(MADELEINE'S POV)
*88 lbs
Thin pale fingers tore away at the shower curtain as Madeleine stepped out onto a dark crimson colored rug. Fetching the towel that hung on the wall, Maddie dried herself off before putting on her new change of clothes: underwear, a neon pink tank top with two black buttons at the bust, a pair of black cargo pants, and fuzzy pink and black slipper socks.
Adding the wedding ring to her slender finger, she smiled at the significance of the jewelry.
Brushing the hair out of her eyes, Maddie continued to hum to the beat of her song, although she had finished the lyrics several minutes before. Pulling her hair up messily, Madeleine then continued on with brushing her teeth and adding deodorant; finishing her daily hygiene necessities.
Glad that she had gotten the foul taste of vomit out of her mouth, Madeleine took her hand to her face and dragged it across her cheek in a tired fashion; too much shit to deal with in such little and precious time…
Dragging herself out of the humid room, Madeleine entered the living room with her lips formed into a hard, thin line. Taking her eyes to the plastic advertisement on the side table, she rose an eyebrow but quickly pushed away the wonder, guessing that Nny might have set him there. Besides, plastic burger boys don't move around on their own…do they?
Frowning, Madeleine remembered the memory of when she had visited Johnny's home, spotting two possessed Pillsbury doughboys, hobbling around the room on their own. Madeleine had also heard stories about Johnny's pet bunny, whose head floated around on it's own.
Deciding to take no surprise to this, Madeleine shrugged at the new place the decoration laid before continuing back to her and Johnny's bedroom. Although, you couldn't really call it a bedroom, considering the fact that there was no bed; only a sofa, a small side table, an old television set with antennas and a wooden dresser contained the room.
Letting her tongue roam against the back of her teeth, Madeleine went up to her still, unpacked luggage, and unhooked the first suitcase that sat on the floor beside the dresser.
The first item she spotted was a photograph that was placed in a copper frame with a small floral pattern cornering the edges of one side.
It was a picture of her parents; two angels holding the hands of a young child. The father had a very warm, protective smile as he and his wife held the child's hands, suspending the child in the air only a few feet from the ground. The woman seemed as if she was laughing, her dark black hair showing relation to the little girl in her hand.
It was a memory of happiness and contentment; emotions that she couldn't feel quite as easily anymore. Oh how she missed her parents. Although she didn't exactly remember them, she could still remember the glint in their eyes as they smiled warmly at her.
Changing up the choice of song, Madeleine soon started to whisper lyrics to one of her favorite bands.
"Look at this photograph; every time I do it makes me laugh…"
Maddie continued the song in a whisper, pleasuring herself in singing and letting out a bit of stress through her voice while she unpacked her clothes and set them in the empty cabinets of the dresser.
"Every memory of looking out the back door, I had the photo album spread out on my bedroom floor, it's hard to say it; time to say it. Goodbye, goodbye…"
Once she had finished unpacking her belongings and set them in the dresser, she set the photograph onto the ledge before grabbing the pink and black horizontal stripped arm-warmers that she had set aside when unpacking before getting up and popping her back.
Pulling on the accessories, Madeleine felt a little more comfortable with concealing the cuts that lined up and across her forearms, morphing the mangled and scarred skin.
Glancing at the small gift bag and box, Madeleine's curiosity spiked as she remembered that her family had gotten them a gift, no, gifts.
Johnny had brought them in the house when Madeleine fell asleep on the cliff edge the previous night after he carried Madeleine inside (although she clearly couldn't remember anything). Shuddering at the realization that Maddie was now a wife, she crossed her arms over her chest in a very self-conscious manner before cautiously heading toward the gifts.
Picking up the small bag and the wrapped present, Maddie decided to open the gifts with Johnny; hey, she thought it'd only be fair.
The box was fairly big, but Madeleine had no particular interest in this; only growing curiosity brought her to the small bag in her other hand. What wedding present was small enough to fit in a bag like that?
Walking back into the living room, Madeleine's stomach screamed in agony due to the fact that she had vomited everything that she ate the previous night, leaving her abdomen completely empty. And the fact that she was being helped through her burden of anorexia didn't help either.
"Johnny-pooh?"
Smirking at the childish reference for Johnny's name, she quickly got a response of Johnny walking out the doorway of the kitchen, holding a plate of toast.
