Ethereal - Zadison

Chapter 6 - Hollow

A/N: I'm so sorry this was so late. I've been trying to keep up on my schoolwork, which I have a ton of. I'm hoping to have Chapter 7 out a lot sooner, don't worry! I hope you all enjoy this chapter because it was fun for me to write. Vote and comment your feelings and ideas! - Sky <3

Cordelia and Madison had a heart-to-heart for the next hour or so. Madison didn't like to admit it but she felt as if she was her mom. The one person she could trust. Her own mom had pretty much abandoned her along with her dad, who had better things to worry about. It hurt her deep down but she never touched on it.

Cordelia held Madison in her arms as they sat quietly on her bed. Madison finally broke and couldn't stop crying. "You have to tell her," the older witch said in a quiet tone. "No. No, I don't because I'm going to be fine. I'm a witch for fucks sake. We don't die to this shit." "Madison..." she replied. Madison threw her arms off her and stood up, crossing her arms.

Then, suddenly, the headmistress got a feeling. Her face went cold. "Madison, speaking of Zoe, where is she?" "How would I know?" she scoffed, a sniffle following. Cordelia stood up straight and hurried downstairs. She saw Queenie sitting on the couch with Nan as per usual. "Girls, do you know where Zoe is?" "You mean she isn't back yet?" Queenie asked hesitantly. Cordelia's eyes widened, "Queenie, what happened?" The young witch explained the whole situation as Cordelia tried her best not to get upset.

"I'm sorry, really. I didn't think-" "Yes, that's exactly what you didn't do," Cordelia interrupted, standing up from the couch. "Do you know how dangerous it is for her out there? A witch who doesn't know how to control her powers, out there all alone." Madison stepped down the stairs, "Calm down, she's not a child." Her eyes were red and puffy but she tried to mask it with her confident demeanor. The headmistress sighed as she remembered seeing Zoe's phone on Madison's dresser. "Alright, girls, follow me."

The witches found themselves around a table that held some of Zoe's belongings such as a book she had brought with her and a cute jumper that Madison had brought down from her room. Next to these held a cup with different rocks. Cordelia lifted the cup and tipped it over, spilling the rocks onto the table. The girls watched her expectantly. She hovered her hand over them before retaining information. "Where is she?" Madison snapped.

Cordelia glared at her before responding, "She's in a small cabin... or hut? It's outside of town near the marshes." "How the fuck did she get all the way out there?" Madison asked as she looked at Queenie. "Listen, I thought she'd know her way back. Girl, chill." "Madison, you can go get her. I trust you to go alone," Cordelia said, looking to her knowingly. The shorter blonde gulped but agreed, "Yeah. Piece of cake." "It's really dark outside," Nan added. "It'll be fine. I'm fine," Madison replied.

The girls spent time stabbing remarks at Queenie as Madison grabbed her things. She headed for the door in her heels, something she would regret wearing later. The blonde began to turn the knob but was stopped by Cordelia, "You know you can't push it off forever." Madison sighed before stepping out the door.

Meanwhile, Zoe was having a great time. Misty spent the night sharing different stories of her life as she danced to Stevie Nicks on the radio. The two laughed at each other's troubles and gossiped about their love life or hell any relationship they deemed interesting. Zoe found that she was really easy to talk to and enjoyed her company.

"How're those knees of yours doing, doll?" Misty asked, bending down to look at them. "They don't hurt anymore," Zoe said optimistically. "Good, that means it's working." The two became distracted shortly after by a voice coming from outside. "Ew, ew," a familiar voice muttered as she stepped across the marsh. Zoe hurried to the door, opening it to reveal the petite body of the blonde. "Madison? What're you doing here?" She asked. "Yeah, could ask you the same thing, dumbass," she muttered as she stepped past her. "Who's this?" Misty asked as she raised her brows skeptically. "Oh, this is just-," Zoe began but got interrupted. "Madison Montgomery, and you are?" "Misty Day." Madison laughed before realizing she wasn't joking. "Oh, shit."

