Chapter 4

(Author's note: Unpleasantness coming up. Sorry in advance if it's too much for you.)

While off in slumber, Max was actually enjoying his dream. In his dream, he was actually a lot younger this time, and he was with his birth parents this time. He didn't know exactly what was happening, but he was actually enjoying his childhood the way that it was meant to turn out initially. There were moments where he was bonding with David over guy things like dads do with their sons, and there were times where Gwen was being the mom that she was meant to be. All leading up to David bringing in a birthday cake from the kitchen, and Max making a wish as he blew out the candles.

However, when he blew out the candles, the whole room went pitch black and everyone disappeared. It didn't take long for Max's sight to return to him, but he immediately wished that he still couldn't see. He saw that he was back in his previous bedroom. It was dark, gray, dimly lit, and barely had anything close to a bed with a dilapidated dresser in the corner. To him, it usually made prison cells feel more welcoming to stay at, but this was even worse.

His bed sheets were missing along with his lamp, and nightstand. The chair that he would often sit in for comfort was gone. His empty toy chest which sat at the foot of his bed wasn't anywhere to be found. Even his stuffed bear, his first best friend, was nowhere to be spotted. Everything that made him feel safe, or gave him any ounce of joy, was removed. However, the door leading from his bedroom was slightly opened.

Max cautiously, and timidly opened the door to see what was on the other side. Rather than leading to the usual hallway of his old house, it led to a large old hotel style hallway. Once again the hallway was dimly lit but it was probably better to not be lit at all. The walls were barely holding together, and the floor had a large red streak running down the way. Based on how the streak appeared, it didn't look like paint and it certainly wasn't intended to be there.

It was a blood smear, and it looked bad for whoever it belonged to.

Max found the source by the time he reached a doorway at the end of the hall. In the center of the next room was a man crumpled up, beaten badly, and looking completely lifeless. The man was in khaki shorts, a green shirt, and wore a yellow bandana. All of which was stained red by the blood. It only got worse once Max saw the face of the dead body, and tears welled up in his eyes.

"David?" Max said with heavy pain in his voice.

He gave David a light shake in hopes of waking up the redhead. Unfortunately, there was no response from David in reaction to the motion. What's even worse was that David's body felt colder than ice when Max touched him. The boy slowly moved his hands away, and felt tears start running down his face. Through the crying, he clutched onto David's body with a hug and said, "Wake up. Please dad, wake up."

His crying only stopped when he heard a loud scream at the end of the hallway. Max released David's body and immediately ran towards the source. It led to a closed door which the boy almost slammed into when he was running. He tried turning the handle, but it wouldn't give in either direction, and the screams only became louder. He began banging on the door with hopes that he could break the door down.

The door did open but only because the person on the other side kicked it open, causing Max to roll backwards on the ground. The person on the other side was a massive overweight man, standing at almost two meters tall. His dark brown eyes were staring down at Max with a dangerous mix of anger and fury. The face was one that Max recognized even without looking at the rest of the man. The face was of the one he originally called dad, Jacob Anwar.

His voice was as loud and commanding as Max remembered, "You choose these people over the ones that put up with you for years?"

Max was frozen with fear as he tried to slowly crawl away from Jacob. He didn't even have the strength to respond, or to even look at the man. That didn't stop Jacob from continuing to speak, "I raised you when they gave you up. You were brought up in my house you little shit. And this is how you repay me?"

Every response Max had prepared to say had died in his throat. He wanted to say that Jacob was the most terrible father in the history of parents. He wanted to kick the man in the groin till his own foot was broken. He wanted to scream at him and tell him to f &$ off with his wife that even bothered to call herself a mother of anyone. He wanted to do all of these things, but he couldn't.

Because even though they were no longer in his life, he was still afraid of the people who had raised him. And after looking at what was behind Jacob, he saw another reason why.

