"That night? What night is he talking about? The night — the night they left?
"There's not a clue in here," Marley breathed out, shutting the journal and rubbing at her temples, "It's just quote unquote 'brotherly advice'. I've been through it a thousand times. Aiden," she kicked his thigh gently with her socked foot, "Can you read it over again? I think I'm missing something."
While Marley had Gabby on FaceTime, Aiden was laid beside her on her bed. Or, more accurately, he was laying on her pillow on his back and she was sat up on her knees, her reading glasses on, hair up in a bun and a bunch of papers scattered around her attempting to solve the mystery that is her broken family.
"Marley," Aiden scolded calmly, grunting when she shoved the journal into his hands which were reaching for her instead, "I've already read it, too. Four times. It's dinner. Let's order something-"
"Not until I figure this out," Marley cut him off stiffly, opening the letter that she found in the back of the journal again.
"Aiden's right," Gabby said from the screen of his iPhone, "You've been dissecting this journal for four hours, and I've been on FaceTime for two of those hours. Take this to the police."
Marley shook her head automatically, "Not until I find a way to scan it, and learn more about cryptography. This entire journal could be a hidden message."
Aiden sighed, and before she knew it the letter was being snatched out from under her. She yelped, attempting to grab onto the journal but he already had it out of reach.
"Hand it over," she demanded.
He held their gaze evenly, "No."
She rolled her eyes, turning away from him with a huff, "I have partial photographic memory anyway. I remember enough. Gabby," Marley picked up Aiden's phone, holding it up so she could see her blonde best friend giving her a disapproving look she ignored, "Jacobi talked about a truth about my parents that he couldn't write down. My father said there was a night I almost died. That night. He said there was something I forgot. Recalling lost memories-"
"Requires hypnosis-"
"Or electric shock therapy." Aiden finished with a loud sigh, falling backwards onto her bed, "We went through that an hour ago, Marley. We also agreed that was way too extreme of a reaction to this situation. You can't possibly tell me you're considering shocking yourself for an old journal that you can't even validate is true."
She shot him a look over her reading glasses, "I never said I was going to. But all of the information I have to go off of is slim to nothing. My fathers' room was a dead end. So all I have is this journal, my father himself-"
"Who you can't visit anymore because you gave him a frickin seizure."
"He's fine now!" Marley defended loudly, "And if I left a second before I wouldn't have known about a supposed night I don't remember. I essentially have nothing right now and-"
Marley cut herself off, her mind screeching to a halt on one lead that she hasn't followed yet. She scrambled from the bed, wide-eyed and rejuvenated. She knew she was acting crazy right now, and was certain her boyfriend was questioning her sanity by the look on his face, but none of that mattered.
Marley has spent seven years in the dark, clouded with questions and fears and uncertainty. But the journal — that hunk of paper and her fathers' words, became the sun breaking through the clouds. It wasn't as simple of an explanation as she was told. In the back of her mind, Marley always hung on to her instinct that there was more to the story of her mother and brothers' disappearance than the A-B-C she was given.
If Jacobi was telling the truth, all this time he couldn't come back. Not because she wasn't good enough, but because he physically couldn't. If Jacobi was telling the truth, he's always loved her, and right now, he's trying to find his way back to her.
The least Marley can do is meet him halfway — by speaking with the one other person he'd confide into about this. A person who could have a note, or a journal, or a message of their own right now that could lead her closer to the truth.
Marley grabbed Aiden's phone off of her bed again, "Gabby, I have to go. I'll call you if this lead pans out."
"But-" Marley hung up, tossing Aiden his phone and turned to leave her bedroom. She made her way down familiar stairs, taking them two at a time while Aiden followed on her heels.
Her heart was racing, her mind working at the same speed. Aiden took her forearm and spun her around to face him. His blue eyes took her in with concern, "Take a breath, Marley. Relax. Why don't we eat and-"
She ripped her arm away from him, kneeling to tie her converse on her feet, "Stay here or come with, but I need to talk to Max. He could know something I don't, and," Marley paused to stand up for the first time in hours, stilling to meet Aiden's eyes with a resolve of steel, "I cannot stay in the dark anymore."
Aiden pursed his lips but nodded, bending to tie his own laces as his answer. Marley shoved her hands through her jacket sleeves, striding for the kitchen table, grabbing the journal and letter where Aiden set them down. He took his car keys out of his pocket, but Marley held a hand over his with a shake of her head.
"We need to take the bus for where we're going, or else you won't find your car in one piece."
She found her fathers' old bus pass in the drawer in the kitchen, turning to face Aiden who had his eyebrows shot up to the ceiling, "Do I get to know where we're going?"
