"Thank fuck you finally stopped being a lazy cunt. Now where are the fucking grapes?" the woman rudely asked, with as much hatred as she could put behind her words. Max smiled, as she was required to do by the company policy, and responded.
"They're right over here. I'll show you the way." She said in the most polite tone she could muster, which was extremely difficult considering all she wanted to do was slap the woman standing before her for the rude comment.
Max escorted the putrid woman to the produce section and showed her the grape stand. The woman forcefully grabbed a bag and threw it into her cart, crushing a few grapes in the process. She started to leave but stopped. As she turned back on Max it was clear she had another insult to throw at her.
"Some advice, young lady. Get the dick out of your ass and start doing your duties. You can ride it in your off time."
With that the lady turned to leave. Max, though, suddenly grew very pale. She quickly made way to the bathroom and, though against company policy, locked the public room. It was the only one in the store and thus she was locking out potential customers. But this late at night there was no more than 2 customers in the store anyway.
As she dove into the toilet stall a particularly painful memory from when she was younger forced its way to the surface. She retched up the contents of her stomach as the memory started playing in perfect quality and she relived every single tiny detail.
##########
A 14 year old Max lay crying underneath her bed, pushing against the wall behind her as she tried desperately to escape the scary man who was reaching underneath her bed. The man had a drunken expression that somehow passed as both a grin and a scowl at the same time. She kept trying to go backwards further but the wall seemed to defy her wishes. It was almost as if the wall wanted to push her away from it and into his grip.
After many minutes of failure, the man stood up. Max had hoped, somehow, that he was going to leave. Instead the bed was suddenly moving. It was pulled away from the wall swiftly and Max felt an unbearably tight grip on her throat.
"There ya are you little bitch." said the man. "Why are you trying to hide? I've already told you that you can't escape me. No matter how far you run or where you hide I'll be there to bring you back to me."
Max started flailing around in a desperate attempt to escape but her body failed her in short order because she was unable to breath due to the mans grip on her neck.
"Now today we're gonna try something new." the man said with a sloppy grin that would make even the most saintly person isntantly pull out a gun and shoot him.
"Don't worry. Daddy's gonna treat you just right." Max's father said as he walked out of the room with Max being towed by his iron grip on her neck. The last thought the young Max had before she passed out was hope that she wouldn't end up like her mother.
##########
Max finally finished heaving her stomach contents into the toilet as the memory began to fade. After a long while she got up and washed her disheveled face off. She was once again glad that she chose not to wear any makeup. It made times like this easier on her.
She finally exited the bathroom to find that the store was as empty as ever. It was friday night and the local public school was having their football game. No one would be in because the store closed at midnight and the game would likely go to nearly that time.
She went about her duties as she tried to forget the memory that had been dragged back into existence by a very hate filled comment and found that the last few hours of her shift passed by quickly but quietly. She managed to stave off any more attacks from her mind and finally left to go back to her dorm room and get some actual sleep for the first time literally years.
##########
The next day Max awoke very early. The sun hadn't quite risen but its rays were visible on the horizon. She sat up in her bed and stretched. For some reason she felt exceptionally great and very well rested. Then again, she had gotten almost 6 hours of sleep, twice her usual amount.
She quietly got dressed for her job and left. She had the next 18 hours to work and would not get a real break until it was over. The ball game had let up and the away team and their families and supporters would be leaving today. Given that the gas station was on the outskirts of the town and on the most direct path from the football field, she would likely be swamped with work for all of her time there today.
Even so, she was, for some reason, not expecting it to be tiring or debilitating. Perhaps the amount of sleep she had gotten had proven adequate to heal her burned out body. She didn't know for sure, but she was determined to not care so long as she was able to get through the day. The next paycheck would reflect her extra time, though being a part time worker she wouldn't receive the bonus 50 percent pay that a full time worker would. And even if she was a full time worker she still doubted they'd give her the extra money. The owners were the sort to dock inexplicably large amounts of money for seemingly small transgressions or, on one occasion, even something that did not qualify as any type of transgression.
As she left the campus she was glad that students were allowed weekend excursions into the town without guidance, else she would probably not be able to pay her way through school. On school days the school would require the students to seek written permission to leave campus.
Max quietly stalked her way off campus through the bushes so as not to be seen by her fellow classmates. They didn't need to know about her weekend job and she doubted any would even show up at her work place.
##########
"That'll be thirty-three seventy-nine" Max said, making sure to enunciate so the price total was as clear as possible.
"These god damned muslims causing gas prices to go up. I can barely afford to fill my truck anymore." the rough looking man muttered as loudly as possible. He pulled out two 20 dollar bills and slammed them on the counter. Max quickly rang up the amount and gave the man his due change. She wanted him gone as quickly as possible, so she didn't even bother telling him the amount of the change as she normally did. Instead she just shoved it in his hand. He was the only customer in and she was nearing the end of her hellacious shift and she was getting tired of work.
