Chapter 11

Ari, Fang and I circled the shopping centres car park about ten times before we even found Mums black VW Bug 1967.

"Bloody hell. If I knew mums car was so friggin popular I wouldn't have let her get that car. Or I should've at least told her to get a different colour like pink or orange." I muttered.

Ari sniggered.

"What's wrong ugly?"I asked, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious as we walked closer to the car.

"Nothing. I just looked at your face." he shot back and Fang growled.

"Shut up now!"

"Awww, big bad boyfriend's defending you. That proves you're not capable to fight for yourself."

"Ari. If you don't shut the fuck up you're going to find that you have nothing to defend yourself with." I advised and he shut his mouth.

Fang grinned a little bit and I slid the car key into the lock and unlocked the doors.

The locks swung up with a click.

"Ok. Heres the plan. Fang, you can drive the car back and Ari and I will search this place for clues."

"No." was all Fang said.

"What? What do you mean by 'no'?" I asked confused.

"Exactly that. No." Fang replied.

"Please explain boyfriend because I'm in a rush here." Ari said impatiently

"One: Don't call me boyfriend. My names Fang. Two: Why are you in a rush?" Fang asked coolly.

"Keep it to yourself boyfriend. I do have a personal life you know. I might just possibly have a girlfriend who's waiting for me somewhere." Ari said.

I snorted. "I happen to know that you don't have a girlfriend."

"And how do you know that Max?" he asked turning to me and smiled coldly.

"Your face. No one would want to date that face. Especially when it has scars on it." I explained.

"What if she doesn't date me for my face? It could be my body." he suggested.

"I highly doubt it."

"Can we please quit this now?" Fang interrupted.

"I suppose so." I replied but not after I shot a glare to Ari.

"Anyway. Back to the point. I'm not going to drive the car back. Because I don't trust brother over here." Fang jerked his chin to Ari.

"Then it's safe to say that we have a one and only mutual feeling." Ari retorted.

"Shush!" I shushed Ari and turned back to Fang.

"Fang. I've known mum ever since I was born. So has Ari. You haven't even met her. This is personal for me and it's also very dangerous. It's a family thing and I don't want the guilt that you died for my family if things turn bad." I tried to explain softly to Fang.

"Translate: Listen to her or fuck the hell off." Ari grinned coldly.

I think smiling coldly is his thing.

"How about listen to your own advice brother." Fang shot back and turned to me.

"If you don't want me to help you, you can just say."

"No! It's just that I don't want you to do anything dangerous with us." I said quickly.

Of course I want him to help me. God! If only he could see that I needed him to be safe.

"Which means that you don't want me to do anything." fang said and shook his head. "Don't worry. I'm going to take the car back to your house and then I'm just going to go home. I'll see you soon." he said and took the keys and got into the car and drove away.

I was desperate. I didn't want him to leave like this.

"Wait! Fang!" I yelled and ran up to the car but he just kept going.

I stood there hopelessly on the road.

Cars beeped from behind me and I quickly got out of they're way. The drivers shook their heads at me while they drove past but I ignored them

I glared at Ari accusingly and he shrugged his shoulders.

"Don't look at me. I didn't do anything."

"No. You opened your big mouth and said something." I said and sighed. "Listen. You cover this area and I'll go and find the place that has the security cameras and watch the video tape. After you've finished come and show me what you've found or just come and find me if you haven't." I said tiredly and walked away slowly to the shopping doors.

"Wait! Max." Ari reached out and grabbed my arm.

I stared down at it and only just realised that, since I was wearing a t-shirt, his skin colour looked exactly like mine.

He pulled his arm back self-consciously after he realised that I was staring at his arm.

"Um," he cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, you know. For everything. I don't go along well with people."

"I know. But you fit right in with mutts." I said and walked away, leaving him stunned.

I stood in front of the billion tiny screens watching the tape that showed my mom.

"- this button does this and this one stops the video. Got it?" the big security guard said, looking at me expectantly.

"Yeah. Thanks, Kevin," I read his name tag and smiled up at him.

He nodded and walked out, leaving me alone to do my thing.

I sat down in the big black comfy wheelie chair and pushed the recorded tape into the video player.

I pressed play and sat forward when Mum came into view.

She was pushing the shopping trolley towards the car and Ella was carting the bags on her arm.

Mum turned around to Ella and said something and Ella shook her head.

Mum shrugged and turned around and disappeared from view to open the boot.

Ella trudged up and then Mum came back around to the front.

That was when suddenly she disappeared for the second time.

Ella turned around and I could the lines on her forehead crinkled like she was frowning.

She walked to where mum had been and disappeared suddenly. Like magic.

I sat there, stunned. I couldn't believe it.

I had no idea how the hell they could've disappeared so fast.

Knock Knock!

Someone was tapping mildly on the door.

"Come in!" I said my voice kind of shaky.

Kevin the security guard stuck his head in and said, "There's this boy called Ari saying that he has to see you and that he's your brother."

I nodded my head. "Yeah he is. Bring him in, and shut the door behind you please."

Ok I wasn't bossing him around, I added the please. That makes it more like a request.

