The Wasteland

Chapter 9: 16 September 2192

Chapter 9: 16 September 2192

"Well, nice to meet you, Maxx." I said as I put my hand out for him to shake. He took my hand and shook it. "So, what are you in for?" Maxx asked. "Where do I start?" I said and smiled at him. "Well, while you think, let me explain what I'm in for." Maxx said. "My sister recently got taken away into a mental institution by my father who insisted that she was crazy. But I think he was the one who was really insane. He wouldn't even let me visit her. About a month after she was gone, I went into her room because I really missed her and I just wanted to look back on the memories we had. When I went in, her room was trashed. Even though she wrote a lot and had papers hung all over her room, it was still a mess. She usually left the papers neatly hung on bulletin boards or in a notebook but they were sprawled out all over the floor. I looked around and found that all of her money was taken from her wallet. Then, a hand clamped down on my shoulder. It was my dad."

"He turned me around and said, 'Look what you've done. You've messed up your own sister's room. How dare you.' He slapped me so hard that I fell to the ground. 'But it wasn't me! It was you!' I yelled. He pulled me up from my collar. 'Let her go. She will never come back. Physically or mentally.' What he said made me so mad that I kicked him in the stomach and ran out the door. I ran away from my home and my dad but I had nowhere to go. After a week, I tried to rob a store for food but I got caught. That's why I'm here." There was a long pause after. "Did you have enough time to think yet?" Maxx asked me with a little smirk. "I think so." I answered. I told him the story of my father framing me and then running away. "So, I guess we both have messed up dads then, huh?" Maxx said with a chuckle. "I guess so." I agreed.

"Maxx!" Artemis exclaimed as she ran over to her brother and hugged him. "I thought I'd never see you again." Maxx said as he dug his head into his sister's shoulder. "Maxx Silver? Weren't you my cellmate for a bit when I first got put into prison?" I asked him, trying to connect everything together. "Prison?! What did you do?!" Artemis shouted at Maxx. She let go of him and gave him a glare. "Two things: 1) You are really scaring me on how well you've mastered 'the Look' and 2) It was all dad's fault for putting me in prison." Maxx explained. Artemis' eyes became more gentle. "And if you still don't believe him, I'm a witness." I said as I raised my hand. "Hey, you're Blaze Maddy, right?" he asked. "Blaze Maddox." I corrected him with a smile. I walked over to him and put out my hand for him to shake but he pushed it away and hugged me. "You can't believe how much I've missed you." Maxx said, still squeezing me tight. "Me? Really?" I asked in disbelief. "Yeah. Really." he answered as he let go and looked up at me with marveling eyes. I took my attention away from Maxx and put it on Artemis. "You never said you had a brother. Why?" Artemis was silent for a little while. Finally, she answered, "Because it hurt to much to talk about being pulled away from my best friend and not being able to see him." We all stood there in silence for a few moments. "Well, I'm back now." Maxx said. Artemis gave him a smile and pulled him back in for a hug. "Not to be rude but can we get back to what we came for in the first place." I said as I lifted up the palm of my hand. Maxx let go of his sister and took my hand. He studied it very closely. "Is this--" he started to say before Artemis interrupted him. "Yes. Do you have anything in this dusthouse that can help us learn more about it?" Maxx nodded slowly and said, "I'm not supposed to show you this." Artemis walked over to him and said, "Show us. There's no one here to stop you." Maxx smiled and led us upstairs.