mess it up, ˢᵃᵐ ᶜᵃʳᵖᵉⁿᵗᵉʳ

𝟎𝟎𝟎.

Madison limped out of the house that had once belonged to Stu Macher, and then the Freeman family, her expression eerily blank.

The chaos, the bloodshed, the screams, everything still echoed in her mind, yet her face betrayed nothing.

Her curly hair was dishevelled, matted with both fresh and dried blood and her clothes, once a symbol of normalcy and comfort, were now stained with dirt and death.

Every step she took felt heavier, as though the weight of her actions was pressing down on her shoulders. The guilt sat heavy in her chest, suffocating, inescapable.

She had survived, but at what cost?

It didn't matter that it had been for self-defence, that she had done what needed to be done. None of that changed the reality.

She had killed someone.

She would carry this moment with her for the rest of her life. The person she had been before tonight, the quiet, but hopeful, bright-eyed version of herself, was gone, shattered beyond repair.

When Ghostface returned, she had known there was a chance things would end badly.

But she hadn't expected this.

Still, she had vowed to her mother: she would protect the twins, no matter what it took. And she had kept that promise.

She was a protector, always had been.

It was the reason she had once dreamed of becoming a cop, of making the world a safer place. But that dream was long dead now, buried alongside whatever innocence she had left.

The last ten minutes had changed her forever.

There had been other ways to stop Amber, but in the heat of the moment, Madison hadn't hesitated. She had chosen the quickest, most brutal option, swinging the axe she had found. And that single choice had made her something she never thought she would be.

A murderer.

It had all started when she found her little brother, Chad, outside, unconscious and covered in blood. Her heart had nearly stopped at the sight of him. She had whispered words of love and reassurance, then pressed a desperate kiss to his sweat-soaked forehead, and promised to come back for him.

Then, without wasting another second, she ran to the shed, grabbing the first weapon she could find. She hadn't even thought about whether she would actually use it.

She only knew what Dewey had always told her: It's better to be safe than sorry, Madi. He would say.

She had climbed back through the open living room window, but the moment her feet hit the floor, agony tore through her stomach.

Richie had been waiting for her.

"You?" she gasped, her voice barely above a whisper.

Her heartbeat thundered in her ears. She couldn't protect her siblings if she died here.

"Of course it was me." His voice dripped with mockery, sending ice down her spine. "Never trust the love interest."

She scoffed, though the sound was weak, breathless. One hand clutched her stomach, trying to stem the bleeding, but it wasn't doing much.

His eyes, so empty, so disturbingly hollow, stared straight into hers, and she nearly shivered.

Then, before she could react, he grabbed the axe from her hands and hurled it across the room. A cry caught in her throat as his bloodied fingers twisted into her hair, dragging her toward the kitchen.

She bit her lip, forcing herself to swallow down the sharp remarks bubbling at the back of her throat. There was no point in antagonising him further.

Amber and Richie had toyed with her, and taunted her, leaving wounds that went far beyond the physical. For a moment, she had been certain—this is it. This is how I die.

Then she saw it.

The look on Sam's face. The flicker of intent in her eyes.

Madison had spent years knowing Sam, understanding her, loving her. And right then, at that moment, she knew exactly what the woman was thinking. Sam gave her a small nod, confirming what Madison already suspected.

She might have resented her past lover, but at that moment, she had no choice but to trust her with her life.

Chaos erupted after that.

The house turned into a battlefield.

Fists, knives, screams, it all blurred together in a whirlwind of violence. Madison staggered back into the living room, her body screaming in protest, her hands slick with blood.

The axe was still there, discarded where Richie had thrown it. She grabbed it without hesitation, her eyes wild, her heart pounding.

She was going to end this.

She stumbled back into the kitchen and froze.

Amber was strangling Gale.

A red haze clouded her vision. Rage and betrayal burned through her veins like fire. Without thinking, without hesitation, she swung the axe.

The sound it made, the feeling of it connecting, was something she would never be able to erase from her mind.

The second it was over, the second the reality of what she had done settled in, her legs gave out beneath her. The axe slipped from her shaking hands. A sob tore from her throat as she stared at Amber's lifeless body.

She had done it. She had saved Gale.

But at what cost?

The others barely had time to process what had happened before the wail of sirens filled the air. The police arrived, but Madison barely noticed. She was drowning in guilt, paralysed by what she had just done.

Everything after that was a blur.

She ran to check on her younger siblings, refusing to let anyone pull her away until she knew, knew that they were safe. It took three paramedics to hold her down as they tried to tend to her wounds. She kept struggling, kept trying to get back to her family, even as the edges of her vision darkened.

Her stab wounds were worse than they appeared. She was losing more blood internally than externally. Before she could protest, they rushed her to the hospital.

Sidney promised to stay with the twins until their mother arrived. That was the only thing that made Madison stop fighting.

That was two years ago.

Everyone thought she had moved on, that she had recovered. But she hadn't.

Her smile was still there. Her laugh still sounded the same. But if you looked closely, if you really looked, her eyes told the truth.

There was a new darkness in them now.

And it was never going away.

LUCE SPEAKS //

oh hi there!

miss me???