Madison Troy {is no princess} (anotherdollar) wrote in olympianthreads, @ 2014-11-20 01:22:00 |
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Entry tags: | ! completed, character: liam cokely, character: madison troy, player: andy, player: erin |
WHO: Madison Troy & Liam Cokely
WHAT: A terribad dream/nightmare
WHEN: 11/15; morning
WHERE: Inside Madison’s head; dining hall
SUMMARY: Here
RATING|STATUS: High | Completed log
Usually, Madison hated getting up early to deal with her emotions. She didn’t like mornings anyway, and dealing with her shit just seemed like the worst way to start off her day. However, it was the first day of the post-midterm break, and she wanted to get it over with. So she met with the school shrink bright and early, shared a couple new details, tried to talk without actually opening up too much, and then left to start her vacation. On her way out, she stopped by a water fountain, not knowing it would be a big mistake. A slight rumble in her stomach took her to the dining hall to grab a banana, but she didn’t quite make it to the food. Before she knew what was happening, she collapsed for the second time in less than two months, but this time, it wasn’t because she hadn’t been eating. She entered the dream to a scene she was very familiar with. The dressing room area of the backstage of a fashion show was winding down as people packed up their clothes, makeup, and cameras and left, either congratulating each other or lecturing about how to do better next time. Madison herself was surrounded by four pretty girls--and she didn’t even feel any animosity toward they. They were laughing and gossipping about something, Madison wasn’t exactly paying attention until she hear her name called. “Hmm?” The blonde in front of her rolled her eyes, amused, and repeated her question. “I said, when do you think he’ll ask?” “Who?” “Geff, silly!” she laughed. “Come on, you must have some idea,” another girl said, this time a small brunette. “Oh, I don’t know...soon, I hope?” she replied, unsure, yet somehow she still knew what they were talking about, just like she knew the first girl who spoke to her was Chloe, the small brunette was Ingrid, the blonde in the shorts was Sarah, and the black girl was Krystal, even though she couldn’t remember seeing them before. It just didn’t seem important. In fact, the longer they sat there and talked, the less she remembered about Olympian, until it was completely gone and everything she had was right there in that room. “He’s supposed to come over later to watch a movie. He said he picked up something for me while he was out of town.” “Ugh, you’re so lucky,” Sarah said, “Jared is the actual worst about stuff like this. D’you know, I tried to get him into a jewelry store, just to plant the idea, and he told me silver gives him hives?” “He did not,” Krystal gasped, right about the time Madison’s phone rang in her hand. “Hold on, I need to take this,” she said when her father’s name appeared on the screen. it didn’t even occur to her that that should have been an anomaly. Turning away from her girlfriends still chatting about men and commitment issues, she got up to take the call, and caught sight of herself in a mirror. She was much the same, but at the same time, so much different. Her waist and abdomen were filled in, but she was more muscular. She was thin, but it was a healthy thing. And when she looked at her reflection in that mirror, she didn’t see a list of flaws and things she wanted to change--she saw a pretty girl and a body she was happy with. Snapping out of her musings just in time to answer the cellphone before it went to voicemail, she found herself pleased to hear her father’s voice. “Hey Dad, what’s up?” “Just making sure we’re still on for dinner, sugar plum.” “Yeah, totally. We’re basically done here, I can meet you at the restaurant after I get home and take a shower.” “Sounds good, Maddie, I’ll see you in a bit.” “Okay, bye Daddy.” She hung up and bid her friends goodbye; they made lunch plans for later in the week, and she went home to take a shower. On the way, she got a call from her mother, congratulating her on a successful show, and telling her how proud she was of her. The day going perfectly. When she got out of the shower though, everything changed. “Hey Dad, I’m almost ready to leave,” she said into her phone when it rang. “Are you on your way to the restaurant?” “No, I can’t make it.” His voice sounded distant, not even apologetic. “Why, did something happen?” She’d stopped getting ready and just stood in the middle of her room with a frown on her face. “No, I just decided I’d rather spend my time with my real family.” “Your...Daddy, I don’t understand.” “It’s simple, Madison. I never wanted you. I told your mother to abort you. She kept you purely to spite me. Look, i’ve got to go.” He hung up without saying goodbye, leaving Madison both hurt and confused. Her phone dinged again, this time with an email that turned out to be from her agent. Ms. Troy, We regret to inform you that we will be dropping you as a client, effective immediately. We at Jason Garret Talent Company pride ourselves on having an elite clientele that represents the quintessential ideal of beauty and we do not believe you fit our image any longer. Your current bookings have been cancelled and someone will be by tomorrow to pick up the clothing loaned to you. Thank you She stared in disbelief. Had she not just come from a show? Hadn’t everyone just told her how great she looked? She moved to dial her mother’s number and caught another glimpse of her reflection. This time, what she saw horrified her. She must have gained twenty or thirty pounds in minutes. Her muscle definition had all but disappeared , leaving her with stretch marks and saggy boobs. In tears, she