Journal NOT a Diary!

Max's Journal

June 26, 2010

Remember how I said it might be better later in the day? Boy, was I wrong! Cause if you consider waking up handcuffed and duct taped to the back of a chair in a cold, dark room 'fun' or 'exciting', somthing's seriously wrong with you.

Yes, that's how I woke up. I was shivering, and nothing I did broke the tape. I called out, hoping someone was close enough to hear. I heard a sob in return and a 'shh'. A million thoughts flew through my mind, and I felt certain I was about to die.

But if I was dead, how could I write in this? Unless you believe in afterlife or something. Lights flickered on. It took my eyes a minute to adjust to the sudden brightness. Across from me, Analie and Mary Lou were bound the same way. On my right was Angel, and to my left...

"Max! I'm so sorry about all of this," he said. He hung his head. "I just - overreacted."

I just sat there with my mouth half open. "But you - never mind. I'm just happy to see you're okay." I looked from Iggy to Gazzy, and back again. My hand would be at the necklace if it wasn't tied to my chair. Who was responsible for this, anyway? I tugged on my binds again, all I was doing was wasting energy.

"Will we still be able to come back?"

"If we ever get out of here," I mumbled, looking around. We were in a metal room with a high ceiling and no windows. Our backpacks were against a wall, out of our reach. There was a staircase several yards away, to a blank wall. I remembered that Angel's guest room was right behind the kitchen, and part of that wall was probably hers...

Mary Lou burst into sobs. "I'm so sorry! This is all my fault!"

I opened my mouth to say something, but Ig beat me to it.

"Yes it is your fault! And now you pretend to be like us? That's low, even for a jerk like you!"

My mouth dropped. "Iggy! Apologize! That's Fang's mother you just said that too!"

"Stop, Max," Mary Lou said. "He's right. I am a jerk, and it is all my fault. But I'm not the biggest jerk here, because she..."

"Angel, is she telling the truth?" Iggy asked, staring at Angel. She shrugged. "If you're so sure, why aren't you letting Angel read your thoughts?"

"No, Iggy!" Angel said. "I can't read her thoughts, or anyone's thoughts! All the thoughts I hear are my own."

"Yes, Angel," said a sweet voice. We all looked up. Standing at the top of the staircase was the woman who had helped us find Analie. She held the collar of a girl with medium-length dark brown hair and blue eyes, full of fear. The girl looked at me and mouthed one word: Run. "Very good." The wall was open behind her, and I saw Mary Lou's kitchen. She slid the wall shut. How did she do that? That was thick plaster!

Mary Lou's eyes narrowed. "You tricked me!"

"That's what I do!" she said. She shoved the girl down the stairs. The girl stumbled and tripped, rolling down them. She scurried up as soon as she hit the metal floor. The woman walked down them easily and grabbed the girl's collar again. "But Max, Angel, Analie, you wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for my daughter here." She glared at the girl.

"Daughter?" I repeated.

"Duh," the woman said. "You saw Petunia (A/N It's pronounced like the flower, for all of you who are like me and don't know how to spell it) come out of here earlier today, two-twenty-three to be exact. I couldn't let you go after what you saw. And there was always the option of little Angel here reading your mind!"

"Then why can't I read minds know?" Angel asked. "And where's Fang?"

"There was no point in kidnapping Fang. Max told him nothing, and he has no clue about this room. But you see, Angel, this room is specially made so you can't read the thoughts of anyone in here, or, when your in here, anyone outside. So in this room, you're all virtually powerless, except for your wings."

Petunia's pretty eyes were on me. There was no use in ignoring it. Help!she mouthed. I shrugged and looked back at her mother. "But you were so kind when we saw you outside the candy shop - the candy shop! What happened to it? Who are you, anyway?"

She laughed. "I'm Cindy Wynn, of course!"

I was too shocked to say anything. If you don't remember, Cindy Wynn was the reporter who tricked me into admitting I loved Fang. What was she doing here? "But you look nothing like yourself! You can't be Cindy Wynn! You're...an impostor!"

