Hello! This is a second chapter, and in one night! I feel bad about ditching you guys for a week, so I'm putting this one up now. I'll put one up for My Torturer, Back Again, too.

Here you go!

P.S. I read Nevermore about three times in six hours. I can't believe that it's over. I really wasn't as pleased with this book as I thought I'd be. PM me if you feel the same way.

"Maximum!" Jeb boomed as soon as I entered the house. I was still breathing hard, I had run with Angel in my arms the entire way back.

I slowly backed away, towards the stairs, luckily. Valencia saw what I was trying to do, and grabbed my arm, preventing me from going further. I let Angel slip out of my arms and she ran, looking back at me the entire time.

I turned to face the two demons that stood in front of me, and I noticed that they had the most expressionless faces I had ever seen. Jeb was holding a bat, Valencia had a small knife, often used for cutting cucumbers. My eyes widened as they approached me, and I backed away, groping the air wildly, looking for anything that could be used as a weapon.

They kept coming, and I noticed their emotionless faces were quickly turning into wicked grins, knowing that they had me.

"Where were you?" Jeb spat, looking vicious.

"The park," I mumbled out, just loud enough that he could hear. He snarled, then swung the bat, hitting me in the stomach, effectively knocking the wind out of me. Then Valencia advanced, swinging the knife, and it glinted in the light of the lamp. It sliced my back, they had surrounded me.

I cried out in pain, arching my back, as if that would help the pain go away.

The worst part was that they smiled at my pain. They smiled as if this was a birthday present.

This went on for what felt like days, but was probably about forty-five minutes. They got bored of me and left, wandering towards the kitchen.

I sighed in relief, then realized that I couldn't move my left leg. Oh no.

"Angel!" I called, only as loud as I dared. Her head poked out from around the stairs, and it must have looked bad, because her eyes widened, and she scurried back upstairs, coming down with a first aid kit.

Without even looking to see if Jeb and Valencia were looking, she began to clean the knife cuts. That was followed by wrapping my entire torso with gauze, and that hurt badly. I sucked in a breath when she dabbed at my forehead, I had 'fallen' and hit my head on the coffee table.

Then she helped me limp upstairs, me not daring to put any of my weight on her.

When we arrived at our room, Angel made a make-shift splint for me. This is not good. If I can't walk, then we can't get to school. If we can't get to school, somebody will come looking for us. If somebody comes looking for us, then there are chances that they'll find out that we're abused. That is not good. So in conclusion, I have to be able to walk.

"Angel," I whispered in a hurried tone. "You have to go to school on Monday. Tell them that I'm sick and couldn't make it. They'll believe you and that will give us at least a few days for me to get better."

She just stared at me. With a look of defiance that I had never seen before, she said, "No."

My jaw dropped. "What?" I couldn't believe it. Had she just said no to something so important?

She repeated herself. "No." She crossed her arms and set her jaw.

"Angel, you don't get it. They can't come looking for us. So you have to tell them I'm okay," I said, worry flooding into my voice. She shook her head.

"Max, I will not leave you alone. You are my big sister. I love you and will protect you, just like you do for me. You are going to the hospital." With that she started to walk downstairs. "No!" I shouted, lurching out of the bed, effectively falling flat on my face.

"Angel! We can't afford the hospital and Jeb and Valencia won't pay! Think for a second!" I shouted, trying anything to get her to come back. Crap, crap, crap.

She didn't hesitate. I pushed myself up and hopped forward, putting as much weight as I could bear on my leg.

She got downstairs, me wobbling behind, and walked right up to Jeb. "Max needs to go to the hospital," She said sweetly, and I stopped dead, fear controlling my every move.

He looked at her with disbelief for a second then chuckled. "What do I care?" He asked, still chuckling to himself as he sipped his drink. "Well, I think she broke her leg, and that means that she has to have a cast. A doctor will treat to it," Angel said reasonably, but I could tell that she was scared.

Finally I got control of my body again. I lurched forward and pulled Angel away from the devils. "Get away from her!" I hissed, stepping in front of her, ignoring the protest from my leg. I teetered for a second, then gained balance.

"So, you hurt your leg?" Valencia spat at me, pushing me backwards. I nodded once I was on the ground, then Angel helped me up. I don't think that they noticed, but Angel scurried out of the house, and you could see her from the window. She knocked on our neighbors door. All I could see was her lips moving as she explained something to him.

Then she ran back, him following close behind. I guess my parents saw this, because they ran upstairs, but not before they hissed, "We're not home."

I nodded numbly before Angel burst through the door. "There she is Mr. Dumont!" She said, pointing at me.

I must have looked confused, because Angel explained, "I told Mr. Dumont that you fell down the stairs, you broke your leg, and now you need to be driven to the hospital, because Mom and Dad aren't home." I was the only one that caught the slight stutter on mom and dad.

I slowly got up, limping towards the door, while he fussed about how I was doing. Every two seconds he asked, "Are you okay? How much does it hurt?"

Every time I gritted my teeth and answered.

