Dancing to the Answers

Chapter 15 || Fire

(this is not the final chapter, I added another one! enjoy. this is actually quite depressing, sorry)

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Once Maddie had revealed her secret, Gianna came bursting into the den. She studied each of the girls faces, and immediately knew what was going on. She turned to face Maddie, and her face was filled with fear as well. "Y-you guys know, don't you?" They nodded.

"It was you, Maddie, who killed Nia?" Kenzie asked, more a question then a statement.

Maddie nodded.

She laughed, mocking them all. "They know, all right. Too much. Now I have to rid of my witnesses."

"Maddie, you said it was an accident. You didn't mean to kill her." Gianna stated worriedly.

"Oh it was an accident," Maddie retorted, remembering the day very clearly.

Flashback, several months ago

"Maddie, what's gotten into you?" Abby shouted, her face red. "Point your toes, straighten your legs! You're beginning to look like the Hylands."

Maddie shrugged, trying to hide her frustration. It wasn't her fault that Abby stated she was getting tired of the same old contemporary and lyrical solos so she gave Maddie an acro one. Abby knew well that Maddie was weakest in acro.

"Go again, from the beginning," Abby demanded, "and it better be good."

Maddie started her number again, trying with every once of her body to meet Abby's perfect expectations. "Maddie, get out," she spat "and I don't want to see you set foot in this studio again until you get your act together."

"Fine," Maddie shot back. She was so close to making her way to the door, but she headed towards Abby instead. With such anger and force, she pounded her into the ground, repeatedly thrashing her head against the hard floor.

She looked at the body lying limply on the floor. "What have I done?" she cried.

Maddie buried her. She couldn't tell anyone, they would immediately blame her. When she was asked where Abby was, Maddie replied, with worry in her voice, that she was practicing her solo when she stormed out and never came back.

That was the end of Abby Lee Miller.

(End of flashback)

Maddie hadn't even realized she had zoned out. "It was an accident," she repeated to Gianna, "but I learned a few things from it. I learned to kill, and now I'm going to do the same to all of you."

A wicked grin took over Maddie's face as she pulled out matches and a small tank of gasoline. She laughed as she noticed the wide-eyed expressions on the girls' faces. "I'm a criminal, my friends. I've done too much harm. And if I go down, you're going down with me."

"Don't ever call us your friends," Kendall cried

"And don't ever call me your sister." Kenzie shot back, glaring at Maddie. "You were supposed to be there for me."

Maddie felt a pang of guilt in her chest, but she shook it off. Sure she missed Kenzie, but it was too late. She had already ruined that. She had ruined everyone, but most of all, she had ruined herself.

If she did this to the girls, and decided to stay, she would never be able to look herself in the mirror. They had to down together, as a whole, so everyone would forget about Maddie the perfect dancer and the rest of the ALDC elite competition team.

Maddie lit a match with shaking hands as the girls cried out for her to stop. "We won't tell anyone, please don't do this! We won't!" Paige cried, and the rest of the girls nodded.

Maddie ignored them as she stared at the match, the heat radiating off of it. Tears streamed down her face. She couldn't do this, she couldn't. There was no way she would end the lives of the girls. The only life she had to end was her own.

Maddie dropped the lit match on the ground, and with a huge amount of force pushed the girls and Gianna out of the den, and with another forceful push they landed roughly on the gravel in the parking lot. Maddie dropped another lit match on the ground, watching as the fire spread rapidly.

"MADDIE, NO!" Kenzie screamed. "We can get through this together."

"No we can't," Maddie cried back. "I'm a terrible person, you can't fix me now. I'm sorry."

With those as her last words, she unscrewed the lid of the gasoline and began to pour it onto the fire. She braced herself for what was about to happen.

What came next almost appeared to go in slow motion. Maddie watched, motionless, as the liquid dropped to the ground, and caused a huge explosion.

Kenzie cried out as she saw the explosion from the inside. "You're not done yet, Maddie," she whispered, before running into the fog and pulling out the hardly conscious body.

"I'm sorry."

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author's note: oooooooh shoot. posting the final chapter in a few hours! omg like yesterday I was at 400 reads now I'm at 494! you guys are so amazing!

-caidawg ◡̈