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realmackross · 11 months

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PARTIES: @contemporarybardess, @realmackross TIMING: A Saturday Evening in October SUMMARY: Mackenzie meets Elora at Maized & Confused for something that some might call a first date. 😊 WARNINGS: Murder mention tw, Grief mention tw

It was approaching 4pm, and Elora waited nervously in the parking lot of the town’s featured corn maze, Maized and Confused. She knew that the maze wasn’t too far from Monty’s ranch, and wondered if Mackenzie was nearby. She remembered watching her on TV late at night as she bounced around between motels, but she hadn’t expected to ever come face to face with her in person. Not that she ever idolized her when she knew her as an actress, she was never the type to obsess or fawn over celebrities. She had plans on becoming famous herself one day, and would only be annoyed if any fans acted that way towards her.

And yet, the day she had taken her to Monty, something different occurred. The person on the screen was no longer an abstract hypothetical, she was real flesh and blood and far more captivating than any camera could do proper justice. The only real issue is she was, to put it bluntly, dead. That is, she was walking and talking like a normal human being. But she was dead all the same, and brain hungry. Hey, nobody was perfect.

While she waited, she thought she may as well get their tickets, and quickly made her way to the ticket booth. She figured it was definitely a better look than just standing around awkwardly in the parking lot. The cold fall air of Maine was finally starting to put a harsh chill over the town, but Elora had thankfully dressed in many layers. The wind was hardly blowing, so their day out should at least be tolerable. She had hoped the weather wouldn’t end their day early. Expectantly, she walked away from the ticket booth and eagerly waited for her date.

—

Mackenzie hadn’t been on a date since well…Brody. To say she was nervous was an understatement. If her heart could beat, it would’ve been beating right out of her cold, dead chest. But this was good right? It was a step moving forward? She would always love Brody. He would forever be the boy who had her heart, and she was still grieving him; she was just trying something new. Trying to move forward and do better for herself. But never would she have imagined it would have been with someone who saved her life…err death?

Pulling into the parking lot of Maized and Confused, Mackenzie checked in the mirror to see if everything looked okay. She wanted to look less dead than usual, and for the first time in a while, she had really taken the time to get ready and to look her best. More so than when she had a shift at Dance Macabre. “Okay, Mack. It’s just one date. A thank you for saving me sort of thing…You got this.”

Peptalk out of the way, the zombie got out of her Mini and made her way to the entrance finding Elora was already there, “Hey! Sorry, I’m a little late. I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was kinda nervous.” She shot Elora an uneasy laugh, before glancing down to see the tickets already in her date’s hands, “Oh, hey you didn’t have to do that. This was going to be my treat for you saving me, even though I mean it’ll never be enough, but you know, just…” Realizing she was talking way more than she needed to, Mackenzie quickly got quiet and looked to the ground embarrassed, “Sorry. I talk a lot when I’m nervous.”

—

When Elora saw a car pull up and park, she looked on eagerly, having a strong suspicion it would be Mackenzie. She was happy to see this confirmed when the blonde stepped out of her car and locked eyes with her. She flashed her a warm smile as she approached. She had been looking forward to seeing her again since the incident that brought them to the ranch. She was really looking forward to spending some quality time with the woman now that she wasn’t so…feral.

“You don’t have to be nervous, I’ve seen you looking a lot worse after all.” She could tell the other woman was about as nervous as she was, maybe even more. She wanted to diffuse the situation as much as she could, the sooner they all calmed down and got comfortable the more they’d be able to just enjoy the night. “Well, I’m the one who asked you to come here with me. Figured it’s only right I be the one to get the tickets, right? Besides, they weren’t that much.”

She found that Mackenzie talked faster when she was nervous, which was a trait she seemed to share. She was trying to taper it back, it was no use having two balls of anxiety talking to each other. She contemplated grabbing Mackenzie’s hand and leading her towards the maze, but decided to simply gesture behind herself and say “You ready?”

