Sins ch 2
Max paid for the uniforms with some of the cash she had on her and took the bags the woman handed her. She couldn't wait to get out of the store. The woman was irritating in the extreme. Jenny wasn't much help either. By the time they got out of they're Max wanted some aspirin because she was developing a headache
Jenny wanted to get some junk food for the room so Max went with her. She picked up a bottle of aspirin and a city map. Also grabbing a bus schedule as she waited for Jenny to pay for her stuff.
Jenny drove them back to the dorms. She was supposed to go see Reid tonight. Max decided to decline her offer to go to the local hang out with Jenny and her boyfriend. She didn't want to be a third wheel. Max had other plans anyways, she had an address and she was going to find it.
After Jenny finally left Max grabbed her old hoody and headed for the bus stop down the street. She got on the first one that came and got off a few blocks from the house.
There was nothing in this area, just a dirt road. Max followed it until she came to an old house. She was just about to jump the fence. When someone shot at her. Max screamed and ducked. Flattening herself to the ground. "Just turn around and go the other way," said an old man. Max was crawling along the ground. "I don't think so old timer, I've got an invite" said Max
"Ain't no one sent no invitations from here" said the man. He was scanning the bushes trying to find where she was hid. "I received a letter from this address," said Max. "Written by who?" said the old man "by a Mr. James Danvers" said Max. The old man lowered the gun. "Maxine?" said the old man. She nodded yes.
"Why didn't you say so sooner?" said the old man. Max looked up from the ground. "I tried to you shot at me" said Max "sorry can never be too careful these days, come on then" said the old man. He slung the rifle over his shoulder and headed for the door. Max stood up slowly and dusted herself off. Slowly following the man inside the old creepy house. He walked up a rickety flight of stairs in the house. Max followed him reluctantly. The stairs didn't look all that stable.
Max stopped halfway up the stairs. "Who are you?' she asked. Suddenly wondering why she trusted a strange old man who had just shot at her. "I'm Gorman, Gorman Twoberrys, and up until a week ago I was your father's caretaker," said the old man
"Caretaker?" said Max. "Yes Maxine caretaker, your father was very ill," said Gorman. "Wait a minute was?" said Max.
Gorman looked sad for a moment. "I'm sorry my dear he died two days ago" said Gorman. Max looked stricken. "He, he died?' she said Gorman steered her to a chair. "But I was coming to see him" she said "I know dear and he wanted to see you so bad but some things were not meant to be" said Gorman. Max looked at her hands in her lap." So what happens now?" said Max.
Gorman sighed and sat down next to her." Well that leaves me to fill in the pieces," said Gorman "fill in the pieces?" said Max sounding slightly dazed. 'I have a lot to explain and several things to show you" said Gorman.
"What things?" said Max. "Your inheritance Maxine and your destiny" said Gorman. "Say what?" said Max 'speak sense, yoda" said Max Gorman chuckled "you have his sense of humor I see" said the old man. He walked across the room and pulled a box off a shelf. He set the box on the small table next to her. "This is for you, read it but leave it here, its for your eyes only" said Gorman.
Max opened it slowly expecting some sort of prank or something. She found letters stacks of them. "What?" said Max "those are copies of the letters your father wrote to you that he never got a chance to send" said Gorman
Max closed the box and rested her hands on the lid. Gorman sensed she had a question so he waited until she asked it.
'Why did he never send them?' asked Max at last. "Because he didn't know if they would reach you," said Gorman. Max remembered the discarded letters in the trash back in California "Gorman how long did my father know about me?" asked Max. Gorman smiled "since you were about two years old, he wanted you raised here" said Gorman "why?" said max.
"Before I answer that I have to ask you a question," said Gorman. Max looked puzzled but shrugged "go ahead" she said "this may seem like a strange question but I have my reasons for asking it, I will explain them don't worry" said Gorman.
"Maxine has anything weird ever happened because you wanted it to?" said Gorman. Max looked shocked. "Say what?" she asked Gorman sighed, "okay different question, have you ever done anything that you can't explain," said max. Max thought about it, yeah she had. "Yeah when I was younger I blew up the microwave without touching it" said max." or at least I think I did" said max "how old were you?" asked Gorman
"About twelve and a half" said max. Gorman nodded "anything else, something you did on purpose perhaps" said Gorman.Max felt like she was confessing for some reason. She sighed. "Me and a girlfriend cast a spell once" she admitted. "What kind of spell?" asked Gorman. He kneeled down near her. "It was supposed to be a love spell" she said "and what did it do?" he asked. "Well I guess it worked but not on the intended target" said Max.
