CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

"This was my room wi-with Rory," Audrey sobbed, delicately wiping her eyes. "This was basically our honeymoon, so this place means a lot to me even though he also d-died here. I loved him so much. He was my everything."

I rolled my eyes at her dramatics. Whatever they had was obviously a charade. They both played their parts well, but neither were honest with each other. Rory's reaction was telling enough for me not to worry about him running back into her arms. It wasn't, however, keeping her from trying to irritate us every chance she had.

"What about Madison Harmon?" I heard, well… everyone has heard that she and Rory had a long term relationship before he met you. They had been childhood sweethearts. How was it like working with her? Is she everything that the media has portrayed her to be?" the reporter asked, looking expectantly at the blonde.

Audrey's eyes darkened. "Oh, yes. She was all that and more."

I glared at her, wondering what she was going to say about me. We barely had any interactions and Rory and I really only had one evening together before we died. I didn't even remember him then. Whatever she was going to say would be a lie, just like every other aspect of her life.

"I'm sure you've all seen the footage of Rory and her together. That was no pretend, at all. Every chance she got, she'd throw herself at him. It was absolutely disgusting to watch! How could she do that when his wife is in the same room? I swear, that woman has no shame!" With a deep breath, she fanned herself with her hands. "But I really shouldn't speak about her like that. She killed herself, after all, when she realised that she couldn't have him. It's all such a tragedy. She was a wreck, but her manager seemed to be putting her back together before it all happened."

She walked out of the bedroom. "Between you and me, I think she had started the whole thing. She died and triggered all the spirits to come after us."

The vase beside her suddenly shattered, flinging old, dirty water everywhere.

She let out a shriek, trying to brush off the droplets that left brown stains on her creamy, white blouse.

"What was that?" the primary camera man asked, rotating his equipment around to try to capture what had caused the disruption.

"It's her! It has to be her!" Audrey screamed, stomping away from the mess. "Even in death, she won't leave me alone! That is the type of person she is!"

Even with her acting like a maniac and shouting, the attention as no longer on her. The entire crew was looking around them, trying to find the source – me, but I wasn't going to reveal myself. If they wanted a show, they were going to get one. It wasn't as if any of them could do anything to me.

Materialising in front of Audrey's scurrying form, I made myself visible. She let out a horrified scream and didn't manage to stop herself from speeding through me. I was never going to get used to that sensation. It was as if I could feel every component of her, but it went through me like I didn't even exist or like she didn't exist. It was a stark reminder of how we truly lived in two separate worlds.

"Hello, Audrey," I sneered, pulling her shoulder so that she was facing me.

Her wide eyes were void of all the bravado she had only moments before. "M-Madison… You're not actually here. You can't be. You DIED!"

"Yes, well… As you said, I'm back to haunt you because that's exactly the type of person I am." I threw her words back at her and reveled at the way the fear made her pupils dilate.

When the filming crew caught up, I disappeared from view, watching her scrambling around to try to find me. It was an absolute delight to know that his entire thing was going to be filmed.

"What's wrong, Audrey?" the reporter asked, gesturing for the camera to focus on the petrified blonde who was now shouting to no one that they could see. "Audrey? Ms. Tindall!"

To the camera man, she murmured, "I think she's finally lost it. We should probably change the premise of this story. We can use the footage to tell how the famous Audrey Tindall is driven mad by the ghosts of her past."

The camera man shrugged, up for anything. All he had to do was keep the lens trained on the raving woman.

Audrey went on, while I snickered, making sure that my antics would only be noticed by her. Sometimes, I'd tug on her hair or knock something over in front of her. I'd whisper in her ears and taunt her. I gave her no mercy. Perhaps this would teach her not to bad mouth the dead.

I smiled. That wasn't going to matter for long.

For the new few hours, I continued to torment her, until the crew began to pack up. Audrey had wormed herself out and was sitting quietly on the porch with a cigarette between her fingers.

"Don't do this." Matt grabbed my arm as I was approaching her. "Don't give in. This isn't the type of person you are."

I lifted my eyebrow at him. "You don't know me. Just because we're all stuck here doesn't mean that we're automatically best friends."

"I never said that, but from what I've seen, you're not a killer," he argued.

"Believe me, I've killed before and this isn't going to be the last time. I will do whatever I can to ensure that she will never bother us again."

"Let the little miss do what she wants." Dominic smirked. "None of our business really."

