people had warned madison about karma from a young age. of course, when you spend so many years evading this horrible and scary thing they tell you about, you start to feel invincible.
if you asked madison, thatâs exactly what she was. invincible.
she felt it every time her arm locked with angelâs. adoration when they were cheerleaders in high school and pretending that never changed. even if high school no longer revolved around them, catching angelâs bright smile out of the corner of her eye would always make her feel the way she did seconds before wrapping her arms around the other girl in victory.
the forbidden fruit for madison was never eveâs apple or persephoneâs pomegranate; it was cherry red lips in the dark of peytonâs room. she never even tried to resist. telling her she couldnât have something just made her want it more and this girl was the definition of unobtainable. just enough with everyone to stop the voice in madisonâs head from asking why not me?
it was in the way sleepovers with sommer always involved watching any serial killer documentary. she didnât recoil in horror. it came with critiquing their methods and watching sommer blossom into the true-crime youtuber she was now.
gageâs kind heart made her feel that way. heâs literally saved her life before. phone contact name permanently switched to âmy heroâ in honor of. what should have made madison cautious just gave her a badge of recklessness to proudly display. she defied odds.
especially when the ripper had warned people about what happened when you asked the right questions and then still tried to figure them out. for a story. for gageâs safety.
but she did not feel invincible now. tied to a chair with tears rolling down her cheeks. on display for everyone to see. she was scared, vulnerable and completely mortal. this was someone who had killed before and was willing to kill again.
madison was never the mouse cornered by claws, she was always the cat. she had the control in every situation. sheâd play with her prey but toss them to the side when she was done. the looming threat over her was that she wouldnât be given the same end to that story. fitting that karma came for her in such madison fashion. it just wouldnât have been right without the exposing. something madison did] daily but she winced at every word, every memory.
if not gagged, madisonâs screams would have rivaled a banshee herself. no. madison could still scream if she wanted to. a muffled scream was still a scream. the gag wasnât the thing stopping her, but rather her ability to only muster up the sobs already wracking her small frame. if she wasnât gagged, madison would be going through her goodbyes.
when you think youâre invincible, you never have things like this planned out. she regretted every single conversation with a loved one that didnât end with i love you before she came here. the people she let go without holding in her arms long enough to have them memorized. even something as tender and recent as gage holding her hand by the bumper cars long forgotten when all she could think of was the ripperâs force. she knew sheâd give anything for his gentle touch again. or peytonâs hands through her hair. anyone that would touch her like a human again.
but no matter how much madison begged now, she was sure this was karma coming to collect her. the next hands on her would be proving she wasnât as invincible as she believed herself to be.
