CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Tate continued to worry over her. The nights have been growing increasingly worse. Sometimes, he'd worry that she would hurt herself with how violently she was thrashing around, but that ended up being the least of his troubles.

One afternoon, he spotted a glimpse of the crazy doctor. Henderson had already stayed out of sight until that moment. Tate followed him, wondering what he was up to. When he saw the white powder flutter into Madi's mug, he was furious. Unseen to the human eyes, he knocked over her mug before turning to the smirking man.

"What have you done?!" Tate roared at him.

There was no fear in the doctor's eyes. Instead, a manic grin split across his face. "Perhaps you should've done better than merely throwing the pills into the garbage bin. It was really easy for me to just get it… give little Madi some extra spice to her drinks."

Tate gritted his teeth. He should've flushed them down the toilet instead. He should've thrown it out beyond the gates. Why was he so stupid?! He clenched and unclenched his hands. No. No, this wasn't the time to think about that now. The doctor needed to be punished first.

In a quick movement, Tate had his hand around the doctor's neck. The infuriating smirk was still on Henderson's face until he was dragged into the basement where Tate retrieved a length of rope and tied him down against a support beam.

"Thaddeus! Thaddeus!" Tate called out to the demonic infant. "I have a new toy for you!" An evil smirk spread across his own face. Oh, the newcomer didn't know anything about the true horrors of this house. What he knew had only scraped the surface.

Infantata emerged from his hiding spot beneath the table and slowly crawled over to the laughing man who's face quickly fell as his eyes fell upon the abomination in front of him. "What are you?! What are you?!" he shrieked as the demon child sniffed him.

Whatever Thaddeus smelled mustn't have been very pleasant because the claws came out and he attacked the petrified doctor.

Tate watched, but couldn't feel any satisfaction in watching Henderson suffer. His own guilt was plaguing his mind. If anything happened to Madi, he wasn't sure what he'd do. It'd be hid fault. He should've been smarter about it.

"My boy," Nora's airy voice wisped into his ears. "How is my child? Is my baby okay?"

He didn't know what the woman was talking about. If she was referring to him, then obviously he wasn't alright. If she was referring to Thaddeus, he seemed to be having fun. "Fine," he ended up spitting out.

He had to see Madi. Yes, she'd calm him down. Just being close to her always made things better, even when she didn't want to see him. As long as she was with him, everything would be alright.

Without another word, Tate appeared in dining room where he noticed that the Harmons had already cleaned up. He quickly made his way to Madi's room. It was empty. Where could she have gone? The longer he was away from her, the more he worried. Maybe she was with Violet. Maybe she was with her mother. Maybe… Maybe she was in the bathroom. Yes, that must've been it. Madi was in the bathroom. He'd just have to wait for her to come out. He knew how she liked to have her privacy in there sometimes.

He loitered inconspicuously in front of the bathroom for at least ten minutes before the worry set in once more. "Madi?" he called out, knocking on the door.

There was no reply.

"Madi, are you okay?"

Nothing.

He paced the corridor one last time before appearing inside. A waft of coppery scent assaulted his nose. His eyes trailed to the sink, spotted with red before following the trail down to the white porcelain tiles where a small body laid motionless.

"… Madi…?" If his undead heart hadn't already stopped years ago, it would've at that very moment. "Madi…"

He dropped to his knees and brushed away the tendrils of hair over her face. Her lips were painted red. The half-dried stain had dribbled down the side of her face and chin. "Madi, wake up." He gently shook her. It always took a little while to wake her. "Come on, your back is going to hurt in the morning if you don't get off the floor."

No matter what he did, she remained still, but he kept trying and trying. Ten minutes had soon come and gone. She had never been out for so long. "Wake up!" he shouted. "Madi! Madi!"

He curled up and laid his head on her chest. It was quiet. It was quiet as no one moved. It was quiet as he silently sobbed. It was quiet as her heart no longer beat.

…

I stepped out and saw Tate's teary face staring back at me. I was confused. I turned and stepped out, again. "W-what…? I don't understand…"

I stared at him with wide eyes. "I don't understand! What's happening?!" Why wasn't I looking beyond the gate where I knew a whole new world would greet me? Why was I stuck with the same image of the old house instead?