They walked towards the maze slowly, and she hoped it wouldn’t be a waste of time and money. Some corn mazes could be really fun, but a lot of others were just a short walk in a circle. Many didn’t have much of a “maze” like quality to them at all, but she had heard good things about this one in particular.

—

Mackenzie knew Elora had a point. She was knocking on death’s door, again, the first time Elora had seen her. But tonight, she had hoped she’d make a different impression. That the two could just have a fun evening with laughter and maybe a kiss at the end of the night if they had hit it off and vibed well together, “You do have a point, about both things, so thank you. But any snacks, hot cocoa, or souvenirs are on me.” She smiled softly. It was the very least she could do for someone who had saved her.

Mackenzie was excited. The last time she had been in a corn maze had been when she was just a kid. She could remember the excitement, but also the absolute terror of getting lost. But her mom and dad had been right by her side the whole time, which seemed to make things a lot better, and by the end of the night, she was laughing and not scared anymore, “Absolutely. Let’s do this.” Of course, this was Wicked’s Rest so there was no guarantee there wasn’t going to be some monster lurking in the shadows.

Moving forward, Mackenzie took note of what was around them, so they could hopefully find their way back to the entrance if worse came to worst, “So have you been through one of these before?” She slowly walked alongside Elora eager to learn more about her new friend.

—

“You drive a hard bargain”, Elora replied with a smirk. She was relieved her date had offered to buy any extras, but didn’t want to come off as a bum. “I could go for some hot cocoa after all, maybe after we find our way out. Assuming, of course, they don’t have to come in and rescue us”. She was sure they could find their way out without a problem. After all, these things are mostly for kids, right?

“Haven’t been to one of these since I was a kid,” she began “and I gotta say the ones back home weren’t quite so creepy. Guess that’s the Wicked’s Rest effect, anything in this town instantly has double the creepy factor.” It was true, her father would take her into human society often enough to not feel isolated from the world. As a result, she had quite a few “normal” childhood experiences she could look back on. She really didn’t like the idea of walking through the mysterious dark cornfields if there was the chance of something jumping out at her, though. For all she knew, the corn itself might be some blood sucking carnivore variety.

The pair made their way inside the maze, and were surprised to see six different divergent paths right from the start. Usually things moved in a straight line before giving a two way intersection to choose from. Already, this seemed just a tad more elaborate than a standard corn maze. Not that Elora was worried, the two of them could still find their way through… eventually.

“So, I know you were an actress. And now, somehow and some way, you’ve passed away. If you don’t mind me asking, what happened? And what brought you to Wicked’s Rest, of all places? I mean, we’re kind of on the opposite end of the country from where you were before.”

—

Mackenzie shrugged, “What can I say? I’ve just had to negotiate on more than one occasion, so I know my stuff.” It was true. Being an actress meant negotiating things on the regular, and if it wasn’t her who was doing it, she was certainly telling her manager, publicist, and other members on her team what she wanted. “Plus hot cocoa and maybe a s’more or two are a given, considering it’s actually cold here in Maine.” She laughed, but was also glad she had decided to order some warmer clothes, including flannel, at the first cold spell. “And yeah, I’d say this thing takes us thirty minutes, maybe an hour tops.” She wanted to keep that confidence, but this was like living over a Hellmouth, and by the end of the night, who knew what they were going to witness.

She let her eyes shift from people to scarecrows to pumpkins, now that that trademarked Wicked’s Rest Paranoia was starting to creep in ever so slowly, “Yeah, same here. The last time I went was with my parents when I was little. I was so scared, but by the end of it, I loved it. Give me the night to see if I can say the same for this place.” However, Mackenzie’s words had seemed to fade as they came up immediately to a multitude of path options, “Well, this is already starting out as a challenge…”

Watching as some kids ran past them randomly choosing a path, Mack turned her attention back to her date and the questions that were already being asked, “Whoa, I would say you move fast, but you did see me at my lowest, so that’s fair.” She paused for a minute trying to figure out how much she wanted to divulge. “Um, well, ironically enough, I was working on a tv show called Dropped, and when I went to do a stunt, the person that was supposed to pull the rigging on my harness back in time didn’t, and I broke my neck and back in the fall. The last thing I remember was waking up extremely hungry.”

