Yo, wassup? Sorry about the confusing chapter, its all explained in a previous authors note.

please, try to review. In the few seconds it takes you to type it out, you would have made my week.

So…please?

Onwards, anyway.

Max's POV.

It'd been about a week since we'd seen Jeb, probaby more, and I was healing.

My cuts were healing up to leave scars on my head, arm and shoulder.

Those scars would be staying for a while, but I didn't care. Scars were battle trophies. They showed that you'd been in fights, that you had been injured, but you had come out on top and survived.

Iggy was out at work, and Fang and I were up on the roof, as usual. I'd been on edge since the Jeb sighting, and had been eating less and less.

Fang hadn't mentioned our conversation on the roof, where I'd confessed to considering hunting down Jeb. Neither of us had mentioned it to Iggy either, which was a relief.

Fang and I were standing at one end of the roof, next to the entrance.

I was sick of these crutches. They had to go.

The sun was setting, and Iggy would be back soon, when I decided that I wasn't gonna use them anymore.

Henceforth me getting ready to ditch them.

"You don't need to support me yet." I said to Fang, who already had his hands on my elbows, as if to help me stand.

He wordlessly withdrew a bit and I smirked.

I pulled my arms out of the crutches, balancing on one foot while I chucked them to one side, out of my way.

I put my foot down very slowly, putting weight on it gradually in case it wasn't healed completely.

After about two seconds I got bored of caution and just put all of my weight on my foot, which gave out. I lurched a bit to the side and Fang grabbed my elbow, helping me get steady.

It was harder than I had at first anticipated, and Fang had to help me quite a bit, against my protests though, until I could sort of basically not really walk normally again, just with a big limp.

I was tired out after a short while, and in the end Fang was trying to force me back into them, since I couldn't really cope for long without them, and I mentally agreed with him, but there was no way he would know that.

"But I don't wanna use them!" I said, glaring playfully at him.

He smirked. "Well you gotta."

I shook my head. "No, they give me blisters on my hands and my arms are tired all the time." Now I couldn't give in, that would mean that he'd won.

"Well, you can't walk all the time without them yet, but if you practice every day you'll be able too soon."

I shook my head from where I was standing, a little away from him, balanced on my good leg while leaning heavily onto the entrance to the roof.

Fang rolled his eyes.

Just then Iggy came out of the little alcove which was the entrance to the roof, obviously looking for us.

"Hey." He said while pulling his hoodie off.

"Please tell her that she's got to get back into her crutches." Fang said, sounding relieved at Iggy's arrival, motioning towards me.

Iggy looked towards me and noticed that I didn't have them on.

He frowned. "You walked without them?"

I opened my mouth to say that I could walk perfectly without them, but Fang spoke before I could.

"She sort of could, but after a while she got tired out and couldn't."

I narrowed my eyes at Fang, who smirked back at me. Now that they were standing next to each other, I noticed that Iggy and Fang were the same height. Extremely freaking tall. It was weird, despite the two year age gap between them, they looked pretty much the same age. It wasn't that Iggy looked younger, more that Fang looked older.

I mean, I was much taller than the average 14 year old girl, but not as tall as them.

I mentally shrugged. Boys.

"Max," Iggy began. I mentally braced myself and began coming up with more reasons for me not to have to use them anymore. I knew they were right, but I was in too deep to just give up now.

"If you don't use your crutches until you can walk normally again-" I opened my mouth to protest that I could already, but he cut me off. "And I mean, without getting tired out, I will kick you off this roof." He said, playfulness in his eyes.

I rolled my eyes. "FINE." I said, putting on an angry teenager voice.

He laughed and we hugged quickly, and then we all went back downstairs because it was getting pretty cold up there. Iggy went down first, with me behind him and Fang next to me.

I shivered uncontrollably in the freezing cold stairwell, and Fang put his hand on my shoulder, trying to warm me.

My breath caught in my throat as he rubbed my shoulders in an attempt to warm me up as we went down the stairs (uncomfortably, may I add, for me, in my stupid crutches.)

He stopped after a couple of seconds and I turned my head to look at him.

"Better?" He asked softly, staring into my eyes.

I nodded. "Thanks." I wasn't shivering anymore now.