"Hair dye and colored contacts, easy. I don't have eye problems, but people change their eye color all the time. It didn't arouse suspicion. Look." She pulled out a picture of Cindy Wynn as I remembered her. She bent down to be and held the picture to her face. Other then the hair and eyes, it was exact.

My expression didn't change. "So you are Cindy. So what?"

"Cindy Wynn, the Arizona News reporter?" Mary Lou asked. Cindy turned. "I watch you when there's nothing on, no wonder I didn't recognize you."

Cindy's eyes narrowed.

"What about the candy shop? I saw it burned to the ground." I asked.

Cindy sighed. "I planned to do it while Analie was in there." Analie gasped and hugged her mother tightly. "But then you and Fang showed up with her picture. I had to get on your good side, so I told you where she was. Then when you went in, I tried to set it while you were in there. But no, it had to be so slow! It happened minutes after you left!"

"So all those people in there, it was packed shoulder to shoulder! What about them?"

"Dead. Most of the people in there were ememies of mine that I promised revenge on. After I got the bomb set, I locked the doors from the outside right before it caught flames. The fire fighters and police were too slow. They got there before the place was to the ground, but everyone in there had already been burned alive, or had very serious burns and died in the hospital."

I gasped. It was even worse then I thought!

She looked back at Petunia. "You stay here. You messed up for the last time, and you seem to like Max. You're fate will be the same as their's! Won't that be great? For you, no!" Cindy shoved her daughter to the ground and laughed, walking back up the steps and the wall opened without her hitting anything. She stepped out and sealed it.

"Oh, no!" Petunia said. "This is terrible!" She walked over and tore my tape with her teeth and hands, freeing me from the tape. This handcuffs were big, and my hands could slide though them with only about thirty seconds of trying. We freed everyone else. "I'm so sorry, Max!"

"It's okay, Petunia!" I said. "It's not your fault. I'm just still extremely confused." Everyone else agreed.

Petunia sighed and sat on the metal floor. "Well, you know those cameras your friend Bella placed for Mom? Well, some of her friends from the news station were involved, and they reported to her that you and Fang had gone to New York to look for Iggy and Gazzy, so she disguised herself and came down. She didn't disguise me, since you've never met me.

"She found Mary Lou and asked about you and Fang, and she said that she knew where you were and that Fang was her son. She convinced Mary Lou to place cameras around her house" - Mary Lou bust into tears - "and knew of a secret wine cellar that her ancestors had. A few tweaks, and it was ready. She convinced you to stay with her, and it was done."

"Mom found Iggy and Gazzy before you and Fang, and they didn't regnize her. So she was able to kidnap them and hide them down here before Angel came. Of couse, she knew when she arrived. There were cameras outside the house, too. But none in here, I don't think."

Mary Lou sniffled. "None here, that I know."

"She could be lying!" Iggy accused, jumping up and pointed his finger at her.

"Iggy, stop!" I yelled. "Fang will stay when he realizes that we're all missing. All we have to do, escape from here, or let him know we're in here! I have a phone in my backpack, I can call him." I walked over to the backpacks. "Oh, no! Mine isn't here! Only Fang's." I reached down and searched his bag. "And the phone is in mine."

Gazzy groaned. "So what now? Doesn't Mary Lou or Petunia know how to open the wall?" Okay, that sounded weird.

Petunia and Mary Lou grinned at each other. They raced up the steps and waited for the wall. "No use!" Mary Lou called. We all groaned.

"What now?"

"Scream."

We all started screaming and banging on the walls. Is it weird that I realized that Gazzy and Mary Lou quoted Taylor Laughtner on Shark Boy and Lava Girl?

Then I remembered that I had put this journal in Fang's backpack earlier for safekeeping, planning on getting it when I woke up. And it was still in there. So I'm doing this while everyone else is screaming and pounding the wall until their knuckles bleed. Wait - too late. Great. Now they'll be getting blood all over the walls!

-Maximum