AN: Here's another chapter, and it was much quicker than the last. I'm so proud of myself. Hope you like it!
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Luke was getting more and more anxious by the second. The dark was a bit oppressive, as it was completely unbroken by any light. It was almost suffocating how perfectly consistent the shadow was. And he couldn't stop thinking of Max, somewhere out there in that darkness, in the same proximity as that creep who put him in this cage, in the black. It felt like days that he'd been just sitting there. But he knew darkness messed with the mind. It had probably only been hours.
Finally, a door opened, shining a bright golden stream of light right on him. The light made him flinch, and his eyes took frighteningly long to adjust. But when they did, and he could comprehend the figure standing in the doorway, he smiled.
"Max." His voice cracked slightly. But the girl who was surrounded by a halo of the outside light made no indication that she'd heard him. She just stood there, startlingly still, staring at him. Or he assumed she was starting at him. With the light behind her like that, he could only see her silhouette and light details of her clothes. Her face was dark, so he couldn't possibly see the band of gold that separated her pupil from her lavender iris. He couldn't possibly see the dark black shadows beneath her eyes, or the way her lips had darkened to an almost purple. He couldn't even see the black strands of hair that had dispersed themselves evenly through her brown hair. In short he had no way of knowing that his sister was not the girl she was supposed to be.
"Ah. Luke. How was your time out?" The creep from before, Pitch, appeared next to Max, and with the snap of his fingers, the light filled the room, illuminating more than just the little square it had before. Luke flinched and rubbed his eyes, moaning slightly at the rough treatment they were getting. When he was finally able to take in the changes to Max's appearance, he couldn't quite believe it. He stared at her, looking quite like he'd seen a ghost, for some time before Pitch broke the silence again. "I see you've noticed." He smirked rather tauntingly.
"What...did you do to her?!" Luke exclaimed, anger for Pitch and concern for Max clashing in his voice. Pitch chuckled and curled some of Max's hair on his finger before letting it fall.
"I set her free. Free from the imprisonment of fear and mortality. She will no longer be afraid of anything, or anyone." His sharp eyes turned to the man who gaped at them. "As for you though...I think you have a lot to be afraid of. Mostly her though."
"What are you talking about?" Luke growled. He didn't like the way Pitch was grinning.
"I've given you to Max as a present. A 'welcome to my care' present. Since she's now mine, I decided to see how well she'll do with spreading my fear and harvesting the terror of others for a change. And who better to practice with than her tormentor." Luke's stomach twisted violently at the smirk that spread across Max's face.
"You don't mean that. She could never hurt me." Luke tried to reassure himself, but his voice was weak. This obviously wasn't his sister anymore, who was he to say that she wouldn't take absolute joy from hurting him?
"I think you'll find that she can. And she will." With another snap of his fingers, the darkness was back, not even the halo of light could be seen. Luke felt grainy snakelike appendages take hold of his arms and legs and raise him from the floor. He was laid out on something cold and held there tightly by the sand bonds. Then abrasive white lights flicked on above him, like the lights in a surgery room at a hospital. In fact, he was being held down on a cold surgery bed. But worst of all was the sight of Max standing beside him, absolutely still, with a look of pure disgust on her not quite normal face.
"Max, listen to me, you have to fight this! Whatever he's done to you, fight it! This isn't you!" He tried desperately, but she only quirked an eyebrow and lazily wandered to the other side of the surgery bed, where a tray was holding several tools that looked far more sinister than doctor's.
"You're wrong." Her voice was heavy and distorted and it made his chest clench almost painfully. "This is me. The me who was always too scared to make her appearance. But I'm not scared anymore." She picked up a blade with a smooth edge on one side and a serrated edge on the other. It sparkled dementedly in the harsh light.
"Max please." He breathed, fear beginning to color his voice. She shuddered with pleasure at the sensation of his fear. She'd never been able to feel another persons fear before. It was quite amazing. And what was that she sensed? Was he afraid of knives? How she was able to decipher that specific fear, she had no idea. But it got better. A whole situation laid itself bare in her mind, fresh from Luke's fears.
