'✦ ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹
(a/n madelline's outfit on top)
Despite her packed schedule, Madelline's flexibility when it comes to her time is always fascinating, seeing as how she could still work out and spar with Elijah even though she still has her part-time job and studies.
One thing that's been bugging her is the limited information regarding the anchor matter. The information written was only limited to the point that she could count on her fingers how many were in the books. She only assumed that the limited information was due to her being the first ever to be the anchor and the one responsible for recording everything in case a new one appeared.
Within the span of 2 weeks, Madelline's combat skills improved tremendously, including both her vampire and demon abilities. Her training, which involves controlling the wind and the fire, disappointed her when she had grown to know that whatever she watched in the Avatar was not possible in real life.
The flexibility and agility rune were extremely evident on her hips and her left thigh. Elijah saw with his own eyes how her movements were filled with such swiftness, no one could ever see her coming.
It wasn't just her skills that were enhanced, but also her physical appearance. She noticed how her eyes turned black whenever she triggered her demon side and how red veins appeared under her eyes when she used her runes. These changes scare her; whenever she catches sight of herself, the mere sight of herself terrifies her. Yet, as time went by, she started getting used to it.
"Madelline!"
A groan escaped her lips when her train of thought was interrupted. She looked away from her book, searching for who called her, just to see Paul nearing the tree she was sitting on.
"Come down, woman!" he called out. A wide grin sat comfortably on his lips as he tucked his hands inside his pockets, watching Madelline smoothly get off the branch she was sitting on.
"Seriously?" Madelline deadpanned at him and tucked her book in her arms.
Paul feigned innocence as he met her eyes. "What?"
After some minutes of stare-downs, the shapeshifter huffed and rolled his eyes at the woman in front of him. "You can't blame me! When you told me you'd just have your me time, I thought it was a literal me time, where you pamper yourself. Not this!" he motioned over the book in her arms, glaring at it, which made Madelline hug the book tighter to her.
"I am having me time; this is me time!" she waved the book up in the air. "Also, I take some breaks every now and then," she murmured before looking down at her feet.
She was well aware of how they'd been worrying about her. She looks okay. She acts okay, but her coping mechanism seems to worsen over time, and they knew they had to intervene.
"Mads, even a human can smell your bullshit from a mile away," he scoffed.
He quickly grabbed the book away from her and caught her arm when she made a move to take it from him. "Time out, okay? For five minutes," he said.
A huff escaped her lips before she nodded. "Fine, but if this is your way of hooking me up with Jared, I swear to God—"
"Nope! I'll show you what real me time is."
"And that is...?"
"Cliff diving!"
A squeal escaped Madelline's lips, and she quickly walked beside Paul with excitement written all over her eyes. "Wait, I'm going to change first. You want to come?" she excitedly asked as she led the two of them.
Paul halted his tracks, gaping at Madelline. This caught her attention when she tugged on him, only to be pulled back. She looked back and saw Paul looking at her with a gobsmacked expression.
"Are you serious, Madelline?"
Her nose scrunched in confusion. "Serious about wha— oh! No, not that!" she exclaimed.
Paul felt himself sigh in relief and resumed walking beside her. "Thank God, I almost barfed, Mads."
"Sucks to be you, I guess."
A two-story house met Paul's vision after several minutes of walking that led outside of the forest. His mouth gaped as soon as they entered the door and saw how spacious and elegant the house was. It was a combination of modernity and elegance in how they designed and placed everything.
A sudden feeling of shyness washed over him as he further entered the house. They entered the living room and saw a man that looked to be in his early thirties, his glasses sitting on the bridge of his nose with the first few buttons of his shirt carelessly, while piles of documents were scattered on the coffee table in front of him.
"Hey, Dad," Madelline greeted and walked over to him. She leaned down to leave a peck on the side of his head.
Elijah looked up from his documents only to see an unfamiliar face standing in front of him. "Who...?"
Madelline followed his trail of sight and saw Paul standing uncomfortably in front of them with his hands crossed politely behind him. She stifled a laugh and held back the urge to tease him.
