Chapter 7 – Make over

(Max POV)

I flung the door to Angel's room open and took a quick survey of the scene when I saw not imminent threat. Angel was cowering and sobbing in a corner, and Nudge was gone. Other than that, nothing else was damaged or missing.

The window above the bunk beds was open a few centimetres, not enough for a person to fit through and the glass had not been shattered. There was also no sign of any struggle. Interesting. There might be more to this than I thought.

I walked over to Angel and knelt down in front of her. She looked up at me, almost in fear, but calmed down a little when she saw it was only me. I put my hands on her shoulders in an attempt to calm her down.

'Angel. Angel, I need you to listen to me. I'm going to ask you some questions and I need you to answer me as best as you can. Do you understand?'

She nodded, and wiped her nose on the back of her sleeve. She was remarkably quiet for someone in her condition.

'Where is Nudge? Did someone kidnap her?'

She looked at me with a blank expression, like she didn't understand my question. Then, I heard some light footsteps behind me, and I saw someone sneaking up on me in the reflection given off by a shiny metal object that resembled a child's play toy. The figure was holding an aluminium baseball bat above their heads, like they were about to swing at something. Or someone.

Before I could duck out of the way, Angel grabbed my arms with a force I had no idea she possessed, and covered my eyes with a rag of some sort. Then, I heard someone say;

'Good night, Max.'

And I blacked out.

XXX Don't mind me I'm just a line break XXX

When I woke up, I was tied to a metal chair that had been bolted to the floor. My ankles were tied to the two front legs of the chair and my hands were tied around the back of the chair.

The room was mostly white, and I was seated in front of a large mirror. There was a shower to my left and a bath behind that.

'Oh, hello Max. You're awake! Yay!'

Angel?

'Uh huh. It's me! And Nudge is here too. It was us! We had been planning to get you for a really long time, and it worked! Aren't we clever?'

Yeah, you two are Geniuses. So diabolical.

'I feel so diabolical! We could be in the secret services or something. Oh, that would be so much fun! Hey, you work with that type of thing, don't you? Do you think you could put in a good word for us or something?'

What the hell is she, a mind reader or something?

And just so you know, they taped my mouth shut. Anything I try to say just comes out muffled and incomprehensible.

'But then again, if i was in the army or whatever, I would have to wear those camo uniforms, wouldn't I? I don't think those would really suit me.'

Ok. So let me get this straight. I've been kidnapped and held against my will by two 10 year olds? Brilliant. My god, this is a whole new low for me. But where was Nudge?

'Alright. So I have found everything we need. We have foundation, blusher, eye shadow, eyeliner, mascara, fake eyelashes, lip gloss, nail polish, nail files, nail clippers… did I forget anything?'

Speak of the devil. Literally. Nudge came rushing in with a floral bag full to the brim with make-up and other items commonly used to torture. She spilled them out all over the counter top and sorted them out into god knows what groups.

'What about the eyelash curlers?'

'Oh. Wait, they're here too. Ok, so we're all set.'

All set for what?
What were they going to do, torture me with make up? Pft, I don't think so. There was no way in hell they were getting anywhere near me with that bag of make-up. Sure, I've faced worse threats than make-up, but the way those girls looked at me made me feel pretty unsure about myself.

'Oh, but Angel. We'll have to un-do her mouth first. What if she screams and somebody hears her?'

'Don't worry. She won't scream. Will you, Max?'

She turned to me as she said this and gave me a pure evil smile. Suddenly, my vision went all shaky and I couldn't see properly. Then, my vision went back to normal, but I wasn't in the bathroom anymore. I was back at the school, strapped to a chair with a big, bleeding hole in my ribcage. I think this is what they call a "Flashback".

The pain was the first thing that hit me. The guy who stabbed me pulled the knife out of my side and wiped the blood off on his shirt. That was what I got for making noise. I quickly learnt not to speak or make any sound while I was being tortured. Then, another eraser walked towards me, holding a small but sharp scalpel.

'Now, now Maxie. There's no need to look so frightened. I'm not going to hurt you.'

He gave me a wicked grin, showing his disgusting teeth, and placed the sharp metal tool under my eye. I tilted my head back, as far back as I could, trying to get the thing away from me, but there wasn't anything I could do.

I felt the cold metal scrape my cheek, and blood began to flow. Then, he pressed the thing under my eye and began to add pressure.

I was instantly snapped from my memory when I heard something drop. I opened my eyes, and saw Angel standing in front of me, staring into space. Nudge was staring at her, and i knew something was wrong.

'I have to go pee'

Nudge picked up the eyeliner pencil, and looked over my head, probably at Angel. I heard the door open and close, and nudge started work on the rest of my face.

I don't know how long i sat chained to the chair for, but it felt like hours. Angel came back, and while Nudge worked on my face, Angel fixed my hair.

'Nudge! Stop!'

'What is it?'

'If we put all of her make up on and do her hair now, how will she get her clothes on without ruining it?'

'It's not that hard to put a top on without messing your face up. And if anything gets smudged, we can just fix it, right? 'Caus I don't think she needs a lot. I mean, she's already really pretty, so it would be horrible to cake it up with make up. Don't you think?'

'True...'

Turning towards me, Angel asked if I could manage to put on a shirt without smearing my make up all over my face. Well of course I could. I'm me. The girls continued with the grooming, and even gave me a manicure.

It was one of the worst forms of torture I've ever faced. Mentally, that is. I held back the terrifying memories of the school. I can;t remember a lot from my time there because of a trauma I suffered before I joined the army, but if I'm in a situation like the other one, my brain drags memories up from the murky waters of my subconscious.

When the girls were finished, they un-chained me and gave me some clothes to change into, and left. I worked my way into the strapless top and skinny jeans.

God, I hate the Bambi eyes.
Yes, the Bambi eyes were what got me into this mess. They're impossible to say no to. after a while, I had slipped into the jeans and shoes.

I came out of the bathroom when I was finished, and found Nudge waiting for me outside. She was sitting on a chair reading some girls magazine. She looked up, and when she saw me, she squealed. Really loudly. Angel rushed out of her room, and when she saw me, she had the exact same reaction.

So I was stuck with two squealing girls that were circling me like sharks. Or vultures. I felt self-conscious in these clothes, but when Angel and Nudge dragged me to a full-length mirror, I saw what they were screaming about.

I looked different. Good, different, but different. I couldn't begin to describe what I looked like, so I'm not going to try. But I had to admit, and I will never tell a soul I thought this, but I liked it. I actually thought I looked good. And so did the other two.

So. not as exciting as you thought, I presume. Don't worry, the next couple of chapters will have a little more action. Well, if you can count what happens when rumours get spread around a high school as action. Please R & R!