finished dialing her mother’s number. “Mom? Mom, I don’t know what’s happening, things were going so gre--” “Madison, stop,” her mother interrupted her. She sounded irritated. “I heard about your agency.” “Yeah, they dropped me for no reason, and then I just looked in the mirror--” “What did you expect when you eat enough to feed a village in Africa?” “Mom…” “I don’t have time for this right now, Madison. You have no one to blame but yourself. Maybe you should cut out all the carbs and actually do some exercise that involves more than just walking to and from the kitchen, huh?” The call ended, leaving Madison with tears starting to fall and a pain in her chest. --- Liam was just relieved to have made it through midterms. He felt as though the last two weeks had passed in minutes, the time he desperately needed to catch up slipping through his fingers like sand. His own counselling sessions had become almost welcome interruptions, moments where he could sit and breathe for an hour - sometimes literally - allowing him to focus on one issue at a time. And of course it had been extra fun concentrating on midterms while recovering from two broken ribs. On Saturday, he really wanted an extra hour or two of sleep, but his body had other ideas. It woke him at sunrise, and resisted all his attempts to fool himself by keeping his eyes closed into pretending he was still sleeping. He got up eventually and went to the gym, thinking he may as well get in a workout before breakfast. He considered going to the pool after, but his stomach rumbled, and he decided to go by the Mess Hall for a proper breakfast on the way. He’d been living on cereal and crisps for the most part, since there was no time to waste on things like breakfast and lunch when he was trying to cram knowledge into his brain. He had just sat down to a bacon and cheese omelette when he saw Madison come in. Although there weren’t many people still in the Mess Hall, with some on holiday and others having already eaten, he didn’t pay her much attention. He’d learned that there wasn’t much point. He might as well give her the finger for all the good a friendly wave could do. He turned back to his food, but then out of the corner of his eye there was a movement that seemed wrong. He glanced up quickly to see Madison collapsed on the floor. Oh no, he thought, panic rising as he got up quickly from his seat. Not again. He was closest to her, and got to her first, despite the lingering pain in his torso. He knelt beside her, calling her name as he reached with one hand for her wrist to check her pulse, with the other to lift her head up - ~*~ He pitched forward, finding himself on his hands and knees on an empty floor. “Mads?” he said quickly, looking around for her. He blinked and frowned, shading his eyes against the sudden change in the lighting. He was in an apartment he didn’t recognise, his vision strangely distorted around the edges. His voice sounded oddly echoing too, like a spirit, or at least the one spirit he’d met while he was still taking that class, as a first year. He hadn’t cared much for the experience. Am I dead? he wondered, looking down at himself. I don’t feel dead. Where am I? Oddly his chest didn’t hurt anymore. Those pain potions are good. He staggered up and went to the window, staring out at the view of the skyline. This was certainly not Olympian. He had no idea how he had got here, but it was somewhere he recognised just as well. He’d come home to New York. Oh shit. He heard a phone ringing and a voice, and started, looking around. It seemed to be coming from another room, and he followed it, curiously. “...Daddy, I don’t understand.” It was Madison’s voice. He paused outside the door, not sure whether he really wanted to go through it. Then the word Daddy registered, and he frowned. As far as he was away, she’d never referred to their father as Daddy. ‘You bastard’ might have been more accurate. He heard some beeping and weeping. He had no idea what was going on, but clearly whatever was going on here was some kind of magic. He had to figure something out. Carefully he pushed the door open, in time to see Madison stare at herself in the mirror and dial another number on her phone. “Mom? Mom, I don’t know what’s happening, things were going so gre… Yeah, they dropped me for no reason, and then I just looked in the mirror-- Mom…” “Mads?” he said softly, slipping into the room as she hung up the phone again. “Mads, you okay? What’s going on, how did we get here?” ---- She stared at the phone in her hand as the tears slowly began rolling down her cheeks, and when she finally did look up, she could only stare in the mirror in abject horror. What was happening? It took her a while to realize Liam was standing there in her room, and while her knee-jerk reaction was to scream at his presence, she didn’t actually question it. She just didn’t want him to see her looking so...well, fat. “Don’t look at me!” she yelled at him, her voice much higher in pitch than usual, as she reached for the discarded towel from her shower. She hurriedly wrapped it around herself and moved toward him to try to push him out of her room. “Get out and go laugh at the fat girl somewhere else!” --- Liam stood solid as a rock against her attempts to shove him out; he was easily thirteen stone and she couldn't have ever weighed more than eight. He knew it was wrong of him to barge into her room like this, but he had to figure out what was going on and she was the only thing here he recognised. Anyway, it wasn’t her room. Her room was on Olympus, which was on an island thousands of miles away from New York. Whatever this was was clearly wrong, and she was obviously obliviously to it. “Fat girl?” he repeated, grabbing her by the shoulders and holding her at arms length in case