Marley rolled her eyes, taking his hand and leading him outside. She let him go to lock the door, her energy still restless. Answers is all she wanted right now, all she could think about.
"We're going to an auto shop to see Max. He was my brothers' best friend."
-
Maxwell Jones was to Jacobi what Gabby is to Marley. A best friend, a confidant, a solace. Someone to play with at school and at home, who offered a safe place. But even Marley can admit that Max and her brother were closer than she and Gabby could ever be.
They were thick as thieves, spending every day at school together, and almost every day at Marley and Jacobi's house. In the years before her mother and brother disappeared, her father was rowdy and cruel to their mother, but he was nothing compared to Max's abusive, cold father.
On weekends when Marley and Jacobi's father had his poker nights, Max would be forced to go home to face the wrath of his own, but on weekdays he was almost always sleeping over. In the neighbourhood they live in dealing with a dysfunctional family was a right of passage, and an abusive father? Almost a given. The fact that Max was harmed physically by his father was so common of an occurrence that no one bat an eyelash. Even Marley and Jacobi were desensitized to it, given they had a bad father for themselves.
They were also three years older than Marley and Gabby were, so they understood more and suffered more, having to work through their struggles together. Marley had always referred to Max and Jacobi as her protectors from a young age, a role they were more than happy to fill. Though they were as big brothers always are — against including Marley in the games they played at school and at home — it was an unspoken agreement that if Jacobi wasn't around, Max would look out for her.
They spent their years until Jacobi's disappearance in the eighth grade riding their bikes, playing outside and in Jacobi's bedroom. The two of them were imaginative while Marley and Gabby were scientific and practical — they'd make up stories, build forts, have sword fights and find various ways to escape their family trauma. It was trauma they could understand more given they were older.
After Jacobi left, Max fell off the rails. Marley doesn't know much — given that he dropped her as if she never mattered, and has barely spoken two words to her ever since — but she knows he started doing drugs, drinking, and fighting with his father. He dropped out of high school his junior year to work at an auto shop he supposedly spent his free time in once Jacobi and Marley's home stopped becoming an option. He still works there now, is the last Marley's heard from her neighbour Kelly, who became close with Max over the years of him being over at her house.
Marley doesn't hold it against Max for leaving her, as much as it upset her to lose not only her brother and his belongings, but the one person who knew him as well as she did. Looking at him even today is going to be hard for her. She can't imagine how difficult it will be for Max to see her, too, given that Jacobi's disappearance sent him over the edge with grief.
At thirteen, Max probably had the simple mentality to avoid anything that reminded him of his missing best friend at all costs. Now at twenty, Marley's hoping that he'll give her the time of day — at the very least to answer her questions. Asking him in previous years was never an option. But now she was prepared to push it if necessary.
So, as nervous as she was right now walking down a few blocks where drug deals were happening in broad daylight, shouts and death threats were practically the background music and there were more broken windows than unbroken ones — she knew that even if Aiden weren't beside her right now, holding her close, his 6'2 height, and muscle acting as a force field from the dangerous people around her, that she'd be here herself anyway.
"Christ, Marley," Aiden said lowly, shooting yet another guy scanning her over a menacing glare, "Why the hell would you ever want to come here willingly?"
They turned a corner, and Marley's shoulders sagged in relief at seeing the rusted hanging sign of the auto shop distantly down the street. She carefully dodged bright blue thongs casually laying on the sidewalk with a wince, "Because Max works at the auto shop down this street, and this is the only place where I know he would be. He was my brothers' best friend, Aiden. If Jacobi reached out to me, maybe he reached out to him."
"I'd say we should take an Uber back but I think around here, drive-by shooting is what these guys do for fun." Aiden's sharp blue eyes locked on two men sitting against an abandoned building on the sidewalk and leering at them, not looking away until they were at a safe distance.
"You know, if you acted less like you're in Wonderland, Alice, maybe we wouldn't be getting so much attention," Marley teased gently, feeling as though she was walking against a marble statue and not her teddy bear boyfriend.
"It's not me they're looking at," Aiden responded tightly, ironically just as they walked by actual hookers, who were twirling their hair and winking in his direction.
They crossed the deserted street to come face to face with Jerry's Auto Repair, and the building appeared to be on its last legs. The glass garage doors were rusted and dirty, the orange brick building chipping at the seams. The exterior lights were flickering, the entrance door handle broken. As a result, it squeaked as the wind shifted it back and forth.
Marley placed a hand on Aiden's chest to stop him from going any further. He refused to meet her eyes in favour of scanning over their surroundings, but she addressed him anyway, "Stay calm and be casual, alright? I'm here to talk to Max, not break up fights, Aiden."
