Next one, enjoy!
It got longer and longer ...
"Maddie? Maddie!" was yelled the moment Maddie passed through the wrought iron gate that lead to her school.
Becca came running towards her, her face flushed due to the icy wind.
"Whazzup?" Maddie asked casually.
"Do you have a plan -"
"Shhh!" Maddie whispered and looked behind herself, tilting her head as if she was listening for something. Then she nodded and turned back around. Yes, she was checking if her father had already driven off.
"No, I didn't come up with anything. You?"
Becca just shook her head and grimaced apologetically.
"Now that sucks," Maddie commented, then walked on.
"Wait! Where are you going?"
"I need to buy a new sweater," Maddie explained. Wasn't that obvious?
"Oh, right." Becca had seen the one Maddie had laid out for the animals. It was not in its usual condition anymore.
There was a little shop on the school grounds that sold everything needed for this school like uniforms, backpacks, hats (Maddie had a beret which she hated, so she had never worn it yet and was determined to keep it that way!), sports uniform and sporting goods, of course. They only opened twice a week, so it was Maddie's lucky day.
She bought a dark blue pullover with the school's crest embroidered over the left chest - it was just like the other ones she already had. And she had to pay for this thing with her allowance.
Oh well, she was grounded anyways, no chance to spend the money on anything else.
Before her first class started, Maddie took the pullover she was currently wearing off and stuffed it into her locker, unwrapped the new one and put it on. She hoped the sweater would smell of her when she would go home again, otherwise Esme might think something fishy was going on here.
Becca watched, looking bewildered. "You're changing? Why?"
"This one looks too new, I don't want my Mom to notice." That was part of the truth.
"I see."
Maddie was nervous for the rest of the school day. Carlisle would come pick her up, and she somehow had to take the rats with her ... without him noticing, of course.
When the bell rang, indicating that last period was over, Maddie felt like her feet were made of lead. She didn't want to face her father ... but what was there to do?
Nothing, obviously.
Luckily she put the rats into their box and brought it down from the secret room. And just minutes ago, she had put it in her locker so now she only had to retrieve it along other things to stuff it all into her backpack.
She tied the second sweater from her locker around her hip. If she stuffed it into her backpack along the rats, it might smell of them - and that way she would run the risk of her parents finding out.
Taking another calming breath and telling herself that she could do it, she then put on a cheerful face and skipped out of the school building and off the school grounds to look for her Dad's car.
He stood there with his arms folded on the top of his car, smiling when he saw his cheerful daughter approaching.
"What makes you so happy, sweetheart?"
"Weekend, finally!" she moaned.
The moment he opened the driver's door, Maddie walked over to the trunk and carefully put her backpack in there. Closing the trunk again, she then joined her father in the car.
"Can we listen to the radio?" she asked quickly, already turning it up to mask possible noises the rats might make in the trunk.
"Sure, dear, whatever you like," he replied, amused by her hastiness. She was obviously craving some distraction from school.
"Has Emmett purchased a new movie for you to watch this weekend?"
"I don't think so, he didn't tell me anything about movies this weekend." She looked at him with big eyes, shrugging.
That was when Carlisle noticed her eye colour. "Maddie, dear, when was the last time you hunted?"
"Tuesday."
He frowned at her answer. "Did you have a stressful week? You eyes have changed so much in this short period of time, it is quite unsettling." They weren't dark, but still darker than usual after just a couple of days.
"Duh, Daddy, you know I had a rough week," she replied, put her elbow up against the window and let her head rest in her hand.
"You can relax this weekend." He smiled reassuringly and rubbed her upper arm.
"I know," she lied. What was relaxing about having to hide two living creatures in her room from a bunch of vampires with sharpened senses? Answers? Anyone?
Maddie immediately jumped out of the car the moment they reached the garage, not even bothering to wait for her father to turn off the engine.
Hurrying to the back of the car, she quickly opened the trunk, retrieved her backpack and took her Dad's black bag in hand before closing it again.