After it had happened and Mackenzie had realized she had eaten one of the crew members, someone she had been very fond of, she had shut down for nearly a month. It had taken Taylor, her assistant, convincing her that everything was okay and that what she had done was an accident, for Mackenzie to resume “living”. At least up until the last day with Brody. “And as for choosing Wicked’s Rest, I kind of just closed my eyes and picked a spot. The furthest away I could be from everything and everyone I loved.” She wasn’t ready to confess anything about Brody to Elora. “What about you? How did you end up here? And since you know what I am, are you something other than just a normal human being? AND the more important question…Which path?” She wanted to keep up this conversation, but if they didn’t start moving they were going to be there all night, which honestly at this rate, she didn’t mind.

—

When Elora had asked about Mack’s human death, she didn’t mean to pry into anything sensitive. Not that the very nature of death wasn’t extremely sensitive or personal, it was just an elephant in the room she figured should be asked about. The truth was, she sucked at small talk. Big talk. Now that was more her speed. But big talk isn’t really ideal for a first date, now is it? Ask about her favorite music, color, flower. Normal stuff like that.

“Well while we’re being honest with each other”, the two had come to a complete stop a while ago, almost frozen in place at the amount of choices they had in front of them. She lowered her voice a bit, not wanting any families or passing children to overhear their talk. Already she had found herself a bit absorbed in the closeness the two of them shared and she had briefly forgotten they were in a public place. “I didn’t really grow up with a ton of human interaction. A little bit of it, but not much. I come from a species called sirens. We’re kind of…bird people, I guess you could say? You’ve probably heard the more famous myths, ‘the siren’s song’ that lead sailors to guide their ships directly into certain death. While it’s a neat trick, traditional hunting was far more reliable.” She could already imagine judgment from her date with telling her that her people hunted humans regularly, so quickly added, “I didn’t really participate in hunting humans. Some in the colony did, but I and my family didn’t participate. We were sort of in a…transitionary period let’s call it at the time. Moving away from the old traditions and embracing more humane and modern ways of living.” Perhaps it was this “tradition” of hunting humans that lead to the hunters being enlisted. Maybe if they had abandoned the old ways, they’d all still be alive today.

“I came here for a second chance. And a shot at finding people who I can relate to on a level that I can’t do with regular humans. And I’ve heard plenty of rumors about this town and the paranormal creatures that live here. Figured this would be just as good a place as anywhere else.”

Looking down the many branching paths were starting to disorient her, and they hadn’t even gone down one of the paths yet. She decided to go down one branching out towards the northeast. She was very impressed at how big the corn maze seemed to be now, did it seem this large from the outside?

“Sorry for the hard hitting questions. Let’s go to something normal. What do you like to do for fun? I mean other than getting lost in corn fields, of course.”

—

Mackenzie definitely hadn’t seen their date going in this direction, but they weren’t really conventional in many ways to begin with. She did, however, find herself engrossed in Elora’s tale about her family and her life. So there were zombies, mares, vampires, selkies, mediums, ghosts, werewolves, fae, and now sirens? This definitely had been a monster’s stomping ground. Not to say that Elora was a monster. She was far from it. Her red hair shining under the moonlight and soft skin made Mackenzie’s dead heart want to beat. The woman was beautiful, and it had been the first time she had felt this way since Brody.

It had also made her feel somewhat ashamed and embarrassed though. Did she deserve this happiness? To be with someone else after what she had done to him? It tore at her conscience, but she had needed a nice night. Something fun and enjoyable, and as much as she hated herself on the regular, she wasn’t going to let tonight be one of those nights.

