Maddie Ann s Playground

by Mackenzie Drew

  ***

  “What was that?” Jennifer asked holding on to a branch.

  “I don’t know, but it shook us hard,” Claire replied gazing the surroundings. The ground began to quiver harder, knocking them from the top of the tree. Claire knew something was about to happen, her predictions were coming true faster than she hoped.

  “Listen up guys; we’ve got to get to Liz. I want you to scream, so she’ll come for us. It might already be too late,” Claire, told them. A serious expression came over her face. She knew if Maddie Ann got her clutches on Liz, she’d take her away for eternity.

  As they searched for Liz, the ground shook hard, followed by a loud crashing sound coming from behind them. Glancing back at the trail, tall trees smacked the broken earth rolling toward them.

  “Come on you guys, hurry,” Claire shouted over the roaring noise.

  “What?” Kari shouted back, but only saw Claire’s lips moving.

  She knew she couldn’t get the girls to understand her, so she took hold of Jennifer, Lisa, and Kari’s wrists, and hovered above the ground. A little ways from where they stood, the earth gave way, falling in to a pit of darkness.

  “Claire, what’s going on?” Kari yelled.

  “I don’t know, but we’ve got to get out of here. There isn’t much time. We need to find Liz, now.” Panicky, Claire gave out the loudest cry she could muster. Something had to shake Liz.

  Claire found a safer place further in the woods away from the rumbling quake. She looked toward the sky, and caught a glimpse at the purple swirls with a tint of red circling the clouds. Holding her arm out to stop the others, Claire stepped forward when she heard the rustling of the trees.

  “Shhhhh…I think Liz is up there,” she whispered.

  “What are you doing?” Jennifer asked.

  “I’m trying to keep you out of trouble. Stay put.” Jennifer pushed against Claire’s arm. Agitated, she pushed Jennifer back with Lisa. “You can’t go this time. It’s much too dangerous. Kari’s going with me,” she said sternly.

  “Why? You’re gonna leave Lisa and I out here, alone?” Jennifer questioned. Her eyes widened.

  “You’ll be fine. We can see you.” Claire and Kari grabbed each other’s hands, ascending into the night sky and leaving the other two girls below them.

  ***

  Trying to make their way to Liz before it was too late; a gathering of thick clouds blocked their view, forcing them to go back to the ground. High above hovering over them, Liz watched their desperate attempts to rescue her. As hard as they tried, Claire and Kari couldn’t make it off the ground. The wind blew too hard against their bodies. They decided it wouldn’t help to force her, so they waited until she was ready to make her move.

  “How long do you think it will take before she decides she wants us?” Kari asked.

  “I don’t know. I’m worried it’ll be too late when she comes after us.” Claire’s voice quivered.

  “Why do you keep saying before it’s too late? Is there something going to happen we don’t know about? Come on, Claire, you’re scaring me.” Kari bit the loose skin off her lip.

  Claire didn’t know how to explain that Maddie Ann’s world would soon collapse. She felt it deep within, but she didn’t know the precise time. It would be a big challenge for her to do what she set out to do, but with Kari’s help, maybe she’d pull it off.

  “Kari, someone has found the secret to put away Maddie Ann forever. If this happens before we save Liz, she won’t ever leave,” she said bowing her head.

  “How do you know? Did you see something?”

  “There’s a deep feeling in the pit of my stomach that tells me. You may find it hard to believe, but my stomach is burning inside, like fire. Not to mention, an image of someone’s face keeps running through my mind, but I can’t make it out,” Claire explained.

  The girls stood listening to falling limbs from the dry and brittle trees. The howling night air came alive, whirling about, knocking them toward the ground. The girls’ strengths were no match for this wicked nightmare. With no warning at all, they had to overcome the terror and survive the best way they knew how. Claire shouted over the loud whistling wind to direct the girls below what to do.

  “Grab, hold of something sturdy, and whatever you do, don’t let go. Come on Kari, we have to do this.”

  The girls forced themselves to their feet. They struggled through a wall of wind that pushed them backward.

  “I can’t go any further, Claire. I’m not strong enough to push against it,” Kari shouted, the wind beating her down.

  “You’ve got to keep going. Please, take hold of my hand and push up when I tell you to.” The hurricane wind whistled loud in their ears.

  Kari nodded, and pushed off the ground fighting with all her might.

  ***

  “Cindy, I don’t think the chant is working. Maybe we should go back,” Barb, said sitting up on her knees and shining the flashlight at Cindy.

  “No, this has to work. If we want to save our daughters’ souls, we can’t give up,” she retorted.

  Taking one another’s hands, they closed their eyes, leaned their heads back, and chanted louder. While their voices carried across the hilltop, strange things began to happen. In a trance and unaware of the changes around them, the flashlights flickered, and then went out, leaving them in blinding, deafening darkness. As the leaves started to rustle below them, they opened their eyes. Frightened and blinded, the inscription on the ground began to glow a bright lime green.

  “What’s going on?” Cindy asked wide-eyed.