"Here you go!" she chirped, handed her father his bag, got patted on the head, then made her way quickly up to her room.
Phew, now that had worked nicely.
But on to the even more complicated part: Keeping the rats well hidden for the next few days.
She couldn't leave them in her backpack forever, so she walked over to her closet and looked around.
Nice.
There was a big plastic box, which held belts and bags.
Turning the box upside down and emptying it that way, Maddie then nodded to herself.
She put her rats in there and watched them for a moment to make sure they couldn't get out and run through the house.
Good, they couldn't.
Now ... where to put them? Her closet would start to smell if she hid them in there.
The balcony? Not an option, either. The weather was too cold and the box was of a bright green colour; everybody would notice it standing out there and ask questions.
So she put it in between her bed and the balcony door. That way nobody would notice anything unusual when just looking into her room, and she could let some fresh air in to thin down the smell.
Now the noise still posed a problem. Why couldn't rats just be mute animals? Well, they weren't as loud as a dog for example, but still made scratching noises and little squealing sounds.
Sighing, she turned her stereo on, not even caring which CD would be playing now.
Now ... oh!
Food and water ...
Maddie emptied the little tin can she normally used for her necklaces, rings and bracelets, and carefully opened her door.
The hallway was empty, so she had no trouble jumping into the bathroom, filling the can with water, and hurrying back into her room without being seen.
The food she just poured into one corner of the box holding her pets.
What else? They sleep, of course.
Looking through her closet she found a pink wool cap. Why she had something like that in her closet, she did not know.
Grr, Alice ...
Oh well, then it would be put to good use now. Her rats could sleep in there, along some tissues to shred and to stuff into their new home.
Now she was more or less done.
Quickly changing into more comfortable clothes, she then took her uniform in hand - plus the second pullover - and left her room.
"Mom?" she shouted down the stairs.
"I'm down here!" Esme replied.
Maddie shrugged and tossed her clothes over the banister.
They landed with a Thud! on the ground floor.
"Madeline! What's all this good for?"
"My uniform for washing! I just wanted to help you save time, Mommy!" Maddie replied.
Esme sounded a little bit irritated. "Pick it up and take it to the laundry room!"
"But I'm up here ... and you're down there!" she countered. Made sense, right?
"Madeline, behave," Carlisle admonished.
"What a waste of time ...," she grumbled while stomping down the stairs. Then she realised it would be better that way. If she was too defiant right now, her parents would come upstairs and that was bad.
She needed to keep her parents far away from her room for the weekend. Keep them busy elsewhere or just not being in her room herself so they wouldn't go in there if they were looking for her.
"Did you bring your pullover home with you like I asked?" Esme questioned.
Maddie held up two sweaters and Esme nodded, turning back around.
"Shall I put it into the washing machine now and switch it on?"
Esme turned around again with a jerk, wide-eyed. "No!"
But then she added hastily, "I mean: No thank you, sweetheart, I'll do it later." It was safer to not let Maddie do anything concerning laundry, Esme had experience with what could happen and she did not want to risk it again.
Maddie picked up all the clothes that lie scattered on the floor, hugged them to her chest and walked to the laundry room.
Coming back a moment later and starting to walk up the stairs again, Esme called her over into the living room.
"Madeline, you need to hunt. Today or tomorrow."
"I'll go tomorrow." Maddie shrugged her shoulders.
"All right, honey. Have you started on your homework yet?"
"Sure." No, she hadn't, tee-hee.
"Good, because you know the rule."
"Yes, and I love it," she remarked sluggishly while trudging up the stairs again.
Esme and Carlisle looked at each other, silently chuckling.
Maddie had been listening to music for over five hours now. She had to switch it off soon, or her parents would come up to see if she was moping or feeling a little disturbed by something ... or the like.
Typically parents.
So she turned it off and then decided to play with her gameboy some. The clicking sounds would hopefully be louder than the noises rats made.
