.+. [ᴏʟᴅ] || ᴜɴᴛɪʟ ᴡᴇ ᴍᴇᴇᴛ ᴀɢᴀɪɴ .+.

.+. ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 23 .+.

.+. ESPRESSO'S POV .+.

My vision blurred as I woke up. I tried to lift my arm to rub my eyes but they were tied together. Huh..? What the?! Why am I tied up?! Where am I?!

I blinked a couple of times until my vision began to clear up. I still had my glasses on me, which was good, but I was in an unfamiliar spot.

The small area I was in was some sort of cage. I looked around a bit more but then realized Madeleine wasn't with me. "...Madeleine? Madeleine?!" I shouted out.

...

No response.

I attempted to use my magic to burn the ropes that had tied me together, though it didn't work. Hold on... Is this...

I heard snickers from behind the cage and immediately turned around. There stood Licorice and an unfamiliar figure. They were short and purple. They short of seemed to be younger than Licorice.

"Looook!" The purple figure pointed at me and looked up at Licorice. "You did a great job, Poison Mushroom! Thank you for helping us out." He pat the other, whose name was apparently Poison Mushroom.

"Yaay.. Poison Mushroom did great job..." They said, doing a small happy dance. Licorice turned his attention back to me.

"What are you going to do with me?! Where's Madeleine?!" I tried to wiggle out of the ropes but it didn't work. Licorice laughed and walked closer tp the cage's bars.

"It's very nice to see you again, Espresso." I scooted backwards, away from him. "Shut up, Licorice! We aren't associated with each other anymore! Where is he?!" I shouted at him.

"I'll tell you where he is..." I glared at him as he smiled a wicked smile. "...if you join us again." I had expected that answer from him.

I rolled my eyes. "Come on, Mother is waiting for you. She needs you!" Licorice tried to sound more welcoming, but I knew it was one of their tricks.

I widened my eyes. ...Mother..? No... Dark Enchantress was worse than my own mother.. They both neglected me but Dark Enchantress would sometimes take it too far. I shuddered at the thought of Dark Enchantress.

"As if I'd ever come back to a such a cruel group. I've changed, Lico, and you can't do anything about it." I hated Dark Enchantress. I never wanted to go back.

I spoke through gritted teeth, "Now, tell me where Madeleine is." Licorice smiled and gestured someone to go to him. He stepped to his left as another figure appeared from the shadows.

They wore a long red robe and red jewels that decorated their red hair. I growled once I saw her. Out of all the members besides Dark Enchantress, I hated her the most.

Pomegranate had one arm folded behind her back and in the other, she held Madeleine up by his shirt collar. He was also tied up with ropes. The look on his face told me they did something to him.

"What did you do to him?" Pomegranate opened the cage and threw Madeleine inside, closing it back up afterwards. Immediately, he crawled over to me, laying his head onto my lap.

"Oh, don't worry, we didn't do anything to him." Pomegranate walked away after saying so. I watched her leave with pure hatred. I remember how she never cared about me. None of them did.

"So what do you say? Will you join us again, Espresso?" I looked down at Madeleine. He was shaking a lot more than usual. "How about you untie me first and then I'll consider it. If not, I'm not joining."

"Fine. You have two days to decide." Licorice opened the cage and untied me. Once he was done, he locked the cage back up and left the room.

"Maddie, are you alright?" I gently caressed the side of his face. He looked at me and nodded.

Something seems off about Madeleine... "Are you sure?" He nodded again. I made him sit up and untied him. He immediately hugged me once his arms were free to move again.

"Did they hurt you, Essie?" Madeleine asked. I froze. "Erm.. Well they didn't harm me right now."

I hugged Madeleine back as he gave me a few kisses on my cheek. "I'm just glad you're okay." Madeleine whispered.

We pulled away from the hug a few moments later. Madeleine looked around the cage, thinking about something.

How do I get out of here? I don't want to rejoin them! Why does Dark Enchantress even want me to come back?! I fidgeted with my hands as I thought about it, fearful of what might happen to me.

Of course, I couldn't use my magic to get out of this cage. This cage basically makes it so we cannot use our magic in any kind of way. I knew this because I was the one who helped them make it.

I sighed. I turned my head to face where Madeleine was. He sat in the corner with his knees to his chest, tracing something with his finger on the ground.

I crawled over to him. "How are you feeling, Madeleine? Are you sure you're completely okay?" He looked at me for a second and then shook his head. "What did they do to you..?" He stared at me blankly.

He frowned and inched closer to me. "You were apart of Dark Enchantress' group..?" Oh god.. Does he hate me now? I know I need some pretty bad things with them but I regretted it. It was cruel of me.

I shifted uncomfortably. "..Yeah. I apologize for not saying anything before. I swear I didn't mean to do anything bad.." Madeleine's eyes grew wide.

"No, no! I'm not upset about that or anything. It's just... They seem to have treated you so badly.." His eyes softened and pulled me down onto him. I laid on his chest, slightly rubbing my head against it.

"Yeah.." For some reason, I had a bad feeling in my stomach. It felt twisted.

No, don't think like that, Espresso. Everything will be just fine.

...

Right...?

------------------- 

I crashed

1015 Words.