The Broken Myth

Chapter Twenty-Two

                                                        Maxine

Pain. Thats the first thing I feel. It comes in rapid waves in my head and I groan as I sit up. The world is spinning. Theres this sort of liquid on my arm thats extremely cold. I make out two faces and both of them look worried. Who are these people? My vision clears soon enough and I try to make sense of the faces. Wait a second-

ITS THAT GUY! THE ONE THAT DRUGGED ME!! Panic seeps into my body and I tense. Where is Collin?! Is he okay? Is he safe? Where am I? Who's this other girl? She doesn't look the one that kidnapped me. She has a doctors coat on and she looks friendly. She has pointed ears though. She's one of them! I back up into a bedside table. Thats when I become aware of my surroundings. Theres a bunch of beds and everything looks like the inside of a tree. Almost like a nursery just not for babies. 

"Hey Max its okay, how are you feeling, are you okay?" He asks.  What right does he think he has to ask such a ridiculous question? He fucking kidnapped me! 

"Leo, maybe not asking her so many questions is a good thing. Let me take her into my office and I'll see what I can do, alright?" says the other girl. Leo stares at her is if she's lost it. 

"Are you joking?! I'm not going to leave her alone, not after what just happened!" He yells. I wince because his yelling is super loud. 

"Your not leaving her alone, you're leaving her with me so I can make sure she's okay. Unless you want to risk it again, I suggest you let me do so." Her eyes are dead set on him and her friendliness is gone, She's pure seriousness. Leo on the other hand looks baffled by it. He rolls his eyes and nods for her to do what she needs to do. 

She turns over to me and says "Hi Max, you might feel really weird right now but I need you to come with me so I can help you, okay?" Normally I wouldn't trust someone thats a complete stranger to me but her eyes give a red spark. A werewolf spark. She's angled herself so Leo won't see it. This is her way of asking me to trust her and her eyes look pleading. I nod and her face relaxes. 

"Alright, can you stand up?" She asks. I try and manage to get my feet underneath me. She lends down a hand and I take it. 

"Max are you sure you're okay?" Leo asks. What is it with this dude, he's getting really irritating. 

"She will be once I take care of her. Go find Tiffany for now." The other girl says before I can even say anything. His eyes flick over to mine and our eyes lock. It's unsettling. I rip my eyes away from his and walk with the girl up the stairs to an office. I can feel his eyes burning into my back as he watches me walk away. 

As soon as the door clicks closed and she shuts the blinds, she whirls over to me with a worried look. 

"Max do you know who Collin is?" is the first thing she asks me. Of course I know who he is. Does she know who he is? How would she know who he is? I nod my head and her face gives mixed emotions. It looks as if she can't decide to be relieved or scared. 

"That means you know who Axel is. Max you're in danger. If they figure out you have your memories back to normal you'll never be safe. You don't have a reason to trust me, I wouldn't trust myself either but I'm like you. I'm a hybrid. A mix between both werewolf and fairies. I'm going to help you get out back to New York but I need you to play along. Everyone thinks you're obedient and  don't know anything about your werewolf life at all.  The only way you can make it out alive is by playing the role of that person. Okay?" 

What the hell does she mean? This is a lot to take in. 

"Sure...but who are you exactly?" I ask. Her face lights up with embarrassment.

"Oh Sorry! I'm Dolores!" I note that but something doesn't make sense. How has she survived this long being half werewolf? 

"How are you alive?" I ask.  

"Don't get me wrong I love my job, but it's also the safest option. All the other jobs need magic and being half werewolf I can't risk it plus I missed half of my training growing up. Being a doctor you just have to be super smart which I consider myself to be, so it just kind of worked.  Axels my cousin too though. How is he doing?" 

Hold up- She's Axels cousin?! I didn't know he had a cousin! 

She laughs and says "He doesn't talk about family much so your reaction makes sense. Also you're all clear and healthy!" 

Wait what? Thats when I noticed that the liquid on my arm was gone and the blood was wiped from my face. She hands me a paper cup of water and a little pill. I'm hesitant to take it. I've learned fairies love to drug people. 

She gives me a smile. "Don't worry I just helped you, I'm not going to hurt you." It seems reasonable enough. I take the pill and realize it says Advil, She really is just trying to help. I take the pill and down it with some water. 

"That should help with the headache. Do you want to go out into the world with blood on your shirt or would you like some new clothes?" I look down my front and notice there's splotches of blood going all the way down. 

"Umm... New clothes please." 

She nods and opens a closet. She takes out some jeans and a green hoodie with pretty flower stitchings on the back. She pulls out a random white top to go under. She takes the hangers off and hands it to me. 

"You can use the washroom in here so you don't have to deal with the nuisance out there." She says while nodding her head to a green door with a washroom sign on it. I'm assuming she's calling Leo the nuisance which she isn't wrong. I think I'm starting to like how she thinks.

 I walk into the washroom and its not big but it has room. A toilet, sink and a small bathtub with a cute little rug. I look in the mirror and realize I don't look the same. I look like I've...grown. I look more like a grown up. Then again I am 16. Pulling the hoodie over my head I realize how comfy it is. I walk out of the washroom and I notice that it's not just Dolores in the room anymore but that Leo's joined us. Time to play along I guess. 

"Hey, there she is!" He says with a smile as he comes in for a hug... A hug... he's hugging me. I want to puke, to pull away. For the split moment I'm in shock, before I pull away, I see Dolores shaking her head worried. I stop my instinct to pull away and read what her lips are telling me.  It's something along the lines of 'play along and let him do it'. I roll my eyes as I suffer through his hug. This is going to be an interesting game of  'playing along'.