Hello all. I apologize for the delay in updates for this story, but I have been trying to get my first draft of my regular novel done and have only been allowing myself to work on that lately. But I have gotten the next chapter done. I do hope you all enjoy it, and I do apologize for any errors, I did roof read through but sometimes you miss things.
I don't own RotG
The next week passed relatively uneventfully, what with Madylyn being stuck in the hospital. They did some physical therapy to make sure she could still walk and as it had been such a short period of time she adjusted rather quickly. And before she knew it the day came where they discharged her and off she went back to her house. Her mother was rather over protective of her though, she had an outrageous curfew and her mother wouldn't let her drive or pick up her sister by herself anymore. Any time she even tried walking down the stairs on her own her mother got worried. She could understand all of that to a point but it didn't change the fact that she had responsibilities that her mother could help her with. Like her job. Which she wasn't even sure she would still have when she left the hospital but they were very understanding and even allowed her to cut back her hours to stay in line with her mother's paranoia. Sometimes she wished she could go back into a coma so she could have some form of freedom from her mother. Of course as the days turned to a week and the week turned to two and three and eventually a month had passed since she was out of the hospital her father finally sat her mother down and told her to cool it.
So that is why she was able to sit on the bench across the street from her sister's school by herself on this day. She sat silently as she stared at the school building across the street, she was an hour early. She knew she didn't need to be but her mother was suffocating her and she had to get out while she could. Besides, there were things she needed to work out.
Her mind wandered to the conversation she and Kalie had had in the hospital when she woke up. She hadn't had much time to dwell on it since then, but now she could. All the questions came flooding back into her mind. How had the movie just disappeared? How could she remember it but no one else could? She had even brought it up to Mary and her parents when she got home but they didn't know what she was talking about either. Everyone kept telling her it was just something that her mind created while she was out but it wasn't real. She couldn't bring up the characters either, lest her mother reprimand her for being childish and her father then pointing out that she had a TBI and the doctors warned them that this could be a possible side effect. It was driving her crazy that everyone was acting like she was crazy.
She groaned and stood, finding herself unable to sit at the moment and began walking around. She walked up to the street and stared at the skid marks in the middle of the street, the last reminder of why she had ended up in the hospital anyways. She sighed and began to turn before she felt a jolt in the ground, almost like there was an earthquake, which didn't make any sense for where she lived. She turned back to the skids marks and noticed a crack had formed in the asphalt that wasn't there a second ago. It was not large but noticeable, but when she looked around she found that no one seemed to notice it, or even how it got there. She turned to look behind her and saw Kalie walking up to her.
"Hey, hon." The girl waved as she walked closer to Madylyn. "You okay?" She asked noticing Madylyn's confused expression.
Madylyn glanced back at the crack once more before slightly shaking her head and turning back to her friend with a smile plastered on her face. "Yea, I'm fine." She said chipperly, "Just lost in thought, I guess." Her friend eyed her suspiciously before nodding and sitting down next her.
"So, how have you been feeling lately?" Kalie asked as she turned to look at the entrance of the school, waiting for the bell to go off.
"Annoyed." Madylyn responded, "My mom is treating me like a china doll and its really starting to piss me off." She explained turning to watch the door with her friend. "I get that I had a serious accident but even the doctors are telling her she needs to stop coddling me so much." Her eyes fell from the door to the crack in the asphalt.
"Well, I mean you have to give her a little bit of a break, how would you react if it were Mary?" Kalie asked, "I mean we are all really anxious because of the situation. You have no idea what it was like when you were out. We honestly weren't sure if you were ever gonna come back, so you can understand that we are a little nervous about letting you return to your normal routine and we really just want to keep you safe. So, your mother really does-"
By now Kalie's voice had faded off into some distance part of Madylyn's mind as she stared at the crack, noticing that it had gotten larger in the time she had spent looking at her friend. She stare at it more intently as Kalie continued to drone on next her and she noticed that it was slowly beginning to separate. She watched in confusion as a hole suddenly opened in the ground and from it a band of huge monstrous forms emerged. The creatures that had crawled out of the hole in the ground resembled that of drying lava, they were rocky but the red glow of fire emerged from the cracks of the rocks. They stood at least seven feet tall and all had glowing red eyes that seemed familiar to her for some reason.
"-you know what I mean?" Kalie asked looking at her friend.
Madylyn looked between her friend and the creatures which had begun to stand and march towards the forest. "Do you see that?" She asked, pointing towards the crack in the street.
Kalie turned to look at the road and a sad expression came over her face, "The skid marks?" She asked and looked at her, her expression quickly turning to concern, "Is that making you have flashbacks? We can move if it is."
