The Maddening: Book 2 in the Terror Saga

by Nicholas Head

  “She’s a handful. It’s probably a good idea you don’t remember this one.”

  “What’s her name again? I feel so bad for not remembering someone so wonderful.”

  “I don’t know about wonderful,” He laughed, “It’s Cindy Lou. She insists on me using both names.”

  He stopped and looked at her, then cocked his head as he still held the struggling girl, “Anything?”

  Cindy reached up and pinched the soft skin on the back of his arm. He let up just enough for her to escape and run out in front of them. Sticking her tongue out, she yelled back at him, “I’m going to tell dad.”

  “Go ahead, see if I care.”

  Cindy was gone in an instant, weaving in and out of the groups of people gathered in the enormous space up ahead. According to Garrick, in its former life, the room had been divided into smaller rooms, each with walls made of floor-to-ceiling glass. Each area housing numerous priceless artifacts and exhibits. Ranging from only a few hundred to millions of years old. Marisha could only imagine what this place had looked like in its heyday, the prisms slicing the light up into beautiful rainbows. Now, all that glass was but a distant memory, laying in large piles or swept off to the edges of the room.

  Two curvy oil lamps provided all the light the room would need. People either sat around tall café tables, draped with tattered gingham tablecloths talking, while those with kids tried to wind down for the night. This would have been where families and the ones bordering on the Terror would sleep. The less secluded atmosphere would bode better for their minds before all was lost.

  The closer they got, the more people noticed her. The more looks of recognition crossed people's faces. Marisha tried to surreptitiously cover her face, but it was too late. She could already hear the murmurs rising above a low roar.

  “I was kind of hoping everyone would have gone to bed, or maybe most everyone, by now. I can’t believe I slept so late,” she said, looking out windows, seeing it had just dropped below the horizon.

  “It’s not that late, but don’t worry about it. Families like to hang out after Bonfire. It’s our way of winding down, but you kind of knew that already.”

  “It’s hard not to when everyone is boring holes into me with their eyes,” she scoffed, “even the kids look at me like…” She cupped her hand and whispered in his ear, “I’m the devil or something or, I’m the second coming of the terror.”

  “I think they all didn’t expect to see you again.”

  He placed a hand on her arm. She flinched at first, but relented, not wanting to say anything. No matter how many people recognized her, she still felt like she was in a stranger's home.

  “Your sister seems to like me, so I’ve got at least two people on my side.”

  “True, but she’s weird, so I wouldn’t take that as too much of a compliment.”

  Marisha snorted, “I’m sure you’ve told me all of this before, but do you mind, you know, jogging my memory.”

  “Sure, how much do you want to know.”

  She looked him in the eye, “Everything, I think.”

  Marisha motioned with her head to an empty table in the south corner of the room. Away from the death stares and curious children. They sat down across from each other; her legs crossed, her body tight, like she had a grenade in her lap.

  “We found you a couple years ago,” He said, smiling, “pretty much in the exact same place we did today. You were cold, confused, and cursing at the top of your lungs, saying every word that would make even the most hardened bandit blush. You took some convincing, that’s for sure. I think we sat there three hours before you would let us touch you.”

  “I didn’t attack you all, did I?”

  “Of course you did,” he teased. Marisha finally visibly relaxed, “but we were prepared. You definitely weren’t the first one to put up a fight.”

  “Put up a fight?” She wrinkled her brow, “Dude, did you kidnap me?”

  Garrick put his hands out in front of his chest. He looked around to see a few faces stared at them again and lowered his voice.

  “No, no, no. Wrong choice of words. You came with us on your own accord. You just weren’t talking.” He sat and scratched his forehead as if trying to recall a memory, “Where was I? Oh, yeah. So we brought you back and tried to help you. It wasn’t easy. You fought it tooth and nail, and I’m pretty sure I still have a scar from where you dug your nails into her. Even getting you to clean up, it was ugly…and, you smelled terrible.”

  Marisha's ears turned red at the edges. “Are you serious? I did all that. That's so freaking embarrassing!” She tried to hide, burying her heads in her hands.

  He waved it off, “It took time, but you came around. Quickly you started to assimilate into the group. I didn’t get to see you much around that time. There was far too much going on.”

  “So this is all good stuff. When did it all start to go wrong?”

  “Patience,” he said, “I’m getting there.”

  His jaw went slack, and he let out and long breath.

  “Sorry, go ahead,” Marisha said, “That bad, huh?”

  He ignored her last comment.

  “Little by little, you turned into someone happy to be here. We started to become good friends, hanging out all the time. You made life for everyone a lot easier, especially me. It was like you flipped a switch, going from verging on internal destruction to sunshine and rainbows. Hanging out with you helped me have an excuse to skip being pulled into the stupidity of the other guys my age.” His posture slouched as he quickly rubbed his left arm

  “That’s a good thing, but why do I think you are going to tell me something completely opposite?”

  “It wasn’t right, but I was just too blind to see it. You were my best friend, after all. People don’t get their spirit repaired that fast without consequences. Other than Cindy Lou, for which you hung the moon, I was the last person to notice the cracks in your heart showing up again.”