Tate rushed over to me and lead me back inside just as I was about to collapse.

"Tate, I'm so confused," I whimpered. "Why can't I leave?" It wasn't fair! I just had my sight back!

His lips trembled. "I'm sorry, Madi."

The look on his face made my heart stop or… was it already dead? "Why?" My own tears were already pouring down my face. "When?"

"It was that bastard! I found him putting the fucking pills in your drinks. He knew. He fucking killed himself in the house. He knew! I dragged him to the basement and I – " He stopped, looking ashamed. "I had to Madi. He needed to suffer for hurting you. For what he'd done. When I found you…" At this point, I didn't even care about what he did to the ghost. That doctor had ruined my life! He had… He had robbed me of my future!

"You were passed out… I – I thought it was just like before, but you were so cold. I didn't get to you in time. I failed you. I failed you, Madi," he sobbed, tugging vicious at his own hair.

I should've known it was too good to be true. Having my sight back was a miracle that I could only gain through death. Why did I ever think that everything was going to be alright?

…

"Madi?" He was getting worried of her silence. Was she angry at him? No, he wouldn't let her leave. She was his. "Don't leave me." He smashed her lips against his, ignoring her struggles and protests.

She finally managed to push him away. "Stop!"

"No… No, don't leave me. Don't do this. I love you, Madi," he babbled.

"Stop, Tate! Stop!"

"No!" he cried.

"Tate! Tate!" She grabbed his face, so that he was looking straight into her eyes. "I'm not going to leave you. I'm just really confused and scared and… and dead!" She rested her hand on his shoulder. "All I know is that I love you, Tate, and I always will, so stop freaking yourself out."

He looked at her with wide, watery eyes. "I love you, too, Madi."

They held each other for the rest of the day.

"My family… They can't stay here," she whispered. "This house is toxic. I don't want them to die. I don't want them to be stuck here forever. Violet just got a boyfriend. Mom's pregnant. Ben… I think he really wants to turn over a new leaf."

"I'll help you," he promised. He knew how much it would hurt her if anything happened to them. Even though he had promised Nora a baby, he had to get his priorities straight. He could always wait for another baby to come by, but there was only one Madi. His Madi.

Once they had a plan, they quickly worked on it the next day. Tate had retrieved her body, which was frozen in a cooler in the basement. It still looked perfectly intact, but it was difficult for him to look. The way he found her in the washroom floor kept playing itself in his mind. His hands shook as he positioned her corpse in the living room.

Once done, he called Madi over to briefly check. She nodded without caring. It was the first time she had a glimpse of her physical body since dying. The concept of ghosts never felt so odd. The body in front of her felt more like a twin than what was actually once hers.

She turned her head away and wrote down a quick note. Everything was set. Now, her family just needed to heed the warning.

…

Vivien waddled down the stairs to get something to eat when something caught her eye – something out of place. She slowly approached the living room before screaming in terror. "Madison! Oh, sweetheart. No… No… Not my baby!" How could this have happened? Her girl had only just gained her eyesight back. Why would this happen to her? She didn't have any enemies. She barely even went out! Why… WHY?!

Her scream had caught the attention of her husband and other daughter. They gasped and knelt beside her. They felt how cold her body was. How still Madison remained as they looked on with disbelief.

Ben gathered his wife into his arms, trying to shield her from the horrible sight, as her knees buckled beneath her.

"Mom, there's a note." Violet's voice was soft. Her eyes wide as she tried to comprehend what was in front of her. Madison was her sister. She had been the goody-two shoes of the family. She did no wrong. "This house is mine. I've made her an example of what will happen to all of you if you don't leave. Next will be your other daughter. I'll hang her by her hair and skin her, then I'll carve that unborn babe out of that juicy woman. Ben, do you let your eyes wander? I'll gauge them from your socket and stuff them down your throat. I will visit again in three days."

Vivien covered her mouth and shook her head. A sudden rack of pain hit her. She cried when a rush of wetness soaked into her pants. "The baby! The baby!"