He locked eyes with her briefly to nod. Satisfied, she dropped her hand, allowing him to push open the door and lead them inside. Rock music was blasting, about six or seven men wearing full-body uniforms walking around or half-way disappeared beneath old cars. What concerned her was that most of these men looked like they just left jail, with scary tattoos and buzz cuts.
Aiden's grip tightened around her waist when a man in his thirties whistled from across the room.
"Got business here, gorgeous?"
She was glad when Aiden remained quiet, but his glare on the man said everything his words couldn't. The mans' shout seemed to capture the attention of the others in the room, one by one pausing to scan over she and Aiden.
All at one the music cut off brutally, "Leave her, Chris. She's with me."
Marley whirled around at the speed of light, watching a tan hand drop from where it was hovered over an old stereo. She followed the sleeve of beautiful, black tattoos up a lean, muscular arm, gasping in shock when her eyes found his face. It was Max as surely as the sun rose and fell in the morning, but this Max wasn't the lanky, soft Max she remembered.
Marley's eyes locked on sea green/blue ones, swirling with surprise as they scanned over her in return. The same dark blonde, untamed curly locks she remembered were falling over his eyes. Had his jaw always been this angular? His face this...handsome?
Marley remembers having a schoolgirl crush on a short, thin boy with high cheekbones and a pale complexion — now staring at a man over six feet tall, with a leaner build than Aiden but still impressive, an incredibly sharp jawline and a stubble that suited him. He reached for his towel over his shoulder, wiping his blackened hands on it as he approached.
She met his eyes but they were still taking a leisurely scan over the rest of her, "Wow," he said quietly, so quiet she almost thought she imagined hearing it, "Is it really you, Marley?"
She nodded mutely, her shock rendering her speechless. The Max she was staring at now was so opposite to the Max she once knew. It was staggering and overwhelming.
He blinked a few times, inhaling sharply and redirecting his gaze to Aiden, "I'm glad you didn't come here alone, at least."
Marley took a deep breath to clear her head, gesturing to Max, "Aiden, this is Max. Max, this is my boyfriend Aiden."
They shook hands, nodding at each other before Max was shoving his hands in his front pockets, redirecting his focus to Marley again, "I'm assuming you're not here for an oil change?"
-
Max led Marley and Aiden to the office in the back of Jerry's Auto. All things considered it was a clean atmosphere. He took a seat behind the cluttered desk, gesturing for the two of them to fill the grey plastic chairs across from him.
After placing the journal and note on the desk, Marley knitted her hands together in front of her, straightening her spine and watching Max's every move. His eyes were unreadable as he scanned over the leather cover. He didn't reach for it.
"How much does he know?" He asked in monotone, giving Aiden a head tilt.
"Everything," Marley confirmed curtly, her hazel eyes busy reading his reaction. Max gave nothing away, but he's always been skilled at that.
Hiding emotions. Fear. Bruises.
After a few tense seconds, he leaned back in the chair, peeling his eyes away from the journal. Marley was still in whiplash from seeing Max again, reeling at how much he's changed. It was in a good way. Besides his physical appearance, his aura had settled too. He wasn't afraid anymore. Skittish.
He grew up the same way Marley did.
"I heard he's in the hospital."
Marley nodded slowly, her fingers tightening instinctively, "He's going to be alright."
Max's jaw ticked, "He's in the slammer now, right?" He leaned foreword in the chair, resting his forearms on the desk, "And it has nothing to do with you?"
"No," she replied quietly, breaking their stare to look down at her hands, "I've been away for the past two months."
She dared herself to look at Max through her lashes. He was staring out the window to the right, now. It led to the rest of the garage. He scanned over the guys chatting and repairing vehicles as if it was soothing to him.
"I should've been around."
Marley's heart squeezed, "I'm not here because I'm angry with you, Max-"
"He would've wanted me to." Max's eyes were shooting to hers, staring deeply and intensely, "I should have. I've always known that fucker was worse after everything, and I never..."
"Max." Marley impulsively stood, shooting out to cover his hand with her own. He'd been tapping his fingers against the desk rapidly, "I don't blame you. My situation was," she paused, clearing her throat, "not great, but yours was worse."
She slid her hand away after a half minute, returning to her seat and feeling shaky. Everything was coming back to her in the worst and best ways — face to face with someone from her past, someone from Jacobi's past, was knocking the wind from her lungs.
"No excuse," Max said quietly, looking away from her as if the sight of her pained him. His hands fluttered over the journal for the first time, fingers barely brushing, eyes far away, "Jacob was...the only one who ever understood me. He was my brother. When he disappeared out from under me, I was so angry. I was angry with him for leaving me. For leaving us. I cared about both of you Marley. Back then, I cared a lot."
