Downpour.

By Madison Daniel.

Prologue: Angels.

*Lightning Crashes: Live*

"Hold on."

"Don't be scared. Just push one more time."

How am I supposed to keep her calm when I am so scared? Come on big guy, you need to focus. Don't let her see the fear on your old face. She screams again as the storm outside the hospital window howls, and my head begins to feel fuzzy.

"I can't do this! It hurts too much!" she wails.

"Yes, you can dear."

"I hate this! I hate him!" she curses. Monitors beep furiously all around the room as her contractions build. She looks so frightened.

"No you don't." I cough and notice the taste of blood in my throat.

"Yes I do! I hate him! I hate that he isn't here!" Her tiny voice cracks. I cough again and this time blood finds its way to my sweat soaked handkerchief. I try my best to hide it from her but she stops crying long enough to shoot a worried glance at me and then to her doctor.

"That's not true." I say as I begin to lose color in my face. Hold on old manajust a little longer. She's almost ready. The baby's almost here.

"It's time for you to push one last time sweetheart," the doctor says impatiently. She cuts into him with a cold glare for calling her sweetheart before surrendering to the next wave of pain. Lightning paints the windows and I hold onto the side of her bed as my legs start to give out on me. What the hell's wrong with me?

"Ahhhhhha" she grits through her teeth. Her body tightens on the bed. The room fills with heat. This is it. This will change everything. Hold on old manastay awake. Blackness pushes at the back of my thoughts, making it hard to remember where I was or what I was doing. The darkness was coming for me and I couldn't fight it off much longer.

"Unclea" she calls to me with winded breath. Her little hand squeezing mine tightly. So dizzy nowaroom is spinning. And just before the comfort of sleep grabs me I hear the most amazing sound. The sound of a baby crying. The sound focuses my eyes for a short second. Just long enough to see the worried and tired grimace on her face and the falling rain against the window.

"You did it deara" I stutter out with more blood in my throat.

"Uncle Frank!" she calls out to me but it's too late. My eyes have gone completely dark now. In that darkness I can only see one thingaa single flame.

"Max," I gasp. I fall to the floor as a tiny angel cries her first breaths.

Blackness.

"Love can be beautiful. I read that somewhere. Maybe in a book, maybe inside a sappy card or poem. I wish love was that simple. Love can be beautiful. It can also be cold, messy, humbling, infuriating, devastating, and an endless nightmare. Call me crazy but I can't get enough of it." - Max Valentine.

No More Tears - 01.

*Safe And Sound: Sheryl Crow*

Saturday sunset - 5:34 p.m. - May 13th.

Mount Hope Cemetery - San Diego, California.

"Something's wrong," I whispered as a swirling wind blew through the trees, sending the smell of the surrounding flower bouquets inside my head. I slipped my sunglasses from my face and put them into my back pocket, as the sun began to hide behind the haunting mountains, making the cemetery look almost beautiful.

"Something's missing now." It had been a little over eight months since I had left my home, the island of Maui, I had spent most of those days trying to avoid this place but for some reason I couldn't stay away. Not anymore though. Not today. Gently I leaned down to place the tiny bunch of daisies I had brought with me onto the green grass before me.

"Daisies were always your favorite," I smiled and ran my hand through my thick dark hair. It was much shorter now, and messy. I had cut it off in an unfortunate act of rebelling. It seemed that after my tiny miracle of resurrection months before, I needed a change. A fresh start. So, off went the hairabye bye. It felt revitalizing at the time but I was beginning to miss my bangs.

"Daisies," I repeated to nobody. I've always heard people talk about their near death experiences, but I never thought I'd know the feeling first hand. Truthfully, there was nothing *near' about my death. I had died. Dead. Worm food. I had grown up with this crazy knack for healing myself. A lucky side effect to my fire starting abilities. I guess you could call me a modern day super hero. But after I awoke in that Maui hospital bed with my gunshot wounds healed, things were different. Lately I wasn't healing like I used too. I have watched every kind of scrape and wound heal from my secret powers, but I guess my nine lives were almost up. The idea of becoming breakable was refreshing, yet scary. A nervous smile escaped my lips.

