Madison and The Monsters

16. Marigold

 Madison sat silently on the cold bench. To her the school yard seemed chaotic. Children and teens in every direction. Alice had to stay in and work on a project that was late so Madison was alone. She felt surrounded, like she couldn't get away. Claustrophobic, perhaps? Hurriedly she stood and rushed out of the middle of the crowd to the quieter location near the fence.

The fence gave her comfort; it gave her the possibility to get away. Despite having never climbed the fence successfully. She was confident that she could with adrenalin. Whether that was true or not was unimportant. She could see past the fence, she could see that there was a world outside school, a world where she could escape to and be free.

Though in truth her freedom was questionable. She was certain Noir would never leave her alone, never let her be free of him. He'd probably torture her until the day she died, which could be at his hand. Excluding Noir society wouldn't let her be free either. As she was a child they wouldn't let her do as she'd like. Perhaps as an adult she could be free. At that point though she'd be expected to work and pay taxes. In her home she certainly wasn't free. Maybe no one could be completely free. For example no one could be free of their biological needs, such as breathing. Madison didn't really care about such philosophies she just liked being near the fence.

A whisper filled Madison's skull, the words were indistinct. It wasn't one of her peers, it wasn't human. It wasn't cruel or cold like Noir's voice. It wasn't gentle and pensive like Grundwasser. Despite this she recognized it, she hadn't heard it in a couple months though. It was full of energy presently leaning into the fearful category of energy. Still it was full of happiness and relief. The voice was pleasant and sing-song. It was Marigold's voice.

Despite not hearing the words Madison knew what the panicked fairy was trying to say, at least roughly. She needed to see Madison, immediately. Even though Madison knew she was going to get into more trouble she needed to help her friend, Marigold was already in trouble. Madison decided it was time to figure out if she could jump the fence. Fortunately for her there weren't any adults watching them.

Madison tried to pull herself up the fence. It didn't work, she couldn't grip with her shoes. Determined she took off her shoes and tossed them over the fence, before trying again. This time she could use her toes to grip the metal to get up higher. It was a relatively short fence, only going to her shoulders in height. She quickly found herself sitting on the fence. Perhaps some kids would turn back, try to have a normal life. Madison certainly wouldn't though. She had a friend to help and that was all she had to think about. She jumped off the fence.

She shoved her feet, soaked socks and all into her shoes. No one had even looked her way, which was fortunate and quite shocking. She made the most of it and followed the voice. In almost the blink of an eye she had already reached where the voice had come from. Before her stood an alley, not some dark, sketchy alley, just an alley. She walked in without a thought, Marigold needed her. Soon enough she found herself face to face with the fairy.

Her face was ageless, not young and certainly not old. The fairy's beauty was another inhuman feature she possessed. Her blue eyes glittered with hope and possibly excessive idealism. The purple hair that framed her face contained perfect curls. Despite how beautiful she could be seen as some people's opinions would change when she opened her mouth. Like the grundwasser and Noir her teeth were pointed, but unlike their teeth hers were coated in moss. To Madison it seemed bizarre and disgusting but she'd never say so. The fairy was wearing clothing that had certainly seen better days. Even in such a panic she still radiated joy, much to Madison's confusion.

"Maddi!" the fairy shrieked with excitement and relief.

"What's happened?" Madison asked.

"Noir kidnapped me. I've just escaped," she stated simplistically.

"Are you alright?"

"Do you think I'm alright?"

"Stupid question, sorry."

"What did h-?"

"I can't speak of any of it, it's all too horrid."

"Oh..."

"I'm back now. We can spend time together just like we used to."

Madison fell silent at those words. She hadn't spoken with Marigold for months and she wasn't quite sure how much help she was in her life. Marigold was rather childish always wanting to play dolls and such. Madison had no interest in dolls anymore and little in spending time with her old friend. All she wanted was to get Noir gone and Marigold's method in life was simply ignoring all the bad. She always pretended everything was fine. Marigold's self-induced ignorance was quite frustrating to Madison. She wouldn't be any help getting rid of Noir and Madison certainly didn't have any time she wished to share with this bubbly fairy.

Despite her hesitation Madison said with no enthusiasm, "Yeah that will be great."

"See you after school!" Marigold said as if she cared about Madison's education.

"Yeah, see you..."

***

"How could she even escape?" Noir shouted at the trembling guard.

"I don't know sir," the guard whispered.

"You don't know, and where were you during the escape?" Noir voice somehow had gained even more authority to it.

"I was with Elizabeth sir," he mumbled under his breath.

"You weren't at work despite the fact you are obligated to be? What am I paying you for?" Noir's voice had lowered and gained an ever creepy tone.

"You don't pay me sir," he said in such a low voice that only Noir's inhumanity caused him to be able to hear it.

"The fact you aren't in the torture rooms should be payment enough, don't you think?"

"Yes sir."

"I will be searching for the idiotic fairy for the next while."

"Will you let me keep my job, sir?"

"Hmm..."

"Sir?"

"I don't have any interest in keeping the fairy any longer. I think I'll just kill her, hurt Madison some more that way. And that would mean you no longer have a fairy to guard, wouldn't it?"

"I could guard another prisoner," the fear in the guard's voice was pouring from his words.

"You know what I don't think there are any positions available right now."

"But, sir..."

"Are you questioning me?

"No sir, of course not, I'd never."

"I think I'll stop beating around the bush. If you can't do your job you don't get payment. Meaning, you moron, you're no longer free of the torture rooms."

"Please sir, I coul-"

"I've just gotten a great idea."

"..."

"Aren't you going ask what it is?"

"What's your idea...sir?"

"Elizabeth will join you in the torture rooms. I truly do wonder how much her soul can take, how many times do you think I can skin her alive before her soul breaks?"

"Sir! You can't!"

"Oh, but I think I can."

A/N: I realize that I haven't updated for 2 or 3 weeks and this one is a day off of the schedule. School has been absolute insanity. I'll try to update weekly but I'm presently not willing to make any promises. Next week there won't be an update due to visiting family. There should be about ten more chapters and I'd hope the book to be done by 2018. After that I have three books planned and ready to write. I somewhat needed a break from writing so frequently before but it was mostly due to school. I'm planning to put more focus on the book I'm serious about as well as a competition that's nearing. Most of all though I'm trying to get back on track for school. Being behind in French and Math is rather troublesome. Anyways I hope you guys liked the chapter and I'd love feedback. -Ann