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Chapter 13

The Grouch

Christmas music played from inside the cave as I approached the slightly ajar mining gate, blood smeared across it.

What the hell? What did you do now, Max?

I took a deep breath and stepped inside, trying to muster the strength to tell her what had happened, to end things once and for all. If only I could find the right words.

As I stepped deeper into the cave, the music grew, coated with a familiar humming. I stepped into the room, the fire burning, my chair facing it, a small radio playing on a small side table. My heart sank a little knowing I was about to leave her—the one person who had been there for me all these years. I knew she wasn’t going to take the news well.

It’s now or never.

“Max,” I called. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

A hand dripping red gracefully leaned over the leather armrest. It was Max’s, but something about it seemed off—different. I stepped around, looking down at her as she sat there, her legs crossed and body covered in blood, smiling up at me.

“What the fuck happened?” I fell to my knees in front of her, examining her closely for any sign of harm, hoping she wasn’t hurt. Thankfully, she was fine, unharmed in any way.

But then, whose blood is ? —

“I missed you.” She booped my nose with a giggle. Something was off about her.

“I missed you too, freckles. Now, are you going to tell me what happened?” I pointed to her body.

“Oh, this?” She grabbed her skirt, motioning to the blood. “Oh, this is nothing . In fact, speaking of nothing, I have a gift for you!” Max bounced from the chair, rushing to the poorly decorated Christmas tree we had propped against the cave wall.

“Max,” I sighed as she picked up a small, neatly wrapped present, the blood on her hands smearing across the paper. “I need to tell you something.” She stopped, holding the gift with that beautiful smile of hers stamped across her face.

“Tell me what?” she asked.

“Max, I—” I struggled to form the words. “May-Martha and I?—”

“Hold that thought!” Max pranced toward me, kneeling as she placed the box in my lap. “Before you say anything else, here. Open it.”

“Max.”

“No, it’s okay. It’s my Christmas gift to you.” I scoffed, lightly laughing as I indulged her, pulling at the ribbon and unwrapping the box. I lifted the lid, my smile dropping as I stared at what she just handed me, praying it wasn’t what I thought.

No, please ? —

“You told me the only way you could love me was if you had her heart in your hands.”

No!

My stomach sank as I dropped the box, the bloody heart rolling from inside as I stood, shaking with fear—fear of what happened, but mostly fear of Max.

“Max,” I whined, pointing to the organ as she stared up at me. “Whose heart is that?” She picked the heart up, and it squelched in her fingers as she stood, slowly walking towards me.

“Why, May-Martha’s, of course.” She grinned, petting the organ as I fell back, knocking over a light. It shattered across the cave floor, the glass piercing my hands as tears rolled down my face. “Now, you can love me forever.”

My heart completely ripped apart, aching and shredding as I watched her just stand there, holding May’s heart as if it was nothing. She killed her. Max didn’t just kill the woman I loved—she murdered her, carved out her heart and gifted it to me. She was fucking crazy. May was gone. Gone!

“How could you?” I cried out, my chest aching with agonizing pain. Max’s grin fell, and she looked confused by my distress.

“I only did it for us.”

“There is no us!” I yelled.

“No, no, no. Shhhh!” Max ran towards me, dropping to her knees as she tried to console me, May’s heart still in her grasp. “She—she tried to take you from me. I saw her… I saw her use her body and seduce you.” She saw her? Was Max watching us? “It’s okay.” She crawled through the glass and hugged me as I cried, a broken husk. “I’m going to make everything better. Now that she’s gone, you don’t have to leave. We can be together forever.”

Max stroked my hair, holding me close as my horror began to melt into hatred. My eyes glanced around, searching for something, anything I could use to kill her with. She was a rabid dog that needed to be put down before she hurt someone else.

My gaze latched onto a larger piece of broken glass. My claws stretched as I grasped it, Max still trying to coddle and embrace me. If May being dead wasn’t heartbreaking enough, I now had to kill the only friend I’d ever had. The idea made me hesitate, knowing she only did it for me, to protect me. Because she loved me.

No, Max can’t love anyone. She’s crazy.

“I’m going to make you forget all about her. You’ll see. It’s only you and me—” She gasped, the large glass shard piercing her shoulder as she dropped May’s heart and stared into my eyes.

“You may have taken her heart, but you will never have mine.” She fell back as I released the shard, my hand bleeding as I desperately crawled away from her, panting, disgusted by what I had to do.

Max fell, bleeding out onto the floor as her trembling hand tried to grab the shard, but it was too deep. I waited, crying as I tried to process everything, listening to her quiver and bleed out.

“Why?” she breathed gently.

My eyes fell to May’s heart, and I picked it up as I turned away from Max, holding it close.

“I’m so sorry, baby.” I clutched it tightly against the tattoo on my chest, my tears dripping onto the organ as I bawled, completely broken. “I’m so sorry!”

My eyes bulged as a sudden pain shot through my heart, piercing it perfectly. The music from the radio began to slow as the room spun, my eyes rolling into the back of my head as her voice hit my ears, fading away with the world.

“I’m sorry too.”