The sound of Madison's ringtone pierced through the night, making her wake up with a start.
She sighed deeply, rubbing her forehead as she tried to locate her phone. Partly because it was ringing, but also because she felt terrible for probably awakening her neighbors from how loud the shrill sound was.
Madison still felt a little bit sick although she was better than before, and this was the first night she was finally able to get some sleep without coughing or sneezing through the night and it had felt nice, until her freaking phone had started ringing and she hissed again.
Turning over on the bed, Madison picked up her phone and sitting up on her small bed, she peered at the screen to see the caller ID.
The energy she had just exerted made her groan in pain, clearly she still wasn't as healthy as she should be and she also felt groggy from awakening so suddenly.
She frowned when she saw that it was an unknown number.
She stared at the number on the screen trying to see if she could recognize it from somewhere, but the more she looked at the number, the more confused she became. If she couldn't recognize it, then it meant she didn't know it.
Who could possibly be calling her by this time of the night? She thought. It wasn't Alvarez because she had Alvarez's number, so who else?
Madison didn't know what the time was but she was certain it was late, since she had fallen asleep around 9:30 PM and at most some hours must have passed, with her deeply engrossed in her sleep.
Looking up at her wall clock to ascertain, Madison held her breath in surprise. It was not night, it was already 1AM in the morning.
The phone had already stopped ringing but fear was already beginning to eat through her, as she pondered on who this mysterious caller was.
She already knew that lately she hadn't been feeling safe anywhere, whether it be at work, or on the street, and not even in her own home and it was one of the reasons why it was so hard for her to fall asleep, because she always felt like she was being watched.
It was a terrible feeling, but she couldn't help it. She always cross-checked her door and window at intervals to see if they were secure, although she knew she locked it times before.
All of this made her jumpy and anxious but she was trying to manage. Anytime she even thought of the threat letter and the strange man who had been watching her and taking notes, she became so scared that it almost brought tears to her eyes.
And now, this? A strange call at past 1AM. That sounded weird and ominous, and Madison had no desire to find out.
She clutched at her blanket, her mind whirring with thoughts. What if it was another threat message but this time whoever it was wanted to speak to her and make sure she heard his or her voice? She didn't want anything that would scare the wits out of her again. She just wanted to get back to sleep and forget the call ever came but it was too late for that already. It had already awakened her, and she would not be able to go back to sleep until she took care of it.
As she raked her fingers in her hair, thinking of what to do and trying to recall if she knew the strange number, her phone began to ring again. It startled her, making her place a hand over her chest in surprise. Looking at the screen she saw that it was the same number.
Madison had half a mind to ignore the call and put her phone on silent, as her heart began to pound in her chest. She rubbed her clammy hands on the sheets, staring at the phone screen, while she tried to muster up the courage to pick it. Shakily, she picked her phone and swiping the answer button, she brought it to her ears.
Swallowing and trying to control her breathing, she spoke up, "Hello?"
There was silence on the other end for a few seconds, making Madison suspect that her hunch had been right and it was actually a threat call.
She longed to hang up in fear but she held on, since she had already picked up. There was no going back now. As she was about to speak up again, a voice from the other end reverberated in her ears, and it choked her to the bones.
"Hello, Madison Connor."
Madison sucked in a sharp breath at the sound of Damien's voice, her phone dropping from her hand to the bed as a cold sense of deja vu rushed through her.
What's with the formality though? She wondered as her whole body shook violently. He had said the exact same thing when he picked up Alvarez's phone some days back. Her heart began to beat wildly in her chest as a sort of uncomfortable, conscious feeling flowed through her like always when she spoke to him or even heard his name.
Right now too she concentrated on regulating her breathing as her fingers clutched at her shirt tight, with one question overpowering the others.
Why on earth was Damien calling her by this time?
.......
Damien took another swig of whiskey from the bottle in his hand, shakily grabbing up his phone and aimlessly beginning to scroll through.
His legs were shaky so he slowly lowered himself onto the bed and lay on his side.
When he had stormed out of Katherine's house he had gone straight home to shower and get a good night's rest, but his night had already been ruined and all the plans he had were in shambles.
He wasn't even hungry anymore like he was before, and while he showered his thoughts kept going back to the conversations with Alvarez and Katherine.
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became.
Everything with Madison was stressing him out, and the realization now that it wasn't her fault only made him feel worse. So the first thing he did when he got out of the bathroom was pour himself a drink, and that was how he found himself on the bed, his head woozy and his legs shaky.
His eyes drooped as he continued to scroll through his phone aimlessly. His fingers paused midway in the air as a message from Alvarez came into sight.
