"Now what?" I asked. Mr. Ryoyo laughed and walked back to the open door and motioned for me to get in. His two bodyguards raised their firearms at attention. I looked back at Asia and nodded that it would be okay. She stepped forward with a crack of thunder. Her eyes filled with fear. She would not just let them leave with me. Not on her watch. Sam stared from behind the windshield of the truck, her arms wrapped tightly around our daughter. I took a slow step forward still smoking. Asia and Sam stopped breathing.

"Maxanoa" both girls whispered in unison.

As I positioned my breaking body to enter the back seat, I gave up. It was a fair trade. Madison's safety for my special abilities. I was too tired to care what happened to me anymore. Too weary of a future without Asia or Sam. I slowly stepped forward, but with one last question I would set in motion my downfall. My legacy. My awakening.

"This is overaright. We are even?" I asked within a cough. Mr. Ryoyo smiled wickedly. At that moment a half dozen other black SUV's screeched up behind Sam and Asia. All 6, as dark as the one in front of me. Their big tires screeched along the rain soaked street.

"Not even close," he snapped, sliding his glasses down his nose, revealing those hateful eyes. This was just another trap. They had no intentions of letting my daughter go home. They wanted us all. The fire starter, the rainmaker, and the new little healer. I should have seen this sooner.

"We have RED package. Proceed on BLUE package," Mr. Ryoyo called over his phone. The world began to slow down. Everything was barely moving now. I filled with panic. They had me and were after Asia now.

"Don't hurt GREEN package! No, I don't care what you do with the mother," he said smugly. Madison. They were going after her and Sam too. I snapped.

"Get her out of here!" I screamed through the rain. My voice cracked and the taste of blood was everywhere. The evil man slammed a needle into my neck and shoved me into the backseat. It felt like liquid ice pouring into my veins as the world started to spin. Lightning flashed everywhere, blurring my vision.

"Max!" Asia called out.

"Asia, get in!" Sam called from behind the wheel of the Jeep as it's engine roared to life. Asia's eyes filled with swirling blue pools, forcing the sky completely black. They had crossed her line, she would not go quietly. The air fell heavy and thick with her anger. Armageddon was here.

"Leave! Get her away from here!" Asia screamed over the menacing storm.

"Asia please!"

"Go!" Asia demanded, and the ground shook with the force of her growing storm. Sam slammed the truck in gear and drove forward, barely missing Asia in the process. Mr. Ryoyo slammed the SUV door behind my numbing body and waved for the other vehicles to follow Sam in the Jeep. Three of them did while the other three emptied their gun-toting passengers. A dozen men poured from the trucks and quickly positioned themselves around Asia. Their weapons drawn and faces frozen from the blowing cold rain.

"Get him out of here!" Mr. Ryoyo yelled. His meaty hand slapped the top of the truck with a loud thud. The truck peeled out in the opposite direction. He reached in his long coat and pulled out a small handkerchief. It was as black as the sky, and quickly found his wet face. He slowly removed as much of the pouring rain as possible. His other hand slid his cell phone back up to his ear.

"He'll be there within the houra" he paused as the other voice on the line asked him another question.

"She shouldn't be a problem Mr. Wahlberg," he smiled, watching the swarming grey clouds and removed another long needle from his pocket then hung up. He was 100% wrong.

Asia stood at attention as she let herself be surrounded. The rain fell in a swirling effect. It made it hard for anyone but her to see. Thunder continued to rumble everywhere, drowning out the sound of the squealing tires from the Jeep that Sam was being pursued in. From the back seat I was confined in, I managed to look out the back window. My head was spinning and I had to concentrate to focus my eyes. As I did, Sam drove past us in the other direction with three other vehicles surrounding her. They were much too close. Their big black trucks scraped against the side of the Jeep, knocking it back and forth like a toy. She and Madison were in trouble. My chest filled with fire, steadying my spinning head.

