"I'm not ready. I don't want to die."
She couldn't feel Lucas, but she knew he was close. She could hear him, but his voice grew more quieter each time she tried to catch her breath. Max didn't want to die.
And with one last breath, she did just that.
At the tip of her toes, a warm feeling began to crawl up her legs. No longer numb, nor in pain - it tingled across her skin until it fluttered against her cheeks. Max opened her eyes and was greeted by the sun.
That was the warmth she was feeling. The California sun. Max could feel the sand underneath her toes and the ringing in her ear had begun to settle enough for her to make out the distant sound of the waves crashing onto the shore.
She shouldn't be here. She was in the house with Lucas moments before. El had just been in front of her. She had touched her and now she was gone.
"You think after all these years you'd have better taste than Kate Bush."
Max was sure if her heart was beating it would have skipped a beat. "You take that back."
"Now why would I do something as stupid as that, Mad Max?"
Max slowly turned her head and couldn't help the grin that began to stretch across her face. "Billy." she whispered, quickly jumping up and wrapping her arms around him.
Billy grunted when she made contact and scrunched up his face. "Alright, alright." and he awkwardly patted her on the back. "Now what the hell are you doing here, Max?"
Max pulled away from him and wiped at her eyes and glanced around. "I died, Billy."
Billy took a deep inhale as he shook his head. "You're too young."
"So were you."
"I heard you." he said, this time focusing at the water. "At the graveyard." Max followed his gaze as the siblings both watched the waves, the sun now resting above them. "When you go back, you can't keep living like that. You can't be a shell, Max."
"Can't I just stay with you?"
Billy chuckled and shook his head at the thought. "I saved a girl's life once, she owes me one."
Max looked up at him as her vision began to blur with tears.
"You're not going." El's voice echoed. "No."
"Billy?"
"Take care of yourself, Max. I'm sorry."
Max felt a pressure in the middle of her chest and her vision began to grow dark until she was surrounded by blackness once again, but this time with a beating heart.