CHAPTER 1, RAINY DAY

"Oh no no no! Don't leave!" Maddie screamed at the top of her voice as she crossed the road carelessly and raced after the departing bus.

"F**k!" she cursed, giving up on chasing the bus and stepping to stand by the pavement of the bus station. Just then the sky gave way and it started to rain cats and dogs.

"Great! Just great!" Maddie spoke through gritted teeth, ending with a sharp breath as her mind raced to a few minutes ago. To the fight she had with her younger brother...

"What the hell Matt! You borrowed money from loan sharks to gamble? Are you out of your f**king mad!" Maddie screamed so loud, her throat was even hurting. The anger boiling in her veins was indescribable. Why did she have such a troublemaker as a brother!

"I saw a shot and I took it big sis, I am so sorry, I thought I was going to win," Matt spoke in a quiet voice, even lowering his gaze to the floor. She scoffed.

"Do you know what you are?" she paused to take a few steps closer to him, raising his face up with two of her fingers when she reached him.

"You are unbelievable and you are a pain in my ass and I swear, this time Matt, this time, you are going to take full responsibility for your actions! You hear me! I am done cleaning up your mess! God!"

The sudden clap of thunder brought Maddie back to the present. She sighed softly, realising that she was completely drenched by the rain. All thanks to her brother, she hadn't been able to make it in time for her job interview. And now it was raining heavily. She was tired. Frustrated. 

Tears stood in Maddie's eyes as she thought about everything her and her brother had been through since their parents demise almost five years ago. It had been hard. So hard. And her younger brother had sure not been making it any easier. She loved him but damn he was driving her nuts! Literally.

Maddie was a brunette petite lady. She had deep-set downturned chocolate brown eyes and an oval face shape. Her brother Mathew had the same colours of eyes as her, they both had their mother's eyes but Mathew had chestnut brown hair like their father, unlike Maddie whose hair was chocolate brown like their mother.

Maddie drew a sharp breath as she moved, intending to walk back into the tiny street in a corner that she had come out from a few minutes ago. It was where the mini-flat apartment she resided in with her brother, was. She had barely moved when her eyes caught sight of a squatting figure a little ahead in the pavement she was standing in.

"Hello," she muttered as she started to make her way towards the squatting figure. When she was close enough, a soft gasp escaped her throat.

"Oh my God! You are just a child!" she exclaimed as the figure of a squatting shivering blonde boy came into her view. He looked seven at most. She hurriedly rushed towards him as her thoughts suddenly became even more jumbled.

What was a child doing out here? And in the rain! There was a local park for children not too far from where they were, could he have perhaps come from there? But he was just a child! Why was he even alone? Where the f**k were his parents?

"Hello, umm, where are your parents?" she asked the blonde child as she bent down so she was on the same height as him.

His teeth chattering was all the response she got. She started to think fast. She could take him to the police station but the police station was not close by. The kid was cold. She could take him to her home. It was at least close by. At the moment, what the kid needed was a warm bath and most importantly he needed to get out of the rain and off his wet clothes. She needed to get him to safety first, and then she could call the police to inform them about him afterwards.

"Sweetie, I am going to take you to my house. I can't leave you here and the police station is not close by…" her eyes moved to scan the road but returned to the boy almost immediately.

"I can't seem to see any vehicles passing by either…" her voice trailed off as she felt the boy suddenly grab her right thumb, using his two tiny fingers to wrap around it. The feeling that washed through her right that instant was indescribable. It was warm. Fuzzy. But then she felt how cold his hands were and started to panic.

Adjusting the leather bag slung over one of her shoulders, Maddie reached out to scoop the boy into her arms. He raised his head to gaze into her face. As she peered into his deep ocean-blue eyes, it somewhat felt like he was sucking her soul out of her body. And it weirdly felt familiar. She had seen those eyes before. She just couldn't remember where.

"Umm, okay sweetie, so umm, I will take you to my house now, it is nearby and umm when the rain subsides, I will take you to the police station… Is that okay?" she paused, still gazing into his eyes and even held her breath as she waited. She felt that she needed to at least get the kid's permission before leaving with him. When a thin smile suddenly spread across the boy's lips, she felt something melt within her. And then the boy nodded his head coyly, giving her his permission.

Returning his smile with a full-blown one, she started to make her way towards the street of her home. A million thoughts rushed through her head as she walked with the boy in her arms. Just where the hell was this kid's parents? How could they lose him in the rain?

***

"What the f**k do you mean my boy is missing?" Jake Conat demanded in a voice that thundered. Literally.

All the staff that worked in the Conat's household were lined up in front of him. None of them could hold his gaze. All of them were shaking in fear.

"It's f**king raining cats and dogs out there and you tell me that my boy left the house under your watch without even triggering all of the alarm systems we have set up! Is that what you are all telling me?" Jake was red with rage as he spoke.