Rule Breakers
- Thread starter Sarrain
- Start date
Maddie didn't seem to mind. She didn't move in closer or farther away from the touch.
She was naturally an affectionate person, but that tended to show through more when she was on four legs instead of two, and no visible skin through the fur. Also, not blushing was nice.
"Do you have nightmares like that?" She asks. It was almost childish, she even knows it. She just wanted to know someone was with her on that front. She would have even taken a lie as reassurance.
She was naturally an affectionate person, but that tended to show through more when she was on four legs instead of two, and no visible skin through the fur. Also, not blushing was nice.
"Do you have nightmares like that?" She asks. It was almost childish, she even knows it. She just wanted to know someone was with her on that front. She would have even taken a lie as reassurance.
His face would turn a bit dark and his gaze would go far, "Yeah, I've got one like that." It was a nightmare that he couldn't forget because it happened in reality. And it haunted him, of course, he was talking about the his recurring nightmare of the Incident.
Maddie looked at the table. She let the silence stretch between them.
"I'll tell you about mine if you tell me about yours," she said, at last, looking up to meet his eyes.
She thought, at this time of day and in such an empty place, all words seemed severe. The silence was thick here; it had a way about it that felt like fog to Maddie, making all things unclear and eerie.
In books, this would be one of those times someone might say 'they cut the silence like a knife,' but Maddie didn't think a knife could cut this silence. It was too adaptable, too present, and it settled in the bones.
"I'll tell you about mine if you tell me about yours," she said, at last, looking up to meet his eyes.
She thought, at this time of day and in such an empty place, all words seemed severe. The silence was thick here; it had a way about it that felt like fog to Maddie, making all things unclear and eerie.
In books, this would be one of those times someone might say 'they cut the silence like a knife,' but Maddie didn't think a knife could cut this silence. It was too adaptable, too present, and it settled in the bones.
A bitter smile would form on his face, she was opening up to him but he was afraid of what she'd think when he told her.
"Okay, but you have to go first. Because my nightmares aren't a dream, but a memory, and you might think of me differently afterwards." He'd say this without looking at her, he couldn't let her see the darkness in his eyes, the pain.
He could feel the cracks in his heart, threatening to break, to shatter him once and for all. No one else knew the story other than his family, but if Maddie was willing to open up to him, he'd open up to her.
"Okay, but you have to go first. Because my nightmares aren't a dream, but a memory, and you might think of me differently afterwards." He'd say this without looking at her, he couldn't let her see the darkness in his eyes, the pain.
He could feel the cracks in his heart, threatening to break, to shatter him once and for all. No one else knew the story other than his family, but if Maddie was willing to open up to him, he'd open up to her.
Maddie couldn't reassure him that she wouldn't see him differently. But why was that a bad thing? Inevitably, everyone sees everyone differently at some point or another. Nothing is ever stagnant.
Still, she wouldn't offer up empty promises that things would change for the good. Instead, she closed her eyes, channeling into her nightmare.
It was a paradox of things. Both incomprehensible and clear. The memory was painted brown, like old pictures of coffee stains on a page. Stain was a good way to describe the dream.
"There's blood," Maddie began, feeling like she was in the chaos of it all over again. The eye of the storm. "But I can't entirely see it because I'm in a tunnel vision. I feel it, though, it's on my hand, and it's still warm.
"Sariah is telling me not to look, and her arms are around me, holding me tightly to her chest. She's crying, I can feel her tears, but I can't hear them in her voice. She sounds...angry. Like she's so full of fear that its hardened into pure hatred.
"The air is thick and so full of magic I can taste it on my tongue. It kind of stings, like static shock, and it makes the hair on my neck stand on end.
"Sariah tells me: 'Close your eyes. Don't look. Pretend you're in the forest.' So I do. I squeeze them as tightly as I can. I'm trying hard not to cry, because she had told me not to show my fear. That fear is power to dark sources.
"I can hear my mom's voice, but it's warped, so I feel the vibrations of it more than I hear the words.