she took a swing at him. The words were so ridiculous he almost laughed. “Mads, you…” He glanced up and looked in the mirror she had been gaping at before. He let go of her in shock when he saw her reflection. He looked perfectly normal, but she looked like a totally different person - an obese person. Her hair was just about the only recognisable thing about her. Well, this was some kind of fucked up magic mirror shit. “Mads,” he said sharply. “Don’t be stupid. Look at yourself - not in the mirror! It’s enchanted or something. Look, something weird is going on. You passed out and now we’re both here. Wherever here is. How do we get out of it? Back to the island?” --- Liam was a frustrating obstacle, and when she couldn’t push him out of her room, she screamed in frustration and brushed his hands off so she could throw a long, baggy shirt over her head to cover herself up. She didn’t want to look down and see her body or look at herself in the mirror. All she saw was large and disgusting and she felt helpless to make it stop. She crossed her arms over her stomach defensively, still very clearly upset, but not crying anymore. “You can’t be here, Liam. I need--” she cut herself off and pushed past him out the door. As she passed through the doorway, the scene changed and she stood inside an apartment she recognized to be Geff’s, fully clothed and still feeling overweight. “Geff?” She called out as she walked through the rooms to find him. “Geff, it’s Maddie, I--” Just like with everyone else, she was interrupted when she finally saw him. “I’m glad you’re here,” he told her as she came up to him. She tried to put her arms around him, but he stopped her and took her hands. “Geff I’ve had the worst--” “Madison we can’t see each other anymore.” She stopped, more confused about this than she was even about the sudden and unexpected weight gain. “Why?” “I was fooling myself to think we would work out. You’re not the girl I thought you were.” “But I am! I’m--” “Stop, Madison, you’re not. You’re a bitch, through and through. I thought I could change you, but I can’t. You will never change, and you should stop trying. You’re a terrible person, and you don’t deserve me. Why don’t you go back to Colton? You know you deserve how terribly he treats you.” --- Liam followed Madison out of the room, shaking his head in disorientation as the scene changed. He felt as though he were on the set of a film, or on the stage, except that he hadn’t been to any rehearsals or learned his lines, or even read the script. It reminded him of a recurring dream he’d used to have in school. A dream, he thought, even while he watched Madison get pushed off by a dickhead guy he didn’t know. Neither of them seemed to notice him or even register he was there. That’s what this is like. But not MY dream. There’d be a lot more nudity in it if it was my dream. He realised at the same time that they were back on Olympian. This was a student apartment - not his, but they were all laid out pretty much the same way. He breathed a little sigh of relief at the knowledge that he wasn’t actually trapped in New York. If he’d actually had to deal with that he wasn’t sure what he would have done. Keeping the new dream theory in mind, he edged his way further into the scene. He recognised Geff straight away. He was a Defensive student in Eva’s year, which meant he saw him in the same classes he saw her. He didn’t know the guy well, but the way he was acting seemed uncharacteristic even based on what Liam knew. Liam was the one who called people out for being a bitch. Madison, especially. Despite himself, he felt his blood grow hot as the guy continued to insult his sister. Of course, privately he’d often thought that Madison deserved it when people shoved her off; she after all had a tendency to do the same to almost everyone she met - Liam included. Still, he wouldn’t say it right to her face. And he wouldn’t ever talk that way to someone he was dating, even during a bad breakup. Well. Unless he had an episode. Then he really wasn’t responsible for what he said or did. He shuddered inwardly at that thought. “Mads,” he growled, turning his back on Geff who still seemed oblivious to his presence to face his sister. “What the fuck is going on here?” --- There Liam was again, but Madison was almost too stunned to notice. It wasn't until Geff pulled away from her and disappeared into another room that she seemed to snap out of it. But that didn't make anything that was happening better. She sank to her knees and her chest hurt so bad she thought it might explode. Not only had she lost everything else she had going for her, but now she was fat and had lost the one person she wanted to be a better person for. This time when she started crying, it wasn’t quiet or slow. Her breathing sped up as she started to panic. Falling forward onto her hands, she struggled to catch her breath and let out an ear-piercing scream at the top of her lungs. Each thing had slowly been chipping away at her, but hearing one of her darkest fears confirmed put a crack in her armor that she wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to come back from. When she was finally out of breath and her voice ragged, she felt exhausted, but a bit more coherent--enough to remember that her brother was there with her. “Help me,” she whispered, face toward the floor, hair hanging down around her like a curtain, cutting her off from the world. --- Liam almost leapt back when Madison fell to her knees and started screaming like a banshee. “Stop!” he yelled, putting his hands over his ears. “Holy fuck….” There had to be a way out of this, there just had to be. A hidden door, or a spell, or something. He wished he’d gone into enchantment; maybe he’d be able to make a better guess as to what the hell was