Dear beloved readers:
I AM SOOO SORRY. I wouldn't blame you if you forgot all about this story... I feel awful that I haven't written in forever D: I've been feeling unmotivated because of some recent catastrophic events of meh life. But you guys motivate me to write this... because if I didn't you'd probably find out where I live and kill me. :) So you can leave angry reviews about my overdue-ness. I understand.
And Fang didn't beat Max up, just so you know. He just came when he heard about Max (you'll learn how he knew later on in this chapter.)
Bear with me guys... the first part of this chapter is really corny. I guess I'm better at writing the violent stuff. :\ No worries! The violent stuff will come soon! :D
(Mackenzie's POV)
"Bye, Jeff!" I yell as my friend slings his backpack over his shoulder and runs to his car. He waves to me and Nick.
"Have you heard from Tiffany?" Nick asks as we climb onto the bus.
I shake my head. "I'm worried," I admit. "I talked to her last night-she was fine."
"Did she text you this morning?"
"No."
He frowns. "Now, that's just unnatural."
I nod. "You see why I'm worried?"
He lets me sit next to the window. "Something probably came up, is all."
"Yeah..." I stare at the ground. Noise fills the bus as more students file in, talking nonstop. The bus starts.
"Maaaack?" Nick asks, waving his hand in front of my face. "You're, like, zoned out."
"Oh. Sorry," I say, turning towards him.
He looks at me a second, then takes something out of his pocket. "Here," he says, handing me a folded up slip of paper.
I begin to unfold it but he snatches it back. "Not till I leave, okay?" he says, raising an eyebrow in an almost-imperceptible expression of humor. He's not usually readable.
"Okay," I say, taking the paper back and putting it in my purse. "I won't open it yet."
"Cool." He faces forward, slumping back in his seat like every day after school. I mimic his stance, grinning when he puts his shoes on the seat in front of us. A few minutes of casual silence pass.
"Want to go to a movie on Friday?" he asks me.
"Yeah."
I see a notebook flying towards my face. It hits me on the forehead. "Ow! God," I complain, tossing it back to an apologizing student.
"Freshmen," I grumble.
"Want me to beat 'im up?" Nick asks, sounding serious.
I laugh. "I don't think that's necessary."
"Okay... want me to kiss it better?"
I face him, wanting to give him a look for his sarcasm, but he shocks me by leaning in and kissing me on the mouth.
There wasn't anything special about it; being in the back of a bus, I suspect there couldn't be. I smile like an idiot anyways.
The bus rolls to a stop. I realize this is where I get off.
"Crap!" I say, disappointed. I stand up. "See you later?"
He looks up at me through the dark hair that falls over his eyes. "Yep. Tomorrow."
"Right," I say. "School day, and all." I pick up my backpack, blushing bright red. I always manage to sound stupid at the worst times.
He smiles, melting me. I wave, walk through the bus and exit.
Right now, I think I can fly.
Guess what? It's Friday. I'm all dressed up and waiting for Nick to come over. I tap my fingers on the computer mouse, staring at the Facebook homepage like I do when I'm bored. I sigh and log out.
Just then the doorbell rings. I spring up like a jack in the box, running to the door so fast I almost bulldoze over my cat. She skitters away, meowing angrily at me.
I open the door. His face greets me, eyes all lit up from the cold evening air and excitement.
"You ready?" he asks.
"Uh-huh." I smile and grab my purse from the table. "Bye, Mom!" I yell. She knows where I'll be.
I walk out the door and we go down the steps. The movie theater is near my house, and since he doesn't have his driver's license yet, we have to walk. I don't really mind.
We reach the end of my driveway and turn onto the sidewalk, watching rush hour traffic go by.
Nick looks up at the sky. "I hope it doesn't rain."
I look up too. Clouds that weren't there earlier have now devoured the blue and the pinks and oranges of the coming sunset. I frown. "That's really weird."
"Yeah..."
We stroll down the sidewalk a ways, chatting like friends. After a few minutes we hold hands. I smile so wide the corners of my mouth tremble.
"What movie do you want to see?"
"Oh, I don't know." I think. "Something scary. Violent. Et cetera."
He grins. "Of course."