He looked like he wanted to say something but then thought better of it as we reached our tiny flat.

A couple of hours later, after eating about two mouthfuls of dinner, I face planted onto my little mattress on the floor to try and sleep. I'd been getting less and less sleep recently, and had found myself going to bed earlier (something I never ever do, I always stay up late.) And waking up earlier, exhausted, after a mostly restless night with barely any sleep.

I rolled over again, praying that I'd actually fall asleep, instead of my troubled thoughts about Jeb preventing sleep.

I felt myself drift off slowly, Fang and Iggy's soft voices as they talked lulling me into sleep.

I woke up quickly, my eyes flying open the second I came back to consciousness.

I was staring up at a shiny white ceiling. I tried to sit up, only to find my hands and legs restrained. I lifted my head and saw that I was strapped down to a metal table, my back on fire with pain. I looked around, trying to figure out where I was, when I saw other tables around me, with kids strapped to them like me. I counted three of them, the other tables empty.

They looked quite young, one about eleven, a girl with mocha skin and dark curly hair on the table to my left.

On the table to my right there was a boy, about eight, with light, fluffy but spiky blonde hair and light skin.

On the table to his right there was a girl, who looked around six, who had curly blonde hair, the same shade as the boy's.

All three of them were asleep. Rage boiled in the pit of my stomach as I wondered what sick freaks could kidnap innocent children like this.

Where the hell was I?

I took a deep breath through my nose in an attempt to calm myself, and immediately wished I hadn't as a sickly chemical smell bombarded my nose, making me feel deeply nauseous, and giving me an awful feeling in the pit of my stomach.

Wherever I was, it was bad.

Very bad.

Fang's POV.

Max wasn't eating. She tried to come up with a reason why she didn't have any dinner, saying that she ate earlier, which I knew she hadn't. She had been with me all day while Iggy had been gone, and she hadn't eaten anything. This was really off for Max, as she usually ate even more than me.

And that's really saying something.

I noticed that Iggy knew that she was lying as well, but he let her go off to bed without forcing her to eat.

She hadn't really been sleeping either. You could see in in the dark circles which had formed under her eyes, and as I lay awake at night (by choice), I could hear her restlessly moving around.

Many morning I woke up to find her already up on the roof, early.

I think that she was worried about Jeb.

I remembered the other night, up on the roof, when she'd confessed to considering hunting Jeb down. There was no way I was letting her do that. No way. I felt strangely protective over her, I don't know why.

Max mumbled in her sleep from the other side of the room, sounding agitated and angry. I wonder what she was dreaming about.

I leaned back in my chair, stretching out.

Iggy and I chatted for a while, joking around a bit, when we both fell silent.

Iggy suddenly looked up at me, his eyes troubled.

"Fang?"

"Yeah?" I said, scratching an itch on my arm.

"If anything ever happens to me." He swallowed. "If anything happens to me, if I'm not around anymore, or something like that. Promise me that you'll look after Max."

I opened my mouth to say that he would be fine, when he lifted his hand, cutting me off.

"No, Fang. I've got a really bad feeling. I have since we saw Jeb. I just-" He paused, searching for a way to put it.

"I'm just… uneasy. I think something bad is going to happen soon. He's not here by chance. I can tell."

I looked at him warily for a second, then I nodded.

"If anything happens- which I'm sure it won't- I'll take care of Max." I smirked. "Make sure she doesn't hook up with any dodgy boys or anything."

Iggy cracked a smile, but his eyes were troubled, a deep unrest settled in them.

I was uneasy to. I hadn't had any connections with Jeb, hadn't had any reason to.

But I was.

I had a bad feeling that something would happen to Max. I could sense it, like animals before an earthquake.

The last couple of weeks had been relatively normal also, which just… made me feel worse. Like the calm before the storm, that period of time where all the animals start freaking out, the birds flocking away hurriedly, the dogs barking and whining and snapping their leashes in their desperate attempts to get away.

