Endless Slumber

Madison Warner | 18 | Resident Crazy Girl You know what they say about rumors? Now I know you're thinking that there is always a grain of truth to them but I promise you, I am not crazy. I am just as sane as you are. Unless you really are crazy and then that's a false statement. I am just trying to make my way in the world without my big brother and without parents to support or believe me when I say I saw my brother. A story for another day. Anyhow, I am into playing music, art and a lot of other solitary pursuits. If there is something you need to know though feel free to ask.

[roslynmalone-blog]

“I’m sorry, could you repeat that?”

[notsocrazymadison-blog]

“Do you know that guy,” Madison asked as she nodded to someone standing to their right. “He keeps staring at you like he does or he’s a psychopathic killer or something.”

[haunted-fletcher-blog]

Lyla gave the girl a look that made it clear she wasn’t finding her excuses funny or realistic.  It didn’t really matter if the girl dropped the book or not, but she was slightly annoyed she hadn’t bothered to pick it up either way.

“Well, I suppose it’s a good thing I noticed it so it wasn’t just left there to get kicked around,” she said with a false positive tone.  She glanced down at the spine of the book to see the title,” Musical Composition of the 1800s.”  She glanced back up to the blonde,” Enlightening….?”

[notsocrazymadison-blog]

“Have you ever tried to kick a book around? Doesn’t work to well,” Madison told her with a shrug of her shoulders. “Relax, I would have picked it up when I saw it. Are you always this fun to be around?” She asked not expecting an answer or if she did one that seemed to be just as caustic as the previous one. For a moment she considered telling the woman she needed to get out more but she bit her tongue and instead decided to shift her attention to the book she was holding.

Madison raised her eyebrow. “Very enlightening. The nineteenth century was an important time for music.” It made her think of a lot of things. “Music entered the Romance Period becoming more expressive and ‘artistic’. Some of the greatest composers like Beethoven, Schumann, Wagner, Dvorak... were creating masterpieces. If you like ballet the Swan Lake pieces were composed and performed. Jazz and Blues have roots in the late 1800s. It was a great time of change and transformation... It could tell someone a lot of things.”

[haunted-fletcher-blog]

The sound of a book falling to the floor caught Lyla’s attention as she was leaving.  It wasn’t like the place was empty, given her shift was ending midday, but there was a bit of chill when she looked to see a lone book on the floor but no one there.  More than likely it had just fallen off the shelf, but given her paranoia as of late, her mind instantly went to a more…. paranormal thought.

Laughing at herself and the foolishness of the thought.  Ghosts weren’t real, someone just didn’t put it back into the rows of books how they were supposed to and it’d finally fallen free.   She moved over to pick it up but paused as someone walked up.  Picking it up and straightening back up she held it out,”  This yours?”

[notsocrazymadison-blog]

Madison turned upon hearing a voice. “Huh...” She started not really processing what the woman had asked her, her attention focused on the selection of books in front of her. She needed a new piece of music to practice before she lost her mind of boredom.

“No, not mine.” It certainly wasn’t anything she had looked at today. “Maybe Casper wanted to read something,” she joked lightly. Bentley was known for being haunted; something she never believed until recently. “Or you know maybe someone is trying to tell you, you should read it. If you believe in that sort of thing and omens or whatever. What book is it?”

[leacaine]

Lea lowered her camera. She had seen them and instantly snapped a photo of them checking to see it saved a picture of them. “I hate these people. I don’t understand why they would spend their time doing things like that.”

[notsocrazymadison-blog]

“Because they’re losers with nothing else to do?” Madison told the girl still staring at the spot a moment longer half expecting the person to materialize again. “I mean they’re lucky someone doesn’t shoot them or something.” Then again nothing was really normal in Bentley. “God, this town is a freak show already without more people adding to it. I hate clowns and I am starting to hate Halloween.”

[rhodestoruin]

Kian had frozen at the sight of the clown figure disappearing into the edge of the woods, as much in surprise as fright. He wasn’t afraid of clowns in particular or, now that he was already dead, much else in general, but it was an odd sight even this close to Halloween. “Yeah, I s-saw it. I’ve been r-reading about those in the–the news. C-Creepy.” He shook his head.

