Yup, I knew it and yes, it was the same bitch that unilaterally and unequivocally was responsible for the collapse of our society. She was the same unadulterated evil that I ran into several times, the first being in ISS way back in junior high. Madeline and her little sycophants over the years brought about the numerous destructive events that caused the collapse of everything.
"I know this Madeline Blackwell," I said with disgust dripping on each word. I found my usual upbeat smile turn into a nauseated curl of the lip.
Leonard looked at me with an increased seriousness. He reached into his pack to bring out another candle. He waited until the first candle was nearly extinguished before lighting the new one.
"How do you know her?" he asked with a slight tremble to his voice.
"I first met her…sort of…when I was in junior high. She messed with the minds of all the kids that were in ISS with me, but for some reason she wasn't able to get into my head and my parents got me out of school before she could find out why I was different. When did you run into the malevolent Miss Blackwell?"
Leonard settled back into the cardboard, trying to get comfortable. "I first met her way back when she was probably seven or eight years old. I was a new doctor, fresh out of med school. I think it was about 1975. Her mother brought her in for an examination one day. Madeline was a pretty, charming young girl."
I wrinkled my forehead, trying to do some math regarding her age. I was about to interrupt when Leonard shook his head as if he knew what I was thinking.
"I know what you're thinking. She doesn't age. She should look like a woman in her early fifties. Instead, she looks perpetually like she is in her late twenties."
That's exactly what I had observed before the collapse. Every time I would see her on the news or in the media somewhere, she looked exactly the same as when I first encountered her when I was thirteen.
"So, what was Madeline like as a six-year-old?" I asked, sitting up with my legs crossed.
Leonard explained that his first examination of her was very uneventful. "She seemed like a normal six-year-old. Her mother brought her in for a checkup. I looked her over and Madeline was the picture of good health. She seemed like a normal, happy six-year-old. However, later that year, something happened that made my blood turn to ice. I was in the local drugstore and spotted Madeline standing in front of the candy rack. Madeline turned around and glared at the woman behind the desk for the longest time. I watched as she picked up a handful of chocolate bars and started walking out. The cashier started to speak, but was immediately silenced by Madeline, who turned to stare at her as if she were sending a laser beam into the woman's brain. The woman's eyes rolled up into her head. I wanted to do something to stop…whatever she was doing to the woman, but I was in shock and couldn't move. After what seemed like an eternity, Madeline simply smiled at the cashier and walked out of the drugstore. From that moment on, I knew there was something evil about that little girl."
I hung onto every word Leonard spoke. I shivered after that first accounting and looked around to find anything I could cover up with. I saw an old curtain on the floor over by the window. Hurrying, I grabbed the cloth and sat back down next to Jerky who only lifted one eye to see what I was doing.
Leonard yawned, and commented on how it was getting chillier each evening. "Hope it's not an early winter. I was planning to get to the West Coast before the snow flies. Looks like I'll have to head south. Maybe get down to Arizona or something. Then head up north."
"Yeah, me too. So, tell me more about the early days of Madeline. The more I know about this…whatever she is…the more I can defeat her," I stated confidently.
"Defeat her?" Leonard asked incredulously, followed by a slight snigger. "Yeah, right. Highly doubtful."
I debated whether I should tell Leonard about my little secret. Something happened to me a few months back. Leonard's the first person I've encountered since my discovery.
He looked at me as if I had sprouted another head. "Are you insane? You can't stop the evil that enshrouds her. She is a master at deceit and deception. I've heard the stories as well as saw with my own eyes what she is capable of. She is not human."
"Can you tell me anything else about Madeline's early days?" I asked, hearing the first light drops of rain hitting the sidewalk outside. That rain-on-the-concrete smell drifted in and filled the room.
"Sure glad we found a place to hunker down for the night out of the rain. I miss having weather reports. Whew, I've gotten caught in some real downpours," Leonard said, shifting his weight. "Okay, another story it is. I've got a few more about Madeline before she left the little town I was practicing in."
I nodded my head to encourage him. Having this back-story on Madeline could be helpful, I thought. "Please continue."
"The next time I encountered Madeline was even more traumatic," Leonard said with a slight quaver to his voice. He looked around the room nervously before he continued.
"Madeline's mother came to me for one appointment without Madeline. Her mother's name was…um…oh, shit what was her name?" Leonard scratched his head. "Oh yeah. Her name was Claudia. Nice lady. How she spawned such evil will always remain a mystery."