"No!" I screamed. The two thugs reached for me as I filled the backseat with burning white light. The truck echoed with their screams as they began to burn and go blind from my vengeful fires. Our truck slid out of control down the street, scraping along parked cars and then the walls of buildings. Quickly, the driver lost complete control and the truck picked up speed before colliding into a local store. The buildings front windows shattered in a fiery explosion. My prison on wheels was crumbling to ash. From afar, Mr. Ryoyo's tall, dark, shadow looked on surprised. The explosion from my wrath reflected in his sunglasses. He shook his head and kept his steady confidence, continuing his advance on Asia.

"You truly are special Mr. Valentine," he said, and began walking toward Asia.

"Get her Tommy!" one of the dozen men screamed in the torrent of rain.

"I can barely see her!" he hollered back, as his vision fell from the blinding storm drowning them. Asia smiled evilly before smashing her wall of wind into the first of the men. Bodies flew everywhere, twisting like life sized rag dolls across the watery sky. Flashes of lightning filled the scene over and over again. Downtown Hana looked like some disco from Hell.

"Oh God!" one of the men called out at the sight. Asia whirled around with her glowing eyes. They were alive with anger. Her dark hair flickered along her shoulders like a hundred black ribbons.

"Ha! God! She can't save you now!" she spit, and attacked again. The men tried to fire their guns at her, with no luck. The sheer velocity of wind she was generating now was like a full force hurricane. Bullets flew everywhere, except where they were intended. A couple of them even shot each other in the confusion. Their bodies fell motionless into the wet street. The sounds of the runaway storm filled with Asia's wicked laugh pierced my collapsing prison. The screams of her victims grew intense and made me beyond anxious. She surveyed her devastation before turning to my burning wreckage down the end of the street. Lightning slipped from her fists and danced along the ground in front of her feet.

"Hold on! I'm coming Max!"

"Don't worry baby girlamommies here!" Sam tried to calm a crying Madi from her car seat. The Jeep slid back and forth down the road, losing traction every so often as the storm outside made it impossible to drive. The three SUV's approached quickly and before she had time to think, they surrounded her. They pushed against the sides of the Jeep forcing her the way they wanted her to go. The scraping metal was loud enough to scare Madison into a soft moan. Her face popped with warm heat.

"Hold on sweetiea" Sam tried her best to comfort her as the rain almost blinded her vision through the windshield. She furiously wiped at the glass as it fogged over from the heat. She slammed the gas pedal down hard, making the Jeep pull ahead from the bookended SUV's. For a brief second she felt relief fill her. She watched in the rearview mirror as the three chasing trucks tried to regain their traction in the wet streets. Her worried face filled with renewed hope. It would not last though.

"Oh no!" she screamed as she almost collided with another vehicle going in the opposite direction. Madison screamed in awakened terror. Sam's right arm fell across her carseat in an act of desperation. Her other arm tightened its grasp on the leather covered wheel, trying not to collide with the new obstacle. It took all her strength not to lose control of the truck.

"Max!" she gritted as she realized it was my SUV she almost collided with. The truck whipped past her jerking from left to right, out of control. Her terror doubled as she watched my capturers lose control of the speeding chariot of fire, as it filled with white flames. It poured from the windows and the hood of the truck like haunted smoke. Her eyes squinted through the blurring back window as my burning vehicle ricocheted off parked cars and finally smashed into a distant building.

"NoaMax!" she screamed. Instantly she found her Jeep surrounded again by the three SUV's.

"Not again," she gasped and focused her worries from me to the safety of our daughter. The Jeep rocked forward with a push of one of the trucks from behind. The other two found their original spots on each side of the Jeep and quickly slammed into its small and beat up frame. Madi wailed as she rocked inside the truck. Sam fought back tears before accepting the truth. If she did not end this now, Madison would surely be hurt.

