Author's Preface
Back outside of the hospital room, just sometime after David and the two women managed to calm Ryan down, some nurses came along to try and oust them away from the potential danger, the source being Max and Chloe; none of the parents would have it, of course.
"Please, you all need to evacuate!"
"Those are our daughters in there!" Ryan pointed hard into the room. "We are not leaving them!"
"I know this is stressful for you, but there's nothing more you can do." The nurse tries patting the big man's shoulders in an attempt to calm him down, only to have them ripped away by his bigger hands.
Vanessa then came around between them to try and talk some sense into her husband. "Ryan, maybe she has a point."
"I am not moving from this spot until my daughter is okay!"
"We can't get through to them, honey! Some of us already tried!" She held him firmly.
"So you wanna just leave our baby girl in there to bleed!?"
"No! God, no!" Vanessa shrieked, finally silencing the man. "But standing here and panicking isn't going to do any better!"
Joyce, having kept back to let the two resolve this on their own, finally found her opening and stepped in.
"Ryan." The Caulfields turned to her, her soft tone prodding them to hear her. "I understand how you're feeling, believe me. My baby girl is also in there right now, and I want nothing more than to get them out of there." Joyce turned into the room to gaze back at the two friends still on the bed. "But this power that she has... or now they both have... it's extraordinary. They're as miraculous as they are dangerous." A pang of sadness loomed over the woman as she returned to those fond memories of William, whose death she now knows that Max is responsible for.
No! I can't think that! It's not her fault that he was in that accident!
Joyce shut her eyes as she took in a deep breath to expel those thoughts. It wasn't that she blamed Max, but it was the added supernatural circumstance that worsened their loss; it was no simple accident any more, but now the cruel lawfulness of fate.
She wondered to herself if Chloe should really have told her that extra detail instead of keeping it to herself; her daughter was never a good decision-maker to begin with, but still... she would have to just accept it and move on.
Returning to their topic, Joyce finished off what she had to say. "It's far beyond our understanding. We just need to have faith that this will have to work out."
Max stared down her former idol and inspiration like a sworn enemy as she then raised her hands to the ceiling, intent on delivering on her statement.
Jefferson's eyes rested on the strewn remains of his precious camera, his torture instrument, when they started to rumble. Panning back up to Max, the very girl responsible for his downfall, he then took his head around to find the whole place quaking as well.
The man struggled to maintain his footing on the unstable floor, whereas Max's body absorbed the motion naturally, her control becoming apparent.
"What are you doing!?" Jefferson shouted to her.
Max kept her glare locked on him. In this dark room, this dungeon, Jefferson used to torment and violate many girls including Kate, Rachel, herself, and now Chloe. Seeing her girlfriend tied up on his table, hands and feet leashed in that same horrible position like some pet, there was no way she would let the same happen to her as well.
"I'm bringing this place down!" Max answered, her voice and Rachel's combined, booming across the four walls. "ALONG WITH YOU!"
With that skyrocketing volume, cracks began opening and segregating the floor, the walls, and the ceiling, everything ready to come undone.
Chloe, still tied up and unable to move, began thrashing in her spot to try and free her legs and hands; even in Max's mind, they were well fastened. Instead, she resorted to calling her friend. "MAX! You're not gonna bring me down as well, are ya!?"
Hearing Chloe's cry, Max snapped back to her senses; she was so ready for her retribution that she nearly forgot to consider her best friend's safety.
Remembering that they were all inside her head, Max put her imagination to work. Concentrating deeply, Max aimed one of her hands at Chloe and proceeded to project her wonder onto the bluenette.
What happened next bewildered both girls and horrified Jefferson.
In a second, Chloe felt the binds around her wrists and ankles tighten and tear while the table, as the room began to shrink; it was then that she realized that, vice versa, she was growing back to her original size.
"No... No, NO!" Jefferson shrieked, clutching his scalp. This haven where he once had complete control was about to crumble over him.
Once Chloe had reverted to her original size, she was able to snap her bonds off and hop off the table, directly behind the unsuspecting Jefferson. Finally, the torn edges of her wings regrew and repaired themselves. Now they were big enough to perhaps ensnare Jefferson like a Venus flytrap if she so wanted.