He focused on her, the blue/green boring into her hazel ones with an intensity that made her feel something she couldn't understand, "So," he let out the breath he'd been holding, "I stayed away because it was better than facing everything. All I wanted was a clean slate. To forget all of it. Which did get me into a lot of shit I shouldn't have been involved in — which is why, even when I was old enough to consider seeing you again, I didn't want to drag you into my darkness. You were always such a light, Marley. My life was fucked and you and Jacob..." he trailed off, his eyes becoming distant again.
"Your father..." Marley trailed off hesitantly, because her father was a demon and his was the Devil.
"Locked up, too." He replied absentmindedly, back to staring out the window, "They got him for my mom a couple years back."
Marley nodded, as relieved as she was pained. The good news was that Max isn't haunted and abused anymore, but the bad is that it took so long of violence under the radar to catch his father. She didn't press for details, or ask how the police found out about his mother's injuries — figuring some things are better left unsaid.
"I'm glad that part of your life is over," Marley whispered.
He nodded at her, back to studying her carefully, as if afraid to miss a single detail, "Seven years is a long time. You look good, Lee."
Marley felt a small flush coat her cheeks at the same time as her stomach lurched at the old nickname. It brought out a mess of emotions in her she wasn't sure how to feel, and a slew of memories.
Most of them a young Max leaning against her doorjamb, smiling at her sitting on her bedroom floor next to Gabby, playing or reading together.
"What's up, Lee?"
"The sky," she'd respond with a giggle — every time.
"Right on." He'd say back, before disappearing to run after Jacobi.
Marley couldn't respond, she didn't know how, so Max continued speaking.
"How's school? Brown has always been your dream. Is that going to work out for you?"
Marley felt a flutter in her heart that he remembered, "Yes," she smiled, "Early acceptance."
Max didn't look surprised at all, "I always knew you were going far, and get the hell out of this town to make something of yourself. He'd...he'd be proud of you."
His last words cracked, his calm exterior breaking. Marley and Max shared a long look, filled with the same longing, the same aching for someone who never came back.
They both cleared their throats and looked away. Marley pointed to the journal with new resolve, the ache of her missing brother reminding her of why she was here in the first place, "It's from him. Open it."
"Don't need to," Max replied simply.
Marley blinked in shock, leaning closer, "You know. He-he sent you something, too?"
Max shook his head. His eyes kept drifting to the journal before quickly looking away, as if the sight of it was haunting him. He leaned back in his seat, folding his arms across his chest in a defensive manner, "We've both always known that he didn't leave because he wanted to go. Why would he? Your mother was never a mother to him."
Marley narrowed her eyes, "What can you tell me about a night I almost died?"
Max's eyes widened for a fraction of a second, long enough for her to get the sense that he did know more than he ever let on. But his expression cooled quickly. Max stood in his seat, "There's nothing else I can-"
Marley gasped quietly when Aiden stood beside her, as abruptly as Max. Her boyfriend's expression was cool and demanding. He was standing between Max and the exit from the room, "Sit back down, Max."
He raised a challenging eyebrow, "If I'm not afraid of my asshole father you think I'm afraid of you?"
Marley rested a hand on Aiden's bicep, slowly standing too. The two of them — both over 6ft with Aiden being taller — turned the already small room into a shoebox. The testosterone was also beginning to push out any available oxygen. Marley sighed in agitation, facing Max head on.
"Look-"
"She deserves answers," Aiden cut in calmly, "And if you think you're the only one with a sob story and an asshole father get the fuck in line."
Marley was halfway ready to take Aiden's hand and lead the two of them out in defeat, but what he said seemed to do the trick. Max took a deep breath, breaking their stare in submission and sitting back down. Marley and Aiden followed suit.
He shifted in his chair to reach into his back pocket, pulling out a battered Samsung, "This is all I've ever known about that night, to make that clear. He left me the message at my house, and I didn't check the answering machine until after..." Max cleared his throat, and Marley felt hers sting with pain, "hoping that he left me something. Jacob didn't tell me about this message before he left, either. Not one word. The date stamp on this was a month before their disappearance."
Marley's hand shot out to grip Aiden's tightly, reaching for her source of comfort in any and all situations. He held her hand right back, shifting his thumb over the back of hers while her eyes remained deadlocked on the lit screen and QuickTime file. Max set it down on the desk between them, turning up the volume and pressing play.