'Only half an hour more to go' she thought sadly as she realized it was already dark outside. She'd once again spent an entire day inside instead of being able to enjoy the sun like she wanted to. She gazed out of the window for a moment and thought about a day when she would just be able to relax and enjoy her life for once. Though she knew it wouldn't happen, she could at least hope for it right?
After the man left, Max grabbed a stool to sit down on. Her feet were pounding painfully because this was the first time she'd been able to sit down since she had arrived and clocked in. No one else had worked during her shift except the manager, who locked himself in his office. He'd decided that he was above "manual labor" and thus didn't care about the goings on in the store or helping Max out during the hellstorm of people who'd come through.
Minutes after Max had sat down she heard the very loud sound of tires squealing on pavement. She looked out of the window to see the guy she had just rung up pulling, of all things, a half donut with his truck. When he was turned the other way he shot out of the parking lot and down the road so fast that Max barely realized he was gone before she could no longer see his tail lights.
She scoffed at the thought of the man complaining about not being able to fuel his truck as another vehicle pulled up to the front of the store. A small woman got out of the drivers seat as the passenger side door was opened violently. A very very large and very scary looking man with light tanned white skin got out. He moved behind the woman as they both walked into the store.
They quickly made for the restrooms and the woman went inside the womens room. The man took up position just in front of the door and pulled his jacket hood in tighter to cover his face. As he put his hands back in his pockets Max caught sight of what appeared to be a gun in his pocket. Her heartrate rose as adrenaline floo
ded her body.
Could he be carrying a gun? Was he going to use it? Would he rob the store? Or shoot Max? She didn't know and she didn't want to find out the answer. Max reached for the silent alarm and subtly touched the button. As she watched the man he made no apparent movements to indicate he'd noticed. Internally Max sighed with relief. The police would be here soon and she'd be safe. And so would the woman she hoped.
Suddenly the manager burst from his office in a fit of rage. As Max looked at him she suddenly became very afraid that his attitude would set off the powder keg in the room. She was, sadly, correct.
"What the hell did you call the cops for? I don't care if you're dying we don't want that kind of attention!" The manager began to yell at Max. That was all he said though because in the next moment a bullet pierced his skull. Max quickly fell off her stool in shock and terror as several more whizzed past where she had been.
She fell into the cabinet space underneath the counter top as the man hesitated on whether he should go over and shoot her. When the woman exited the restroom behind him he decided against that plan. Even though she had seen his face he couldn't risk taking time to kill her. The cops were already on their way before he'd even fired the first round.
He roughly grabbed the woman and forced her out of the store. On his way out he fired several shots into the counter hoping to hit the girl who was hiding behind it. But he couldn't stop to see if he was successful, so he left with an iron grip on the womans hair. After he forced her inside the passenger seat of the car he got inside the drivers seat and quickly left around the back entrance, just in case the police might already be waiting up the road for them.
Back inside Max was trying her best not to vomit at the sight of her now dead manager. She looked upon his mangled body in horror. She finally passed out from the sight just as the cops entered the store with their guns drawn.
Chapter 3:
Despondent
Max blinked her eyes open to see a few people looking over her body. She quickly realized they were either police or Emergency Medical Techs. After that her mind drifted into wondering why they were looking at her. When she remembered the events that caused her store manager to be shot to death, she sat bolt upright, causing the men to jump back in surprise.
"Shit!" she exclaimed. Then she jumped off the wheeled cart they had put her on and ran off. Distantly she heard the men yelling after her but she was sprinting faster than they could move on foot and left them behind in a matter of seconds. She followed the road for a while but when she heard police sirens behind her she left the road and entered the trees nearby, hoping to hide from them.
She hid behind a very large one and held her breath as they passed. When the cars passed by she could see the abnormally bright search light as it enveloped the trees in a harsh white bath. They passed by without noticing her however and she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
After standing there and contemplating her situation for a few minutes, Max started crying and slid down the tree and onto the muddy ground.. After a few minutes she sat up and started puking again. Eventually she passed out from the stress and had another nightmare.
##########
14 year old Max sat on the ground, her hands roughly bound behind her back by duct tape. They were also taped to a heavy wooden table. In front of her was her father, holding a gun to her face. He span the revolvers barrel a few times and pulled the trigger. There was a slight click but thankfully it seemed the bullet hadn't been in that chamber.
The man frowned cruelly and stood up. He went over to the room where Max's mother was standing. She was crying and begging the man to stop but he wasn't paying much attention. He spun the barrel a few times, then pointed it at her head and pulled the trigger. There was a very loud explosion as the bullet shredded the womans head and exited out the back, embedding itself in the wall along side a gruesome blood splatter.
