Warning: There will be triggering content. Read at your own discretion.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from American Horror Story.

CHAPTER ONE

I stared curiously up at the man standing in front of me. He had gentle smile and a warm voice. I didn't really care what he was saying, but I liked him.

"Alright, Mr. Spencer. The paperwork looks good and she's all packed."

I reached over for the small teddy knapsack and pulled it around my shoulders.

Mr. Spencer slowly led me over to his old silver sedan and made sure I was buckled up before getting into the driver's seat. "You'll love it there," he said. "I have a son just two years older than you." His sounded excited as he described his biological child. I wondered if any of them were going to like me. "I've always wanted a daughter, but Alicia didn't want to go through the labour, again. She also thought we might not be able to support another child." He didn't make me feel any better. "I'm sure we can. Things at work are looking a lot better."

If Alicia was anything like the caretakers, I'd rather stay at the orphanage where my friends were. I was really going to miss Maisie and Johnny and Alex and Kristy. I also missed my pillow. Ms. Cole wouldn't let me keep it.

Mr. Spencer glanced at the rear mirror. "Hey, it'll be okay. How about some music?"

I hugged my teddy knapsack close. There wasn't much in there. I had a pen and notebook, a used pack of tissue, and an apple I sneaked out of the kitchen. Ms. Cole would kill me if she ever found out.

"Here we are." He backed the car towards a small, beaten-down house.

The door opened and I clutched nervously to the hem of his jacket. "Honey, I'm home!"

A tired middle-aged woman walked out with a towel in her hands. "Where have you been? I've been calling you all day," she snapped.

He grinned sheepishly at her. "Sorry, but I had a perfectly good reason."

Still not noticing me, she threw the towel on to the table and crossed her arms. "I'm listening."

"Look."

Horror filled me as he stepped aside and pushed me forward to face the woman who was already angry. Her eyes narrowed and I could see the red rising from her neck. "Who the Hell is she?!"

Immediately, I took several steps back and hid behind his much larger form, again. She was scary.

As they continued, I clenched my eyes shut and went into my happy place where I was being protected by two arms wrapped around me. Would my own mother have done that? Or was I abandoned because she never wanted me?

"Madison," Mr. Spencer knelt in front of me despite the screaming and yelling of his wife. "Why don't you go upstairs. Kyle is in his room beside the bathroom and yours is beside his."

With a teary nod, I raced up the steps.

The hall seemed impossibly long and dark as I pitter-pattered along.

I had already forgotten which room was mine because of the haste, but I spotted an open door and peeked in.

A curly-haired boy looked up from his toys to stare at me with wide, chocolate eyes. "Who are you?" He tilted his head at me and blinked.

I instinctively wanted to turn and run off again, but when he smiled, I slowly stepped in. "M-Madison…"

"I'm Kyle," he replied, his grin widening. "Do you want to play?"

I remembered the first time I was invited to play and it had gone horribly. I wasn't sure if it was worth it, again. Was there a chance that someone could be my friend? I kind of missed Kristy, but she was always mean and pulled my hair. They laughed and I tried to join in, but I never understood why they were laughing.

"Come on, I'll let you play the red one. He's my favourite."

I looked down before nodding. He seemed really nice.

"Thank you." I finally smiled back at him. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad, after all.

We played with the little figurines for what seemed like hours before I built up the courage to show him what I did for fun at the orphanage. It was something I had been afraid to show anyone since the poor reception I had received. During the lonely times, however, I liked to keep it with me.

Kyle stared eagerly at the motionless figurines on the carpeted floor.

"Watch," I whispered, waving my hand over the toys.

They twitched before each of them began to stand on their own. The red one gave a little stretch and jumped, followed by the rest.

I gave Kyle a side glance, waiting nervously for his reaction. There was nothing but the widening of his eyes at first. Then, his lips quirked up and he quickly turned his head towards me.

"That's so cool!" he exclaimed. "How are you doing that? Can you teach me?"

It wasn't something I could teach and it wasn't anything I could explain. He accepted my words as they were and I happily obliged to moving them around for him.

I never thought that there could be anyone who could understand me.

…

Mr. Spencer sighed after Alicia finally exhausted herself. She had turned off the stove and refused to finish cooking, so he had gone out for some takeout.

This wasn't how he had wanted to introduce Madison to her new family. He knew that it may be a while for everyone to get used to the new situation, but he never expected the explosion that had gone off. He wished that she could only understand how much he wanted a daughter and he made sure to visit as many orphanages as he could to scout out the one he thought she'd like best.

That didn't turn out as well as he had hoped.

"Madison, I – " He opened the door to apologise to her, but found that she was not in her room. IN fact, it was completely untouched.

Where was she? He felt anxiety spike, again. What if she had ran away after seeing what happened? Guilt grabbed at him. He rushed into Kyle's room, hoping that his son had seen her.

When his eyes set up on the sight in front of him, however, he saw something that melted his heart. His son, who was typically a nightmare trying to get him to bed, was tucked haphazardly beneath his covers with their newest addition cuddled against him.

