Chapter 14
Never
Hey guys! Here's the fourteenth chapter, but first here are answers to reviews:
Guest: Okay, there's been lots of guests commenting and I'm not sure whether it's one person or multiple people! For everyone's benefit, maybe you can use a name other than Guest, or else I'll be confused!
GUEST THAT REVIEWED ABOUT RAVEN: Well, will Raven live? We'll see in this chapter! *Wink wink nudge nudge*
GUEST THAT REVIEWED ABOUT ASHLYNN AND HUNTER: I know miracles happen, but this ain't Disney. This is REAL LIFE. But please don't worry: Ash and Hunter will be having a child, just not in that sense.
Rosana Doodles: I meant your favourite character in this fic! XD Sorry if I wasn't very clear. Why does everyone hate Faybelle so much? I think Faybelle's badass. Even though she's evil and all, I still like her.
princess mh: Thank you too, girl!
Please don't forget to review. If you favourite or follow, I'd be like, 'Okay, or they favouriting coz they like my story or they think it's so bad it makes them laugh?!'
So, yeah. Please leave a review. A colon and a bracket :) will do, even. So, yeah. Pretty pretty please?
I've rambled enough, guys. Onward ho!
TRIGGER WARNING: MENTIONS OF CHILD PROSTITUTION, ABUSE, AND RAPE. SOME SUGGESTIVE SCENES.
—
Humphrey was just minding his own business when he heard a really weird sound. Like, it sounded like a seal wailing quietly while toads sang to a pop song.
He rounded the corner to find the source of the noise and was surprised to see it was Mad. Or Hat. Or whatever she was called. For a second, Humphrey was going to turn on his heel and leave, and then Mad (or Hat) let out a sound like she was being strangled. So he went to check.
"Hello," he greeted after a while. Are you okay?"
The girl pulled her hands away from her face. Humphrey was so shocked he wondered if he had mistaken the wrong person. But it was Mad (or Hat).
"I am leaking," she answered firmly, and Humphrey wondered how he was going to even communicate with her.
—
Briar wasn't exactly sure of the extent of physical possibility, but she had somehow kneed her nose, or nosed her knee.
She had been walking around the city when she somehow tripped on a small bottle, and therefore her knee jolted up for whatever reason and kneed her nose.
Her first instinct was to smash the bottle and curse it.
So she picked it up and was ready to swear like a sailor when she saw the skull sign on the glass.
It was ricin.
—
Briar flung open the front door, looking extremely pale. Hopper looked up from his work. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"I nosed my knee on ricin!" Briar exploded.
"What?"
Wringing her hands, she paced the room. "I was walking on the street, and then I tripped on a bottle and kneed my nose and the bottle was ricin!"
Hopper widened his eyes. "Did you call the police?"
"Yeah," Briar answered. "They couldn't detect a fingerprint. I'm worried, Hopper."
Hopper couldn't exactly blame her. Briar knew most of the people in the neighbourhood, so it wasn't surprisingly that she was concerned about everyone. He chewed his lower lip.
"I mean, the forensic team is undergoing more research but I honestly don't know…"
Briar jumped as her handbag vibrated. She pulled out her phone and tapped to answer. "Hello?" she asked.
"Hi, uh, is this Briar Beauty?" a voice she didn't recongise asked.
"Uh, yeah," she answered, confused. "Who is this?"
"I'm Humphrey Dumpty, and your friend here is currently sobbing on a street corner," he explained. Briar furrowed her eyebrows. "Who, Ashlynn? Cerise? Um, Apple?"
"I think she's called Mad. Or Hat. I don't really know, but she's asking for you."
"Wait, you mean Madeline Hatter?" Briar asked. "The Madeline Hatter with the curly violet and aqua hair?"
"Yeah," Humphrey answered. Briar furrowed her eyebrows. Maddie never cried. Was there anyone else called Maddie who just happened to have a friend called Briar Beauty? Chances were thin.
"She says she's leaking," Humphrey added. "Like, is she on her menstrual cycle or something?"
Briar rushed for the door. Yep, this was Maddie. "Where are you guys?" she asked as she thrusted her key in the control.
"Outside Faerie Mall," Humphrey responded. Briar immediately hung up and drove towards the mall. She couldn't imagine Maddie crying. What had happened? Hopefully nothing had happened to her father. After five painstakingly slow minutes of driving, she parked her car and hoppe out. She wove her way through the people and headed near the back of the shopping centre, where she heard a most peculiar sound. Like a seal laughing with toads in its throat.
