The One He Brought Back

Scene One: Where she went

     The light shone brightly in the window of the giant room meant to hold much fewer children than it did. Five beds lined the walls and dressers cluttered the center of the room like an island. The foster home Max had been sent too after she returned home covered in several layers of dirt and leaves that hid thousands of scars on her skin was underfunded and crowded, but it still felt like family.

     Max had never been the youngest kid in the home, but now she found herself in the position of the oldest in the whole house. Being almost sixteen, she only had a year left to figure out how to support herself as the home was already crowded and didn't need a twenty-year-old there to add to the crowd. Still, she tried to help other kids as much as possible. And it was because of this fact that she was already awake and sanding an old wooden swing outside. Halie had gotten several splinters on her legs yesterday and so Max decided that no one should have to have that problem anymore, and so she was up at the crack of dawn hoping to not get caught with sandpaper in her hands on her sixteenth birthday.

     Noticing the sun, she sprinted back into the house to find that Mrs. Liles was already awake and tapping her fingers on the counter, staring at the door fully prepared to berate her for being outside. "Mrs. Liles", Max tried and took a breath beginning to explain herself when she was cut off.

     "Save it," The mother said sternly. "I'm not mad you were outside anyway, I saw what you were doing. I'm up to speak with you about the fact that your medication should have needed refiling a month ago and you haven't spoken to me about it yet." Max looked down at her converse and cringed. She should have known to throw them away and still didn't. 

      After returning home, she told the police everything. How her father held her friend at gunpoint and told her that her friend would be spared if she planned to come with him that night. How that wasn't the first evil thing he had done. How she was tortured for ten years by a demon that left scars all over her. How she heard angels speaking once in a while. How her mother had told her she was going to heaven.  When your six, you tell the truth. When your six, you seek the help of adults, but they didn't help. She was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and schizophrenia, and autism (which she apparently had before hell) and with the death of her parents added to the picture, most people thought she was a serial killer in the making. But she would never take a life, if all life went to her two dreams then she would never kill. But because of this she had to take medication and though everyone was convinced that made her normal, she knew differently and after ten years of feeling high, she decided to not take the medication.

Her voice was quiet but strong when she whispered, "I haven't changed have I?"

     "You know that's not an excuse Max. You can't just-" The doorbell rang and Max thanked luck for cutting off this conversation for now. "I'll get it", she tried not to jump and Mrs.Liles nodded a slight 'okay' before shooting her a look that said,'This isn't over'.

     Max opened the door slightly to find two men that she couldn't make out until it was too late. Trying to keep her cool, she said, " Hi, how are you?" and tried not to let her voice quiver which worked pretty well. One of the men was tall with shaggy hair and an overall awkward stature and had one hand in his pocket, the other offered up for a handshake which Max took with a small smile, "I'm Sam, this is my brother Dean", he said pointing to the demon she had known so well. She remembered to keep breathing and not to let herself run, after all, she never went to hell, Dean never gave her all the sigles carved in scars on her skin and Dean never saved her, none of it happened. None of it was real.

She cleared her throat, "Little early", she laughed, "Normally people don't start showing up for visiting until lunch time." Both men stood awkwardly for a second, laughing at her slight joke. "Anyways, some of us are still asleep but there are a few conscious. That's what you're here for right?".

"Yeah" Sam stuttered and nudge Dean, who looked like he had seen a ghost.

"Well come in," she said, still wanting to run on the inside but not wanting to be forced to medicate again.Mrs.Liles joined the three in the mudroom of the house which had some couches to sit on and talk and a small coffee table. "I'm uhh. I have to go to the bathroom?". She said which sounded more like a question than a statement, but nonetheless got up and headed towards the kitchen where the bathroom would be located.

"My brother and I would like to speak to a girl by the name of Maxine Palmer? Or maybe Maxine  Byrn?" Sam said, Dean a little more relaxed at the moment though he already knew that the girl who answered the door was who they were looking for. "Oh, Max!" Mrs.Lyles beamed and chuckled slightly, "She answered the door for you, did she not introduce herself?".

"No".

"Hm, you must have spooked her then, that's just not like her," The woman said jokingly and Dean let out a slight grunt that was supposed to acknowledge the humor in that statement. "Maxine!" Mrs.Lyles yelled into the kitchen, "I know your hiding in the kitchen, these boys are here to talk to you." She looked at Sam and Dean and rolled her eyes, "Kids" she said jokingly and the two smirked, trying their best to not be offended for Max at the statement. Dean looked up to see the girl standing slightly on the corner of the doorway, leaning against it cooly. You could almost tell the maturity in her face. Her demeanor was hard to read but overall gave off a sense that she had seen things you couldn't imagine. Still, it seemed that she had taken care of herself well. Her black jeans were warn and ripped naturally at the knees and ankles, and her maroon shirt matched well with the flannel she had over her arms still, covering scars. Dean broke his glance quickly, it almost hurt that he hadn't completely broken her. To him, it meant that there was a true soldier in there, one that needed to be kept safe and unscared until the world needed them, he broke her. He wore her down.  Sam cleared his throat, "We were wondering if you could take a walk?". Max eyed Dean without turning her head, "sure", she said.