Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride, JP does.

A/N

Me: Hey guys, sorry I took so long to update…again. I meant to update this weekend, but let's just say Friday the 13th turned into Weekend the 13th.

BFF: At least you got the chapter up.

Me: *sigh* Yeah, I guess, I was hoping to get more done. Forewarning: This chapter might be a little choppy, I wrote a bunch of little excerpts of it on different days, so yeah…

Btw, FaximumEverdeen you must be a fortune teller! That's pretty sweet that you could guess who it was going to be!

BFF: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far, your reviews really do help. Please keep reviewing!

Max's POV

"Max, aren't you going to give your long lost, best friend a hug?" Sam said with a smirk, opening his arms out wide, awaiting a hug that I would never in a million years give him.

He wasn't my Sam anymore.

He was the demon who forced me to watch Zeph die. My Sam would never do that to me.

"No." I whispered, backing away from him, shaking my head slightly from side to side, wanting more than anything for this to just be a nightmare.

Sam let his arms down with a sigh.

"Well that's a real shame," He said pulling out a small black dagger that had been hidden in his sleeve. "I was hoping to get to stab you in the back with this. Very symbolic don't you think?" An angry smirk crossed his face. "Of course you do, don't you, you little backstabber?"

I took another step back towards the safety of the protection spell I had cast. I was only a few feet from it.

"Backstabber?" I asked him in confusion. When had I ever stabbed Sam in the back? Or the demon that stood before me for that matter?

"You left me for dead, in the hands of demons no less." He spat at me, the venom dripping from his lips and I flinched back, not from the tone the demon took with me, but I could hear Sam speaking those words, not the demon. The demon and Sam were not separate beings, however, they were one and the same now.

I shook my head. "They told us that you were dead!" I yelled at him. Emotion brought tears to my eyes. Anger, grief, sadness, confusion, and despair. My best friend had become a demon. He wasn't dead, he was worse than dead. All the good that had been in him was wiped out by the darkness of the demon, reflecting back only anger, jealousy, and hatred. Hatred for me.

"And you believed them?" Sam looked disgusted, even as a demon he had no love for demons. How ironic.

I gave a small nod. I had believed them, and who wouldn't? After all they had killed him and dumped his lifeless body on the ground right in front of us.

"You're even dumber than I thought." He spat, bringing up the dagger, reminding me of its presence. It was no ordinary dagger, it wasn't of the human world, it was from Hell, and it was one of the few things that could kill an angel.

The thought was forced to the back of my mind as he drew closer.

"You were my best friend, Max, you said we'd get out of there together." He gritted his teeth and turned away for a moment, true hurt crossed his features. I wanted to reach out to him, but I held back. With him being a demon, I didn't know how he'd react to me trying to comfort him anymore. "How could you believe I was dead? How could you believe them?" His voice was pained and I could hear a little bit of the real Sam in it.

"They dumped your body right in front of us as they said it. You were bloodied and you weren't breathing, what was I supposed to think?" I whispered as the memory flashed before my eyes. I quickly shut out the images.

"Did you even check?" He yelled at me, turning towards me viciously. The darkness around him writhed. I gulped. The darkness almost looked…Hungry.

"They wouldn't let us close…" I whispered, almost to myself. Then everything fell into place. They made us think Sam was dead, and then let the angels rescue Jeff and me. We thought Sam was dead, so we didn't look for him, and when we didn't come for him he would think we had abandoned him and turn to the only people he had. The demons themselves. But how did Sam survive? "We thought you were dead, Sam. If we had known you were alive we would have searched all of creation for you—"

"Don't lie to me!" Sam bellowed, pointing an angry finger at me. "You didn't even bother to check if I was alive. You knew I was, didn't you? You left me!"

"Sam!" I yelled, grabbing his attention. "You were my best friend, if I had known—"

"You knew."

"No, I didn't. I think not breathing and a dagger in your chest are very good indicators of death, don't you?" I gritted out, my fists clenched.

Memories of his glowing, silver, angel blood leaking from his mouth, ears, and cuts that scoured his body flooded my thoughts. I remembered the blank stare of his lifeless eyes and a blood-curdling scream that took me several minutes to realize was my own. His chest did not rise and fall with his breathing, it didn't move at all. I had raced forward to grab him, to shake him awake if I could, but the demons caught me and threw me back into Jeff's arms. Then their leader knelt down beside my unresponsive best friend, threw his arm back, and thrust a black dagger into Sam's heart.

