My head is throbbing and the ear-splitting scream drilling into my head is not helping. Half asleep, I drag myself towards the noise which is coming from Max's room.

Opening the door, Max is convulsing on the floor in a pool of blood except it's not red it's gold. Molten gold liquid seeps out of his Birth Brand and a knife lays next to him, the blade covered in flecks of gold-tinted blood. Max tried to remove his Birth Brand.

"What's going on?" Faryl says from down the corridor.

"Max said he had a nightmare. He's really embarrassed," I say, closing the door. The shrieking has stopped and only the faint groan of Max can be heard. "He's really upset and crying. I think he's still in shock. You should make a sugary tea then go in there and comfort him."

Faryl nods slowly. A night of crying and no sleep is evident by the large dark inflamed circles around his eyes. Watching him trudge out of sight, I quickly dart into Max's room and close the door behind me.

"What were you thinking Max?" I bend down next to Max.

"Cady..." His fingers scratch at the Birth Brand as though he's desperate to rip it out. His glazed eyes look at me and a low gurgling sound emanates from his throat but there's no further response to my question. I doubt there's a logical answer anyway.

"Help...out." Max convulses more as he digs at the destroyed Birth Brand.

I have no idea what's wrong with him, cutting a chunk of your flesh shouldn't have this effect. I glance at the Birth Brand which is still half intact on his collar bone.

A loud pounding on the front door vibrates through the house. Voices, shouting and I'm certain it's Officials. They know what he's done. He'll be hung. Faryl might be punished. A whole family wiped out and even though I can't accept full responsibility for Pru and Dorotheas' death, Max's would definitely be my fault.

My instincts are telling me what I must do even though my brain is screaming at me not too. Wrapping my hand around the knife on the floor, I whisper, "Max, I'm going to have to finish removing your Birth Brand otherwise they'll find us."

Max gurgles and before I can second guess myself, I dig the knife in and cut out the remaining part of the Birth Brand. A spark flickers briefly before more gold seeps out. His whole body starts to shudder as he gasps loudly. I force down the bile searing up my throat as I make a gaping hole revealing fat, muscle and sinew.

Dropping the knife and flesh, I rock back on my heels. "We have to get out here now. Officials are here."

Max doesn't move. Grabbing his face in my hands, I force him to look at me. "Do you understand? The State will hang you, Max."

Max stares at me with swollen eyes. He nods as though he understands but he doesn't seem to acknowledge the full consequence of his actions. I grab him around the waist and help him walk towards the window. Max sways and leans on me.

"Max, you need to climb out the window," I hiss, supporting him as he pulls himself up against the window sill. He follows my instructions but as he climbs out his arm is still around my neck and we're falling into the shrubbery below his window.

Stumbling up, I hook Max's arm around me. He groans loudly as I force him to continue moving around the back of the house and towards Isiah's home. Max sways more, his body gets heavier and heavier as he slows down. Blood pours from the large wound but it's not enough to make him act like this. I lost more blood than this on one horrendous occasion when I was twelve and I still stayed conscious.

"Max, stay here. I'm getting help," I dump Max between two bushes next to Isiah's house. Knocking on several windows gently, I shuffle impatiently. Isiah and his mum's heads pop out of different windows.

"Cady? What's the matter? It's really early. Or is it late?" Isiah says sleepily.

The mum frowns at me from her window before slamming it shut.

"I need your help. Max is in trouble."

Isiah rubs his eyes nodding. "Ok, let me get dressed."

"There's no time. You need to come right now," I hiss.

Isiah jumps through the window and lands next to me. I point to the bush where Max is slumped in an awkward position. His eyes have rolled backwards, parts of his body twitch violently. His breathing is shallow and irregularly, and I'm suffocating from the overwhelming fear of him dying.

I have to save Max. I have to get him to a doctor. One who is willing to treat him without informing The State.

"Cady, what is going on?" Isiah stammers.

"The Officials are after him. Can I borrow your bike?" I haven't figured out how I would ride a bicycle with an unconscious Max on the back but right now I will try anything if it gives him a chance of surviving.

Isiah shakes his head. "You know you can't ride with him on the back like this.'

"Help me get him through your window."

"What?" Isiah looks at me uncomprehendingly.

"Into your room now," I hiss.

Voices sound from the side of the house and I'm waiting for a swarm of Officials to surround us. We both hook Max's arms around our shoulders and start to drag him towards Isiah's open window. Isiah climbs through first and for the few seconds I'm left, I crumple under Max's weight. Isiah grabs him before I completely drop to the ground and drags Max up while I try to push. I hear the loud thud of Max's body hit the floor and quickly follow, closing the window behind me.

"Have you got something we can both wear to hide the blood?" I ask.

Isiah's wide eyes flicker between us. He nods disappearing into the corridor.

Isiah returns holding out a jacket for me and tugs a large coat onto Max. "What are we going to do?"

"We're just going to walk him out of here." I shrug as we both pull Max up onto our shoulders. How has he managed to get heavier in the last few seconds?

Both of us drag Max through the house. Opening the front door, I see Officials searching the perimeter of Max's house and a cluster of them are gathered on the front lawn. My most hated colours of green and gold are everywhere.

"They're going to see us," Isiah says shakily.

"We'll walk in the opposite direction from them. I'm sure they won't notice us."

"Of course they won't because two people dragging an unconscious boy along the pavement is an everyday sight." Isiah looks at me with a deep frown etched across his face.

"Have you got any better ideas?" I ask.

"No," He huffs.

We shuffle along the lawn away from the Officials. My heart is hammering in my chest and I see beads of sweat forming on Isiah's head, partly due to exertion and most likely partly due to nerves. We reach the bottom of Isiah's front garden and a car pulls up next to us.

"Get in now," The voice orders.

There's no green and gold, no signs they've been sent from The State. I go with my gut instinct and pull Max towards the car, forcing the decision upon Isiah who looks even more out of his depth.

We push Max into the back seat then I push Isiah in before squeezing in next to him. The woman driving glances back at us and lets out an exasperated sigh before driving off quickly.

She dials a number into her phone and after a few seconds starts speaking. "Make a doctor appointment asap. There's two others as well." Pausing. "I have no idea, just organise it. Do you still want to meet at the same location?"

The woman puts her phone down, gazes at us in the rearview of her mirror and says, "The boy is making a mess. Can you at least do something to prevent my entire backseat being covered in blood."

"No, but the quicker you get us to our destination the less blood you'll be scrubbing off later," I say.

I see the flicker of a smile cross her face in the mirror but she doesn't say anything further. The rest of the journey I spend staring out of the window wondering if I'm going to have another death on my conscious. Life really hates me at the moment.