"This is Paul Lahote. He's part of Sam's pack," she answered.
Paul stepped forward and extended his arm out toward him to shake his hand. Elijah held back a smile when he noticed how nervous the boy was and shook his hand.
"Hello, Mr. Smith. Nice to meet you."
Elijah nodded in acknowledgment. "Nice to meet you as well."
Madelline placed her arms on the side of his neck and stood behind him. "We're actually planning to go cliff diving," she informed him.
Elijah scanned Paul from head to toe, unknowingly scaring the young boy. Madelline lightly tapped his chest and leaned down so they were head-level.
"Dad, stop scaring him," she hissed.
A laugh escaped his throat upon hearing her before he nodded. "Fine, fine. I'll behave. Sorry to make you feel uncomfortable, Paul," he apologized, sending him an apologetic smile.
"Anyway, who are you with?"
"Sam, Paul, Jared, and I. Maybe Emily will come too."
"Emily? That girl you mentioned to me a few weeks ago?"
Madelline hummed in reply as she gently drummed her fingertips against his chest. "Alright, just be safe and update me via text, okay?"
"Got you," she replied, pulling away to walk toward her room.
She grabbed Paul's wrist along the way and tugged him along. The latter seemed hesitant, seeing how her father may get the wrong idea, but when he turned his head, he saw Elijah burrowing in his work again.
As soon as Madelline entered her room, Paul stood by the doorway, shifting back and forth on the balls of his feet while his eyes were busy looking around in mild discomfort.
Madelline chuckled, finding him amusing. It was a rare sight for her since he was always confident and brash, ever since they met. "What are you doing?"
"It's weird," he hissed. "What would Jasper think if I entered your room?"
Madelline snorted and pulled his wrist inside. "Jasper's not like that. Besides, we're best friends, so you have a free pass here," she said, tapping the back of her swivel chair. "You can sit here," she told him.
Paul hesitantly walked near the chair and sat up straight, his back not touching even the slightest bit of the chair. Madelline walked away so that she could change, leaving Paul to scan her room quietly.
"Stop sitting like that, Lahote! No one's coming for your ass, so be comfy, and I'll be back!" she yelled out and left the room.
Paul dusted off his pants, stood up from his place, and walked around her room. It wasn't that he expected her room to be extremely girlish, but he assumed something else than what he was seeing.
Her room looked classy and modern, with a hint of vintage. The vinyl player sat in the corner with her collections piled in an organized manner. His interest was piqued when he saw familiar ones and decided to walk there. An immediate nod of approval was given when he saw her choice of songs.
He looked away from her collection and continued looking around, only to stop by her window sill, where a lone photo frame sat. As he walked closer to it, only then did he notice who was in the picture.
With a careful hand, he gently picked up the frame and saw both a film and a picture of Madelline and Jasper putting on a goofy pose. He almost forgot his distaste for the Cullen when he felt a smile creep up to his lips at the sight of genuine happiness painted across their faces.
"It's cute, right?"
The sudden voice almost made him drop the frame, clutching it dearly against his chest before turning around. Madelline stood a few feet away from him, placing her used clothes in a covered basket.
Paul placed the frame back where it was and sat once again on the swivel chair. "You two look good together," he commented.
"I know."
"When he comes back, do you want me to talk to him? You know, the best friend and boyfriend type of bond." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at her.
She almost snorted at how silly he looked. "Only if you want to," she replied. "I'm aware of your hatred toward their family."
Paul shrugged before standing up from his seat and walking over toward where she was. "If it's for you, then maybe I can try. You're my best friend, and I doubt the girl you're friends with interrogated him, seeing as she's too focused on Jasper's brother."
Madelline chuckled, shaking her head at him, and grabbed her bag. "I'm sure you'll love each other. Let's go."
"Highly debatable, but sure, okay."
They immediately left the house after bidding Elijah goodbye. Courtesy of Paul, the two used her car, with Madelline being the designated driver while Paul, the one who suggested just driving there, sat comfortably in the passenger seat.
