Fallen (Part III)

Max and Karen sit at the beach on a blanket, her red hair radiates as the sun is shining while she wears a cute two-piece black bikini. Max is wearing his usual attire except his pants are rolled up to his knees and he's not wearing his socks and shoes. Waves crash against the shore and the air smells like the water, Karen rests her head on Max's shoulder while they admire the scenery and Max plants a kiss in her hair while he puts his arm around her.

"I love days like this, honey," said Karen.

"Me, too, love," replied Max.

While they admire the scenery, the day changes into the evening. Max looks around with wonder before he looks at Karen except she's not there.

"Karen?" called out Max.

No answer, he gets up and grabs his socks and shoes before going to go look for her. He runs off into the city to find her before putting his footwear on. It takes a little bit of time but since he doesn't want to waste time to tie his shoes at the moment, he takes off into a full sprint as if he's Tom Cruise. His shoes are barely secure on his feet.

"Karen?!" called out Max with a more urgent tone.

He runs a little faster and his urgency to find her grows a lot more serious. He hears a horn that sounds brassy like the TriPods from War of the Worlds and he knows that Hell has opened like an all-out buffet, the ground cracks open while an earthquake happens. Max picks up the pace to find Karen, he finds her with a random guy at an ice cream restaurant but she gets grabbed by a winged demon and it takes off in the air while she's in its grasp.

"KAREEEEEN!" yelled Max.

He wakes up in the car with Simon. It's evening, he must've been sleeping all day. He groggily sits up in his seat before he gets a cigarette from the dashboard.

"Hey, there, mate. Someone slept like a baby," said Simon.

"You know I didn't," replied Max.

Simon pulls up to a small diner, he parks the car. Simon gets out of the car but Max doesn't, "Come on, let's get breakfast," said Simon.

"I'm gonna enjoy my ciggy first," replied Max.

"You want the usual?" asked Simon.

"Yeah," replied Max.

Simon goes into the diner, Max rubs his eyes in frustration before he lands a punch on the glove compartment. Azriel appears in the backseat.

"Are you doing okay?" asked Azriel.

Max jumps from getting startled, "FUCK!" exclaimed Max.

"I heard your prayer so I figured I'd come down here before anyone else did," said Azriel.

"What prayer? I never said a prayer," said Max.

"Sure you did, you said you wanted someone to get you through the day because of the nightmare you had," said Azriel.

"I'm fine, Azriel. Thank you," said Max.

"So are you ready for the war yet?" asked Azriel.

"No! Look, leave me alone, okay?" replied Max.

Azriel disappears from the car, Simon is sitting at the booth where he can see Max with a small cup of coffee. He lets out a small sigh in pity for Max while he continues to look at him before he sips his coffee

"Poor kid," said Simon.

"I agree," said Azriel as he appears in the seat across Simon like nothing happened.

"Holy shit! Mate, you've got to stop doing that, you almost gave me a heart attack," exclaimed Simon.

"But you'd just come back, right?" asked Azriel.

"You angels always do this to each other?" replied Simon.

"Not really, no," said Azriel.

"What do you want?" asked Simon.

"How is Max doing? He has to be ready for the war," replied Azriel.

"Well, what do you want me to do? He already has his own problems and he definitely won't say anything to me about it," said Simon.

"Simon, you're practically the only thing in this world that can keep him going," Azriel points out.

"Yeah, no shit but Karen is weighing on his mind," said Simon.

"What did she do to him?" asked Azriel.

"She could've changed his life forever but she left him to hang high and dry," replied Simon.

Azriel sighs, "I'll never understand humans and why you guys love."

"And that's why you never will be one," added Simon.

Max gets out of the car, he drops his cigarette on the ground before stepping on it. He picks up the stubbed butt and throws it in the trash before walking into the diner, Simon waves him down. Max goes to the booth but he sees Azriel sitting with Simon, he rolls his eyes.

"Azriel, we'll worry about the war later. Right now, I just want to sit here and eat," said Max.

"You're definitely thinking about her," exclaimed Simon.

"No! I'm just exhausted," snapped Max.

"May I?" asked Azriel as he waves his hand to Max as a signal for what he's about to do.

