Abandoned

Chapter 11

Maddox POV

We were parked in front of the stupid library.

We spent the entire day looking for her. She never came to school. We didn’t see her anywhere.

I was so fucking scared. My body was shaking from top to bottom.

What if she left? What if her family took her away? What if I never saw her again?

The library was our only hope. She was here yesterday. Maybe she would come today.

My mind was coming up with the worst possible scenarios when I heard Milo gasp loudly. He grabbed my hand and pointed toward the grocery store.

“There she is!” Milo shouted.

I looked at my sister, and I almost cried in relief.

She was getting out of the grocery store with a bottle of water in her hand. I could barely see her face. She kept her head down and buried her face into her jacket.

Milo opened the car door, but I stopped him.

“What the fuck, Max?!” Milo shouted, looking at me wide-eyed.

“I want to see where she will go, Milo.” I said, trying to stay calm. “I want to see where she lives. Don’t you want to know why she gave the school a fake address?”

Milo gulped and closed the car door.

“Follow her.” he said quietly.

I turned the engine on and started driving.

She was walking toward the school.

I kept stopping on the side of the road so she wouldn’t figure out that we were following her, but she never even looked up. Even if we were driving beside her, she wouldn’t have noticed us. Why wasn’t she looking up?

“Why is she going to school?” Milo mumbled as we entered the school parking lot. “It’s 8 pm. The school is closed.”

I parked the car, keeping my eyes on my sister.

Milo and I got out of the car and continued to follow her on foot.

Maddie walked toward the forest behind the school. I was getting more and more confused by the second.

Just when I thought that she would go into the forest, she turned right and continued walking behind the school building.

“What the hell is going on?” Milo mumbled quietly.

I ignored him and watched as Maddie finally looked up. She looked around and glanced behind her shoulder for a second. I froze, thinking that she saw us, but she turned back around and opened the door of the old storm shelter.

I knew it was an old storm shelter because Milo, Blake, Zack, and I used to come here during school to smoke or drink. We stopped when the teachers figured it out and we couldn’t use it as our hiding place anymore.

“Why the hell is she going in there?” Milo asked angrily.

Milo rushed toward the door, but I stopped him.

“What the fuck, Max?” Milo asked, turning around to look at me angrily.

“I don’t want you to scare her, Milo.” I said quietly. “We need to approach her gently. We didn’t make the best first impression. She is probably afraid of us.”

Milo gulped, and I saw guilt in his eyes.

“Take a deep breath.” I told him softly. “We need to calm down a little before we go in.”

Maybe she would even come out. Why was she in there anyway? Was she alone? Was she hanging out with someone in there? Was it a guy? I would fucking kill him if he touched my sister.

“Do you think that she is with someone in there?” Milo asked what I was thinking and anger flashed in his eyes. “Is it some guy?”

“Maybe.” I mumbled. “That’s one more reason to calm down a little before we go in. I will kill him if he touched her.”

Milo clenched his fists and took a deep breath.

A few minutes passed before I took his hand in mine, took another deep breath, and pulled him toward the entrance to the shelter.

I took out my phone and turned the flashlight on.

Milo opened the shelter door, and I stepped inside, roaming around the room with the flashlight.

My eyes fell on a small, old tent at the back of the shelter.

“Madeline?” Milo called her, his voice trembling.

There was no response.

I started walking toward the tent.

My legs were shaking. I wanted to scream.

Why was there a tent in here?

Milo was holding my hand so tightly that it hurt.

But I didn’t want him to let go.

We kneeled in front of the tent, and Milo started opening it up.

What I saw in there broke every part of my heart and soul.

Curled up in the corner was my sister. She was covered up with some old, torn sleeping bag. I could see her shivering.

Was she living in here?

Was she really living in a fucking tent?!

“Maddie?” Milo cried out as he pushed his way inside the tent.

He barely fit inside.

She didn’t answer him.

“Jesus, Max, she is burning up.” Milo said, panicking.

My heart raced to the point where it hurt. I could feel it in my throat.

“Get her out.” I said, my voice trembling. “We need to take her home. We need to lower her temperature.”

Milo pulled her into his arms and handed her to me.

She was so fucking small and so fucking light. She was too light.

I pressed her against my chest and kissed her burning forehead.

“It’s okay, Maddie.” I said softly. “We got you. You are home. You are safe.”

Milo got out of the tent, stood up, and cupped her cheeks.

“Maddie?” he called her. “Can you hear me?”

Her eyes remained closed, and the fear I felt exploded.

“Grab her bag.” I said, knowing that she probably had some important stuff in there. “We need to take her home. Now.”

Milo bent down and grabbed the bag from the tent.

I rushed outside, shielding her from the cold as best as I could.

“Was she really living in there?” Milo asked, his voice breaking.

“It looks that way.” I mumbled, keeping my eyes on her face.

Milo sobbed, making me look at him.

“She is never going back there again.” I told him, trying to stop myself from crying as well.

Milo nodded, reaching out and caressing her cheek softly.

“I can’t believe that we forgot her.” Milo mumbled, wiping the tears from his face. “How could we forget her?”

I tightened my jaw and took a deep breath.

I didn’t know how I forgot about her. I didn’t know why.

I only knew that I would kill the people responsible for it.

I would fucking kill them.

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I couldn't resist publishing another chapter when you, my readers, are so wonderful! 🥰

I hope that you enjoyed it! 😁

Love you all! ❤