Hide and Go Seek

7. Max

I'm still rooming with Alan. We couldn't bear the thought of leaving each other, especially after Grim was lost. We had to take care of each other.

I smile sadly at him and lean my head against his shoulder. He doesn't move. A month ago, when we saw the text, he just shut down. No one knew, but he had had a huge, adorable crush on our tiny, spunky friend. When he saw her ruined body, he was never the same, and he now has just drifted off father when he came to the knowledge that she might still be alive in there.

I let out a small breath as I silently cry for my brother. I miss how he used to be. Fun to hang out with and always trying to make people comfortable and get along. I looked up to him as my role model. I was by far the most immature out of the two of us. I miss those old days.

Then, our phones ping. I don't want to see. I can just try to ignore it until I come face to face with it. Then it would be future Max's problem. But Alan has other plans. He opens his phone faster than ever, and lets out a scream that could rival the one he let loose when Grim was stolen.

I jump up and snatch his phone away out of his field of view as he starts to hyperventilate.

"ALAN! I scream, focusing on helping him before I find out why he needed it in the first place. "Breathe!" I blow on his face, trying to get him to react and take a breath. Something our mother used to do when we cried too much when we fell off our bikes for the tenth time in a row. I hope that this triggers a response and gets him to calm down and breathe.

After a few more gusts of blowing, he is able to pull in air. He starts sobbing in terror and starts talking unintelligible words before he can get out the two most important ones.

"Don't look," he manages out. Then he starts to repeat them as he snatches his phone back and promptly breaks it between his hands.

"Alan!" I yell at him, "we still need the phones!" He ignores me as he reaches for my phone. I snatch it away, but I heed his advice and don't open it; If he thought that I shouldn't see it, it was probably for good reason. I shield it protectively against my body.

"Alan," I say gently, trying not to yell, "what did you see?" He shakes his head before he answers.

"Katie"