Ari sidled around Kevin in the doorway and gave him a dirty look before shutting the door in his face.

"You know, you should be more polite," I said disapprovingly.

"Tell him that. He basically nearly picked me up from my head and chucked me out when I mentioned your name. I swear he's either got a crush on you or you told him that everything your doing in here is top secret." Ari retorted.

I snorted and let it go.

"So what have you found?" he asked coming up to me and leaning against the bench.

"Nothing. All I saw was mum and Ella disappearing at the same place. Here watch it. And keep an eye out for a blonde guy anywhere in the tape." I said and switched it on again.

We sat there in silence and I noticed the second time that there was a little black mark next to the tyre.

"Well," Ari said finally after the video had finished.

"Yeah. Get anything?" I asked.

"Nope. No blonde guy. Why did you ask to look for a blonde guy?"

"Because Jeb said that on the tape that some blonde dude walked past mum and Ella and they went somewhere." I explained frowning.

"Uh..." Ari said with one eyebrow.

"Does he lie to you?" I swung around to him.

"Yeah. It's his thing. He taught it's safer to lie most of the time."

"Well there you go. He's keeping something from us then." I said and stood up.

"Whoa! Don't think about confronting him about it! Believe it or not, he's dangerous! And when he gets defensive it won't end well for you!" Ari warned and looked at me.

"I don't care. Neither should you, its Mum Ari. And Ella." I said in a small voice.

"Three things. One: I don't know Ella so why should she matter to me? Two: I do care because I don't want to end up dead or dying. Three: Mum basically betrayed me. She should've known I was still alive."

"Ok ok. But still, I'm your twin sister; you should know you have to help me." I pleaded.

"I don't know," he said hesitantly.

"Please! I can't do it alone!"

"You've got boyfriend to help you!"

"No. He'll end up dead. And I don't want that to happen to him."

"And you do for me?" He said.

"What? No! It's just that I know I can depend on you! We're twins! We should know basically each other's next decisions! This would come handy when we're in a fight!" I argued.

He breathed heavily through his nose.

"The only reason I'm stuck in this mess is because of Jeb. I came to kidnap you. He needed you and someone else that I can't remember to do some experimenting. I tried but your making it impossible. He said if I fail by the next month, he will make my expiration date closer than what it truly is."

"What? He needed me and someone else? For experimenting? And what's your expiration date? What the hell is it?" I asked baffled.

"Don't worry."

"No tell me!" I persuaded.

"No. Leave it alone."

"Please! Ari you know me!"

"I said leave it the fuck alone Max!" he shouted.

"Well I said tell me!"

"It means that he controls when my death date is! Ok? He's going to kill me four years before I was actually intended to die!" he shouted, tears starting to fall down his face.

I was shell shocked.

"What?" I whispered so softly I was surprised that he heard me I n the first place.

"Yeah. It all depends on my mission." he said sadly.

"So you mean, like, like, he's got the power to say when you die?" I asked, completely shocked.

"Yeah."

"But you can't do that to humans! They have their own life span!"

"I'm not human Max. You noticed that when we first met again. Remember?" he said softly.

"What are you then?" I asked taking a step backwards.

"Don't be scared of me. I'm still a little bit human." he said reaching out to me.

"What are you?" I repeated, slowly backing out.

He sighed and looked away with a distant look in his eyes.

"I said, what the hell are you?" my voice rose about ten thousand decibels higher.

"I'm fucking half wolf! Ok? I'm half mutt!" he said.

Once again, I should have known when to stop asking questions.

"What? So all those jokes about you smelling like dog and you get along with them is basically half true?" I asked, trying to process all the information.

"Yeah. And id appreciate if you could let it go for a while." he replied, and gave me a half smile. "But I'm still your brother. And I don't want to hand you in."

I nodded gratefully. "Thanks Ari. Sorry for pressuring you for everything."

"It's all cool. You needed to know soon anyways." he shrugged.

"So...All I'm getting from all that mind lowing information is that basically Jeb is God to you-because he can say for you to die and you die-and that he turned you into a frickin dog." I said.

"That's putting it into long story short."

"Ok then." I sighed and sat down, only to jump back up when the door knocked.

"Who is it?" I called out warily.

I caught Ari's eye and he nodded to me.

We walked to each other's sides and turned to face the door.

"Relax, it's just me." Kevin called out from behind the door.

"Who's me?" Ari called out, even though he knew.

But it's good to be on the safe side.

"Kevin the security guard." he replied. His voice was muffled from the door.

I relaxed, only a little but though.

"Come on in!" I invited.

The door opened slowly and Kevin came with his hands kind of raised in surrender.

"I was only just wondering if everything was alright. I heard shouting and thought that someone was killing someone." he joked.

He was met to silence.

I didn't appreciate his humour and I don't think Ari did either, by the way he responded like me.

"God, lighten up! The suns shinin' and the wars over!" he joked again and I rolled my eyes.

I grabbed the tape after ejecting it out and placed it under my arm.

"Well," I said, grabbing Ari's shoulder and steering him towards the door, "Thanks for your time and the tape Kev. We'll be goin now."