He followed the sound to see Maddie, face rather red and wet, and a blonde, neat-looking man next to her in a light blue shirt and beige shorts looking empathetic but extremely confused.
"Maddie!" Briar cried, sitting down next to the weeping girl. She wrapped both arms around her friend. Maddie only sobbed louder and leaned into Briar.
"What happened, sweetie?" Briar asked, handing her a tissue.
"The-fickle-tree-seal-will-die!" Maddie harrumphed. "It-was-all-a-big-fat-aLIIIEE!" Briar met the eyes of the man, who she assumed was Humphrey. "How can you understand her?" he asked quietly.
"Maddie speaks riddlish," Briar explained, brushing some violet bangs out of Maddie's eyes. "She lived in Wonderland, where people had different meanings for words." Humphrey nodded.
"Now Maddie, what do you mean you were adopted? Are you sure you're not confused?" Briar asked, turning her gaze back to the smaller girl.
"Dad never lies," Maddie sniffled. "Not if I wanted him not to."
"Now tell me what happened," Briar goaded quietly. Maddie sighed.
"I was with Dad in the ceiling, and he started leaking, so I tried to fix it," she started. "But then he told me that I wasn't his daughter, and I asked why. And I'm adopted…but that's not the worst part! I don't mind if I'm adopted! He still loves me! But…I killed my mother!"
"You did what?!" Humphrey exploded. Briar shot him a glare.
"Maddie, I'm sure you didn't," she soothed, but Maddie shook her head. "I did! It was all because of that man, and then he sold me to…"
And then she stopped, because she was crying so hard. Briar had never seen Maddie cry in her entire life. They both were strict non-cryers. Briar didn't cry because she was tough. Maddie didn't cry because she was enthusiastic about everything. But it was different now.
"I'll start from the beginning," Maddie hiccuped. "I was an orphan. I knew that. And then I ran away from the orphanage and got lost. A man found me and he…I thought he looked nice so I followed him home. But he wasn't! He forced himself on me and…"
Maddie was interrupted.
"THAT DAMN FUCKING BASTARD!" Briar downright screeched. "I SWEAR I'LL CUT OFF HIS FUCKING DICK AND MAKE HIM FUCKING EAT IT! I'LL SHOVE IT DOWN HIS FUCKING THROAT AND CHOKE HIM AND BREAK HIS BACK AND SHOVE HIS FUCKING HEAD UP HIS FUCKING ASS AND—"
"Briar," Humphrey whispered. Briar took a deep breath.
"Um, yeah. He kind of molested me," Maddie said, trying to sound perky. It obviously didn't work, because she started crying again. "I'm glad they gave me a Memory Shot afterwards," she mumbled.
"They drugged you?!" Briar screamed, getting angrier and angrier at the second.
"They wanted to help," Maddie protested. "But that's not all."
"I SWEAR I'M GOING TO UNLEASH FIRE AND HELL ON EVERYONE ONCE YOU'RE DONE!" Briar shouted. "But continue."
"He then sold me to a brothel," Maddie continued, voice shaking. Godmother, she was so brave. "Then I got whipped and made into a child prostitute. Sometimes they forced me to do…blowjobs."
"Oh Godmother…"
"And then Dad saved me," Maddie said finally. "He heard some men talking about child prostitution. And then he looked up the brothel and went there. He found me and took we away. Dad said that I was scared at first. I thought he was one of those men who wanted me to do all those things with me. But he was so kind…and then I got my Memory Shot. And then Dad met…her."
"Who's her?" Humphrey asked gently.
"My mum," Maddie said. "Dad said I really liked mum, but I killed her!" She stiftled another wail.
"Maddie, slow down," Briar soothed. "How?"
"I gave her tea with milk in it," Maddie sobbed. "And she was anaphylactic!"
"I'm so sorry…"
"She died! She was probably choking and going blue in the face!" Maddie cried. "And then I got a second Memory Shot."
Humphrey widened his eyes. "But…don't you know what happens if you get two?" he asked slowly.
"Yeah," Maddie responded. "That's why I'm so sick in the head. And that's why I used to talk to voices that weren't there."
The three sat in silence for a good while. For all of them, this was a lot to take in. Especially Maddie's gruesome history at the brothel.
