The Mortal Instruments: Book of Mercy

Chapter One: The Herbal Tea Didn't Do Anything to You

"Rita? Are you up?" Maddie slowly closed the door behind her. There was a small click. Rita didn't reply. She decided she must be having her afternoon nap. Maddie put her keys and phone down on the table as she entered the kitchen. She grabbed some bread from the bread bin. She did everything quietly as not to wake the 86 year old up. After the kid's home had closed, Maddie had had nowhere to go. Until Rita took her in. She owed the old woman everything. And so the least she could do was make her some toast. And so that was what she did. She made Rita some toast. She covered  it in Flora (Rita wouldn't eat normal butter) and then seedless jam. She put it on the table as Rita entered the room. The old dear waved Maddie out of the room. "I'm sure you have better things to do than wait on me. Scram!"
Maddie assumed that it was another one of Rita's many ways of saying thank you. She smiled, nodded and headed out of the kitchen into the hall. "I'll be back in an hour Rita!" Maddie called out as she left the house. She had done all of her schoolwork so she wasn't really sure what to do with herself. She checked her phone, she decided she would call her best friend Dylan. They were really close when they both lived at the children's home but before it closed down Dylan had been taken to a foster family. They still saw each other at school but it was rarer. She called him, it rang a few times before he picked up. "Hey Dylan... I was wondering if you wanted to hang out for a bit?"
Dylan smiled. "Sure! I just need to ask my foster parents first. They should be cool with it, meet in the park in 15 minutes." He said before hanging up. She felt was sort of jealous that he was fostered but Maddie guessed Rita was sort of he foster mother. She started making her way to the park and found a bench to settle down on. From it Maddie could see Rita's cafe, it was full as per usual. Rita's cafe, Witches Tea Room, was all ways too full to seat people and so Maddie couldn't understand why it was so full. She shook her head and got a book out. From the bench she'd be able to see Dylan coming from around the corner. She looked around. She saw a toddlers pixie dolls wing fluttering. She shook her head. The humid air was already making her hair frizz. Once she was satisfied that she'd see him she buried herself in the book, Watership Down. Someone sat next to her, a girl her age with long brown hair and a brilliant black leather jacket. The girl had almost sat on her and she looked up in protest. The girl was strange. She had a few small white scars and a tattoo and the back of her had. She wasn't in school uniform and when she eventually spoke she had an American accent. Maddie's first thought was that maybe white girls in America got tattoos at thirteen. Her second thought was that even if Donald Trump was President America couldn't be that different to England. Her third thought was that England was better as it had free Healthcare. The girl grinned suddenly, and spoke into an earpiece. Was she a spy? If she was, she wasn't too good at it. She stood out. Maddie wished she did. "Hey Theo, I'm in the park. I thought you'd only take five minutes after the portal? Still feeling ill?" The girl chuckled. "I'll meet you there. I can't believe you did that!" The girl got up and walked into the direction of the cafe. Maddie quickly shoved her book into her bag and got ready to follow her.
"Maddie? Where are you going?" Dylan was here. "Are you okay? Anyway I'm in need of one of Rita's milkshakes, can we go?" Maddie looked up at the girl. She was dodging though the crowd with ease. No one noticed her. But their was no denying it, she was going to Witches Tea Rooms. Maddie turned to Dylan. "Yeah, let's run, make sure we get a table." Dylan's troubled look faded and he smiled down at Maddie. She frowned as she looked at the girl. How did she get though the crowd so quickly? Maddie grabbed her bag, took Dylan's wrist and ran.
"Sorry!" Was the word she had to use a million times as she pushed though the crowd of rowdy teens. She and Dylan were like two mice stuck under the feet of a stampede of wild boars. When they got to the cafe, the women in charge of them was Olive. A sweet tanned Indian girl who Rita gave a job to out of pity. She was the hardest worker and practically babysat the two children while they where there. Olive gave them seats and went to get there milkshakes when Maddie saw the girl. She was getting funny looks from everyone around her as was the boy she sat with. Maddie guessed this was Theo. He had more tattoos than the girl did, but with less scars. Maddie told Dylan she was going to say hello.
"Why, do you know them?"
"Yeah, they used to be in my old theatre group." She lied. Dylan shrugged.
As she went to wonder over she saw the girl get up and go to speak with Olive. The boy turned around and looked at Maddie. His eyes widened and he look back to Olive. Then to Maddie. Then back to Olive, who was heading towards Maddie. Maddie turned just in time to see Theo sneak into the kitchen. Maddie ran after him.
"Elise, I saw Jace, he found us. We've got to go. I think your dad's helping him."
The girl, Elise, looked sour. "Then I guess we have to go..." She turned around to she Maddie peering around the corner. Her eyes widened. A man called out as he walked into the kitchen.
"Elise? Theo? Your both in big trouble!"
"Elise open the portal!" Theo shouted when suddenly, the glass bottles of herbs all blew up. "Elise, what happened? Come on!!" He shouted again. The blond man, who'd been behind Maddie before, came around the corner as Maddie was pulled though a blue mist.