Be warned! This is my TRIGGER WARNING!
1 Week Later
"JEB PLEASE STOP!" I screamed. Jeb hit me with his now empty beer bottle.
"You good for nothing bitch! I hate you! I never wanted you but I got you when I married your whore of a mother!" He screamed back hitting me with the bottle again causing it to shatter. "All you do is waste my money! You make the doctors give false diagnosis and get drugs out of it to feed your addiction! I hope you die!" Jeb hit me one last time before leaving me curled up on the floor to get more alcohol to feed the fire that is him.
I scrambled up and to the stairs where I ran to my room. Once in my room I closed the door and pushed my bookshelf in front of it. Which hurt like hell by the way. The door slammed downstairs and the sound of a car engine sounded startling me. I started crying as I pulled up my sleeves and started to cut. Two cuts turned into ten cuts, the blood pooled out of the wounds and dripped down my arm to the floor.
Feeling a little light headed from the mixture of crying and loss of blood I sat on the floor and pulled out my phone. I found Iggy's number and dialed it.
"Hey this is Iggy, leave a message and maybe I'll call back. But that's only if you're important to me." I got his voicemail instantly; this must be date night for him and Ella.
"H-hey Igs," I was still sobbing. "I'm j-just c-calling t-to tell you I-I'm sorry. I-I can't keep l-living l-like this. I-I'm d-done with life. I hope you will understand." I cleared my throat and wiped my eyes and nose. "Please tell Ella I love her and I'll miss her but not to worry about me, I'll be fine. I mean all the Christians and shit say I'm going to Hell for this b-but I can't live like this. You know my locker combination, so if there's anything you want in it, please take it. Tell Fang that he's still and forever will be a jackass man-whore even when I'm gone." I took a deep shuddering breath, "O-oh God, I'm actually gonna do this. I'm going to see my brother and my mom again. I can't wait." Fresh tears started streaming down my face, "I-I g-guess this i-is g-goodbye. I love you Igster…" I hung up and turned my phone off sliding it across the floor.
IggyPOV
I felt bad for sending Max's call to voicemail, but this was date night and Ella would get mad at me if I answered even if it was Max.
My phone vibrated in my pocket telling me I had a voicemail. Huh, that's weird, she always spam called me if she really needed me so I unlocked my phone and looked at my girlfriend.
"So, I know your rules on cellphones during date night but Max just called and left a voicemail. She never leaves a voicemail. Can I please go listen to it and find out what she needs?" I asked praying she would say yes.
"Only because it's Max and she's been a bit off lately." Ella responded. I nodded and got off the couch and walked into the hallway.
"H-hey Igs," Max sounded like she was sobbing. "I'm j-just c-calling t-to tell you I-I'm sorry. I-I can't keep l-living l-like this. I-I'm d-done with life. I hope you will understand." She cleared her throat. "Please tell Ella I love her and I'll miss her but not to worry about me, I'll be fine. I mean all the Christians and shit say I'm going to Hell for this b-but I can't live like this. You know my locker combination, so if there's anything you want in it, please take it. Tell Fang that he's still and forever will be a jackass man-whore even when I'm gone." She took a deep shuddering breath, "O-oh God, I'm actually gonna do this. I'm going to see my brother and my mom again. I can't wait." Tears started streaming down my face, "I-I g-guess this i-is g-goodbye. I love you Igster…" I ran back into the room with Ella and she looked at me.
"M-Max… suicide… we have to stop her!" Ella jumped off the couch and ran with me to the door.
As I flung the door open, Fang jerked back and looked at me and his sister. "What's wrong?" He asked but I grabbed his arm and pulled him to his car where we all climbed in. "Where are we going?!"
"Max's. Something's wrong, she called and was crying and told me to tell you you'll still be 'a jackass man-whore even when I'm gone' I don't know what that means. The 'when I'm gone' part not the first part, I understand that part." Fang looked at me before starting to speed his way to her house.
FangPOV
When Iggy told me what Max had said, I pressed down on the gas pedal; speeding more than I normally do. When her house came into view, I automatically took my seatbelt off as I parked in the driveway.
"She's got to be in her room; the light is on." Iggy told me and I nodded.
I ran to the door and pushed it open, running to the stairs. Trying the door to her room, the knob twisted and opened slightly before stopping. I looked back at my sister.
