Sorry, this chapter is a little shorter than I intended, but I just wanted to leave you guys in suspense! Hope you enjoy!
Nikki walks out of Max's tent and headed towards the mess hall for dinner. She spent the rest of the day feeling horrible, and the day after that. In fact, she spent three whole days just sitting in her own guilt. Neil finally takes notice to Nikki being less energetic than usual.
"Uh, are you ok Nikki?" He asks in his worried tone, "You've been acting kinda strange."
"I saw things I wish I've never seen," she replies blankly.
"Well, I'm too young to deal with that shit," He says beginning to walk away, obviously getting a different idea in his head.
Nikki grabs his arm, "No! It's about Max!"
"Nikki, ew. I don't need to know about this crap, especially if it involves Max. What he does in his spare time is his business."
"You're not getting it! Max was-" she lowers her voice and pulls Neil closer, "-Max was crying."
"Oh... Oh," Neil sits next to Nikki and listens to her intently.
"I was hiding under his bed to scare him, but then he started talking to his stuffed bear."
Neal snickers, "He's still attached to that thing?"
Nikki shoots him a death glare that made Neil think she was definitely sending wolves to attack him. Suddenly, something clicks in his head. "Oh... my god... That's the exact reason he was crying... fuck."
Nikki nods, "He does it every day. I feel really bad."
"What do we do?"
"Don't worry, I have a plan. I'm gonna take some money from David. Get ready to go into town."
It's free time for dinner, and Max goes to his tent for his daily talking-to with Mr. Honey Nuts. When he walks in, there are two boxes wrapped in red ribbons. He opens one, which only says "to Max". Inside, there is a blue stuffed wolf. The other one, there is a yellow stuffed monkey. Max spots a note at the bottom of the second box. He grabs it and reads it.
"More for your collection!"
Outside the tent, Nikki and Neil eagerly wait for Max to come out, hoping he would like the anonymous gifts. Max walks out and doesn't even greet them. He walks past them towards the mess hall, expecting them to follow behind.
They trail behind him. After a moment, Neil finally gets the guts to talk. "So, Max. Anything new?"
"Someone is trying to fucking mock me."
"Wait, that's not-"
"I'm gonna find them, and destroy them."
Well shit.