Madi made to help her mother, but Tate held her back, cradling her in his arms. " She'll be fine. She's not alone."

"I know. It's just so hard seeing her like this."

…

Within a day, Ben had packed everything while Violet stayed with Vivien at the hospital. She had given birth to twins. One had been a stillborn, but the other was healthy. His new son was perfect. They had decided on the name: Michael Madison Harmon. He prayed that his son could be just like his Madi – morally, intellectually…

Tears welled up in his eyes. He sat heavily on the couch. She had always been so passionate – so full of fight. Why did it have to happen to her?

He wondered if she had ever forgiven him in the end. It was his fault that they moved from Boston. It was his fault that there was always so much tension in the house. There was so much time wasted between all of them. All the happy times they could've had instead.

Suddenly, there was a crinkle of paper floating down.

'I love you, dad. I wish I could've had this talk with you. Please take care of mom and Violet and my baby brother. Goodbye.'

A sob left his lips. "I love you, too, baby. Daddy will always love you. I'm so sorry."

…

Madi silently cried as her father left. She was never going to see them, again.

A hand wiped away her tears. She looked into his warm eyes and smiled softly.

It was done. Her family was away from the Murder House and she had the one person that she would spend an eternity with.

"I love you, Tate."

…

In the basement, Nora was gliding around. A small smile graced her lips. "My baby… My baby…"

AUTHOR'S NOTE

I switched the format a little and had Tate's prospective first. I don't know if this is what you all expected, but that's the end!

I had to do quite a bit of editing for this chapter and to be honest, I'm still not completely happy with it, but I think I addressed most of the things I wanted to touch upon.

Firstly, I really couldn't see Madi living, even when I first started the story. It was either living alone or dying and being with Tate because she wasn't going to survive in that house. For her, I chose love over life.

Secondly, I wanted to confirm that Tate did not rape Vivien in this story. He was faithful to Madi. He did not choose the desires of Nora over his love for Madi, unlike what he did to Violet and her mother.

Thirdly, I wanted the rest of the Harmons to be out of the house and to be honest, I'm not sure what went on in my head when I devised the "plan." I'm sure no one really wants to know what was in my head during that time, anyhow.

Fourthly, I'd love to thank EVERYONE for staying until the end of this story, whether you reviewed, favourited, followed, or just read this story. All of you were absolutely wonderful and you kept me wanting to write.

Thank you PorcelainPuppetLady, NameWithNoMeaning, guests (anonymouscsifan and AFAN) for reviewing!

anonymouscsifan: What Nora had a hand in, well… Who knows? I made it a little ambiguous at the end. Jesse… I actually chose that name at random. Unfortunately, I still haven't watched Coven, yet, but I'm really hoping to get to it soon. I'm currently hooked up on The Strain, but I should be all caught up with that show in the next few days.

PorcelainPuppetLady: She is literally very, very dead!

NameWithNoMeaning: I did contemplate making her just pregnant, but I didn't know how I would go on with that story. I can't imagine them having a true happy ending together, but maybe I'll end up writing an alternative ending one day.

AFAN: A lot of people seem to want her to be pregnant instead! I'm so sorry it didn't work out that way! Well… The way where she's alive and pregnant. I mean… Who knows? I am thinking about working on the Asylum next. I'm just not sure what kind of character she should be. Should she be a worker, patient, visitor, random person? I'm not sure I can most definitely use Madi again in it and hopefully make it work.

Thank you again to everyone who has favourited and followed this story!

Since I do plan to work on the Asylum next (Not sure when it will be posted since work as been taking up more of my time than I thought it would), what kind of person should I have our OC be?

Also, I am slowly posting chapters to a Walking Dead fanfiction, right now. If anyone is interested, I'd be happy if you'd give it a little read. I'm also contemplating a story for The Strain. I know it doesn't have a big fandom currently, but I'm quite intrigued by it right now.

And for all of you who had read my Until Dead story. I do have a couple of chapters written. Would any of you like to read it now or should I wait until I have more planned?