Rachel

The next morning went as expected. Max was already shooting hateful glances at Detective Logan, accompanied by Anna's hateful looks. He didn't seem fazed. Max was sure he had undoubtedly faced people worse than two eighteen-year-old girls — although, that could be debatable. But still, Max saw Jeremy's eyes and knew he felt bad for the man. He was, after all, just trying to put a bad person away for life.

"No." Max was fuming, eyes digging into the detective's skull.

"Viol—"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!"

"I'm sorry, I apologize." Detective Logan appeared flustered as he lowered his voice in an obvious attempt to calm Max, but nothing could change her mind.

"I am not testifying, no way." She looked briefly at Anna drowning in fear. "You have him in jail already! What the hell do you need me for?"

"We have him in jail for everything else. Everything but the ONE thing that can put him away forever."

Max had no response. She understood what Detective Logan was saying, but she could not ignore her emotions. As much as she wanted Eric away for good, seeing him one more time might be her undoing.

"You're the only one who saw him kill all those people. Rachel was just too young—"

"Wait, what?" Max interrupted. Detective Logan tilted his head, looking confused by Max's remark. Max saw Anna's head perk up out of the corner of her eye. She was certain Anna wanted to know the identity of the mysterious dream Rachel. "Do you know where Rachel is? Have you talked to her?"

He smiled kindly for the first time. "Yes. She's doing very wel—"

"I have to see her. I'll do whatever you want, just let me see Rachel."

The detective stared blankly at her before replying. "I can take you to see Rachel. She's not far from here. And then you will testify?"

Max rolled her eyes. "Yes, whatever, I just need to see her."

With a relieved look on his face, Detective Logan nodded his head. "I'll call you later this evening to confirm the details. Thank you, Ma—"

Before he could spit out his last word, Max had already made it halfway to her bedroom. With a slam of her door, she was finished talking for the day. But she could easily hear their conversation from her bedroom.

"Thank you for taking her to see . . . Rachel?" Her father's voice sounded as confused as Anna's had after the first time she heard Max utter the name. "I'm sorry, we have no idea who that is."

The detective's silence didn't surprise Max at all. He probably figured Max would've spilled every little detail with her family by this point.

"Really? There was another girl. She came along much later. From what I know they were quite close." Max heard the detective's muffled goodbye and the house immediately went silent, but Anna and Jeremy's shock was loud enough that Max felt she owed them an explanation.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you." Max's voice cut through the tension as she appeared in the hallway again. "It's the hardest part of this that I haven't yet come to terms with. She was just so young, and I . . . I couldn't do anything . . ."

Her dad jumped toward her and held her tight. She was crying and felt awful about it because she knew he couldn't take that — above all else, he couldn't take her tears.

"Shhh, it's okay, honey. You don't have to explain yourself to anyone. Only when you're ready."

Max's hiccups slowed down, but she didn't want her dad to let go. After all this pain and strife, she just needed her dad. This entire time, lost then found, she just needed her dad.

Anna smiled and Max felt her hand on her shoulder. "Let's go to your room and watch TV, yeah?"

Max sniffled as she pulled away from her dad and nodded "yes" to Anna. They started toward her bedroom, but Max turned back.

"I love you, Dad."

Jeremy's big smile told Max that, just like her, he had waited so long to hear those words again. "I love you too, sweetheart."

The night came and went, with everyone anxiously awaiting their trip to visit "Rachel."

Max woke up at the crack of dawn. The anticipation was too much for sleep.

After all this time, she hardly ever thought of Rachel, except in her dreams. The nightmares that bonded the two of them were for life, but Max so hoped Rachel's nightmares had grown foggier. She would gladly take the demons for both of them if it meant Rachel could lead a semi-normal life.

"Morning, babe!" Anna chirped, skipping into Max's bedroom with coffee in her hand. "How's it hangin'?"

Max jumped up, startled by Anna's "morning person" routine. "How did you know I was awake?"

Anna smiled devilishly. "I didn't." And with a wink Anna ran off to the kitchen, probably to brew more coffee.

Like she needs more of that, thought Max.

Usually Max felt more at ease with Anna around, but today was different. Today was an unveiling of yet another surprise from her past, and she wasn't thrilled about showing it to anyone else. As much as Max had grown and found her way back home, more often than not she still felt like that little girl held captive. Then, by a horrible monster. Now, by her own mind.

"Coffee is ready!" Anna bellowed from the kitchen.

