Matilda sat in her bed gripping her stuffed bear tightly. What was going on? Why was her teacher here at the house? The temptation to peek her head out of her room was quickly building up more and more. Her father had been in a bad mood when he got home from work, something about a raid on a warehouse and profit losses, but he may as well have been speaking an entirely different language. Matilda knew lots of things far above her age range's capabilities, but her father's business practices was an area she purposefully let herself be uneducated in. Some things she knew were best left unknown.

They had just sat down in front of the TV when there was a knock on the door. Whoever it was, Matilda had thought at the time, they in for an unpleasant surprise. There were two rules in the Wormwood house: Don't interrupt Harry Wormwood when he was eating, and don't interrupt Harry Wormwood when he's watching Tv. This person had broken both those rules.

At first, he pretended he didn't hear it and kept on eating his microwavable meal, but then the knocking began again. He snorted in annoyance with a, "I'm not getting that!" Matilda knew better than to answer the door as well. If Harry Wormwood didn't get the door it meant no one was to either. When the knocking became more persistent, Harry Wormwood slammed his silverware down before pushing his tray away with enough force to knock it over. The air had become tense. No one uttered a single word while Harry stormed over to the door muttering curse words under his breath the entire way.

The rest of the Wormwood family craned their necks to see who was brave or stupid enough, to come knocking on the door during dinnertime. Harry had sent the last door-to-door salesman running in a panic with a message to the others never to come back. When Matilda saw that it was her teacher, her heart sank. She was the last person she wanted to see treated poorly by her father.

"You again!?" He had shouted, before turning and glaring daggers into his daughter. It was her teacher; therefore, it must be her fault Harry's logic told him. "Room. Now!" And that was how she had ended up here in her room, worried out of her mind for the one person who had ever shown her kindness. Her curious mind couldn't take it anymore. She slid out of her bed and hurried over to her door. She quietly as she could pulled it open and cringed at the loud groaning sound it made. She stood in place terrified as she wondered if anyone else heard that. After a minute or two of no one storming down the hall to punish her for trying to eavesdrop, she let out her held breathe and tried to focus on what was being said. Try as she might though, she couldn't make out a thing.

She had to get closer, she thought. She slipped out her open door and as quietly as she could tiptoed down the hall. Matilda stopped at the edge of the hall right before she knew she could be spotted. She held her breath as she strained to listen.

"Mr. Wormwood, did you know it cost 35,000 pounds a year to raise a child?" Miss Honey said. She was anxious and sweating. She was about to pull off the biggest bluff she could think off, in other words, she was lying through her teeth. She had no idea what it cost to raise a child, but if she had to guess, it was more around 10,000 a year. It was still 10,000 more pounds a year than she had. She was so relieved when Mr. Wormwood had told Matilda to go to her room so she wouldn't have to say this in front of her. She'd look like an idiot.

The first thing she had done was butter him up. She complimented his house, his wife, his business sense, and it had taken all her acting skills to do so, but also his intelligence. She had wanted to gag when she said those things, but it had served its purpose. Suddenly she went from unwanted intruder to guest of honor. She hated everything about what she was doing, but she had no choice. She had to play these people's games.

Mr. Wormwood's smug smile faltered as he stared at her with a look of utter horror on his face. She could see the gears moving behind his eyes as he tried to do the math in his head. If she weren't so nervous she would have surely let out a chuckle at how comical he looked. His face reddened like a frustrated child about to throw a tantrum over a simple math problem. "But I have two!" He finally blurted out before clenching his jaw.

"Did you know that girls cost almost twice as much as boys?" She lied again. "We are materialistic beings: clothing, accessories, make-up, jewelry." If he had half a brain he would have noticed Matilda was not that type of girl, but fortunately for Miss Honey all Harry could see were the dollar signs flying out of his pocket. He looked to his wife as she simply shrugged. It was true for her, so why wouldn't it be true for the little runt as well.

"I can't afford two of you!" He barked. "Just last week she spent almost 125 pounds on hair products!"

"Well, sow-rry, but my hair gets all frizzy when I use that cheap stuff." Mrs. Wormwood complained twisting her long blonde locks in between her fingers.

"I could lose my business!" He said. Miss Honey smiled on the inside. This is exactly what she had hoped would happen. Clearly their finances were more important to them than their children. Just one final jab into his pride.

"What would the neighbors think of that?" Miss Honey said trying to sound as casual as possible. "It's too bad you decided to have more than one kid. I could see you starting the next Vauxwell Motors." She watched his face turn bright red. She wasn't sure if he was about to yell and scream or simply internally combust. Finally he let out a defeated sigh. "You know, it might still be possible." She said. He looked up at her, eyes begging for a solution. "Your son, he seems like such a good boy, a spitting image of you in fact. You could put him to work and together you could make that dream possible."

"Yes, you're right. He is a spitting image of me, and if he's anything like me, you know he'll be great!" He said. Miss Honey nodded her head as she felt a little bit of her lunch coming back up.

