Not to Disappear

Not to Disappear - Chapter 4

A little change from canon here - Charlie met Sam and Dean in season 5 on a case where she was needed to hack into a security system so they could take down a werewolf. She broke her ankle and the relationships she made with the boys are just the same as the first time she meets them in canon.

Message received 04:13 from Sam W.

Hey Maddy. Dean and I have taken care of Whittaker so you can come back now. Stay out of trouble :)

Message sent 04:14 to Sam W.

Yo! Cool! Turning around now. Thanks guys!

Message sent 04:15 to Jackie.

I'm staying in South Dakota for a while. Locked the house up. Thanks.

Message sent 04:16 to Michael.

Hi, I'm crashing at the SD house. I'll keep up to date with school online again. Hope you're kicking some corporate butt.

Message received 08:00 from Michael.

Okay.

The house at South Dakota was as cold Maddy remembered it. Jackie and Michael weren't fond of the area, preferring to vacation in warmer states in the brief lapses between their work life. Maddy supposed it was just for the sake of appearances that they kept it.

Keith the car managed to make it up the stony gravel road to the house just as he ran out of fuel, spluttering on the driveway with a groan of relief.

"Sorry, old guy," Maddy said, patting the dash. "I'll get you fed up."

She climbed out, pulling out a bunch of keys from the first zip compartment of her backpack and finding the one with the SD engraving.

The wooden steps up onto the porch moaned under her weight as she made her way to the door. The key turned and the door opened with a soft creak, breaking the silence of the sleeping house. Maddy stared into it, watching the dust hovering in the air of the empty rooms, dimly lit by the early-morning light peaking through the gaps in the curtains she had closed the last time she had been there, nine months ago.

Maddy didn't mind the emptiness. She was used to opening the front door and not expecting anyone to be home.

She smiled as she sighed, and got to work.

Two hours later, the house was unrecognisable. The curtains were open, crisp sunshine illuminating the freshly dusted furniture. Several scented candles had been lit, cinnamon mixing with the smell of baking bread and air freshener. Beneath an over arching bookshelf, a fire was crackling away in the hearth, making the cover of a Daphne Du Maurier book on the coffee table in front of it glow.

But above all of that, the main difference was the silence. It was gone. In its place was Accidentally in Love blasting from the Shrek 2 album on Maddy's iPod.

The girl in question was in the kitchen, flour smudged on her cheek as she sang along.

"Melting under blue skies, belting out sunlight shimmering love!" she yelled with abandon.

She pushed the oven door shut with her hip, wincing at the heat coming from the baking tray in her hands.

"Well baby I surrender to the strawberry ice cream, never ever end of all this love! Well I didn't mean to do it, but there's no escaping your love!"

She broke off a piece of bread and grimaced. It smelled good, but taste good it did not. She shrugged and tossed it into the bag for the bird feeder, as she had done with the last four loafs.