The play continued but they were just trying to buy time because Nina still wasn't back.
They were really starting to worry but Nina came back just in time. "Victor is going to eliminate someone in the audience tonight." She told them quickly.
Max gasped. "Oh God, Rufus? Joy?"
"Both?" Fabian added nervously.
~~~
They finished the play, but that's when things got chaotic.
Victor spotted Joy and tried to grab her, but she took off, but Rufus also tried to grab her.
"Rufus?" Max gasped, eyes wide in disbelief.
Rufus practically sneered at her before shoving by Mr. Sweet and bolting.
Victor ran passed them to chase after Joy.
"RUFUS WAIT!" Max shouted, darting off the stage and going after him, horrifying the others.
~~~
Max ran deep into the woods, following after Rufus. Finally, they reached his car, and she panted as she stopped, resting her hands on her knees. "Rufus...what...what is going on? Why were you at the play? Why did you try and grab Joy!?"
Taking a deep breath, Rufus slowly turned to look at her. Her eyes widened. His eyes once warm and soft were now cold and distant.
"My dear, you know not what you've done by following me." He hissed, stepping forward.
Max's eyes widened and she took a few steps back. "Uncle Rufus?..."
Without warning he lunged forward and grabbed her, making her scream. "RUFUS STOP! HELPPPP!" Rufus covered her mouth as tears rolled down her face.
Rufus winced as he tightened his grip on her. "Foolish, just as your brother was." He tossed her into his car, making her hit her head.
Growing dizzy, Max's eyes began to flutter shut.
"William..." She breathed out in a mumble, before everything went dark.
~~~
When Max came to, she was sitting in a lumpy recliner in a dark room, her hands had been chained up behind her back.
"Finally awake I see." Max jumped a little and looked over to see Rufus leaning against the wall..
She struggled against the chains on her hands. "Why?...Rufus what have you done!?" She questioned in disbelief.
Rufus chuckled. "Normally I'd tell you, but I'm afraid I can't risk giving you too much bad news. I still need you."
"What?" Max questioned in disbelief.
Rufus smirked. "Come on now, surely you know you're important, why else would you wield the Shield of Seth?"
Max felt tears bubble in her eyes. "Uncle Rufus please, I don't understand...I thought...I thought you were a good man!"
"Oh, I suppose we should clear that up, hm? I'm your great uncle, so it's actually Great Uncle Rufus." He smirked.
She scowled viciously. "What is going on? WAS ANYTHING YOU TOLD ME TRUE!? WHAT ABOUT WILLIAM!?"
Rufus sighed. "I'm afraid we'll have to leave those questions unanswered. As long as you remain in the dark, you'll have hope, and that smidge of hope is all I need." With that, he left the warehouse, slamming and locking the door.
Max leaned back in the chair, tears rolled down her face.
This just...couldn't be happening.
~~~
Rufus came back with a water bottle, he unscrewed the cap and lifted Max's chin up with his hand. "Drink." He commanded.
Reluctantly, Max guzzled down the water, knowing she'd be better of with it than without.
When she drank about half, Rufus took the bottle away and set it down on a table. "Now, hope you don't mind, going to need to borrow these."
He picked up her feather mask she had used from the play and also her phone, which had been broken.
Max watched him silently. There was nothing she could do.
~~~
Later that evening, Rufus returned. "Time for us to go."
"Go?" Max frowned.
Rufus smiled. "Behave yourself and I won't break anything." He told her as he yanked her out of her chair.
Max wince and struggled against him as he escorted her out of the warehouse.
He shoved her into the back of the van and locked it.
Max looked out the tinted window longingly. "I hope the others are okay..." She closed her eyes, bowing her head. "I hope you're okay, William..."
~~~
It wasn't long until the car stopped, and a few minutes later Max noticed something sticking in between the doors at the back of the van. Her eyes widened as she watched it move around.
And then the doors were opening. Max gasped.
