The Way She Makes Me Feel-Elmax [UNDER EDITING]

Chapter 18-I'll be fine

-Max's POV-

          Me and El have almost reached the corner when I look back and see my mom pulling out of our driveway. "Shit! GO!" I shout, sprinting off. El hobbles around the corner and I throw my bike under some bushes before ducking behind them myself. El joins me just as my mom turns the corner. After a moment I peek over the bush and see her parked at the end of the street. 

"Shit," I swear.

"Castle Byers," El says.

"What?"

"These woods are connected to the Castle Byers woods, right?"

          I stop and think. I've been to Castle Byers a few times but I've never explored the woods itself. These woods weren't exactly connected to the Byers' backyard. The Byers were a few streets down. Then we'd have to walk across the street but we could make it there. "It's close," I say to El. I grab her hand and start leading her through the forest that was pretty green since it was summer. Finally we break through and there was the Byers' house. Porch swing and all.

          I grip El's hand harder and dart to the front porch and start knocking on the door. We wait for a moment but no one answers. I hear the sound of a car approaching. But I knew it was my mom's. Ever since her muffler broke two years ago I could hear her car coming from a mile away. My heart speeds up as fear rises in me once again. Me and El begin banging on the door. "Someone answer the damn door! Please!" I cry. I try jiggling the handle but of course it's locked. "No! Fuck!" Any second now my mother was going turn that corner, and she was going to drag me back home, and she was going to hurt me. And if she pleases she'll hurt El too. Tears pour from my eyes and blur my vision. Just then the door knob turns and El pushes us in. I close the door behind me and lock it. I look at El and she looks close to passing out as a few drops of blood fall from her nose. She sits down, leaning against the wall and panting. I peak out of the door window and see my mom's old and beat up car driving past. Suddenly I'm glad I never told her the exact address of the Byers. "El are you okay?" I ask. She just gives a slight nod in response.

          I help El up and sit her on the couch before going to the bathroom to clean my face of the dried blood and tears. Suddenly I hear the front door open and turn off the sink. I hear someone talking. A million thoughts race through my head. What if she had turned around and figured out this was the Byers' and that we'd come here first. What if she's threatening El right now? What if she plans on forcing us to move away all because of El. What if I'll never be able to be happy again? What if all this running is for nothing? What if she hurts me again? What if she goes so far that she does something she can't take back? I don't even know how my head had gotten to the idea of my own mother murdering me. But it did and it frightened me. I back up against the wall and expect my mom to burst in the bathroom any moment.

-Mike's POV-

          "Beat you!" Will cheers as I pull my bike up his driveway. "You're fast as hell for a short person," I tease, panting. His face of triumph falls at my joke and he reaches in his pocket, pulling out his house key. "I'm not that short," he mutters. "Not my fault you're freakishly tall." Will jiggles the doorknob to check if it's locked like he always does, but instead of being locked like it normally is the door opens. "Is Johnathan or your mom here?" I ask. "They shouldn't be," Will answers. I step in first, in case someone broke in. I look around and see El sitting up on the couch. There's blood dripping form her nose and she looks exhausted. I turn back to look at Will, who looks confused. "Is Max here?" he asks. El slightly nods. I go looking in all the rooms, she isn't in Will or Johnathan's room but when I open the bathroom door I see her on the floor, pushing herself against the wall. Tears falling down her face and looking like she's witnessed a murder or seven and that she was almost one of the victims herself.  "I found her!" I shout to Will before walking in. "Max what's wrong? What happened?" I ask, putting a hand on her shoulder. Now that I'm closer I notice the bits of dried blood under her nose and a large red mark on her cheek that's quickly turning purple.