The Queen Of Spades

Chapter 8, Continued, Again

The next morning I called for Finn and told him to come to mommy—that way he could learn that I was his mom— and he came running into the kitchen. To Hannah. I was confused for a second why he wouldn't come to me, then I put the pieces together and confronted Hannah. "Excuse me Hannah, why did he run to you?"
"Well I thought the little guy could use a parent figure while he's in this death trap, and I really doubted that Nada was his mom."
"So you just, what? Take in all the kids that you think need you? Where do you get the nerve to try and take Finnegan as your son."
"Well he can't very well just be left to wander, children need parents and guidance so they don't turn out like-" she stopped short.
"Like what? Finish your sentence Hannah. What do you not want Finn to turn out like?"
"Like you, Madelyn. I don't want him to be corrupted by your skewed morals and murderous tendencies."
"That does not give you the authority to take my son. I don't want him to be corrupted by your rainbows and unicorns mentality. Don't ever assume that I would hurt a child, let alone one of mine."
"Wait, I'm sorry, did you say your son?"
"Yea do you have a problem with that? Come here Finn, it's time for breakfast. Hannah, think before you speak or I’ll cut out your bloody tongue."
"Madelyn enough!" Nada demanded, though I didn't remember her coming in here. Hannah haughtily stormed out of the kitchen and if she didn't hate me before, she definitely did now.
"You want to talk about it now?" Nada slammed her newspaper down on the island.
"Talk about what?"
"Whatever the Hell's going on with you!"
“You want to know what’s wrong? Why I’m so mad at you?” I asked, “It’s because you’re horrible people. You, Oliver, Mom, Dad, everyone. You abandoned us and let them die!” Quickly giving Finn his breakfast, I ushered him out of the kitchen so that Nada and I could scream at each other.
“Calm down Maddie. Explain.”
“They shouldn’t have left. But you were supposed to check in on us. It’s all your fault. It’s all your fault! You’re the reason they left me!”
“Your parents put the greater good above the wants of their children. That is understandable. You have always known this. They all knew the risks, you knew the risks. Sometimes people die, that is just our line of work. Deal with it.”
“No! No! WE WERE THEIR CHILDREN! We were the greater good! They didn’t understand that. They left Aiden to act as the parent most of the time. And he did, he stepped up. But he shouldn’t have had to! We were children. Children and killing people. Seven years old and murdering someone in cold blood. Aiden, Nova, Me, even Jade! You put blood on our hands and told us it was soap. We washed ourselves in the screams of our victims.” Tears streamed down my face at the memory of Jade’s first kill and how proud my parents were. It disgusted me.
“You were working, sometimes bad people need to die so that-”
“THAT IS NOT THE POINT NADA! We shouldn’t have been the ones to pull the trigger, even if they did need to die. You recruited children to be murderers and told us it was normal. It’s not normal to have to look over your shoulder and keep a knife in your pocket during recess. But you don’t see the problem. You don’t see me. You never have.” 
“Madelyn I see you, I am looking at you right now.”
I shook my head, “No, you see what you want to see. You don’t see me, you don’t see my pain. You don’t see my scars, because I was taught to cover them up. I don’t want to hide for the rest of my life! You hurt me Nada, I am mentally and physically broken because of you and Ollie and Mom and Dad. Because I thought I was doing a good thing. I thought you were doing a good thing. But you weren’t and my family paid the price with their lives. I’ll help you with the Nazis, and then I’m leaving. I’m taking Finn and I’m leaving. I need real help, and I can’t get that with you in my life.”
“Amanda and I will go with you.” Gideon put his hand on my shoulder. “We don’t have anywhere else to go anyways.”
“You’d really follow me to God knows where?”
“I would follow you to the ends of the Earth, if only for selfish reasons.” I cocked an eyebrow, wondering what he meant.
“Cute.” Nada butted in, “But you’re not leaving. I am still your legal guardian.”
“Good luck trying to stop her.” Noah scoffed, “If there's one thing you need to know about Madelyn Everhart, It’s that she never loses.” I smiled, he was right. I needed to reinvent myself, get out of Maine and go somewhere small and safe. I could finish out highschool… or not, get a job, somewhere to live with Gideon and the kids, and thrive. Let people in, break down my walls. I knew the perfect place. A place where everyone was accepted, no questions. A place for kids with no parents to live. “Take down the new uprising, get the target off my back. Then I’m gone.” With that, I went outside for some fresh air.