"Max! Max! It's...they're here! They have her! They're going to...nononono...she said this wasn't supposed to happen! She said they'd take me instead! No! No! I can't let her go! They have to see...they can't take her! They have her and I don't know what to do! Max I need your help! We promised to protect her! Don't you get it? They want to do..." Marley's eyes were misted over by now, tears slipping at the shaky, hysterical voice of her brother. After seven years she could still pick out his voice in a crowded room. "bad things to her. They're going to do bad things. I need to save her. We need to-" rustling, before the line went dead.
Marley's free hand flew to her mouth. She locked eyes with Max, who appeared to have heard the message enough times to be desensitized. Aiden's grip tightened around her hand.
"Me?" she choked out breathlessly, "He was talking about...me? My father, he said he saved my life that night. Is this what he was talking about? Why don't I remember?"
Max frowned, studying her carefully, "Marley," he began slowly, cautiously, "the next week after the date stamp you weren't in school. Jacob told me you fell down your stairs and hit your head. You had a concussion. You don't remember any of that?"
Marley felt like she was pushed off the edge of a cliff she didn't know existed until free-fall. Her insides lurched. She released Aiden's hand to grip her head, nails digging into her scalp when a flash came back. Darkness. Looming figures. Her head began to pound enough that she forced the thoughts away.
"I don't," she whispered in defeat, her shoulders slumping, "I don't remember anything. I know something happened I just can't..."
"The way I see it," Max began with an oddly calm demeanour, "Someone tried to attack you in a way, shape or form. More than likely someone who knows your father because he's made a lot of enemies. Your brother was there to see it, and your father saved you from it. Jacob probably didn't mention it to me after that because he was afraid. If someone did try to hurt you, Marley," she felt her stomach sink in fear that someone had, "wouldn't you rather have no memory of it?"
"You've thought about this a lot, haven't you?" She realized quietly. This theory is way to evolved and elaborate to have been thought up in one sitting.
Max took his phone back, gripping it so tightly in his hand that his knuckles turned white, "This was all I had left from him. After your father destroyed everything of Jacob's," they both winced at the memory, "this was the only lead I had to find him. I've looked into it but eventually I stopped searching because there was nothing to find."
"I disagree," Marley replied stiffly, "I think I can remember what happened, and this," Marley grabbed Jacobi's journal off of the desk, holding it up with a strong hand, "this is hope. He said he's coming back, Max. He said he's finally free. That there's a truth I don't know."
Marley waited for a reaction; she got nothing but a dismissive glance and a rise from his chair with finality. Max gave up a long time ago. He would be no help to her now besides passing along information. She understood — he spent years obsessing over something he now has to let go.
"I'll believe it when I see it," Max replied with a casual shrug.
"Did you turn that audio file into the police?" She asked, referring to the voicemail.
Max snorted, "I don't give pigs anything but rotten fruit, but, I'll send it to you if you want it."
"Please."
He nodded, leading them from the office. They entered the busy atmosphere of the garage again, Max turning to say goodbye.
Marley let go of Aiden's hand. They faced each other. She scanned over his caramel locks and his sea colour eyes, "You're so much taller than I remember."
Max rolled his eyes, "I've always been taller than you. Bring it in, shortie."
Marley smiled at yet another one of Max's famous lines from her childhood.
When he folded her into his arms, his Old Spice mixed with a scent that was pure Max, invaded her senses entirely. Marley hugged him back tightly, tears springing behind her eyes all over again because he was Jacobi's best friend, but he might as well have been her big brother, too.
His deep, even breathing and comforting warmth provided her with the same sense of security as her brother — a security Marley missed dearly.
They pulled away after a minute. His eyes flickered to a space above her head, causing Marley to turn around, too. Aiden was hovering by the door across the garage — he left them alone to say goodbye.
"Is he good to you?"
Marley felt a stupid smile play on her lips as she stared at him. Aiden was busy looking out the window, not for the view, but to give them privacy.
"He's..." she found herself fiddling with his ring on her finger, "he kind of saved me, I think."
"You deserve it," Max said quietly, "After everything, you deserve a fresh start. A better life. You're almost out."
She turned around, facing Max's persuasive expression. He rested his hands on her shoulders, squeezing gently, "Don't throw yourself back into something you should let go of. Trust me. Let sleeping dogs lie, Marley."
She bit her lip, "I'm not sure that's in my nature. I can't...accept that there's so much I don't know about my family. What if Jacobi needs me? Us?"
"Then give the address from the journal to the police. Let them investigate it. It's their job." Max dropped his hands, his expression turning blank again, "The questions, the theories, all of it almost did me in. Put yourself first for once. You deserve to move on. Falling down the rabbit hole is a dangerous thing, Marley. Take it from someone who barely made it out alive."
***