Song of my heart

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Don't judge a book by it's cover

"Never forget the essence of your sparkle."
                   - Taylor Swift

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Chapter Twenty Seven: Don't judge a book by it's cover

Maxine could hear yelling. Screaming in fact. She sat up, her heart thumping loudly in her chest. The room was dark and cold, Holly's bed over against the wall well made and empty. Maxine tilted her head towards the door, trying to focuse on the words.

"Jess, you need to calm down. Come on buddy, okay, Max is fine. She's fine. Okay, she's down the hall in her room. Jess, Jess look at me."

"No!" Jesse screamed, his voice reaching Maxine's ears loud and clear. "I saw it Oliver! I saw it! He killed my girlfriend Oliver! He fucking killed her! I will fucking kill him!!" And then there was pounding on the door.  Maxine jumps, a little scared to open it. The boys hated her near Jesse when he was like this.

"Maxine." Said Noah's voice and in half a second, Maxine had the door open. Noah stood there, his face pale and his blond hair dishevelled. He was running his fingers through it consistently through it.

"Max, you have to come. I know we don't like you near him when he's like this, but he's convinced his brother murdered you. It's just one of his night terrors, but we can't calm him down."

Maxine pushed past him, running in the the direction of the screaming. When she burst into the room, just in time to see Jesse slame Oliver against the wall, his hand on his throat. Oliver choked and Noah cursed under his breath. Jesse's eyes were open but he wasn't seeing anyone. He was locked in the darkness, convinced someone close to him had been hurt. And this time it was Maxine. He slammed Oliver against the wall again, Oliver's face was turning purple. Jesse was cloaking him. Tears were streaming down Jesse's face, but he wasn't sad. He was terrified. Terrified and angry. Terribly angry. Maxine leapt forward and grabbed Jesses shoulders, yanking him round to face her. He raised his fist to swing at her, but Maxine caught hold of his hand, keeping him from hitting her. Behind her she heard Oliver coughing, sucking air back into his lungs, but Jesse was still trying to hit her.

"I'm right here Jess. Snap out of it. Everything's okay. I'm right here. I'm not hurt. I'm right here." He jerked away from her, trying to push her away, but Maxine wasn't about to give up. Noah had gone over to Oliver who had his hand on his throat, leaning back against the wall. They were both watching her, but Maxine had all her attention focused on Jesse. She put her hands on his chest, keeping him from moving forward.

"Jesse. Hey. Jesse. Jess look at me. Okay look at me. I'm right here. I'm not hurt. Jesse come on." But nothing was working. Jesse was still struggling, still stuck in the dark.

"She's dead!" He yelled. "He killed her and I couldn't stop her!"

Noah stood up, ready to intervene, but finally Maxine thought of something. She threw her arms around his neck, bringing his head to rest on her shoulder.

"Come back to me." She said softly. "Come back to me Jess. I'm right here. You need to wake up. Please wake up."

Finally, her soothing tones got through to him. Jesse stopped struggling. He suddenly gasped, like a fish out of water, taking huge gulps of air. Jesse's body shudded and then his arms wrapped around her waist and he buried his face in her neck. Maxine let out a huge sigh of relief, rubbing his back in slow soothing circles as she felt the fight slowly drain out of his body. When he drew back, his eyes were full of tears.