"Never had a surgery, have you Luke. Even something simply like for your wisdom teeth. You're afraid of waking up while they're cutting you. Afraid that you'll be paralyzed by drugs but very much conscious. Unable to scream. Unable to tell someone that they're hurting you." With every word she spoke, he seemed to shrivel up and vanish a little more. His breathing became shallower and he shuddered harshly.
"Please." He murmured, and finally that calm demeanor on her face broke. Only to be replaced by a burning, piercing anger.
"You expect me to spare you because you look so pathetic and you beg me? You hope my sympathy will save you? Where was your sympathy when you hurt me Luke? When you tore me apart piece by piece, every time you raped me!" His eyes nearly popped out of his skull.
"No! It wasn't like that Max! I did what I did because I love you!"
"You did not love me! If you loved me you would never do something so despicable, so traumatizing! You are a liar and a monster!" She yelled, the gold of her eyes nearly overshadowing the now thin band of lavender. She sharply brought the blade down, burying it in his leg, just above his knee. His howls of pain flooded the room, but oddly enough made Max feel lighter. "You ruined me Luke! And not just once! You destroyed me for years!" She pulled the knife out, the serrated edge ripping flesh and bringing another round of screams from Luke.
"I'm sorry! I-I'm so sorry!" Luke tried, but Max knew the only thing he was sorry for was himself.
"You are nothing. You are a speck, a dirty foul speck." She hissed, tossing the knife to the side. It resounded clearly against the floor, drops of dark blood splattering around it. "If I did not need you alive I would end your miserable existence." She added. He was sobbing by now, and it disgusted Max slightly. She cast nightmare sand over him and immediately he was still, only twitching now and then. An arm wrapped around her shoulder and she looked up to see Pitch.
"Very nicely done." He smirked, waving his hand over the illusion of a stab wound. The blood and injury disappeared. The knife, the abrasion, even the pain had been little more than a trick. But it was very effective. She was very effective. "It appears I will not have to train you for long. You already are quite inept. He fears pain. And you were so good to deliver it to him."
"He's weak." She spat. "Hardly five minutes and he was weeping like a child." She added when Pitch raised an eyebrow.
"Many mortal are weak. They cannot all be like you." He tipped her face up towards his, admiring her nearly full gold eyes. As time, and Max, progressed, her eyes would turn completely gold and her hair completely black. There may be a few other changes, but he felt he could live with them.
"I want him gone. Take him back to his family." She demanded, sneering at Luke.
"You do not wish for more quality time?" Pitch was actually surprised. Max shook her head.
"I have spent far to much time with him. I never want to see him again." She stated bitterly before turning and leaving the room. Pitch wasn't concerned about where she might go. She could not yet leave the lair, and so the worst she could do was terrorize some nightmares. Meanwhile he had a loathsome mortal to return to the Butler's, and the Guardians to address.
OOOOO
Sandy could hardly remember the last time he felt so very...wrong. Like something was completely off in the world. He almost felt sick. But he had felt no different when Pitch initiated his spell. Why were his senses protesting now? Had Pitch done something besides cast the spell? Whatever it was, it couldn't be good. He was squirming in his seat, anxiously listening to Mr. and Mrs. Butler talk about Max and Luke. Once they had started talking, North had called Sandy and Tooth in so that they could be a part of the discussions.
"All our kids have had Night Terrors. Max still has them, but the doctors say there's nothing they can do. It's in her head." Mrs. Butler told them, and despite the fact that her and her husband had now spent half an hour in the presence of these strange beings, she was still very nervous.
"Did you ever notice something off about her or Luke?" Bunny asked.
"Well...Max was always different. She hardly spoke, she was sick a lot, she seemed angry a lot. But Luke, no. He was always the role model. The captain of his sport teams and popular in school. He had a lot of friends but he still spent time with his siblings. Especially Max." Mary Butler explained.
"Yeah. After Luke graduated high school, Max started getting sick an awful lot. Luke always stayed home with her. And when she started getting better he got a job and spent more time out of the house." George Butler added.
"And you never thought maybe he spent too much time with Max?" Again it was Bunny who asked. Both adult shook their heads.