[notsocrazymadison-blog]

Madison looked at the stop for a moment where the clown had stood. Disturbing was more the word she would use. “Yeah, not a fan of clowns.” Even before they had been associated with creepy things and randomly following people around. “You don’t think they’re still watching us, right? Like they just wanted to scare us and then leave...”

[notsocrazymadison-blog]

"Hey, did you see that?!” Madison asked the person beside her as she attempted to regain her breath. “That guy... Dressed as a stupid clown...” She was glad to see the annoying people, probably some teenager, had decided they wanted to cash in on the clown thing that was going around these days. 

[notsocrazymadison-blog]

Spencer + Madison

[murderxhusbands]

“Being terrible at something does have its up sides,” he agreed. “You’re officially in charge.” His gaze flicked toward her house, just in case he ever needed to remember it again, and he nodded, hands in the pockets of his jacket. “It’s no problem. I’ll see you.”

[notsocrazymadison-blog]

Spencer + Madison

[murderxhusbands]

“I’m not.” He furrowed a brow. He supposed he could do lawn work–the simple things like mowing and raking leaves and possibly planting something–but it had never held much appeal. “At least you know your limits. I’m a wreck in the kitchen.”

[notsocrazymadison-blog]

“The plus side, this relieves you of any of our food needs.” It sounded like it would be safer for them both that way. “If it comes to it, we better leave that to me. Bake goods, those can be pilfered from the ladies that feel sorry for me at our church.” Seemed fair enough. “Okay, well, this is me. So... See you around. Next time I won’t bombard you with strange questions.” Questions that turned out not to be so strange. 

[ivyknights-blog]

Ivy clucked her tongue slightly but nodded as she waited for the girl to make a decision. “Or something,” She said in reply, chuckling softly. “You want a drink with that?” She asked before shouting the order to the chef in the back.

[notsocrazymadison-blog]

Madison bit her tongue to keep her snark to herself. The situation didn’t warrant it even if she felt like saying it. She hated when people rushed her. “Water is fine,” the ultimate I don’t know what to drink beverage to go with the ultimate I don’t know what to eat food. “Better?” She wasn’t sure why the woman seemed to be in a hurry but at least it was taken care of.

[notsocrazymadison-blog]

Spencer + Madison

[murderxhusbands]

“Yeah. Funerals are bad enough without false sympathy and bad cooking.” He’d wanted to chase them all out of his aunt’s house at Jake’s funeral, but it wasn’t his call. Maybe she was comforted by them; he really didn’t know her well enough to tell. “I hope I’m never that bored,” he chuckled, unable to imagine it. He liked to keep busy, but lawn care was low on his list of priorities.

[notsocrazymadison-blog]

“Yeah...” She shook her head. “Can’t see that happening. You don’t seem like the obsessive handle the lawn type.” Not that it was saying much because she wasn’t exactly what his thing was, other than strange conversations with her but it definitely wasn’t mowing lawns. “I don’t even garden. I am like death for anything green and living. Lawns probably included.”

[notsocrazymadison-blog]

Spencer + Madison

[murderxhusbands]

Ah. He nodded. Not knowing was not the same as not liking. “How neighborly.” There was an unmistakable dry note in his voice. He wasn’t a fan of people crawling out of the woodwork at funerals to give their sympathy and their bad cooking. His cousin, Jake, had died a few years before, and any remaining tolerance he had for it vanished. Half of those people had barely known him when he was alive. “I’m pretty sure someone, somewhere is always mowing the lawn in my neighborhood. It’s like a conspiracy for lawn care.”

[notsocrazymadison-blog]

“The worse part, they’re only doing it to be nosy.” She was pretty sure most people didn’t actually care beyond the ‘how horrible’ and ‘glad it’s not happening to me’ sentiments. “They need to get a life if they have nothing better to do though my dad is borderline with ours though. That’s mostly because he is retired and has nothing better to do with his life.”