Holding the plate in her direction, Johnny offered the bread before he realized what was in her hands. Nodding his head, he set the plate onto the coffee table before the T.V. set before setting his own slice of toast beside it.
"I thought that before we leave for the hospital that we could open our 'wedding gifts'. It might get our mind off the situation for a few minutes. C'mon," she walked over to the couch, setting the box onto the table while she held the gift bag.
Tugging at the cloth on her forearms, she felt the side of the sofa sink down beside her, meaning that Johnny had accepted the option.
Setting the small bag on the floor, she waited for Johnny to tear away at the wrapping paper on the box on the table, finding it to be a new blender; the basic gift anyone would buy for a newlywed couple.
(JOHNNY'S POV)
As truthfully honest as Johnny could get, this had been one of the best gifts he'd gotten.
His previous blender was… ruined with rat intestines when he decided to fill a collection of dolls with dead rats. Johnny never could clean the blender correctly, so he had to toss it out, never having the will to go out and buy a new one.
Smirking at the memory, Johnny almost flinched with surprise as Madeleine burst out laughing.
Looking over to Maddie in confusion, he realized that she, too, opened the small gift bag before her. She seemed to have dropped whatever she found back inside the bag, bursting into a mad fit of giggles before she brought her hands to her face.
"L-…leave it to Aunt Darla to buy those for a wedding present... nice joke; very nice," she groaned before bringing one hand to the center of her face; her thumb and forefinger pinching the bridge of her nose as she smiled awkwardly. An extremely dark shade of crimson covered her face as she giggled once more.
"What'd she get," Johnny said, anxious to look inside the bag now.
Madeleine just responded by pushing the bag over with her foot before getting up from the sofa with a now serious expression. Her mood had changed so quickly within a few seconds time…
"Shoes… going to go… find my shoes," she said darkly before hurrying off to the bedroom with an empty expression.
Confused now, Johnny took his attention to the bag now sitting by his foot. Raising an eyebrow, Johnny then took the bag in his hands, taking out a small box with a label that read:
Condoms.
Eyes bulging, Johnny, too, dropped this back into the bag, completely and utterly shocked. He never thought in ALL HIS LIFE that he would come to be in possession of something like that…
Since when were condoms suitable wedding gifts? Yes… marriage led to the option of family, but items like that seemed too personal to be considered a present; not to mention a little awkward.
Clenching his hands into fists, Johnny's face mimicked Madeleine's, turning a dark shade of pink. Scrunching his nose, Nny flashed his head to Reverend Meat who was chuckling at him, making fun of Johnny's tension and sudden awkwardness.
"Don't…say…a fucking word…," Johnny whispered to the plastic decoration before gritting his teeth and looking back to the bag, remembering Meat's empty suggestion.
You will never know until you interrogate her about the situation…
(TODD'S POV)
Todd's eyes were huge with terror as he followed a nurse through several large metal doors in the hospital. Stretchers and beds passed him with sick, mental and physical injuries as he was taken through several corridors.
Other hospital staff hung around the hallways, wearing light green and blue uniforms with masks covering half of their faces. Everything moved through a blur of sound, talking and wheels going against the smooth tiles of the floor. Color swirled around his head as he was being taken away from his mother and being led through a different section of the emergence medical center.
Hot tears swam in Todd's eyes as the employee stopped, looked down to him with a smile on her face before squatting down to face him. Her dark brown eyes looked at him sympathetically as she said in a rather low tone, "this the lobby; some call it a 'waiting room', but in general it's called a lobby. We're taking care of your mom," she said quietly with a small spark of sadness in her voice before continuing on, "but I don't know how long it will be before we get more news to you. Wait here; if you have any money, and you're hungry, we have a small cafeteria nearby. Just ask the man at the counter for directions, okay sweetie?"
She then stood back up before ruffling his hair and walking away through a random hallway.
Frowning with loneliness and horror at the fact that he was completely alone, Squee hurried over to one of the many chairs in the lobby with his stuffed teddy bear before sitting down and waiting patiently, already knowing that his mother had died and his father was long gone.
(1 hour and 29 minutes later)
"Squee-gee!"
Snapping his heavy eyelids open, Todd's blurry vision focused and he found two familiar faces entering the lobby; Johnny and Madeleine had come to visit.