When we finally arrived at the hospital, I only let them see my leg, and even then I had to explain why there were so many scars and bruises. I gave them a lie about surgeries I had done when I was little because I had been in a car accident. That explained the scars. I told them that I fell down a flight of stairs, so I was bruised everywhere. That got them off my back.

The entire time I was at the hospital, I couldn't stop biting my nails or tapping my foot against the ground. The smell and the whiteness of the hospital was getting to me and I was going to have a nervous break down at one point or another. It was inevitable unless I got out of here.

Finally after they cast my leg, and after twenty minutes of arguing and pleading, they let me leave. I sighed in relief when I hopped out the doors, my crutches would take some getting used to.

As soon as we got home, Jeb and Valencia came down the stairs, scary looks on their faces. They weren't holding weapons, but they could do damage all the same.

"So, you got a cast, Maximum," Jeb said, raising his eyebrows. "I hope nothing bad happens to you." Valencia chuckled.

Angel slowly backed away, and I followed her, knowing my parents wouldn't do anything except mental abuse tonight.

Once we were asleep, I didn't bother to even undress, I just collapsed on the bed, immediately falling into blissful unconsciousness.

MAXIMUM RIDE

I awoke on Sunday, not really caring what time it was. The good part about Sunday was that my parents went to the lab- they're scientists- on Sundays. That gives us time to treat our wounds.

I sat up to find Angel sitting in front of a mirror, attempting to braid her hair but failing miserably.

"Need some help?" I asked her, crawling over. She nodded and sat back, so that I could reach her hair.

After a few minutes she spoke up. "Max, I was really scared."

I knew that. "Angel, I was scared, too. You can't just approach them like that. They'll hurt you."

"I know but-"

"No buts. If you got badly hurt, I wouldn't be able to live with myself."

After a few seconds, she nodded. "Alright, Maxie."

The rest of the day was spent looking around the house. For anything, really. Spare change, some leftover food, a credit card, maybe some clothes of Valencia's that would fit me.

We ended up finding twenty three dollars, a shirt of Valencia's, and a bag of pretzels. That was more or less a treasure chest to us. We found a twenty dollar bill, then two hundred and ten pennies, then three quarters, a dime, and a nickel.

I fell asleep, wondering about how I would avoid Fang.

MAXIMUM RIDE

School. My own personal heaven. Jeb and Valencia were out today, so we wouldn't be beaten before school today. I left wearing a pair of sweat pants that went over the cast, a t-shirt that fit like a glove because it was too small, and one of my sneakers. A sweatshirt was added to the mix by Angel, who said I wasn't invincible and the cold would get to me.

We started the walk early, because I wouldn't be able to walk as fast.

As soon as we arrived I was ambushed by Nudge and Iggy. I shushed them while I sent Angel to the elementary school, then let them speak. "Max! What happened?" Nude asked, obviously knowing the answer. "You know who did it." Was my reply. Iggy didn't really say anything, besides ask how I got the cast. I told him about Mr. Dumont, and Nudge said, "Well, it was better him then your parents."

The rest of the day was spent avoiding Fang. It worked for a while, until free period, to be exact, then he caught up with me. These crutches are a disadvantage.

"Max!" He called after me as I hobbled away. After a few more hurried steps, the left crutch caught on something, and I began to tumble towards the ground. "Cra-" I started, but was cut off by strong arms wrapping around my waist.

These arms pulled me up, until I was face to face with Fang. It may be weird, but I had a strong desire to kiss him, right there. Instead, I pulled away. "What?" I asked sharply, picking up my lost crutch.

"You're the voice from the trees." He stated simply, letting his hands fall by his sides. I nodded, taking a few steps backwards. "Why?"

The simple question surprised me. I expected him to laugh, tell me I was awful, maybe have the rest of his gang appear from the shadows, not be a little bit kind. His eyes did linger at my chest for a little too long, though.

"I like to sing, even though I'm awful at it." I said, searching his onyx eyes for anything. "You're not awful." He told me, ignoring the fact that I was staring at him.

"Thanks."

"Why in the trees? Why not in front of your parents, they could help you get better, if that's even possible." He said, starting to look back into my eyes. I flinched when he said parents. If I sang for them I'd be beaten until they got bored of it, then Angel would treat my wounds, that would be followed by sleep.

"I like nature." I said, the gears in my brain turning, trying to give my mouth words to say.

He nodded, buying my lie. Well, not necessarily a lie, just not the whole truth.

We stared at each other for a few more minutes, then the bell rang, making me jump, while he remained an impassive brick wall.

I hobbled away as quickly as I could, not bothering to look back. For the rest of the day I felt stares on the back of my head, but I was either too scared or too uncaring to turn and face it. I can't figure out which.

I went home, not caring if Jeb and Valencia saw or not. They weren't back from work yet, I was lucky, so Angel and I sat at the table and snacked. Like normal kids. We didn't eat enough for the two devils to notice, but just enough to get us through the night.

I spent hours, lying awake in my bed, just thinking. No matter what I thought about, my thoughts always returned to Fang. I don't know why, and I have a feeling that I'll find out, whether I like it or not.