Friend Or Foe?

I thought this would be just a simple hangout session with my friend. I'd never imagined that I'd be walking out of here with police surrounding the place.

~~~

I brace myself and then knock on the door of my friend Maxwell's house. It's always crazy whenever I come over here.

“Freddie! My man!” calls Max as he opens the door, a smile beaming on his face.

“Hello, Max,” I say back calmly, returning the smile and stepping inside. I shut the door behind me and take off my shoes.

“Mom! Freddie and I are going to my room!” he yells through the house to his mother, who I'm pretty sure is in the kitchen.

“That's fine dear! But first…” She exits the kitchen and walks towards us with two drinks in her hand. “You need to be a gentleman and offer our guest a drink. You boys aren't going anywhere until we've shown some real courtesy,” she insists as she gestures to the couch in the living room.

“Thank you so much Mrs. Verdin,” I reply gratefully, taking a seat. His mom is always better at hosting than he is. He just likes getting straight to the fun.

“Of course Freddie. I just wish my son was a better host,” she says as she rolls her eyes at Max. She disappears back into the kitchen and Max plops onto the couch beside me.

I take a sip of my drink. Lemonade. My favorite. I take a few more sips and then set it down.

“So how have you been, man?” I ask him sarcastically, knowing that he has been complaining about how boring his Summer has been.

“Alright, I suppose. You?” He drinks his lemonade in basically one go.

“I've been fine but dude, chill. You're gonna drown if you keep drinking like that,” I tease with a small chuckle.

“Oh, calm down. I'm fine,” he reassures me, setting the cup down with a loud smack of his lips.

His mother enters the room hurriedly and sets down a small tray of crackers, pepperoni, and some fruits. She mumbles an, “Enjoy,” and then rushes back out of the room.

Max and I spend the next few minutes snacking and talking about things that have been going on

“I'm going to go to the bathroom. I'll be right back, okay?” Max says suddenly. He springs up from his seat and out of the room.

I sit there by myself for a minute, tapping my fingers on my legs. But I get bored. I glance around the room and notice a bookshelf in the corner.

I get up and walk over to the bookshelf.

I scan through the book titles, looking for something of interest.

Then something off the side catches my eye.

A photo album. Of the Verdins. It's called Far Off Family. Perhaps it means cousin's and things like that.

I grab it, sit back down on the couch, and open it to the first page. The first picture is of two people on a beachside view.

But something's off.

Maxwell and his family have black, mostly straight hair and green eyes. All of them. But the people in this picture have curly red hair and hazel eyes. So do the people in the next picture. And the ones after that have blonde hair and brown eyes.

That's too different.

“Hey. Looks like you found the family book,” Max says as he returns to the room. He chuckles kind of nervously. “Those are our…adopted cousins.”

“Why do you sound nervous?” I ask in a joking tone.

He hesitated before finishing his sentence. Almost as if he didn't know the excuse to use for explaining that picture. He's hiding something. I just know it.

“What about these two?” I point to the blonde couple.

“...Aunt Kate and Uncle Brian,” he answers, placing a hand on my shoulder.

“They look nothing like you, though. Isn't that a bit…concerning?” I ask questioningly, raising an eyebrow and flipping through a few more pages.

“No. Why would it be?” he counters with an unsure tone in his voice.

Why wouldn't it be? They look like they have zero related genes. There's no way these people could be in his family.

I mean, take this one for example. These people are obviously a different ethnicity. Something’s wrong. He's hiding something. I just need to find out what.

“Would you mind refilling my cup?” I ask Max. That should give me some time.

“Sure.” He grabs both our cups. “And I'll grab some snacks too.” He winks and walks out again.

I wait and then quickly pull out my phone. There are names beneath each of the pictures so I’m going to look them up. Let's start with the first two.

Nothing. There's literally nothing on them. Weird.

Moving on then, I guess.

Wait! There’s an article on this next person, Lenaya.

It says she…

…disappeared. Three years ago. The date says this picture was taken three years ago.

I look up more of the names and realize most of these people have disappeared. And the disappearances all have the same dates as the pictures. Maxwell did something to them. This whole family did.

I flip to one of the final pages and freeze. I swear one of the pictures just waved at me. A girl with tan skin, black hair, and blue eyes.

I close the book and then open it back to the same page. Yes, she definitely waved. And…still is.

She looks scared. And her mouth is moving, like she's trying to tell me something.

“What is it?” I whisper with confusion in my voice. This is impossible. Pictures don't just move.

She turns and enters the house behind her. She reappears with a paper and pen in her hand. The handwriting on the paper is small, but I can still see it.

“He trapped us here. Don't trust him.”

Okay, this is…too much. I need to help whoever these people are. And the only way I can do that is to stop him.

Max renters the room for a second time and the picture quickly returns to how it was before it started moving.

“Max. That picture moved,” I state cautiously. I need to approach this matter carefully. Otherwise he might do something rash. “What is going on?”

“What? You're probably just…going crazy,” he offers tentatively. He looks like he knows he's been caught. I know a guilty face when I see it.

“I'm not. I know what I saw. And you know it too. What did you do to them?” I question again, more firmly this time, knowing I won't get anywhere with being fearful. I stand up and look him straight in the eye.

He narrows his eyes and his expression darkens. “Nothing much. Just added them to my…collection.”

I take a step back, my phone shaking in my hand. “You're crazy. A monster. I thought you were my friend.”

“I am. That's just my…hmm, let's say alternate ego. You see, I have two sides. One is the kind, annoying young man you know. The other is this brilliant and deviant person in front of you,” he explains straightly, intertwining his fingers in front of him and smirking creepily.

I need to get out of here. But first, I need to find a way. Stall. Hopefully, that'll keep him busy.

“Is it magic?” I ask as though I am interested.

“Yes. Unlike any you'd think, though. It's a special kind of magic. But you won't be around long enough to find out what kind. You see, I cannot have my secret spilled. I'm sorry, I truly am,” he apologizes with false sympathy. He steps closer, raising a fist.

I step back and realize I'm cornered, my back to a wall.

Damn, I'm…I'm screwed. I don't see a way out.

I'm about to give up, when…

Mrs. Verdin enters the room in the blink of an eye. She effectively hits Max in the back of the head with a book. We both stand there for a moment, watching as he crumbles.

“Go! Go! Get out. I’ll call the police,” she shouts to me, already lunging for the phone.

But the sirens and the blue and red lights outside make her stop in her tracks.

“No need. I sent them a video of his speech,” I say, holding my phone up.

She gives a nod and beckons to the door. I nod back and start on my way out. This was scary as hell.

“Take the album,” she insists, tossing it my way.

I catch it, stumbling from the weight. I exit the house, slipping past the cops, who are more concerned with getting Maxwell than watching me.

I need to find a way to free these people. No matter what it takes. I need to save them.