You have no idea how sorry I am. I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S BEEN 3 WEEKS D; I'm like, itching to touch the computer and now that exams are OVERRR (tralalalala) I CAN :D it's great to be back :D

Without further ado, LET'S START! YAY :D

Chapter 20

Jeb POV

"KILL ME ALREADY!"

I stared down at her, the blade of my knife against her throat, pressing her skin as a small steady stream of blood ran down her neck. Kill her? Of course I'd do it. I raised my arm a good metre away from her and sneered at her helpless vulnerable body. Her left cheek had a long scar made by my knife, her arms bleeding as they clutched her stab wound on her stomach. Her leg was twisted at an unusual angle. This girl was useless.

Her mother was useless.

Her mother…

Her mother?

Anne?

Flashes of the love of my life appeared in my mind. Anne in university. Anne in her beautiful bridal gown. Anne in the hospital, holding Max in her arms…Max…

She was a beautiful baby with rosy cheeks and chubby hands. Her smile was dazzling and infectious.

That same Max lay before me.

The bloody image of her came before me again and I stared at her disbelievingly. Why was she like that? Cowering away from me? Bloody and weak?

Then the answer dawned on me.

It was because of me.

What the hell have I been doing to her?

Then the doorbell rang.

I grimaced a little and avoided my daughter's frightened eyes. I left the knife on her throat, strode out of the bathroom and locked the door. What a great time to ring the doorbell…

Fang POV

Wild thoughts were running through my mind, making me agitated and anxious. Where was Jeb?

Did he flee after hurting Max? Did he flee because…he killed her?

I signaled Angel to hide behind the bushes outside and wait for us. She looked completely frightened to meet her father. I raised my hand to press the bell again but then Nudge stopped me.

"I can hear someone coming."

Then the door was yanked open and there stood a man who looked like a homeless person.

Jeb.

I was about to let go all of my anger and frustration and just yell at him and take on a fight when Iggy nudged me warningly. Nudge stepped forward.

"Good morning, sir. we're a group of students from the school just nearby. We're promoting a keep-your-house-clean programme to ensure a reduction in cases of pest-related diseases. It's part of a simple project to cover a survey and inspection around this neighbourhood to obtain results on whether house-cleaning is important to everyone here. Could we take a look inside your house?" Nudge rattled off with that angelic, infectious smile of hers. The only thing missing was a halo above her head.

Jeb looked startled and I saw his left hand reach behind him…as if to take something?

No, he wiped something off his hand.

I looked at it and my heart stopped.

He may have wiped a bit of it off, but there were traces of blood on his hand.

I bit my lip. I think Nudge must have seen it too, because she grabbed my hand and squeezed it.

"I don't allow strangers in my house, girl. I think you should come another time."

"But it is necessary to complete this project, sir!" Nudge pouted a little and I saw Jeb relax a bit. "If we don't complete the project, it'll affect our Science grades. And then I won't be able to get Student of the Year and then my parents would kill me and then I would disappoint them completely and then I'll get grounded and then I won't be able to go to that Science trip I always wanted to go and then I'll miss out on how Thomas Edison made the lightbulb and then I'll—"

"OKAY FINE. Come in, come in. Just don't go upstairs," Jeb groaned. I hid a snicker.

Max's upstairs.

"But sir, I need to cover the entire house or I'll—"

"ALL RIGHT, THEN!" Jeb threw his hands up in the air in exasperation.

We entered the house and Nudge called out 'duties'.

"Fang, I'd like you and Iggy to inspect the upstairs. Gazzy and I will inspect downstairs. Okay, chop chop!"

"I will follow those two boys upstairs," Jeb cleared his throat and said.

Nudge had a flash of worry on her face but quickly changed to a calm expression.

"Sure, sir," she smiled. Then shot a warning look at me and Iggy. Her eyes seemed to be saying 'I'll create a distraction'.

That kid.

We went upstairs and immediately headed for Max's bedroom. It was messy, with her blankets thrown on the floor and…a first aid kit under her bed.

I cleared my throat and pretended to search.

The room smelt like Max…it reminded me so much of her I felt my chest tighten.

Be strong, Fang. Stay strong.

I approached the toilet but Jeb stopped me, "Boy, the toilet is perfectly fine. You don't have to inspect it."

I shrugged at Jeb and replied," Orders are orders, sir. My sister is a little bit…you know. You've gotta do what she says."

I made my voice a little louder than usual so Max could hear me and play along with the act.

"It is my house and my privacy. Who's more important here than the person who owns this house?" Jeb said coldly. I raised my eyebrows before turning away and heading for the other room.

Then there was a huge crash downstairs which evidently involved Nudge, Gazzy and a huge porcelain vase with the approximate weight of a huge rock.

"Oh my God…Don't tell me that girl broke my vase!" Jeb's voice rose in anger. He shot a glare at us before jerking his head to the toilet door and gave us a warning look. Then he shot downstairs.

"She's given us a headstart of 15 minutes with that mouth of hers to save Max. Keep quiet and move towards the back door. Go by the balcony and the staircase connected to it and move towards Angel. Then I'll wait for Nudge and you two, hold Max, and get to the park. No objections. We're saving a life here."

Iggy nodded solemnly. We ran to the toilet and Iggy used a wire to unlock the door. The sight before me made my blood boil.

My Max, my beautiful Max, lay on the ground, her stomach bleeding, her arms bleeding, her face bleeding, her leg in an awkward angle, a knife still at her neck, face pale as sheet, and too weak to move. Her brown eyes looked up at me pleadingly.

"Max…We're gonna get you out of here. Try not to move too much and hurt yourself more," I whispered.

I heard Jeb's yelling voice in the background.

"We gotta be quick, man." Iggy's anxious voice came from behind me.

We carried Max up as she bit her lip from crying out at any slight movement, then headed to the balcony. I was about to shut the sliding doors behind me when I saw a movement from the entrance to Max's room. Then the most dreaded person came into the room.

Jeb.

His eyes grew wild with anger the moment he spotted Max in my arms.

"GET BACK HERE, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!"

It's pretty short I know :C But I haven't got time to do this and I have a max of only 1 hour on the comp ((((( sighhh oh well SEE YOU NEXT WEEK :D

Sorry for the cliffy there heheheh