Fabian, Nina, Amber and Patricia yanked her out of the car as it drove off, sending them all tumbling down.
"YES!" Fabian cheered.
"YOU FOUND ME!" Max exclaimed in delight, tears welled up in her eyes. Fabian hugged her tightly and soon the others joined in.
Patricia gasped when she saw the chains. "That slime." She sneered.
"Wha- Max!?" They all turned to see a tearful Mrs. Andrews. "You're okay!" She hurried over to them.
Fabian managed to untie the chains, freeing Max's hands, which were bruised around the wrists.
"ENOUGH!" Patricia hissed at Mrs. Andrews. "NO MORE SECRETS. WHERE IS JOY, WHY IS RUFUS AFTER HER, WHAT IS GOING ON!? TELL US EVERYTHING!"
Mrs. Andrews went stiff. "Do not get involved."
Max scoffed. "How about this, tell us or I go global about this entire thing. We're in it Mrs. Andrews, deeper than you know."
At this, Mrs. Andrews sighed in defeat.
~~~
Later that evening, Mick was leaving for a little while, so everyone had gathered to say goodbye.
"Don't get use to all that free space." Mick teased. "I'll be back before you know it."
Max smirked. "Wouldn't dream of it."
~~~
The next day at school, Victor pulled them all back to the house, saying he was going to give them the answers they wanted. Mrs. Andrews also announced during class they'd be holding an election to decide on a school representative.
~~~
Victor brought them up to his office and locked them in, which did make Max sweat a little.
"You alright?" Fabian mumbled to her.
She nodded stiffly. "I'm fine, just the first time I've been locked in a room since...you know."
Victor booted up his laptop and turned it to them, and to their shock, Joy was on video chat.
"Joy!" Patricia exclaimed happily, quickly sitting down. Amber sat next to her. "I tried to meet you but-"
"Too dangerous." Joy sighed. "That's why I didn't show, sorry."
"Hey it's not your fault, so when are you coming back?" Patricia asked.
At this, Joy hesitated. "Hey is that Amber?"
"Joy I have so much to tell you. Mick and I split up and Nina and Max joined our house. Nina's from America and Max is-" Amber cut herself off. "Um...F-Fabian's roommate!"
Joy's eyes widened. "Oh, hello there. So I guess Nina is the new me?"
"Sort of...um, so do you wanna tell us where you are?" Nina asked awkwardly.
Victor spoke up. "No she does not."
"...And Fabian's here." Max brought up.
Fabian smiled. "Hey Joy."
Joy's eyes widened. "Fabes...hi." She looked impossibly fond, which made Nina frown.
"So when are you coming back?" Patricia asked.
Joy bit her lip. "...I'm not."
Patricia gasped. "What do you mean you're not?"
"Look I can't say too much but...but someone is after me and my family, so we had to move and change our names and stuff..." Joy explained softly.
Max felt her skin prickle uncomfortably. "Rufus...my uncle..."
"Your uncle?" Joy breathed. "Wow...that's unfortunate."
Mr. Mercer came and told Joy to get off the computer, he took her seat. "You see, Zeno is after some top secret information. I work in the government and he's after me. I'm afraid that's all I can tell you."
Victor turned the computer back around. "Satisfied? Now go, and from now on nobody is to go anywhere but the school and the house, Rufus Zeno is still out there and I'm sure I don't need to tell you what a threat he is." Victor pointed at Max's wrists with a pen in his hand, making her flinch.
With that, he unlocked the door and allowed them to leave.
~~~
When they got down the stairs, Max scowled. "There's more to this that they're not telling us, I'm proof of that. My great uncle hasn't aged, my ring is obviously important for something, and there's still the whole elixir business."
"But at least we know Joy is safe." Patricia insisted gently. "So there's one thing we can rest about."
"So then...are Victor and the teachers good?" Amber questioned.
Nina sighed. "Who can say?"
There was still much unknown, but at least they could rest a little easier knowing Joy was being protected.