Chapter 24: Cracked

Apparently some of you didn't to read my AN at the end of the last chapter. Max is not at the School! She's in her bedroom, but she's crazy. Read on for a better explanation.

Disclaimer: Meh…you know it all.

Ella POV:

I woke up late. It was almost ten o'clock in the morning. I frowned. Even on Saturdays, Max liked to be up and moving before nine. I decided that she probably managed to get some sleep, and her body's clock had been thrown off. I got up and stretched. I was about to wake up Max when there was a knock on the door. Lexi was outside and Meredith was watching from across the hall.

"I'm home!" Lexi said, as if I didn't know.

"Good. And did you behave?" I asked.

Alexis nodded and Meredith said, "Yes, she was very good. Where's Max?"

"Still sleeping," I said. Meredith nodded and closed her door. Lexi went straight to the TV, where I turned on her cartoons. Then I ventured over to Max's room.

I twisted the handle, expecting it to be locked, but it wasn't. Had she forgotten? I opened it and found Max on the in a ball on the floor, staring intently at the wall. "Max?" I asked uncertainly. I made a mental note to call Fang immediately.

She whipped around, and her wings flared out. She hissed angrily. "What? What the Hell could you possibly want from me now?"

I pulled back. "Um, I was just wondering if you were hungry, I-"

Max snorted. "Oh please. The only reason you whitecoats ever bother to really feed me is when you're drugging me. Of course I'm fucking hungry."

Whitecoats? What was wrong with her? "Max, is this some kind of joke? It's me, Ella. Your little sister?"

Max looked at me warily. "I don't know what you're trying to pull. Ella would never do something like work for your stupid corporation."

I needed a new method. I pulled quickly out of the room, and heard Max bang on the door behind me a few times. What was going on with her? Her unfocused eyes had suggested that maybe Max wasn't all there. "Aunt Ella, why is Mommy yelling?" an innocent voice chimed. Crap, I had forgotten about Lexi.

"Um, she's not feeling well," I said. "In fact…."

I stepped across the hall and knocked on Meredith's door. She opened it and gave me a confused look. "Now what's up?"

"I'm not one hundred percent sure, but I am sure that Max isn't…right. I went into her room and she started shouting about scientists. I'm going to call Angel and see if she can figure out what's going on. In the meantime, can you watch Alexis again? I'm sorry." Meredith nodded. She hadn't been planning on doing anything today anyway.

I took Lexi over and explained that her Mommy was very sick, so she had to stay with Tyler today. Lexi seemed a little confused but not overly upset. I dialed Angel and told her about Max. She said she would be here in a little over an hour.

I paced back and forth, contemplating whether or not it was a good idea to go ahead and call Fang. I decided not, seeing as he would most likely have a panic attack and do more harm than good.

Angel finally arrived and immediately went over to Max's door to get a good reading. She frowned. "Okay…um, it's a little blurry. I can't really tell what's going on." My heart sank. We didn't have any other options if Angel couldn't figure out what was wrong. "Ella, can you tell me what Max said again? Maybe having a lead will help."

"Uh, yeah," I wracked my brain. "She yelled at me about leaving her alone, then about how she was only fed if she was being drugged. Oh, and she called me a whitecoat."

Angel nodded, closing her eyes. "Hm…okay, so her mind is really fuzzy, like static, so I can't totally tell what's going on, but I think she thinks she's in the School."

"The School? Why does she think she's there?" I asked.

Angel shrugged, concentrating again. "I-I don't…something about Dylan? It's buried under all of the panic. I know this is weird, but I'm kind of impressed. I've never read the mind of an insane person before. It's very complex. She really believes that she's trapped. I'm guessing that's why she hasn't just left her room, because her mind is convinced it's useless."

"Hm," I said, thinking. "That's bizarre. But…well, doesn't that mean we should take her to a mental institution?"

Angel frowned. "Probably. Her mind seems pretty fixed like this, so I don't know if she'll recover." She said solemnly.

"Maybe we should just wait," I suggested. "Let's give it a few hours, and if she doesn't change, we'll take her to the hospital."

Angel shrugged. "Sounds good to me. I'm going to call Gazzy."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because, this is Max we're talking about. There's no way we'll be able to get her to the hospital without a fight, insane or not. I'm sure Gazzy can whip up some sort of sleeping solution."

It made sense to me. I nervously sat down, then stood up and paced, then sat down again. I started biting my nails, which I had never done before. Angel put her hand on my shoulder. I saw threads of panic in her wide blue eyes. I took a deep breath and pulled her down next to me, wrapping her in what I hoped was a comforting hug.

"It's okay Angel. This is Max we're talking about. She'll be okay."

Angel looked up at me. "But what if she isn't? What if we've really lost her? You didn't hear it Ella…she's so trapped in there. Dylan did something, and it set her over the edge. And she has a family and all…."

My eyes widened. "Crap. What are we going to tell Fang?"

Angel looked up, reading my thoughts and sensing my dread. "Oh Ella, it's not your fault this happened to Max."

"But it is. I was supposed to watch her, and obviously they got in while I was sleeping."