  Entranced by the light coming from the ground; a blast of cold air shot through the earth encircling them. Everything went still, the green glow disappeared, and their flashlights came back on.

  “I hope that worked, but I think it’s time we leave. If we hold hands and walk down sideways, there should be no problem finding our way back,” Barb said.

  In a single file line, Cindy and Barbara moved toward the rocky, rutted path. Making it to the crest of the hill, they stepped off hoping for the best. To play it safe, they took baby steps all the way down to the bushes below. With the sounds of nature following right behind, the ladies’ decided to go a little quicker. The fear mounted within them, causing their hearts to race when they heard heavy footsteps near them. They moved faster, spreading out as they flew down the hill in the dark .

  Cindy made it to the clearing, tiptoeing across the dirt road to the car. She turned around to say something to Barb, but the other woman had vanished. From out of the darkness of the woods, she heard a blood-curdling scream and recognized Barbara’s voice. Cindy’s first instinct urged she go and find Barb, but her mind told her otherwise. I’ll get in the car, she thought lifting on the door handle. It was locked, and Barb had the keys. What was she to do now? Think, think, think, damn it, her mind screamed. Searching the ground for a large enough rock, Cindy found one embedded in the dirt. Determination spread through her like wild flowers, and she pulled it out and pitched it against the back passenger side window. The glass shattered sending shards all over the backseat.

  ***

  Barbara screamed for someone to help her. Tears ran down her frightened face. She flailed her legs and arms, trying to break free. Whoever held her captive yanked her by the hair and forced her inside a cage, confining her like an animal. She gazed up to see her attacker. A tall lanky man stood wearing black clothing with thick boots on his feet. He knelt in front of the cage. Barbara winced.

  “Who are you?” she shouted. Her hands gripped the bars as she rattled the door.

  “You don’t recognize me, Barbara? I use to see you every Sunday. You used to sit in the middle between your husband and daughter.”

  “Father Donovan?”

  “Oh, how clever you are, Barbara. I knew you’d figure it out. Now, let’s see if you can guess why you’re here,” he said scoffing.

  She didn’t answer.

  “Barbara where is the locket? I know you
know where it is. I want it and you’re going to tell me where it is.”

  “I don’t have to tell you anything, you demon.” She spit in his face.

  Donovan wiped the dripping spit from his cheek. He became enraged. He tried to pull the door open, but the latch jammed. “Move your foot away from the door, Barbara, or I’ll make sure you suffer,” he roared.

  His face turned crimson as he rattled the door to break it free from its hinges. The blood vessels in his forehead rose to the surface. “Damn, why doesn’t the bloody thing open?” he shouted. Tired of wrestling with it, he picked up the cage with superhuman strength and carried it.

  Barb peeked out the sides of the cage, and saw fiery red lights shooting up behind a grove of trees. Agonizing cries carried through the wind as they drew closer to Donovan’s hideaway.

  “Where are you taking me?” she questioned.

  “You’ll see soon enough.”

  He waddled into a clearing with a blazing inferno in the center, pitching the cage to the ground. The door flung open and he pulled Barbara out.

  “If you won’t tell me where it is, maybe you’ll tell Maddie Ann.”

  As he raised his voice, a child peered from around a bundle of bushes wearing a blue dress with golden blonde banana curls in her hair. She looked so innocent. “Have you seen my locket with a blonde curl attached to it?” she asked.

  Barbara mumbled, too scared to speak up.

  “What did you say? I couldn’t hear you. Say it again,” Maddie Ann growled, her voice growing deeper.

  Barb didn’t want to answer. Nor did she want to look at the little girl.

  “I asked you a question and if you don’t tell me what I want to hear in the next few seconds, you’ll wish you had.”

  Maddie Ann’s eyes turned Stygian, aiming her malevolent glare straight at Barb. She walked closer and kicked the loose dirt under her tiny feet.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, honest. I’ve never seen a locket with hair attached to it,” Barb sniveled.

  Maddie Ann tightened her balled fists, as if her patience wore thin. “I know you know where to find it. And if you don’t hand it over, I’ll throw you in the fire,” she shouted.

  Barb winced. She scooted away from the little girl, and felt Donovan shove his knee into the small of her back. He pressed it against her spine. Barbara let out a spine-chilling scream. “I don’t know what happened to your stupid locket and if I did, I wouldn’t tell you.”

  Maddie Ann struck her across the face, leaving her tiny finger marks. “Fine, have it your way, Barbara. I will watch you die in a pit of fire, and then I’ll have the pleasure of watching Claire dwindle away in hell,” she roared, kicking her in the ribs.

  “You little bitch, don’t you dare touch my daughter!”

  Donovan grabbed her hair and dragged her back to the cage, pushed her in, and placed a heavy rock in front of the broken door. As Barb tried to kick it out of her way, Maddie Ann knelt down, laughing at her.

  “Barbara, I’ll do what I want with Claire and there’s nothing you can do to stop me. It’s too bad you’ll never get the chance to see her again. You should learn to control that horrible temper of yours.”