I smile bigger. Good thing he likes slasher movies too.
"The new Jason is playing," he says.
"Ooh! I haven't seen it yet."
"Guess that's what we'll be seeing." He puts his other hand in his pocket. "Do you want popcorn? Soda? Candy?"
I giggle. "I don't want you to go broke."
"What, you were gonna have me pay for it?"
I laugh. "What a great boyfriend you are."
"I know, right?" He chuckles and pulls out his wallet when we reach the theater parking lot. We walk through it and he thumbs through dollar bills, counting his money.
"I have enough for everything."
"Um, okay. I'll take three candy bars, two large tubs of popcorn and a supersize soda." I manage to keep a serious face long enough that he suspects I'm not joking. His eyes widen.
I laugh really loudly, embarrassing myself. "Kidding."
I stop laughing and see that he's studying me. "What?"
"I like your laugh."
I blush and we get to the ticket booth.
"Two adults for Friday the 13th, please," Nick says.
The lady behind the counter squints at him. "Are you seventeen?"
"Yes, ma'am," he says with such suavity and sincerity I almost believe him. The lady shrugs, takes his money and gives us our tickets. I grin. Nick kinda does look seventeen.
We go inside and hand the guy our ticket stubs, then go to the snacks.
While waiting in line, I hear my phone ring inside my purse. I let go of Nick's hand and rummage through my stuff to find it.
"Hello?"
"M-Mack?" comes a terrified voice. Tiffany.
"Tiffany? Are you okay?"
She hiccups as if she'd just finished sobbing. "No. I need you to come over."
"Why? What happened?"
Nick looks at me with concern. I mouth 'Tiffany'. He nods.
"I think there's somebody here..."
My eyes widen. "Tiffany, call the cops. Hang up and call 911. Okay?"
"I-oh my god! Mack, please-!" I hear her scream. I run towards the exit. Nick chases me, asking what's going on.
"He's in my house."
The line goes dead.
Tiffany lives in the neighborhood next to mine, so we have to go all the way back and then some. I don't stop running. Nick follows at the same speed.
"Someone broke in?" he asks breathlessly.
"Yeah. I think she's-home alone," I huff. "She's in trouble."
Nick nods, and we finally reach the top of her street. I have to stop-I'm about to die. I double over.
"My God," he says, coughing. "Okay, come on. We have to get over there."
I nod, unable to say anything, and we start to run down the street. It's on a hill and her house is at the bottom, so it's not that hard to get there in a minute or so.
There are no cars in her driveway, or her neighbors' driveways. The sun's mostly gone down. I can barely see the door to her house, but I can tell that it's partly open.
Terrified, I pray to every deity I can think of that she'll be all right.
Nick goes up the stairs first, creeping like a ninja onto the porch. He lowers himself so no one inside can see him through the window. He shakes his head. "I don't hear anything," he says out of the corner of his mouth.
My heart is pounding in my ears so that it's deafening me.
He steps inside, scopes out the place, and slowly stands. He waves me to come closer.
"I think that whoever was here... is gone," he says when I come inside.
"Call 911," I say, pointing to where the phone is. "Let's find Tiffany."
No lights are on. My stomach turns inward, and this is worse than any fear I've felt watching Friday the 13th or Halloween or whatever. This is pure, vomit-all-over-yourself, cry-out-for-your-mommy dread.
Nick inches into the hall, not daring to switch on any lights. I can't even see the end of the hallway. I gulp, squeeze my eyes closed, and reach for Nick's hand.
He takes it and leads me carefully to the back of the house.
"Tiffany?" he whispers as loud as one can whisper. "Tiff?"
I try to say something but my voice is a barely audible squeak. I let him do the talking.
He pokes his head in her bedroom, and turns on the light. "Nothing," he says, checking in her closet too.
Nothing's been messed up. This doesn't look like a robbery.
My heartbeat gets even louder and quicker when we head into Tiffany's parents' room. It's so dark, pitch-black, and big, with lots of convenient places for serial killers to hide behind. I hyperventilate.
Nick puts his finger to his lips, and I try to calm myself. "Tiffany?" he asks, a little louder. "Are you in here?"
Something whips out in front of us, a massive silhouette of a man-he had to be in the NFL or just inhuman. I scream and Nick and I fall back.
