Chapter 4

Maddy sat in the office, knowing there was no way out. She had no way to contact anyone without her phone and the more she worried the worse her headache got. Her only strategy was to play it casual and sit it out. But the longer she waited, the more trouble she realised she was in. Mrs Parish didn't come back once the lesson ended. She wasn't back when the next one finished either. Lunch time rolled around and passed her by. Her bag was with Rhydian and he'd probably be getting frantic by now. She had no lunch and her stomach was growling worse than her parents on a dark moon. She was beginning to shake from hunger and every time she put a hand to her head she half expected shards of her skull to come away in her hands. Her situation was getting desperate and she really needed some paracetamol.

"Maddy?" she looked up as she saw someone at the door. It was Miss Graham. "How did you get in there?" Without waiting for an answer, she grabbed a radio clipped to her hip. "This is Miss Graham. Call off the search party. I have her." She went to try the door only to find it locked.

"Mrs Parish locked me in here! She's got the key!" Maddy called through the door.

"Are you sure?" Miss Graham looked thoroughly confused. "But she's one of the ones looking for you!" At that moment, Miss Parish arrived with Rhydian, Tom and Shannon. "Ah, Melissa. Maddy was just saying that you locked her in here. Care to share with the rest of us?"

"What?" A look of utter horror crossed Mrs Parish's face. "I would never do that! That's atrocious!"

"Well she says you have the key." Miss Graham held her hand out expectantly.

"And how would I have the key?" she demanded as Maddy started to realise just how tired she was. "No one's used that office in ages! The key should still be on the rack in the staff room." Tom took off running just as Rhydian suddenly moved forward and grabbed Mrs Parish by the jumper.

"Where is the key?" he demanded. Shannon fought to pry him off as Mrs Parish started issuing threats of expulsion and yelling about assault. Knowing she had do defuse the situation before Rhydian did something stupid, Maddy tried to get up from her seat and go to the door. That was when the world started spinning sideways. The floor rushed up to meet her before she could do a thing about it. She hit the ground hard, the carpet seeming weirdly comfy right now. She heard a splintering noise as Rhydian kicked the door in, glass and splinters raining down around her onto the carpet. He turned her over gently and took her water bottle from her bag, holding it to her lips to let her take a drink. The water felt like heaven and she was grateful for it. Shannon also knelt next to her with a concerned look on her face. She broke open Maddy's lunch box and held half her chicken and bacon slice out to her.

"Catch your breath, Maddy." Rhydian helped Maddy sit up to take a bite. Her mum's home made chicken and bacon slices were legendary. A roast chicken stripped down and shredded with a literal rasher of bacon on the top, all of it slathered in a layer of bechamel sauce and home made pastry wrapped around it. Her stomach growled ravenously in response.

"Rhydian Morris, you are in big trouble, young man!" Mrs Parish thundered as she stormed over to him. To everyone's surprise, Miss Graham held her back.

"Maybe he is, but so are you. Your whole character is in question now, Melissa. And the CCTV will tell us everything we need to know." Mrs Parish was shocked.

"You can't be serious! I've been in class all day! I have over a hundred students in four different classes that can attest to it and I've not left the third floor since going up there!" Other students who'd been roaming the corridors for lunch had seen what was going on and were now starting to gather. The crowd outside the door was getting worryingly large and it was at that moment that they all heard the last thing any of them needed.

"What on Earth is going on here?" Mr Jefferies stormed down the corridor. As he neared, everyone noticed the head was with him. Together, they all worked to clear the crowd of students away with threats of detentions before turning back to the crisis at hand.

"She's really dehydrated, sir." Shannon told him. "She needs the nurse."

"Take her." The head nodded as he stood aside to let them through. "I'll be launching a full enquiry into this. I'll need statements from everybody." Not waiting to hear any more, Rhydian grabbed Maddy's shoulders while Shannon grabbed her feet. Together, they lifted her up and began to carry her out just as Tom returned with a key.