Her loud voice shook the thoughts out of Max's head. "Okay, coming!"

Coffee sounded like heaven. She was certain her dad had been awake for hours too. If he felt anything like Max did, he probably couldn't sleep from anxiety about everyone else's anxiety and that gave him more anxiety. Needless to say, she knew he needed caffeine too.

It was an awkward encounter around the coffee table. No one knew what to say. Max looked at Anna, Anna looked at Jeremy, he looked at a spot on the wall, and so it went for five minutes. Max was jealous that Chris had found a way to escape by going to Anna's childhood home and grabbing a few things from her old bedroom.

"Okay, this is getting ridiculous," Max said with a sigh. "What's wrong with you two?"

They were quick to smile politely and say, "Oh oh nothing!" accompanied by nervous laughter.

"Seriously. What is it? You want to know more about Rachel? Just ask. Can't be any worse than this breakfast."

Anna looked down and Jeremy followed suit.

"It's not really that, sweetie." He pursed his lips. "I'm just worried about you. I know today is a big day for you and I wasn't sure how to ask if you're okay."

Max's face softened. "Thanks, Dad. I'm okay, I am."

She understood. After all, she was seeing someone she missed dearly with two people she loved dearly. The go-to negativity swirling around Max's mind wasn't going to win today — she wouldn't let it.

She looked at them both lovingly and watched Anna's head slowly drop back down.

"What, Anna?"

Anna looked up with guilt on her face. "I mean . . . I WAS going to ask about Rachel. But yes, that stuff was in there somewhere too."

Max's laugh broke the awkwardness after Anna's honesty slipped out once again, and Jeremy couldn't help but join in.

"Well, you're going to meet her today. So stay tuned."

A few hours went by as they made their way with Detective Logan to a place named Waterbury in Connecticut. Max thought this city was no match for New York, but it still looked decently intriguing. Luckily, Max was told that Rachel wasn't living in some filthy apartment in the middle of the city. The Detective told her that she had a home, a family, a cat, and that she seemed happy. Max rolled her eyes internally. Everyone "seems" happy until you get to know them.

They pulled up to an old Victorian house, towering over the green grass that looked never ending. Pink from top to bottom with white trim, the house was well kept and it put Max at ease. Maybe Rachel had achieved some sense of normalcy, maybe even found a way to carry on. Max truly hoped so because she would never wish these memories that were eating her alive on anyone, but most importantly, not on Rachel.

Staring at the house, Max was overcome with anguish. The little girl that had endured the same pain she had was right inside. Maybe Max should've left her alone, because this could bring up bad memories for the one person she couldn't bear to hurt. The second thoughts were beginning to pour when a tall, skinny, strawberry-blonde girl swung the door to the house open. Her smile was big, her eyes shining in the sunlight. Her white shirt had rainbows and cats on it to match her blue leggings and white sneakers. Her eyes searched for a moment before she locked eyes with Max.

"Violet!!" Rachel yelled as she took off running toward the car.

Max jumped out and hurried to her, already feeling the tears building. The girls nearly smacked into each other, throwing their arms around to hug.

"Oh my god, Rachel." Max pulled away and cupped her face with her hands. "You are so beautiful! And tall!" Max laughed with tears streaming down her face. "Are you okay? How are you?"

"Always looking out for me, big sis," Rachel smiled. "I missed you so much."

Max could sense that Rachel was doing okay. To what extent, Max didn't know, but she still felt relieved to see a beautiful, charming girl in front of her.

"Would you like to come see my house?!" Rachel was almost yelling, her voice full of joy, so of course Max replied with an enthusiastic "yes."

Rachel grabbed Max's hand and ran her up to the porch. A short, curvy woman stepped out.

"Violet, it's so wonderful to meet you." The woman reminded Max of Delia: warm, kind, sincere. "Rachel talks about you all the time."

Max put her hand out to shake. "It's nice to meet you too, Ms. . . ."

"Please, call me Gloria."

"It's nice to meet you, Gloria."

Rachel was growing impatient. "Okay, okay! You can talk to her later! I want to show you my room!"

Gloria and Max shared a laugh before Rachel dragged Max up a flight of stairs just inside the front door.

Max liked Gloria already — she looked at Rachel with love and caring. So far, Max was pleased with Rachel's surroundings. She looked happy.

"Okay! This is it!" Rachel opened a door that led to a light pink room.

"I see you haven't let go of your love for pink!" Max laughed.