happening. He knelt down beside Madison as the scream died away. Either way, he thought, they were both going to have to get out of here. As far as he could tell, this place was something like Madison’s nightmare. Maybe he couldn’t get out without her help. And even if he could, he couldn’t leave her trapped here. He didn’t know how he knew that she was as real as he was, while Geff and the people mocking her on the phone were not, he just did. They might not be the best of friends, but he would know his sister anyway. That was why, when she whispered help me, it came as such a surprise. She never asked him for anything. “I… I dunno what to do, Mads,” he admitted, putting a tentative hand between her shoulders and patting gently. “You know that none of this is real, right? You can’t let it get to you. We’ve got to find a way out, somehow. Can you… could you pull yourself together for long enough to do that? Please?” --- Though his words were true, it wasn’t nearly as simple as just deciding not to let things affect her. She’d never been good at that anyway. Her entire life, people had been judging her, both from within her family and outside it, and she didn’t know how to draw her self-worth from her own opinion of herself and not from everyone else. For twenty-five years, she’d just taken what everyone had said about her worth and her character at face value, as though they would tell her the truth about her. But that was silly, foolish even, to think that anyone would really be honest with her, like their own neuroses didn’t color their treatment of her. But something he said rang true, and she was able to pull back into herself just a little. Not enough to realize that this wasn’t real, or that things were not as they were supposed to be, but enough to remember that she’d been really trying. That she’d been trying to work on her anger, her eating, and why, exactly, she hated herself so much. She was still hurting, still on the verge of breaking, but she was almost to a moment of clarity. If Liam could keep talking. “I can’t,” she replied weakly, sitting back on her hip, still held up by one shaky arm. “I...what am I supposed to do without him?” Dragging the back of her hand across her cheeks, she saw black smeared all over it from her makeup, running down her face in streams with her tears, and the thought of what a horrible wreck she must look like made her feel even worse. All those movies with the pretty crying girl were complete lies; there was no such thing as a girl who was pretty when she cried, and yet Madison still wanted very much to be one. “I don’t know what to do.” --- Liam stared helplessly at her for a minute. He wished he could be the kind of brother who knew everything and would always be able to think of the right thing to say to comfort his sisters, but let’s face it, he just wasn’t. Of course it wasn’t totally his fault, considering he hadn’t known about Madison for the first ten or so years of his life. “Without him?” he spat eventually, making a disgusted face. “C’mon Mads, this isn’t you. You don’t need some guy to keep you together. You’re perfectly capable of standing up all on your own, for fuck’s sake.” He glanced around for some tissues, didn’t see any, and shrugged. “Anyway, this isn’t real, like I said. Even I know Geff wouldn’t say that shit. Colton would, but you’re the one who went out with him.” He grimaced, realising that his words were not exactly having the desired effect. “Mads? C’mon sis, talk to me. We’ve got to figure out how to get out of this.” --- The thing is, she really wasn’t perfectly capable of doing anything on her own, despite the front she put up for everyone. Madison was weak and she knew it. She always had been, that’s why her mother always told her so. Perhaps one day she could lend herself her own validation, but she wasn’t there yet, and now she was feeling like she never would be, like she should just give up and resign herself to the life that everyone else seemed to think she deserved and wanted. She was shaking her head long before he finished, continually trying to dry her cheeks and having zero luck because the tears just kept falling, making it impossible for her to calm down; how could she calm down if she couldn’t stop crying? She wasn’t even sure she wanted to stop. Or if she ever could. She hadn’t felt this broken in a long time, not even when she’d collapsed. Sure, she’d definitely been broken then, but she’d found reason to hope, and now she was back to nothing. If no one believed in her, what hope did she have to believe in herself? “What are you talking about, get out of what?” If there was a way out of the depths of this shitty place she’d again found herself in, Madison couldn’t see it. --- ”This!” Liam didn’t know how to explain in way she would understand, especially in this state. He’d never seen her cry before, let alone in a broken blubbering mess like this. He’d never seen anyone fall apart like this. He really wished she would stop. He opened his mouth to shout at her to get it together, but stopped himself at the last minute. He must not get angry. Anger was not the answer. For some reason in this place it wasn’t as difficult to convince himself as it usually was. “Mads,” he said again, more gently this time. “Look at me.” He put a hand under her chin and nudged her head up so she would be forced to meet his eyes, at least for a moment, and wiped the grey tears off her cheek with his thumb. “Whatever this is, wherever we are, it’s not real. I promise you it’s not real. Geff isn’t real, and neither is the reflection in the mirror.” He hesitated for a moment, then he charged on, “I know what it’s like,” he said, his accent slipping back once again into his native New York, which it always seemed to do when he got serious in her