He tiptoed over to fix the blanket and noted how they were holding hands. It was cute. It was very cute.

He knew how lonely his son had been growing up. There weren't a lot of children in the neighbourhood and his school mates were… intimidated by Alicia, so they never came over.

"Sleep well," he whispered, laying kissed on both of their foreheads.

…

I ran after Kyle who was cackling madly. "Give him back!" I yelled, watching as he ran circles around me. "Give Tate back!"

"Tate is such a dumb name!" He stuck out his tongue at me.

"It is not!" I crossed my arms and stomped my feet.

Tate was the name I had given my toy bird. Mr. Spencer had gotten it for me from the thrift store. Even though there were a couple of holes and some of the stuffing was coming out, I loved him anyway. He was the first gift Mr. Spencer had given me. Mr. Spencer was really nice, but Mrs. Spencer wasn't. She never looked or spoke to me. It made me a little sad, but I was okay with it.

Mr. Spencer and Kyle were enough. I liked spending time with them, except when Kyle called me names and took Tate away.

"Madi?" Kyle had stopped running when I refused to acknowledge him. "Madi, I'm sorry." He nudged me with Tate. "Tate is not a stupid name."

When I turned my head away with a pout, he made a whining noise and tried to make me look at him. He jumped around and made silly faces, but I was stubborn.

"Madiiii!" Then, he made a silly voice. "Kyle is feeling sad that Madi wasn't look at him! Tate says Madi should talk to Kyle, again."

I couldn't stop my lips from quirking up. "Stop it, Kyle!" I giggled.

Kyle laughed with me before tackling me to the grassy lawn. "Tate likes me more, now!"

"Nooo, mine!" I grabbed for the phoenix and Kyle allowed me to take him back, this time.

Kyle rolled over, wiggling his arms and legs. "I hate school," he moaned. "I don't like it there."

I rolled over to look at him. "Why? I like it. I like making friends."

He huffed. "But the teachers are so boring‼"

"I like Mrs. Brown. She's nice and she likes Tate, too. She doesn't think it's a stupid name."

He stuck his bottom lip out. "I said, I was sorry!"

I hugged Tate close to me. "Good. You shouldn't hurt Tate's feelings."

He shuffled closer and wrapped his short arms around me. "Sorry, Madi. Sorry, Tate."

As promised, Kyle began to treat Tate with the respect the phoenix deserved. Instead of a duo, we became a trio. I took Tate wherever I went.

"Look! It's the little girl and her stupid bird!"

I clutched Tate closer to me as I stared at Brian with wide eyes. He was a fifth grade who liked to pick on me. I managed to get away most of the time, but when he did catch me, it was never pleasant.

"Come here, runt!" he shouted as he ran after me. It was strange. Like me, he was usually alone. Maybe he was lonely and liked playing tag, but he didn't express that very well. I didn't usually stick around long enough to figure out and he never bothered to explain himself.

I rounded the corner and bumped into something that shouldn't have been there.

"Ow…" I rubbed my nose and looked up at the figure looming over me. "S-sorry…"

Suddenly, I was picked up by the collar of my shirt and I kicked my feet to try to get away. "Let me go!" I shouted. Several of my classmates turned their heads, but I knew that they weren't going to do anything. They never did.

"The fuck…" the bigger boy swore. "You couldn't catch a stupid, little rabbit like this?"

Brian looked away, panting slightly. "I'll take care of it, Dan!"

"Oof!" I was dropped.

"Useless!" Dan spat. "This is why ma and pa will never love you!"

Brian narrowed his eyes, but didn't say a word. There was a dark flush spreading across his face.

"Let me show you how it's done."

Tate was ripped out of my hands and I felt a sharp pain to the side. I cried out in pain, but my thoughts went to Tate. He was fragile. I needed to protect him.

Another kick made me cry. "Stop!" I screamed, clenching my eyes shut and waited for the next hit, but nothing came. I peeked out with one eyes.

Big Dan looked silly as he seemed to be frozen in place. Only his eyes were still moving and he looked frightened.

"What is going on here?"

I turned to see Mrs. Brown with her hands on her waist. "Step away from the poor girl and give her back her stuffed animal!" she ordered.

Abruptly, Dan dropped Tate and I quickly snatched him back up as the older kid took several steps away. "She's a freak!" He pointed at me. "Dunno what shit she just did! Freaky shit!"

"Language!" Mrs. Brown scolded. "Stay where you are! Don't think your parents won't hear about it!"

I looked at her with wide, watery eyes as she knelt in front of me. "Are you alright?" She helped me sit up and saw the grimace of pain.

"What's going on?" Kyle suddenly appeared, jogging towards us. "Madi?"

"K-Kyle!" I cried, throwing arms in his direction and he pulled me into a hug.

Mrs. Brown stood up. "Kyle, please take your sister to the nurse's office. These two will be coming with me to see the principal." She glared at the two boys who still seemed to be shaken by what happened.

