Ember

  Ember

  By

  Madison Daniel

  Table of Contents

  Prologue: Nightmares

  Savior_01

  2000 Miles_02

  Broken_03

  Morning Glory_04

  New Kid_05

  Jaded_06

  Iron Jaw_07

  Dark Skies_08

  Crush_09

  Temptations_10

  Rainmaker_11

  Bad Moon_12

  High Tide_13

  Sunburn_14

  Breathe_15

  Truth_16

  Kryptonite_17

  Trial by Fire_18

  Under Pressure_19

  Destiny_20

  Sparks_21

  Wildfire_22

  Inferno_23

  Crave_24

  Numb_25

  Crashing_26

  Forbidden_27

  Wicked Game_28

  Suffocate_29

  Falling_30

  Blackened_31

  Ashes_32

  Rising_33

  Hope_34

  Ember_00

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

  Ember

  This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, duplicated, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior written consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  Text Copyright © 2008, 2012 Madison Daniel

  Published by

  Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly Publishing, LLC.

  Algonquin, IL 60102

  ISBN-13: 978-0615605975

  ISBN-10: 0615605974

  This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this novel are fictitious and are products of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual events, or locales or persons, living or dead are entirely coincidental.

  Edited by: V. Blondell Williams

  For Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly Publishing

  Cover by: Para Graphic Designs

  “For my forever muse.

  Hand on heart.”

  M.D.

  Prologue: Nightmares

  ~Stop Crying Your Heart Out: Oasis~

  “Hold on.”

  “Hold on. Don’t be scared.”

  Please don’t let go. The pain is dizzying. Just do not let go of her. This is my fault, I’m sure of that now. Look her in the eyes and don’t let go of her. Whatever happens, don’t let her be scared. Be stronger, for her.

  Nothing else matters now. Not the pain. Not my mistake. Not the taste of blood in my throat. Not the smell of ash all around us. All that matters is her…just her. Hold on.

  “Hold on a little longer!” I scream. I’m starting to panic. Stop it! You know what happens when you panic. I have to calm down. Just breathe. Stay calm. Do it now, for her!

  “Max I’m slipping!” she screams.

  “No! I won’t let it happen!” I say focused. But she was right. I was losing her. I’m heating up again. Try harder and focus.

  “Help me Max! My hands hurt…it burns! Help me! Please!” she cries louder. I’m so dizzy now. It’s too hot. I’m too hot now. I can’t hold her. She slips away and my heart breaks.

  “Noooooooo!!!” she wails but her voice sounds so far away now.

  Slow motion again. The dark pulls at the sides of my eyes and they burn something awful. Fight it. Fight the darkness. I reach out in front of me as far as I can. My eyes burn and I cannot see through my tears. But I can still see the look of terror on her face. I can still see her tears and her burnt and broken hands.

  “Please no!” I beg. The world grows heavy.

  “Don’t go…don’t go away…” Now I was screaming. She falls away.

  I fade away…blackness.

  “Love at first sight. I've always heard that said in movies or my favorite books but I never believed in it for a second. Death at first sight. That was much more my style. You know, the whole James Dean kind of thing. Live fast, die young sort of culture. Soon enough I would have experienced both.” - Max Valentine

  Savior_01

  ~Cruel Summer: Bananarama~

  Saturday morning – 9:27 a.m. – August 12th.

  “Easy Max,” I warned as my airline food turned over in my stomach when the wheels of the plane first touched the ground. I rubbed my hands along my temples to sooth the throbbing building in my head. My temples filled with warming heat and the dull ache faded as the plane finally skated along the landing strip, safe and sound. I sighed with relief before being nudged by the person next to me to move out of his way. That settled my stomach as my anger awoke from its slumber.

  “I hope this was the right choice...” I mumbled to myself and grabbed my things.

  “Enjoy your stay,” a stewardess said blankly. She didn’t even make eye contact as she spoke. I shook my head and made my way into the airport. At least check out would only take an hour and was basically painless…this time.

  “All right, calm down Max,” I told myself as I stepped out the front doors. This was supposed to be my new start and this was not the way I should go about it. My temper was legendary and it had a way of getting the best of me. That was one of the many reasons I was here, on this island. My last chance at redemption on this tropical paradise they call Hawaii. Well, not exactly the big isle but one of her little sisters, Maui.

  I had spent the last eight years running from the past, from my many mistakes and now I was at the end of my rope. I needed to make it work this time. I needed to try harder this time and I needed to do it while controlling my famous temper.

  The city of Kahului would be my savior or my nail in the coffin. And with the exception of the miserable flight, I think I was on the right path. As my eyes filled with the exotic landscape, it was love at first sight. The smell of the air hit me as soon as I walked out the doors of the airport. It was thick and sweet with an amazing floral smell that intoxicated my senses immediately. Fluffy grayish blue storm clouds in the distance brought the familiar smell of rain through my pores. Being the end of summer, it was hot and sticky from the humidity and those distant thunder clouds called to me. Ominously they seemed to taunt me but I have always enjoyed the ominous. Some would describe my childhood the same way.