Jefferson soon enough caught on with the other girl behind him and quickly backed into the center, equidistant from them both. With both young teens restored to power, they finally had their tormentor right where they wanted.
All they needed to complete this was one more person .
And so, Max expelled an ounce of her bright essence until it grew as big as her. It then detached from her to swirl into a lone space and then began to shape itself into a human form. When the transformation was complete, the essence peeled back from the top to expose Rachel's head, her hair and feather accessory fluttering free.
Finally, the trio of Max Caulfield, Chloe Price, and Rachel Amber, stood together, their triangle form boxing in Jefferson.
The man now faced the newly materialized girl. "R—Rachel..."
Rachel narrowed her eyes back at him. "Hi, Mark." She said in a gravely monotone.
Chloe could only smirk at this man's situation. "What do you think we should do to him?"
"Leave him to me." Chloe and Max whipped their heads at Rachel's answer. "He's mine."
Right then, Rachel's golden essence brightened ever a bit more as it strangely dissolved into a blood-red hue; her lust for vengeance visualized.
Chloe herself was taken aback by this change and backed up a bit from the girl. Max, however, kept rooted, wanting to reason with her.
"Rachel, I know what he did to you." She then began to edge closer an inch at a time. "I would want nothing more than to do the same to him, believe me."
"Make that three of us!" Chloe added, regaining her stance.
"So what!?" Jefferson interrupted. "Do you really think because all of you are here together that you can do anything to me? The Big Trio , everybody!"
Max turned her attention back to Jefferson to give a strange smile. "That's the thing." She strode up to him. "None of us are actually in your dark room."
Suddenly, Jefferson's arms constricted to his body as he felt an invisible band close around him tightly, clearly Max's doing.
Max stopped once she was nose-to-nose with her teacher. "You're in mine ." She stated calmly.
Right then, she grasped one of the man's wrists, and with a nearly effortless tug, ripped that arm from his socket completely. The shocking part wasn't how she had done it so easily, or so casually, but how, despite Jefferson's bloodcurdling shrieks filling the air, no blood at all was spilled. Instead, all that was left behind on his shoulder was a flat stump, much like a mannequin's.
Still, it didn't stop Rachel and Chloe from cupping their mouths in utter shock.
"You have no more power!" Max continued. "Not here! Not in my head! Not anywhere!" Max went for his other arm and detached this just as easily, this time just above the elbow; it left a more painful mark, however, in the form of jagged remnants, like a snapped branch.
"Jesus, Max!" Chloe whimpered, the scene unfolding before becoming harder to watch.
Next, Max raised a heel and slammed it hard against one of his knees, which hurled out a frail scream from the demon. When he cluttered to the ground, next to the strewn pieces of his camera, his leg was bent ninety degrees backwards .
"YOU BITCH!" He cursed. "I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!"
Cutting him off, Max stamped and crushed the shin on his other leg, leaving it a flat and tattered mess.
Max then backed up to take a moment and look over the broken mess of a man that she molded. Her next plan was to crush his genitals, but now that took in the full depth of her carnage, her anger disappeared, replaced with fear and regret.
She looked down at her body and clutched her chest when she found that it had turned red like Rachel's; the latter, on the other hand, had long since reverted to her original tone upon watching Max's wrath unfold.
Chloe had her back turned completely, her face buried in her hands while the bone-crushing sounds happening right behind composed the rest of the scene for her. When they settled, Chloe cautiously craned back around and gasped at the broken body of Jefferson, and a panting Max standing over him.
She had just witnessed how violent Max could get when pushed to her breaking point, and it was far more terrifying than anything she experienced in her life, even under the art teacher's mercy.
Max's body faded back to gold when she realized what terror she had committed and slumped to her knees. She held her mouth, as if to throw up, and broke down into sobs.
With her real friend back, Chloe sighed a bit in relief and flew down to embrace her. Rachel joined in as well. Both girls held Max from both sides as if to literally keep her from falling apart.
"It's okay, Max." Chloe whispered into her ear. "It's over now."
They rocked her for a while until her wails died down into quiet shudders.
