Mad Maggie II

From Bad to Worse

Joanne's POV

I find myself in a dark forest, surrounded by tall, dark trees that seem to block out the sky. There's not a lot of space for the moonlight to break through the trees - it's so dark in here, it's like nighttime. Dry leaves crunch underneath my bare feet as I wander around, trying to find a way out to no avail.

Oh no, not another fucking nightmare again. I can't be back in this place again - and this time, I'm more terrified of what I would see in this nightmare instead of being surrounded by tall, dark trees that block out the sunlight or the moonlight.

I hear a twig snap out of somewhere in the forest. I turn around quickly, wondering what could caused the noise. Surprising, I find Anne-Marie standing there, her eyes glassy as if someone has switched her eyeballs for glass eyes. 

"Look around you, Joanne." Anne-Marie says in a slow, quiet voice. I notice movement from the corner of my right eye, and then another movement from my left side. I spin around and gasp in shock. 

"Oh my god!" I shout as I look around me. All of my friends are around me, formed in a tight circle. They all look so normal, like if they have never died from Maggie's wrath at all. Their faces are solemn and a bit sad.   

"Joanne, whatever you do, you have to tell the truth!" Omar mentions, his green eyes dull and dim. I gulp, trying to swallow the lump in my throat.

"You keep it in yourself for too long, and many of us have died in her hands." Anne-Marie whispers, her long brown hair messy and tangled. Dave rests his arm on her shoulder as he says in a grim tone, "You need to try! If you won't do it for yourself, do it for us!"

"She won't rest until the truth is out!" Eric hisses, his voice low and hoarse, as if his throat is sore. I feel fear taking over my body. My throat runs dry as a sandpaper and my heart is racing like a drumroll. 

"Joanne, you have to tell the truth." Eric looks at me with his big blue eyes, full of hope that I'll tell everyone what I really did. 

But I'm too scared to even know the consequences of the truth. What will happen if I reveal the truth to everyone? My own world will crash around me. I would probably end up in jail for telling the truth.

"I can't." I squeak out, hardly hearing myself. I can tell they all look sad, perhaps upset that I'm too scared to say anything about it. Eric steps forward and says, "Then that means your fate is already settled. You're going to be the last one she'd kill."

Just as I'm about to say something back, all of them suddenly reel back their heads for a moment before their bodies turn broken and bloody, just like before. Eric's head is twisted in an ugly direction, Mary's head is crushed, Kiara's face bends and caves in, Jack is burnt, Anne-Marie's neck snaps, Omar's entire body jerks around as if he's being pulled by invisible strings, Dave's and Jack's bodies suddenly bursts in flames. They all fall down onto the grounds, the dried leaves crunching under the weight of their broken and bleeding bodies. I scream and cry, fucking scared as hell. I want to get outta here. 

Get the fuck out of here, Joanne! NOW! My mind screams at me. I try to run, but my legs are numb and I fall down, next of Eric. His eyes are wide, staring at me. I gasp out a sob, trying not to remember what happened to him in Martha's Vineyard.

"Such a poor choice, Joanne." a raspy voice chuckles. "Such a poor, stupid choice."

I look up and spot Maggie standing a few feet away from me, the blood dripping down on her face and neck. She grins evilly before she leaps to me, snarling like a wild dog.

"Noooo!" I howl out loud, struggling to leave this nightmare I'm in. Then I wake up to see Stayner above me, shaking my shoulders.

"Baby, baby I'm here. What's wrong? Are you okay?" Stayner holds me close to him. I start to cry and he shushes me gently as he rubs my back.

"I-I don't wanna go back in there again!" I burst out, not making sense to him. But Stayner kisses my forehead as his hand crawls from my back to my hair.

"Shh, it's okay baby. I'm here with you." Stayner strokes my hair and runs his fingers through it as he cuddles me. I let him hold me for a while, calming down in his warm, strong arms. He still strokes my hair and gives me forehead kisses, whispering sweet nothings in my ear.

"I need to go pee." I finally whisper, feeling the urge to go to the bathroom. He lets me go with another kiss on my forehead and I crawl out of the bed while grabbing a blanket from the bed and head out of the bedroom to the bathroom. I sigh as I enter into the bathroom and use a nightlight to make the bathroom visible for me.

After I did my business and washed my hands, I find myself a bit awake and I knew it'd be hard for me to go back to sleep after that bad nightmare, so I head to the living room, rubbing my arms as it's quite cold in the nighttime. It's a bit dark, but with the moonlight breaking through the windows, I can see just enough.

I turn on the TV to watch something so I can't doze off quickly. I plop myself onto the couch,  sighing as I prop my head on my palm, the arm resting on the arm of the couch. The TV comes on and it first shows me breaking news from a local news station, and it shows a scene of a store with a long line of crime tape surrounding it. 

A female reporter, dressed in a neat black trench coat and holding a microphone in her hand, stares at the camera as she announces, "We're here at The Woodman, a infamous furniture shop in Boston where two of his employees was brutally murdered in the wood shop connected to his store. They were identified as Chris Mutton and Avery Hanford, both 25 years old. Chris was a fifth year student at Harvard University and Avery was a graduating student at Massachusetts College of Art and Design."

"No!" I gasp breathlessly. I grip my blanket up to my chest, my breath heavy and slow. I feel a bit lightheaded and I have to take deep breaths to clear my head. Chris, killed? No no, this can't be happening again...

"On the relating topic of the news, two students was recently found in a dorm shot to the head on the famous university's campus, after they reportedly missed several classes and their teachers grew worried. The Public Safety of Harvard believed that someone used a powerful rifle to kill them, and the students appeared to be in a relationship. The students are identified as Nichole Sanchez and Kaleb Walker, both freshmen of the university." the news reporter continues, her face blank as she looks into the camera. 

I shake as I watch the news, tears threatening to fall out again. My friends are slowly getting killed off, one by one. Who's next to die in Maggie's hands?

"The Public Safety and the police of Boston strongly encourage people, including students and staff of the university, to never go anywhere on campus with a friend after sunset until the threat of the serial killer is gone and the serial killer himself is caught and thrown in jail." a Harvard Public Safety officer speaks, his face brimmed with worry. He knows something is up, but he doesn't know a lot about it like I do.

"Baby, what's wrong?" Stayner asks me. I jump and yelp in fear and Stayner steps back a bit, a bit shocked before I relax. He sits down next of me and wraps his arm around my shoulders, snuggling me close to him. 

"Chris...he..." I stammer, struggling to tell him what I just saw. Stayner looks at me and asks, "What happened? Is he okay?"

I look down to my feet and sigh heavily. I whisper in a hoarse voice, "He's been murdered."

"No. No no no no, this can't be happening..." Stayner's eyes widen in terror and shock as he slowly runs his hands through his hair. Then he angrily hisses, "Who the fuck killed him?!"

"I wish I know the answer to that question." I sob before tears finally fall out of my eyes. The thing is...I do know the answer, but I'm too scared to say it out loud because I feel like the walls have ears. Like if they're waiting for me to say something before they attack.

"Fuck..." I whisper to myself.