"Here we are! It was on the key rack just as Mrs Parish said. And I take it we don't need it now." Maddy heard him talking as she was carried off. Finally, she gave in to the darkness that had been threatening to take her for so long.

When she opened her eyes again, the school nurse was leaning over her and shining a penlight in her eyes. She winced and turned her head away, wanting to go back to sleep. Shannon wasted no time in holding the rest of the chicken and bacon slice out to her. She took it hungrily and started eating, not caring how much of a mess she was making. From the look of things, neither did anyone else.

"Right, I'm just going to step out and give you some space. I needed the loo anyway." The nurse sauntered over to the door as Rhydian and Shannon thanked her while Maddy took the next thing from her lunch box which Shannon had placed next to her and kept eating. When she was done, Shannon handed her the bottle of water and she finished it off quickly. As she did, her stomach let out another growl.

"Are you feeling better?" Maddy looked up to see Rhydian leaning on a cabinet next to the only bed in the room. She nodded, but knew she wasn't fooling him.

"Did you get expelled yet?" she asked. To her immense relief, he shook his head.

"I had a meeting with the head. He told me I hadn't done much he wouldn't have and that the fact I panicked was understandable. I'm on lunchtime detention for a week to be spent cleaning classrooms. It's not that inhumane and I've definitely had worse. By the way, your parents are in there raising hell." Maddy groaned and flopped back on the bed.

"I really can't deal with them right now." Rhydian sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed, looping an arm around her.

"It'll be easier if you go to them rather than them having to come here. Show them you're strong enough to walk and they'll have less reason to be all over you." Maddy nodded but couldn't summon any enthusiasm. She was still insanely tired and she could still feel the tremor in her right hand from the hunger. Rhydian hugged her close and she revelled in the contact while she had it.

"Do you want to know what helps?"

"Tell me! I'll do anything right now!" She tried to make it sound like she wasn't begging, but she wasn't having much luck.

"Bring your wolf forward." He said it so casually that it took her a second to even process it. But he'd definitely said it aloud. She definitely hadn't misheard.

"What?" She had to double check she wasn't dreaming when she processed it. Even Shannon looked surprised.

"Rhydian, we're in the middle of school!"

"And that's why I need you to check the nurse isn't coming back from the toilet or that anyone else is about to come in while she does it." Rhydian told her before turning to Maddy. "Look, there's a reason we instinctively use our wolves when we're tired. It can be a reserve energy supply like a backup battery. If you use it now, it'll give you the boost you need. Just be careful not to get addicted like you did with Eolas and don't tell your parents." Maddy nodded as Shannon stuck her head out the door. A second later, she flashed thumbs-up at them. Maddy reached deep and brought her wolf to the surface. The black veins raced through her arms as energy flooded through her system. It felt glorious and she could definitely see it becoming a guilty pleasure if she wasn't careful. She swung her feet off the bed and sat up properly, feeling refreshed.

"She's coming." Shannon said, ducking back into the room.

"How do you feel?" Rhydian asked. Maddy clenched her fist as her wolf powered down. She gripped hard enough that her nails dug into her palms. When she opened her fingers again, the tremor that had plagued her was gone.

"Better." Maddy nodded, the relief obvious in her voice. "Much better." Rhydian broke out into a grin that always made her melt just as the nurse came in.

"How is she?" she asked as she walked in, taking in the fact that Maddy was now sitting up. "Ah, looking stronger already, I see. Have you had something substantial to eat?" Maddy nodded.

"I'm feeling a lot better. Can I go now? I heard my parents were here, so I want to let them know I'm okay." The nurse considered for a second before nodding.

"You seem okay. I suppose I can give you leave to go." With that, she turned to Rhydian and Shannon. "I'm making you two her official chaperones until she goes home. If you see her so much as blink in a way you don't like, you drag her back here and her parents can swing by and get her when they're ready. Got it?" Rhydian and Shannon both nodded before heading out after Maddy who was setting a brisk pace towards the head's office. Rhydian and Shannon caught up to her and together they headed to face the music.