Chapter Thirty-One: Trouble on the Home Front

Wait…does that Lovejoy guy end up getting off the ship? Wasn't he with Cal? He had to be…but then they got separated, I think…and then he somehow got blood all over his face. Yeah! And then when the boat split in half, he falls through the hole! So he technically did get off the ship…but then he dies.

Bella shook her head, trying to clear the mental image of a middle-aged weirdo falling into the icy depths of the ocean. Death was one thing she definitely didn't need floating around in her mind at the moment.

She had to admit, Titanic was pretty amazing. There was a perfect balance of historical events woven into the story of Jack and Rose. It somehow always had her rapt attention; no matter what was going on in her life, she could always count on that movie to help her through the rough spots.

She closed her eyes and sighed. Why was she thinking about a ship? She kicked some snow in front of the bench, watching it turn to water on her boots. Her little brother was still out there. She didn't know how long she'd been searching…surely the sun would rise any moment now. Or perhaps it had only been a few minutes, the fear of anxiety stretching it out to seem like hours.

Think about something else…you can't worry forever…

She conceded with herself. Thinking about other things wouldn't hurt, right? It would help her with the frustration she felt towards not finding her brother as quick as she'd thought. And something like that wasn't going to harm anyone.

What had she been thinking about? Oh, right. The movie. She loved the movie. But she didn't love James Cameron, the director. For a while, she'd thought he was pretty cool. But then came the fateful day she'd heard on the radio that he was a jerk and had been married about six times. He was very demanding, and had called Kate Winslet "Kate Weighs-A-Lot" to her face when she hadn't fit into a size 0 dress for Titanic.

Claire had claimed she'd known his true self all along. "It's all the same with celebrities," she'd said. "Everyone in that business is cracked."

Bella had then pointed out that Claire had a huge crush on people like Channing Tatum and Sterling Knight. "So?" Claire had asked. "I think they're hot. Big deal. Just because I have a crush on them doesn't mean I ever want to date them."

Suddenly Bella missed her sister's snide comments. What would she say when she came home tomorrow and found out that Max had run away? Would she even care? She would have to. Max was her brother. Even if Claire couldn't stand him most of the time, she'd have to be a tiny bit concerned that he'd left.

All this wondering was making Bella weary and hungry at the same time. She had already downed all her fish crackers and one-and-a-half bottles of water. She couldn't go back home until she found Max, so she had to ration out the remaining half-bottle.

Bella looked at her watch and decided to work out exactly how long she'd been out here. It was eight-thirty right now. Dinner would have been at seven. Max had started to cause chaos at six-fortyish, and had run away around six-fifty-fiveish. She'd probably left the house at around seven-ten or seven-fifteen. So she'd been searching for approximately one hour and fifteen minutes. It hadn't seemed all that long before. But then again, she'd been weighed down with thoughts of what had happened at home.

She suddenly felt like kicking herself. What had made her act so stupid to everyone? Life would have been much easier if she hadn't decided to make up plans and act like a moron. If she hadn't done all that, maybe she wouldn't be out here in the dead of night in the middle of winter, searching frantically for the one person in her life who truly understood her.

Wow…that's some deep stuff. Maybe I should write a book or something…

The street was alight with white and orange. Bella turned to her left. Coming down the street was a car. She couldn't really tell what kind of car it was, but it seemed familiar…

"I knew I'd find you…" said a voice from the open window.

Bella felt her blood run cold. It couldn't be…

"Now get in the car like a good girl," the man said, his face obscured in the darkness.

She had ditched him a while ago, she was sure of it. How had he caught up? It didn't make any sense to her.

"Get in the car, and maybe I'll be nice," the man said. She could tell he was getting angry.

Bella sat, dumbstruck. What should she do? She couldn't get in that car. That much was clear. But what would happen if she didn't? Should she call the police? Should she run and tell one of the neighbors?

"Just get in the car!" He began to unbuckle his seatbelt.

You gotta think, Bella…he's getting out of the car!

She reached into her backpack and pulled out the first thing that her hands grabbed. A few seconds later, her half-full water bottle was knocking the guy in the face.

Bella didn't hang around long enough to revel in the guy's injury. She started to run, making sure she got as far as she could before ducking around a corner.

Once again, the car didn't seem to follow her. But she wasn't going to take any chances. She again tried to distance herself as far as she could from the car, hoping that she wouldn't run into it again that night.

...

Max jumped over the sand dunes and found Carol sitting on the beach. There were a million things he wanted to say to his friend, but he didn't know where to start, exactly.

He was sure that bringing the owls – and the addition of Bella – to the fort wouldn't cause a lot of problems. Bob and Terry were KW's friends, and they seemed…interesting enough. And Bella was something out of his mind, his own creation; it was only right that she be let in.

Boy, had he been wrong.

The others had thought Bob and Terry were very adorable, and Bella was easily a favorite. Even Judith, who was always hard to please, definitely thought the newcomers were something special.

It had all gone smoothly. Until Carol opened his mouth.

"Max," he'd said conversationally, "I think the fort's broken."

"What? What do you mean?"

"I thought you said that if someone we didn't like came in here, the fort would automatically cut their brains out." Carol looked at him as if expecting Max to will the fort to detach the three brains on the spot.

"Well…it's okay that they're in here," Max said. "I want them in here, so their brains don't have to be cut out." It was lame, but he didn't know how else to clarify things. To make matters worse, Carol shortly left in a huff, leaving a very awkward mood over everyone.

Max had forgotten that Carol was easily threatened by outsiders, and also wasn't too thrilled that KW had friends other than him and the others. Why hadn't he remembered? He could have saved that whole confrontation if he hadn't been so forgetful.

Bella was on his case the minute Carol was gone. She had pulled him outside and given it right to him.

"Why didn't you mention that Carol has issues with new people?" she demanded.

"I…I didn't think it'd be a problem," Max said honestly.

"Oh, of course you didn't." She heaved a sigh and folded her arms across her chest. "Max, I swear…sometimes…you don't think."

"Well…maybe I could think if you weren't hounding me about things!" Max shot back. "I don't need your input. You're just a figment of my imagination! I wish I'd never let you out!"

Bella just stared at him. "Okay, then. I'll...I can just leave. And not come back."

"Fine. Go ahead. This is exactly why I left in the first place. No one ever listens to me! Everyone always blames me for everything! And now you're doing it, too! You're just as bad as she is!"

With that, he'd taken off, knowing that if he stayed, he'd say even more things that would be much better off unspoken.

Now he cautiously approached Carol, who was covered in sand and wearing one of the saddest expressions Max had ever seen.

"I can't believe KW," Carol said, apparently noticing Max's presence. "I mean…what does she see in those bird things? They're so…weird!" He looked at Max. "I couldn't understand a word they said."

"It's okay," Max said. "I really couldn't understand them, either."

"And…and what about that…leech thing?" Carol accused. "How do you know she doesn't eat creatures like us?"

Despite his anger for her, Max knew Bella didn't deserve to be called a leech. "She told me she doesn't hunt creatures like you. She's friends with your kind."

Carol didn't seem convinced. "You're gonna help us, right, Max? You're gonna fix everything, aren't you?"

Max was prepared to answer this question. While searching for Carol's whereabouts, he'd come up with a brilliant idea to try out on his new friends.

"Of course," Max said, smiling at his idea. "I know exactly what to do."