Nick, after a few seconds of shock, steps in front of me to defend me. I can't stop staring at the figure. I can't see his face.
Without a word the man reaches up and pulls the light switch on the fan. I scream again when I can see him clearly.
He's not human.
Nick smashes against me, screaming like I didn't know he could, but still tries to shield me. I can't even scream anymore. I watch with widened eyes as this-thing-advances.
"Nick," I whisper. "Oh my god..."
He's not screaming anymore either, just staring at the man.
The 'man' with stiff, brownish hair sticking up like fur all over his arms. He wears a torn white tank and camo cargo shorts, as if he's a soldier. His muscles are huge, and on his hands... there are claws. Long and yellowish and like Freddy's, presuming you've seen the movies.
My eyes slide up to his face. Oh God.
It's like a wolf's, with a snout, and beady red eyes burning holes in me. He's grinning evilly, exposing fangs that I can imagine would only be on a vicious animal. There's such wickedness behind his gaze, I want to cry. He's killed Tiffany.
"What-are you?" Nick asks, practically paralyzed.
"Hi, kids," the creature says in a deep, gruff voice. "I'm an Eraser."
Me and Nick take a few steps back. "A what?"
The 'Eraser' laughs and shakes his head. "Finding Tiffany wasn't hard to do," he says, and my stomach tightens. "But you two-man, it was just too easy! She was on the phone with you when I came in." He laughs at the supposed irony. "When she told you to come over, I knew it was fate."
He charges at us. Nick covers me but the Eraser shoves him aside like he's a stuffed animal. I gasp and try to run away, out of the room, but the Eraser grabs me by my arm and pulls me back. He pushes me against the wall so hard my teeth rattle.
Nick tries to pull the Eraser's hands off me, but the Eraser swings one back and hits Nick across the jaw. I hear a crack, and I watch as Nick falls to the ground, as if in slow-motion.
"Oh god," I breathe, my mind frozen. I stare at Nick's unmoving form. I start to cry.
The Eraser clamps his hand over my mouth, and I feel mind-numbing pain. He drops that hand, and puts a claw to my throat, pressing it into my skin. I think I'm bleeding.
"You need to wake up, Max."
Who's Max?
(part two, Max's POV)
"Max, you need to wake up. Please, Max."
Everything screams back into whiteness and feeling when I open my eyes, and I have energy I've never had, but I'm also in a lot of pain. I try to move my arm, and find I can't. It's in a cast.
I hear someone shriek, not a voice I recognize. I look around but all I see is the blank ceiling.
"What's going on?" I ask croakily.
A face appears in the emptiness of my range of sight. A little face, a boy's face. Blonde, big blue eyes, a really worried expression.
"Zephyr?" I mumble. I don't think I mentioned Zephyr; he's my younger cousin. He and Ariel are really close, like brother and sister.
"Huh?" His face scrunches in confusion, and my own brows furrow-what's going on?
"Why are you calling me Zephyr? I'm Gazzy..."
"I don't know a Gazzy." My voice is still hoarse. I try to cough but my throat starts to hurt so bad I have to stop.
"Max, what-"
I hear a door open. Feet rush in. I want to sit up, to see what's going on.
Three more faces appear above me. A pale face, a dark face, and an innocent face...
"Jeff!" I say, wanting to jump up and hug him. I realize I'm smiling. I guess I didn't die after all... that 'Eraser' or whatever didn't kill me. Was it a dream?
"What? Who's she talking to?" Jeff looks around at the others, not meeting anyone's eyes. That's probably because he isn't wearing his glasses.
"You," says the innocent face. Ariel. I raise my arm-it takes all my strength-and still can't reach her. "Ariel," I say softly. "I thought I wasn't going to see you again." I want to cry again.
She stares into me, scanning my eyes like she can read what's behind them. I feel weird, and she stops, as if she's pulled back from something and looks with wide eyes into Tiffany's. Yes, she's here too. She didn't die either! Thank God...
"I dreamed that you were dead," I say to her. I laugh shortly. "It felt so real."
Ariel shakes her head at Tiffany, and Tiffany seems to listen to something she's thinking, then looks back down at me.