"What? So soon? I thought you and me could have coffee at this place I know down the joint." he said.

He could be a little bit less hopeful.

"Listen Kev, you and me...it's not gonna happen. How do I put this? Well, I've got a boyfriend." I smiled at him and escaped with Ari.

"See ya big man!" Ari called out sarcastically while I dragged him away.

"I told you he had a crush on you!" Ari crowed triumphantly.

"No you didn't," I said walking out to the car park.

"Yeah I did."

"Ah no you didn't."

"Ah yes I did." Ari argued.

"No you didn't! You said either he had a crush on me or I told him that what I was doing was top secret." I said.

"So? Same thing!" he replied and we reached the car.

I was on the passenger side so I walked around to his side which happened to be the driver's door and looked down.

"No it isn't. Either doesn't mean yes he does." I muttered.

Bingo! There was a gutter hole right next to the tyre.

I bent down, with Ari watching me with puzzlement.

I pulled hesitantly on the metal grate that was placed over the top of the hole.

It came off easily, with only a squeak of protest.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Ari asked.

"When you watched the tape, did you see a black space next to the tyre?" I asked not looking at him.

"Yeah why?"

"Mum disappeared right where she had stepped, which was right here," I said.

"Oh," was all he said.

I wanted to jump down but my estimate was that it was about ten feet deep and I didn't have a torch.

"Do you have a torch on you?" I asked.

"Nope." he answered.

"What about rope?"

"Oh yeah! Let me just get it from my bag! No! I don't carry stuff like that with me when I'm on my day off," Ari said sarcastically.

"You don't work."

"I know I don't. It's called sarcasm." Ari rolled his eyes.

"Well can you please hold it? I'm trying to be serious and your 'sarcasm' isn't helping." I said peering down into the tunnel of darkness.

"What's so suspicious about this?" Ari asked bending down to join me in examining the tunnel.

"Mum stepped on top of this and suddenly vanished." I said.

"Ah, I don't follow," God Ari was slow.

"Are you normally this dumb? Or is this a onetime thing?" I asked.

"No."

"No? So you're normally this dumb?" I asked sweetly.

"Ye-NO! I mean, I'm not either. I'm actually quite smart for a person like me." Ari said proudly.

"That's convenient considering you're the only dog/person around. So really you could be quite dumb." I muttered under my breath.

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing. I just said of course you're quite smart." I said hurriedly.

Ari glared at me suspiciously and I shrugged apologetically.

"So what's with Mum and the creepy hole?" Ari asked, switching back to the subject.

I snorted, "Only you would be scared of a hole."

He ignored my comment and waited for me to answer properly.

"Alright, alright! She stepped on the hole, then someone must've pulled the grate top off and grabbed her when her foot was still there and dragged her down." I explained.

"Oh..." Ari said.

I don't think I could believe that he didn't get it until just then.

I mean, we basically have the same brain molecules, after we are twins.

"Come on," I shook my head amused, "Let's get home."

I opened the driver's door while he walked around to the other side saying, "Where boyfriend is sulking. I wonder how he's taking that you think I'm better. And that you practically ordered him away like he was a dog."

I slammed the door after I had hopped in.

"I do not think your better. And I didn't order him away!"

"Ah, technically, your actually did." Ari said getting into the passenger side.

"All I did was ask him to go home. Asked him. Read my lips: Asked him." I said turning the engine reversed slowly out while looking in the rear view mirror.

"That's basically the same." Ari settled his feet on top of the dashboard.

"No its not. And get your feet off the dashboard." I let go with one hand and slapped his foot. Hard.

"Oi! You didn't have to slap me!" he moved his down fast and yelled.

"Don't you have any respect for vintage cars?" I asked mucking around.

"Oh this is what you call this old piece of crap? Vintage?" Ari asked.

"Do you have any idea how much this 'old piece of crap'" I added the quotation marks when I said them words, "costs?"

"No! Why would I?"

"Then you're not getting it when mum passes on!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!" Ari crossed his arms on his chest and pursed his lips grumpily.

I kept my eyes on the road for about twelve seconds and burst out laughing.

Ari joined in and I really badly wanted to clutch my stomach but I couldn't.

"Don't lose focus on the road Maximum! I'll be sorely missed if I die!" Ari warned.

"Yeah whatever. Wake up little boy." I said but kept my eyes on the road and smiled.

A/N Hello! Sorry this was waaayyyy too long but once I started, I couldn't stop! I was trying to figure out when is the best time to end this chapter and well, it took me forever to stop! So...You know the drill. R&R! And can you completely ignore the spelling mistakes! I couldn't figure out how to spell some words because my laptop dictionary is saying this is how you spell such and such (that's an example by the way) but it just doesn't feel right or look right so I leave it how I think is right. Of course you should never trust me when it comes to spelling and meanings! I'm going to try to update nearly every week but I have crap to do but believe me, writing this story for fanfiction trumps everything else. Well, apart from re-reading Maximum Ride series for the tenth time already. So thanks everyone for all your support and I know this is a long note too. I'm going now. But one more thing-nah just tricking. Bye!