Hidden (Marchwood Vampire Series #1)

HIDDEN

Book One

Marchwood
Vampire Series

~

Shalini Boland

SMASHWORDS
EDITION

Copyright ©
Shalini Boland 2011

~

This novel is entirely a work of fiction.

The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the
work of

the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual
persons,

living or dead, events, locales or organisations is entirely
coincidental.

~

Smashwords Edition License Notes

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ebook may not

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~

http://www.shaliniboland.co.uk

~

For Pete, Dan and Billy xxx

~

PREFACE

*

He felt the drumming of the earth, the
heartbeat of all humankind in his bones and blood, in his skin and
soul. It sang a song that he had known forever and in that instant
everything became clear. He knew the reason for it all; the key to
life and it was so obvious. How could he not have known this simple
truth before now?

And then as suddenly as it had come, it
left. His beating heart slowed, the song faded and the knowledge
slipped away like an elusive memory refusing to come to mind. He
felt a devastating loss, worse than if his dearest love had
died.

A heavy melancholy descended, so profound he
felt as though he should like to sleep for a thousand years. In the
cold darkness, tears rolled down his face and stung his cheeks like
acid. He closed his eyes and tried not to think. It hurt to
think.

It hurt.

God, it hurt.

Like the skin being stripped from his body.
He could not breathe and his eyes burned white hot with a searing
pain.

He tried to speak but his
throat constricted, closed shut. Was he in hell? Was this the fate
he deserved?
Please, God, no! Help me!
he silently screamed.
Save me! I promise … I promise
anything. I will do anything. Just please … make … it …
STOP.

Chapter
One

*

‘
... and black denim micro skirts are certainly not part of
our school uniform. Nor are those boots or that trashy black
eyeliner ...’

Madison let
the Deputy Head’s sharp Scottish tones fade out as she gazed
through the window onto the school playing fields. Some of the boys
were out there playing a brutal game of rounders, taking it
pathetically seriously. She wrinkled her nose at the stink of
disinfectant and perfume in Haggis’ room. It made the already
stifling air barely breathable.

‘
Madison, are you listening to me?’ Haggis rapped her saggy
knuckles on the table. ‘Or am I talking to the wall? You know, you
would do well to listen, girl. You need to change your ways. I’ve
seen your type a hundred times before and you never amount to
anything. You have all the back-chat and think you’re the queen of
the world, but you’re nothing. You look a mess and you’ve
absolutely no respect for tradition.’

Something in
Maddy snapped - something separate and distant from her brain.
Anger spiked.

‘
You’re talking crap. All you want is a school full of
uniform-wearing Nazis, like you.’

‘
I beg your pardon!’ Haggis’ mouth hung open for a couple of
seconds and her face flushed purple. ‘How dare you talk to me like
that.’

Maddy ignored
her. She knew she’d gone too far, but she was sick of people
talking down to her like she was nothing, like she had no feelings.
All her unsaid frustrations spewed out with no thought for any
consequences.

‘
Don’t you want us to think for ourselves? I mean, I’m not
telling you how to do your job, just making a few suggestions.’ She
paused. ‘Or maybe you‘re just jealous, cos you‘re an ancient old
hag.’

‘
You little …’

Maddy suddenly
felt a stinging blow on her cheek and put her hand to her face. She
couldn’t believe it. Haggis had slapped her. The old cow had
actually hit her. She felt anger, followed by a strange realisation
that this could possibly work out in her favour.

Haggis stared
down at her trembling hand and then looked back at Maddy in
fear.

‘
You hit me,’ said Maddy.

There was a
moment’s silence.

‘
You deserved it.’ Haggis’ fear was morphing into something
else. Something harder.

‘
You’ll get the sack for that,’ Maddy said. ‘You might even
get put away.’

‘
Don’t be ridiculous. Who’d believe a jumped up little trollop
like you?’

‘
I’m gonna go and see Gordon. Tell him what you’ve
done.’

‘
You tell anyone anything and I’ll make sure you and your
brother are split up for good,’ Haggis said, cold flint in her
voice. ‘I’ll make sure he gets sent back to that care home you
hated so much.’

‘
You can’t do that …’

‘
Breathe a word of this and your life will be worth even less
than it is now. I mean it. You don’t say anything to anybody, or
that little brother of yours will be back wetting the bed for the
next four years.’

Madison wanted
to punch her.

‘
Wait here,’ Haggis said. She reappeared a few minutes later
with Mr Gordon, the headmaster.

‘
Madison Greene has just threatened to ‘smack me in the
face’,’ she announced and pursed her lips, waiting.

‘
Lying bitch. You can’t …’ But she realised she couldn’t say
anything without jeopardising her life further.

‘
Quiet, Madison,’ Mr Gordon said, a weary frown embedded in
his grey forehead.

‘
What are you going to do about it, Mr Gordon?’ Haggis put her
hands on her hips. ‘I will not be spoken to like that or threatened
in such a way, especially not by the likes of
her
.’

‘
I’ll deal with it, Miss McKinley.’ He sighed. ‘Madison, you
better come into my office.’

Maddy shook
her head slowly in disbelief whilst Haggis caught her eye and
twisted her lips in a half smile. Mr Gordon opened the door and
gestured to Madison to lead the way.