"Guys... say something," I plead, not wanting my raspy voice to be the only one filling the silence.
"Max," Jeff says. "What happened to you?"
"I dreamed that I was attacked by something... he called himself an Eraser."
Everyone disappears from what I can see, gasping. I hear them nearby, talking amongst themselves so that I can't hear.
"Can someone help me sit up?" I ask.
I hear more feet run towards me. Someone goes to my side, and out of my peripheral vision, I see that it's a guy, tall and tan. Why can't I move my neck...?
He grips my arm and gently tugs me upwards so that I'm comfortably resting against my pillow. I blink at the scene around me.
Yes, I'm in a hospital. I don't know what for... I guess for that freak attack. I must've passed out.
Nick! Memories flood back to me-the creature hit him. He was unconscious. I open my mouth to say his name but someone comes to the door.
Dark hair. Dark eyes. Olive skin.
"Nick." My lips form the word but no sound comes out.
"She's awake," he says, not to me, but to the others, in a tone that's almost disappointed or as if he did something he shouldn't have. I frown.
"I shouldn't be here," he mumbles to himself.
"Nick, you're okay?" I ask, wanting him to come to me. "That thing-Eraser-hit you so hard I thought you'd-I saw it." Panic rises in my voice. Does he know me? He doesn't act like...
"Max." He comes to my side and sits at the chair next to me. I can't see his face because I can't turn my head.
He puts his hand on my chin and slowly turns my head towards him. It hurts, not because of what he's doing, but because... well... I guess something got broken or bruised. Damn. Does this mean I'm paralyzed?
"Why is everyone calling me Max?" I ask, bewildered.
Then he stares at me with such eyes, such big, almost-black eyes full of something I can't detect; is it despair? Heartbreak?
"And why-" I lick my lips, only to make them more chapped, "how'd I get here? Why is no one, like, hugging me?"
"Um..." He looks at Ariel, who stands close by, and his eyes flicker back to me.
"She'll tell you," he says simply.
"Why won't you?" I feel like a whining toddler.
Suddenly I hear a voice inside my head.
A voice that isn't mine.
I know what happened, it says. It sounds like Ariel... it couldn't be. What is going on? Fang-I mean, Nick came because Ig-Jeff was talking to him. We didn't know about it. When Jeff told Nick about you being in the hospital... Nick came.
I shut my eyes, trying to concentrate on what this voice is telling me. What does it mean?
I know that you don't remember your real life. You think you're Mackenzie, right? Mackenzie Riddle?
I nod. I must be crazy, insane, psycho, bonkers, all of it.
I think back at the voice, How'd I get here?
We don't know. You say you were attacked by an Eraser?
I say aloud, without meaning to, "Yes." I don't care if everyone is staring at me.
Okay. Well, you're in the hospital. You have amnesia... you were living in an alternate reality for the two days you were in the coma.
"Coma?" My eyes snap open and I look around the room. "What happened?" My voice is hard and as steely as I can get it.
"We found you," says Jeff. "Unconscious. We didn't know what happened. You were attacked, apparently... you almost died."
I nod slowly, watching Nick. He doesn't meet my gaze.
"Can someone turn my head around?" I ask.
Tiffany helps me. I look out at them, then position my head a little downward to inspect myself, my injuries.
I wiggle my fingers. I can do that. My hands look like mine. I can't really lift my arms, they hurt so badly, and they're bruised all over. I feel my hair on my shoulders. It's longer than it was.
"And, Max-" Ariel says, taking a deep breath, "you have wings."
I frown, then laugh at her humor. "Don't be stupid, Ariel."
Ariel, defiant, steps forward and pulls at the back of me-no, not on my back or my arm, but something else. Something I can feel. Something... soft.
She pulls it around and I feel muscles stretch and ache. She shoves the tip of a-feathery wing?-into my face.
My wing.
I lose it. I pass out.
In case you were a little confused about Fang coming, Iggy was contacting him behind the others' backs, so that when Max ended up in the hospital, Iggy was able to get the news to Fang and Fang rushed over to see if she was okay, since she wasn't waking up. So, that's all:) I'll be working on chapter four and hopefully it will not take me as long to write! :D Review pwz?