  A little yellow and red cab pulled up beside me with a honk of its horn, startling me from my daydream. I threw my bag into the back seat and quickly slid my six foot frame next to it. My guitar case followed with a thud. I snapped my seat belt on and handed the man behind the wheel a piece of paper with my destination on it.

  “Do you know where this is?”

  He said nothing…not a single word. His dark brown eyes only glared at me from the rear view mirror. I sat there silently as he shrugged his shoulders and slowly pulled away.

  “Good…I guess you know the way,” I smiled and he didn’t even acknowledge me. Nice, I thought to myself sarcastically. I gave him one last glance before pulling out my shiny black mp3 player, quickly placing the tiny ear buds in my ears. I scrolled through my playlists of music to find the perfect antidote for my rude chauffeur.

  A light and poppy tune which always put a smile on my face and reminded me of my summers growing up in the desert. I had found that music was one of the few things that truly soothed the inner demons in me. It kept me sane through some of my toughest trials and I treated it as if it were my own brother. That was the worst part of relocating here; I had given up the local band I had created back in California. Music was my life and lately I had been ignoring it.

  “Just breathe,” I told myself as I rolled the back window down. The island air swept inside my lungs, sticking there as I sung along with
the music.

  The cab ride only lasted twenty minutes and I tossed the mute cabbie a twenty dollar bill.

  “Keep the change my friend,” I smiled. He looked at the toll, $19.35 and his brow furrowed in annoyance. He didn’t appreciate the joke, so I tried another one.

  “So…how do you make a dead cat float?” I asked and stepped from the back seat. His eyes pulled down in disapproval and he put the car in gear.

  “Two scoops of ice cream…one scoop of dead cat!”

  Nothing again…not even a smile. He drove away quickly and I shrugged it off with a laugh. Stretching my arms I inhaled another breath of the tropical air and glanced around at my new surroundings. I was on a lone street that curved and faded away in the distance. A single house stood alone with tall trees on the right side and a bigger than normal driveway along the front. The house wasn’t small and it wasn’t big. It was tucked away under the shade of the trees, cozy and modest. It reminded me of a post card I had once seen.

  The sun faded away behind the building sky and the smell of approaching rain snuck up on me. The thunder clouds were definitely headed my way…almost as if they were following me. My uncle warned me about how much it rains here on the islands. He told me that if I could stand the rain that I would do just fine living with him on the isle.

  My Uncle Frank hasn’t had much contact with the family since the accident but he always did his best to send me a post card or late night phone call, once in a blue moon. The accident drove a wedge between him and my dad, his brother. I always felt guilty for that. I think that was one of the reasons he ended up so far away from us. That and the brutal divorce from my Aunt Sharon didn’t help much either.

  But that was then and this was a new day. So when my favorite uncle offered me a place to stay and finish out my last year of high school, I couldn’t say no. The sad fact was that I didn’t have anywhere else to go after my father’s funeral. Now here I was standing in front of his house enjoying the view. I walked up to the mailbox, slowly running my hand over the top of it. It was black with faded yellow numbers painted along the side, 214. Our last name Valentine was written underneath them in bold red letters.

  I checked my watch to find that my Uncle Frank was running late as usual. I didn’t have too many memories of his habits but I did remember that he wasn’t a big fan of keeping a schedule. I think I inherited some of that gene too. He had told me to keep an eye out for a large truck with the words Lava Landscaping on the sides, but like him, it was no where to be found.

  It’s been ten years since I’ve seen him but I could still remember almost every detail of him. His hair was light brown like my fathers, his eyes were dark brown like mine and I had grown into a similar build. I was just a little skinnier I suppose. He stood almost 6’ 2” but when I was younger I would have sworn he was 7 feet tall easy. He had the best sense of humor back then and was quite the practical joker. That used to drive my dad crazy, probably because he was the victim of most of Frank’s pranks. He was my hero back then and now he was the only family I had left. If my dad was still alive I think he would have wanted it this way…I mean, his older brother watching over me. I think Frank was his hero too.

  I was so lost in my trip down memory lane that I didn’t even notice the tiny audience I had attracted. A little stray dog stood on the other side of the street, staring at me with wide eyes.

  “Woof,” he gently announced. I snapped from my daze to find the dirtiest little long haired Dachshund puppy I’d ever seen. His reddish brown fur was covered in a mix of mud and grass but from his posture I would say that he was proud of his camouflage.

  He couldn’t have been more than 2 years old, give or take a few months. With the exception of needing a bath he looked to be in great health. His little torso hovered only inches from the ground and he had no tags that I could see. Obviously someone didn’t want him anymore. When our eyes met I could tell he was sizing me up and he didn’t seem to be scared in the least. So I decided to test that theory.

  “What do you say big guy…” I knelt down slowly in front of the mail box and pulled out a small bag of peanuts I had been given on the plane. “…You hungry?”