The message was a phone number, and underneath it was labeled 'Madison'.
Damien sat up straighter, struggling to keep his eyes open as he stared back at the number on the screen.
Looking at her name sent a wave of sadness through him, and without thinking twice or contemplating about it, he dialed the number.
He was drunk, not in his right senses but at this point he didn't care.
When it began to ring, he felt his heart begin to thump hard but he didn't hang up. After it had rung for a while it stopped.
She wasn't picking up.
Not wanting to give up so easily, he tried again and luckily for him this time she picked up.
"Hello?"
Damien swallowed. It was her... it was Madison's voice.
She had actually picked up, and for a while relief coursed through him briefly. Clutching his phone in his hand, he spoke into the receiver, "Hello, Madison Connor."
The silence on the other end was so tense and carried on for so long that Damien feared she might have hung up. Withdrawing his phone, he checked to make sure she was still on the call, and his surprise she still was.
"Madison? Hello?" He said again, wondering what had gone wrong, and why she was not saying anything.
For a few seconds nothing happened and Damien began to lose hope. Maybe she didn't want to talk to him, and shutting his eyes tightly as his chest squeezed in pain he wondered if he should just give up.
Maybe it was no use trying anymore.
"Why the hell are you calling me and how did you get my number?" He heard her snap from the other end, and even though she sounded angry he still breathed out in relief, happy that she had said something finally.
Dropping the bottle in his hand gently on the floor and trying to gather his words, he began, "M...Madison. Please don't hang up on me, just wait, I can explain—"
"Explain what?" She cut in, "Explain what exactly, Damien? Haven't you had enough fun already? Haven't you done enough? Why do you keep insisting on making my life miserable? Let me breathe for one damn second! Just let me be."
Damien shook his head as she lashed out at him. He felt tired, helpless... and this was not what he wanted when he had called her.
He was tired of the fights, the yelling, the pain. He was so tired of everything. He just wanted to have a normal, peaceful conversation without bad memories peeking through, or anger seeping into their voices.
"M-Madison please... please give me a chance to explain, I beg you."
He took the silence from her as a go-ahead, and he shut his eyes from the heaviness that had come to rest on his chest. "I'll start by saying I'm sorry, Madison. For everything. I...I miss you. I miss you so m-much..." He slurred, his eyes beginning to droop again, "Fuck it! I'm not even supposed to be saying this, but I have to. I'm tired of fighting with you. I'm so sorry for everything. I know I've been so unkind to you, treated you like you didn't matter, caused you so much pain...I wish I could t-take it all back."
"Damien..."
"Please let me finish." He begged and continued, "I'm sorry about the letters too. That's the main reason I called to clarify about that issue. I know you might not believe me but I swear to you, I never got them. I only just found out today that they were being intercepted by someone. That's why I never got them."
"What?" Madison breathed from the other end, "What do you mean?"
Damien shut his eyes tightly. Telling her who it was would only bring up more complications, and worse of all it would mean bringing up Katherine and the last thing he wanted at this point was to talk about that silly cunning bitch! All he wanted was to talk to Madison, and that was that.
"I'm sorry, Madison. The dress, the club, I'm sorry I made a fool out of you, for humiliating you in public. I don't even know what I was thinking. I just... everything is still so unclear. I need answers and explanations for a lot of things. I don't have it easy with me here too. I'm still so confused and I really want to end all of this, Madison. I... I miss you."
Damien didn't know why but all of a sudden he began to feel so sad. He just needed an escape, and he was so tired. The memories of the past was already catching up with him, and he was overwhelmed by so many different emotions, sadness, anger, pain, and surprisingly relief.
Relief that he was finally having a conversation with Madison.
"Answers to what? I don't understand what you're saying. What do you mean, Damien?"
Damien sucked in a deep breath, "I..I'm going to make everything right, Madison. I'm coming. I'm coming to get you... and I'll make everything right. I promise you."
He heard her say something, like she wanted to begin asking him questions, but he had already hung up, and laying on his back he stared at the ceiling as his phone dropped to the floor.
He stared at it for a while and then turned away, not bothering to pick the cell up.
Damien hadn't even realized before how much of a toll this whole thing was taking on him. How helpless and tired it was making him feel. "Fuck..." He whispered, his voice breaking.
He stretched again, this time shakily reaching out to pick the bottle of whiskey close to him up, with a tear dropping from his eyes and sliding down his cheek, but he ignored it not making a move to wipe the liquid off his face.
Instead he tipped the bottle to his lips once more, and continued to drown his pain in alcohol.
.......
Thanks for reading. 💕