Hidden (Marchwood Vampire Series #1) Read Online Free PDF

week’s suspension from school, working with her in the
supermarket.
    It meant Maddy
could keep out of Trevor’s way, stay out of trouble and, at the
same time, contribute to the dwindling household income. Angie was
happy with the arrangement, Madison less so and Ben was relieved
Maddy wouldn’t be sent away. Trevor hadn’t made his feelings known;
he’d just grunted.
    Madison had
been stacking shelves, sweeping floors, cleaning toilets and
flattening cardboard boxes for a couple of days now. She and Angie
were on the eight-till-four shift, with forty five minutes for
lunch. Each day was long and monotonous and Madison was bored out
of her skull.
    Nobody
interesting or good looking worked there and she was mortified
every time anyone from school came in, mainly because she had to
wear a blouse and skirt so revolting they induced violent feelings
of nausea. To complete this humiliating ensemble, was a blue nylon
overall which generated so much static, she renamed herself
Electro-Girl, whose only superpower was to give off shocks barely
strong enough to irritate a wasp.
    Maddy knew her
foster mum enjoyed having her there. They had their tea breaks and
lunch together and Angie kept trying to initiate cosy chats, trying
to draw her into all the work gossip. But Maddy wasn’t interested
in the faulty till on checkout number three or how bad the
manager’s new hairpiece looked.
    Home life
wasn’t much better, with Trevor ignoring her and Ben constantly
asking if she was okay. Each evening, when she got home from the
supermarket, there was a shed load of schoolwork waiting. She was
fed up and exhausted. Nothing felt good. To top it all off,
tomorrow was her sixteenth birthday and she had nothing planned.
She didn’t even know if anyone would remember.
    The following
morning dawned grey and bland. A nothingy day – damp and dull. But
when Madison came down to breakfast, she saw two wrapped presents
on the table.
    ‘ Happy birthday, love,’ Angie smiled and kissed her cheek.
‘Your brother reminded us. What with all that’s been going on, we
almost forgot. Sweet sixteen and never been kissed.’
    ‘ Hmphh.’
    ‘ Trevor! Don’t be such a misery guts. It’s the girl’s
birthday. You don’t turn sixteen every day.’
    ‘ Happy Birthday,’ he finally said. ‘Well, don’t just stand
there, sit down and have some breakfast. Angie’s done us a fry
up.’
    Ben flew into
the kitchen. ‘Happy Birthday, Mads! I got you a present.’ He handed
her a small, badly wrapped parcel.
    ‘ Oh, Ben, you didn’t have to! Thanks.’
    ‘ Open it then.’
    ‘ Give us a chance.’ She tore at the wrapping, secured with
yards and yards of sellotape. ‘God, Ben, did you use the whole
roll?’ She finally managed to prise the gift free of its bonds and
out of a small squashed cardboard box fell a silver bracelet with a
single charm attached. It was a small bird with its wings
outstretched.
    ‘ It’s not real silver or anything, but I’ve seen you with that
seagull book all the time and the charm looks a bit like a seagull,
so I thought you might like it.’
    ‘ Ben, I love it. It’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever bought
me. You are such a great brother. But you shouldn’t’ve spent your
money on me.’ She stood up and flung her arms around him, kissing
his cheek till he pushed her away.
    ‘ Alright, Maddy, it’s not that great.’
    ‘ Yes it is. I’m going to put it on and I’ll wear it every day,
forever.’
    ‘ Aaah, Ben,’ Angie said. ‘You’re such a thoughtful boy. You’ll
make someone a lovely husband one day.’
    Ben blushed
and sat down at the table.
    ‘ Are we eating or what?’ Trevor said. ‘I mean it’s lovely and
all that, but our breakfast’s getting cold.’
    ‘ I’ll dish up,’ Angie said. ‘Sit back down, Maddy. You can
open the rest of your presents after brekkie.’
    Maddy still
had to go to work, even on her birthday, but she hadn’t expected
anything otherwise. She opened Angie and