“Wow, first, I didn’t even think sirens were real. No offense, and you saved my life. You’re far from what your ancestors believed. Trust me. I wouldn’t be here, if you hadn’t taken the time and risked your life to help me. Just remember that.” She smiled softly, before following along down a random path with her date.

“No, it’s totally fine. I actually didn’t mind them. I’m so used to getting stupid questions from paparazzi and fans that it’s nice being asked something genuine.” She strolled along next Elora occasionally glancing up at her as they walked. “As for fun. I’ve recently taken up the art of being a hermit since coming here.” Mackenzie laughed, “I’m kidding…sort of. But I like karate, dancing, singing and writing songs, watching movies; even though I miss working in movies. Hanging out with the few friends I’ve made so far. What about you?”

—

It was comforting for Elora to hear that Mackenzie thought she was a good person. She was nervous she’d be seen as a monster, like most people saw her as once they learned her true identity. Then again, she wasn’t a normal person. And she had her own experience in eating human flesh.

“Well, you’re not the scary monster Mr. Romero made you out to be. You’re very sweet, and genuine. And have a lot more to say than just “Guh…braaaiiins” Elora said, giving her best zombie impression.

“I like music, mostly writing and producing. Guess that’s something you and I share! What genre? I also dabble in painting, though I’m far from good at it. Other than that, movies and TV shows are good! Most of what I learned about human society has come from movies and TV, so I’ve watched A. Lot.” She was happy that they had a few shared interests they could bond over. Maybe they could collab? Talk about a power couple.

“Friends are hard to come by in this town, I’ve learned”. It was hard to say, since a big part of why she came here was to make new friends and feel a sense of belonging. She just kept telling herself it would be a little trickier and longer than she’d like, and that’s okay. “It’s why I’m grateful I’ve been able to meet people like you and Monty.”

Just then, they heard a rustling in the corn fields, and could barely make out a bipedal creature of some kind running through the corn. While this would normally terrify Elora, it seemed almost as if it were trying to hide from them, not ambush them.

—

Mackenzie laughed a little harder than she probably should have at Elora’s zombie joke. It was kind though. And considering the way she had felt about herself since becoming a flesh eating monster, the compliment had meant a lot, “Do I really sound like that? Because if I do I probably need to work on my acting skills a little more.” Unfortunately, as much as she had wanted it to be an act, it just wasn’t, “But that’s very kind of you. Guess I’ve just had a hard time not seeing myself as something other than a monster lately, but that’s a story for another time.”

She moved along through the grass as they slowly made turn after turn not paying much attention to anything, but their conversation, “Really? Uh, pop is what I was trying to break into, before going off the grid, but I love all kinds of music. You paint? That’s supes cool. I can paint stick figures. Maybe you can model for me one day, and I’ll paint you like one of my french sticks.” It was probably a super lame joke, but Mack didn’t care. She was enjoying herself, “And if that’s not an option, then maybe we could write a song together?” She leaned in towards Elora and nudged her playfully with her shoulder.

“I can’t say that I’ve had as big of a struggle, but then again, I’ve lived a life where most people wanted to be my friend, but not because they genuinely wanted to know me. Though, I’ve found there are some people around here that have surprised me. And Monty is a very kind man. I’m glad we both have him in our lives. And hey, maybe I could introduce you to some of my friends. Like Alex, I think you’d love her. And Milo.” She wanted badly to say Winter, but considering they weren’t speaking right now, she thought it best to not even bring her up.

Looking forward, Mackenzie stopped walking when she heard a noise followed by something small dashing through the maze and into some stalks of corn, “You just saw that too right?” She looked over at Elora.

—

She wanted to write a song together with her. It was like something out of the cheesy rom coms Elora binge watched as a guilty pleasure, and she loved it.

“Oh yeah, give me a beret and a long cigarette and I’d love to be your French stick!”