Behind Max's former father was Gwen who looked beaten, bruised, and barely conscious. She had on David's vest which was now ripped in several spots. Her hair was hanging loosely and looked messed up all over the place. In her hand looked like a broken broom handle which looked ready to be used as a weapon. Exhaustedly, she charged at the man looming over Max, and said, "Get the f &$ away from my son."

She swung the broom handle at Jacob, which caused him to stumble a little. However, he was able to get his footing quickly and grab Gwen's wrist before she could attack again. His grip tightened, forcing Gwen to drop the broom handle, and he kneed her in the gut, causing her to collapse on her knees to the ground. Once down, Jacob began kicking her to no end. All Max could do was sit there and shout, "Mom! Leave her alone!"

Meanwhile

Back in reality, Gwen woke up in the middle of the night feeling thirsty. Every now and then this would happen which is why she usually had a glass of water on her nightstand. This time the glass was empty so she went to the bathroom sink to fill it. Normally she would go fill it from the kitchen sink but it was too far away, and she was tired. Before she could even touch the doorknob to the bathroom, she heard noises from Max's bedroom.

She went to check on him, and saw that he was tossing and turning in his bed. His face was covered in sweat, and looked pale with fear. Gwen caught that he was muttering in his sleep but only caught words like 'mom' and 'help'. All clear evidence that he was having a really bad nightmare. So Gwen gently shook the boy to wake him up and said, "Max, wake up."

After the third attempt of doing this, Max shot up from his bed, shouting, "Mom no!"

Max's eyes darted all over the room, taking in his whole surroundings. The dingy hallway once surrounding him was replaced by the blue walls of his new bedroom. The simple bed and nightstand were now his nice bed with blankets all in one piece. His stuffed bear, Mr. Honeynuts, was once again by his side now. And knelt down next to his bedside, looking deeply concerned, was his mom Gwen, which further confirmed that it was all just a very bad dream.

However, as soon as he came to the realization that he was awake, he dropped whatever grip he had on the stuffed bear and gave Gwen a hug. During this hug, tears ran down his face and onto Gwen's shirt as if they were endless waterfalls. Gwen almost immediately hugged the child back as he continued to cry. She actually struggled to hold back her own tears as she calmed the boy down. Throughout the process, she kept repeating, "It's okay Max. I'm here for you."

Unfortunately, she felt like she was lying to him mostly about herself. Once again, the guilt that she felt when she gave up Max, her only son, for adoption ten years ago, had returned. She felt like she was failing at comforting him, because how could she help a child when she hasn't had any experience as a mother? She knew that the boy deserved better than what he had to deal with for ten years, but was she really the better choice? Her heart ached for the pain that he went through, but does she deserve to feel that way?

Eventually Max settled down, and he said, "I feel like such a wimp."

"Everyone has terrible dreams Max," Gwen replied as she maintained her hug, "You don't have to tell me about yours."

"He took you and David from me," Max explained, "He was just attacking you and-"

"It's okay Max," Gwen interrupted as she pulled him away so that she could look him in the eyes, "Your father and I won't let anyone else take you."

His father. For some reason, those words warmed Max's heart hearing those two words now. He was actually smiling as he wiped the tears from his face. And this time, when he pulled Gwen in for another hug, it wasn't out of fear, mischief, or some sort of desire for safety. It was out of love and happiness for his parents. His actual parents. The ones that truly give a damn about him, even before knowing that he was their son.

Gwen felt it too. More so when Max asked, "Can I stay with you for the night?"

She smiled as she answered, "Of course sweetie."

Max followed Gwen to her room and the two hopped into her bed. He held on tight to his stuffed bear as he shut his eyes out of some attempt to get sleep. Though it was a challenge to sleep again if one had a scary nightmare that woke one up. Which was why he was grateful when Gwen got in the bed and wrapped an arm around the boy. As she attempted to drift off to sleep, she softly and sweetly said, "Goodnight Satan."

Max smiled as he replied back, "Goodnight mom."

That night, Gwen went to sleep with a smile on her face. Until David accidentally woke them both up with taking a picture.