While Max did not initially plan to break their phones, their time spent inside the store was two minutes longer than originally planned, and so Max figured destroying them would balance that out in some way. The Eden General store was right on the border between South Eden, and Wavecrest so once notified Max did not expect the police to take too long arriving on the scene.
That being said the store was almost completely alone on that part of the street, many of the buildings nearby were abandoned, and those that did stop by the general store usually came from the commercial district across the rail road tracks. Gabby was in much better condition than Luis was so she''d be the one to go get help, Max hoped that her injuries weren''t too bad, and that she-
As his mind drifted to Gabby, the images of Draco dragging her by her hair, and punching her flashed into his mind repeatedly, over and over again. No matter how rationally he tried to think it through, no matter how much he tried to push the thought away it continued to bubble, and surface, so much so that he stopped in his tracks, and thought about turning back.
He could say he was out jogging in the area, and how he thought it was odd that the store was closed, he could rush in and comfort Gabby, and call the police. Then he could be there for her while the paramedics treated her wounds, he''d sit in the ambulance with her on the way to the hospital, and keep her spirits up as the doctors ran their tests. He''d talk to her parents about how strong she was, and how he''d commit to finding out who was responsible for all of this. But instead of doing any of that, he pressed forward.
Max had arrived at his escape point, an alley 800 meters away from the store. As soon as he arrived he began to pace back and forth in guilt, and frustration. He punched the wall to his left as hard as he could, and knelt down to his knees, his knuckles bruised, and bleeding. His mind was still high on adrenaline so the physical pain was not there, but the mental turmoil was omnipresent. All he could think about was Gabby, and how this all could''ve been avoided if he''d just paid attention. He was too eager to finish the job early, if he''d just pushed it back a few more days he could''ve planned around this.
He sat against the wall, and ran his hands through his hair, he brought his arm to his mouth and let out a muffled scream, the sound of it echoing through the alley, and into Eden''s cancerous fog.
Another minute had passed, and Max''s head had began to hurt. It was a headache, and he had one more thing to do before returning home. He quickly got changed using the spare clothes he''d stored under some cardboard in the alley, he noticed Luis''s blood on the sweatpants he was wearing, but thankfully it didn''t seep into his skin. After getting changed Max made the long walk back to St. Hope, and along the way he passed numerous homeless, and in one of the many barrels of fire they used to keep warm Max threw in the clothes he''d worn during the act.
Afterwards he made his way to the back of the orphanage undetected, and climbed onto the roof using the broken drainage pipe for leverage. Then he easily opened the attic window, and once inside he locked it, threw on his pajamas and climbed into bed. This was Max''s alibi, and he knew it would work. As soon as school ended today he came straight home, and told Madam Vine he wasn''t feeling well, and would spend all his time in bed asleep. Of course, this hinged on Max not being caught sneaking out of the attic, but he had performed this stunt numerous times in the past without issue so that was not something he worried about.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
As Max settled in he began to hear sirens in the distance, a lot of them. There must''ve been four, no five police cars, and two ambulances judging by the sounds they made. It had been years since Max heard the noise of more than one of these vehicles in district 1; there has never been a response like this in South Eden as far back as Max could remember. But then he thought about the meeting, and The Sanctified, and figured the response was likely because of that; Max hoped this wouldn''t mean more attention focused on his act than usual, but even he knew that was probably just wishful thinking.
Max couldn''t think straight with the sirens ringing in the distance, they made him anxious, and for a few minutes, afraid. He curled into a ball in his bed, and buried his head into his pillow in a desperate attempt to drown out the sound, but it was no use. The sirens continued to wail as if to constantly remind Max, and reprimand him for his evil deed.
For hours the noise filled the room keeping him awake, and alert. It was so persistent that Max needed to sit up, for trying to relax and calm his nerves only seemed to make the noise louder in his head than it was in reality. Almost forgetting about them, Max reached into his school back pack which was situated at the side of his bed, and pulled out his headphones. He plugged them in, and hit shuffle on a random playlist, the music an easy, and fluent escape from the madness of reality - finally he was able to think clearly again.
They had to be treating Gabby by now he thought, and Luis too. During the attack neither Ava, Draco or himself had worn any colors representing the Archangels, but if what Raguel said was true Luis by all accounts should know they were responsible. Max wondered whether or not Luis would report that to the police.
As his thoughts drifted he considered the days events and everything leading up to it. His plan was almost perfect, and despite the hiccups it was well executed - aside from going over time by the end he had made no mistakes. But then Max considered what had been said through the ordeal, no one called each other by their names, and their voices were muffled through the mask.
His alias ''Red'' will undoubtedly attract some attention, but Max hoped Raguel would consider that and have him keep things low-key for awhile. Besides, it wasn''t like he couldn''t just use a different alias if he had to.
But then Max''s thoughts drifted to Draco, and an intense rage began to boil within him, a rage that he quickly tempered with several deep breaths. He forced himself to put Gabby aside for now, and to assess the rest of what had happened, the rest of what what Draco had said. Suddenly, Ava''s words just a couple of days ago rang clearer in his mind than anything else.
"He said he used to keep people inside of it, the thing is I couldn''t tell if he was joking or not."
Max had dismissed the statement as edgy humor, something he expected from Draco. And the logical fact that people don''t fit in back packs, but what Max failed to consider was that Draco wasn''t talking about people generally, he was referring explicitly to children. Suddenly, the nausea from earlier returned to Max, his stomach repulsed by the though, exhausted from the day, and traumatized by his own actions everything came reeling up his throat; Max barely had enough time to turn over and vomit all over the floor, he retched uncontrollably splattering bits of breakfast, and stomach acid everywhere, some of it soaking the bed sheet, and the night stand. Max did not intend to move now, that mess would be there until morning, an action he''d regret for sure.
Then Max started to think about where he lived, and all the children he stayed with. In the last three years there have been five children under the age of two that have gone missing from St. Hope. Suddenly, Draco was easy to blame for their disappearances. He wanted to be angry, but he was too exhausted to feel that hatred, it would have to wait until morning.
As Max laid in bed listening to his music he watched the sun slowly set through the window in his room before finally submerging the orphanage in darkness with nothing but shallow moonlight casting its glow into Max''s room, the smoke from his vomit made clear by the light. He removed his headphones, the sirens finally gone, and somehow, miraculously, thankfully drifted to sleep.