𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗔𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻, 𝖪𝖺𝖼𝖾𝗒 𝖣𝗎𝗍𝗍𝗈𝗇

𝟖. 𝖠𝗇 𝖤𝗇𝖽

" 𝖠𝗅𝗅 𝖽𝖺𝗎𝗀𝗁𝗍𝖾𝗋𝗌 𝗍𝗎𝗋𝗇 𝗂𝗇𝗍𝗈 𝖻𝗅𝗈𝗈𝖽－𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗋𝗌𝗍𝗒 𝗁𝗈𝗎𝗇𝖽𝗌— 𝖺𝖿𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝗒𝖾𝖺𝗋𝗌 𝗈𝖿 𝗅𝗂𝖼𝗄𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗂𝗋 𝗈𝗐𝗇 𝗐𝗈𝗎𝗇𝖽𝗌 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖻𝗂𝗍𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗂𝗋 𝗍𝗈𝗇𝗀𝗎𝖾．"
━━━━━━ ☆ ☽ ☆  ━━━━━━

"Magdalene Paige Sinclair open this fucking door!" Maggie cowered in the corner of her closet her hands cupped over her ears as she tried to ignore the banging on her door.

"Open this fuckin door right now!" Billy Sinclar screamed from the other side of the door, his fist was bleeding and he reeked of booze.

"You stupid piece of shit! Open this door or I'll fucking kill me do you hear me Magdalene I will kill you!" Tears streamed down Maggie's face before she screamed as her the door came off the hinges.

Magdalene had seen anger in her father's eyes before but this time it was different this time it was pure rage and Maggie knew she'd die tonight. She tried to get away from Billy but he was much bigger and stronger than her.

The man grabbed his Seven-year-old daughter's hair before throwing her to the ground Maggie shrieked. One hit, then another, then another to the little girl's face after the second she fell silent becoming disoriented then she felt hands close around her neck her eyes widened as her legs began to kick which only made the man angrier panic began to cloud Maggie's mind as she realized what was about to happen.

She choked on her scream as her finger nails pierced his skin giving Maggie enough leverage to kick the man as hard as she could in the balls. If Maggie had, had enough time she would have gasped for air but her little brain knew the stakes, she knew if she didn't run now she would die.

She wasn't sure how long she ran all she knew was when she stopped she was in an empty field in the middle of nowhere. She took a moment to gasp for air one second she was on her feet and the next she was on the ground gasping while looking at the sky above her filled with an infinite amount of stars.

Maggie didn't want to die, but if she did at least it would be here under a sky full of stars completely free.

"Wake up. Wake up!" pressure was all Maggie felt as she gasped, opening her eyes she saw a man above her she knew exactly who it was right away everyone knew who John Dutton was.

"Stay with me, kid. What's your name?" John's gruff voice meets her ears.

"M—Maggie..." she groaned.

The next time Maggie woke up she was in the hospital she expected to be completely alone but was surprised when she saw a man sitting in the corner of her room, John.

☆ ☽ ☆

Maggie walked down the stairs of the lodge, she decided to stay there instead of her house alone last night, the woman came to a halt when she heard two people talking.

"You haven't mentioned her Kacey." John spoke, "Not once or Tate or why you're not with them."

"What's talkin' about it gonna do?" Kacey asked dejectedly.

"I'd help you form a plan to get the back." his father argued.

"Plans are not going to change the way someone feels." Maggie could hear the frustration in Kacey's voice.

"When Lee ran this place, he was honest and fair with everyone. That is what I need from you, but you can't be that way with others until you're that way with yourself." John told him.

"I miss my son, and I miss the friend I had in Monica." Kacey was careful with his words.

"But you don't miss your wife," John stated.

"I miss my wife." Kacey nodded firmly.

"Just not that one." John filled in.

"What happened, son?" John wasn't just referring to Monic but Maggie too.

"You happened Dad. Everything happened." Kacey's footsteps began to recede.

"Kacey, send Rip up to the house." There wasn't a response only the slamming of the front door.

☆ ☽ ☆

Maggie stood petting Bucky's snout as they all waited around. "Should we mount up?" Jimmy asked looking at Rip who also stood rigidly next to his horse.

"It's not up to me, Jimmy." Rip huffed kicking at the dirt. Maggie rolled her eyes behind her sunglasses as she thought about how John just took Rip's title away and gave it to Kacey, she understood why but it didn't mean she liked it.

Maggie was silent through the whole ride, which was a shit show when they arrived at the pens Maggie's stomach began to twist in anxiety. She wasn't a stranger to the violence she had been violent before but something she could never truly stomach was her loved ones fighting one another, so when Rip threw his fist at Kacey's face she quietly led Bucky away to take off his saddle and when she was done she leads him into a field to graze where she also stayed for an hour or two.