"Mad?" Emmett called. Maddie's door was closed so he just stood in front of it and waited.
"Huh?"
He spoke again. "Let's go hunt!"
"Nah."
"Come on! I'm bored."
"I'll hunt tomorrow, Em," Maddie said while continuing to play with her gameboy.
Emmett opened the door just then and stepped inside.
"Emmett!" Maddie yelled while hastily getting up from her bed. "You cannot just barge in here, what if I had been ... naked?" she asked, then realised how stupid that sounded.
With a bewildered look on his face, Emmett asked, "Why would you be naked while playing gameboy?"
Told you so - it sounded stupid.
Maddie scratched her head. "Huh. I don't know."
"Let's play something."
"I'm already playing something," Maddie mocked and held her gameboy up for him to see.
Emmett snatched it from her hand and ran from the room.
"Hey!" she complained and chased after him.
They settled for playing video games in the living room - Esme didn't like them running around the house like crazy.
On the next day, Maddie was really proud of herself.
She had honestly managed to hide her rats from the rest of her family for a whole day now.
Yaaay, go Maddie!
The little ones had kept quiet for several hours, but now they were wide awake again.
Maddie put on some music to drown out the noises they made and to keep anyone from overhearing.
She could keep it up with that system ... if there wasn't the little problem of her having to hunt.
She had to leave her room for about two hours and didn't know what to do with the rats during that time; she had asked her parents if they could all go together as a family ... but that had only resulted in Carlisle an Esme planning a two-day hunting trip with the family some time in the near future.
Then Maddie had whined a bit that she wanted to do it now, so in the end: Everybody except for Alice and Esme would leave to go hunting soon.
She didn't know if that was good or bad. Good maybe, because less people could notice the animals she held in her room. Bad maybe, because the house would be too quiet with nearly all of them gone.
She could lock her door.
The only problem was: She had slammed her door once too often - the lock was deformed and she hadn't told anyone that it needed fixing.
So that option ... wasn't an option anymore, obviously.
She then settled for the next best: Putting a CD into her CD-player and leaving the music on even when she'd leave the house.
Might work.
Half an hour later, Maddie got called down so they could go on a hunt. She was tense and hoped that nobody would walk into her room during her absence.
She met the rest of the family in the foyer.
"Everybody ready?" Carlisle asked and looked around.
"Is your music still on, Maddie?" Rose asked.
"Oh, I forgot. Do I have to go back up and switch it off now? I really wanna start hunting." she pouted a little bit.
"I'll do it for you, dear," Esme said.
"No need! I'll just turn it off when I come back home. It doesn't bother anyone, right?"
"Well, all right then."
Their hunt was successful. Everyone was satisfied after nearly three hours, so they could make their way back home.
Before they reached the path to the house, however, Edward whispered in Maddie's ear, "You're in trouble."
She felt her heart sink to her boots.
Jasper quirked an eyebrow at that and turned around to look at her, but she just shook her head lightly.
They got closer to their home and Maddie grew more and more nervous. Especially because she saw light in her room.
She hadn't switched it on.
And vampires didn't need it - their vision was, even in the dark, remarkably precise.
So somebody wanted her to know.
Her pace became slower and she was tempted to just make a run for it now.
But with her family around, she wouldn't get very far.
Jasper shot her more glances, not knowing why she felt so nervous all of a sudden.
When they pooled into the foyer, an angry voice could be heard.
"Madeline! I want you to come up here right now!" It wasn't just angry - it was royally pissed off.
All eyes were on Maddie now.
Carlisle's glance was piercing, whereas Edward looked like he didn't care - he knew what was going on after all.
The others looked at her questioningly, trying to figure out what she could have done while she wasn't even home.
"Go. Your mother is waiting," Carlisle told her.
Maddie hung her head, but then walked up the stairs.
On the stairhead she slowed again. Her mind was racing for possible excuses why she would have rats in her room. That was what Esme found, wasn't it?