The man frowned some more before turning on Max.
"Just remember, this was her fault for complaining about not having money to buy me some beer." he said roughly before leaving the room. He left Max tied up like that for several hours while he silently cleaned up the resulting blood splatter. After that he untied her and sent her out to find him some beer to drink.
##########
Max's younger self stood behind the door of her house scared. There in front of her was her father and a few police officers. She'd been crying when she went out and had quickly attracted police attention by muttering about her mothers death.
The police officers were looking around the house but didn't seem to care. After all, why should they? Her father was a respected member of the community and was a volunteer firefighter. They would never believe that he would do any harm. It didn't help that the man had cleaned up the entire mess before he'd even sent her out to get him his drinks.
"Listen, officers. I'm sorry about this. Like her mother she has a very active imagination." Max's father said politely. "She probably took a nap and had a nightmare. That happens often at their age."
"Oh no problem sir. We're sorry about the trouble." The officer said. Shortly after they exchanged pleasantries and the officers left. Max's father watched them with a seemingly genuine smile plastered across his face until they were out of sight before turning to Max with a scowl. Without a word he walked over and kicked her in the stomach. The kick was so powerful that Max instantly collapsed on the ground and fell unconscious from the pain.
##########
Max awoke to find herself sitting on the floor of her dorm with her head laying against the side of her bed. She realized she was covered in dirt and grime and blood. As the events of the previous night came back to her again. She retched a bit but quickly calmed herself.
She sighed as she realized that she had lost that job. Not only was the manager dead, but she'd run from the police. Not that it mattered much. She'd faked her application, like she had with all of her others, including her boarding school application. She didn't need or want them interfering with her life in case they found out her real identity. She was underage and would be sent back home against her will if they ever did. She wanted her real identity, the one she'd been given at birth, to disappear forever and would do anything in her power to make that happen, even if it meant doing something illegal.
Sighing deeply, Max stripped her clothes off so she could clean up. It was still early in the morning and the sun hadn't risen. Given that it was the weekend, her fellow classmates would all still be fast asleep, so she should have the privacy she needed to clean up.
After she cleaned herself and her room, she sat down at her computer and started searching for a new weekend job.
##########
Max sighed deeply. She'd been searching all day for a new job and had yet to find one that was even remotely close. The nearest one had turned out to be well over a hundred miles away.
She went and laid down on her bed silently. Staring at the wall, she finally covered herself up. Then she buried her face in her pillow and started crying.
It was all over for her. If she didn't have any money she wouldn't be able to finish her final semesters in this hellhole some would dare to call a school. Add in the fact that she held her own personal hell everywhere she went and things were decidely grim. But she was determined to not let that get to her and so she tried forged ahead into her future.
But now she was doubting she could make it. She'd probably end up dead from stress before the year was out. And even if she didn't she would end up on the wrong side of the law when she couldn't pay back her debts for school. And if that happened they might end up uncovering her birth identity, which would be very bad for her. All things considered, she didn't see any way out of this anymore.
##########
"What have you got?" asked a man in a police uniform. It was only a week after they'd reviewed the security camera footage that they had to call in the FBI. The man who'd killed the grocery store manager was on the run after a series of
bombings that had killed 307 people in California. Since then, he'd been spotted in nearly every state in a straight line between Nevada and North Carolina, which is where they were now.
The detective looked at him with a weary, defeated look.
"We didn't find a whole lot on his whereabouts. By the time you called he would have already left the state." the man said. "We did, however, find out more about the girl. Only that more turned out to be nothing. She faked her application there. So 'Amelia' doesn't even exist."
"Great. So basically we're stuck at square one. Hell probably boxed in with steel walls." the police officer said. The case had not gone well despite it only having a been week since they'd opened it. Add in the fact that they had received word that a guy who murdered a girl during a rape gone wrong would probably be hiding somewhere in the area and he was having a very tough week.
"Not entirely Chief. During the course of the investigation we were able to determine the gas station was just a shell corporation for a private terrorist group based here in the states. They were using it to launder money for their operations. We've passed the information along and they'll be caught soon."
"What kind of terrorist organization?" the police chief asked.
"A white supremacist group. Our buddies in the state investigations bureau here have been tracking them for some time but haven't been able to make an arrest before. With the info we've given them the group will be dealt with swiftly." the FBI agent responded.
"Alright." the chief said, not totally convinced that they should just let the matter drop. "Where are we with the security camera footage."
"About the same place we were yesterday when we got the footage. The shitty quality of the video made it hard to clean up."
The chief sighed heavily. It looked like this investigation was going nowhere fast, just like all of the others he was overseeing.
Chronicles of the Supers (Book 1): Born From Darkness (The Story of Max) Page 2