[notsocrazymadison-blog]

Spencer + Madison

[murderxhusbands]

“I think they have,” he agreed with a wry smile. “Ouch. Do they get really upset about the length of the lawn?” He had some neighbors like that. He didn’t add that he was more familiar with the dead on his street than the living. There was a ghost of a carpenter haunting Spencer’s house who’d taught him pretty much everything he knew about fixing things.

[notsocrazymadison-blog]

She looked at him a moment. “Oh, I meant I don’t know like anyone on the street.” Clearly she should have been a little more clearer. “Though there are some like that from what my dad says. I never met most of them because they didn’t have any kids my age. They were just the strange people my parents talked to once in a while and the people that used to bring food over when everything happened with my brother.” Again she shrugged. “Though the crazy old guy next to us does like to mow his lawn at six am.”

[notsocrazymadison-blog]

Spencer + Madison

[murderxhusbands]

He grinned, falling into step beside her. “I hope this isn’t one of those Twilight Zone episodes where we realize we were neighbors the whole time.” They’d had enough weirdness for one day. He knew his neighbors though, so it seemed unlikely.

[notsocrazymadison-blog]

Madison had to laugh. “Well, you know... Stranger things have happened.” It seemed to be especially true in Bentley. “I have to admit I don’t know my neighbors or even like anyone on the street.” Her parents probably did but she didn’t have a clue other than the people she saw come and go every once in a while.

[notsocrazymadison-blog]

Spencer + Madison

[murderxhusbands]

“I’m sure you can. Which way is that?” It hardly mattered at this point. She hadn’t given him an outright no, and night could fall pretty quickly. Even going out of his way, Bentley wasn’t a very big town.

[notsocrazymadison-blog]

"Over yonder,” she joked as she pointed down the street. It wasn’t all that far from where they were now. “But lets go before it gets too awful dark.” There was something unsettling learning that there were a high number of ghosts or whatever walking around town.

[notsocrazymadison-blog]

Spencer + Madison

[murderxhusbands]

“I can see why.” He shrugged. He’d gone out of his way to choose a profession that didn’t deal with the dead. Sure, they crowded around the hospital and the occasional crime scene, but horror fiction would have been at the bottom of his choices. He had enough of it in everyday life. “I can walk you home if you want.” It wasn’t dark yet, but he wouldn’t be Spencer if he didn’t offer.

[notsocrazymadison-blog]

“Only if you’re going that way, if not, I can manage myself.” Madison didn’t see a need to make him go out of his way otherwise even if he had offered. 

[notsocrazymadison-blog]

Spencer + Madison

[murderxhusbands]

“You’ve got plenty of material,” he agreed. The town was horrorshow enough for a whole team of writers. It would have to be fiction though, because no one would ever believe the truth. “They probably do.” He raised an eyebrow. He wasn’t sure about crazy, but practically every house in Bentley was haunted. He stood because dusk was starting to fall, and if he sat any longer body parts were going to start falling asleep. “You heading home?”

[notsocrazymadison-blog]

“But no ambition to work with it,” Madsion admitted but she was kind of surprised no one else had. Then again she didn’t really read a lot of local history books so maybe someone had and she didn’t know it. “Yep, no night wandering for me tonight.”

[notsocrazymadison-blog]

Spencer + Madison

[murderxhusbands]

“Might be nice to have nothing better to do with your time.” A laugh slipped out, part surprise. He might never worry about saying something ghostly or creepy to Madison again. She was clearly dark enough all on her own. “Jesus. Maybe you should write horror fiction.”

[notsocrazymadison-blog]

“I might consider it if I could end up on the best sellers list.” Otherwise she didn’t think it would be worth it. Madison had to imagine that writing a book was a lot of work. “Well, we do live in the middle of a freakshow...” Bentley was a lot of things but apparently it was creepier than she ever imagined. “Yeah, my mom does watch too much of that crime tv channel. The way they pitch it everyone has crazy neighbors or significant others or even family members.”