"The last thing I hear before I walk up is Sariah saying: "No, you're wrong, and if you come any closer you're dead."
"That part is always scariest to me, because Sariah is only fourteen in this dream, and I know from the tone in her voice she means everything she says and that she'd strike without hesitation. I can feel her tensing up to do so as she speaks the words."
Maddie opened her eyes, wiping the moisture from her face. "I don't think it's a complete nightmare, but I can't say if that's how the situation really played out."
Still, she wouldn't offer up empty promises that things would change for the good. Instead, she closed her eyes, channeling into her nightmare.
It was a paradox of things. Both incomprehensible and clear. The memory was painted brown, like old pictures of coffee stains on a page. Stain was a good way to describe the dream.
"There's blood," Maddie began, feeling like she was in the chaos of it all over again. The eye of the storm. "But I can't entirely see it because I'm in a tunnel vision. I feel it, though, it's on my hand, and it's still warm.
"Sariah is telling me not to look, and her arms are around me, holding me tightly to her chest. She's crying, I can feel her tears, but I can't hear them in her voice. She sounds...angry. Like she's so full of fear that its hardened into pure hatred.
"The air is thick and so full of magic I can taste it on my tongue. It kind of stings, like static shock, and it makes the hair on my neck stand on end.
"Sariah tells me: 'Close your eyes. Don't look. Pretend you're in the forest.' So I do. I squeeze them as tightly as I can. I'm trying hard not to cry, because she had told me not to show my fear. That fear is power to dark sources.
"I can hear my mom's voice, but it's warped, so I feel the vibrations of it more than I hear the words.
"The last thing I hear before I walk up is Sariah saying: "No, you're wrong, and if you come any closer you're dead."
"That part is always scariest to me, because Sariah is only fourteen in this dream, and I know from the tone in her voice she means everything she says and that she'd strike without hesitation. I can feel her tensing up to do so as she speaks the words."
Maddie opened her eyes, wiping the moisture from her face. "I don't think it's a complete nightmare, but I can't say if that's how the situation really played out."
His face was stern and full of thought, maybe more cold than he'd like but he was considering the possibility of this nightmare. It could be a repressed memory, which was more likely than anything or a fear manifesting itself into a trick. But this was heavy stuff for a girl her age, whatever it is wasn't good for her and he really wanted to help her.
He'd gingerly set his hand on her shoulder again, trying to comfort her, "Thank you Maddie, that was a very brave thing, telling me and I appreciate you being open." He'd smile at her for a second before he'd sigh, bringing his hands to himself. He'd grip his shoulders, his arms crossing his torso in an X, and he'd look up at the ceiling of the library.
"My turn then, mine is a nightmare I lived in sophomore year. For most of my life it was just my mother and I and occasionally my uncle Adam. We were poor but we were happy, my mother did her best to get me whatever I wanted and we'd try to take care of each other. I learned how to cook, I kept the house clean, I stayed out of trouble mostly. I learned about my powers at a young age and Adam helped me hone them and I'd practice in my free time." His voice would crack here, leaving him to clear his throat.
"Well, like any child I was curious about my father, over the years I learned he was a felon, a good for nothing thief and alcoholic that ran out on my father when she found out that she was pregnant." He was starting to wonder whether or not he should leave out any details because of how young Maddie was, but to have a nightmare like she did, he thought she could handle it.
"It was a Friday, after school, I made my way home. We lived fairly close so I just walked to and from school. My mother didn't work so it was a pretty nice day, we'd relax and maybe watch some movies."
"I was quiet getting into the house, because she liked to sleep a lot on her days off, and on the off chance she was sleeping I didn't want to wake her up. But I heard her, she was having a conversation with someone, it was a man and I didn't recognize his voice. I crept closer to the kitchen where they were talking, to hear what was being said better."
"The man was trying to get money out of my mom, I knew we didn't have any and my mother tried to make that known, she said 'Tom I can't help you, we're barely making it ourselves.' Tom, I knew that name." He'd give a laugh, a single dry laugh filled with contempt.