presence. “To look in the mirror and see… something wrong. To see all the things you wish were better. Remember what I looked like the first time you met me?” he grimaced. “Trust me, I know. But this isn’t right. It’s not where we’re supposed to be. We need to find a way back - back home. Can you do that? Breathe.” He showed her, taking a deep breath, holding it for a second, and letting it out, the way the Olympus counsellors had taught him with Saints’ patience. “Calm. Breathe. You can do this.” --- For the life of her, she couldn’t figure out why he was being kind to her. They hated each other, and she was nothing but horrible to him, even after he’d visited her in the hospital. Frankly she couldn’t really understand why anyone at all was ever kind to her. She never gave anything of herself freely, and almost everything she did for other people was so she could get something back from them. She got devotion from Lydia in exchange for what seemed like friendship, but friendship was for equals, and despite the deep-seeded hatred she’d discovered within herself, she’d never considered Lydia to be her equal. And Geff...well, it was clear how that little adventure had turned out. “What’s the point?” She sniffled and rubbed her eyes, smearing what was left of the black around her eyes until she more closely resembled a raccoon than a girl. “What does it matter if it’s real or not real if it’s all shitty anyway?” The school shrink had once told her that she was a fighter, that she wasn’t the type of girl to give up, but a fighter was the last thing she felt like then. She felt tired--of fighting and hating everyone and being angry, of being turned away by her family and everyone she cared about, and most of all, of fighting with herself. Somewhere she knew deep down that she didn’t quite see herself--both her body and her mind--the way they actually were, but trying to fix herself left her drained of everything. If this really was a dream--if she just gave up and died, would she die in the real world? --- Liam hesitated. He’d had his fair share of counselling - it seemed to be a necessity for members of their family for various reasons - and yet he still had no idea what to say to snap her out of it. Surely he should be able to think of something. “Mads, please…” he grit his teeth and looked around as though for inspiration. He wanted to get out of this place, whatever it was, but he couldn’t leave her behind. “Come on,” he said, finally deciding. He stood up and hauled her up, reasoning that if she wouldn’t come willingly he could carry or even drag her if necessary. She weighed almost nothing. It shouldn’t have been a surprise, but there was something very eerily unnatural about being able to hold almost her entire weight with no effort. He remembered guiltily the day he’d come to see her in the hospital. He’d called her an idiot, and a bitch. And yes, she was awful to him, for no reason he could really comprehend, but she was still his sister, and he’d fucked that right up, hadn’t he? He’d had an opportunity to help and he’d let his anger at her almost dying get the better of him. Well fuck that, he was going to help this time. And when they got out of this he was going to…. to what? She already had help. What good could he do, even if he showed up on her doorstep every day to make sure she was eating? He grimaced inwardly at the thought - she’d probably murder him in his sleep. Worry about that later, he told himself firmly. Ignoring her protests,he headed for the door that, in the real world, would lead to the corridor outside and the other apartments, and somewhere a door leading outside. If he could find that door, maybe he could figure out what was going on. Or maybe find some other ‘real’ people. Maybe they weren’t the only ones trapped here; that was a less than comforting prospect. Tugging her along beside him, he reached the door and pulled it open, bringing her through only to find himself in yet another apartment. “Fucking hell,” he muttered. “What is this, an interdimensional maze?” --- She made a noise of protest and surprise, but couldn’t exactly fight him off and ended up getting to her feet anyway; if she hadn’t been so upset, she could have prevented him from pulling her out the door, but without that strength, she didn’t even care to try. But instead of finding themselves outside, they were somewhere else --somewhere she recognized. “Oh no no no no no no I don’t want to be here, we have to go,” she said, turning around, only to find there was no door behind them anymore. Nothing had happened yet, but Madison knew they couldn’t stay there or more bad things would happen. Instinctively, she stepped closer to Liam and grabbed his arm as Colton walked in from another room. “Having a bad day, Mads?” he asked, mocking her with a shrug. “I guess that’s just what bitchy cows get.” --- Liam blinked, trying to find the source of Madison’s panic. It looked just like any other student apartment to him. He was surprised when Colton walked in at first, but then realised that he probably shouldn’t have been. He’d always sort of liked Colton, in an odd way. Liam liked the way he always said exactly what was on his mind, no matter how inappropriate or offensive - Liam sometimes wished he could be like that. Maybe then all the anger and frustration wouldn’t get bottled up inside until it exploded and caused all kinds of problems. But there was no denying that Colton was not a nice person. Liam pitied any girl he went out with, and when he’d found out he was seeing Madison, he’d considered it a perfect match and good luck to the both of them. Now though, knowing as he did how deeply her insecurities went, he knew he shouldn’t have been surprised to find Colton a part of the nightmare. He felt a rush of unexpected