That wasn't the only thing that had changed either. Since I left that island hospital, my fire starting abilities seemed to be growing stronger every time I used them. With all the trouble that power had caused me throughout my 19 years, you'd imagine I'd be worried about that too. I wasn't. Deep down I liked it. That truth was making it harder to keep my flames under control.

"I know, I knowathe last thing you wanna hear is your big brother whining. Especially todayayour day." I could feel my chest tighten and my hands heated up slightly. The cool breeze felt sweet along my warming fingers.

"Happy Birthday sis," I smiled and reached out to touch the lines that were neatly carved into the stone. Slowly, my fingertips traced the letters of her first name and I stole a quick glance at the same three letters tattooed along my right wrist. M.I.A. flashed across my skin in black and red ink.

"I'm sorry I've missed your other birthdays. I just don't think I was ready." One single tear pushed at my eye. I'm still not sure if I'm ready yet. Mia was the most important person in my world, and when she died I lost the most special thing in meahope. I've felt so empty all these years since. I have been struggling to fill that hole everyday of my burning life.

"So I guess you would have been 15 todaya" I said blankly, lost in thoughts of her big brown eyes and long brown pigtails.

"I've spent the last couple weeks agonizing over what to get you. I wanted to find the perfect gift," I said trying to find a smile again. I missed my little sister so much still.

"I hope this is okay?" I placed a small black picture frame with her and I smiling wildly within its glass, on top of her headstone. It was one of the few relics I had left Maui with. I left in a hurry, but I made sure to make room for it. Now, I didn't need it anymore. I saw her face every day anyways. I still spent my nights haunted from the same nightmare of the day she fell from my burning hands.

As the fading daylight reflected inside the frames shiny glass, I spent a moment silent.

"I think about you every day Mia. That will never change, I promise. But I think it's time for me to move forward." My voice cracked a little. "I need to heal."

I slid my guitar from my back and softly strummed a chord. The sound carried along the blowing wind. It settled my growing uneasiness.

"Someone once told me that I would always be a big brother. Someone special. She was right," I said smiling again at the thought. Haunting advice I'd been avoiding for months now. I hadn't seen Samantha Summers in over nine months, but her words were still with me. She had always made it so easy to feel better about myself, and after these lonely months of soul searching, those words were holding me up and shining the truth on me. She had told me my little sister's accident was just that, an accident. Mia's death was not my fault. I had to let go of the guilt and pain. I missed Samantha's confidence. I missed her big green eyes even more.

I sat down in front of Mia's headstone and began to play a song for my little sister. Sam's face slowly faded and was replaced with a growing confidence. My little sister used to love when I sang for her, so it was the least I could do on her special day. When I was finished, I looked around to be sure I was still alone.

"I love you Mia. I promise I won't be a stranger anymore." I reached for the left hand corner of the headstone as a bright blue flame flickered to life around my hand. It covered my skin all the way past my wrist just before I pushed it against the cold smooth surface. Smoke peeled away from it as I pushed the flames even harder, burning my handprint into the face of the stone. My eyes followed the spinning smoke as it twisted upward to the darkening sky. Slowly I removed my hand and admired my handy work.

As the black handprint cooled in the blowing wind a flash of something from behind the stone startled me. I had been so wrapped up in my own thoughts that I hadn't noticed it before now. A thin, blood-red ribbon made of silk slithered back and forth in the breeze, creeping its thin arm around the side of Mia's grave. It was tightly tied around a scroll of some kind. It looked old and was covered in three symbols. They were Chinese, and I only recognized one of them, the symbol for fire. The same symbol Asia had tattooed along her shoulder.

My mind raced at the thought of my island angel, Asia Lyn Michaels. Time froze as her dark brown hair and brilliant blue eyes filled my mind. Her undeniable beauty was seared into my memory. I hadn't seen her in nine months either. She had seen me die, and then she ran away from her home. Our homeaMaui. I swore I'd find her again one day but had been too scared to before I dealt with my inner demons. I hadn't found her yet, and to be honest, I wasn't trying as hard as I should.

