Maddened

Chapter 3

That night, Jim headed over to Madden's house with Toby, Claire, ARRRGH, and Draal. They decided to see if ARRRGH could smell any sign of her. Jim could hear Madden's parents inside arguing about the TV.

They were too busy to notice Jim climb onto the garage with ARRRGH's help him sneak in through Madden's open window. Jim guessed that when Madden snuck out she didn't close the window. He saw her phone on her unkept bed along with her earphones, everything looked as Madden would usually leave it. Jim went and grabbed a shirt off of the floor and climbed back down.

"You grabbed her shirt?" Toby sounded disgusted, "It was on the floor Tobes." Jim rolled his eyes before he handed it to ARRRGH. Draal looked over the troll's shoulder, giving the shirt an occasional sniff of his own.

ARRRGH began to sniff the ground, dropping the shirt to the floor. Claire picked it up and put it in her bag while ARRRGH's sniffer led him to the garage where the garage door was closed.

"She might've grabbed her motorcycle and left." Toby shrugged "It could have gotten to the point, she ran away." He added

"No, she didn't. Senor Uhl said she went missing by the Devil's Track and her bike isn't there." Claire came around from the side of the garage, they didn't even realize she was gone. Draal trailed behind her. "Claire's correct, any form of transportation is gone." He added

"Then let's go to the Devil Tracks." Jim said, "What Devil Tracks?" ARRRGH said, "They're just a set of old railroad tracks that have been out of commission for a while, everyone believes it's haunted." Claire shrugged her shoulders.

"Cause it is!" Toby shuddered, "It's not haunted, Tobes." Jim muttered rolling his eyes.

They all began to walk to the gas station, the one by the Devil's Tracks. Upon arriving, Draal and ARRRGH hung back as Claire, Jim, and Toby walked inside to see if anyone was at the gas station.

There was only one guy, his nametag read Dan. "Hey there kiddos." He said with a playful edge to his voice. "What have y'all been up to?"

"We heard Madeleine Richards went missing here?" Claire said in a professional voice before the boys could speak. Jim looked at her astonished.

The guy's light in his eyes vanished immediately. "Yeah... She went missing around here, I kept her motorcycle at my place." He said, "She just vanished, I was getting her something for her ear cause her mom threw something at her-" The words made Jim's heart clench, all this time Madden needed him and he didn't bother.

Claire laid a hand on his shoulder. "It isn't your fault, Jim." She tried to soothe, Dan paused in his sentence "So you're the guy she's been tellin' me 'bout." He crossed his arms. "She always talked about how you 'placed her with Claire Nunez!"

"I feel so sorry." Jim hung his head meanwhile Claire gave Dan a harsh look and Toby pressed on "What else happened?"

"Well I went back to get her something, then I came back out when I heard a wolf howlin', sounded like a train but I knew better." Dan explained "Well, came back out. There was some money on the counter but her motorcycle was where she left it along with her latte beside it... She just vanished.." Dan made a poof motion.

Jim nodded "Well, is it alright if we check out the tracks?" But the guy just waved them off. "Yeah, yeah."

Jim, Claire, and Toby left the gas station. Dan didn't seem to like them, but no one could really blame him. If Jim had just answered the stupid door, she might still be here.

Draal and ARRRGH were waiting by the gas station in the darkness. Draal was murmuring something while ARRRGH was the first to notice their return.

"You know?" ARRRGH asked, his eyes showed worry. Even though the trolls never met Madden, they knew how her parents argued and how she had to run off sometimes. They cared for her even though they've never seen her.

"Yeah, apparently she was by the tracks when she disappeared." Jim murmured, "Yeah she went poof, her motorcycle and everything still here." Toby made a poof motion

"Let's go check these 'tracks' owned by the devil, out." Draal said they all snuck by the cashier-Dan's sight. Draal crawled over the vegetation that blocked the railroad from view and was followed by the others. ARRRGH put his nose near the ground and began to sniff.

He led them closer to the tracks. Draal looked around, his horns swinging from side to side. The darkness was thick, with no moonlight to guide them. The gas station was far off when ARRRGH abruptly paused, he sniffed at something. "Madden hurt..."

Claire peeked over and gasped, covering her mouth. "Something bad happened to Madden..." Jim walked over his amulet tight in his hands. He finally managed to spot what he had missed before.

Small droplets of dried blood almost blended in on the rusted rails. It couldn't be a good sign for Madden. "What do you think happened?" Toby asked

Draal looked over but he didn't seem focused on the blood spill. "She was dragged," He pointed to marks in the gravel, it looked like a bag of potatoes was dragged along the ground.

"The footprints don't indicate a troll took her..." Draal sighed as he observed the trail. His eyes narrowed "A wolf."

"A wolf bit her and dragged her?" Toby sounded in disbelief, "Impossible, wolves don't live around here." Claire scoffed. "No animal, werewolf." ARRRGH murmured, "Wait werewolves!" Jim shouted

"They're real?" Toby demanded "Why not? Gunmar is." Claire countered "So at least a gumm gumm didn't take her." Toby shrugged, everyone gave him a harsh glare at the comment.

Draal looked around as if putting together pieces of a puzzle. "Splat of blood.. wolf prints, and dragging..." He mumbled "Draal, what're you thinking?" Jim asked, noticing his concentration.

"The dragging and blood, if the wolf wanted her dead. It would've eaten her away," Draal's face seemed to pale despite him being made of stone. "It needs a pack... So it's making one."

"You mean... Madden's his first-person?" Toby was fiddling with his fingers. Draal nodded, his expression grave. "We need to find her as soon as possible." Jim murmured, "Before he turns her."

"He already bit her." Draal said, gesturing to the blood. "It's too late, either she'll die in the transformation or live. Either way, she's better off with this wolf, he'll see her through her transformation."

Jim frowned, his blue eyes showed the helplessness he felt. He wanted to save Madden but she is quite better off with her kidnapper. He had to face the truth.

"Guess it's time to go home.."