Angel looked at me quizzically. "But why did you need to watch her? She's been in the School before, and she can take care of herself-or so we thought. And neither you nor Meredith is actually capable of defending her against anything from the School," she reminded me. "No offense."

I frowned. "Hm. I guess I just assumed Fang was being overprotective as usual."

Angel shrugged. "We might as well watch TV or something. I'll keep listening to Max incase she tries to leave her room."

I turned on the TV and tried to distract myself. It failed miserably, and I don't think it worked for Angel either, but it did pass the time until her brother arrived. By then, it was about four in the afternoon.

"Hey," fourteen-year-old Gazzy said, "I brought the sleep bomb. Why did you need it again?"

Angel quickly explained. Gazzy's eyes widened. "Wait, so Max is like, literally insane? I always thought she was a little crazy, but…," he shook his head.

"I know," Angel agreed. "It's awful. But who knows, maybe the sleep bomb will cure her. Maybe she just needs to rest or something."

"I still think we need to take her to the hospital though," I added, "How long is that thing going to knock her out for?"

The Gasman smirked. "If my calculations were right, it should knock her out for about three hours. And we'll need ten of those minutes to let the smoke dissipate after I set it off. And the hospital is about twenty minutes away, so we should have plenty of time."

I nodded. "Okay. And once we get to the hospital, I'll call Fang. Even if the sleeping stuff snaps her out of her insanity, I think he needs to be here, because I'm not sure exactly what happened to her at the School this time, but obviously she can't cope without Fang nearby."

Gasser frowned. "I wonder what they did to her. I mean, they've done tons of horrible things to us, but she's always shaken it off and gotten the rest of us back on our feet."

"It has something to do with Dylan," Angel said. "I'm not sure exactly what, but he's definitely involved."

"Hm," I started speculating possibilities. "Anyway, we should go ahead and get her into the hospital. Hopefully they have a room in the mental ward."

Gazzy nodded and I took him back to Max's room. I heard her mumbling to herself and cursing, vowing that she would get out. Oh Max, I thought, The only place your trapped is in your head.

"How long does it take that thing to go off?" I whispered so we wouldn't alert Max.

"Five seconds, so I'll throw it in and we have to get the heck away, or we'll fall asleep too."

He stepped up right next to the door and put one hand on the doorknob. "Three…two…one!" Gazzy quickly opened the door and chucked the bomb inside, pressing a button on the side first. We stepped back quickly and I heard a faint thud as the capsule exploded.

We waited the necessary time until the smoke vanished and I cautiously stepped into the room. Max was sprawled on the floor. "Angel, does she sound any different?" I asked.

"It's blank now but still staticky. We need to take her to the hospital."

"What about her wings?" Gazzy asked. "They're showing."

I frowned. "Well, if she isn't in the right state of mind to hide them, someone will probably see them eventually. I don't want to put her in her skin suit because she would probably assume her wings were gone, and I think that would make it worse."

Gazzy and Angel nodded. "Okay. I'll carry her out to my car," I said. Angel grabbed my keys and we headed down to the parking lot. Several people gave me weird looks as they saw me carrying my sister bridal style, but I ignored them.

"Ella, don't grind your teeth," Angel piped up. "You'll hurt your jaw."

I put Max in the backseat and strapped her in. Angel sat next to her while the Gasman got shotgun. I hopped into the driver seat and started the car. "Sorry Angel, I'm just nervous."

I could see Angel looking at me in the rearview mirror. "I know. I've never been so worried. Like, I don't even know if she'll get better."

"Max is supposed to be indestructible," Gazzy whispered. "But they broke her."

My heart broke. Even though my mom had been raising them for almost five years now, I knew Angel and Gazzy would always think of Max as their mother. Mother. Oh God, how/what were we going to tell Alexis?

The rest of the drive was tense and silent. We arrived at the hospital around four forty-five. I picked up Max again and we went in.

"Hello. Oh my goodness!" The receptionist said when she saw Max passed out in my arms. Max's wings were folded up under her, so they were harder to see. "What happened to her?"

"Um," I hesitated. "We're not sure. She went crazy so we knocked her out and we were wondering if you had a room or something?"

The receptionist tilted her head. "You'll need to explain better than that sweetie. I don't understand what you mean."

I bit my lip. "Is there a mental doctor we can talk to in private. Please. I don't want to explain it here."

The receptionist looked skeptical, but she took me back into the hallway. We walked quietly with Angel and the Gasman behind us. When we arrived at the right place, the lady tapped a male doctor on the shoulder as he walked past.

"Yes?" he asked.

"This young woman needs to talk to you in private."

The doctor looked at me, or rather the unconscious Max in my arms. "What happened to her?"

"That's what I want to talk to you about," I said. "Could we talk privately?"

He looked at me for a long moment before saying, "Okay. Come with me."

He started heading back into an office. "With all due respect sir," I interrupted, "Could we get a room for her?"

He looked back at me. "Oh, of course. What kind of room?"

"Do you have padded cells?" I asked. "Secure ones? I don't want her to hurt herself or anyone else."

He frowned. "Yes. Will she wake up soon?"

I shrugged. "I think we have a few hours, but I'm tired of holding her."

