coffee | s. reid [discontinued]

10 | a quest

COFFEE

10 | a quest

     Madlyn smiled across the table to her daughter, nodding along to her story. Jacob poked at his food with his fork, listening intently while occasionally shoving a forkful of pasta into his mouth.

     Madlyn's phone buzzed in the centre of the table, vibrating against the cloth. She ignored it, letting Lily continue. After all, they were on vacation.

"Aren't you going to answer that?" Jake asked her, confused as to why she was ignoring calls. "Could be important, Mads."

     Madlyn nodded slowly, thinking carefully. She sighed, picking up the phone and excusing herself from the table. She earned a cheesy grin from Jake in response, something she found contagious.

     "You've reached Maddie," she told them, stepping out of the hotel restaurant and towards the lobby.

     "Good evening, Maddie," the unfamiliar voice greeted. "You look like you're having fun."

     Madlyn frowned, looking around her. There was nobody. "I'm sorry, who is this?"

     "You have a present. It's in your room, you might want to check it out."

     The line went dead before Madlyn could ask any questions that could settle the uneasy pit in her stomach. She knew it showed on her face, recieving a couple of concerned looks from some of the workers.

     Madlyn practically sprinted to her room, praying that it was just some dumb prank. She prayed that when she got there she would find nothing, maybe a letter from Jacob confirming that it was him.

     However, when she had creaked the door open and slipped inside her dim hotel room she was met with a box set on the foot of the bed with a piece of paper sitting on the top. Had she not been with her family, she'd have probably been concerned that this was turning into a Seven situation and she would be met with a decapitated head of a loved one.

     The note was short and simple, a decipherable handwriting saying three words. Three words enough to send a chill throughout her bones.

     She needs you.

     The box was easy enough to open. She pulled the tape from the top of it and carefully unfolded the flaps. She picked up one of the pieces of glossy paper inside, her heart dropping.

     It was a picture. Madlyn, Jacob and Lily standing in the queue for a ride, Lily on her father's back with a grin marking her cheeks. One arm wrapped around his neck and the other pointed up at the ride in awe.