"Madeline, I know you're here," Esme growled. She was indeed mad, oh boy.
So Maddie peeked into her own room.
Yep, Esme stood there between the bed and the balcony door, arms crossed, and looked down at the floor.
Maddie's guess was: She looked down at two little rats in a box.
Fixing her daughter with a glare, Esme said, "Explain."
But Maddie had a different idea. She turned around and darted from her room, only to run face first into a brick wall - or Carlisle - whatever you prefer.
He held her by the upper arms to steady her, then asked, "What is going on?"
"Our daughter will show you," Esme replied, sounding positively enraged.
He looked questioningly at Maddie, who just cringed.
"Come," he said, turned her around and lightly pushed her forward back into her room.
She walked off to the side, instead of to where Esme was standing.
Carlisle just sighed at his daughter's antics, then he headed over to Esme to finally find out what was going on.
He approached her, looking down to see what his wife was pointing at.
She, however, kept an eye on Maddie, to make sure she wouldn't run.
Maddie watched her father comprehend the situation. The look on his face changed from puzzled, to frowning to angry.
Clenching his jaw for a moment, he then pinched the bridge of his nose and beckoned his daughter over with two fingers.
"Come here," he said strictly.
Maddie shook her head, her wide eyes held panic.
"Madeline ...," he warned.
She whimpered, then slowly approached her parents with tentative steps, all the while holding her hand to her mouth to chew on her thumb nail.
This definitely was a déjà vu. Well, it was actually worse than the last time they were in her room in this constellation and looked at something on the floor in the exact same spot.
Carlisle took a step backwards, put a hand on Maddie's shoulder when she was close enough and pushed her in front of himself, so she would have a very nice view of the subject in question.
"Explain," he ordered.
But Maddie didn't want to explain - she wanted for the ground to open up and swallow her.
Esme seized Maddie's wrist in her hand and pulled it away from her face.
"What are these rodents doing here?" Esme asked sternly.
Maddie swallowed audibly, desperately trying to think of something clever to say.
She could say she was just watching them for someone. But then she would need to explain why she hadn't asked her parents first. And they would want to call the other person's parents.
Or she could say they were school rats for an ... experiment or something. But then her parents would call the school.
This sucked so bad and she couldn't come up with anything else.
"What are you doing in my room?" Maddie suddenly queried. If Esme hadn't entered without asking, Maddie wouldn't be in this mess right now!
Esme blinked a couple of times in disbelief, whereas Carlisle went rigid behind Maddie. He was controlling himself to not let his hand crack down on her behind for her insolence.
"I washed your uniform and wanted to put it in your closet."
"My closet is over there," Maddie snapped and pointed at the door to her closet next to her room door. She knew she shouldn't talk to her mother like that, but what was she supposed to do when Esme was snooping around her room?
"I smelled something. Urine to be precise. Now would you be so kind as to explain what these animals are doing in my house?"
Maddie sulked and didn't say a word.
"Enough, Madeline! You will answer now!" Carlisle admonished. He was fed up, that much was clear.
Realising that her parents wouldn't leave her alone anytime soon, she whispered, "I wanted to have some pets."
Esme was very much upset. "Did we allow you to keep pets at home?"
"... no," she admitted.
"Then what are they doing here?"
"It's only for the weekend!" Maddie exclaimed.
Yes, that exclamation confused her parents.
Carlisle pointed to the bed and said, "Sit down."
Maddie obeyed and seated herself on her bed.
Esme followed and sat next to Maddie, while Carlisle pulled Maddie's chair out from under the desk, then pushed it over to stand in front of the bed. He seated himself and faced his daughter once more.
"Start from the beginning. Where are they coming from?"
"School."
Esme and Carlisle frowned at that.
"Why would they keep rats at your school?" Carlisle questioned.
"They don't ... but I did."
"You?"
"You said not in the house," Maddie explained, then squirmed a bit. "... so I figured it would be okay to keep 'em at school."
