Gifteds: And Then There Were None

Chapter 18. I

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Max woke up thinking that someone was getting murdered. Again. In a normal state of mind he would've realised that the murders were executed silently. But Max wasn't in a normal state of mind because someone was blasting out EXO in six am in the morning. Who in the right state of mind would be playing music NOW?!?!?!?! Oh, wait, none of us are in the right state of mind anymore. Sliding out of bed, Max ran a hand through his hair. It felt greasy to touch and made him wince. He had been forgetting to groom himself as every time he tried, he fell into a cycle that made him wash his hands. As if he could wash away the memory of blood. Cracking his knuckles, he grabbed a towel and rubbed his hair. He hoped that it would fool the others into thinking he had washed it. He tried not to think of how disgusting he had become. Opening the door, he walked towards the staircase. Passing Salwa's and then Alex's doors, he was about to knock on Angela's. However, something stopped him.

Backtracking, he swung open Alex's door. Everything was bare. Hurrying a little, he went to Salwa's room. Everything was bare. Running to Henry's room, he realized everything was bare in there too. Not a single reminder that his friends had even existed. Rushing in, he flipped the covers off the bed and smelled them. They had the tangy plasticy smell of just coming out of the package. The desk had no scratches and the floor had not a speck of dust. Someones been cleaning the rooms. But how, and when? He walked briskly out and across the hallway to Mitchell's room. Grabbing the blankets, he sniffed them. They smelled exactly the same. Coughing at the sharpness of the smell, he grabbed Maira's door and rushed in. But, he stopped in his tracks. There was no one there, but as he came closer, he noticed the blankets were mussed up. Half of it was tucked in and the other splayed across the floor. As if Max had walked in on someone making the bed. No one left, so they still must be in here. Creeping forward, he pinched the end of the blanket. Right before he could lift it, a shadow fell over him. Something hit the back of his head and Max blacked out.