The same dagger that Sam held now.

Sam's eyes narrowed. "There was no dagger you lying whore."

I gasped. My hand flew to my mouth, covering it in shock. I took another step backwards, away from him.

Sam—Sam would never say that to me.

"I'm not lying Sam." I whispered, my vision blurring.

Sam let out a dark laugh. "Do you take me for gullible, Max?" He shook his head. "I may have believed all your lies before, but I know better now. I'm not the same Sam you knew."

No he wasn't. This Sam was dark, vengeful, and angry, whereas my Sam had been light, joyful, and full of life. This form before me looked like Sam and his memories. But the memories were twisted and warped by the demon that now possessed his body. Sam's light and happiness were snuffed out and replaced by a cold and unforgiving darkness.

He wasn't the only one who had changed, however.

"I'm not the same Max you knew either." I said with new found determination.

His presence here was a threat to my ward. To Fang.

The demon had killed my last ward. There was no reason to believe that he wouldn't hesitate to do the same to Fang. I refused to let that happen. Used-to-be-best-friend or no, this demon wouldn't live through the day if he touched a hair on Fang's head.

"Relinquo vobis dixi, daemon." I told him. The tone of my voice scary to even me. ("I told you to leave, demon.")

"What? No good-bye kiss? I thought you were trying to convince me that you were my friend, Max." The demon taunted, there was no trace of the real Sam, and somewhere, deep down I knew that there never would be again. What I thought I had seen of Sam was probably no more than an act by the demon.

"I was Sam's friend, you aren't him. He's d-dead." I said as strongly as I could, but I couldn't help but stutter over the word 'dead'.

The demon growled at me in anger. "Are you sure about that, Max?" He glanced over my shoulder, looking to the window, through which Fang now looked. "Or is there another reason you want me gone?" He smirked at him and I swear I saw Fang stiffen and glare as Sam turned back to me.

"Is that your new ward, Maxi?" He smiled evilly, malicious intent displayed clearly on his face.

Don't you even look at him, you monster.

My fists clenched and my teeth gritted.

"I wouldn't think they would have put you back on duty after the accident."

Fiery rage built inside me. How dare he call what happened to Zeph an accident?

"It wasn't an accident! You killed him!" I screamed at him. Energy coiled up within me and I channeled it to my will, turning it into blue-tinted light in my hands that crackled and popped.

"Ego vos arguo, daemon." I steely said, grinding my teeth together and letting the energy loose on the demon. ("I rebuke you, demon.")

The blue light knocked him back several yards and he hissed with anger. I took a fighting stance, narrowing my eyes. My light shined brighter as the demon stood and glared at me. I shot my own death glare back at him.

Then suddenly he turned, gathered a glob of darkness in his hand and shot it at me with pinpoint accuracy.

I didn't have time to react.

It hit me and I flew backwards, into the bubble of the safety spell I had cast earlier. I hit the dirt and groaned. I tried to sit up, but I couldn't. I was paralyzed. I began to panic, but felt oddly serene. I was loosing consciousness. He must have hit me harder than I thought.

Sam yelled out in frustration, the sound seemed distant, but I could tell it was close by. Then there was a flapping noise and I knew he had left.

Another sound caught my fading attention, something squeaking and then something slamming. I heard the quick and repetitive crunching of the grass and then something warm and smooth touch my skin, soon followed by its twin. They encompassed me and lifted me up above the grass, bouncing me up and down as they carried me across the ground.

As the soft darkness surrounded me and dragged me down into unconsciousness I heard these four words:

"I am so sorry."

A/N

BFF: Who's the mystery person who picked Max up at the end? Iggy? Nudge? Wait…it couldn't be Sam could it? Like Sam two-face or something? He's got a good side and a bad side?

Me: Haha, no BFF, Sam doesn't have a good side and a bad side. Once you're a demon, you are permanently bad from then on out. Sorry to anyone who was hoping that Sam could somehow redeem himself by killing off his demon side or something.

BFF: Who picked her up?

Me: It's a surprise!

BFF: I hate surprises!

Me: No you don't, you love them!

BFF: *grumbles*

Me: Well, I hoped you liked the chapter, please if you have any questions review or PM me. AND PLEASE KEEP REVIEWING!