Disclaimer: I own none of it.

Note: this is in answer to a challenge from 'the broken world' website. The challenge was to write solidly for five minutes about whatever comes into your head when you read the words 'the memory burns'.

I'm not sure I actually wrote for a full five minutes, but this is what I came up with. (very short, I know)

Alec's POV

It's like a physical thing, the memory. When I bring it to mind, it burns like a red-hot poker thrust between my eyes. I cannot think, I cannot feel anything else. Mostly all I can do is cry. I scream like a child and wish it were merely a dream. But it is not. When the pain subsides, the, memory is still there, burned into my eyelids to taunt me forever more. I see it over and over, and every time it is the same, no matter what I do. I see him, with a gun to her head. I hear my voice screaming, I feel my legs running… but the trigger is still pulled. I still see her last, fearless smile sent in my direction. I still remember the feeling and the sound when his neck breaks in my bare hands. Maybe it's brutal, but it's no less than he deserved. He killed her. The love of my life, who never knew she was. He gave me this burning memory that will never let me rest until I have fulfilled her dream. I will avenge her. I love you Max.