"Really what did it say, do you remember?" he asked. "Something about true love" said Max. "And did your friend find her true love?" asked Gorman. He had a wicked smirk on his face. "Well yeah I guess she did if you think about it," said Max. "Good which brings me to my next topic" said Gorman. "Your father had many secrets, I need to know if you can keep them?" said Gorman. "Of course, what's family stays family," said Max
"Yes good answer" said Gorman. "I have one question though, why didn't he live with us, why was I all the way on the other side of the country?" asked Max
Gorman sighed. "That was your mothers doing, and the reason you never lived with him is that he was married to someone else, when he helped conceive you" said Gorman. Max's eyes went wide "holy shit!" she said "that's some secret" she said.' "Yes well it wasn't his only one," said Gorman. "Did his wife know?" said Max. "She probably suspected, but he never told her," said Gorman
"So no one knows but us?" said Max. "Yes no one until it is time" said Gorman "time? Time for what?" said max. "Time for everything to come together" said Gorman. He turned away from her and reached into a desk drawer and pulled a knife out of the drawer. He silently apologized to his old friend if he was wrong and turned and threw the dagger.
Max had been reaching for the box when suddenly something sharp was flying towards her. Max yelped and threw up her hands. Willing the dagger not to hit her. When she didn't hear it hit the chair or her. She slowly lowered her arms. The dagger was suspended in mid air inches from her face. Max moved out of the chair with a shocked look on her face. Gorman looked relieved and not at all surprised. "What the heck did you do that for?" she said. she was moving towards the stairs.
"Wait, let me explain please" said Gorman. The dagger clattered to the floor in the silence that followed. "All right why?" said Max "so you would do that" said Gorman "do what" said Max. She crossed her arms on her chest. "Relax Maxine I know all about your talents, your father shared them" said Gorman. She looked resistant and slightly scared. "I won't do any such tests again, you have my word" said Gorman
"Why'd you do it in the first place?" she asked "because I needed to see if you had the family gift or if you were making up stories" said Gorman. "So you try to kill me?" said Max
"I am sorry about that," said Gorman "sorry! You try to kill me and all I get is sorry, what if I didn't have these abilities?" said Max. "Then unfortunately you would be dead," said Gorman. "Whatever your crazy man, I'm outta here" said Max. "Maxine please sit down," said Gorman. "Maxine please" said Gorman. "You came out here for answers, you will never get them if you leave now" said Gorman.
Max had her hand on the railing and was about to just leave. She looked at the old man "fine but you keep your hands where I can see them" she said.
"Fair enough" agreed the old man. He looked almost relieved. "I'll start at the beginning a little over three hundred years ago your fathers' ancestor helped form a covenant of silence, with four other families who all possessed the same powers" said Gorman. "During the Salem witch trials one of the families grew greedy, that endangered the lives of the other families so he vanished" said Gorman "you mean they killed him" said Max
Gorman nodded "most likely, unfortunately he got a woman pregnant a woman by the name of Goody Pope" said Gorman "so the line continued?" said Max. "Yes unfortunately, and it was this ancestor that cost your father his life," said Gorman. Max looked pissed "but do not worry your brother handled him" said Gorman
"Brother?' asked Max "ill go into them later" said Gorman "them? I have more than one?" said max "biologically you have one, through your power you have four" said Gorman 'but as I said I'll explain that later, first I need to go over something first" said Gorman
"As I was saying this power is passed from generation to generation, but usually only to the firstborn son," said Gorman. "So I'm an accident?" said Max "no closer to godsend" said Gorman
"I don't understand?' said Max "there is a prophesy in the book about a balance" said Gorman "book? Like as in book of shadows book?" said Max "ah yeah, but its called the book of damnation" said Gorman "oh" she said "can I continue?" he asked "yeah sure go ahead" said max. "This balance was supposed to be a second member of one of the covenant families born with the power" said Gorman "yeah and?" said Max "this person brings a balance to the other families powers and reverses a unfortunate curse that comes with the power" said Gorman "curse, what curse?" said Max
Gorman sighed and stood up he moved towards a bookshelf and removed a photo album. "Your father wanted me to show you he had me take these right before he died" said Gorman. He opened the album and turned to a page with a young man on it. Obviously it was taken a long time ago in the seventies or before.
The man looked a lot like James Dean. "This is your father when he was about 17" said Gorman then he flipped the page. In that picture an old man sat in a chair just like the one she was sitting in. he had air hoses running to his nose and he looked like he was about 102 yrs old "this is your father shortly before he died at age 45" said Gorman. Max looked horrified, this man was her father? "Holy shit!" was all she could say.