Briar ran her hands through her friend's bright curls, smiling a little. "Maddie, you know what my dad used to say? He used to say that the past doesn't define you. You define yourself. And Maddie, believe me when I say you are a miracle. For going through all this, for having two Memory Shots and have survived them, for always smiling, because Maddie…you are Maddie. You're not a child prostitute, or someone who's mentally disabled. You are Madeline Hatter, Matthew Hatter's daughter, and the most amazing girl I've ever met."
"You really think so?" Maddie asked after a while.
"Yeah," Briar smiled. "Fuck those bastards. You're Fearless Maddie."
—
Dexter rushed into the hospital, still in his suit and carrying his briefcase. He flung open the door and dumped his case down at one of the benches. Cerise and Reece were standing in front of a middle-aged surgeon.
"…she'll make it. She's alive," the doctor smiled.
Those five beautiful, rare words Dexter had wanted so badly to hear.
Cerise turned to him, smiling wide, eyes glistening with tears. Eyes that said, 'thank you'. "Can we see her?" she asked, turning back to the doctor.
The surgeon nodded. "One at a time, though. She's still in a state of shock, and we'll try work on her bones. But Miss Queen—"
"Mrs Charming," Reece corrected, giving Dexter a wink.
"—Mrs Charming is a very lucky woman. Not only was one of our most professional travelling surgeons here on the night she had arrived, but also for the love and support of her friends and family. Now, who would like to see her first?"
Cerise turned breathlessly to Dexter, as if asking for permission. "You deserve it," Dexter coaxed. Without a word, the brunette wiped at tears in her eyes and ran into Raven's ward.
Dexter neared the door and heard the faint murmuring of female voices, Cerise's barely stifled squeal, and a few sobby, wet hiccups. He smiled to himself and felt tears prickle at his own eyes. Raven was going to live. It was all going to be okay.
Reece smiled at him and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Raven deserves you, man," he grinned. "I wouldn't think of a better guy."
"Same with you and Cerise," Dexter responded.
Reece reddened. "What?"
"She looks at you the same way I look at Raven," Dexter explained, as Reece blushed like a tomato. It was funny. Adorable, really.
"Really?" he squeaked. He cleared his throat as Dexter laughed. "Really?" he asked again in a louder and clearer voice.
Dexter grinned and nodded. Cerise reappeared, tears falling down her cheeks. "She's alive," she whispered to herself. "She's alive."
Reece nudged the bespectacled man. "Go on. Your turn."
Dexter took a deep breath and slowly treaded in the hospital room. Raven was lying on a white, crinkly bed with all sorts of tubes and cords connected to her and out of her nose to stimulate her breathing. There was a quietly beeping heart monitor attatched to the wall, as well as various machines delivering liquid food and oxygen to Raven. There were casts on both her legs and some bandages, as well as an odd contraption secured around her chest.
"Raven?" Dexter asked, as not to disturb the peace.
Raven's eyes fluttered open. She let out a pained breath and gave a weak smile. "Hi," she whispered in a croaky voice. Dexter smiled back, reaching over to brush away some hair that clung to her face. He held one of her fragile hands in his. So many things he wanted to say, to apologise. He could have written an entire essay about how dumb he was and how he wanted to change. He opened his mouth to pour all the words out, but only two came.
"I'm sorry," he said.
Raven's eyes sparkled. "I've already forgiven you long ago."
—
Hunter sat with Ashlynn as they watched a wildlife documentary on some native birds. He wanted to ask his wife about considering adoption but he wasn't entirely sure how. He didn't want to disrupt any peace.
Clearing his throat, he sighed. It was now or never.
"Hey, Ash," he started. "Do you ever…want more children?"
Ashlynn was silent for a while. Eventually she turned down the volume and shifted around in the sofa to face him.
"Why do you say that? We're fine the way we are, just the two of us," she objected, looking worried.
Hunter paused. "It's just…don't you miss Harmony?"
Ashlynn stiffened and stared at the television screen. "Hunter-" she exhaled. "It's…hard."
"I know."
"No, I don't…know. I miss Harmony, but I feel like another baby is just going to break the spirit. And besides, I can't even have children anymore, remember? And adoption takes so long…I need to think about it," she sighed.