"He was always doting on her. Since she was born. I always thought it was a good thing, that she had her older brother looking out for her." They didn't miss the way Jack and Bunny both cringed and the look of anger that crossed the white haired teens face, but they didn't want to ask. The way these people were practically interrogating them made them even more nervous, and they couldn't imagine why some of the questions were pertinent in the given situation.
"Yes. How good of him to dote on her." They all turned together to look at the dark shadow in the doorway that led to the front room. The Guardians knew who it was, of course it would be Pitch, but the Butler's could only gape at the strange man. Jack stood angrily, but Bunny grabbed his arm to keep him from charging the Boogeyman.
"Who are you?" George Butler demanded indignantly. He was just about fed up with strange people invading his house.
"Pitch Black. The Boogeyman. I visited your daughter during her band rehearsal. And then I kidnapped her and her brother last night. Speaking of which, you can have this back. I don't need it anymore." He stepped to the side to reveal an unconscious Luke spread out on the floor behind him.
"Luke!" Mary Butler exclaimed in worry for her oldest son.
"What have you done to him?!" George Butler held back his wife, despite his own desire to check on his son. But who knew if this Pitch Black guy would hurt Mary if she got close to him. He would wait until the creep left to rush to Luke's side.
"Not me. Max did this actually. I was very proud of her. She's really got a knack for it, I hardly had to give her any advice." No one knew what to say to that, but Sandy was getting a bad feeling in his stomach. Oh please, please don't be saying...
"What are you talking about?" Jack hissed between his teeth. "Where's Max?"
"She's home, of course. I didn't think it was necessary to bring her along for this. I was just dropping this off," He nudged Luke's side with his foot, with a disgusted look on his face, before going on. "And then I have some plans to make. People to train. Nightmares to collect. You know how it is." He smiled nastily and Bunny had to tighten his grip on Jack.
"If you've done something to hurt Max I swear to-"
"Don't be silly Jack, why would I want to hurt my newest fearling?" Sandy had to catch himself on the table before he fell. No! It wasn't true!
"Sandy?!" Tooth fluttered around him nervously. He tried to wave her away, but he looked far to exhausted for her comfort. Exhausted and almost in pain.
"Oh yes, it's true Sandman. I was going to bleed Max dry of all the delicious fear that was cultivated in her, but instead I've quite found that I like having her as one of my minions. As I said, she's very good at the job. Made this one cry in less than five minutes." He chuckled.
"No, Max would never hurt her brother!" Mary Butler said, despite being confused about the fearling and minion part. But she understood that he was saying her daughter hurt her son. And that was unfathomable. Pitch turned his cruel eyes to Max's mother.
"Are you so sure? Would she really never hurt him? Even if he hurt her first?" That made Mary and George pause. What was he talking about? Luke never hurt Max a day in his life!
"Pitch, don't." Bunny warned. But the Boogeyman only smiled wider.
"You think your son was so perfect. But in fact he hurt Max so deeply and for so long that she had to bury the memory as a way to survive day to day life. Buried, but never really forgotten." Mary's mouth went dry. What was he implying. "Max never told you because she believed deep down that she was unloved and unworthy to complain to you. But I have no problem telling you. Luke took advantage of Max for years. All those days he stayed home with his sick sister, he was raping her. All those weekends you took your family out of town while she stayed behind with her brother, she cried herself to sleep. Years. And you never noticed. You never even thought." Mary and George looked stunned, like they'd been slapped. And Mary even looked a little sick. She looked to the Guardians, none of whom would meet her eyes. They couldn't lie, and the truth was so ugly.
"It's...it's not true. Why would he...he wouldn't..." George sounded lost.
"It is true. And precisely the reason Max will not be returning to you. I have taken her into my care and she will remain there. Fear not, she will be well looked after. And soon enough I will rule this miserable world and be able to give her whatever she wants. She's mine, and I will never mistreat her the way you and your son have. As for you Guardians, be ready. War is coming and this time...I will succeed." The darkness around Pitch intensified and when it faded, he was gone. All that was left to indicate he was even there was Luke, knocked out on the floor. Completely unaware of the shit storm about to head his way.
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DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUN! No really though, what do you guys think?