"Enough!" She slammed her truck into the SUV welded to the left side as hard as she could. Metal scraped and popped with a sickening crunch, causing tiny sparks. The SUV faltered for a moment, veering of into the dark storm. It freed enough room for her to maneuver the Jeep out from the rolling trap, but only for a split second. The truck on the right leaned into her again, hard enough to spin her Jeep around in the wet streets. A quick wave of dizziness found her stomach but she pushed it away. As the Jeep screeched to a quick stop, she focused on the last SUV now facing her. Rain washed over its hulking windshield and hood. The thug behind the wheel flickered his headlights from bright to brighter. He quickly taunted her with a loud rev of its engine.

"Close your eyes baby girlamommies had enough of this gamea" She pushed as hard as she could on the gas pedal, forcing the Jeep forward. The other two SUV's did not follow as they were now trying to stop their momentum and turn back around. The newly born tropical storm spun a twisting web of debris around them, making their pursuit impossible. Sam squeezed the wheel tighter, aggressively seeking her waiting target.

From the road, Asia watched with a gleam in her ice blue eyes. She balled a fist in front of her face and pushed a lightning bolt into the waiting SUV, stalling it in the road. Its hubcaps blew off and the windows exploded outward. Sam let a small smile of satisfaction crawl along her lips before concentrating on what to do next. Should she help me or get Madison as far away as possible? Just then her tired green eyes saw something terrifying. Something that made her mind up for her. She tightened Madi's seatbelt and raced directly toward Asia and her massacre.

"Hang in there! I'm coming Asia."

I could no longer feel pain, only fire and hate. I could tell I was covered in broken glass and shards of hot metal but I couldn't feel it. Any wound I possibly could have sustained from the wreck was gone. So was my broken body. All that was left was the blinding light. Only the fire that I had become. I was ready to escape this prison of rubble. I pushed with my mind and everything filled with a sizzling crash as the truck and anything else in my way vaporized. The pouring rain and swirling wind greeted me as I pushed myself through the burning wreckage. I stepped to the flooding street, completely engulfed in white and red flames. Thousands of raindrops spun into my fires, sizzling and then dying in an instant.

"Madi!" I screamed. My legs pushed me forward. Slowly at first but they gained strength and speed as my eyes searched through the falling rain, focusing on the circle of death around Asia. She was so wrapped up in her vengeance she didn't see me or the tall man closing in behind her. As I pushed my renewed body forward I was unstoppable. That was until Sam and the Jeep raced passed me toward Asia. It almost hit me at an unbelievable speed. It swerved back and forth barely under control. She nearly smashed into one of the black trucks that was badly damaged and steaming in the middle of the road. Four shadowy figures jumped from the wreckage as she passed by, with guns drawn. My ears popped from the sight.

"Sam," I uselessly called out. My whimper was followed closely by the sound of gunfire ripping through the falling raindrops. Bullet holes sprinkled the back of the Jeep. My legs gave out at the sight and I crashed into the puddling water all around me.

"Noooo!" I wailed. Asia heard me when I did. How that was even possible I did not know. Not with all the destruction going on, but she did. She violently flipped a few men through the air and into the nearby trees. She spun around just in time to see my outlined flame fall to its knees. She stopped breathing long enough to cause the falling rain to stop for a quick moment.

"Max!" she called for me and my flames reached for her voice. As her hurting eyes focused on my distant shadow it was replaced by the tall thin frame of a long jacket. Mr. Ryoyo pushed toward her with the needle in front of him. He slammed into Asia with a dull, wet thud. His attack knocked the wind from her lungs and she fell to her back with his hunched frame above her. She had no time to react as he grabbed her by the neck with his free hand. His bony, long fingers crinkled around her throat tight and unforgiving. What little air she had left slid from her throat and the swirling clouds above started to fade.

"Hold still darling. This will only hurt for a moment," he grinned, struggling with her strength. His hand pinched off her oxygen, instantly making it almost impossible to gain her composure. She bit down hard and grabbed him by his shoulders.