"It was the name of my so called 'father,' he was there trying to extort money from my mom, to steal from her. It filled me with anger and a mess of other emotions but I'm not the type to act on impulse. So I just stayed where I was and continued to listen, but then the conversation got more aggressive, there was shouting, and then a sound-" Malvoes would grip his shoulders tightly.
"It's that clear sound of impact that flesh makes against flesh and it was followed by a thud, it made me move, I entered the kitchen and there he was. Standing over my mother, on the ground, with his hand balled up into a fist."
"I couldn't feel anything other than rage, I needed to protect my mom. He was turning to where I was when he heard me come in, his face showed a few different emotions but I didn't care. I rushed him, tackled him to the ground and I-" Pain racked his voice as he released his shoulder, turning his attention to his hands, staring at them like the weapons of a murder, which they were.
"I placed my hands on his head and I reached out with my powers, I felt his mind, his being, his consciousness, everything he used to be and was all there in a tiny glass sphere, well that's how it felt. And with out a thought, I grabbed onto it and I crushed it, I felt him break and it felt good." He'd ball his hands into fists, tears falling silently from his eyes.
"When I snapped back to reality I saw him crumple to the ground, my mother was the first to act, I couldn't move but I saw the fear in her eyes. She called the police and they were there soon, took him to a hospital."
"The doctors said he had a type of stroke or a mental break, he was alive but completely unresponsive. I killed him, I broke his mind. And every night, every moment I see him, in the hospital room, hooked to the machines keeping him alive, and I know it's my fault." His voice was filled with pain and emotion, regret and sorrow and most of all, anger. He couldn't look up from his hands, couldn't see what face Maddie had, to see what she was thinking of him.
He'd gingerly set his hand on her shoulder again, trying to comfort her, "Thank you Maddie, that was a very brave thing, telling me and I appreciate you being open." He'd smile at her for a second before he'd sigh, bringing his hands to himself. He'd grip his shoulders, his arms crossing his torso in an X, and he'd look up at the ceiling of the library.
"My turn then, mine is a nightmare I lived in sophomore year. For most of my life it was just my mother and I and occasionally my uncle Adam. We were poor but we were happy, my mother did her best to get me whatever I wanted and we'd try to take care of each other. I learned how to cook, I kept the house clean, I stayed out of trouble mostly. I learned about my powers at a young age and Adam helped me hone them and I'd practice in my free time." His voice would crack here, leaving him to clear his throat.
"Well, like any child I was curious about my father, over the years I learned he was a felon, a good for nothing thief and alcoholic that ran out on my father when she found out that she was pregnant." He was starting to wonder whether or not he should leave out any details because of how young Maddie was, but to have a nightmare like she did, he thought she could handle it.
"It was a Friday, after school, I made my way home. We lived fairly close so I just walked to and from school. My mother didn't work so it was a pretty nice day, we'd relax and maybe watch some movies."
"I was quiet getting into the house, because she liked to sleep a lot on her days off, and on the off chance she was sleeping I didn't want to wake her up. But I heard her, she was having a conversation with someone, it was a man and I didn't recognize his voice. I crept closer to the kitchen where they were talking, to hear what was being said better."
"The man was trying to get money out of my mom, I knew we didn't have any and my mother tried to make that known, she said 'Tom I can't help you, we're barely making it ourselves.' Tom, I knew that name." He'd give a laugh, a single dry laugh filled with contempt.
"It was the name of my so called 'father,' he was there trying to extort money from my mom, to steal from her. It filled me with anger and a mess of other emotions but I'm not the type to act on impulse. So I just stayed where I was and continued to listen, but then the conversation got more aggressive, there was shouting, and then a sound-" Malvoes would grip his shoulders tightly.
"It's that clear sound of impact that flesh makes against flesh and it was followed by a thud, it made me move, I entered the kitchen and there he was. Standing over my mother, on the ground, with his hand balled up into a fist."