Once in his
office, he pointed to a chair and she dropped herself into it. A
loud whump of air rushed out of the seat pad. Madison re-crossed
her arms and began chewing her fingernails. Mr Gordon sat behind
his desk.

‘
She’s lying,’ Madison began. ‘I never said …’

Mr Gordon held
up his hand to silence her.

‘
Madison, I’m sorry but you’ve been warned about this type of
thing twice already this term. I’m seeing persistent disruptive
behaviour from you.’ He slowly shook his head. ‘I’ve got no other
option … I’m going to have to exclude you from school for one
week.’

‘
What?’ She couldn’t believe it. How had this happened? How
had it gone from one of Haggis’ boring lectures, to her getting
slapped and then suspended? She daren’t risk telling the truth; her
brother couldn’t take going back to that place. Trevor was going to
freak.

‘
I’ll also be speaking to your foster parents.’

‘
But I never threatened her. I just …’

‘
Stop, Madison. You’ve been in my office too many times and
I’m not putting up with it anymore. You’re lucky I don’t get the
police involved. Threatening a teacher with violence is a serious
offence.’

‘
I didn’t threaten her though. She’s such a liar ... Oh what’s
the point.’ She clenched her fist in frustration. ‘No one ever
believes me anyway.’ Her cheek stung.

‘
Right.’ Mr Gordon picked up a blue folder and flipped through
its pages. ‘You can stay in classroom 4B until the end of school.
You needn’t return until your week’s suspension is up.’

‘
Great,’ she replied, standing up, raising her middle finger
and slamming out of his office.

Madison didn’t
bother going into classroom 4B and she couldn‘t face going home
yet. Leaving the school grounds, she strode across to the nearby
park and sat on the only non-vandalised swing. Over by the hedge, a
small cluster of Year Nines were bunking off and sharing a bottle
of cider.

She swung her
bare legs backwards and forwards on the swing, its rusty chain,
thirsty for a few squirts of oil. As she swung higher and higher,
anger took hold. She gritted her teeth at the injustice of it all,
thoughts flying through her head, things she should have said,
should’ve done, an acidic feeling rising.

Not a breath
of wind stirred, only the stale breeze she generated on the swing.
After a while, her thoughts blurred and she tried to shake off a
feeling of dread. Putting her feet down on the concrete to slow
herself, she pulled out her mobile phone to check the time. Ten
past three, school would be finishing soon.

She’d been at
Collingstone Comprehensive for the past three years and had settled
in pretty well, managing to hover somewhere between the cool kids
and the troublemakers. Now, as she headed back to the school, she
glared at its green iron gates and faded red bricks, as if it was
somehow the building’s fault she was in trouble.

The bell
shrilled, making her jump, and there was a minute of silence before
doors banged open and hundreds of pupils spilled out in a mess of
movement and noise. As she waited, Maddy felt distanced from it
all, cut off, adrift.

*

‘
Ugghhh! I could scream.’ It was a relief to finally talk to
Keisha and Lois. ‘Haggis lied to Mr Gordon’s face. She actually
lied.’

‘
Oh, Mads, I’d have gone mental.’ Lois scowled.

‘
What did you do?’ Keisha asked.

‘
Nothing I
could
do. Just gave him the finger and walked out of his
office.’

‘
Good. That’s all they deserve. You should’ve texted us, we’d
have bunked Geography.’

‘
Thanks, but I was so wound up, I wasn’t thinking
right.’

‘
One whole week though, Mads,’ Lois said. ‘At least it’s
summer, you can get yourself a good tan, girl.’

‘
Yeah right, Lois. You know our Maddy girl don’t tan, she just
gets a million freckles and burns up like a red hot chilli
pepper.’

‘
Thanks for that, Keisha. You’re supposed to be cheering me
up, not taking the piss.’

‘
Sorry, babe, just trying to take your mind off it, you
know.’

‘
Yeah, I know.’ Maddy smiled at her friends. She’d told her
friends some of what happened, but hadn’t dared tell them about
Haggis hitting her. If any gossip reached the staffroom, Haggis
could make trouble for her and Ben. She couldn’t risk it. Then she
spotted him up ahead. ‘Hey, Ben! Wait up!’

She jogged
down the road after a group of gangly Year Sevens. Ben was among
them. She‘d missed him at the gates. Putting her arm around his
neck, she pulled him into a bear hug, ruffling his dark brown hair
and kissing the top of his head. His school uniform was about two
sizes too big and swamped his narrow frame.

‘
Get off,’ he grinned.

‘
Hey, Ben, your sister’s well fit,’ said one of his friends.
‘Can you give me some of that good loving too, Madison?’

‘
Yeah, Maddy, you know we want some.’

Maddy smiled
and pulled her brother to one side, letting them all walk on ahead,
still shouting and catcalling back to her. She told him a
watered-down version of what had happened.

‘
Oh no, Mads. Trevor’s gonna go mad.’ Ben frowned and chewed
on the corner of his thumb.

‘
Don’t worry about him, Ben. I’m not.’

Maddy wasn’t
looking forward to telling their foster father about her suspension
from school and realised she didn’t want Ben to be around when she
broke the news in case there was a scene.

‘
Here’s a couple of quid, why don’t you go to the park with
your mates for a bit. Come back around half five.’ She shook out
the meagre contents of her purse and gave it to her
brother.