"Asia." I was terrified of seeing her again. The sad fact that I was powerless to Asia's touch and sapphire blue stare didn't help things. My precious, moody, rainmaker. I was special in my abilities, and so was she. She was my inner infernos counterpart. My opposite. I looked up to the sky's fading sunlight and wished one of her emotional storms were above me instead.

"Where are you?" I asked a little winded. How much my fires yearned for her had become legendary. Now, staring down at the gift she had left for my sister, I could only think of one thing. I needed Asia. My flames would not be denied her any longer. It was time to find her. It was time to live again.

"My kryptonite," I said as I slid her gift next to the bundle of white daisies I had brought. Asia had been right here. Right where I was standing. My mind raced to the last time I had seen her and those all-consuming blue eyes. Standing in the rain, bleeding, those eyes watched me as I died. They cried for me.

"See you little sis," I smiled and walked away.

Hush - 02.

*Climbing Up The Walls: Chris Cornell*

Friday afternoon - 2:31 p.m. - June 16th.

I wasn't expecting it to take this long to track Asia down, and now that this rickety old bus had almost reached its destination, I filled with hope. When money is no object, and you don't want to be found, disappearing is quite easy. Asia and her family were loaded. As rich as it gets. She could have run away to the moon if she desired it.

I almost gave up a week ago. I was growing doubtful I'd ever find her, as I made my way into the little town of Needles, California. I was sitting in my simple but quiet motel room watching the ceiling fan spin me into unconsciousness when the local weather channel gave me my first ray of hope. The smiling weather lady pointed out that the seasonal rains had been acting completely out of character down near the bottom of Mexico. She chalked it up to global warming, but I knew better. Asia was as special as I was. With her emotions, came the rain. Lots and lots of rain. She was what the local islanders referred to as, a rainmaker. If I was fireashe was my opposite. She was water.

So I used the last of the money I had left and headed for the border. Once I made it to the border the real detective work started. I only knew a handful of words in Spanish and found it extremely hard to find help. I had spent most of the day running in circles, but a young mother and her son helped me in the beautiful town of San Carlos, pointing me in the right direction.

Apparently her family was from just outside the small-secluded town that seemed to be going through the early monsoons. Her father had told her that the beaches of Punta Allen were dying, and that a broken heart had brought forth this curse.

Punta Allen was a tiny town on the ocean, just outside of Tulum, Mexico that lived and breathed by its fishing, and business was fading. The new powerful storms had chased off all the fish.

"Gracias," I smiled to the driver as I stepped from the bus. He only glared at me and then up at the darkening skies. He was far from comfortable here. He probably thought this little town was cursed too. Hopefully I could help them with their new curse, even though I was also scared that my resurrection just might make this so called curse even worse. I had no idea how Asia would react to me, and that sobering thought had wreaked havoc on my mind and stomach.

"Just breathe," I whispered as the air filled my lungs. Music pumped inside my head through my mp3 players' earphones. By habit, I ran my hand through my hair, messing up my bangs. They had grown out again in the past month of searching for Asia. I had missed the comfort they afforded me after I cut them off months before. I had another habit of hiding behind them when I was nervous.

"You can do this," I encouraged myself. The air felt wet and heavy with hardly any sun above. Slowly, I made my way to the middle of the town. There were only a few people scattered around the streets. Not a single one of them looked happy to see me. The little cursed town was dead quiet. Not much more than the grumbling thunder overhead could be heard. I started to doubt my decision to come here.

"Now or never Max," I tried to encourage myself. Nervously, I browsed my map and realized that it wasn't helping me at all. The paper crinkled within my sweaty, hot fingers. I glanced up at the angry sky. A couple of locals watched me closely from afar. They didn't seem to want me here. I couldn't really blame them though; the last stranger brought nothing but misfortune to their lives.

"Hola," I said quietly with a polite wave as the three men walked up to me. They said nothing at first and watched me carefully. One of the men could not take his eyes from my shiny black guitar slung around my back, and my hands heated up cautiously around the loop of my bag. I quickly removed my earbuds and the music softly echoed into the air. The other two men positioned themselves on my sides and offered their hands to shake. As I reluctantly did, the wind rushed through the streets, startling us. It was sweet and familiar. My blood ran hot.