Then the tsunami hits the unsuspecting humans, unaware of the devastation to come, blindly oblivious, naïve to how in just minutes their towns would be destroyed, their homes violently knocked down, their lives shattered, the pieces scattered far apart. The aftermath of the utter devastation, the people desperately trying to rebuild their lives, make things go back to the way they were. But unsuccessfully. Because no matter whether you get your house back, your job back, your regular life back, things will never be the same. There would always be the unease below the surface, the wariness, the distrust, then sorrow, the mourning for how things used to be, hidden, where other people can't see, but still there, lingering under the surface, threatening to rip its way out, destroying people as it does so.

This was what I felt was going to happen. There was something coming. I knew it. It would be soon, and it wouldn't be pretty.

And after, life would never, ever, be the same.

Max's POV.

I came to consciousness slowly, sitting up and groggily rubbing my eyes.

I looked around. Fang was up, in the kitchen. I couldn't see Iggy anywhere, so I assumed that he was at work. Again. I stood up slowly, having to use my crutches, to my disappointment.

I made my way over to Fang, and he turned around when he heard me approaching.

"Hey." He said simply, taking a bite of a sandwich.

I sat down, rubbing my forehead. I couldn't get my dream off my mind. I had this weird feeling that…. I don't know. That something bad was going to happen.

"Hey." I said, leaning back and stretching my arms.

"Want one?" He said, indicating to his sandwich.

I shook my head. "Not hungry." I said through a yawn.

Fang took another bite and narrowed his eyes at me.

"You didn't eat yesterday." He said suspiciously.

I put on a "Who, me? No way!" face.

"No I didn't."

He rolled his eyes. "I'm not stupid Max. I was with you the whole day, you didn't eat anything. You did not eat one thing. You may think your fooling us, but you're not. Iggy knows your lying, but he doesn't know how big of a lie it is."

He sat down opposite me, finishing his sandwich.

I felt my eyes widen.

"What's up, Max. You haven't been eating, you've barely been sleeping."

I shrugged, looking away.

"Don't avoid the question, Max."

I dragged my eyes to his, making eye contact. His look was guarded, mostly unreadable, but I saw worry and unease resting in his eyes.

"I….. just have a bad feeling. I'm not hungry, honestly. I'm not trying to lose weight or anything. I'm just…. Not hungry."

I shrugged, looking away.

Fang stood up, facing the kitchen counter.

I was staring into space, thinking, when Fang reappeared in front of my face, waving another sandwich in front of me.

"Eat." He said, trying to hand it to me.

"Fang. I'm not hungry, please."

"I don't care. You'll get sick if you don't eat. Eat." He said.

I put my hands behind the chair I was sitting on so he couldn't force it into my hand.

"Max." He said. I looked deep into his deep black eyes with flecks of light brown in them.

"Eat."

I shook my head stubbornly.

He reached behind the chair, and before I could twist away he'd grabbed my wrist, pulling my hand out from behind the chair.

He forced it into my hand and pulled away.

"I'm not gonna eat this." I said, a bit annoyed.

"Eat, Max, seriously. You'll get sick."

I rolled my eyes.

"Please eat at least half of it."

"No promises." I said, taking my first bite.

"Mmmm." I took another bite. "This is really good."

Fang smirked. "I make a mean sandwich. It's a gift really."

Timeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee skiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiipppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp. (This is the next day)

Max's POV.

We were out in town, Iggy, Fang and I.

The walked either side of me while I swung along on my crutches. They were talking and joking around, but I'd fallen silent, staring at the ground.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I stopped dead, looking around. Fang and Iggy seemed to also, all of us with an air of unease around us.

I looked to the street opposite, and my vision receded at the corners, as if I was looking through a tube. My hearing faded away as rage boiled in my stomach.

My hearing abruptly came back, along with my vision as pure, undiluted rage flowed through my veins like pure adrenaline.

I pulled my arms out of my crutches and chucked one aside, the other one in my hand.

I saw Iggy and Fang sharply turn to look at me out of the corner of my eye. I still stared ahead. They followed my gaze and I heard Iggy gasp.

My fists clenched.

I could see Fang staring at me out of the corner of my eye and I looked to him for one second.

His eyes met mine, and I knew that he could tell what I was going to do.

I didn't care. My vision went red as I looked away, running across the street.

Right towards Jeb.

Fang grabbed my shoulder, but I broke away quickly.

"Max, NO!" He shouted, but I didn't pay any attention. All that was going through my head were the memories, memories of what Jeb did to Iggy and I.