anger at his totally unwarranted insult, and had to struggle to get a grip on himself. Where this newfound protectiveness of Madison had come from, he wasn’t sure, but someone had to do it. She was liable to fall apart if he didn’t. And she was grabbing his arm, holding onto him as though for dear life, so something deep down inside of her must, if not trust him, at least not hate him quite as much as she claimed. “Don’t listen to him,” he said, putting an arm around her narrow shoulders and trying to get her to look at him instead of Colton. “It’s not real, remember? Anyway he’s a giant dick. No one cares what he has to say.” --- The thing about Colton was that Madison knew he was bad for her. She knew that every second and third chance she gave him would end badly, and yet she always did it anyway. She always wanted so badly to believe that he would change and that things would be better this time, that he really did love her even if he didn’t always know how to show it. And sometimes, at her very worst, she told herself that as long as she was the only one, she’d be okay with how he treated her. Because being unhappy with him was better than being unhappy without him, right? Maybe Geff had been right, that she really did deserve how he treated her. Somewhere very deep down, part of her really did believe that. It was why, on the rare occasions that she did try to start something with a good guy, she always ruined it. It was easier to be the cause of the end than to have it end and be left wondering where it had all gone wrong. Yet, as she looked at Colton now, she felt fear. Anger and lust were the primary emotions she’d always felt around him, and even when she thought he was going to hit her, she was hardly ever afraid of him. He’d never actually hit her with his hands, just with his words, but something about the look on his face and the way he walked toward her made her actually afraid of what he was going to do to her when he got close enough. The smirk on his face grew into a wide grin when she, for all intents and purposes, cowered next to her brother; but unlike the others, he actually seemed to know Liam was there. Maybe it really was real after all. “Excuse us,” he said, reaching out and grabbing her wrist, “Mads and I have some things to talk about.” He pulled her away with impossible strength, hurting her and causing her feet to buckle underneath her in the process; she stumbled back to the ground and tried to pull her hand back, but was unable to budge him at all. “Get up,” he growled, hauling her back to her feet and producing a gun out of nowhere to point at Liam. “I suggest you stay back.” --- Every time Liam thought he had this thing figured it, reality seemed to twist and change and throw him for a loop. Whereas Geff hadn’t seemed to even notice him at all, Colton looked right at him before casually dragging his sister away as if she were a rag doll. When she fell, Liam growled at the back of his throat and lunged forward, only to find himself facing the barrel of a gun. He stared at Colton. “What the fuck are you doing?” he hissed, forgetting for a moment his own assurances that this was not real. “Leave her alone.” Colton’s expression twisted into a sneer. “Don’t start acting like you suddenly give a fuck,” he snapped. “She doesn’t give a shit about you. Or anyone other than herself. Don’t be a hero, kid.” Liam looked helplessly at Madison wondering if he could grab the gun in time to stop him. He was younger than Colton and had a lot less training. Colton was armed. Colton was taller than he was, if maybe not stronger. “Where do you get off?” he snarled, red anger bubbling up from his very core as he clenched his fists. “Right here,” Colton said, grinning again as though this were all just far too easy. He grabbed Madison by the throat and pulled her towards him, nuzzling aggressively at her neck. “You can help me with that, can’t you Mads?” --- For the first time in a very long time, Madison was actually terrified. Not just afraid or upset or freaking out, but full-on terrified. Colton had only ever used his words to control her, maybe the occasional action not directed at her, but he'd never actually used the strength they both knew he possessed. She used to see that strength as a turn on, but now she just hoped that if he was going to kill her, he'd do it quickly. "Get away from me," she said weakly, pushing against him; she didn't manage to put much distance between their bodies. She wondered if she'd have to resort to hitting him back, but she didn't think it would make a difference. He'd probably just hurt her worse. It wasn't like she was strong enough to take him on anyway, she was only strong enough to make him angry. "Oh baby you know I like it when you fight," he sneered against her, moving his hand down from her neck to her waist and making struggling away from him even harder. "And now you've gotten me all hot and bothered. I think you need to do something about that." "No," she told him firmly -- probably the most convicted she'd ever been with him-- and gave him one more great push that almost gained her freedom; but he managed to grab a hold of her shirt with his fist. "Do it or I'll shoot him," he growled, pulling her to him so tightly that she found it more difficult to breathe. Madison looked over at Liam before she shook her head and refused again. "No," she insisted, but instead of trying to push away from him, she tried something different: she kneed him in the groin. Colton sucked in a breath and his grip on her loosened, but it didn't have the full desired effect. Just like she thought, it made him angry more than anything else. Making a noise more fit for a wild animal than a human, he let go of her and pushed her to the floor as hard as he could and pointed the gun