Life has Changed
Chapter 1
Author's Note: This is the sequel to It all has to End. If you haven't read that, you really need to check it out first or else you won't understand this one. Hope you enjoy. Please remember to review.
Max sat in Chloe Price's house wondering what the hell happened. She remembered the tornado passing the cliff and pulling her and Jefferson into it, and she knew he'd been obliterated from history; but beyond that there was very little she knew or remembered.
"Is everything okay there, Max?" a woman asked in an unmistakable southern accent. Max looked up to see Chloe's mother, Joyce Madsen, standing in the doorway with bags of shopping.
"Hey there Joyce, how are you doing?" Max asked as she stood up to help her with the bags.
"I'm doing even better now that we know you're safe, Max." Joyce said. "David's really sorry you and Chloe had to go through what happened at the school. He's at his counselling appointment right now, but I think he wants to talk to the pair of you later."
"David doesn't have anything to be sorry for." Max replied. "He did his job by coming when Chloe raised the alarm and he's getting counselling for his paranoia. You can really see he's trying to make amends."
"That's as maybe, Max; but I would just humour him. I've said the same thing to Chloe. If he feels he's carrying a burden, he won't stop feeling guilty for it. Now, are you hungry at all?"
"Oh god, I've been dreaming of your bacon with waffles and syrup." Max realised she hadn't eaten a thing since breakfast.
"Help me with these bags and I'll fix you something to eat." Joyce said as she went to pass a bag to Max. Just as she extended her hand, the handle snapped and sent the bag crashing to the floor. Joyce barely suppressed a curse as pieces of broken egg started to spill out from the bag. The egg white leaked all over the carpet and soaked in as it locked deep within the fibres, staining it permanently.
'Oh, crap; Joyce always loved that carpet.' Max thought to herself. 'Maybe if I rewind I can take the bag from the underside and stop this from happening.' As Joyce bent down to pick the bag up, Max extended her hand and focused on turning back time. Instantly a pain crashed through her head. Blood poured from her nose as she dropped to the floor screaming in agony. Joyce was by her side in an instant. The last thing she remembered was Joyce screaming her name and shaking her shoulder desperately.
Max jolted awake to find she had a splitting headache. She looked out the sliding glass doors to see black night and starlight.
"Max, you're awake!" Chloe shouted ecstatically, wrapping her arms around her. Max cringed at the volume of her voice and Rachel cuffed Chloe round the back of the head.
"Do you think she needs your racket right now, Chloe? Look at the way she's holding her head, she's clearly in pain!"
"Sorry." Chloe muttered. "How are you doing?" Max looked herself over to find her T-shirt and cardigan drenched with blood. Just as she was about to reply, she heard a knock at the door. Joyce hurried downstairs to answer it.
"Can you help me sit up?" Max asked, trying to keep her words from just becoming an incoherent mess. Chloe gently eased her up a bit while Rachel supported her head. As she fumbled to get into a more comfortable position, Joyce led someone into the room.
"Max, this is Doctor Price." Joyce said, gesturing to the man next to her. "He's my brother who has agreed to see you as a personal favour for absolutely free."
"I don't need a doctor." Max couldn't hide the lethargy in her speech as she struggled to stay awake.
"He's my uncle Ian. Be nice." Chloe said.
"Max, you don't go having an episode like that and then turn round and say you don't need a doctor." The stern edge in Joyce's words knocked the fight right out of Max. The doctor held his hand out to her. As she lifted her hand up to try and shake it, her arm started trembling. The harder she tried to lift it, the more it shook.
"Is lifting your arm too much effort?" the doctor asked. Max tried to nod, but she couldn't even do that properly.
"It really hurts." Max managed to say before a trickle of blood ran from her nose. Ian turned to Joyce.
"I'm going to need tissues and a lot of water over here." He said. "We have to keep her hydrated."
"Chloe, get Uncle Ian the box of tissues from the table." Joyce called from the kitchen where she was filling a massive jug of water.
"Rachel, call an ambulance." Ian instructed.
"It's not that bad." Max stuttered, the pain in her head getting worse as she talked.
"We'll let a CT scan decide that." Ian said firmly. Max was getting desperate. She couldn't end up in a hospital. That was out of the question. If she rewound, she could steel herself this time and pretend it wasn't as bad. Slowly, Max focused on rewinding again. Instantly, the pain returned with a vengeance. The blood poured from her nose again as her hands flew to her head. Max expected shards of her skull to come away in her hands when she let go. Suddenly, she realised what was going on. Her rewind power was backfiring. In the distance, she felt Chloe's hand on her back and heard her voice somewhere in the void of darkness.
"Please be okay, Max. I've only just got you back. I can't lose you now." The darkness closed in on Max to a point where she felt as though she were suffocating. Just as she lost consciousness again, an unknown voice chilled her to the bone.
"This is not your grave. But you are welcome in it." With that, the darkness pulled Max under, drowning her into sleep.
Author's Note: Sorry this is so short. I have several of the other chapters written, so I will be updating soon. They get longer, I promise.