"You're safe now." Rachel said. "Let's take you out of here, come on."
They had forgotten completely about the interior crumbling around them.
"We gotta get out of dodge!" Chloe stated.
With that, the three girls broke apart and lifted Max to her feet and slung both her arms over their shoulders.
The ceiling shortly broke apart and opened a clear hole to the starry sky above. Seeing their escape, Chloe unravelled her wings, ready to fly out through there.
The four parents were just about ready to leave when the spectral barrier blocking the doorway dissolved before them.
"What in God's name...?" Joyce uttered as she spun back.
As soon as the other three parents caught on to what happened, they all hurried into the room and encompassed their bed.
They leaned in as close as they could towards the girls but learned better than to dare touch them in this state, Ryan included; no one cared how close they were to their bright glow.
The two mothers especially eyed their daughters' faces closely to find a peculiar sight; both were ever so gently smiling, and Max's nosebleed had settled.
For a second, Vanessa hesitated on whether she should say anything but eventually decided to open her mouth to whisper. "Max? Are you there, darling?"
"Mom?"
Max could swear that she heard her own mother's voice calling to her as they flew through the open air, whooshing winds filling the peaceful quietness.
Chloe was the one piloting the three as she carried both girls in the center, hands joined in harmony. The funny thing was that up here, they were all weightless; it was like they were all moving through a surface thicker than air, yet thinner than water.
They wanted to savor this moment, to make it last forever, because deep down, they knew it wouldn't last.
Chloe looked over to Rachel to see her eyes cast down instead of ahead. "What's gonna happen to you now?" She had to ask her.
Rachel released a single tear as she turned up to her friends, trying her best to smile positively.
"It's okay, Chloe." She sniffled.
With those words alone, Chloe realized what she meant and began to wet her own face too. "I don't want you... to leave... again ."
"I'm so sorry. I wish I could stay with you guys forever."
Max listened to the two, deciding not to get a word in while she too absorbed what Rachel was saying.
Rachel continued. "It's been so great, seeing you again." She extended her head to look over at the other girl. "You as well, Maxine."
Max snickered. " Max . Never Maxine !"
The three shared perhaps their last laugh together.
"I don't ever want to forget our adventure here, good or bad. I reckon you would, Max ." Max rolled her eyes. "But this has a hell of a ride!"
" Hella ride!" Chloe added her favorite word.
"I think that's what we should call this!" Max said suddenly. "The Hella Ride!"
They share another laugh.
Rachel shook her head. "You guys are such dorks!"
"Who would we be otherwise, am I right?" Chloe responded.
Once their laughter settled, everything got quiet again.
"There's one more thing you need to face, once you're out." Rachel started again.
Max sighed. "Oh my dog, are you serious?"
"Hear me out. There's one more thing you have to do afterwards, but it could prove fatal to you."
Hearing this caused Chloe to swallow a lump.
At the hospital bed, Joyce, David, Vanessa, and Ryan, jittered in anticipation when they noticed the girls' eyes fluttering ever so slightly, their first sign of movement in forever .
"Oh my God, Maxine! Is that you?" Vanessa closed her hands together in prayer as Ryan took her shoulder. "Please, come back to me! Come back to me!" She chanted.
Finally, the venerable glows in their bodies finally faded out; the hospital lights seemed insignificant after that overwhelming brightness. The four parents waited for a bit until their girls suddenly broke apart with a unified gasp, and then their eyes jolted open; for Max, it was for the first time in days .
Once the girls realized that they were back in the hospital room, Chloe stared into Max's eyes while the latter saw her gown and felt the bandage around her bald head.
"Max?" Max froze and looked back at her best friend. "Is that you?"
Max paused before smiling at her. "Of course! But what happened to my beautiful hair?"
Chloe threw out a deep exhale and threw herself onto Max and sealed their lips together.
When they broke apart, they allowed their parents to claim them in their embrace, bombing them with endless hugs and kisses.
"Thank God!"
"You're both okay!"
Okay...
The two girls kept their eyes locked on each other as the brief joy of their reunion faded from their smiles as they both remembered what Rachel said to them.
Their last roadblock was underway, and it determined the rest of Max's life.