Lost

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again...
Madeleine was sitting curled up on the window seat of the dorm, engrossed in the familiar novel of Rebecca.
This leather-bound book had been read so many times that the corners were obviously well-thumbed, the pages were all creased and dog-eared, and several pages had fallen out and been lovingly stuck back in again.
Her thumbs turned the pages smoothly and silently as she got lost in the storyline, reading the thoughts characters that she knew as well as any living person, the words that she knew almost off by heart. Losing all sense of self, all thoughts, everything in a book was something that Madeleine had done since early childhood, in journeys over hilly and rocky roads, where she'd read in the caravan to block out the noises of the wheels on the ground. This grew and grew so that Madeleine could not only block out noises, but - most of the time - thoughts and emotions while she was reading.
Depending on the book, of course.
When she reached the end of the third chapter, she sighed and glanced up - only then realising that Macy was in the room.
"Hey," she said, marking her place with a bookmark and setting the book down beside her.

[Macy Deltine]

"Hello!" Macy said, coming into the dorm. She had finished writing a paper in the library on some poem that she was studying in english. She came into the room, and flopped herself on her bed, opposite Madeleine. "I may be the head of the Academics, but I can't stand studying stupid poems." She said, lying on her back. "It wasn't even a good one, it was so stupid. Seriously, I think I'm the only Academic in that class. Well, there are are few others, but whatever." She ranted. "What are you reading?" She said, popping her head up to look at Madeleine.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Madeleine winced in sympathy.
Poetry wasn't really her thing ... though, someone had pointed out to her that the lyrics of songs that she loved so much were poetry. However, Madeleine liked reading poems, but when it came to explaining and analysing and deconstructing...
Well, it wasn't the most exciting thing in the world.
In fact... it was really, really boring.
"Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier," she answered. "Have you read it?"

[Macy Deltine]

Macy hoisted herself up on her bed, kicked off her shoes, and crossed her legs. "Yeah, I think I did once. My mum likes it, I think." She searched her mind, for the memories of when she got the book for her mother for Christmas, after she was going on about it for weeks. She smiled at her memories. "Isn't that the one that you never find out the main character's name?" She asked, but she knew that it was that one.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

"Yeah," Madeleine smiled. "It was annoying at first, but it just highlights the contrast between her and Rebecca... but I won't add to that, in case you want to read it."
The saga of the mysterious Mrs. De Winter had always intrigued her - because she was nameless, and so, faceless. It so served to highlight that Rebecca...
Well, that would be a spoiler, wouldn't it?
"Hows Steve?" Madeleine asked impulsively, before realising that that had completely changed the subject.

[Macy Deltine]

Why does everyone keep asking her about Steve?
"Um, he's fine. Just his normal, crazy self. Although, he seems to be losing weight, but he does that sometimes. Oh, and there's another girl called Anke who keeps on trying to be his best frind, and pushing me out of the road, but she's just annoying." She dragged her blanket up from her bed, around her body. "How's, um, Lee?" She asked, laughing slightly. She had never talked to him, but she had to sit though conversations between Madeleine and others in their dorm at night.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

"Anke? Isn't she a Warrior?"
Madeleine knew she was a Warrior - a Warrior that seemed to have a bit of a thing for Steve. However, Madeleine knew that that would not be a tactful thing to say.
"He's good," she smiled.

[Macy Deltine]

Macy smiled. "He dosen't like being in Warriors, though." She said, but she realised that she was talking to the head of the group. "Nothing aganist the group, or anything, he just dosen't think he fits in it. But he dosen't really fit into any of the groups, though, and that was the one that most suited him. He dosen't like fighting, it scares him." She said, resting her head on her knees. "Oh, sorry, I'm going off into a rant again." Did she really talk about him that much. "He's so cool, though. I love him." She smiled, but then realised what she had just said. "Not in that way! Not in that way!" She screamed, going bright pink. "Only as a friend!" She started laughing hard now, while still bright pink.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Madeleine had been about to frown at what Macy had said about Steve not liking being in the Warriors - after all, he was probably one of her favourite Warriors.
Not that she had favourites, of course.
Ahem.
But Macy's words, and then her hysterical laughter, distracted her and made her smile as Macy laughed, fuschia pink.
"Of course," she answered, a smile playing about her lips.
Well, if not now, then one day...

[Macy Deltine]

Macy finally stopped laughing, and could feel her eyes watering, she wiped them away with her hand, and then looked up at Madeleine, smiling. "Oh my." She said, when she had regained her composure. "So, um, how're the rest of the Warriors? Like, since the battle.." She asked. The school hadn't really talked about the battle, they just had memoral services for the lost, and then they moved on and went back to work. This made Macy slightly angry, thinking about how they could just go on, when people had been killed.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Madeleine smiled at Macy as she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "They're, um, fine," she answered, thinking sadly of Daniel.
Suddenly, she felt a rush of affection for Macy. Most people seemed to assume that things had gone back to normal; that the battle would fail to affect them again. That things were fine.
No, they weren't. The Warriors were still reeling from the apalling damage they'd suffered, and they'd been scared by what had happened. It had been emphasized that they weren't untouchable now, that they could be damaged.
Could be killed.
It made them work ever the harder, all determined that they would end this war; that they'd stop their friends and comrades dying.
"I don't think that we've recovered fully, but we'll be all right," she said, adding a bright smile.

[Macy Deltine]

"Don't worry, everything will be alright. Even though I may not be fully recovered from when I was taken, I'm okay." She said, looking out the window. She still had night terrors, but she wouldn't tell anyone about it. It seemed that the whole school had moved on from when she got kidnapped, and so should she. Which was a pity, as well that Natalia had gone, or atleast was banished to the back of her mind, so she didn't have her to talk to her, either.
"But you are a strong person, and you are the Head of a strong group. Don't worry, it'll be okay." She said, looking at Madeleine.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Her mind was suddenly transported back to that first battle, in Macy's deprivation cell, seeing her weak, cold, tortured...
Madeleine's mind flinched away from the memory as she looked back at Macy. "Thanks," she said softly. "Does it... Doesn't it get any easier?"

[Macy Deltine]

Macy sighed at this question. She really had no answer. "I don't know. I guess it does fade, with time, but it'll never go away. I'll never forget what happened in that cell, I'll never forget the pain they caused me, but I'll never forget the feeling of seeing your face for the first time, coming to rescue me. But it's annoying, because I'm not allowed to mope around, and have my mind set on the past, what happened. I'm always being made to look to the future, and forget about the past, but I can't do that. I don't know, it's hard to explain. What happened, happened. I guess I got my revenge, though." She said, thinking about Natalia again. She brutally killed that man, but the memories don't ever go away.
With all this thinking about the past, Macy could feel her eyes tingle with tears. "Augh, I'm sorry." she said, quickly wipeing away the frozen ones that had slipped out and was moving down her face, fast.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Cursing herself for asking, Madeleine shook her head. "Don't be," she said softly. "Really, really, don't be. At least he got his comeuppance, in the end."
Right?
She didn't know what exactly Macy had done to this man, but she could guess. Did Madeleine believe in hell? She believed that everybody got their retribution, in the end, but...