The doctor led me to a sturdy-looking door with a TV monitor on the side. On the screen was an empty padded cell. "You can put her in here," he said, unlocking the door.

I walked in and set Max down in the middle of the room. "Wait, what are those?" the doctor asked from the doorway. Max's wings had come out and were splayed slightly behind her.

"Um, those are her wings," I said. His eyes widened. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about."

"We have them too," Angel added from behind the doctor. She shook out her fluffy white wings and Gazzy slightly opened his gray ones. The doctor took a deep breath.

"Wait…I think I heard about you kids on the news years ago. I didn't know you guys were…I don't know, still around." His demeanor had shifted from nervous to awed.

Gazzy nodded, "Yeah, we sort of settled down."

"Okay, well, I'll lock this woman up and we can talk in an office," he said, shutting the door and locking it with a passcode. Then he scribbled something on his clipboard. We walked down the hall into a small ofiice with a few chairs, a plain desk, and a computer.

"Okay," he said, "My name is Dr. Marvel, and I suppose I'll be keeping an eye on…"

"Max," I said. "Her name is Max."

"All right," Dr. Marvel nodded and typed something into his computer. "So, what exactly is her condition?"

I let Angel explain. "Um…okay, so, when we were younger we were in this place we called 'The School'. They did all sorts of awful stuff to us there, like experiments and stuff, and that's where we got wings. Something happened to Max and now she thinks she's trapped there again."

"And you're sure of this?" the doctor asked, "How do you know?"

Angel hesitated, "Well, uh…I can kind of read minds."

Dr. Marvel's eyes widened. "Ah…so, do you know what might have caused this condition?"

We shook our heads. "I looked deep, and I know it has something to do with this guy that works for the School and was totally in love with Max. His name is Dylan," Angel explained.

Dr. Marvel nodded, scribbling on his clipboard. "Okay…does she live alone?"

"No," I answered this time. "She has a boyfriend and a four-year-old daughter. But her boyfriend is away with my boyfriend this weekend. They're in Boston, and they're supposed to come back tomorrow. I was staying with her this weekend to help her feel more secure."

"Any specific reason she needed to be watched? Was she exhibiting any unusual behavior?"

I shrugged. "Well, she was more stressed than normal. She was kidnapped and taken to the School again just a month ago. She seemed very on edge."

"Okay. Can you tell me about how she returned, and the condition she was in? The extent of her injuries?"

"Yeah," I said, "She managed to escape and fly back. Fang-that's her boyfriend-found her on an abandoned cliff near their house. He said she looked like she had crash landed. She had a lot of bruises all over her body and a lot of blood on her upper thighs and around her…area."

Dr. Marvel stopped taking notes and looked at me. "Okay, let me recap. She was taken to an extremely inhumane underground institution where an old love interest was? And she returned with a lot of blood around her crotch?"

I nodded. All of a sudden, something hit me. Oh God, hearing it like that made me realize what exactly had happened to my sister. I gasped and covered my mouth, and Angel gripped her head the way she did when she didn't want to hear something someone was thinking.

"I see we seem to have reached the same conclusion," Dr. Marvel said, setting his mouth in a grim line.

"Wait, what?" Gazzy asked. He had been so quiet I had almost forgotten he was there. "Did I miss something?"

"I believe Max was raped," Dr. Marvel said sadly.

"Oh," Gasman whispered.

"She can stay here," Dr Marvel said. "We'll monitor her behavior and we'll have to run a pregnancy test. Can you give me her full information?"

I gave him her full name and we got everything all set. "Okay, you are welcome to come in and check on her, but you'll just be looking at the TV screen to see her. If she gets dangerous or the hallucinations seem permanent after two weeks, we'll send her to the mental institution a few blocks over."

"Okay," I said, standing and holding out my hand for him to shake it. "Thank you doctor." I gave him my phone number so he could call me if there were any significant changes. We stepped out into the cool September air. I checked my watch. Five thirty.

"Now we just have the most difficult part left," Angel said, frowning.

I nodded and pulled out my phone. "Yep. Time to call Fang."

Finally! This chapter was waaaaay longer than I thought it was going to be. Oh well, I'm sure you guys won't complain. About the length anyway.

I changed my mind about changing my username. I love BirdKidKirby. (I'd make you a Kirby emoticon but side arrows don't work on FF for some reason)

I was in the UIL writing competition in my district and I got 4th place! That means on Friday the 20th I'll be going to the regional competition as an alternate. Fun! :)

Thank you guys sooo much for all of the awesome reviews. I will remind you once again that while I do love your enthusiasm, don't bother me about updates. Believe me, I want to update, but I don't always have time and I don't have my own laptop, I'm on a shared computer.

Outro of darknees then redness then whiteness. Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off. BOOP! (If you tell me who that's from, I will love you forever. If you don't know, go find out. Furthermore, I disclaim that little thing. I didn't make it up, and it's not mine.)

PS. That reminds me that I have to give a shout-out to Ally, who guessed that Max would go insane when I asked you guys to spot the hint all those chapters ago. Several of you were close, but she was exact.

~BirdKidKirby