Chapter 3

A noise began to make its way out through her mouth. It was a long, continuous moan that pushed out from her diaphragm. It continued until her breath gave out. She took in another labored breath, and then it began again, over and over.

Michael put his hands over his ears, trying to drown some of the inhuman sound out. But he knew that sound would come back to him in his nightmares. The dark ones that occasionally visited him on restless nights when fears about his ability to keep everyone safe rode him hard. Fears that included what he knew he would have to do to keep his people, and those he loved, protected. There was always a price to be paid.

Michael felt that the price to be paid was to close himself off as much as possible. He was a large framed, stoic individual who felt that he could better do whatever must be done for their protection if he remained in control of himself and his emotions. This was a lot easier for him before his girlfriend, Maria, came into the picture. Where he tended to shut down, she was completely open. He sometimes felt that she was his Achilles heel. He loved her more than he wanted to and would still try to pull back from her at times. It was just that sometimes he felt as if he was losing his equilibrium when she looked at him with those large beautiful hazel eyes. He always knew exactly what she was thinking because she never tried to hide anything. She could be furious with him over some boneheaded move he pulled and he would look down at those luscious lips of hers and he would be lost. She loved him, fought with him and just in general, opened him up in ways that still scared him. Keeping his walls in place tended to be a little more difficult now.

Max's price that he paid was to take total responsibility for his and his groups actions. He was slightly smaller than Michael and his hair was a little darker. What people noticed about him was not something that could easily be pointed out. There was simply a presence about him. He never allowed himself the luxury of closing down. If anything, his empathic nature grew stronger. And even through that, he was capable of making decisions that in times past seem to literally break his heart. But this is who he was.

As leader of the group, he would put their safety and needs before his own. He led by example and had their love, loyalty and respect.

As he faced the destroyed human in front of him, he couldn't help the shudder that ran through his body. It was difficult to look at her. The left side of her ruinous face was almost impossible to gaze at. Most of her hair was gone along that side and the ear was melted away.

The clothing on the top portion of her body was gone except for a piece of a yellow shirt sleeve on her right arm still remained. She still had breasts, but the nipples had been burnt away along with the skin.

The blue eye that remained watched Max as he gently placed his right hand on her left arm and held his left hand approximately one inch over her left thigh were the damage began. There was fear in that eye, but also acceptance. She knew she was going to die. She hoped what she was seeing in his eyes was mercy, and that he was going to make it quick.

The damage was extensive. He wasn't even sure if he was going to be able to heal her. If he was going to do anything, he was going to have to make it quick. She was slipping away, and if she died, she might even pull him into death with her.

Mentally, he reached out. They connected. The pain he felt was hers, but now they shared it. It was immediate, overwhelming and for a moment, he was afraid he would pass out, and if he did, it would be all over.

He felt hands grabbing his shoulders. "Max...Max, hang in there!" Michael shook him, helping him stay conscious. "I'm right here Max. I got you."

His focus returned, along with the pain.

*Flash*

Images bombarded him. A blond haired little girl sliding down a slide at school.

*Flash*

The same girl a little older, running in a backyard with a younger girl, (sister, that's her little sister), chasing a German Sheppard puppy, (his name is Tippy, because he had a white tip at the end of his tail), the two girls are throwing a red ball with blue stars on it.

Skin began to reform, developing under his glowing hand, moving up her thigh where the damage started. The epidermis layer smoothed over her hip. Repairs to the damaged muscle simultaneously occurred as the new skin formed.

*Flash*

Now images of a girl in her early teens were seen. She's slightly chubby with glasses, being taunted by some boys at a bus stop, another image of her crying in a bathroom stall.

Fresh skin rippled across her abdomen, raising up, covering her breast. Newly formed areolas and nipples topped them as the skin made its descent and began to rise up toward her neck. Her back was also being repaired, as the healing was encircling her body in an upward fashion.

*Flash*

An Image appears of her catching sight of her reflection in the window of a shop while out walking in the city. Tall, slender, blond hair, she is laughing with a tall, dark-haired male. His back is facing the window, can't see his face, there are troll dolls in the shop. There is a sign. A word is recognized. Stockholm!!?

It's working. Thought Michael, she's going to be ok! He felt to his immense relief.

The thing about that, just when you think, 'everything is going to be just fine.' well that goes in the same category of: "At least nothing else can go wrong."

The gods figure you're getting a little cocky, and 'Murphy's Law' kicks in.

A sandstorm stirred up, seemingly out of nowhere. Cutting grains of sand blasted the exposed muscle membranes and nerve endings that had yet to be healed.

As the punishing storm debrided and embedded itself into the raw flesh, the woman, thankfully, lost consciousness.

So, unfortunately, did Max.