Jeb turned around and his eyes met mine.

Fang caught up with me and grabbed me quickly, restraining me. Iggy appeared next to me quickly, staring at Jeb.

Jeb just stared into my eyes. "Come with me." He said.

I spat towards him. "What makes you think I'm going to do what you tell me to you fuc-"

He pulled a knife out of his pocket, and I stopped talking.

"Come with me, now."

Red rained down on my vision, and I snarled, wriggling in Fang's iron grip.

"Let. Me. Go!" I said, my voice rising.

"No, Max." Fang said his voice filtering through into my consciousness.

I elbowed him in the ribs as hard as I could and I heard the breath leave him in a whoosh. His grip loosened, only slightly, but that was all I needed.

I broke free and ran towards Jeb, lifting the one crutch that I hadn't discarded.

I couldn't run nearly half as fast as I could normally, and I was limping heavily as I advanced on him.

When I got close to him I swung the crutch, hitting him on the shoulder, making him stagger back.

I swung my crutch low, hitting just below the knee. He fell, dropping to his knees. I lifted my crutch again, ready to hit him in the head, when he spoke again.

"Max, please. I'm sorry." He said, pleading me to stop with his eyes.

Something in me snapped, and I hesitated. But then I remembered that awful, awful day which resulted in Iggy and I living on the streets.

"Sorry isn't good enough." I said, raising the crutch again.

Suddenly he stood up, lightning fast, and before I could even react, the knife was at my throat, the tip of it pressing into my windpipe slightly.

I looked at Jeb, hatred filling me.

He looked down at me, and I realised that I was almost as tall as him.

He ripped the crutch out of my hand and threw it over his shoulder, down the street, which was completely abandoned. No witnesses.

I snarled and lifted my leg, kneeing him in the stomach.

He growled and grabbed my shoulders, twisting me around to face Iggy and Fang, who were frozen in place. He pulled me back against him and put the knife against my throat again, so that one small movement would put a long slit in my throat.

I swallowed, and I felt a prick of pain, and a trickle of blood ran down my neck.

"She's coming with me." Jeb snarled at them over my head, sending a fresh wave of anger through me.

"Aw piss off Jeb! How dare you come here, how dare you even come to this city, after what you did! How dare you tell us what to d-" He pressed the knife tighter to my throat, cutting me off.

I made eye contact with Iggy.

He looked absolutely furious, eyes blazing with anger. But if you looked past that you could see the sorrow, the turmoil that came with Jeb.

He nodded, and mouthed. "I'll get you."

I gave a small nod.

"She's coming with me, and there's nothing you can do about it. If you try and stop me, I'll slit her throat." Jeb said, anger and hatred in his voice.

My eyes slid to Fang, and our gazes met.

He looked determined and rage filled. It was mostly at Jeb, but I could tell that he was angry with me also, for running away.

"I'm sorry." I mouthed, and most of the anger directed towards me melted away.

His gaze filled me with hope, just the fact that I knew that he would probably come with Iggy to get me gave me a new hope.

My hopes crashed to the ground when I realised that they had no way of knowing where Jeb was taking me.

I nodded at both of them, and then Jeb grabbed my shoulders again with an iron grip.

He twisted me around and pressed the knife in-between my shoulder-blades.

He leaned closer. "Did you know that there's a place in a man's back where, if you sink the blade in, you can pierce the heart and sever the spine, all at once."

Shivers ran down my back.

"Two things." I snarled. "One: I'm not a man. I thought you were clever enough to take that into account. Two: Yes, I did know actually."

Jeb made a noise of anger and pressed the knife deeper into my back, so that it pierced the skin.

"Go." He said, his voice rough. "Walk to the blue car up ahead, and get in the back seat."

"What? I can't sit in the front?" I said, snarling.

"Shut up." He growled.

"How about no?" I said.

Suddenly a blinding, white hot pain sliced through my head.

I crumpled to the ground, holding my head.

Black rained down on my vision, and I was unconscious before Jeb could even lift me off the ground.

Dun dun dunnnnnn. So guys, how'd you like the chapter? Good? Bad? Okay?

Remember to review! I love to hear your feedback.

Fly on.

-Raven.