From the corner of my eyes, I could see the sisters appear behind Audrey with knives in their hands.

"It's too late," I whispered. "Tonight, I will end this."

We watched as Audrey screamed and began to run away. The filming crew was too far away to hear her. They went on packing as she ran blindly through the woods, trying to get away from the nurses.

I followed behind. She was running through the tracks as I expected and right before she could go through the barrier, I stopped her.

"Hello, again," I greeted her, baring my teeth in a wide grin. "Did you have fun? I thought that I'd give you one last show. Your face will be plastered all over the television screens tomorrow. Isn't that what you want? You'll be in the history books."

"What the Hell are you talking about?!" she spat, backing away and straight into Miranda who cackled at her.

I stepped forward. "I won't have you trying to take him away from me, again, Audrey. This will be the last time." I clenched my hands as I thought of her annoying twin heads. "This is for all the times you tried to kill me."

"Bloody Hell! You're mad!" she screamed back at me. "I don't even know what the fuck you're talking about!"

"You will. Once you die, it'll all come back to you," I calmly told her, gesturing with my head towards Miranda who dragged her towards the barrier.

I raised the gun I kept hidden and pointed it at her. Both sisters had their eyes fixated on the scene.

"No… No… Please, no. I can't die here. I'll do anything!" she sobbed. "I don't even love Rory. You can have him! I swear that I'll never come back to this place!"

"I already know that you don't love him. You never did," I stated. "The two of you used each other to get what you wanted, but I can't risk you dying here. I need you gone. Forever."

I cocked the gun.

"Do it," he whispered into my ear. His pale hand fell on my own, keeping the gun steady. The green mist licked at my bare legs. "End it here. I will make sure that she will never both you again. At least, not in this life."

Audrey looked at the dark eyes in horror. "Who is he?"

"It doesn't matter," I said. "Run, Audrey. Run."

She broke away from Miranda and took off through the barrier just as I pulled the trigger. The bullet caught her neck, spraying blood everywhere. A second one entered the back of her head, freezing her body in mid-motion before she tumbled face first on to the ground.

The sisters laughed like hyenas – cheering and hooting. They bumped playfully into me and patted my back, but I couldn't bring myself to celebrate with them. Doing this hadn't brought me any joy. It had been exhilarating up until I pulled the trigger for the last time and then… nothing, but there was no denying that there was a sort of calm, peaceful satisfaction that she was gone.

"Stop touching me," I mumbled, walking past the people who were running by after hearing the gunshots. Their cries and screams felt like bullets through my own skull.

Dragging my feet, I managed to make it back to the house, brushing by Matt who was shaking his head. His eyes were full of disappointment.

He was the last of my worries.

When I entered the bedroom, Edward only had to take one look at me and seemed to know exactly what I had done.

"Oh, Madi…"

I collapsed into his arms and cried.

…

Rory was startled at the sight of her. The normally lively blue eyes were dull and dead. He cursed himself when he didn't react in time to comfort her and had to settle with lending her his support on the side.

"What happened?" He brushed her hair back and kissed her tear-stained cheek.

Edward leaned down, whispering against her ear, "Should I tell him?"

Her body froze as he tried to figure out what the demon could know and he didn't. He could tell that she didn't want to tell him, but why? There was no reason for her to hide anything from her.

"No – No," she eventually mumbled. "I'll do it."

What had she done that could've been so terrible? He had always known her to be a kind and gentle soul.

She looked away from him, but her deftly tugged her chin back. "Tell me, Madi. No matter what, I'll never stop loving you. Hell knows you've forgiven me for all the shit I put you through."

He couldn't find a single reason why she would be so hesitant. By now, their eternal love should've been very obvious. Nothing was ever going to tear them apart.

Nothing.

Rory waited until she calmed down and fell silent into a meditative state before asking Edward. The demon gave him a look before shaking his head, denying him any answers.

"She'll tell you when she's rested," he said.

With a sigh, Rory relaxed against them. He had to just trust their judgment until she was ready.

Hours passed while they lay on the bed. Rory and Edward did nothing more than engage in light conversations as she remained in her catatonic state.

"I love you." He leaned down, leaving his lips against her soft skin, until she began to stir. She opened her eyes and looked tiredly at him.

"I love you, too," she mumbled. "I… I'm sorry. I think I've made a mistake…"

"What happened?" he quietly asked her.

