Misery Loves Company

Rachel nodded her head in buzzed agreement, wincing at the word 'torture,' which not only rang too true for her, but sent a pang of guilt through her spine as she flashed back to the night they met. Sure, things turned out alright for Maddie in that regard, but... they almost didn't, and she was partially to blame for that. And to blame for what happened to her... and to Alex...

"Sorry," she reflexively muttered, before realizing Maddie couldn't exactly hear her thoughts. She looked over the girl next to her with soft eyes, just thinking of all the awful shit this little girl must have been through. "You know something, Maddie? You're one of the bravest girls I've ever met. Those other bitches? The ones who put the screws to you? They don't have half the guts you do, to get back in there knowing where things might go." She sighed before facing forward again. "I... don't know if that really helps, but... yeah. Just thought you should know."

Maddie trembled a little as Rachel spoke those words. Maybe there was some bravery involved, but she couldn't really bring herself to admit to her that her primary motivations were just looking for some bitchy girl she actually could beat up and trying to get revenge on all the bitches that tormented her before. Not even turning to look at the other girl, she mumbled out. "Th-thanks... But I mean... You must be pretty damn brave if you're going out there like your life is on the line..."

Rachel winced at the words alone. It wasn't exactly like she chose to put her life on the line, and, in fairness, she wasn't positive that it was. There were enough people that beat her so badly she couldn't really see any alternative, but only one person actually aimed any death threats at her. Just one... two hundred fifty pound... psychopath. "I-I..." she stammered uneasily, "I don't know about that..."

"Oh, but I do!" The third voice came from behind them, and before the first word was finished, enough chills had gone down Rachel's spine to cancel out global warming. That smooth, confident tone... the almost sarcastic intonation... the thick German accent. Rachel slowly turned in her seat to see the sleek, powerful figure of Elsa Grey standing behind the both of them with a hand on her hip. "For such a sweet, delicate kitten to keep fighting after... ah, well, fighting isn't exactly ze word, is it? It is more, how would we say... surviving? Still, you should be very proud!" she cooed, before turning to Maddie, "Both of you." A smile slowly spread across her lips as she leaned down to be roughly eye level with both girls. "What do you say we toast, ja? To your continued existence? Bartender! Bring ze three of us some schnapps, would you?"

Maddie's entire body froze up the moment she heard that voice. Ever since her debut match. That match where her confidence, hope, and cunt had gotten utterly decimated. After everything that woman had done to her, she cried herself to sleep for almost a week while her poor womanhood and the rest of her body slowly recovered.

She had tried to shut out the memories. Even as new traumas came to torture her, none of them came close to affecting her as much as Elsa. Maddie swallowed deeply as all her repressed recollections of what had happened flashed through her mind, filling her entire body with dread. She wanted to scream and run, but nothing seemed to come from her mouth, and her legs completely refused to budge. If it had been anyone else. Literally anyone else who had brutalized or tortured her in the past, she would have spun around and attacked them in a rage. Not her, though. Anyone but Elsa.

As the bartender returned, placing three shots down upon the table, Maddie just sat there, staring blankly at them. It was her best bet to try and go along with things for now and hope the sadistic woman would let them off. Of course, that felt horrible unlikely...