"You go downstairs and call 9-1-1." She hesitated but listened to me. "You ready to push down whatever the hell she put in front of her door?" I asked Iggy he nodded and we started to push on the door. Iggy looked at me with a slight panicked expression.
"This isn't working!"
"I know Ig!" I backed up and ran at the door hitting it with my shoulder.
After doing it another time Iggy joined me. The third hit the door was cracked but we heard a giant crash on the other side. In my head I prayed that Max wasn't anywhere near the door block.
We climbed in her room and looked at the books that were scattered everywhere and the bookshelf that we had knocked over. Looking over at the bed, Max lay there covered in blood, an open pill bottle lying next to her; empty. I went to her and got on her bed leaning over her. I wasn't seeing any rise and fall of her chest but that didn't mean anything. Putting my hand to her nose and mouth, I checked her breathing that way.
"She's breathing, but it's really slow and shallow." I told Iggy
"Her arms… they're still bleeding…" He responded I looked at them at saw the blood still pooling.
In one swift movement my shirt was off and pressed firmly down on her arm. Quickly after Iggy saw what I was doing he had his shirt pressed to her other arm. I looked at her face and that's when I saw the bruises. They were everywhere on her. Covering her body in a blanket of various bruises, some new and some old; they're coloring varying.
"Fang," I looked up at Iggy, "Do you- do you see th-the…"
"Yeah, I see them."
"Do you think…"
"Jeb's been abusing her? Yeah. Bet Jeb is the reason her hand is broken –and not in a cast anymore, allow with her ribs." Iggy swiped his one arm across his eyes and sniffed.
"I-I'm so sorry Max. I'm sorry I wasn't there and didn't help you sooner." Iggy had tears rolling down his face but I knew not to say anything.
"We'll take over from here." We looked up and paramedics stood next to us already taking over.
"I have a few questions for you though, so if you just step outside for a minute." Iggy and I followed the police officer out into the hall and downstairs to where Ella was sitting on the couch crying. She looked up and ran over to me before sobbing on my shoulder. I held her tightly ad fought my own tears.
Max may not be my friend and honestly she hates me, but we were once best friends. She was like my little sister, but when I got to middle school I started sports and started dating. That's when I turned into the 'jackass man-whore' I am now. I lost my virginity in eighth grade and well sex is addicting…
"What is the victim's name?" Officer Nye asked
"Her name is Max, Maximum Ride." I answered
"Her age?"
"Seventeen,"
"Has she ever threatened or attempted suicide?"
"No, never."
"Have you ever suspected any depression?"
"No,"
"How did you know she was planning this?"
"She called him," I gestured to Iggy.
"What are all your names?"
"I'm Nickolas Martinez, this is my twin sister Ella, and that's Jeffery Cantrell."
"What are your relations to Ms. Ride?"
"We're her friends." Just then the paramedics carried the stretcher with Max lying on it down the stairs. I instinctively turned my body so Ella couldn't watch them.
"Do you know where her father is?"
"Step-father; but no, I don't know where he could be. Maybe a bar getting drunk."
"Thank you." Officer Nye closed his notebook and left, closing the door after him.
Ella sobbed harder into my shoulder and I felt a tear escape my eye. I wiped it away quickly and looked at Iggy.
"I'm gonna go clean up her room and pack her stuff up." I passed my sister to him and started up the stairs.
I stopped just outside her door to take deep breaths. Finally gathering enough strength to put my earbuds in and starting to blast music, I walked in seeing the blood everywhere. Maybe I'll start with cleaning that first. Leaving her room I went back downstairs to fill the bucket with water and cleaning stuff. I went back up to her room gathering all the bed sheets and the two shirts off the bed and put them in the dirty clothes.
I mopped quickly and to the beat of Nightmare by Avenged Sevenfold. I backed into the tipped over bookshelf. My body landed hard with a loud thud on the ground. I stood back up and flipped the bookshelf upright sliding it into place.
After the floor was fully mopped I grabbed any and all boxes in the house, taking them up to her room.
"Do you want any help?" Iggy asked with his arm wrapped around Ella's waist.
"Sure, if one of you wants to help me pack everything up and the other throw that stuff in the laundry machine, that'd be great." I answered while stacking the books in a box I had labeled 'Reading Literature and Shit.'
"I'll go do that." Ella walked in and picked up the laundry and carried it back downstairs.
"What do you want me to do?" Iggy asked
"You take over with the books; I'll work on packing up what's in the closet."