"You're quite strong!" he gasped, as she pushed him away from her winded body. His eyes filled with a sick delight at how powerful she was. He tightened his hold around her neck and pulled his arm back ready to strike the needle into her chest. Raindrops twinkled from the long steel needle, sliding their way to the end. Tiny white lights danced inside of the dangling drop. Asia's muscles tightened and her chest filled with a low howl.

"Youahaveanoaidea!" she screamed. With a deep breath she stretched her arms out, pushing him up into the air and onto his unsettled feet. He whipped backwards not sure of what was going on when the headlights from Sam's truck found him. She tried to miss him at the last moment but the right side of the trucks bumper clipped him at full speed. CRUNCH!

The impact flung him over twenty feet away. His long black coat spun around in the air like a dizzy superhero. Asia was free. She was winded, but free. Normally her anger would have brought her to her feet in a fit of rage but instead she found herself paralyzed. Frozen from the scene unfolding in front of her. Her eyes focused on her Jeep, with Sam behind the wheel, as it rushed past her. She watched in horror as the passenger side filled with steaming bullet holes. Images of the most horrible kind filled her head. The tires lost their traction on the excessively wet road and fell into a deadly spin.

"Oh noaMadison," Asia swallowed. With a dull crunch the truck spun into an outcropping of trees, smashing violently on the drivers side. After, there was only the sound of the twisting wind and rolling thunder. No one moved from inside the truck.

"Madison!" Asia panicked. Before she could make it back to her feet she found herself surrounded by the last few thugs, with their guns drawn only inches from her face. She shook the excess water from her bangs in a quiet fit. The men began to whistle and holler for the other SUV's to turn back and help. As they did I found my footing again. I was in shock now and not even aware of the fact that I had started screaming.

"Madi!" my inner demons called. The men waved for one of the SUV's to circle around and pick me up. The trucks headlights circled around, focusing onto my stunned face. Even though they had suffered some losses, they were far from giving up.

Big mistake.

Reckoning - 33.

*Hey Man Nice Shot: Filter*

Fire. It was all I had known since I was a kid. My fires had caused me so much grief, so much pain. Always by accident, never by my intentions, in most circumstances. This time would be different. This time it would be on purpose. This time every waking fiber of me wanted this. I let go.

My eyes filled with a dark orange, almost red hue. They felt crisp and alive. My veins crackled along my skin with white-hot heat filling my body. I could feel nothing now. Nothing but the heat. Nothing but the absolute power that I had always tried to hold back. I had let go before but never like this. I was a newborn star. A violent supernova. I was a walking reckoning. I was their end.

The large SUV sped up its approach as I came alive before it. Only 100 feet from me and closing in, but I did not wilt. I stood up, painted with dark red fire, accented by bright yellow droplets that gleamed along its outer layer. Death had shrouded itself all around me. Black soot and rolls of smoke puffed from behind me like an evil locomotive, as I walked forward. The wind rushed all around my fiery shell but didn't seem to affect the flames in the least. Even as the golf ball sized raindrops started to fall down, it was no use. Gun toting scumbags surrounded Asia but still she tried to protect me with her storm. I smiled from within my suit of fire. Asia was the only one to see it though.

"I can't lose you again," Asia whispered to herself. Her captors were no longer watching her as I came alive. They stood frozen and soaked under her newest torrent. With a blink of her eye, lightning slammed along the backside of her, sending the last men to the ground unconscious or worse. She drew in a long hard breath and pushed the storm clouds closer to us all. Their building clusters rolled over the roof of the charging SUV. Thunder shook everywhere.

Laughter erupted from my chest seconds before the truck drove into me. The front of the truck instantly started to melt, even before it connected with my fire. I watched as the men behind the wheel passed out in a blink of an eye. My heat was just too much for them. An explosion engulfed the vehicle, causing it to flip into the air over my flaming head. Droplets of spinning water showered everywhere in all directions as it spun above me. I laughed and pushed my unholy body into a sprint, headed directly for the man in black. He was back on his feet but in tremendous pain. His face wore the agony like a ghost. He watched in horror as my charging shadow pushed closer.