She averted her eyes now.
Esme couldn't believe what Maddie just said.
"It would be okay? Madeline, what did we tell you about pets?" she asked strictly.
"Well ... you said you wouldn't buy them for me and you didn't want them in the house ... I bought them myself and kept them at school," Maddie explained meekly.
Carlisle huffed. "I don't think pet store owners are allowed to sell animals to children, am I right?"
Oh, that word again.
"I'm not a child!" Maddie yelled and jumped up from the bed. Her outburst was loud enough for the whole house to hear.
"You would do well to sit back down, young lady! Your actions are childish, so I fail to see you any different right now!"
Maddie was angry now, but did as she was told - while glaring at her father.
"When did you buy these rats?"
That stopped the glaring. Why did he have to ask that?
"I'm not sure ... maybe ..."
"Don't guess, be honest!" Carlisle ordered.
"Monday," Maddie admitted in a tiny voice and watched her father narrow his eyes.
Oh, great. It was getting even worse now ...
"So you left the school grounds to get these."
"No, they sell 'em at school ...," she replied and rolled her eyes, but suddenly realised her mistake when her father practically glared at her.
"Madeline, there is nothing amusing about your actions. And considering that you lied to me about this yesterday doesn't help your situation right now. So don't make it worse for yourself and watch your attitude," Carlisle chided while wagging his finger at her.
She nodded her head and looked down at the floor.
"Where did you keep them?"
"In an old classroom. They don't use it anymore."
Carlisle cleared his throat. "Are the rats the reason you left during classes?"
"Uh-huh."
It was quiet for a brief moment, then Carlisle drew a deep breath.
"You will take them back," he said decisively and sat up straighter.
"Yes, on Monday," Maddie confirmed.
"Not back to school - back to the pet store!" Carlisle clarified.
"But they are mine!" Maddie then shouted.
If Esme hadn't been in the room right then, Carlisle would have given his daughter a taste of what was soon to come.
But Esme was in the room, and she had something to say to Maddie's outburst.
She stood up to have her daughter's full attention, then gave her a piece of her mind. "They are not yours and you don't know how to take proper care of them! We explicitly forbade you from having pets, but you went behind our backs and purchased these poor creatures even though you know animals are scared of us! And they are obviously scared!"
"If you would stop yelling, they wouldn't be scared!" Maddie countered.
Any other mother would have given Maddie a clip round the ear right now. But Esme made to with taking a deep, calming breath and folding her arms. "You take them back this. instant. I want them out of my house."
Maddie looked sad.
"I'll tell Emmett and Edward to accompany you," Esme informed Maddie and left the room to look for her sons.
Now Maddie was alone with Carlisle.
"Daddy ...," she whined.
"No, you listen to your mother. Return them to the shop and then you and I will have a much needed discussion," Carlisle replied in a voice that brook no argument.
He could use the time to calm down while Maddie would be at the pet shop to get rid of these rodents.
"But ..."
He held up a hand to keep her from speaking. "Madeline, any backtalk now and sitting in the car will be less than comfortable."
So Maddie settled for hanging her head.
Emmett appeared in the doorway and said to Maddie, "Come on, let's go."
"Where are they?" he then asked, looking at Carlisle.
"By the window, Emmett."
So Emmett walked into the room, grabbed the box and walked out again, waiting for them in the hallway.
"Thank you, son," Carlisle said and guided Maddie with his hand on her shoulder to the door and down the stairs.
Before Edward, Emmett and Maddie could get in Emmett's car however, Carlisle called after them, "I wish to be informed if she isn't on her best behaviour."
"Yes, Dad," Edward replied and closed the door behind himself.
Still not done, ha! So in the next chapter Maddie will face punishment ... but I'm not sure what Carlisle will do. A spanking? Maybe two? Keep in mind that she is already grounded.
Ugh, that girl ... :D
REVIEWS are more than welcome! Tell me what should happen in the next chapter!