  Barb pounded the bars of her cage, screaming hysterically.

  ***

  Halfway up into the sky, Claire stopped dead still.

  “What are you doing? Let’s go,” Kari said.

  Claire’s eyes widened. She heard her mother’s cry. “No, it can’t be. Oh please no,” she begged.

  Kari shrugged her shoulders and tugged at Claire’s hand.

  “Wait, stop I can’t go,” she shouted.

  “Claire, we can’t stop. You said it’s crucial we release Liz from Maddie Ann’s grip…”

  Liz suddenly loomed before them, gazing into their eyes and smiling, full of evil intent. “Well, if it isn’t Claire and Kari. Welcome to my neck of the woods. I hope you didn’t have a hard time finding me,” she said.

  “Liz, I’m not here to play games, I’m here to save you from the tyrant, Maddie Ann.”

  She crossed her arms, and shot backwards for a chase in the night sky.

  “Now what do we do?” Kari asked confused.

  Claire looked at her with a blank expression. She clutched Kari’s wrist, and shot off after Liz. Blocking the wind from their face, Claire heard a startling sound below. She sensed trouble and shot down from the sky, flying over a Ring of Fire where a large cage sat smoldering in the smoke, threatening to burn whatever it contained.

  “What is it?” Kari winced.

  With fear in her eyes, Claire darted toward the cage, knocking it over.

  “Please tell me this isn’t my mom,” she begged, tears raining down her face.

  Turning her head to look, her mother’s soot-covered face brightened with a smile.

  “Claire, is that you?” Barb shrieked.

  “Yes, Mommy, it’s me, it’s me.”

  She knuckled her eyes dry, pushed the large stone off to the side, and reached her arms inside the cage.

  “Hurry, get out of there,” she cried.

  Taking Barb by the hand, they lifted from the ground, soaring through the sky away from danger.

  “Don’t be afraid, I’ll protect you,” Claire told her, weeping uncontrollably.

  Coming close to where they left the other girls, out of nowhere, Liz skimmed the top of Claire’s back.

  “There she is, quick, we’ve got to do something with your mom,” Kari shouted.

  “Take her down below, Kari. I have to do this myself.”

  “It’s too dangerous to do this alone. I can’t let you.”

  “Hurry and get her to safety. Liz is coming back,” Claire shouted.

  “I can’t leave you. Something bad might happen,” Kari, yelled through the roaring wind.

  “I’ll be fine. Just go!”

  ***

  Kari headed toward the others’. Something told her to look up. Liz clashed into Claire with an explosion lighting them both up like the morning sky. “Noooooo,” Kari wailed, her heavy voice carried through the wind.

  Claire flew toward the ground, smacking huge branches as she went down through the trees and landed with a loud thump. Racing toward her, Barbara bent down on her knees and lifted her head. “Claire…,” she cried out.

  Barb held her daughter close to her chest, then fell over beside her in a dead faint.

  As Claire lay unconscious, Kari stood up, brushing herself off. Anger shook her. Her eyes pinched together. Her furious contorted face blazed like the sun. She had enough playing games with the wicked. Liz laughed at them. Gazing up, Kari gritted her teeth, and squeezed her fists. Sweet revenge for Claire stirred through her mind, whether Liz escaped or not.

  “I know what you’re about to do, but we cannot let you do this, Kari,” Jennifer said grabbing her arm.

  “If I don’t do this, Liz has won the fight.” Kari kept a faithful eye on Liz. She pointed to the sky and lifted off toward the top of the tree, vanishing.

  Liz hovered above and peered down at them. “I’m waiting for you,” she growled.

  With great courage in her soul, Kari rose behind Liz in a strong stance with her arms crossed and ready to take her. Liz turned around, looking Kari straight in the eyes. “Were you looking for me?” she asked as she scooted toward the edge of the tree. She drew back and hunkered down.

  “I’m going to get you for what you did to Claire.” Kari lunged at her full force.

  ***

  Jennifer watched in terror as they all saw the serious trouble Kari faced. Placing her hand on her chest, the cross necklace dangled around her neck. She knew that Kari needed it. Without thinking, she started climbing the tree.

  “Jennifer, NO! Get down before she sees you,” Lisa whispered trying to pull on her.

  “Kari needs my cross to protect her from the black soul.”

  She put one foot in front of the other, and continued up the back of the tree, struggling to hang on. J
ennifer hugged every branch she came to and never let go. She felt the determination to save one of her dearest friends even if it meant spending eternity in the cemetery.

  Liz and Kari continued to struggle. Liz squeezed Kari’s arm, yanking it behind her back. With an evil smile on her face, she started to reach into Kari’s chest, just as Jennifer made her way up with the cross in her hand pointing it at her.

  “You leave her alone, you evil witch!”

  Liz let go of Kari and backed away. She hissed and covered her corpulent face. Jennifer reached around Kari’s neck to place the necklace on, when something knocked it free from her hand, sending it careening toward the ground. With Jennifer exposed in front of Kari, she slid behind her.