"Max...?" Ember whispered, knocking on his door as he rested his back against the headboard. "Max...?"
"I'm in here," he responded then.
His door cracked open, and Ember peaked her head in, gazing at him as if making sure he was decent.
"You can come in," he stated in amusement.
She then stepped through the crack of his door, closing it behind her and staring back up at him.
She was in the same T-shirt and leggings, the little skirt she always wore with the outfit wrinkled from her previous sleep.
Although everything was the same, her hair was now pulled back into a loose ponytail, as if she was afraid of him to see it tangled and tussled.
"Max..." she whispered as if embarrassed, gazing around the room nervously, "there was a shadow outside... I swore it saw him looking through my window. I... I'm scared."
He smiled softly, watching her gaze up in confusion.
He lifted his arms, nodding to the bed below him. "Come here."
She stepped over to him cautiously, but curiously, making her way to the foot of his bed and slipping on.
Max watched in amusement as she crawled over to him and sat on her knees about six inches away from his form.
He reached his hand out, but she didn't flinch away like he expected.
She looked awfully shaken and nervous. Not really because of the shadow outside, but more of... him, honestly.
"Can I touch?" he asked her then.
She nodded numbly, and he reached out and skimmed his fingers along her exposed collarbone, hearing her breath catch and her lashes flutter at the feeling.
He watched as his fingers caught on the fabric of her top. "Your shirt..." he said then.
"Is something wrong with it?" she asked him then.
He gazed up and shook his head, smiling at her nervousness. "No. Come here. Straddle me."
She listened with no reluctance, climbing onto him and gazing up at him as she sat on her knees, though on his lap.
He then slipped his hands under the hem of her T-shirt, gazing up and finding her watching him with more curiosity now.
He then pulled it over her head, and she raised her arms clearly in hopes to help him.
Though she was still in a cotton bra, Max watched in awe as the lights of his room reflected easily off her skin.
She shivered then and pulled her arms around herself, and he gazed up, a little smile tilting his lips.
"Cold?" he guessed.
She nodded, silent.
He then grabbed his throw blanket and pulled it up, over her shoulders, smiling softly as she eased back into herself.
"Come here," he said then.
She shuffled closer.
He then caught the back of her head and clasped their mouths together, and she immediately gave in, catching his shoulders as he nibbled on her bottom lip and teased the skin with his tongue.
As a sudden fire consumed him, he pulled closer, cradling her head to him as they continued to kiss, the moment deepening further and further.
And she didn't seem to resist at all.
He caught her bottom lip between his teeth and let it slip out, hearing her moan softly in response.
So he did it again, and again, and then decided he needed her closer, so he pulled her into him and pushed their lips together, twining her hair in his fingers with one hand, the other resting on the small of her back.
But he pulled that hand away to brush some hair out of her face that somehow slipped from her ponytail, and he looked down at her through the kiss to find her eyes closed. He smiled against her, letting her drown in this moment.
But a sudden sharp sound burst through his ear drums, and Ember gasped, back arching as she eyes dulled in a panic.
Max pulled away, watching her with worry as he gazed down at her.
"Ember...?" he said then. "What's wrong?"
She looked down, something odd flashing through her eyes. Something he had seen in other people, but not hers.
Helplessness and... pain.
"Max..." she choked, tears slipping down her cheeks as she gazed down at her stomach, and he followed.
Max froze.
No...
A tip of a dagger pierced through the flesh of her stomach from behind.
And blood was blooming on her skin... slipping down her body like red tears.
He gazed up, breaths straining. "Ember?"
"Max," she gagged, clutching the wound as a sudden cold consumed him.
But the dagger slipped out from her back, and he gazed behind her to find a familiar, menacing shadow smiling down at him.
No.
But the monster threw his hand forward, laughing, and Ember's back arched as the dagger pierced right through her throat.
"EMBER!" Max screamed then, the moment burning through his veins like fire.
She choked, body spasming as blood slipped from her mouth.
"EMBER!" Max cried as the shadow started laughing.
She fell forward, and he caught her, gasping as she shook against him as if she were seizing.
"Hold on!" he sobbed. "I'll heal you! You'll be okay!"
He lowered her down onto the bed, all gentleness gone due to his entire body going into shock.
He pressed his hand to her forehead to start the healing process, but she wasn't responding.
He shoved his hand harder, knowing the magic was bleeding into her veins.
But when he gazed down at her form... she stopped shaking.
In fact, she was deathly still.
Her eyes... the shine in them was gone.
She was dead.
He started gasping, tears burning his eyes.
"No..." he whispered, shaking his head as his heart slowly chipped away, "no... No. No. You can't go! Wake up!" He started slapping her cheek, not earning a response. "WAKE UP!" he sobbed. "YOU'RE NOT DEAD! YOU'RE NOT DEAD! WAKE UP!"
No response.
Everything broke.
He yelled out, shaking her limp body as her blood stained his hands. "DON'T LEAVE ME! PLEASE! WAKE UP! WAKE UP!"
No.
No.
This couldn't happen.
This... was impossible.
She couldn't leave him!
No! She COULDN'T LEAVE HIM!
He shook her harder, tears slipping from his eyes. "DON'T GO! PLEASE, EMBER, PLEASE! WAKE UP! YOU'RE NOT DEAD! GET UP!"
When she didn't respond, his entire being shattered.
He screamed.
"NO!" He held her face in his hands, longing for her lashes to flutter. "NO! COME BACK TO ME! COME BACK TO ME! PLEASE!
"EMBER!"