Chapter 13

Mine

Again, thank you to princess mh for always being supportive :)

That's fine Guest. And don't worry. Sorry if we got off on the wrong foot. And worry not! I know a joke when I see one.

So, I hope I'll finish this soon. I have plenty planned ahead but if you have any minor story ideas you would like to see, feel free to say so. I will credit!

Without further ado, here's the thirteenth chapter!

—

Cerise rubbed her eyes. It was…what, 2am? The doctors had insisted she go home and rest up, but Cerise was stubborn and intended to stay. Reece stayed with her, currently curled up snoring on the bench.

Cerise fidgeted as she waited. The operation was sure taking long - Raven's lung was seriously busted. There was a lot of work to do. Cerise had insisted on paying them, but Dexter jumped in and paid instead. So, good for him.

The night air drifted in through a window. It smelled like rosemary and just plain…cleanliness. Cerise closed her eyes and counted to one hundred slowly.

One, Raven will live…two, Raven will live…three Raven will live…

As she continued,

Forty-three, Raven will live…forty-four, Raven will live…

When Cerise had counted to one hundred, she opened her eyes again and yawned. She hadn't slept for…a day? Two? She wasn't sure.

Giving in to her tiredness, Cerise promptly collasped on top of Reece's sleeping form.

—

I'M GONNA SWING BY THE CHANDELIE-EEERRR! BY THE CHANDELIE-EERRR! IIIIII'MM…

"Shit! Sorry!" Briar shouted, scrabbling for her phone.

"Irndhsbbhcjshssjd," Hopper mumbled something unintelligible and threw a pillow over his head. "It's like 3 in the morning."

"Hello?" Briar asked quietly, as not to disturb Hopper.

"Hi Briar," came Dexter's voice.

"Dexter? Seriously? It's 3 in the morning!" Briar fumed.

"Sorry. I couldn't sleep."

"That's no excuse to ruin my beauty sleep! I was dreaming that I was solving a murder on the Orient Express…"

"Right," Dexter chuckled. "Um, can you come over?"

"No," Briar replied, hopping back into bed.

"I have a $100 gift card for Siren Spa…"

Briar gave a yell. Hopper winced. "Why didn't you say so?!" she shouted as Hopper covered his ears and prayed for mercy.

Briar pulled on the metallic pink dress, and, tottering in her white stilettos, bade her husband goodbye and left.

—

"I did it," Dexter sighed as Cupid watched, smiling oddly.

"Good for you! Now, she should be tottering along…now!"

The door flung open. Before Cupid could jump out and pull Briar in a headlock, a ceramic plate came flying and bashed her in the head, followed by a fold-up fire poker.

Briar grabbed the hapless pink-haired girl. "Aha! State your name!"

"C.A. Cupid!" Cupid responded, confused.

"Really? Oh, that's cool. I had a high school friend who was called…wait, CUPID?!" Briar shouted. The girl in her grip sniffled and glared. "How did you know I was here?"

Briar smiled. "Easy peasy! 'I have a $100 gift card for Siren Spa' is the code sentence for I'm getting molested slash killed slash kidnapped slashed ransomed slashed in big trouble," she explained. "Cousin Code."

Cupid only glared even more.

"Now, explain yourself," Briar said sternly. Cupid shook her head. "I won't!"

Before Briar could do anything else, Cupid kneed her in the stomach and ran for it. Briar keeled over, clutching her middle. "Dang it! What's wrong with her?" she cursed.

—

Cupid ran from the hotel, peach kitten heels clicking on her marble as she dashed out into the foyer. She ran out the door and sat there, breathing in chilling night air. The city was beginning to awaken - alarms rang softly from afar, horns of cars beeped. Birds chirped jovially.

Cupid ran back to her house. She couldn't stop thinking. She loved Dexter, didn't she? And Dexter loved her, easy peasy. Then why did he want to chase after Raven now?

She couldn't do anything now. Briar was in the way, and Cerise was ready for near murder. She needed to get to more drastic measures. She slammed the kitchen door behind her and rummaged in a cupboard, fishing out a small glass bottle encased in plastic wrapping. She pulled on some thick vinyl gloves and slowly removed the wrapping.

"Soon, Dex will be mine," she muttered under her breath as she set to work.