"No," Madylyn responded quickly, "no, it's not that." She mumbled turning back to watch the path the creatures were trekking, "Do me a favor and take Mary home with you, I have something I need to do." She said standing and walking after the creatures without waiting for a response from her friend. She carefully followed after the things, making sure she didn't make much noise as they wandered through the thick brush of the woods. They stopped suddenly in a clearing and Madylyn quickly jumped behind a tree to avoid being seen.
"My children." Madylyn's head perked up at the sound of the voice she knew all too well. "Our time for this world has finally come." The same woman who had tormented her at the south pole emerged from the shadows and stood among the creatures. "And nothing is going to be able to stop us now."
"What about the girl?" One of the creatures asked in a gravelly voice.
"The girl," The woman started, "Has no memories, she is just as she was before the accident, and as that she shall remain."
Madylyn moved her foot slightly, trying to get a better angle to see the woman in the middle of the clearing. And as her luck would have it, she found a twig that's snap reverberated through the quiet woods, drawing the attention of the woman and monsters alike to her position. She saw the woman's eyes darken before her arm rose and she shot a stream of fire at her, she felt the impact throw her to the ground.
She groaned in pain as she tried to open her eyes, but found that she couldn't. She heard footsteps coming towards her and wanted to let out a scream but couldn't. The footsteps stopped and she felt a cold rocky hand touch her neck before hearing a grunt and the footsteps retreating. For what felt like hours she laid on the ground willing her body to actually move, but for some reason she was unable to. Finally after much annoyance she was able to get her body to move. She said up and rubbed her head as she looked around at the woods around her. Her eyes landed on the clearing that the woman and monsters had been talking in, a clear view made when the woman burned the tree to get to her. She sighed and stood up and slowly began making her way home.
She walked through the door shouting to her mom letting her know she was back. She didn't wait to hear a response and instead ran up to her room and sat at her desk staring at blankly into space trying to understand what in the world was going on. She ran her hands through her hair before grabbing a notebook and jotting down notes on what she knew so far. She knew she was in a coma, she knew that while she was in a coma the entire existence of the Guardians movie, book series, and anything related to it had disappeared. She also was mostly convinced that while she was in a coma she had actually lived through the events of the movie, and while she was there she kept having flashes of some woman that said she was there for a reason, and today in the woods she saw the same woman after following lava creatures that had broken their way through a crack in the asphalt where she had been hit.
She stopped as she looked at the page filled with all this information and even she had to agree that she sounded crazy with all of this. None of it was making any sense, and another matter that she couldn't get out of her mind. Why, when that woman had shot at her with fire, did she remain unharmed? She slammed the notebook shut and groaned as she stood and cracked her back, figuring that a snack might help her figure at least some part of this puzzle out. She walked out of her room and headed downstairs her parents' voices hitting her ears.
"I'm worried about her." Her mother spoke.
"We've been over this; she is still an adult and still has a life to live." Her father responded as she heard him moving around the kitchen.
"But you heard what Kalie said, she just up and left with no explanation. And no one has heard from her since." Her mother's voice was getting frantic.
She shook her head as she realized that her parents clearly hadn't heard her come home, she calmly walked down the stairs and rounded into the kitchen. "Guys, I've been home for a while now." She said in a joking manner but neither of her parents turned to acknowledge her. Her father simply walked over and put a comforting arm over her mother. "Okay, very funny guys, I know you can hear me." She said as she walked closer and reached out to put her hand on her father's shoulder. She froze in terror though when her hand went right through her dad's shoulder and stayed there. She stared at her hand as she slowly backed away, not able to breathe at this point. She stood there in the middle of the kitchen as her mind tried to process everything that had happened. Finally she just turned and walked out of the house and back to the forest where hopefully her body would be waiting for her.
As she made her way back her mind raced, trying to figure out what had happened and if this time she was really dead. If so, why had she come back as a spirit? And would she be able to do anything about it, or was this it?
Her thoughts came to an abrupt halt when she came to the clearing and looked at the base of the tree and there lay her singed and burned body. She sighed as she knelt down next to it and placed her hand on her bodies shoulder. Her hand lay there for a moment before she felt a pull on her fingers and she looked on in amazement as her spirit was sucked back into her body.
Her eyes shot open and she looked around confused, she slowly sat up and raised her hands to in front of her face. They were her hands, and a quick glimpse behind her showed that this time her body had carried with her.
"Okayyy." She said slowly, "Now I'm confused." She continued to stare at her hands as she slowly stood. She lowered her hand and looked around and sighed, at least she was back in her body. Her head shot to the right when she suddenly heard footsteps, she narrowed her eyes for a moment as she scanned the area around her and gasped before jumping in the air backwards.