Rubbing more sleep out of his eyes, Squee shrunk into the soft cushion of the couch, desperately trying to fight of the fact that Scary Neighbor Man had come to visit him. As terrifying as the man was, and as gruesome his morals turned out to be, Johnny seemed fairly… considerate of Todd.
But this didn't keep Squee from being scared shit-less of the man. Besides, who WOULDN'T be afraid of a serial killer like him? He HURT PEOPLE AND KILLED THEM!
But realizing that Johnny was now married, he remembered Madeleine had found Johnny a fairly decent and comforting person to be around. How that worked, Todd would never know.
Squee remembered fully well his first meeting with the woman… she was EXTREMELY skinny for her age; skinnier than Scary N- Johnny was. Her cheekbones pressed against her pale skin, expressing her sharp facial features while her arms were those of noodles.
She tended to wear darker colors, like Johnny had, but every now and then, she would show up in a neon colored shirt or have absolutely no makeup on. She was a rather random person; different than the other public surroundings.
Squee didn't exactly understand attractiveness, but he knew fairly well that Maddie was a rather pretty person, considering she was a girl with a special style.
But despite her appearance, Madeleine was a very sweet and kind person. She had been the only person to give him a Christmas present, even if she was just a stranger to him. Maddie was just a comforting, loving human.
Squinting his eyes now, Todd looked back to the entrance to see Maddie and Johnny walking toward him with smiles and sympathetic faces. Madeleine, however, had a light shine of tears in her eyes as she walked toward him.
Johnny, now standing before him, sat on the carpeted floor beneath him along with Madeleine who did the same.
"Hey Todd… any news yet?"
Madeleine was the one to speak.
Dragging his tired eyes to the woman, Squee yawned and answered in a high voice, "I think mom's dead, but I dunno. They haven't told me anything, and I'm n-not supposed to talk to strangers…"
It was then that Squee's stomach churned with hunger, stating that he hadn't eaten since the night before, after the wedding.
Johnny, taking note of this, smiled and got up before looking to a sign that hung at the cross section of two hallways. Nny took his eyes back to Todd before suggesting in a warm tone, "how about we get something to eat; it seems that you haven't eaten in a while and I think they sell bagels here…"
Looking the man up and down, Squee gaped at the man, noticing how nicely he was acting towards him. No, it wasn't a pretend act; the scary man seemed pretty sincere in his words, so Todd hesitantly accepted the offer, waiting for Maddie to get up and take Squee to the cafeteria.
(AUTHOR'S NOTE)
AHAHAHAHAHA CONDOMS! AWKWARDNESS! I know you guys are probably DISGUSTED at me by this point, having added those and Johnny into the story…
But readers, do understand that it was supposed to be a joke from the aunt. But… to create MORE CONFLICTS, Johnny takes note that he is now in possession of these… oh, fuck.
Viewers Digression: I have made a promise to myself, NEVER to add a descriptive sex scene in my stories. NEVER WILL I MAKE THE JUMP to do that; I just can't bring myself to do it. I'd never forgive myself, nor would I be able to read another issue of JTHM ever the same way again… that is… unless you find yourselves comfortable enough with the idea…
I AM HOWEVER, mulling over the idea of IMPLYING that they did… I AM NOT FOR SURE, but it all depends on how short the story is, and exactly how I want it to end…
Understand that through the omen that Madeleine was given, it makes her hesitant and anxious at the option. She couldn't bear risking the chance… not with the way the supernatural forces of the house are messing with her dreams.
Message me what you think… have I gone a tad bit too far? Explain your answer and I'll try to answer your message with all meanings of respect. Have I hit the limit? Or… do you want more?
LET ME KNOW!
(Again…I am ranting…)
So… Todd is at the hospital, Johnny and Maddie visit for a minute, and now they are headed to the cafeteria.
Fun at the café awaits! Hope you
Lyrics: belong to Nickelback…
The song is called: Photograph
Any and all JTHM characters such as Johnny and Squee belong to Jhonen Vasquez, not me…
I own Madeleine.
REVIEW! YOUR DIGITAL COOKIE AWAITS!
"FUCKING DOUGHNUT! MOCK ME? YOU FRIED CYCLOPS!"
Happy Noodle Boy/ Johnny C./ Jhonen Vasquez