"Asiaa" I almost shouted as that first scent of her hit me. Cherry blossoms. I had missed that smell every day that it had been gone. When I spoke her name the three men took a small step back and watched me carefully again. It made me very uneasy, but I was excited that I wasn't far from the end of my journey.

I smiled and softly spoke, "Cherry blossoms." My eyes pointed to the sky. The men looked at each other quickly. Three pairs of bulging eyes locked onto me as they all pointed to the end of the road we were on. The oldest spoke sternly, speaking words I only half recognized. I nodded, not knowing exactly what he said, and slowly pushed past them down the road. They watched my every step. Later I would learn what he had saida"the crying girl is on the beach." In a matter of minutes I could hear the crashing waves of the ocean and my pace quickened.

I pushed my way through some brush and thick vegetation before my feet hit the cool sand. As my wide, brown eyes tried to take in the view of the beach, her scent hit me again like a sledgehammer. My legs felt weak but my chest filled with excited fire. My core still burned for her. She still called to me on an instinctual level. It's hard to describe just how powerful that feeling was. The blood in my veins sped up and filled with heat, causing my skin to steam. It slid from my pores like thin smoke. Quickly, I scanned my surroundings and tossed my gear to the soft sand. I filled with nervous relief at the barren landscape, only to overheat when I found a small audience at the end of the beach.

"Uh oh," I laughed nervously as two young girls spotted me. They looked like teenagers, and not shocked by my smoky first impression. They watched with smiles as the first drops of rain peppered me lightly. I waved at them, slowly walking forward in the sand. One of the girls smiled back and hid her face behind her thick black hair. The other girl stood up quietly and pointed to the rolling waves. Her posture was determined and still. Her black curls of hair flickered around her serious face. I followed her finger to the black waves and my head began to spin.

"Asia."

She was lying along her back on her red and black surfboard with her arms caressing the rolling water. Storm clouds swirled around the sky, spinning back and forth in front of the yellow sun, making its rays dance along the water and her body, which was covered in a tiny black and blue wetsuit. Her hair trailed along behind her in the water as the waves built themselves up back and forth. She looked amazing. She looked beautiful. She lookedabroken.

My body overheated instantly and my feet began to burn. I quickly kicked of my shoes and buried my toes in the cool sand as I walked forward. It didn't help though, as my body filled with fire. My feet felt as if they were walking on hot Jell-O. When I looked down, I found that I was so hot, the crystals of sand were melting beneath me.

"Hmmmathat's a new one," I joked. My powers were still growing, but this was just plain weird. It gave me an idea though and I reached down and scooped up a large handful of sand in front of me. The two girls looked on with their mouths open in shock as my hands filled with white and blue light. I was lost in my own little world now and didn't give them much more thought as I pushed the heat inside my hands harder. I focused my powers and squeezed as hard as I could. Light pulsated from my arms as the rain fell a little harder.

"It's working," I gasped. Inside my hands a sparkling shard of glass winked at me. It didn't have a particular shape but reminded me of an ice sculpture shaped like a dull flame. Steam twisted from it softly. I held it in front of me so the light from the sun might catch within its walls, but the thickening clouds would only tease it with bright light. It caused a soft strobe effect and gave me another idea. I heated my hands again, this time concentrating only on the white and blue light I could generate. The hot piece of glass filled with a prism of colors and flashed like a sparkly disco ball in my hands.

"See me," I spoke to the waves.

Asia didn't budge from her board as the brilliant colors flickered over her and the waves. My head filled with a dull ache and I called to her as loud as I could, but the waves were much too loud. I looked over to the two girls but they were gone now. The rain began to fall harder and I tried my trick again. With fading patience I pushed even harder but it didn't work. Slowly, I let my head fall in disappointment. As I did, Asia caught a quick flicker from the corner of her eye. She quickly turned on top of her board filled with anger, and rose to her feet even quicker when she saw my outline in the falling rain.

"Max?"

Time slowed as her brain tried to wrap itself around what her eyes were showing her. From behind my wet bangs I could feel the waves grow bigger, and thunder shook everywhere. I raised my eyes to hers out on the ocean and froze under the weight of the moment. Her crystal blue eyes stared through me as if I were a ghost. Pain filled her face, and her hair dripped down the sides of her shoulders. I stood motionless holding the piece of hand shaped glass, not sure what to do next. Time had frozen both of us, just like the first time we met.

