Wild Heart

Chapter 7

Rhydian POV~

He knocked eagerly on the door- it opened to a half awake Tom and a disgruntled "What?"
Rhydian laughed, and immediately felt better for it. "Mate, it's like 11 o'clock."
"Exactly, that's why I'm still in pajamas," he replied. "What are you doing here anyway?"
Tom opened the door wider as Rhydian stepped through. "I have something to show you."

Tom lead the way up to his room, closely followed by Rhydian. It was painted red, with every surface covered in Man United stuff. It smelt nice, welcoming even.
Rhydian pulled they key from his pocket and held it up for Tom to see. "I found this underneath a picture in my room." Tom squinted at it, still bleary eyed from sleep.
"So?"
"It's not mine- Maddy must have put it there!" his face lit up with her name.
"What makes you think that? Maybe you forgot, or it was someone else." he looked doubtful.
"No, it was under a picture of her! It must be a clue for something..." He trailed off, not really sure where he was going.
Tom sighed. "We all miss Maddy, but maybe we need to accept she's gone."
"She's not gone! We're still a pack, in here." He gestured to his heart.
"I know, but-"
Rhydian cut him off. "I'm going to Mad's house now, to have a look. Are you coming or not?"
Tom shuffled his feet, undecided. "Fine. Gimme five minutes to get ready?"
"Yeah. Cheers Tom."
Grinning, he left the room, and paced the corridor outside.

Finally, after four months, they were doing sonething. It thrilled him to think that Maddy had left him a clue, that she'd been here!
Except something didn't feel right about it. He shrugged it off- he was probably overreacting.

Meanwhile, Tom had almost finished getting ready. "Should we ask Shannon?" he called.

"Yeah I think we'll need her."

Tom appeared in the doorway, phone pressed to his ear as he called Shannon. After a pause, he said "Voicemail. I'll call her again in a few minutes."
Rhydian nodded, before leaping up on the banisters and sliding down to the bottom floor.

"Woah, how did you do that?!"
Beaming, he replied "It's easy, just try it!"
So Tom gingerly climbed up and managed slide halfway down, until he lost his balance and landed with a thump on the stairs.
Rhydian laughed. "You need a it of practice!"
Grumbling, Tom got to his feet and walked the rest of the way down.
As they left the house, Tom locked the door behind them and pocketed his keys.
The mile long walk to Maddy's was met with mutual silence, both thinking about the key and what it might unlock.

When they reached her front door, Tom fished another set of keys from his pocket and carefully inserted one into the lock. He turned it, and they heard a click.
Heart thumping, Rhydian pushed open the door and peered inside. Darkness enveloped the hallway, and he fumbled for the light switch.
As the hallway lit up, he could tell something was wrong.
The rug on the floor was wonky, as if someone had moved it, and a framed drawing of a wolf lay smashed on the floor.
Rhydian walked further in, and turned the corner.

He was horrified by what he saw.
Everything had been broken or thrown across the room- stuffing lay ripped from chairs and cuboards hung open, their contents lying on the floor. Apparently the last person here hadn't needed a key- a gaping hole in the kitchen window proved that.

"Woah." Tom said.
That pretty much summed up how Rhydian felt too.
The same foreign smell that lingered in Rhydian's bedroom hung around here, too. He didn't like it one bit.

He slumped against the wall, to shocked to do anything else.
Tom had his head in his hands.
"What are we gonna do?" he asked.
The question was met with silence from Rhydian, because he didn't know either.

After a pause, Tom said, "I guess I'll call Shannon."
Rhydian nodded glumly, while Tom phoned her up.
Luckily she answered this time, and he quickly explained the situation to her.
Tom hung up after a few minutes, and told Rhydian she was on her way.

Groaning, he stood up and surveyed the mess around him.
Cleaning could wait until later; the key came first.
For the third time that day, he took the key from his pocket and stared at it. If Maddy had hidden it, the best place to start was her room.
Rhydian trudged up the stairs to her room, wondering for the millionth time who had messed up her house. The shock of it all had almost short circuited his brain- for a moment her forgot which door lead to her room.

It was the second on the left, polished oak with a brass doornob. Hesitantly, he reached out and twisted it, leaning his shoulder against the door to push it open.

Immediately, Maddy's scent engulfed him, stopping him in his tracks. She was everywhere, her smell, her light, her being. Rhydian closed his eyes, and she was with him.
But the moment ended to quickly, and she faded away again.
He opened his eyes, facing her small bed, and behind it her desk. Books that were once stacked neatly lay in ruins on the floor. Boxes were emptied and shelves too- nothing was left untouched.
Someone had been in here too, and they were looking for something.

Tom appeared in the doorway, gaping at the mess in front of him.
After a moment he asked "Nothing here?"
Rhydian shook his head. "Whoever was here first would have found it, if there was anything."

Rhydian turned to leave. It was too much being here- when everything brought back memories. That interesting leaf he'd found for her, pinned on the board. Books she'd borrowed, drawings he'd made, scattered all over.

He left the room.

Omg so this was kinda a filler chapter...but the good news is the next one has a lot of stuff going on *wink wink*
So keep voting, commenting and I'll get it up asap!
Ily

Lucy xoxoxox