She wasn’t familiar with the people she had mentioned yet, but she was sure they were lovely people.

“Have you met Cassius or Ariadne? They’ve been great at welcoming me too.”

She focused her eyes again on the figure in the corn. “I sure did. Y’know, I think I heard a rumor. That there was a creature in the corn fields named Gourdon who tries to hide away from people and hates getting his picture taken. It’s like a small challenge with the people in town to try and get him on camera.”

A mischievous smile flashed across Elora’s lips.

“You thinkin’ what I’m thinkin’?”

—

This night had been going so much better than her anxious mind had said it would be, and Mackenzie was grateful for that. They were even making cute little inside jokes, “Really? Consider it done. Next date…I mean, if you want a next date…I’m turning you into a work of art. Not that you’re not one already, but you know what I mean.” There she went rambling again, but it was okay.

“I have actually! They’re great people too. I don’t know them as well, but I’m glad you’re making friends. You deserve friends and happiness.” Mackenzie had genuinely meant that too. If Elora had come here looking for a better life, then that’s what the zombie had hoped for her.

Okay, good. She wasn’t losing her mind. “Gourdon huh?” Mackenzie looked back to where the creature had tried to hide, seeing the corn stalks rustle again. Glancing over to Elora, she caught sight of the grin, and slowly started to pull out her phone and switch it onto the camera app, “Oh yeah.” The idea to split up had crossed her mind, but she knew good and well, she’d get lost, if she broke away trying to snap a picture of this thing.

—

Here she was already thinking about a second date. I’m so in there, Elora thought to herself. “I’d love a second date, of course! After we catch this thing of course!” she said before taking out her phone and pointing in the general direction she had saw the creature. While venturing into the cornfield may not have been the smartest decision, she had suddenly found her focus placed solely on catching Gourdon on camera.

She sauntered into the cornfield, before realizing having two cameras was better than one.

“Mack, hun, would you mind going further down the cornfield that way? Maybe try to cut him off if he runs that way?” She hadn’t meant for a pet name to slip out. Growing up in South Carolina and working a couple waitressing jobs to get by, little terms of affection just sort of slipped out even in casual settings.

With that, the two women took off into the cornfield trying to catch the elusive Gourdon. Sure, it wasn’t a conventional date night, but it was one Elora was sure she wouldn’t be forgetting any time soon.

—

So this was officially a date, and they were now officially going on a second date. Mackenzie was giddy and so badly wanted to blush. But Elora was right. They had a creature to catch. Did you win a prize if you had proof? She wasn’t sure. It was like going after Bigfoot, except this little guy lived in a cornfield and wasn’t quite as intimidating - or so it seemed. She hadn’t actually seen him yet.

“Right. Creature first.” Wait…Did Elora just call me hun? It had somewhat caught her off guard, and she wanted to overthink it, but didn’t. Couldn’t, especially because she had picked up on the slightest of movement just up ahead in the direction that her date had requested she go, “No, not at all, Babe.” She glanced back over to the red head with a wink, before heading in the opposite direction.

Mackenzie tiptoed forward towards the rustling, and without much of a chance to get her phone up, she watched as Gourdon slipped out and started running back towards Elora, “Elora! It’s coming towards you!” Picking up her pace, Mackenzie moved forwards back towards the siren and hopefully Gourdon.

—

Babe? Had Elora’s old habit worked out in her favor? She’d worried that, if anything, it would have came on too strong too quickly. Not only was her date into her, but she was also down to chase cryptids in a corn field with her. If that wasn’t a match written in the stars, she didn’t know what was. She felt as though she was walking on air.

Soon, however, she had to come back to earth as she heard Mackenzie’s voice call out that Gourdon was headed her way. It was hard to get a decent view through the corn, and she was mostly navigating through her phone’s camera so she’d know when the creature came into frame. Finally, she heard the rustling and ran full speed towards where it was coming from, trying to cut the creature off.