"This ends tonight!" I cursed. My head filled with images of Madison lying motionless. Too familiar to the ones of my sister Mia that had haunted my every waking moment since her tragic death.

"Max! Please stop!" Asia called out. It was no use. I was gone now. I ran faster, locked on my target and welcomed the unbridled passion of killing this man in front of me. Asia tried her hardest to stop me. Lightning flashed along my sides, scratching at my sizzling cheeks. Normally that would have been enough to stop me but this time the white streaks only tickled. I pushed myself even faster. She dug her feet into the earth and a wall of hurricane force winds hit me. The barrage of air, water, and debris only made it harder to see my target. My inferno swirled from behind me like a long twisting ribbon on fire that exploded hotter with a shadowy smoke trail. It stretched itself toward the brooding sky with a crisp whip and crackle.

"Not this time Asia," I grinned.

Mr. Ryoyo watched in horror as my flames reached for him. His feet had failed him now, and he could not get away fast enough. I reached out with a burst of fire, hotter than the sun, and held my breath. Just before it hit him though, one of the last SUV's slid along the drenched road, blocking him from my vengeful burst. My flame slammed into the side of the truck, pushing it up onto its side. Two spinning tires lifted off the wet pavement and spun in the air before falling back to the street in a loud splash. The trucks windows shattered into a million pieces as the paint vanished and the metal frame shriveled from my impossible heat. Its shape morphed into something almost unrecognizable in a matter of seconds.

"No!" I snapped. I charged into the twisted metal with no remorse. My hands slid through the melting shell and I filled with more hate. I pulled a long sizzling hole into the side of the truck just in time to see the burning men flee from the opposite side. They jumped into the pouring rain and embraced the cooling storm Asia had created. I was so upset at this that my fires were all I could see now. I spun around in the darkening storm, completely out of control. The remaining men fired everything they had into my flames. Gunfire echoed through the air before quickly falling mute to the surrounding devastation. Little pops of white light flickered around my torso of flames as the bullets exploded from the heat.

Asia watched in vain as my powers punished any who attacked me. One after another, the men fell under my revenge. Even those who tried to escape, my fire found them in seconds. There would be no mercy this night, not for them. Asia kept trying to end this; her eyes squeezed tightly together as she pushed her storm down on me in the smallest chance it might calm me.

"Please hear me Max!" she prayed. The twisting silver and black clouds above formed into a large funnel shape that reached for me. It slid down toward me like a monstrous arm of destruction. From within my fires I could smell the familiar scent of the monsoons, one of my favorite smells. It made me pause long enough to look above me and see the twirling spout of descending truth. It filled with giant raindrops and streaks of lightning, spinning faster and louder. Buzzing lightning spun within its twisting home, tangling themselves together into a growing white arc. It severed the sky with its power.

"Please Max!" she grunted behind her drenched bangs. I could feel my core being pulled towards it like a magnet. This was the same feeling Asia and I dealt with when we first tried to sleep together. The pull of our joining powers back then was as combustible as a bomb. This time it was on a much more dramatic scaleaa nuclear level.

"Asia!" I called out to the lowering sky. My hands reached out above me as my flames blanketed me in a bright white hue. Time stopped now, and I could feel nothing anymore. No heat, no flame, no vengeance. There was only light.

"Max!" Asia screamed as an arc of lightning as thick as a redwood tree sliced into my white flames. We became one in an explosive second. She quickly pulled back her powers, using every ounce of strength she had. Her fists balled up tight enough to make her hands cramp violently as she made the rain fall away. Her voice scolded the clouds to run. She screamed until she had no more voice left. She hoped it would be enough. She hoped it was not too late.

