Max Payne- Chapter 1: Dreams of Nightmares

The sirens began to silence in my mind, as my thoughts singled out while I stared at Mona. The police came through the front doors, soon after Mona left me alone.

"On 3! 1, 2, 3!", One of the officers had said as they broke through the doors. They had immediately noticed all of the dead Cleaners that were scattered about the floor before them.

"Jesus! What the hell happened here!"

"Oh my god...they're all dead...", The other officer gaped in horror, not believing the image before his eyes. The policemen began flooding into Alfred Woden's manor, a once beautiful and articulately decorated home, now polluted with blood, bodies, and bullets. Which, in my honest opinion, had never been a good combination. A bright light suddenly shone on my face, I looked up quickly, a smile still on my face.

"We've got a live one here!", The first officer said loudly to the others that were searching elsewhere. He looked at me with strained eyes, then realized who I was.

"D-Detective Payne? Oh my god. Guys! Payne's Alive! He's alive! Call a paramedic!" He approached me quickly, bending down on his knees, now staring at my rather disbelievingly.

"Detective Payne...how are you alive?" I looked up at him and chuckled lightly.

"I'm just too stubborn to die, I guess." The bullet in my brain moved further, the pain made me pass out instantly. The last thing I hard was, "Medic! Help! Payne's out...Hold on!..."

In my dream, Mona and Michelle were both still alive and well, to say the least. I was chained to a wall, they were both tied up in cheap aluminum chairs. A man stood behind them, wearing a white suit. It was Vlad, or as Vinnie had grown to call him 'The Russian'.

He said to me, "Max, dearest of all my friends, today, I have given you a choice... This will be how you repay me for disservicing my lady. You must choose: Your lovely wife, or the killer bitch." I knew that in real life that this was an impossible choice. Maybe that's why my response surprised me.

"Choose, Max. The clock is ticking"

A Kalishnikov AK-47 had suddenly appeared in his rigid grasp. I hesitated, giving him ample opportunity to taunt me.

"Well then, I'll have to choose for you. Say goodbye to Miss Sax, Max!"

I screamed for him to stop, I didn't want him to kill her. I told him to kill Michelle, to everyone's surprise...he happily obliged. I looked away as he did, not able to watch him destroy my wife. He untied Mona, and my chains unlocked as he did so. She ran to my arms crying, almost hysterical. A mix of happiness and shock, I'm sure. I held her tightly until I saw Vlad hold up the Kalishnikov. He smirked as Mona turned around.

"Sorry, Max...there are NO happy endings."

As he pulled the trigger, I jumped in front her, taking the bullet to the head. I was dead, but I could still hear her screams...

"MAX! Max, no...MAX!"

I woke up to someone whispering my name, the officer that had helped me back at Woden's Manor. Officer Holloway, I remember his name was.

"Detective Payne, that must have been one hell of a dream!" My eyes rolled over into his direction, and I told him my dream. Though, I'm certain that he really didn't care about it.

"I had a dream of my wife...she's dead...but-but it's alright."

We arrived at the hospital, I expected after I had recovered, I would be up for questioning by the police. There wasn't much to say for the one question I knew they were going to ask. The paramedics had not given me painkillers to deal with the pain. Though I probably did deserve this pain, it would have been nice to have a few. I figured there would be some in my trench coat beside my hospital bed...no such luck.

Before my search continued any further, I looked around my room, only to notice that I was sharing it with another patient. Normally, I wouldn't have bothered to check who was sharing the room, but the almost lifeless body's snores and noises sounded similar to someone I knew...so familiar. I couldn't help but get out of bed, the plasma bags and other medical objects still attached. I almost was taken aback when I realized who it was exactly: Jim Bravura. It was almost disbelieving that he was alive, until I remembered earlier that night, I saw on one of the hospital monitors that he was alive and...not so well. Alive is as good as it gets after being shot a dozen times in the chest.

I almost felt bad for him, that is, until I remembered being shot in the head, among other things. After being shot in the head, there isn't much that impresses you as far as injuries go. I could feel the anesthetics that I had been given earlier finally kick in. I went and lay down in my hospital bed, my eyes closing once more.