The rain fell cold and strong as the waves rumbled all around her, making me grow scared for her safety. If she were to be hurt again like last time, I wouldn't be able to help her again. The thought of my failing powers made me angry for a second before the rush of seeing Asia again silenced my famous temper. I reached out my hands with the piece of twinkling glass. She furrowed her brow slightly and let her body fall from the board. The dark mass of water engulfed her completely. Waves fizzled and fuzzed before starting to settle. The uneasy sea fell to a sullen hush in one short moment. No sound but the wind and my collapsing heart.

"Not again."

Ghosts - 03.

*Little Toy Gun: honeyhoney*

Slowly, the wind spun my dizzying head into a panic. Dark blue waves rolled heavy, crashing all around me. My flames disappeared as I ran to the waters edge. I was terrified. Thunder rattled the clouds above me, hurting my ears for a moment.

"She's fine," I told myself as calm as I could manage, but the horrifying thought of losing her after my long search, tore at my guts, making it hard to stay on my feet. I stepped forward, letting the rushing waves swallow my legs, chilling my hot core instantly. Instinctively my body heated itself, causing fresh billows of steam to twist all around me. My temper flared at the thought of Asia being crushed by the power of the sea. That's when the wind changed direction and became an unnatural vacuum.

It pulled away from my lungs, leaving me gasping slightly while the water receded quickly. The growl of the waves turned to a rumbling hiss as they began to stand up and push themselves from my feet. The wet beach glistened lightly in the fading sun, leaving trails of twinkling sand as the water rose above my head.

"What thea?" I gasped. As I stepped back from this mind bending vision, the water stood up even higher above my head. At least 15-foot walls of twisting blue liquid. The thunder rolled long and low in the background letting in a half dozen rays of blinding sunshine through the grey skies. The light washed over the fresh sand and the waves pulled back even farther. Ripples of foam seemed to curse this new shape, as the waves grew silent, locked in their new prison. I shook my wet bangs, trying to clear my eyes as Asia stepped from the angry blue wall. She moved steady and carefully with a strength I'd never seen. Thousands of water droplets flickered along her skin.

Her long black hair pulled back behind her like a blade as her head slid from the swirling water. It fell straight along her back as her silvery blue eyes drilled into mine. Time stopped, and I felt my heart push from my chest. The fire inside of me literally reached out for her as she took a couple of slow steps toward me. The air ran from my lungs as the flames slid through my every pore. Her face was filled with confusion, as if she were in some nightmare. She was more beautiful than I remembered. Long and lean, with her deadly pout. As her undamaged body stepped toward mine the walls of ocean reached even higher for the sky, but now they made hardly any sound.

Asia stopped inches from my face and slowly placed her cold hands upon my temples. Her fingertips traced every line and detail before stopping on my lips and chin. There we stayed, staring at each other for an eternity. Two ghost's locked in a dream. Ghost'sathe thought brought a smile to the corner of my mouth.

"Boo," I said smiling. Her eyes filled with tears, making her hands shake softly against my skin.

"Max?"

The waves crashed down behind her, smashing with a sound I can't quite explain. Her wet body slammed into mine sending the piece of glass I was holding into the sand. I was barely able to stay on my feet as she began to squeeze my last breath from me. I held her as tight as I could, even though I could no longer breathe. She felt amazing, and my body burned hot in her embrace. It had found its long lost counterpart. She pulled from me just enough to slide her hands along my pounding warm chest and dug her nails into the warming skin. Lightning flickered above us followed by a full crash of thunder. We were one again, and I was happy.

I leaned in to kiss her pouting lips as they fell to a frown and she shoved me with all her might. I flew backwards off my feet to the cool sand; shocked by her reaction and the sheer amount of strength she did it with. Rain fell down like a blanket and covered my steaming body in a split second. Her eyes filled with rage as mine filled with confusion. Shaking the pouring water from my eyes I began to get up, but she stepped forward and shoved her hands in front of her. A torrent of wind and rain sliced into me, sending me along my back again, gasping for air. She was so strong now.