But it was impossible to stop me now. Most of the sky lightened as the thick clouds shrank away and the blue night tried to find us below again. Its stars winking at us. The sky was now almost completely clear. All of it, except the twisting funnels of death burning and twisting above me. I had become one with it. The bright cyclone began throbbing with power. It's sheer force pulled in loose debris and stray trash. Street signs and shattered shards of glass followed. Asia tried again to make it stop with no luck. Her face filled with streaming tears as the reality began to set in. There was only one way this was going to end. I was going to die.

"Please Max! You have to stop!"

"Asia," I crumbled with a final glance her way. My blinding white body began to pull apart. The spinning fire above me was all I knew now. We were one. As I let go of any hesitation to try and fight this all-empowering merger, my mind filled with images of my sister. Her smile. Her pigtails. Her sweet laugh. Slowly, Asia's bright blue eyes replaced those thoughts. Her all encompassing stare. They had haunted me every moment since they had met mine. My death would be no different. My fires paused at the image of her beauty.

"My Asia," I whispered. Finally, as I felt my last long breath slip from my mouth and past my lips there was one last thing. Crying.

From behind me came the sound. It was faint but it was there. I wanted to ignore it at first but for some reason I couldn't. The white light pulled at my body but I held myself together long enough to turn and focus my eyes. As I did I could feel the heat again. I could feel the pain as my breath pulsed through my burning lungs. The crying became louder, causing me to squint my eyes from my light. The string of fire above my head fought this at first but gave up as I concentrated on the sound. With a fiery snap, the lightning above me severed its hold and sling shotted back into the fading clouds. The crying grew louder. My body filled with a familiar cold and I could feel my skin again, but it wasn't until my eyes cleared from the smoke that the sound made any sense.

"Madison?" I stuttered. In a short second I was back to normal. No fire, no flame, no hate. Twenty feet from me was little Madison, tightly wrapped in Asia's arms. Her tiny mouth screaming for me. She looked perfectly fine, not a scratch on her. Asia's terrified face crumbled from the sight of me, and a small smile appeared. From behind us Sam slowly climbed from the broken Jeep with her hand along her aching and bleeding head. Red streaks slid inside her dirty yellow hair. She was bruised and bloody, but fine. That was until she saw Asia holding her daughter and me folding before them. She swallowed hard with tears in her eyes.

"Daddy's fine now little one," Asia said to Madison but it sounded like it was more for her benefit. Her tiny crying slowed, as I became me again. The biggest smile washed over me as I realized she had saved me. My daughter saved me. I wanted to grab her up and squeeze her in my arms but found it impossible as I was paralyzed by the moment. I stood motionless and exhausted but managed a crooked smile. Asia laughed out loud from in front of me, filling with relief. Her beautiful face filled with unconditional love. Fading thunder retreated in the distance and was being replaced by the faint sounds of sirens. I stood like a stone staring into her eyes as she cradled my calming daughter. They flickered in a dazzling blue as the approaching emergency vehicles spinning lights filled them with speckles of red and yellow.

"That's rightaI'm back," I said to Madison. Her big green eyes still filled with baby tears. I watched them for a moment before looking back up at Asia.

"I'm back," I whispered to her. Her eyes broke and she prepared to embrace me again. My face filled with the biggest smile ever in my life.

"Max," she whispered and stepped forward. I found my strength again and leaned towards her and Madi. As I did, a sharp and familiar pain shot down my neck and down my spine.

"Asia?" I reached out for her before falling to my knees, smashing into the wet ground. From behind me stood Mr. Ryoyo with an empty syringe clinched in his hand. He was hunched over and bleeding from his eyes and mouth, but still smiling.

"Truly amazing," he coughed with a broken laugh. I felt my body go numb and my consciousness easily slipping away. I collapsed in a wet thud. Water splashed along my fading sight. It washed over me in a shallow rain puddle. My ears filled with the muffled sirens of the police and emergency vehicles. Only to be replaced by his evil laughter and Asia's screaming. Thunder shook the ground just before everything fell black. Low, soft thunder and the fading echo of a gunshot.