The three shared awkward glances before Madison spoke, "Okay, I'm here to take you back to the academy 'cause Cordy is scared shitless." "Oh, yeah. Sorry, I got lost and lost track of time and...," she trailed off awkwardly as she put her hand on the back of her neck. "No kidding. It's fine." "Oh! Misty, you have to come back with us," Zoe hurried over to her, taking her hands in her own. Madison bit her lip and rolled her eyes. "Oh, I don't know, sweet thing. An academy doesn't sound like the place for me." "We'd love to have you. You could be like another teacher to us. I'm sure you know a lot," Zoe said persistently. Misty eventually gave in. "Alright, I'll give it a try," she said in her sweet southern twang of an accent. Zoe hugged her which made Madison want to hurl. "Alright, love birds, can we go?" She groaned as she turned on her heel out the door. The two followed as Madison complained the whole way back.

Madison threw the door open to the academy as she announced in a sarcastic tone, "We're home." Cordelia sprinted over to the door to hug Zoe, "Are you okay?" Zoe rolled her eyes playfully, "Yes, yes. I'm okay, thanks to Misty." The curly-haired blonde smiled awkwardly as she had just been put on the spot. Cordelia looked at her with love and warmth before hugging her too. Misty hesitated before putting her arms around her. "Thank you for taking care of one of my girls," she smiled. Misty responded, Yeah, of course." Cordelia realized what Zoe had said. "Wait, are you- yes, you must be. Misty Day," Cordelia said shocked. "Yes, that's me, ma'am." "No, please. Call me Cordelia," she said as she shook her hand.

The two began to talk as Madison walked up the stairs. It was already quite late and she was done with all that had happened today. Before Zoe got the chance to follow, Cordelia grabbed her arm much like Madison's earlier, "Zoe, I have to talk to you." "Am I in trouble?" Zoe chuckled nervously. "No, no, nothing of the sort. Misty how about you take a look in the greenhouse. I'm sure you'd love it," she grinned. Misty nodded excitedly and went off to explore. "Zoe, follow me," she added as she ushered her into her office.

The two sat down in their respected chairs. Cordelia placed her hands upon her desk, intertwining them. "Zoe, I have to tell you something about Kyle." "Kyle? Is he okay?" "Yes, he's fine. Long story short, we had to have his mind wiped of everything to do with this coven," Cordelia said as she closed her eyes. She gritted her teeth as she waited for a response. "What? Why?" Zoe practically yelled as she stood up. "Zoe, calm down. Listen-" "No, he was the one thing I had going for me since I've moved here and you've taken that away too?" She started crying. "Zoe," she said calmly, "it was for his own safety. Something happened while you were gone and it was no longer safe for him to retain such information. You have to trust me. I know this is hard." "I just don't understand. For his safety? What happened?" Zoe sniffled as she wiped her tears away. "Alright, sit down." Cordelia spent the next few minutes explaining the whole ordeal to Zoe. She left out the part about Madison being wrong about who her soulmate was. She wanted Madison to admit to that herself.

"So, Madison tried to kill him?" Zoe asked, the most intense look of betrayal was plastered across her face as humanly possible. "Zoe, you need to understand something about Madison. She comes from a place of fear. That's how she goes through her life. I can't imagine how hard it is for her. That was the only thing she could think of. I had a conversation with her about it. She knows it was wrong, please, take it easy on her. She's dying for Christ's sake, Zoe. Just take what I said into consideration. I hope she'll explain the rest," she ended softly. Zoe took a deep breath before nodding, "Alright, I'll try." Cordelia followed her out and watched her traipse up the stairs.

Madison was curled up on her bed, phone in hand. Zoe opened the door slowly as she peered in. "Hey," the brunette said with a voice crack. She cursed herself for even speaking. Madison turned to look at her and saw that she had obviously just been crying. "You okay?" "No, no, not really," she chuckled as she closed the door behind her. "I know what happened," she paused, "with Kyle." Madison's mouth dropped, "Fuck. Zoe, I-" She cut her off, "Madison, don't, just- just don't. Cordelia said you had something to tell me." Madison sat up on the bed, biting her lip. Then she began to cough, horrendously. The blonde put her hand to her chest. Zoe hurried over and began rubbing her back. "It's you, dumbass," Madison said in-between coughs. "What?" "You're my soulmate, not Kyle." "What?" She asked again this time rhetorically. It was filled with dread and sounded hollow. Madison's coughing eventually stopped and she looked up to the girl next to her. Her eyes were full of tears that dared to fall, "It's all your fault."