She looked away. "I lied to you. I said I was going to keep her safe, but… she just made me so angry!"

He waited patiently for her to continue. The hesitation was killing him. What had she done that made her feel as if he would be angry at her?

"I killed Audrey!" she finally blurted out, tears springing out of her eyes.

He froze. "What?" He had to have heard incorrectly.

"The things she said and the way she played to the camera…" She shook her head. "The worst thing is, I don't feel bad for what I've done. I'm glad she's gone. I just… I don't know… Murder should be wrong, shouldn't it?"

"Did you kill her here?" Edward asked, a frown on his face.

She shook her head. "No, I know better than that. I made sure she was gone and not coming back."

Rory swallowed, trying to find his tongue, again. Was he hearing all of this right? Madi had killed a woman out of spite. This wasn't like her, at all.

"Say something," she begged him. Her wide, tear eyes were trained on him as she waited for his response.

"I…" He cleared his throat. "I still love you. That will never, ever change." He just wished that she hadn't done that. It was so out of character compared to the young, impressionable girl he had first met all those life times ago.

"You're disappointed in me," she whispered. She wasn't surprised. She was disappointed at herself, as well.

After resting for several hours, the high from what she had done had completely left her system. All that was left was the question "why?"

Why did she ever think that that was a good idea? Why couldn't she get rid of those dark desires until the deed was done? Why did she feel so damn proud of herself, seeing the life leave her body? Why did she allow herself to become this monster?

"It's not your fault, Madi," Edward murmured. "I've told you before, it's this place. Once you die, your inhibitions are slowly chipped away. All those sinful desires suddenly seem like a good idea. No matter what anyone says, you are not responsible." He shot Rory a look.

She shuddered. "I can't exist like this."

Edward tightened his hold on her and for the first time, his hidden fears were clear in his eyes. "It will get better. Once we leave, everything will get better. You can't leave me, Madi." He wouldn't be able to handle going through all that again.

She said nothing.

All of them had fallen silent, once more. The gravity of what she had done weighed heavy on them.

It was that day that things began to change.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

And that's it for Roanoke! I really hope you liked this story. When I first watched it, I really hadn't planned on writing anything for it because there wasn't much for me to use in terms of canon material with Rory.

Also, I added a few hundred words I had missed in the beginning of Chapter Nineteen. I'm really sorry for the confusion. Somehow, it didn't get typed and posted with the rest of the chapter. I honestly have no excuse on how that happened.

Regarding Cult, I will be writing a story on it. I may take a week off of posting for planning and writing. I'm also having a bit of trouble trying to pinpoint when everything happens. Flashbacks and time jumps are not my best friends, so the likelihood is that I'll just make it my own and place the events as I please because once I fixate on technicalities, I'll lose my rhythm. I will be posting an update here regarding the next story and what the title is. Please, stay tune for that!

Anyway!

Thank you Candyluver2121, Vivi H88, AGBreads, xXPinkyPieXx, guests (Guest, anonymouscsifan, Guest) for reviewing!

Candyluver2121: Thank you so, so much! Not too much of Mordrake in this story, but this won't be the last you'll see of him! I'm so happy that you like this series!

Guest: Hehe… I love writing threesomes… Why choose when you can have both? Madi and Rory's relationship is a bit odd, mainly because him cheating is still so recent for her. The guy bothering Madi? The green mist guy? He's Edward Mordrake from Freak Show. His first appearance in my series is in Vapour. He had also popped up at the very end of Vacant.

AGBreads: Thank you! I hope this last chapter ended alright for you! I know there are quite a few loose ends, but… Maybe it'll be resolved later. Hehe… The series shall continue!

anonymouscsifan: What Mordrake will do to Audrey will forever be a secret! But I'm sure it's nothing pleasant.

xXPinkyPieXx: Wow… Thank you! Yes, I will be writing a story for Cult. I will post a sequel update on here when the first chapter is up. I'm still not sure when I'll continue on V. I've been doing a lot of planning for Cult and not sure how I should go about with V anymore, but I'll figure something out! And I completely agree about Madi and Kai! I love Kai's character (I think I just really love it when he's being a little psychopath...)

Guest: Eventually, I'm going to tie all my stories together, so there will be some bits and bobs that'll leak in. I will definitely continue on with Cult!

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

Please, leave a review if you enjoyed it!