Bloodlines

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The words sanitarium and happiness are two words that should never be together in one sentence. For one, the place looked like a retirement home. The lobby was baby pink walls, and the tile floors were white with plush blue rugs. The front desk was worked by an old lady wearing a sweater vest and black pants. The binder also didn't look ancient; it looked like those expensive binders from Staples. There was a giant light that shed warmness and unsettlement. While as some may feel unsettled, Maddie was unbothered by it since she's been secretly visiting since May

Maddie was smart about how she pulled off this secret. First, she went under the pseudonym of Holly Fox so that the council wouldn't find her name in the sign-in sheet. Second, she made up some fake excuse she would tell her family and friends. Everyone thought that she was at an audition, meanwhile Maddie was not. She felt guilty lying to everyone she cared about, but she wasn't going to abandon Caleb— the one family member with answers. The only problem was though that Caleb was so medicated that it made him not sociable, which was frustrating considering that pretty much everyone that hated Maddie is back in town.

Besides Caleb's speaking issue, Nosy Jenna and Olivia Butchwell plagued her mind like it was the bubonic plague in Europe. Jenna and Olivia were never friends, so why are they now? That's where the puzzle pieces would not fit. Alex didn't seem to have a clue either, but for once he might be onto something. She had to figure out what their plan was before it's too late. Hopefully none of them made themselves friendly with her friends.

Maddie sat on the blue armchair, waiting to be called up. She sat and took out Annabeth's diary. Maybe Annabeth knew Caleb back in the eighties. Caleb was pretty old, probably late forties. Caleb had to know something about Annabeth because Annabeth has had a long history with pretty much every founding family in Black Chapel. Rollins was a founding family, whom what Holbrook had jotted down on a post it had bad blood with Annabeth. As Maddie was skimming through the pages, she felt as though someone was staring at her.

Maddie looked over her shoulder and saw a man with red hair staring right at her. He had platinum blond hair that looked like a buzz cut. His face was very handsome with angular jawlines that would make a girl fall for him. He wore a leather jacket and jeans. Maddie looked away and went on her phone. She felt like texting Luke about the man staring at her, but then that would just bring up questions on where she was. Why is this strange man staring at me? Maddie twirled her hair, uncomfortably, and felt his freezing blue eyes watching her every move. Maddie peered over past her shoulder and saw that he was either checking her out or being a creep. She was not interested because of two reasons: She had a boyfriend, and the guy looked like a man with hepatitis that smoked cocaine on a daily basis. He was annoying her to the point where she felt like breaking his face so he couldn't look at her anymore. Fed up with him, Maddie decided to set him straight.

"Can I help you with something you creepy, blond, pedophile?" Maddie asked him, rudely. "Your cocaine is probably in a bug infested motel, not a sanitarium." The man started to laugh as he put down the magazine he was reading. Maddie didn't know why he was laughing at her. She was pissed. She felt a vein bulge out of her forehead.

"Nah," the man said. "But it's hard to take your insult seriously."

Maddie raised her eyebrow. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you look cute when you're angry," the man said, in a calm but patronizing way.

Maddie rolled her eyes. The height jokes never get old. "I may be short but I have the strength to throw you all the way to Timbuktu."

"Sorry," The man apologized. "I didn't mean to insult you in any way."

"Then why were you staring at me?" Maddie asked him. "You jealous because my eyebrows have better game than yours?"