BANG.

"No!" Sam yelled from behind Mr. Ryoyo, with tears dripping down her cheeks. He slowly turned to her with blood pouring from his fresh gunshot wound. His eyes filled with surprise when his last sight was Sam standing with a gun pointed at him; its barrel still warm from the expelled bullet. A tiny thread of smoke trickled in front of her scared face. She clenched her teeth hard and stepped closer. The man gasped for air, clutching the hole in his chest. One hand squeezed at his bloodying clothes as the other dropped another full syringe of paralyzing liquid. I never would have moved again if he had injected my motionless body with it. She had saved me. Sam saved me.

But at what cost.

Sacrifice - 34.

*Heron Blue: Sun Kil Moon*

"You are not taking Max from me again!" Sam cried out. Asia had instinctively turned Madison away from the sound of the gunfire, burying her little round face into her chest. Her legs pushed both of them backwards toward one of the empty SUV's. Asia stopped herself and found Sam's determined eyes locked onto my lifeless body.

"We willaneverastopa" Mr. Ryoyo coughed dying. Sam filled with a quiet rage. Her fingers loosened slightly before tightening around the heavy handle of the gun. Her eyes pulled together.

"Never!" he cursed. He pulled himself to his wobbly feet, clutching his bleeding chest. Flashing red and blue lights slid over Sam's stern face as she dug her feet into the ground and squeezed the trigger again. He flew backwards off his feet, clutching the open air. She squeezed the trigger a final time, spinning him to the wet ground with hardly a sound.

"Samanoa" Asia gasped with Madison tightly against her. Sam felt dizzy as her hands eased around the handle of the gun. The weapon suddenly felt twice as heavy.

"Freeze! Drop the gun!" a man screamed from behind her. She stood silent as the world fell into slow motion. A half dozen police officers emptied from their cars with guns drawn.

"Drop the gun!" another one screamed again. Asia could only watch in silence as Sam slowly turned.

"Maxa" Sam whispered, as her throat choked with tears. Slowly her eyes panned across the devastation along the city. Her eyes moved from body to body, to the broken buildings and back to my motionless torso. She knelt down next to me and placed her free hand along my head. The officers approached cautiously. She ignored them as she looked at the gun in her hand and then back to me. She gently slid my wet bangs from my face with shaky hands. Thunder rustled above her, waking her from her fuzzy thoughts.

"Madison," she said under her breath. Her eyes found Asia across the way. Asia held Madison tighter and filled with calmness as Sam's face turned heartfelt. Her eyes filled with glistening tears, her mouth fighting a heavy frown. For once, Asia actually wanted to help her but before she could step forward to offer her a hand, Sam nodded no. Her eyes filled with extreme concern. Asia paused again.

"Run," Sam said silently. Asia blinked, unsure of what she had just seen. Sam took a soft breath and lowered the gun next to me, never taking her eyes from Asia and Madi. Her lips quivered and mouthed the same word again.

"Run."

Asia's confusion changed immediately as she watched the new confidence fill Sam's face. Sam knew that Asia would die protecting her daughter. If not for her sake, she would for mine. Madison would be as safe as possible by Asia's side.

"Okay," Asia mouthed back. She let her breaking eyes fall to my outline in the water and then back to Sam's before climbing into the SUV. She gently rested Madison in the passenger seat and started the engine. She didn't think she could possibly just drive from the scene but that's exactly what she did. The police were too caught up in apprehending Sam. They closed around her and removed the gun from her side.

"You have the right to remain silenta" an officer spoke, confidant as he realized that Sam would not put up a fight. Quickly, they led her away in handcuffs to one of the waiting patrol cars. She softly cried from the backseat of the squad car, her mind completely spent. She had killed a man to protect me. She had killed him in cold blood but felt no regret.