—

Maddie was glad to hear the tea towel in the freezer was still tea-towelable. She towed in the wheelbarrow and sat it in the corner of the kitchen.

"Hello, Dad!" she announced cheerily. "Today I met a boy named Dump! Or perhaps it was Humph…but I honestly can not remember!"

"Hello, Maddie," said Mr. Hatter. "I'm up in the ceiling!"

"Don't you mean on the roof?" Madeline asked as she rolled the watermelon into the oven. But when she looked up, there was a hole in the ceiling and her father seemed to be roaming about in the rafters.

Maddie clapped her hands excitedly, climbed onto the table, and scrambled up into the boarding. The rafters were moist and dark. It smelled like cinnamon and honey buns, like the ones Maddie's mum used to cook for her.

"Dad?" she asked loudly. There was no answer. Just some odd snuffling sounds. She followed the sounds to find her dad kneeling over an old book of sorts. For a minute, Maddie thought that her dad was laughing or shivering because of the cold. But when she came closer, it became apparant that he was…

"Dad, you're leaking!" she shouted. (Her dad was crying, but let Maddie be Maddie.)

"Oh. Oh dear, am I?" Mr Hatter snivelled. A tear dropped on his hand. "Oh, I am. I had this leak some time ago. I just forgot to fix it, you see."

"Then I'll fix it, because I fixed a car today!" Maddie proclaimed, and she shuffled over and gave her dad the best hug she could manage.

"Is the leak fixed?" she asked after a while.

"I think so," her father answered. Maddie continued hugging him for a while. They just sat there.

"What caused the leak, Dad?" she asked tentatively. Her father nudged the book. Maddie picked it up. It was a leather-bound photo album, brown and crumbly with age. She curiously opened it and peered inside.

There were multiple photographs inside. Maddie found lots of a young man. And then she saw a woman, with straight aqua hair with a violet streak. She was wearing a big floppy sunhat and a summer dress with red and orange beads, riding in some sort of carriage. Then another photo of the woman and the man, at their wedding. The groom was in a purple tux with a teal bowtie. The bride had a teal strapless dress that was ridiculously flouncy and ended around the knees, with a purple sash.

Maddie carefully turned the page. Next was pictures of a baby, only a few months old. She turned the page, but the rest of the book was blank.

"What happened to them?" she asked, scooting closer to her dad.

"That was your mother," Mr Hatter explained sadly. "She died shortly after your birth."

"Oh," Maddie answered. She felt that she had a leak too. "How?"

"Your mother…" Mr Hatter began.

"It wasn't me, was it?" Maddie asked. For the first time in her life, she felt scared. It wasn't a very good feeling. She felt like her heart was beating too fast. Her brain was running so hard she couldn't stop and think. "Did she die because she gave birth to me?"

Her father bit his lip and twiddled his thumbs. Madeline had never seen him do that (only when the sausages didn't absorb enough of the dishwashing liquid).

"Madeline," he began slowly. "She didn't die from giving birth to you, because…" he sighed slowly and took a deep breath. Maddie felt hot and dangerous. She didn't like this feeling.

"Because…she didn't give birth to you."

—

Reece woke up with some heavy thing on his back. He nudged whatever it was, but it stayed put.

"Five more minutes, Daaaaaaaaaaaad…" the thing mumbled.

And so, Reece suddenly shot up, causing Cerise to bash her face on the ever-unforgiving hospital chair.

"Reece!" she grumbled, rubbing her head.

"Cerise! They're finishing Raven's operation today!" Reece exclaimed. Cerise sat up like a bullet. "Oh my gosh! I forgot!" Immediately she stood up and started pacing. "When are they finishing?"

"I have no idea," Reece admitted.

As if on cue, the operation room door opened and a doctor stepped outside expressionlessly.

Cerise scrambled up. "Well? Is she gonna make it?"

The doctor paused. "Well…Miss Queen…"

And yeah. That's it.

This entire chapter's a cliffhanger! Will Raven make it? What's with Maddie's backstory? What is Cupid up to?

So, here's some questions for you:

• Who do you want to see more of?

• Who is your favourite and least favourite character?

• Are there any more problems you want to see or suggest? If so, feel free to suggest MINOR ideas.

Toodles! Reade