at her instead. "Shouldn't have done that, Maddie," he said as he cocked the gun and prepared to shoot her. She squeezed her eyes closed from her spot on the ground, so she missed him redirecting it on her brother. And that was when Nicky Summers walked in. Only she looked different -- like a real model and without any flaws. "Oh don't shoot the poor boy, Colt, " she said as she came over to him and draped her arms over his shoulders. "It's not his fault his sister is a two-bit whore. I mean look at her, she's cowering on the floor like an old dog. She's not even worth the effort." Laughing, he lowered the gun and turned around to kiss Nicky. --- Liam didn’t dare call out - he could tell Colton was serious in his threats, and if the man didn’t shoot him he was sure he would do something worse to Madison if he tried to get between them. He stood helplessly, trying to see any hesitation, any gap that would allow him to make a move, but there was none. Fight he begged Madison wordlessly. Fight, do something! He knew it was a vain hope; she was a Combat student after all, but so was Colton and he probably weighed three times what she did. And she was in no state to be fighting anyone. Liam had never seen this side of her before and he had no idea what to make of it. His eyes followed the gun, but his ears were fully open to Colton’s threats, and he felt his entire body go stiff with horror and rage. “You bastard,” he hissed under his breath. He wanted to lunge in, to tear his sister out of the older man’s grip, to hit and hit and not stop until there was no part of his face that wasn’t bruise. It was all he could do to maintain control. When Colton threatened to shoot him if Madison didn’t submit to him, he felt his heart stop for a moment and he took his eyes off the gun for long enough to watch his sister’s face, their eyes meeting momentarily. Part of him thought she might let him do it. She’d never wanted him around. Then everything happened very quickly. Madison made her move and then she was on the ground with the gun over her. Seeing his chance, Liam took a step forward only to find the barrel of the gun pointed at him again. Half a second went by when he thought he was dead for sure. Then Nicky came in. As she spoke, Liam felt things click into place into his mind. He could believe, terrible as it was, that Colton was capable of all this in real life. He hadn’t hated the man before but he did now; and he knew better than anyone how quickly a seemingly innocent man could turn deadly. But Nicky? He knew Nicky. He’d slept with Nicky. The words she spoke sounded false and unnatural coming out of her mouth. As soon as Colton lowered his gun, Liam took his chance. He lunged forward and grabbed the man’s right arm by the elbow, forcing it up towards the ceiling and knocking Nicky back as an inevitable consequence. He kneed the man in the solar plexus with as much force as he could muster, and when he doubled up gave him a sharp elbow to the back of the neck that knocked him to his knees. Viciously he twisted the hand holding the gun until Colton was forced to let go of it - Liam scooped it up from the floor and backed away, keeping Madison behind him. Colton gasped on his knees, struggling to get up with Nicky fawning over him and being more of a hindrance than a help. Liam kept the gun trained on him. He didn’t like firearms usually, and he held it a little awkwardly in both hands as he backed up further. “Maddie,” Liam said quickly, unable to look around but knowing she could hear him. “Listen to me. Remember what happened. We were in the Mess Hall. You came in and collapsed. You’re unconcious, or asleep or something, and this isn’t real, it’s just a nightmare, you hear me? You have to wake up. Mads?” He turned to look back at her, thinking that she might have run off, and Colton launched himself to his feet and towards him. Without hesitation Liam lifted the gun and fired. Colton’s right shoulder twisted back horribly and he fell to the ground, twitching slightly as blood soaked the carpet. “That’s for touching my sister you fucker,” he snapped, and whipped round to look for his sister while Nicky threw herself dramatically over the body. --- No, Madison hadn’t moved from her spot on the floor. Normally, her fight mode was on all the time, when even it was better off. Normally, she was so defensive that she picked fights where there should have been none to pick. Normally, she’d have punched Colton in the face long before Liam would have had to, for even thinking about laying a hand on her. But after what she’d been through, both that night and in the last couple months, she wasn’t sure she was even worth her own effort. She’d only done the little bit this time because she didn’t want him to shoot Liam just as much as she didn’t want to touch him. And knowing how angry he’d be, she was prepared for his reaction. What she was not prepared for was Liam’s. She sat there, nearly frozen, as she watched him tackle and beat the gun out of Colton’s hands, not knowing the younger boy possessed that kind of righteous rage, especially not for her. She thought he hated her as much as she’d hated him, but now he was being protective of her. She could even almost remember what he was talking about when he suddenly fired the gun. “You shot him!” she cried out in disbelief, sitting up straight. Her first instinct to was to go to him, to make sure he was alright, even though he’d just tried to coerce her and threw her away like garbage. That was how she knew she still had feelings for him, much as she’d been telling herself different for weeks. But then, she’d been in love with him, and those kinds of feelings didn’t just go away because you decided to see other people. --- Liam dropped the gun and kicked it away, hurrying towards