"Maybe she didn't. Was there a father?" I queried.
"Not that I know of. Claudia never spoke of one and there was no name on any medical forms regarding Madeline. Anyway, Claudia came in to ask several questions. For example, she wondered if it was normal for a child of six to never get sick. I told her that she should feel lucky that she had an extra healthy child."
"What else did she ask?"
Leonard leaned forward and whispered softly, "She asked if Madeline could be possessed."
"Possessed?"
"Yup. Of course, being a man of science I never thought much about the supernatural. Heck, why would I. Oops, I just used your name. Sorry."
I laughed and told him that it happened all the time.
"Of course, I became very interested in why she was asking such a question. She told me of several unusual and creepy things that took place with Madeline. She recounted one time observing Madeline playing with her dolls and they all started to dance and sing. Claudia explained another occurrence that gave me chicken skin."
I laughed. "Chicken skin?"
"You know, chicken skin. I guess some folks call it goose bumps."
"Funny."
"Well, it sure wasn't funny at the time when she told me how Madeline got mad at her once and all the knives in the kitchen flew at Claudia stopping an inch from her face. After seeing what Madeline did in that drugstore, I never doubted anything Claudia confided in me."
Leonard continued recounting story after story about Madeline. Some of the stories were from Claudia or events that he had witnessed firsthand. As the candle dwindled and the shadows seem to encroach upon us, I almost thought the stories were becoming more farfetched; however, I believed every one that Leonard described. I knew Madeline and what she was capable of.
"Ya know, Heck, our world just let evil walk all over it and consume it. Madeline was the architect and contractor. She found our weakness and manipulated it toward our destruction. Humans have always been a violent species. She simply planted seeds that fostered, nurtured and spread a destructive path like…um…knapweed."
"Knapweed?"
"That purple weed that kills everything and is nearly impossible to eradicate. It was rampant in grassy fields or along roadsides. She planted seeds in us that acted like knapweed. You remember when the killing began."
I watched as the candle was nearly at the point of extinguishing and thought about those early tragic events. My eyelids were getting droopy. I pushed those horrifying details back.
As the last of the flame died out, Leonard said, "Madeline tried to kill me once."
"What happened?"
"She was in high school. I think maybe a junior, not sure. At any rate, she came to me concerned about a growth on her face. It was a harmless mole. I told her that some people considered them beauty marks. She got very upset and said that she couldn't have any blemishes on her face. I asked why and her anger mounted. Everything in the room started to vibrate and increased as she became more agitated. She insisted I take off the mole. I said fine and offered to take the mole off. After I completed the procedure, she became furious about the small incision and ranted about having a scar. I assured her that over time it would go away. That wasn't good enough. She got so angry that a scalpel flew off the table and positioned itself over my jugular vein. Slowly, I felt the knife slice into my skin. I was frozen either from fear or something she did. All my muscles felt stiff and rigid. Sweat beaded on my forehead and ran into my eyes. It was unbelievable."
"How'd you stop her from killing you?" I asked as I heard the rain coming down harder.
"I closed my eyes and simply said, 'Jesus help me.' Well, you'd think I'd turned on a blaring alarm or something. She screamed, covered her ears and ran out of the examination room. The scalpel immediately fell to the ground. It took me a few minutes to recover. My nurse came in and asked if everything was all right. I made up some stupid story about Madeline being afraid of blood. From that point on, I didn't see much of Madeline. She never came back. I heard more stories and gossip about things that had happened at the high school. People did go missing in that little town, probably one too many. I finally had enough after I heard how Claudia died a horrible death. They said it was suicide. She gouged out her eyes, cut her wrists and slit her own throat. I'm not so sure it was suicide after I had experienced Madeline's fury and her use of my scalpel."
I heard him yawn and shift his weight around, no doubt trying to find a comfortable position.
"I'm beat. Enough stories for one evening. We can continue more tomorrow. Sleep well, Heckel. It's a pleasure to have your company."
"Likewise. It's nice to have a friend these days. They are hard to come by. Your stories were very illuminating and helpful. Goodnight, Leonard."
Leonard was already snoring.
His last story was perhaps the worst and I worried I was going to get nightmares. That was assuming I would even be able to fall asleep.
"Goodnight, Jerky."
A soft purring came from the cat.
Before drifting off, I looked out the front door at the dark, rain-soaked night. I shivered at the darkness knowing that it sheathed an evil presence just waiting for the right moment to devour.