Why Are You Special? Who: Madison and Maggie Where: Somewhere unknown When: Before dawn
Madison hadn’t brought her to his house. He’d considered it, but he also knew Anne Marie was looking for her and really, Madison wasn’t sure he wanted to hand over the good yet. So he’d carried the girl towards an abandoned house, near one of the farms, something built for another family to work the land, but the family had never come. It was furnished, which he appreciated. He was still dressed in his coat with his feet on the coffee table, the girl tied up near the hearth, out cold from the bump on her head. She was pretty, but outside of that he couldn’t truly fathom what Anne Marie wanted with them. She said she needed them, this one included, and she wanted to turn off the sun. He wasn’t sure how the two connected and he was trying to puzzle it out. That he couldn’t figure it out, genius that he was, had long moved past irritating and on into annoying.
Maggie groaned as she began to wake, her head pounding in pain. She curled tighter into a ball and brought her hands to her head, immediately noticing that they were bound, as were her ankles. It brought back the panic and the fear, the memory of her house burning and being forced outside by a madman. Her heart sped up as she opened her eyes, only to see him lounging about. She was no longer outside, but in someone’s house, perhaps his own. Her eyes scanned the room, looking to see if anyone else was there, but it appeared to be just the two of them.
The noise caught his attention, but all it did was bring a smile to his lips. “You’ve joined the world of the waking. Good. I was hoping you would before someone noticed you were missing.”
“Why is that?” she asked. She was bound, so she didn’t think he needed her to walk out of there. And she couldn’t imagine he was going to let her call someone to tell them she was okay because she wouldn’t.
“I’m curious what it is that makes you so damn special.” Madison got up, heading towards the fireplace she was next to and moved her with his foot then started up the fire that he’d built but hadn’t lit yet. He was waiting until she woke. There wasn’t any use in it burning before she was with him. Once the kindling was lit and it started he reached for the poker shoving it into the flames and leaving it there.
“I’m not special,” she said, trying to move out of his way when he shoved her with his foot. She had the feeling he would kick her if given reason to. And maybe even without one. The fire felt good, but it worried her as well, her lungs still burning from the burning of her house. Her voice was still gravelly. And that poker… it made her nervous. “Who thinks I’m special?”
Madison rolled his eyes towards her, made a face, then went back to his seat on the couch. “You really think I’m just going to tell you everything? Like some sort of bad guy out of a movie? No.” Not with the IQ he had. “Tell me what it is you can do. And maybe I only somewhat hurt you.”
Maggie thought that it couldn’t hurt to ask and almost said so, but then thought better of it. It could hurt to ask, if he wanted it to, and she really didn’t want to find out if that was the case. “I-- I don’t know what you mean. I run a salon. I paint nails and do hair. I’m studying to be a vet. I can’t do anything.”
Of course she’d be some sort of mild-mannered moron. They always were weren’t they? “See, that’s not true. I know that’s not true. If that was all you could do, you wouldn’t have been on the short list of who was supposed to be taken tonight. I’m sure someone else came looking for you, but just my luck, I picked your house to burn down.” He wasn’t really hunting for Anne Marie, but he knew she was hunting. So there had to be something that this girl could do that would help Anne Marie carry out her little plan to turn off the sun. He was sure she had a plan, but she wasn’t sharing it and that annoyed Madison more than anything else. He didn’t care about the sun, out it would be fine, but he highly doubted she had the proper mechanics to pull it off and looking at one of her sacrifices in front of him, he wasn’t sure if she had an idea that could work. It was probably some stupid ritual based in myth and lore, blood of virgins and all that, but she’d picked these four specifically and Madison needed to know why.
She opened her mouth, but there was nothing she could say. How in the world had she been picked? For what reason? “I’m human,” she said, a bit scared by that fact, but doubting she could pull off anything special even if required. “I can’t do anything. I mean, I can try, if you know what I’m supposed to be able to do, but if I’m something then no one told me!”
“Oh, I am so very aware of how human you are. I might even take advantage of that later.” He looked at her, frowning a little. “I’m not sure if I believe you.”
“How can I be human and something else?” she asked, his comment about taking advantage of anything striking fear in her. “I’m not-- I’m not a werewolf. Or a vampire. What else can there be?” She didn’t even thought zombie out there, since that was obvious, but nothing else came to mind. Those were the only two things that she knew existed.
"That's what I want to know. Unless the trick a just kill four human girls and hope something happens.” Madison shrugged even if he didn't like the idea. After a moment he got up again, going for the poker, testing it to see how hot it had gotten.
“I can be much better use to you alive,” Maggie said, her eyes wide and full of fear. That poker was making her nervous, but even worse was the idea that she’d be turned over to someone who would kill her for no good reason. Last she checked, human sacrifice didn’t work.
He looked up from the orange poker and grinned. “You’re of use to me until I figure out what she wants with you and what she’ll give me for you. And if you die...well, I’ll find something else to hold over her head.”