I hated to sleep. I never had any dreams, only nightmares. Even if I were to have dreams, it would always end in some morbid or disdainful way. Sleep wasn't welcome in my mind, but my body overpowers the want to stay awake with the need to sleep. My nightmares only showed me the things I had already known. I didn't need them, they were just annoyances, constant reminders of the broken mirror that is my life.

I had a break tonight, the first time I slept without any problems..a dreamless sleep. It was wonderful. A dreamless sleep is a welcomed thing to someone who's mind is infested with death, destruction, and loss. I was tired of sleeping. How ironic. But my mind wasn't lucid enough to reboot on it's own, I need a hand. And, of course, right on cue, a hand was placed on my should. It began shaking me.

I opened my eyes, the world blurry still, not yet able to adjust to the light. The figure, a gray blur, had that of an angel's voice, one that sounded oddly familiar. The words coming out of the woman's mouth made little sense, but slowly began to have meaning. The words soon became clear...

"Max, sweetheart, it's time to wake up." The angelic voice said. I realized that it was my wife's voice. I knew to be impossible. She spoke again.

"Max, darling, please wake up." My eye twitched, the world becoming clear. It was my wife. She was smiling, she always did have such a beautiful smile. I sat up and saw that I was no longer in the hospital but in my old home. 'Hallucinating', I began thinking to myself, 'I must have a fever...' My wife placed her hand on my cheek and she spoke once more.

"You're a real angel, Max." My eyes grew wide, the room began to shift, to change back into it's clothing of reality. My wife disappeared, and I was back in my hospital bed. I had placed my fingers to my temples, only to hear the voice again.

"Welcome back to reality, the fever must've broken."

I looked up, pinching myself, she was real. My lips moved but nothing came out, my throat going dry. The words then began to flow through my mouth.

"Mona? How? I-I watched you die.."

"Well you're right, Max. You did watch me die. But you didn't see me brought back by the paramedics.."

"Mona, you were dead for atleast 10 minutes, there's no..."

"No, Max." she interrupted, "I was only dead for a few moments, or atleast, that's what I was told."

"No, I remember you...it was alteast...I,"

I remembered that time did seem to slow down as she died, time became nothing, a variable easily discarded. I never checked on her afterwards, I only worried about myself. I looked down, away from her face, now noticing she was bandaged up.

"The bullet grazed my lung, my body shutdown after going into shock." She began walking towards me, limping actually, my hands were trembling. She fell into my arms as she reached my bed, it must've taken all the strength she had to get to me. Her lips met my own, a fire burned inside my chest, rekindling the feelings for eachother almost immediately. I didn't care anymore, that is, now that she's alive and in my arms again. With my lips pressed against hers, nothing else really seemed to matter. For this moment, I felt free again, young again...happy again. This was a moment that wouldn't last, nothing good ever lasted long, not in my life atleast.

Mona left soon after our reconciliation, she knew the police would be taking her in as soon as she healed. She wouldn't take that chance. It's been a week or so, I haven't heard anything from her. The police were supposed to be questioning me today.. about Vlad, about the Cleaners, about Vinnie Gognitti, about Mona. I heard a knock on the door frame, my eyes drifted up towards the officer now standing in the doorway. Officer Jones, one of the others that arrived first on the scene.

"Detective Payne?"

"Yes?"

"Would you mind if I asked you a few questions?", He asked while approaching my bed. I sighed heavily, ready to explain myself.

"Go ahead."

"What took place at Alfred Woden's mansion last week?"

I shook my head.

"Long story."

"I have time."

"Yeah? That's what they all say. Well, I'll just start from the beginning. It started with a report of fired gunshots over the police radio.."

I began telling the story, taking my time, he took notes in his note-pad, making sure he would get the facts straight. Halfway through the story I knew I wouldn't get out of this without jail atleast being mentioned. At the end of the story, he spoke up.

"And what about Sax?"

"She's...", I thought it over. Did I really want to put her in danger again? Would I let just conquer love? "...gone.", Which wasn't exactly a lie, it was the truth. She is gone, as far as I know. After I thought about my answer, I looked up to meet Officer Jones' eyes. He stared solemnly at me, disbelieving, but only for a moment.

"Well I'm going to go down to the station and tell them your story. I appreciate your cooperation, I'll remind them of your willingness.", he half smiled, not at all sincere.

"Have a nice day, Detective."

"You too."