The stinging pain in Max's shoulder, it wasn't exactly a mystery. He had a pretty good idea what had happened. After all, it wasn't the first time he'd been stabbed. And to top it off, it hadn't even been that long ago that he'd been stabbed multiple times already.
Which was why he couldn't help himself. He turned his head, twisting just enough to get a look at his back, and sure enough, there it was. A blade lodged right into him, confirming his worst thoughts.
Tremors rocked through his entire body, his hands beginning to shake uncontrollably.
Crap… it's shaking, Max thought, his heart racing faster than it had during the fight. It's not even the pain. Is it because of what happened before? Right before I died?
Get a grip. I need to get a grip! Max screamed at himself internally, trying to lock down the rising panic.
Across from him, Snide's loud, obnoxious laugh rang out.
"Hahaha! I knew it would work! Practicing on that wall finally paid offs, did you see that? Nailed him perfectly!" Snide beamed, clearly proud of himself.
He turned to Jay, hoping to share the moment. But Jay wasn't even looking at him. His cold, emotionless eyes were locked on Max, not a single hint of amusement on his face.
"Man, you're as boring as ever," Snide said, rolling his eyes with a scoff.
"AHHH!"
A sudden loud scream tore through the air, snapping Snide's attention back to Max.
One of the students who had been standing in front of Max had crumpled to his knees, both hands desperately cupping his gremlin makers, his face twisted in pure agony.
Max had gone for one of his trademark moves, the kind he only used in desperate times. But even with that, there was still a wall of people crowding in front of him.
"I've never done this before, but there's a first time for everything!" Max shouted.
Without hesitation, he charged toward the nearest guy, planting his foot firmly onto the hunched-over student's shoulder. Using every ounce of strength he had left, Max launched himself into the air, soaring right over the row of stunned students.
As the ground rushed up to meet him, Max didn't even have to think, his body moved on instinct. He tucked in and rolled the moment he hit the floor, trying to absorb the impact.
But during the roll, he felt it, the knife lodged in his shoulder bent sharply to the side and then slid out, clattering somewhere onto the ground behind him.
AHHH, THAT HURTS! Max screamed internally, pain flashing white across his vision. Still, he forced himself to move. He couldn't afford to stop. Letting the adrenaline do its work, Max pushed himself up and sprinted as fast as his legs could carry him.
"What are you idiots doing just standing around for? Get him! All of you!" Snide screamed furiously from behind. "And you too, you lump!"
The students jolted into action, charging after Max, while Jay followed at a calmer but no less determined pace, not far behind.
****
Out walking through the streets for a casual stroll was a well-dressed, short blonde-haired girl.
She had just stepped out from the hair salon, feeling fresh, and was lazily window shopping on her way back from the local high street.
As she browsed, she held her phone to her ear, chatting easily with her best friend.
"Cindy, I can't believe you're even going out on your own after what happened to us last time. Aren't you scared?" Abby asked, her voice full of concern.
Abby, in contrast, was currently curled up at home, wrapped tightly in her sheets like a cocoon. She hadn't gone out with Cindy since the last incident, but they still stayed close, chatting on the phone just like they were now.
"Come on, I'm not in the city center," Cindy replied, laughing it off. "I just went to our local area, that's all."
"THAT'S WORSE!" Abby practically screamed, making Cindy wince and pull the phone away from her ear.
"Did you forget what type of school we go to? What they're like in class?" Abby continued. "They're the ones that hang around the streets too! It's even more dangerous!"
Cindy rolled her eyes but smiled anyway. Her best friend could be a little dramatic, but she knew Abby's worry came from a good place.
"Come on, I'm not like you," Cindy said with a grin. "I can't just stay at home all day. I need to get out, and that was a one-time thing... hey, change of subject though," she added, her voice brightening. "Speaking of dangerous people, I never knew your boyfriend was so dangerous."
"Are you talking about Max?" Abby replied, already sensing where this was going.
"Yeah! You saw the video, right? I mean, everyone's seen it. Did you know he had that side to him? That he could actually do all of that? I guess he just got pushed too far. If you ask me, all those bullies deserved it, but still, it was kind of a shock."
"Yeah..." Abby answered, her voice soft as she let out an audible sigh. "Honestly, I don't even know if I know who the real Max is anymore... things just, don't feel the same as they did before."
"Cheer up! Max finally fought back!" Cindy replied, trying to lift the mood. "After what he did, those bullies won't even think about messing with him again. Who knows, he might actually be having the best time of his life right now."
****
"Fck, fck, f*ck!" Max cursed under his breath as he kept running. "This might actually be the second worst day of my life. The first being the damned day I died!"
Max was sprinting like his life depended on it, which, honestly, it kind of did, and he could hear the chaotic stomping of quite a few people chasing after him. In his panic, he had ended up circling around the construction site instead of sprinting straight out like he should have.
Luckily, the place was a mess of scaffolding, stacked materials, and half-built walls, creating plenty of obstacles for him to weave through and gain some distance from the mob at his back.
Max had done a lot of cardio training over the last week and a half. He knew how important it was. And when your life was hanging by a thread, your body could pull off some pretty insane feats.
But there was one big problem, he could feel it, the steady drip of blood coming from his shoulder wound.
'Why the hell did the knife have to fall out?!' Max thought, gritting his teeth. 'If it had stayed in, at least it would've kept some of the bleeding in check. Now I'm leaking like a faucet. I can't even afford to hide somewhere, they'd just find the blood trail and hunt me down.'
Scanning ahead, Max spotted several exits, one down to his left and another straight ahead. Without hesitating, he angled toward the left, but just as he was about to dart off, a rough hand grabbed him by the collar and hurled him straight to the ground.
To his left, Max crashed into a pile of heavy concrete sacks, grunting as dust puffed up around him. Shaking his head, he quickly looked up, and froze.
Standing there, blocking the path like a literal wall of muscle, was a figure with his back still turned toward him.
"Everyone, hurry!" the student barked out to the others. "He exited out that way! Find him and chase him down!"
The pounding of feet grew louder, then slowly faded as the crowd rushed off in the wrong direction.
The student stayed there, unmoving, making sure the others were well out of sight. And when he finally turned around, Max got a clear look at his face.
"Jay..." Max muttered, staring up at him in disbelief.