"Nope! And Gloria fully supports it!" She grinned at Max before swirling around and starting the "official tour."

"So! To our right we have my bed!" Rachel giggled. "I had it put next to the window so I could see the stars at night, remember?"

Max and Rachel had spent so many nights looking at the stars. They'd played a game where they would look for shapes. It was an actual good memory from when they were held captive.

"And my closet is full of pink clothes, see?!" She opened her closet door located on the opposite side of her room to the left and Rachel was not kidding. There was a LOT of pink living in that closet.

"Oh boy! That is indeed pink!"

Rachel laughed and continued to show Max her bedroom that she was so proud of.

"Gloria gave me a TV for my birthday." It was located on the far wall perpendicular to her bed. "Isn't that crazy?"

Max looked around at the explosion of pink that was complete with a darker shade of pink sheets and a comforter covered in multicolored hearts.

"It's not crazy at all, kid." She ran her hand through Rachel's blonde hair. "You deserve every bit of this."

Rachel's eyes gleamed, saying thank you without speaking.

"Violet, do you want to see our pool?"

"Damn, kid, you have a pool?"

"YES! Isn't that cool?"

Max laughed and took her hand. "Show me the way!"

Once outside Max saw that her dad, Anna, and Detective Logan remained outside making small talk with Rachel's foster mother, Gloria.

Max would later find out from her dad that Rachel dreamt about her too, but her dreams didn't end with screaming and crying. That gave Max a sense of calm she truly needed.

Max saw the group outside look up as Rachel once again dragged Max, this time to the back of the house.

"I'm showing her the pool, Gloria!!"

Both girls' smiles must've been a welcome sight for Jeremy and Anna.

"Okay, sweetie! Have fun!" Gloria waved to Rachel excitedly before turning back to the others.

By the large underground pool, beautiful and blue surrounded by a large wooden deck, Max and Rachel found some beach chairs to relax in.

"How are you, Violet?" Rachel's face turned serious. "You always check on me, but someone needs to check on you, too."

Max rolled her eyes jokingly. "Oh, you know I'm fin—"

"Nope! I know you, sis. You aren't fine. What's going on?"

Max felt her face fall. "I just wasn't sure I should come today . . . kick up some bad memories—"

"No way, Vi! I've never been happier to see anyone!"

"Really? I thought you might be upset with me—"

"What the heck? Why?"

Max was hesitant to bring down the day with her demons, but she could never lie to Rachel. "You know I just . . . I just really tried to keep you safe." Max sighed hard. "I'm sorry I couldn't hel—"

"Stop."

Max was taken aback by Rachel's commanding tone.

"You are the only reason I am alive."

"Rachel—"

"No! You took care of me at the worst time of my life . . . you literally took beatings to protect me."

Max had no words. She didn't think she deserved this gratitude.

"You are my hero, Vi. I love you so much."

Before Max could speak, Rachel had her arms around her. Max hugged her back and squeezed her tight, never wanting this moment to end.

As they broke apart, Max took Rachel's hands and looked her straight in the eye. "We can't lose touch ever again."

"Never."

"You saved ME, Rachel. You have no idea."

Rachel smiled big. "Next time I'm coming to you! See all of those gorgeous trees and flowers you told me about."

"Definitely."

The day was full of laughter and stories about their lives after they split. The rest of the family joined in too, even Rachel's calico kitty, Dixie. But the evening arrived too fast and Max had to say goodbye.

On the front lawn everyone shook hands while saying their thank yous and goodbyes.

"Don't be a stranger, kid. I'll be back to see you, okay?"

Rachel bounced as she raised her voice. "You better!"

Max brought her in for a hug. "I'm so happy for you, Rachel. I'm so happy to see you living your life."

Rachel began to tear up. "Vi, I know what you agreed to do to see me . . . I just want you to know that you didn't have to do th—"

"Don't worry about me, kid. You know I can handle it." Max gave her a wink as she stepped back from their embrace.

"I know you can handle it, big sis. But you really shouldn't have to."

Max smiled gently as Rachel continued. "They said I wouldn't be a good witness. I was too young, I don't remember that much. If I could take your place, I would."

Rachel sniffled as Max put her hand under her lightly shaking chin. "Don't cry, Rach. I'll be okay, I promise. Stay safe, kid! I'll see you soon."

Rachel nodded her head and smiled. "Love you, Vi."

"I love you, Rachel."