  “That’s not your fault.”

  She saw his forearm muscles tighten.

  “Maybe not, but I should have been the first one to see it happen—the broken smiles here, the gazing off, the tears one moment and laughter the next. They all seemed so innocent at first. A little bit of regression made sense, but a full-on breakdown, no one saw that coming.”

  “I hate to ask…”

  He looked away and spoke to his shoulder, “I was in love with you, so I kept ignoring.”

  “That's not what—”

  Garrick kept going, completely passing over what she had said, “That’s always good to ignore. Especially when just the slightest push.” He made a pushing motion with his hands, “could put you over the edge.”

  Dealing with unrequited love was not something she wanted to do right now. The conversation had taken an unexpected turn. Dealing with it later could bite her in the backside, but she’d take her chances. The jumbled memories couldn't come together quickly enough, almost doing more harm than good.

  “So, I guess I left then. Went crazy and left? I hope you aren’t about to tell me I burned the place down.”

  A corner of his mouth went up, and his eyes narrowed as if trying to see through her. “So, you really don’t remember anything, do you? Interesting. I thought it was all just a ruse. You trying to play dead with your past.”

  For the next few minutes, Garrick regaled her of his past heroic exploits and how impressed she had been at the time. To ask him, they were the best of friends who had only lost touch. Thankfully, he didn’t press the love angle anymore.

  “I want to show you something,” he said.

  They headed out the backdoor and around the back of the white stucco building, hugging the wall. The sun was already hiding behind the skyscrapers, taking the light with it. Garrick stopped at a fire escape, and pulled it down, the metal squealing and groaning with every inch it moved.

  “Sorry about that,” he said, “we don’t use it very often. Only for special occasions.”

/>   It felt good to get out of there. His head had started to hurt.

  “Special occasions, huh?” Marisha said. He nodded and began up the ladder. She was going to let him test the death trap first before she even thought about it.

  “Yep, very special.” he nodded.

  Marisha cringed, “at least he didn’t say it with a wink,” she muttered under her breath.

  “What was that?”

  “Oh nothing,” she said.

  He made it to the next floor, giving her enough confidence it wouldn’t collapse and kill them both. She placed one hand on the rusty metal rung and then another, pulling herself up. As she was going to move to the next step, she heard a whine, almost like the sound of metal on metal, but not close. If she wasn’t mistaken it came from inside the building, deeper and below. Marisha stepped down and listened, leaning in, placing her ear to the wall.

  Groan... Groan...whine

  Marisha made a gentle knock against the plaster surface, then listened. Nothing. Up above, Garrick called down, “Hey, you coming?”

  “Yeah,” she said, pressing her ear harder. She gave it another gentle rap with no response. Shrugging her shoulders, she started back up the ladder, often pausing, giving her enough time to listen in between each step. She made it to the next floor and banged on the ladder.

  Silence.

  “What took you so long?” he said, the playfulness gone now, replaced with something like skepticism.

  “I thought I heard something or someone, but inside the building.”

  He cocked his head and squinted one eye, “Someone or... something?”

  “I don’t...I can’t say. It just sounded weird.”

  “It was probably just some kids,” he sighed, “They hide everywhere in this place. You’d be amazed at the epic games of hide-and-seek we get up to here.”

  “It didn't sound like kids playing though.”

  Garrick crossed his arms, and looked her in the eyes, “I promise you, that’s what it was.”

  “You know what I’m probably just hearing things. It’s been a long day. Can we just go back down? I really need some rest.”

  “O-kay, o-kay. Let me just show you this first. You know what, maybe it will jog your memory. That can’t hurt, right?” He steeped his hands and smiled with his teeth, “What do you say?”

  She nodded in a silent reply.

  “Let’s go,” Garrick sprinted off, leaving her behind. They reached a platform and he boosted Marisha up, then effortlessly climbed up himself, almost in one fluid motion.

  He cupped his hands around his eyes and stared up to the sky. He adjusted his feet, then squatted down. With the sun below the horizon, the only light left was coming from the moon.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I’m looking at the spaceship.”

  “Why? Did they leave you here or something?”

  He snorted, “Very funny. No, look here,” he said, placing his hands around his eyes again. “If you look like this and then squat down, like so,” he squatted down, leading her with him, “and then just barely squint your eyes like this,”

  “It looks like you have to poop. Do you?”

  He waved it off with the flit of his hand, “You can see what looks like a spaceship flying into the moon.”

  Marisha squinted like he had suggested, moving her feet to get in a better position. Finally, it began to come together, to look almost like a spaceship coming towards them, flying from the moon to take them away. “Oh yeah, I see it. Nice.”

  “Nice?” Garrick said, his tone bordering on sour, “That used to get more of a reaction than just nice. I guess it’s a bit corny.”

  “No, it’s not that. It’s cool, I promise. It’s just—my head still feels like it's floating in a thick fog.”

  He perked up and put his hand on her arm, leaving it there for longer than she would have liked. Marisha debated pulling back, but she didn’t want to hurt the guy's feelings all over again. Again, knowing this choice could come back to bite her. Her world was torn between figuring out who she was while also not wearing out her welcome. She finally pulled her arms back and rubbed them with her other hands, mimicking being cold. He seemed to not notice.

