#NoFilter

-Chapter 33-

I shake my head. "No...".

"Max, you were out of it when we found you!" Chloe insists, "With the mark on your neck and the state you were in... I don't know what else could have happened to you".

"No!" I repeat, covering my ears, "No-ooo!".

Chloe looks at me with a pained, worried expression, "Max,".

"NO!" I half scream.

"You were beat up and bleeding! Something had to have happened!".

I whimper when she pulls me in for a tight embrace, trying to push her away.

"Max, please... please,".

I'm full on sobbing at this point, softly pounding on her chest with soft, non-threatening blows.

"No... no no,".

"Maxie... I know you're scared, I know, I really do, but I need you relax, Okay? I need you to think... tell me what you remember about last night. Do you remember what we did?".

I nod a little, heaving more heavy sobs into her shirt.

"Okay... that's good," she says, smoothing my hair back, "Anything else, anything out of the ordinary?".

I shut my eyes tightly and shake my head vigorously, balling handfuls of Chloe's shirt in my fist, sobbing hysterically and uncontrollably.

"Do you remember someone following you?".

I wrack my memory, trying to remember the last few minutes of my night.

"... f- footsteps, I- I remember... footsteps," I mutter weakly, my chest burning from all the tears.

"Footsteps? Okay... that's a start," Chloe coos, rubbing circles on my back, "Anything else?".

I shake my head, continue to cry. "I d- don't know! I don't know! What happened to me, Chloe?! What happened to me?!".

"Shh, you're okay. I'm right here, I'm right here, okay?" she continues, trying to get my breathing to sync up with hers, "Please, Max... I'm right here, you're safe with me okay? I'm not going to let you anything bad happen to you. I've got you".

It takes a while but I eventually relax, taking a few deep breaths, but my body continues to shake and my teeth continue to chatter.

"Shit... we need to get you out of those wet clothes, Max. We were waiting until you woke up,".

I allow Chloe to pull me away from her body and hold me out in front of her.

I just stare blankly at nothing, watching as Chloe gets up and grabs a fresh set of clothes, handing them to me.

I reach out for them but cringe when pain flares up in my side.

"Hey, hey hey, it's okay, you're okay," Chloe says calmingly, brushing her thumb over my cheek.

I mumble absently, not really sure if I'm capable of even standing up.

"Need help?".

I nod.

"Okay, shirt first okay?".

"Okay," I reply, feeling as Chloe reaches out and grabs the hem of my shirt, tugging on it slightly.

I get the gesture and lift my arms up as she pulls the shirt up and off my body.

Cold air strikes my skin, causing me to shiver more profusely.

I wait a moment for Chloe to pull the long sleeved shirt over my head, but she doesn't.

Instead, she just stares at my stomach which; I didn't realize until now; is littered with bruises. Not all the bruises are new... a lot are still left over from what my father did.