Object of Obsession

Quin gulped at the arrival of the clearly unhinged 'best friend'. They had a met a few times in passing as kids when Norma had been friends with them both, but the thousand yard stare she cast now was terrifying.

"...Mae? How did you... actually, how the hell did any of you find me here!?"

"What are you saying? My love for Norma led the way," Mae cooed dreamily.

"No, seriously-"

"-Tell me, what have you been up to, Quin?" Mae interrupted. "It's been so long since we last caught up, after all. I want every. Last. Detail."

She closed in terrifyingly slowly on Quin as she spoke, stepping on Raine's back on her way by as if she weren't even there.

"Well-" Quin began, but she was interrupted again by Mae, who wasn't even looking at her anymore.

"Oh for god's sake, stand up, Luna. I expect better from my main rival."

Too bewildered to do anything else, Luna quietly complied.

"Tch!" Quin clicked her tongue in annoyance. Mae was disturbingly confident and wouldn't let her get a word in edgewise. The chance to command Luna to kill herself was over now, though some small, weak part of herself breathed a sigh of relief. That was short lived, however, when she realized Mae was already nearly within machete range.

"Oh, Quin~ Just where are Norma's clothes, hmmmm? You've been naughty, haven't you? Her body is for my eyes only, you know..."

Quin estimated she had one charge left in her taser, but she found herself paralyzed in fear, as if one misstep with this girl would be the violent end of her.

"You tried to rush things, didn't you? Force your way into her heart? And how did that turn out for you?"

Quin didn't bother trying to respond anymore. This was clearly nothing more than a monologue. Looking beside her, she watched Norma squinting hard as she tried to place who their newest intruder was.

"Let me share something I recently learned with you. Love is patient. It doesn't hurry. No matter how badly you wish otherwise."

Mae finished walking, but she had stopped directly in front of Norma, not Quin.

"Isn't that right, bestie?"

Norma's eyes focused for a moment before she draped herself around her friend.

"M-a-e...!"

"That's right, hun. I told you I'd come. I'll always be there for you."

Quin puffed out her cheeks childishly, her fear all but forgotten in her outrage.

"Oh, yeah? W-well... just go ahead and ask if she even wants to leave!"

"Ah ha ha! Are you fucking serious, Quin? Sure! Let's ask the drugged-up, Stockholm-suffering brainwashed girl if she wants to stay with her captor!"

Mae's eyes became deathly cold.

"...no. I think not."

In the blink of an eye Mae was upon Quin, effortlessly slamming her back against the wall.

"There are all sorts of other questions I want to ask, though! Like, how many body parts can Quin lose before she bleeds to death!?"

By now Luna had helped Raine to her feet and the two rushed to intervene. The scene turned into utter chaos...

Mae struggled against Raine's iron grasp as she tried to pull her off of Quin. Luna tried to hold back the smaller girl, who was spouting expletives at an alarming rate as she flailed about. An elbow flew back and hit Raine in the face, causing her to throw a punch, scaring out a taser shot from Quin which ended up hitting Luna, forcing Mae to raise her machete high...

And through all of this Norma watched on traumatized, rocking back and forth with tears flowing freely as her nightmares manifested themselves in the real world. Her sobs eventually broke up the fight, causing each girl to eye the other in a temporary, wary truce.

"...Damn it. So what the hell do we do now?" an embarrassed Raine asked.

"That's a fine question. I have one of my own. Who the hell even are you, punk?" Quin demanded of the much taller girl, who just shrugged in place of a response. Luna was still recovering from being shocked, but Mae tilted her head as if listening to something and suddenly ran upstairs, leaving everyone to look at each other in confusion. She eventually ran back down, stopping in the doorway out of breath.

"Looks like that decision's been made for us. Sorry, Normie. I love you but I've got to get out of here. You know you haven't seen the last of me, though. That's a promise." 

Norma seemed to understand and nodded. Mae dashed to her, kissed her on the forehead, then ran back up the stairs, exiting out the back door.

Luna forced herself upright and, supported by Raine, was placed beside Norma.

"I'll go check it out," Raine said curtly before heading upstairs herself. Luna kneeled in front of Norma and stared into her eyes with the kind of intensity only she was capable of. Raine returned quickly, urgently calling her companion over.