"I couldn't feel anything other than rage, I needed to protect my mom. He was turning to where I was when he heard me come in, his face showed a few different emotions but I didn't care. I rushed him, tackled him to the ground and I-" Pain racked his voice as he released his shoulder, turning his attention to his hands, staring at them like the weapons of a murder, which they were.
"I placed my hands on his head and I reached out with my powers, I felt his mind, his being, his consciousness, everything he used to be and was all there in a tiny glass sphere, well that's how it felt. And with out a thought, I grabbed onto it and I crushed it, I felt him break and it felt good." He'd ball his hands into fists, tears falling silently from his eyes.
"When I snapped back to reality I saw him crumple to the ground, my mother was the first to act, I couldn't move but I saw the fear in her eyes. She called the police and they were there soon, took him to a hospital."
"The doctors said he had a type of stroke or a mental break, he was alive but completely unresponsive. I killed him, I broke his mind. And every night, every moment I see him, in the hospital room, hooked to the machines keeping him alive, and I know it's my fault." His voice was filled with pain and emotion, regret and sorrow and most of all, anger. He couldn't look up from his hands, couldn't see what face Maddie had, to see what she was thinking of him.
Maddie was taken aback by the coldness on Malvoes' when she opened her eyes and caught it briefly. Then his hand was on her shoulder, and he was thanking her.
It was one of those rare cases, in which Maddie's emotions weren't open for display on her face. Likely because Maddie herself didn't know what they were.
Maddie listened to his story, attentive and unmoving. Mental, she was shaken to see him looking so upset. Maddie couldn't handle the pain of others; she hated when people were sad or scared.
She thought about what she would have done in Malvoes' situation. Would she have been too afraid to move? Would she have broken someone? Was she capable of those things?
She was not good around people who were angry, they always made her nervous, but all of Maddie's nervousness was shot through when she saw someone in need.
At first, she didn't say anything. She stood up, much quieter than she thought she had the ability to be, and wrapped her arms around him in a light hug. She laid her head on his.
She held him tighter as she searched for the right words to say. She had never been as good with words as she was body language. All Maddie knew was Malvoes didn't deserve to be alone right then. He deserved to be hugged; top bee reminded where he was and that she wasn't scared of him.
The last thought made the words she needed to say clear.
"Thank you."
It was one of those rare cases, in which Maddie's emotions weren't open for display on her face. Likely because Maddie herself didn't know what they were.
Maddie listened to his story, attentive and unmoving. Mental, she was shaken to see him looking so upset. Maddie couldn't handle the pain of others; she hated when people were sad or scared.
She thought about what she would have done in Malvoes' situation. Would she have been too afraid to move? Would she have broken someone? Was she capable of those things?
She was not good around people who were angry, they always made her nervous, but all of Maddie's nervousness was shot through when she saw someone in need.
At first, she didn't say anything. She stood up, much quieter than she thought she had the ability to be, and wrapped her arms around him in a light hug. She laid her head on his.
She held him tighter as she searched for the right words to say. She had never been as good with words as she was body language. All Maddie knew was Malvoes didn't deserve to be alone right then. He deserved to be hugged; top bee reminded where he was and that she wasn't scared of him.
The last thought made the words she needed to say clear.
"Thank you."
Malvoes couldn't move couldn't speak, it was hard to keep himself together and to not just start bawling. He didn't even move when Maddie hugged him, he was shocked, he was so afraid she'd call him a monster, so sure that that was going to happen that he really didn't know what to do in this situation.
And then she thanked him, and he felt himself break but not in a bad way. He felt some of the weight he held on his shoulders come off of him, he still couldn't speak he knew he wasn't able to make the sounds, but he would wrap his arms around her, hugging her back lightly.
And then she thanked him, and he felt himself break but not in a bad way. He felt some of the weight he held on his shoulders come off of him, he still couldn't speak he knew he wasn't able to make the sounds, but he would wrap his arms around her, hugging her back lightly.