A Dark Gift

Chapter 6

*Note: From this point on, I might mess around a bit with the timeline just to fit things into Madison's experiences that I want in there. For instance, this chapter will have the date with Max at Grandpa's house, but Lucy hasn't taken the bottle of wine to Max's and been attacked by Thorn, because I want to play around with that scene a bit with Madison there. But while Madison was at the Cave with the boys, Michael did start flying around after nearly attacking Sam. So therefore, this dinner is an apology for Lucy having to run out on Max that night when Sam called her hysterical because Michael was flying around outside his window. Got it? Good. :)

I awoke around noon, feeling exhausted. I dragged myself out of bed and gathered together some clean clothes before running across the hallway to the bathroom. I locked myself in from the hallway and Sam's room so that I would have some privacy. I ran the water into the tub and climbed in, relaxing as the hot water soaked into my body, loosening all the tensed muscles I had from lack of sleep. I washed quickly with good old Ivory Soap and washed my hair with green apple scented shampoo. I leaned back against the tub, humming to myself, my toes tapping in the water. A knock on the door startled me, and I squeaked out a "Yeah?"

"Hey Maddie, I'm going to town, you wanna come?" Michael asked.

"No, Mom's got that date with Max tonight, I'm going to clean up the house while she's at work and get supper started. Why don't you take Sam? He can go see his little buddies at the comic store!" The instant I said it, I winced, I'd almost forgotten what those two idiots, along with Sam would end up doing to Max tonight. Well, I'd do my best to try and keep them out of trouble, I thought.

"See you later, okay?" he called.

"Bye, Michael!" I yelled as he strode away from the door.

I sighed and dunked my head under the water, rinsing the shampoo out of my hair. I stood and wrapped a towel around myself, using another to partially dry my hair. I pulled the plug from the tub and listened as the water drained, whistling as I looked in the mirror, wondering what the boys saw when they looked at me. I blushed and quickly started to brush my hair out, braiding it and pinning it in a bun at the back of my head to keep it out of the way while I cleaned and cooked. I brushed my teeth and pulled on clean underwear and a matching bra, followed by a denim skirt that hung just past my knees and a light blue tank top. I pulled on a pair of socks and my tennis shoes. I spritzed myself with a single spray from the bottle of Beautiful by Estee Lauder that Lucy had gotten me for Christmas, knowing how much I hated overpowering perfumes. Beautiful was a much softer scent than most of the perfumes on the market and I missed some of my much softer perfumes from my old life. I couldn't wait 'til more of them were back on the shelves.

As I entered the kitchen, I waved to Grandpa. He was on his way out to his shed where he would do his woodworking and smoke a joint. I started cleaning, picking things up from the floor and tossing garbage away. I cleaned up the laundry from the boy's rooms and grandpa's, tossing them by colored loads into the washing machine and hanging the clean clothes outside in the sunshine to dry. I dusted and wiped down tables, did dishes and made lunch for me and Grandpa.

He smiled and kissed the top of my head when I handed him a plate with a sandwich made from my leftover meatloaf, with a side of potato chips and his root beer. "This looks delicious, Maddie-my-girl. You know how much I love your meatloaf."

I smiled and nodded. "I know, Grandpa. Sorry it's so late, dinner will be a bit later tonight, too. Will that hold you 'til later or will you need another sandwich?" I asked. He looked as if he were debating. "No, I think this will hold me," he decided. I smiled and fixed my own plate. I looked at the clock and was surprised at the time. I ate quickly, and started the spaghetti sauce for dinner. Grandpa finished his plate and put it in the sink as I was opening cans of whole peeled tomatoes and placing them in a large pot. I used my hands to squish them and added in dried Italian seasoning mix and garlic. I set the pot to simmer while I finished up dishes and started in on making the meatballs to simmer in the sauce.