"Looks like things will be okay after all, but we gotta get out of here, Lun. Now."

"L-u-n-a... N-o-t... y-o-u-r... f-a-u-l-t..." Norma said weakly.

Tears welled up in Luna's eyes. Fighting through them, she gave Norma the biggest 'smile' she could muster.

"Thank you, darling. I'll visit you as soon as I can. We still have so many volumes to read together, don't we?"

Norma smiled brightly. Luna pressed her lips to Norma's cheek, pulling away incredibly hesitantly. With narrowed eyes, Luna turned her gaze on Quin.

"You leave first. I can't trust you with her alone."

Quin sighed.

"I don't care what's out there. I won't leave her side."

Uncertain, Luna looked to Raine, who nodded that it would be fine. Throwing her hands up, Luna followed Raine up the stairs, and the two left out the back as well.

Left alone with her beloved, Quin rolled her shoulders and headed for the dresser, helping Norma into a clean set of clothes as she talked.

"Nor... I want to thank you for giving me the happiest month of my life. It really was like a dream come true."

"B-u-t... Q-u-i-n... w-a-s... s-a-d..."

"You're right. But not because of you. If you remember anything about this years from now, I want that to be it. I'm the one who messed things up between us. I'm the one who ruined your life. I... I don't care if you end up hating me, as long as you promise to never blame yourself for any of this. Please."

"B-u-t... W-h-a-t... a-r-e... y-o-u...?"

The sound of footsteps rained from above like a hail of arrows, and Quin felt her time was at an end.

"Forget about me, Nor. Remember who you were. Who you are! That incredible, singular girl I fell in love with-!"

Through the doorway entered a man with an aura like the god of fury incarnate, and at his side was the goddess of death. Fes and Ves peeked their heads around the corner of the door frame a few moments later.

"Quin!? So it really was you... What the hell have you done to my daughter!?"

Norman wasted no time reaching Quin and lifted her by her shirt, quivering with rage. Quin made no effort to dodge or free herself.

"I'm sorry, sir. I loved her too much."

Norman scoffed.

"There's money hidden under my gaming desk, take all of it. And please... fix her."

Faye narrowed her eyes as she moved to stand beside Norman.

"Fix her!? Just what did you-!?"

"D-a-d-d-y?! M...M-o-m-m-y?!"

For the second time today, Norma started to cry. Touched, Faye pulled her into her chest, and all the fight drained out of her as she whispered into Norma's ear that everything was going to be okay now. The twins emerged from their hiding spot and surrounded Norma as well, looking upon her with concern.

"She's been drugged to hell!" Fes blurted out, shaking.

"God, this is sick. Just what did you have to go through...!?" Ves cried, tearing up as she watched Norma sob into Faye's embrace.

Quin simply looked on, only able to stomach so much before hanging her head low. Norman shook her violently.

"I should kill you, you monster! I thought you were her friend, so how could you-!?"

"Norman, stop! We have her now, she's safe! We need to get her out of here," Faye pleaded.

"I'm already calling the cops!" Ves called, moving into the hallway.

Norman could not let the woman who abducted his daughter walk away unscathed, however. With one swift blow, he punched her in the temple, flooring her instantly.

"Norman!!" Faye shouted. Breathing heavily, Norman forced himself to turn away from Quin, shakily joining in Norma's hug.

"I... m-i-s-s-e-d... y-o-u... e-v-e-r-y... d-a-y... t-h-o-u-g-h-t... a-b-o-u-t... y-o-u..."

Norman's voice was strained through his tears.

"Us too, kiddo. Us too."

Wrapped in their arms, Norma fell asleep. With one last look at the girl who had taken her daughter from him, Norman forced himself to follow his family back to their SUV. Fes hung back long enough to locate the money Quin had spoken of and pocketed a few energy drinks for the road. He had a feeling that Norma might need one when she woke up.

Hours later, the house was crawling with police and CSIs. A case was built as to what was done to Norma. The place was swept for prints, but they also had no problem collecting copious samples of bodily fluids.

As for the kidnapper in question however - by the time the investigators arrived, she was nowhere to be found...