"It's okay," Hunter reassured. "We don't… we don't need to rush. We can take our time, have think about it. We can adopt! It can benefit us and the orphan, and—"
"Hunter, stop," Ashlynn objected firmly. "I don't want to talk about it, alright? Not tonight."
Her brunette husband nodded to himself slowly. But for once, he didn't agree.
—
Humphrey's life was supposed to be ORDINARY and NORMAL.
Those were not words to describe what was happening right now.
He was in the Mercedes of a stranger - or close to. The brunette girl had dragged him along for support and evidence to a brothel. There was a long and heavy-looking case in the boot. Humphrey had no idea what was in the case. Then again, he wasn't sure he wanted to know.
Briar's eyes screamed bloody murder. Her ringed fingers clenched the sterring wheel like she was trying to suffocate it. She was dressed in a pair of excercise shorts and a pink tee. Not the usual dresses he had seen her wear. He was a little worried about what would happen.
They pulled up in a dirt-floored carpark. Briar hopped out and grabbed the case before heading to the building, a dodgy looking wood shack with overly sexual noises coming from inside.
Briar flung the door open. Humphrey winced to see prostitutes in various state of undress, making out and dry humping some seriously horrific people. The youngest couldn't be older than fourteen. Or thirteen. Humphrey gulped and felt queasy. Briar strode up to a counter with a fat man behind it.
"I need to see the manager," she announced.
"That's me, darling," the fat man grinned. "You looking for a job? You'd make a delicious prostitute…"
Briar responded by slamming her stiletto heel into the man's face. "YOU DIRTY MAN WHORE! NOT ONLY DO YOU RUN A BROTHEL FULL OF FRICKIN' CHILDREN, YOU WERE THE ONE WHO FUCKING RAPED MY BEST FRIEND WHEN SHE WAS FUCKING SIX, YOU PERVERTED, DISGUSTING SICK SON OF A BITCH!"
Humphrey jumped. That was unexpected.
Briar threw an impressive kick between his legs. The manager howled in pain. "I'm suing this ridiculous slut house! I'm pretty sure the prostitutes here were raped and sold here, like Maddie was!"
"Hell yeah!" one of the prostitutes shouted, shoving a man off her body. "We've been molested by that fatso twenty times a day!"
"Exactly!" another shouted as she kicked another guy off her. "And all these gross people we're forced to fuck!"
Briar smiled. "Thanks, girls. Now…" She unclasped the case and opened it to reveal fire pokers, baseball bats, cricket bats, tennis rackets and whatnot. "Let's unleash fire and hell down on this miserable place!"
The women cheered, grabbed a makeshift weapon each, and proceeded to beat the shit out of the perverts and manager in the brothel. Briar only grabbed her trusty fold up fire poker and joined in, smiling.
—
"You didn't tell me you led thirty five prostitutes to war with a perverted rapist," Hopper said as Briar sat down next to him with a bucket of popcorn.
"You're right, I didn't," Briar answered as she watched the news reporter gesture to a blurrily filmed rampage of weapon wielding prostitutes.
"Briar Beauty, CEO and manager of infamous fashion company Rozez as well as multiple airlines such as BB Bye, has sued a brothel that has been accused of child prostitution, abuse, and sexual violence. Miss Beauty has employed thirty prostitutes to work in her business and helped the five child prostitutes ranging from thirteen to fifteen find their families. As the interview with Miss Beauty reports:" the news announcer said. The screen showed a young female reporter with Briar.
"Miss Beauty, what made you so thirsty for justice against Victor Cunningham, the owner of the brothel?"
On-screen Briar smiled. "Well, he molested my best friend when she was six and forced her to work as a child prostitute. He's also a [beep] full of [beep] and he should go [beep] himself. As a strong feminist, I believe that women should have the right to be who they want to be. And women shouldn't be targeted for sexual abuse. That's sexist [beep]."
"I knew I should have taken that Public Speaking course," Briar said proudly as she watched her TV self converse with the interviewer.
—
Hope you liked. I've been away for a realy long time. I hope this longer chapter will suffice. School's a pain.
Yeah, I know. I'm evil. Who knew Maddie had such a dark past? And yeah, RAVEN'S ALIVE! Lol, I couldn't kill her off with Guest's reviews begging me not to. But: THERE WILL BE A REAL CHARACTER DEATH IN THIS STORY. Sorry, I'm really really really mean, guys.
Please review and see how you think!