  “You never answered my question,” she said.

  “About what?”

  “What I did or what happened that caused me to leave.”

  “I told you, you just had a breakdown.” He reached for her, but Marisha pulled away and narrowed her eyes.

  “A breakdown, I’m going to need more than that,” She stiffened up and pulled her arms to her sides, letting him know any contact wasn’t going to be well received.

  “If you have to know,” he wiped the nervous sweat from his forehead then balled up his fists. “we had broken up and--”

  “We were dating?”

  “You don’t remember that either? Wow, you weren’t lying.”

  “No, I wasn’t now—you said I broke up with you?”

  Marisha stepped back, wanting more room between the two of them.

  “No, it was me actually who did the breaking up.” He puffed out his chest.

  He grabbed her face and before she could react, pulled her in to kiss him. He pressed his lips against hers, her whole body turning rigid like steel. Marisha instantly reacted and pushed him back, bringing an open palm directly across his cheek. The sound popping against the silent night.

  “What the hell do you—”.

  Marisha is sent reeling as immense, stabbing pain erupted behind her eyes, like a white-hot needle boring inside her. Garrick grabbed her hand to keep her from falling over as what felt like a jolt of electricity and warmth coursed through her whole body.

  A picture had materialized, first a door, then absolutely black walls around it. A green light poured in from around the frame, and the handle turned.

  Marisha grabbed her head and screamed out in pain as tears welled up in the red corners of her eyes. Garrick still maintaining a firm grip on her. She wanted nothing to do with him, but right now, he was the only thing keeping her upright.

  Another image splashed through her brain; This time it was her, tiptoeing down a hallway, and at the end, another door. This one ornate with gold filigree and intricate glasswork. Instead of the green light before, purple bled around the edges, coming in waves like an ocean. Moans of pain and crying were floating down the hall, the sounds moving so slowly that she could almost reach out and grab them. Unfortunately, the louder the cries became, the slower she could move. Her feet felt as if they were trudging through syrup.

  A flash of red light exploded in her vision as the other image goes blank. She gritted her teeth, waiting for the next deluge of pain, but it never came—instead, another image of hands tearing apart from wrists, falling to the ground. Someone picked them up and put them in a sack, tying them around the end of a long stick. An evil laugh echoed throughout her head then stopped.

  Marisha prepared for another enigmatic image to assault her mind when something else flashed before her, only this time it needed no interpretation. It’s Garrick, but he’s full of ballistic, unbridled rage. His eyes like giant red orbs, surrounding her. The pinpoint pupils grew larger, hands gripped her arms and shake. Shaking her so hard her arms, began to tear away, with sounds of rending flesh and tendons popping like rubber bands.

  Then peace, yellow light shined behind Garrick as he cupped one hand to her cheek, “They know what they are doing...you just don’t understand...It’s a promise of life outside of here...it’s a choice that’s best for their family and so, who am I to judge...a promise of—'”

  Chains dropped from her wrists that she never knew were there. A weight had been lifted. Marisha heard her name slowly fading in, as real words appeared around the edges of her vision.

  “Marisha...Mari...Mari...Mari.”

  A final shake of her head, and she’s back to reality. Garrick was saying her name as she stared ahead. He clapped his hands, and her head snapped to his.

 
“Hey? Where did you go there?”

  “I think--” she paused and bit the inside of her cheek, “someplace that helped me understand.”

  He furrowed his brow and nervously rubbed the back of his neck, kicking the pavement with the toes of his boots.

  “I’m sorry. That was...um...really—I was out of line and...” He paused and looked over at her, something grabbing his attention, “What are you doing? I really didn’t think that—Are you okay?”

  “What are you talking about?” she said as she rubbed a sore spot right between her eyes, hoping to push away the annoyance.

  He pointed to her left side, “Your hand.” She looked down and noticed her left hand was in her pocket, furiously flipping something back and forth. She had been doing it absentmindedly and hadn’t even noticed. As she pulled it out, she saw it was a single wall switch.

  “What’s that for?”

  Marisha shrugged her shoulders and put it back in her pocket. Of all the things to find from before today, this had to be one of the weirdest.

  “It’s nothing. Can we go now? I’m really beat”

  “Of course,” He said

  Marisha jumped down and quickened her pace to the exit. Her adrenaline flowing like roaring rapids. The pieces were finally falling into place, but the order made no sense, and that terrified her more than ever.

  Forty

  Colleen

  “That sounds like an awful idea,” Colleen said as she threw up her hands, letting out a primal scream, “Ahhhh! You are absolutely no help at all.”

  “Just because you don’t like my idea doesn’t mean it won’t work,” Lito retorted.

  “It’s been several hours, and she could be dead already or miles away from here.”

  “You know that’s not true. People who went through that much effort to adult-nap her aren’t going to kill. Plus, we've had eyes on that place practically the whole time since she was taken. We would have seen people in or out of there.”

  Colleen let out a huge breath, allowing her arms to flow out behind her and up, then back down again. Repeating this several times. “So, let me get this all straight, stop me if I miss anything. You want us to skip—”