"Passenger princess, much?" she teased as she maneuvered with one hand, glancing at him via her peripheral vision.
"Excuse me?" Paul gasped as he held a hand against his chest. "I can assure you, I'm not one to be the passenger princess!"
Giggles escaped her lips before she opened the window and propped up her arm by the door. A wide smile was left on Paul's lips as he turned to look at the girl beside him, only to notice a black marking peeking out of her top.
His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What's with the markings?" he asked.
His eyes slowly trailed down to the markings that covered some parts of her body; some looked fresh with how irritated the skin looked. He almost cringed at the painful sight of it. It only looked cool when he looked at it from afar. The moment he saw it up close, he touched his tribal tattoo.
"It's a rune," she answered, noticing his confused state. "They help us fight and improve our abilities along the way."
"How do you get them?" Paul asked, tilting his head to the side and fully turning his body to face her by crossing his legs underneath him.
Madelline glanced at him for a brief second before bursting out. "You look like a puppy," she noted. The shapeshifter only glared at her in response.
"We have a type of pen called a stele, which we use to mark ourselves, but my dad and I can use our hands and minds if we put our minds to it."
Paul's mouth clicked on his tongue in understanding, and he nodded. "Tell me more."
The drive to where the rest of the boys were was filled with Paul interrogating Madelline and urging her to tell him more stories about them. The hybrid felt touched, as this was the first time someone had keenly asked about her and her kind.
Sam and Jared came into view soon enough, hands on their hips, as they playfully narrowed their eyes at the two figures behind the incoming car.
"It took you long enough," Jared smirked, pulling Madelline into a hug after she got out.
"We missed you, if you can't tell," Sam pointed out, sarcasm lacing his voice.
A burst of laughter escaped Madelline's lips before she, too, hugged the older man. "Wow, Sam Uley missing me? What a day," she breathed out, causing Sam to roll his eyes at her.
As the three got distracted with another conversation, Madelline peeked at the edge of the cliff and noticed how high they were. A heavy sigh escaped her lips as she looked up at the clear sky, silently bidding her farewells to her loved ones.
"Scared, Mads?" Jared tantalized the girl with a smug smirk.
The girl only cleared her throat and stood up straight. "You wish," she scoffed.
"Aww, is the big, bad hybrid scared?" Paul pouted as he suddenly appeared on her other side, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.
"I'm scared of nothing, Lahote."
Those were her last words before she removed her shorts and oversized polo, stepping back from the cliff just enough to gain momentum. She immediately made a dash for it as she felt her spirit leave her body.
Jared saw her markings that covered her upper arm as well as her thighs, which he found weirdly attractive. As if he read his mind, Paul smacked the back of his head harshly.
"Dude, not her," he warned, jumping after Madelline.
Sam followed closely behind, but not before leaving a warning pat on Jared's shoulder. The four remained oblivious to the two figures who stood on the other side, looking at them with a horror expression.
♡
A hand flew up at her mouth upon seeing the girl jump only to be followed by another. The girl looked familiar but she can't seem to pinpoint who it was. Behind her, three more boys followed. The only thing she could gather was that they have similar tattoos on their right shoulder.
"What the hell are they doing?!" she exclaimed in horror and looked back to Jacob who calmly got out of the truck.
He shook his head. "That's cliff diving, a type of recreational activity," he answered.
He looked back to where the four were and noticed the familiar tattoo. A scowl immediately made its way to his face and slumped back against the door of her truck.
"You know what's weird? They're with Sam and he's this guy who keeps on looking at me as if he's expecting something," he told her.
Bella walked toward where he was and followed his trail of sight. "Just stay away from them, Jake. They reek bad news," she muttered under her breath before turning around to walk back to where the truck was.
Jacob briefly nodded and followed her but not before sending the four a one last look. Something inside him tells him that he would be seeing them again soon enough.
♡
https://pin.it/4TKeIvM — a reference of maddy and jaz' pic! :>