  His little brown eyes looked down at the shiny green bag in my hands and then back to my eyes. He then slowly stretched his front paws forward, taking a couple steps toward me but he never moved his hind legs. He just crept forward until his back legs were sticking straight out behind him. He picked up his pace as his eyes focused back on my hands and after a couple feet he brought his hind legs up. He looked so silly as his back legs caught up with the rest of him.

  He bobbed across the road with this silly little confidence and without hesitation he snapped up the peanuts, crunching them down quickly. A rumble came from his throat as his tail wagged waiting for another one. So I fed him another and another. A soft thunder rumbled above us and the sun was totally gone now as I heard the sound of an approaching engine. I just assumed it had to be my uncle and kept feeding my new acquaintance the rest of my snack. When I finally did look up I found a newer Jeep bearing down on us. I stood up motioning with my leg for the dog to get behind me and he did cautiously.

  The next few seconds blurred into slow motion as I took in every detail. The Jeep was jet black and finely detailed, with big expensive off road tires and had been equipped with every bell and whistle. It had a removable top, which was off at the moment and a sport rack on top. A long purple and black surf board was strapped to the top and slightly shaded the driver. That’s when I first saw her.

  Her hair was dark deep brown, almost black, with slight wavy curls at the ends. It was just long enough to settle past her shoulders comfortably and was barely blowing in the wind. I found that weird because of the speed she was traveling at it should have been a mess of tangles swirling around her face. I didn’t have time to think about that because that is when I noticed her eyes: those haunting, crystal blue eyes that would later invade my dreams and fill my nightmares.

  Those eyes weren’t particularly happy to see me. She focused them right through mine, which were probably bugging out of my head by now. She glared at me as if I were bothering her in some way. They closed slightly, never looking away from mine as the truck sped up and finally disappeared around the bend in the road.

  “Whoa…” it slipped from my lips as time began to speed back up to normal.

  “I’m a little dazed.” My new buddy just sniffed the passing air, ignoring my words. Just then the back of my sneakers caught the edging of the street, sending me falling backwards. My arms flailing about me as my legs flew in the air as I hit the ground in a thud. My head was still spinning as my body came to a rest in the dirt and grass. So I gave myself a minute to remember every inch of her face as I caught my breath again. That was a mistake.

  As I lied there laughing at my amazing grace I didn’t even see or hear the motorcycle heading right for me. One of those small foreign bikes that were usually referred to as ‘crotch rockets.’ It was white with red and blue streaks along the sides. But my new friend had seen it coming and without any hesitation he was leaping over my body and growling in mid air at the stranger on the bike. His growl grew deeper as his paws found their footing and his tiny furry chest stuck out like a shield. The strip of fur on his back was standing at attention. I was in awe of how fearless he was but the man on the bike was not. I’m not even sure he saw us at the speed he was moving at or if he just didn’t really care. The whine of his engine squealed louder as he gave the bike more gas. My little bodyguard stood his ground as the bike raced toward us.

  The world came back into focus as I heard the painful yip from the dog as his body broke under the power of the motorcycles back tire. The man on the bike didn’t even glance our way as he sped off down the road. The dogs twisted torso tumbled through the air behind me. Climbing to my feet I could already tell he was in bad shape. His body lied broken and bloody as his breathing became shallow and slow. A faint whimper was all he could manage but that
was fading also. I had to act fast.

  Quickly I scooped him up in my arms, glancing over my shoulders to be sure there were no witnesses. A gasp escaped his dry throat and his eyes began to glaze over.

  “Hang on little hero…” I said as I brought him to my chest. “…I gotcha…don’t move.” I took a deep breath and concentrated. My body temperature began to warm under my tee shirt, filling my flexing arms with unnatural heat quickly. Faint steam escaped my hands and billowed around my face. The smell of singed fur filled my nose and the air around me, causing my eyes to water. A whitish orange glow pulsated from inside my arms as the first snap of his spine cracked back into place. The heat poured from my shoulders as my hands squeezed tighter and burned hotter. The glowing embrace throbbed back and forth as I pushed harder.

  “Stay calm Max…stay focused…don’t over do it,” I warned myself out loud. There was more cracking as the bones set themselves and his front paws slowly began to move. His little chest filled with air and a tiny whine slipped from his mouth, only this time it was a soothing whine. Then, before I was ready for it, he was licking and pawing at my face. The steam faded into thin air as the glowing inside my grasp disappeared.

  “You’re welcome little one,” I grinned. I felt a little winded and let my grip on him ease. He leapt from my arms to the ground and began jumping up and down in a dizzying display of joy. As he began to run around my legs in a thankful hysteria, a voice startled me.

  “Well, that’s a new trick.”

  I turned to find my Uncle Frank exiting his old truck with a bag of groceries in hand. His face was as calm as could be.

  “You saw that huh?” I winced.

  “I saw the whole thing. Just another magical day in paradise.” He smiled and I felt at ease. Frank still looked the same. Just some gray on the sides of his head and a handful of wrinkles filling in his face. He was in good shape still, though he didn’t seem as tall as I remembered. His eyes still held that same light in them that they had when I was younger.