Kyle nodded and helped me hobble down the hall. "What happened? Here, let me hold Tate."

I whimpered, hugging Tate to my chest.

"I promise he'll be safe."

"Is he okay?" I extended him to my brother who gave it a quick look over.

"Yeah." Kyle nodded. "As good as he could be." He knocked on the door and it swung open after a minute.

Nurse Renée was nice. She always gave me a lolli whenever I came in.

"Oh, dear!" she gasped. "Not, again! They really need to kick those hooligans out! Children like them shouldn't be hurting others like this. Here, sit down."

Kyle slowly lowered me on to the plushy couch. "This happened before?"

I shrugged. "This is the first time I've seen Big Dan," I told him. "Brian isn't as bad. He likes to chase me around, pull my hair, and call me names, but that's okay."

"No, it's not okay!" he shouted. "Why didn't you tell me?!"

My eyes looked down at the dusty tiles. "I didn't want you to think I'm silly and stupid." My lips began to tremble and I wondered what he must've thought of me, now.

"Madi…" Two arms wrapped around me and I cried into his shirt, soaking into the soft cotton. "I'll protect you. I promise. I'll always protect you."

And he did. He included me into his small group of friends and I hadn't seen Brian nor Dan since. I knew they must've had something to do with it and I was happy.

This was the first time someone was there to protect me. I didn't have to watch my back all the time, now. Peter and Carl were nice, but I also liked just spending time with my brother. Sometimes, they'd be talking about things that I didn't understand. It was frustrating and I wanted to get Kyle's attention, again, but I didn't want to make them angry.

"Kyle, I'm going to the washroom," I whispered, giving his shift a small tug.

He laughed at something Carl said as he nodded absentmindedly at me. I dusted off my pants and walked over to the washroom, which was only around the corner.

Nothing should've happened.

Or maybe I had become too complacent.

"Thought they could always protect you?"

My eyes widened and I quickly ran into the washroom as if being behind a door with a pink person could keep him out.

Dan had quickly burst through after me and I tried to lock myself in a stall. The metal piece had always been broken, but if done slowly and carefully, it'd serve its purpose. Unfortunately, in my panicked state, the lock fell apart in my hands.

"Leave me alone!" I shouted.

He snarled and lunged at me.

With a shrill cry, I jumped on to the toilet and tried to climb out of the stall, but a hand caught my ankle and I tumbled down, groaning in pain as my head met the dirty, porcelain seat.

"I'll show where a freak like you will end up when you mess with me!" His fist was as painful as I remembered. I could already feel the bump throbbing in time with my racing heart. "Freak! Not going to use your freaky powers on me, again?"

I curled up as tightly as I could, using my arms to protect my head. I didn't know what he was talking about and at the moment, I really didn't care. "Kyle…"

…

He frowned as he suddenly looked around.

"Hey, where did your sister go?" Peter asked, looking at the spot that was previously occupied by the tiny brunette girl.

Kyle blinked and realised that she was indeed missing. Where had she gone? He frowned, turning his head left and right to see if he could spot her nearby.

Nothing.

It wasn't like her to just wander off.

As he wracked his mind for an explanation, he could vaguely remember her saying that she was going to the washroom. How long ago had that been?

"I'll be right back, guys." He received a murmur of acknowledgment before making his way to the girl's washroom.

Kyle paced in front of the door several times before knocking. "Madi! Are you still in there?"

He didn't hear a reply, but he did receive several odd looks, so he stepped back and began to pace, again.

When he saw another girl heading towards the washroom, he quickly intercepted her. "Hey, do you mind checking to see if my little sister is there? She has brown hair and holds a red bird stuffy."

The girl didn't seem too compliant and muttered an incoherent reply as she pushed the door open.

He only managed to catch a glimpse of the cracked, burnt orange tiles before the door slammed firmly closed in front of his face.

For a moment, he wondered if she would really help him. His worries, however, changed as a muffled scream emitted from the room.

Without another thought, he pushed his way in and saw the girl staring into one of the stalls – there sure were a lot of them.

He quickly made his way over and felt his heart drop.

Her hair was splayed out around her, matted and deeply darkened by the red of her blood that seemed to be flowering from her head. Her eyes were closed. He couldn't tell if she was breathing or not.

"MADI!"

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Happy (belated) Hallowe'en!

I really hadn't planned to post this so quickly after finishing Vanish, but it was Hallowe'en. Although I really wanted to actually post on the 31st, I didn't get home until quite late and had to type this up.

In the end, I did decide to make them into foster siblings. I really like the idea of keeping the relationship forbidden. I don't know how that will work out for the rest of the seasons because I haven't seen the next two, yet, but I'll make do.

I'm very sorry that I'm already torturing poor Madi, but what can you do? I have quite a hard time writing proper happy scenes and endings.

For Mr. Spencer, I couldn't find his name, but I thought calling him just that would be okay. If anyone can find his first name, I will gladly use it.

I hope that all of you enjoyed the first chapter! If you did, leave a review? It would really make my day!