Suddenly, the full force of a grown adult landed on top of her, and she felt all the air leave her body as she hit the ground. Instead of a mischievous corn gremlin, it was her date for the evening. While she normally would have been upset that their prey had escaped them, feeling the warmth and closeness of her laying on top of her was extremely comforting and exciting. All she could do was look into the other woman’s eyes, unsure of what to do next.

—

Mackenzie was determined to get a picture of this thing. If not for herself, then at least for Elora. The night had definitely taken an unexpected turn, but that was par for the course in Wicked’s Rest. At least it wasn’t a fucking giant ass spider. She hated spiders, especially huge ones that made you feel way too much when they stuck their fangs into your stomach. This little cryptid was a far better thing to try and catch.

However, it was the brief glance down at her phone that had caused Mackenzie to falter, and before long, she was stumbling forwards and into another form; Elora’s form.

As they both hit the ground with a thud, Mackenzie’s phone went flying and so did her pride. She had been so embarrassed, but as she looked down at the woman she was currently laying on top of, all anxiousness faded away. Moving a cold hand upwards, she gently moved some strands of red hair out of Elora’s face, before she slowly leaned in and laid a soft kiss on her lips. One that didn’t linger too long, but was just right. The perfect movie kiss, but one that was real and held more passion than kissing her co-stars. A kiss filled with genuine love and want.

—

When Elora felt the woman’s hands on her face, she felt a comforting warmth build within her in spite of the icy cold temperature of the woman’s hands. It was like a scene out of a movie. And true to the script, the pair shared a loving kiss. Only the butterflies and fireworks portrayed in the movies didn’t even come close to doing this sensation justice. This was something else entirely. Something she had never felt before. No boy in her past had ever kissed her the way that the one and only Mackenzie Ross had just kissed her. And she never wanted to be kissed by anyone else again.

Breathless, she just laid there and looked into Mackenzie’s eyes. Finally, she took a shaky breath and cleared her throat.

“I, uh, think we lost him. Not that I mind, at all. That was…wow. Incredible” This time she reached her head up to give her date another kiss, this one just as magical as the previous one had been.

She could feel herself blushing. While she had done a good job of maintaining her composure through the night, all of that had now gone out the window. While she wasn’t expecting things to progress so quickly, it still felt so natural. And so right. Like they were meant to slam into each other in this cornfield the whole time.

“Not that I mind laying here with you, because I don’t at all. But we should probably make our way out of this maze before people forget we’re in here”.

—

Mackenzie couldn’t help but stare back into Elora’s inviting eyes. Everything about this moment had been perfect. So much so that the thoughts of guilt, shame, and even, for the first time in a while, grief, had left her. She just wanted to stay in this moment forever. Just her and her date while it felt like time stood still and nothing else mattered, “Yeah…” Mackenzie’s voice was airy, “I think we did.”

The second kiss, soft and sweet, had left Mackenzie longing for more. She was breathless, both literally and figuratively. But her body seemed to appear different with the rise and fall of her chest from excitement by the entire situation.

This moment far surpassed what the past several months had brought. Not only had Elora saved her, but she had also given her a reason to feel whole again. Tomorrow might be another story, but tonight she was going to enjoy every lingering minute of it.

“I think you’re right. I don’t think I want to end a perfect night by being eaten by a giant pumpkin, because you know it’s probably possible.” She laughed softly as she rolled off her date and found her way back to her feet, helping Elora up in the process. Finding their way out hadn’t been as hard as Mackenzie had thought it would be, especially since she was currently on Cloud 9, but she did make sure to let her hand meet Elora’s and walked as slowly as she possibly could to make the night last. But this was only the start of something special, and she was looking forward to every upcoming moment and the possibility of more unexpected kisses in cornfields, the rain, and any other obstacles Wicked’s Rest threw in their way.

#para: a corny first date #para: elora #contemporarybardess #{a new beginning; plot}#murder mention tw #grief mention tw #wickedswriting

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