my pink hair and I giggled when he gave it a slight tug.
He quickly pulled away, his beautiful eyes shining, gasping for breath. "Time for that later. I'm here to rescue you!"
Usually, I would've hated the fact that the boy had to rescue me, the girl. But I was too relieved to see him, I didn't care. I kissed him quickly before we stood up, holding hands. He led me out to the corridor, glancing around for any Pure's.
"So, how do we get out?" I asked him, gripping his hand tightly – I don't ever want to let go again. Ever.
"Well, Scorp and Jo should be coming with Al soon-"
"Albus? But, he's in PHQ! Which is in England! And we're in Australia!" I said, confused.
James frowned. "What? No, you and Al are in England. This is PHQ – we found it! It took ages but… we did it. I'm just sorry we couldn't get you out sooner – I literally went out of my mind. You've been gone for a long time – nearly two weeks," James said, squeezing my hand harder. Something didn't seem right… but I didn't care. I mean, James was right in front of me!
I squeezed back. "I missed you, too," I said, another lump forming in my throat. Another one! Seriously?
James turned to face me, his face soft and open. "There's something I have to say before everything goes to hell-"
"James! Maddie!" Scorp yelled. I whizzed around to see him running with a tired-looking Al and an alive looking Jo. She was grinning.
And suddenly, I was too. I ran and flung myself into Al, squeezing him tight. "You… you never drink any alcohol ever again!" I yelled at him, tears streaming down my face.
He was ok… he was in once piece… he was alive!
I then pulled away and hugged both Jo and Scorp, trying to hold back sobs.
After everything… it felt good to hug everyone again. James ran over too, placing a hand on my back as I stepped away from Jo's embrace.
"Rose, Adam and the others should be coming to make sure the coast is clear – everyone should prepare to run," James said, pulling me into his side.
"Wait, where are the adults?" I asked, noticing it was only my friends here.
Scorp looked at the floor. Jo grinned at me manically.
"They didn't want to save you so soon – but we did! So we formed a plan, found PHQ, flew here on brooms and voila! Here we are!" Jo said happily.
Umm… what?
"That was so stupid! Why would you do that?" Al yelled, glaring at Scorp.
Scorp shrugged. "Because I love you."
Al froze. I froze. Everyone froze. I held my breath, waiting for Al's reaction.
"You… you… seriously? That's just crazy," Al said as he strode forward, pulled Scorp close and kissed him.
I had to resist making 'aww' noises. I could tell Jo was doing the same.
Al pulled away, smiling faintly. "I love you, too."
And then they embraced, smiling and grinning from ear to ear.
"Guys! We are on a covert mission! Can we save the romantics for later?" Rose huffed as she rounded the corner, Adam close behind her. Hope was running after him too, with Maria, Xavier and Eva hot on her heels.
"Rose!" I squealed as I rushed and gave her a huge hug. She pulled away quickly, frowning.
"Later," she said, "we only have a few minutes before those sentries wake up. Let's get moving now! Follow Adam!" she said as Adam led the way. We all rushed after him, James' hand in mine.
Corridor after corridor, we came into a small clearing with four doors, two on each side (pink, of course).
Something was gnawing at the back of head, but I didn't have time to focus on it.
"Which door?" Jo asked, glancing at each one.
"The second one," Adam said.
We all moved to the second door. We all ended up at different doors.
James frowned. "Which one is the second door?" he asked, all of us nodding in agreement. Adam shrugged.
The gnawing grew and grew until it felt as if something was beating at my skull.
"I think it's this one," Jo said, reaching to open a door.
"No! This one!" Rose argued.
"This one!" Hope shouted.
"No, not that one!" Maria scolded, glaring at Hope.
"This is the second to the left!" Adam argued.
"But what if it's second to the right?" Xavier pointed out, Eva nodding.
"Guys, just open one and see what happens!"
"But what if something bad happens?"
"Yeah, like a-"
"Trap," I whispered, realisation dawning. "Easy… it was too easy… someone was always watching my cell… someone would have sounded an alarm…" I said, piecing things together.
There was no way a rescue could have been that easy. No way would the PHQ location have been easy to find. And how did Adam even know the way in the first place? And how did everyone get in undetected?
It was a trap.
And a good one at that.
An alarm sounded as the room went dark.
"Hey! What's happening?" Adam said into the darkness.
Good question. All four doors opened at once as Pure's stormed in. Dark, pink light suddenly flooded the room and I noticed all the Pure's had jet black hair.
Uh oh. The strong ones. Within minutes they had us all shackled, wands taken and held in iron grips. They led us through a random door and we kept walking through the pink corridor until we reached a bright, hot-pink door covered in pictures of… cats?
A white, fluffy cat meowed and sauntered past us. I shared a glance with James. Cats? What is going on? he mouthed, his face covered in confusion.
I shrugged. I didn't have any clue either. An incantation was used to open the large, pink door and we were led in. The sound of bad 70's music and meows filled my ears as we walked into the room.
And the smell… it smelt like cats. The walls were lined with pictures and portraits and drawings and tapestries of cats. The brick walls were bright pink, the wooden floor painted pale pink.
The Pure's hauled us all in front of a large, white table adorned with swirls and pink flowers. There were Pure's sitting around the table in the usual uniform with either hot pink or navy blue hair. I saw Allie smiling coldly at us.
Sitting at the head of the table on a pink, fluffy throne was a lady. And she was extremely weird-looking.
Her hair was shoulder length, a dark grey colour with weird black streaks through it, as if she got a horrendous dye job. She was short and plump, her belly extremely round, making the ivory buttons on her dress nearly pop. But the one word I'd use to describe her is…
Pink. She was just… pink. Completely pink. Her cheeks, lips, shoes, socks, skirt, blouse, jacket, jewellery, nails, headband, eyeshad-
Oh no. Seriously? Even her wand was bloody pink! She looked like… you know what? Let me paint a picture:
A fat, old, hamburger bun. Ok, now take that bun and leave it outside in the rain and humidity for 100 years. Ok, now dress it in clothes and put god-awful makeup on it. Now? Ok, now the whole sun explodes in a never-ending, constant flow of pink. It's everywhere. All over the shop. Just pink shit everywhere! That's what she looked like.
Yet, in saying all of that… her face wasn't comical or funny. Her face was lined with many wrinkles but it looked stretched, like she'd tried to get plastic surgery and it hadn't worked. Her eyes were rock hard, her small smile creepy and cruel, like that one teacher who would take pleasure in torturing you. She looked like she could kill you and just say 'Oh, sorry my dear! It was an accident!' and not feel any remorse.
She may be a fat, pink hamburger, but she was one crazy motherfucker, that's for sure.
From her ridiculous throne of pink fluff, she looked down on all of us, a condescending smile on her face. "Hello, my darlings. How nice to finally meet you all! What are your names?" the lady said, her voice thin but powerful, and extremely high-pitched and annoying. But her tone was like an angry grandma – you do what she says or face dire consequences. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Hope, tears sliding down her face as she trembled. We had to get out of this mess.
"Kayla. My name is Kayla," I said, my voice cracking in different places. Stupid, to lie. I don't know why I did – she no doubt knew who I was anyway, but I'd never felt that kind of fear before, the kind where you feel it deep in your bones with the thoughts 'I could actually die'.
The lady's small smile disappeared, her sharp, cold eyes narrowing in on me. I could literally feel the beads of sweat pooling everywhere around my body. "Now, now, Madison darling. We must not tell lies."
Dun, dun, duuuun!
Now do you guys get the whole pink thing? I told you I wasn't crazy!
Kat xx
