Extra long chapter for ya
Madeleine felt dazed. She sat on the ground, which was hard and cold and wet and uncomfortable. She blearily opened her eyes and saw Josie and Annie standing above her, hands over their eyes.
Madeleine realised that she wasn't wearing anything.
"There are clothes next to you," Josie said quickly.
Madeleine bit her lip as she pulled on the clothes. "What happened?" she asked.
"A lot of things. And don't ask us because we don't know." Annie took her hand away from her eyes as Madeleine said she was decent and smirked. "We don't know much at all any more."
Madeleine nodded with agreement. "Where did you get the clothes?"
Josie looked at Annie too, removing her hand from her eyes. "Yeah, Annie, where did you get the clothes?"
"Let's just say... ignore the many people there are running around now screaming about an invisible monster," Annie sniggered.
"I don't believe you. Anyway, what do we do now?"
"Who knows?" Madeleine pondered. "We can't exactly just go home."
"No."
"Wait!" Annie cried, as inspiration struck. "You know that abandoned house we hang out in occasionally? We can hole up there for a while until we come up with a plan."
Josie shrugged. "It's the best idea we've got."
"It's the only idea we've got," Madeleine added darkly as they walked out of the alley.
So as to avoid being seen and arrested or something else they didn't want to think about, Josie, Madeleine and Annie clambered into a cab. It was dark red, the colour of dried blood, and looked streaky, but it was the only cab anywhere in their immediate environment so they got in anyway, thinking that nothing in the cab could be worse than what had already happened to them.
"London Road, please," Josie mumbled as the driver started off.
"All right. And what would you three lovely young ladies be doing this time of night?" the driver inquired, friendly enough.
"Nothing much," Madeleine replied nervously, before pausing and adding; "Wait, three?"
"Yes, there's three of you," the driver said, looking confused.
"But... but..."
"Let's get out of here," Annie advised worriedly.
"Can you stop the cab here, please?" Josie conveyed, feeling tense.
"What about London Road?" the cabbie asked.
"Just here please."
"No, I'll take you to London Road."
"Please, just stop the car and we'll walk away."
"I'm taking you where you need to go!"
"I'm telling you that what we need to do is get out RIGHT NOW!" Josie threw her weight against the door. "Annie, give me a hand here!"
"Ah, so it is you," the driver said smugly.
"WHAT!" Josie yelled, feeling like she was about to explode. What the gibbing flump was going on?
"Josie, Annie, and the werewolf. You're quite famous, you know."
Curious, Annie decided to try and figure out what was happening. "Why? What have we done?"
"Only started a new era!" the cabbie exclaimed excitedly.
"What are you talking about?"
"Before, the world was boring and dull, with humans alone as the dominant species. Now, though... we can take the world as our own!"
"No, we won't!"
"What if it isn't your choice, children?"
"But it is, and we want this to be OVER!" Josie screamed.
The cabbie tutted and raised his hand. Annie froze into position, stiff in her seat.
"What have you done to her?" Madeleine asked cautiously, her heart in her mouth.
"You don't know about ghost hypnotism? Intriguing."
"Ghosts can hypnotise?" Josie said, dumbfounded, inspecting Annie's rigid form. "I didn't... we never..."
"Anyway," the cabbie smirked, "Annie here is coming with me. And there's nothing you two can do about it. I have been paid to keep you here because some very important people would like you two. Alive, unfortunately."
Josie and Madeleine glanced at each other as the taxi drove on.
"Who?" Madeleine whispered, shaking.
The cabbie laughed. "You'll see."
"What are you?" Josie croaked, her throat dry.
"The second ghost ever made, although I, unlike most, do not stick with my species. I serve whoever pays enough and the people who want you were most... generous."
Josie's jaw clenched.
"Now, time for you two to go to bed."
"What?"
The cabbie turned around, grinning a wicked grin, and holding a spray can. Josie and Madeleine didn't even have time to yelp before they were sinking into darkness... deep, deep down...
Skye was crying. She felt helpless and hopeless and worthless and altogether at loss.
"I'm a terrible friend," she whimpered. "Madeleine and Josie and Annie are all out there and I'm sitting here, too scared to go and help."
She buried her head in her knees, before a hand clapped over her mouth, holding a cloth that smelt funny...
Josie first feeling was that her hands were tied.
She was in a chair, tied to it around her wrists and ankles.
She vaguely remembered the cab driver saying that someone was willing to pay for her and then he sprayed her and she was knocked out.
A hand slapped her hard across the cheek. She grunted and opened her eyes.
"That's better," someone growled. Josie couldn't see them. It was pitch black. Then she heard a switch being flicked and a bare bulb flickered into life above her. She could see a man standing before her, with a crewcut, a wonky jaw and a broken nose. She knew he was a vampire eve before he bared his fangs.
"Stand aside," a silky voice from behind the man ordered, and the man reluctantly backed away.
Josie saw a woman emerge from the shadows. She was slender, and you could call her pretty, but her insane eyes and look of madness marred her beauty enormously.
The woman smiled at Josie, her shimmering black hair swirling unnaturally around her face.
"Hello, child," she welcomed gently.
"Who are you?" Josie snarled, pulling at the ropes binding her.
"I am the person whose going to make it all better. Now, you've been fighting your vampire side haven't you? It's been making you feel guilty and sad. Now, I'm here to make you let go of your humanity and follow the true vampire way instead."
"I am the true vampire! I am the first!" Josie exclaimed furiously.
"You may be the first and most powerful, but you are also the youngest and you must accept the wisdom of the old. Now."
"Never!"
"Then we will MAKE you," the woman replied with a deep frown.
"NEVER!"
The woman laughed, a deep booming laugh. "Eric, bring specimen A," she ordered.
The man re-entered Josie's vision and held out a large bag of blood. The woman took it and waved it under Josie's nose. "You want it, don't you?" she taunted. "You need it. All you have to do is drink it and this will all be over. All the pain. All the guilt, all the feelings. Just drink."
Josie closed her eyes and turned her head away, breathing fast.
"Don't resist, Josie. Just drink."
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, NO!" Josie chanted, again and again, forcing herself to remember Annie's mangled body and the terrifying feeling she'd had after butchering all those people in the hospital.
"DRINK IT!"
After a while, Josie found that she didn't want the blood any more. After haunting herself with the memories she found that any temptation she'd had was gone. To prove it to herself, however risky it was, Josie took the bag in her teeth, ripped it open with her fangs, took a mouthful and then spat it in the woman's face.
She howled in anger and wiped the thick red liquid from her eyes with a deep-throated growl. "Well, Josie, you're being difficult, and we can't have you running around and inspiring young vampires like yourself, so I'm afraid we're going to have to get the ghost out."
"The... ghost?"
"Hypnotism is the answer, Josie. You can give in now or be forced to later."
Josie gulped as her chair was dragged from the room and the spray was aimed at her face yet again.
Madeleine threw herself against the bars as soon as she realised she was in a cage.
Again and again she launched herself at the metal, bruising herself in a million places but not caring because she knew that the pain would keep her sane.
Shoulders, knees, feet, hands, elbows and hips struck the iron with extreme force, Madeleine carefully controlling her anger as she knew what happened if she didn't. She knew the consequences.
Hope you liked more coming soon