Maggie was silent, not sure what to say in response to something like that. If she died? A statement like that wasn’t promising at all. It was a clear sign that that was a very real possibility. “Are you a vampire?” she asked. It was the thought that occurred to her when he’d smoked her out of her house. A normal human wouldn’t have needed to go through so much effort.
Madison glanced at her, turning the poker in his hand. “What gave it away?” he teased. “Now...I’ll give you another chance, why does she want you?”
“I don’t know!” Maggie said, struggling against her bonds as she attempted to scoot away from him and his poker. She tried to think of something, anything, that someone else would want with her, but nothing came to mind.
Madison caught her with one hand, too quickly to be human and too strong for her to pull away. He grinned a little then brought the poker down against a bare spot on her arm relieved he didn’t need to breathe as he guessed that smelled awful.
Maggie struggled in his grasp, her desperation turning to pain as he brought the poker down upon her skin. She shrieked as tears welled up in her eyes, doing anything she could to get away from him. “Stop! Please!”
She could thrash all she wanted, but Madison held her arm fast, long enough to leave a nasty burn, something that would welt and scar, before he pulled it away. “Answer the question, what good are you to her?”
“I don’t know! I don’t know!” she screamed, still doing everything she could to get away from him. If there was something she could say to make it stop, she’d have said it, but she had no idea what he wanted to hear or if it was even real. Maybe the girl had no reason for wanting her… then what was she supposed to do?
Madison was pretty aware that it was hard to lie when you were in severe pain, but at the same time, her screaming was amusing in a while other way. So who cared if she didn’t know? Anne Marie wanted something, but for right now, Madison wanted someone to suffer. Grinning he snagged her other arm, pulling it closer to press the poker against it.
“No!” she screamed as the poker touched her other arm, then rather than pulling away, leaned forward and bit his arm as hard as she could. It was clear that he was enjoying this, but she didn’t know what to do that would encourage him to stop. All she knew was that she needed to get away and she’d do anything she could to do it.
When she bit him he swore, shaking her off of him with a growl. “Fucking useless cow,” he spat, shaking his arm. It would heal fast enough, but it was annoying. After a moment he lashed out with the hilt of the poker, catching her on the cheek.
He might be a vampire, but he definitely felt pain, which made biting him worth it. Anything to keep him from continually burning her. Tears fell down her cheeks, but she didn’t cry, gasping for air as she looked up at him with hatred. The hit with the poker didn’t surprise her, but she couldn’t get out of the way fast enough. One hit and she fell back, her head hitting the ground hard enough to knock her out.
Madison glared at her when she lost consciousness. That was more annoying than anything else. He waited a moment to see if she would wake up again and then he rolled his eyes. What a waste of space. He spun the poker around again and pressed the hot end against her leg, just to leave another mark. He doubted it would wake her up, but it was worth a shot.
The pain was enough to pull her back into consciousness, screaming as she rolled away from him and his red, hot poker. It was ridiculous, but she was willing to inch-worm herself away from him. She knew he would stop her, but she had to try.
Madison laughed, shaking his head and shoving the poker back in the fire before reaching for her, dragging her back and dropping her hard against the hearth. “You might as well just give up.”
“I will not give up,” she seethed, struggling in his grasp. She wondered where they were, how far they were from other houses. If she screamed, maybe someone would hear her, and so she did, at the top of her lungs. “Help! Someone help me!”
“Oh, you just should. What I want with you, well it’s nothing compared to what she wants with you.” Madison rolled his eyes when she screamed, dragging her up to him to sink his fangs into her neck. He had strong control over them, having practiced more than others.
“Who is she?” It was all Maggie had time to ask before he bit her, a pain that she’d never felt before in her life. She fought him on instinct, hitting him with her bound hands, grabbing and pulling, and screaming the whole time.
Madison pulled back, running his tongue over his lips, blood dripping down his chin. He watched her, kicking at him pitifully then dropped her again on the floor. “You do know your screaming just annoys me right?” he asked, before kicking her hard. “Shut. Up. Cow.”
Maggie wouldn’t have done a single thing he asked before, but right now it seemed like a good idea. She went silent, suffering quietly as he kicked her, her head beginning to swim. The blood loss and the pain were beginning to take their toll on her. She just wanted to sleep, even if she knew that wasn’t the best of ideas.
He looked at her and shook his head. “Worthless. I’m relieved that I’m no longer part of your useless species. I’ve evolved. Again.” Madison kicked her once more, harder this time.
She opened her mouth to say something, but lost that thought the moment he kicked her, letting the darkness take over. She wanted to rest, needed to rest, just to escape him for a little while. Maybe when she woke, her fight would be back. Then she could focus on an escape.
Madison watched her sighing before reaching down to check her status. Still alive, but out cold. He rolled his eyes and went back to the couch, wiping his mouth off on his sleeve and sitting back down, feet propped up. He might as well just wait to see if she was looking for the girl just yet. Then he could deal with Anne Marie.