his sister and kneeling beside her so they were face to face. “It’s not real,” he said again, gripping her by the shoulders and giving her a little shake as though this might magically make her see sense. He was still red with anger on the inside and he was perhaps a bit rougher than he’d meant to be, but he was still in control, he was still him. “It’s some kind of spell or something, don’t you see that? You have to wake up. It’s the only way out of this.” He didn’t know how he knew, but somehow seeing Nicky had made it all clear to him. Somehow he knew they wouldn’t be able to escape in any physical way. It was Madison’s crazy fucked-up nightmare, and she had to end it. “Please,” he begged, not knowing what else to do in the face of her blank incomprehension. Without warning, another shot rang out. In the total silence that followed, Liam stared at Madison, then down at his stomach where a dark red patch was spreading through his T-shirt, then up at the nightmare-Nicky, blank-faced, still holding the gun. “Maddie?” he breathed before he felt himself topple over. What did they say about dying in dreams? Did you die in real life or did you just wake up? Wasn’t there a rule about that? He couldn’t die in a dream. Especially not even his own dream. That wasn’t fair. There was no pain, but he was suddenly scared, terrified; where anger had been he could feel fear drenching him even as he put a hand to the wound to try and stop the bleeding. “Maddie,” he begged, reaching for what seemed now to be his only chance. “Maddie wake up, fuck, please wake up, wake up…” --- “No…” she stared back at Liam in disbelief--for a multitude of reasons, including the simple fact that he’d gotten shot and the complicated fact that she cared. A lot. The floor fell out from underneath her and she reached for him, grabbing his hand. He’d called her his sister. Defended her. Gotten angry on her behalf. He gave a shit and considered her family even when she wanted nothing to do with him. She wouldn’t have given him a second thought before, she’d even have let him die, but now the thought of that terrified her. “I’m sorry,” she told him, apologizing for every bad thing she’d ever even thought about him. He said this was a dream, right? It felt real, looked real, but deep down, she knew it wasn’t quite. There was something wrong about all this. And Liam couldn’t just die in front of her like this. It had to be a dream. “Wake up,” she willed herself, eyes squeezed shut, then started staying it aloud. “Wake up, Madison. Wake up wake up wake up.” A second later, she was gasping awake and sitting up off the floor in the dining hall, breathing hard like she’d just run a marathon or held her breath underwater for too long. The first thing she did when Liam woke up next to her was pull him in for a hug, which was the first time she’d ever willinging touched him in either of their lives. She didn’t know how much this was going to change between them, but she did know for sure that she didn’t actually hate him, and she didn’t want any harm to ever come to him. --- Liam barely had time to register that he was back in the real world before Madison had his arms around him. Gasping, he put a hand to his stomach to check for bullet wounds and winced painfully as he inadvertently slapped himself in the ribs that were still healing. “Ack,” he protested, once he had his breath back long enough to speak. He put an awkward arm around Madison and patted her lightly on the back. “S’okay,” he breathed. “We’re okay.” He looked up to see them surrounded by a group of fascinated people who had no doubt gathered in the minutes they’d been asleep - it seemed like hours, but there was no possible way they’d been lying there that long. “Show’s over,” he growled. “Nothing to see here. We’re fine.” He inched himself out of Madison’s grip so that he could get a proper look at her. There was no longer streaking make-up down her face which was an improvement, but she did look frighteningly pale. “Are you okay?” he asked, gruffly. Now that they were back on earth it was harder to forget the three and a half years they’d spent treating each other like shit. “Mads?” --- There may not have been makeup running down her face anymore, but it wouldn't be long before she did start crying again. She could already feel the tears burning behind her eyes. But Madison was good at holding back tears, and she was pretty sure she could hold them off until she was alone in her room. So she nodded in response to his question, but inwardly cringed at the nickname. It just seemed too soon for anyone to use the same name that, what seemed like like moments before, had just been used against her with such malice. "I uh, I think I just need to go back to my room and lie down." When she moved to push herself off the floor, she discovered her hands were shaking, but she ignored it and stood up anyway, also ignoring the fact that her legs also felt shaky, and that she was supposed to hate him. But she didn't hate him, not really. She'd been horribly jealous of him for most of her life, ever since she figured out their father had chosen his 'real' family over his mistress and daughter, and even after seeing that Liam wasn't happy either, she'd still treated him like it was his fault. And now he was being nice to her and saving her from nightmares. And she felt really shitty about that. --- Liam got to his feet with a twinge of protest from his ribs. “You’re going to the med centre,” he countered. “You can lay down there while they try and figure out what the fuck just happened.” There were still people milling around uncertainly, and he rolled his eyes and ushered her out of earshot towards the doors, as gently as he could. “And so we can make sure it doesn’t happen again,” he added, emphatically. |