Max sighs before sitting next to Azriel, "Touch me and the only thing you'll feel is your body burning,"

Azriel puts his hand down. Max grabs Simon's coffee but before he can put it to his lips to drink it, Simon bites Max's hand and growls at him while Max holds his hand in disbelief.

"Don't ever come between a man and his coffee," said Simon.

"I thought that only applied to women," snapped Max.

A waitress arrives at the booth, "Alright, darlings. Are you ready to order?" said the waitress.

Max notices her name tag, Erin. "Well, Erin, as a matter of fact, yes, I am. How are your eggs here? " asked Max.

"You want me to be honest?" replied Erin.

"Yes, please," said Max.

Erin whispers, "The eggs here are terrible. I'd go with the hash browns and bacon if you're in a breakfast mood."

"Well, as long as you're here and I can trust your judgment, I'll always be in a breakfast mood," said Max as he sends a wink her way.

She smiles at him before she asks him a big question, "So will it be the hash browns and bacon?"

"Yes, it will, beautiful," replied Max.

"And will it be anything to drink?" asked Erin.

"Let's go with some orange juice and that'll be all," responded Max.

Erin jots down his order, she looks at Simon, "And will it be anything for you?"

"Oh, no, thank you. This coffee is all I need," replied Simon.

"And what about you, dear?" asked Erin as she looks at Azriel.

Azriel looks at her and back at both Max and Simon, "I don't eat," he replied. Max slaps Azriel in his arm before covering the angel's tracks.

"He's fasting right now," added Max.

Erin just shrugs it off while she has an unsure look on her face, "Alright, I'll have your order ready soon, honey," stated Erin.

"My name's Max, by the way," said Max as she walks back to the kitchen.

"Azriel, why'd you do that?" asked Simon.

"Do what?" responded Azriel.

"You basically told her that you're not human," said Simon.

"Because I'm not," stated Azriel.

Max rests his hand on his face in disbelief, "Azriel, you can't just go around telling people that you don't do human things and all that," said Simon.

"Why? I'm half-human anyway," asked Azriel. Max rolls his eyes in disbelief as Azriel points it out to himself.

"Because no one is used to the idea of an angel coming to Earth, it's hard enough living on Earth with just humans," said Simon.

"I don't have time for this, these people clearly have bigger things to worry about besides me," said Azriel.

Azriel vanishes back to Heaven. Max pulls out his lighter to fiddle with it while he looks out the window, Simon takes a sip from his coffee. Max's mind wanders again and it ends up back at the nightmare he had where he saw Karen get grabbed by a winged demon but he also thinks about the moment he had before it escalated. He loves the idea of having a relationship and being intimate with someone, not worrying about the world because of demons or fallen angels, he wants to feel like he cares. He cares about Simon, the world, his life, he even cared about Karen but he wishes he could care about things when the load on his shoulders isn't so heavy.

"You're right, Simon," stated Max.

Simon's eyes light up a bit because it's been a while since Max has started a conversation about anything. "What?" asked Simon.

"I said you're right... I do miss Karen. I dreamed about her earlier before we came inside... We were uhh... hanging out on a beach like we were two years ago but the world... the world started ending... the horn blared through the air like it was a siren and Hell opened up... One of them took Karen and I couldn't save her," said Max.

"It sounds like you're worried about her and you wonder if she'll be ready for what's coming," said Simon.

"I don't care if she's ready or not, I only want her to be safe... but yeah, I do miss her," stated Max.

"Look, I know how much you want to have a normal life again..." Simon takes a sip from his coffee, "But you're the only one who can help stop this." added Simon.

"You think I don't know that? I'd love to have a normal life, mate but..." Erin comes to the booth to give Max his food.

"Here you go, sweetie," said Erin as she places the food in front of Max. Max smiles at her, twiddles his fingers near his pocket, and reaches in before he gives her $15 as a tip.

"Thanks, beautiful. That's for you," said Max. He looks at Simon with frustration and a hint of exhaustion before finishing what he said before he eats his food, "I've never had a normal life since I was six years old. Cousin abuses me, learned this magic when I was eight, summoned a demon when I was 14 to deal with my dad, mom abandoned me, and now I lost Karen so I think I'm beyond the possibility of having a normal life at this point," finished Max as he starts to eat his bacon.

"Think everything will at least slow down?" asked Simon.

Max shrugs his shoulders as he continues to eat his food, the gentlemen sit in silence while they eat their food.