She found herself in a tree staring down at the lava creatures from earlier, only now there were just two. They looked around the clearing before making their way to the tree she was sitting under. She smirked as she watched them, thinking they were in for quite a surprise when her body wasn't there. But when she looked at the ground below her she felt her heart sink and confusion rise. Her body lay there on the ground and the lava creatures were closing in.
She looked anxiously on as they reached her body and one knelt down speaking. "The master is so sure of her plan, I am not."
"Just check the body." His companion responded.
"No pulse, and no spirit, as long as the masters spell was done right, this thing won't be coming back in either form." It stated as it stood and turned to its companion, "Don't look at me like that, the last time it didn't work, I have to be sure." His companion responded to him in hushed tones and Madylyn found herself unable to hear what they were saying. She looked around at the tree tops around her, trying to find something to give her an idea of what to do.
She was ready to just give up when a voice in her head whispered for her to look to the sky. Confused but seeing no harm her eyes rose to the once clear sky. Now, though, the sky was overcast with clouds, and not just any clouds but rain clouds. The idea suddenly hit her. She stood on the branch she had been perched on and reached above her, finding another smaller branch that she broke off from the tree. She looked at her makeshift weapon for a moment before taking a breath and jumping out of the tree.
She landed with barely any sound but the creatures still heard her and turned around to watch as she stood. With a smirk she spoke, "Well, isn't this unlucky for you?" She asked before jumping out of the way as one swung at her while the other just looked back and forth from her and her body.
It took a moment for it to click but the one shouted at the other, "We must warn the Master!" He shouted and the other turned and nodded before slowly starting to make their way away from her. She stood straight and looked to the sky once more as a single drop of water hit her nose. She looked back to the lava creatures.
"Running away so soon?" She taunted and both creatures stopped dead in their tracks but didn't turn, "And here I was hoping that you actually had balls. I guess that's not anatomically possible for rocks is it?" She asked and they both finally turned.
"Maybe, we should just get rid of her ourselves." One said angrily to his companion.
"Agreed." The other responded darkly as they began to walk back towards her. She smirked and gripped the stick she had tighter as one finally got within swinging reach. She swung upwards and landed a painful looking shot on its face, forcing it backwards as it grabbed its face in pain.
"Oh, so the rocks feel pain?" She asked. Noticing the other charge at her, she jumped up and over him, feeling the wind help her as she did. "Good to know I still have that going for me." She muttered to herself as she turned to look at the creature just as he lunged again. She spun out of the way with a laugh that quickly died when she felt herself slam into the other.
Rocky arms wrapped around her torso, trapping her arms at her side, and her feet leave the ground as she was hoisted in the air. "Looks like this isn't going as you planned." The one that had grabbed her said as his companion walked to them.
Thunder struck in the distance and rain began to fall more heavily and Madylyn smirked up at them, "Actually, it went exactly as planned. Do you know what happens to lava when it gets wet gentlemen?" She asked and both the creatures looked up at the falling rain in panic as their bodies began to stiffen. She laughed as they hardened before she used all of her strength and shattered the arms around her, causing the one to fall to the ground uselessly. She smirked at them before looking around the area for another idea. Her eyes landed on a pool of water not far off and she smirked.
She walked back over to her body and pulled off her jacket before walking back to the creatures, she tied her jacket around the armless ones leg and began to drag him through the mud the short distance to the pool. When she got there she kicked him into the bottom of the pool and made her way back to do the same to the other. As she was dragging the second she felt the rain begin to lighten and as she got to the pool it stopped entirely. As quickly as she could she stood the one up with his feet in the water. Slowly he began to struggle and as he dried his head was able to move. When he glared down at her she allowed the wind to lift her so she was eye level with the creature.
"You have some answers that I need, and if you have any sense of self preservation, you will give them to me." She said coldly.
The creature smirked, "I will never betray the Master." He responded defiantly. She smirked right back and placed her hand on his chest before pushing and watching as he fell backwards towards the pool. "Wait!" He shouted in fear, "I'll tell you what you want to know!" He practically pleaded.
She flicked her wrist and the wind came from below the creature and kept him levitating just above the water. She hovered over his face, her head falling over her face creating an intimidating image. Her voice was low and steady as she spoke, her eyes holding a glare that if the creature were not made of stone would have killed him. Her question was simple, but demanding an answer, "What is going on?"
Ok, so at least its a long update this time. I hope you liked it and as always please tell me what you thought. I quite enjoyed writing this chapter, and will begin on the next one shortly, but who really knows how long it will take for it to come out. Certainly not me. So until next time my loverlies.
-Badjuju is out