"Just think, Wormwood and Son, 1,000 car lot right off the highway where everyone could see your name." His eyes shone brightly as he saw the dollar signs. Maybe he could even afford a commercial! "But Matilda…" Miss Honey said with a grimace. "As her teacher, I can honestly say, she doesn't have what it takes."

"That runt is a burden to us all. I hardly believe that's my own flesh and blood. I think there was a mistake at the hospital." He scoffed.

"What if I told you I had a plan that would save you 15,000 pounds a year and take away the burden of having someone like her in your family?" On the outside, Miss Honey remained calm and collected, but on the inside she wanted to scream. How could she say those things about her? Where was this manipulative lying side coming from? If her father could see her he would be ashamed. "You could sure make quite the investment into your business with an extra 15,000 pounds a year."

"Yes, yes I could!"

"What if, for a measly 850 pounds a month, I raised her for you. I could turn her into a proper Wormwood for you."

"And you can't do that at that school I'm sending her to?" He asked suddenly becoming suspicious. "Why should I pay you?"

"She'll be out of my class in less than a year. Then she'll go to some other teacher that doesn't have your best interests at heart. Not to mention, normally, it would cost closer to 3,000 pounds if she stayed here with you." Miss Honey said. "Why should you bother to raise her if she'll be no use to you?" She dug in her bag for the paperwork. This was it. All they had to do was sign this paper and she'd have a legal document agreeing that they would pay her child support. She wasn't proud by any means of what she'd done, but once she had Matilda it wouldn't matter.

"So if I sign this?" Harry asked looking over the document. She could see him stumbling over the larger words as he tried to make sense of the situation.

"Then she's out of your hands and you're one step closer to that empty lot by the highway."

She said. Her hands shook as she bounced her knees in anticipation. She was bouncing her knees so much she was shaking the whole coffee table. Wait…that wasn't from her, the whole house was shaking! The last time this happened…Oh no! Miss Honey looked up and saw Matilda standing in the hallway. Her expression was one of which Miss Honey had never seen on her before. Tears were streaking down her face, not of sadness but of rage. Suddenly Mrs. Wormwood screamed. Photo frames, dinner trays, and sharp silverware was flying around the room. Even their 75 lb television set was hovering off the ground.

"Ghosts!" Mrs. Wormwood shouted. "The ghosts are back!" She stood on the couch screaming and using her arms to cover her head. Did these people really believe in ghosts?

"Not again!" Harry shouted grabbing a broom as he swatted at the flying silverware. So they didn't know about Matilda's powers. She could use this to her advantage.

"Look!" Miss Honey shouted amongst the chaos. "Look at Matilda! She's possessed!" Matilda's eyes narrowed even more as everyone looked at her. The house shook even more violently and to confirm their fears, she lifted her hand and pointed it towards her father as a Tv dinner tray came from behind and smacked his bottom repeatedly. He swore loudly and as he begged for someone to help him.

"It really is her!" Mrs. Wormwood shouted. The house was utter chaos. The light bulbs shattered one by one along with the tv screen. Fashion magazines swarmed around Mrs. Wormwood as she screamed and batted them. Michael was cowering underneath the coffee table, large butt sticking out as a prime target. Another tray dinner tray swooped down and smacked him as he shot up howling only to hit his head on the table.

"Sign the paper and it will stop!" Miss Honey said amidst the chaos. "I will take her and banish the demons plaguing her!"

"Sign it, Harry!" Mrs. Wormwood shouted.

"Where's a pen?" Mr. Wormwood shouted. A drawer off to the side began shaking violently and burst open as a pen shot out and stabbed into the coffee table just inches from his fingers. "She's trying to stab me!" He shouted before tugging the pen out of the table and signing the paper. "OUT! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!"

Miss Honey grabbed the paper, grabbed Matilda's hand and ran out the door as everything in the air fell to the ground. Now the only problem was calming her down.

"Matilda, I am so sorry you heard that! I didn't mean a word I said! It was all a trick! It was-" Miss Honey searched the young girls face for the rage and fury it so obviously shown earlier, but to her surprise, all that was there was a mischievous smile.

"I know it was." Matilda said calmly.

"You…you mean you're not mad?"

"You're not the only one who can act. My father is stupid, but he would eventually figure out it was a trick. I needed to improvise to make him afraid. You played well on his pride and love of money, but the one thing that drives him even more is fear." Matilda explained. Miss Honey stared at her in amazement. To think a six-year-old girl could process her surrounding that well. What surprised her even more was the suitcase and backpack she carried. Miss Honey hadn't even noticed until just now.

"You're packed?" She asked. "How did you pack so fast?"

"I had everything ready days ago." She said with a smile. "I just knew you'd save me!" Matilda quickly latched on to the woman's waist as they stopped walking. Miss Honey smiled widely as she bent down and held her new daughter in her arms.

"I love you." Miss Honey whispered in the girls' ear and she lifted her up and carried her the rest of the way home.

"I love you too," Matilda said with a wide smile as she rested her head on the woman's shoulder and closed her eyes. "So how do you plan to rid me of my demons?" She asked with a giggle.

"I guess it's something we'll just have to figure out together."