Max could not agree to go along with her, even though staying away and not doing anything was killing him from within. But that was the right thing for him to do at the moment.

He knew convincing her was not going to be a piece of cake.

"Julie, please go back. There's nothing you or I can do about this."

"I won't say anything about that until you let me try."

"Just go back home for God's sake! And don't tell me that you left everyone like that."

"What?" Her voice shook. She looked away and tugged her hair behind her ear. "No, I didn't. I took care of things back there." A slight feeling of guilt hit her. She did leave everyone in that state.

'What I said wasn't a lie either. I left Morgan in charge of it.' She wished under her breath for Morgan to not turn out as some monster herself. She still had no clue about her, but for some unknown reason, she wanted to believe her.

"Stop acting like a total wuss. I'm not going anywhere without you." She observed that since the moment she had engaged Max in that argument, the storm started subsiding. She had a feeling that dragging this further might even stop it. "I know you can stop this."

"Stop patronizing me. I've already told you that this thing is not under my control." He knew that she was concerned for him, but what she was saying made no sense to him. He was totally clueless on how to stop that storm. The only once it calmed down was when he was running down the streets.

Julie gradually took small steps towards him, trying her best not to alarm him. The swirling sand was slowly turning into mere specks of dust in the wind. She was just waiting for the right moment to barge in.

But that was not as easy as she thought. Just when she was about to do what she had in mind, Max moved back.

"I see what you're doing there, and trust me, getting close would not make it easier," he said and started running away from her.

He was right. Julie had a plan for getting near him but nothing after that. She needed to think of something better. She was guided by a blind feeling that was asking her to just be by Max's side and everything would be fine on its own. She couldn't explain this to him since she herself found it to be dumb.

But she was sure of only one thing- that she would not give up on him.

She ran after him, calling out his name and cursing every once in a while for making her run like this. Max was scared that she might get him soon; for he was already exhausted and Julie was far better in sports than him.

He did try asking her to stay away from him but her stubbornness didn't even allow her to listen to anyone else's words. He was very well familiar with this trait of hers... once the thought of doing something entered her mind, there was nothing that could stop her. It was the reason that kept her always at the top. She took everything as a challenge that she would not even think about losing. If it wasn't for the heels, she might have already got him.

Max was a complete contrast to this. He started doubting himself even before things began taking shape. Even at the moment, he knew that there was no way he could keep avoiding the girl whose crystal clear eyes gleamed with the fire of determination.

The scene around them transitioned as they breezed on the sands which soon turned into damp mud. Max could hear them squish under his feet. He had to take extra care to not slip and fall right on his face. He didn't remember entering into the forest, but he could no longer see the waters anymore.

'Maybe I took a turn somewhere,' he thought as he stopped at the edge of the slope, gasping for breath. He had never been to that place before. His legs were shaking, clearly showcasing their condition of not being able to go any further.

Just when he peeked down to see what was at the bottom of the slope, Julie's voice startled him from behind, making him trip and tumble all the way down.

Seeing him just disappear off the edge made Julie's heart skip a beat. She rushed towards the spot and looked down only to realize that the slope was fairly gentle, so he would soon stop rolling without dying.

She cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, "That's what you get for running away from me."

"I... never... asked..." The words danced out of his mouth in a way that he didn't expect. Rolling all the way down made him sound like a drunken man. He thought that his words weren't loud enough for Julie to hear that but then he heard her chuckle.

'Now how do I get down?' she thought. The slope looked gentle but covered a long way, and she clearly didn't want to use the same means as Max. She tossed her heels out there and cautiously started moving down.

While he was rolling down, his perception of time got distorted. Everything was a blur, a blur that swirled out of existence.

He soon found himself lying on the cold grass. Warmth embraced his arm as he felt drops of blood oozing out of his scratched elbow.

He shook his head to get rid of the dizziness and stood up to look around. He was in a completely different place.

Beautiful flowers and tall grasses filled the area. Large boulders surrounded him and a few meters away something was glistening. It seemed to be a tiny pond. The whole area looked like a very large depression in the land.

He couldn't help staring at the biggest rock there. It was almost as big as his house and covered a very large area. The grasses and flowers around it danced merrily with the breeze.

He heard Julie walk up beside him as she too gawked at the sight in front of her.

Max didn't want to run anymore, but then... what he feared happened. A giant cyclone rose right beside him and threw a boulder far away, uprooting many plants in its way. He felt some heaviness sinking within him, so dark that it seemed capable of devouring even the night. His legs gave in and he fell on his knees, letting out a painful cry. This no longer felt like what happened before... this time it was hurting Max. The pain shot through his body and continued rampaging in its deathly dance.

Julie looked at him with horror filled in her eyes. She too sat on her knees beside him and tried holding him, but he continued groaning in pain.

"Max, what happened?"

He could hardly hear her voice, and felt as if he could pass out any moment. The pain was getting unbearable. Julie's countenance was just a blurred vision for him.

'Isn't she getting too much in your way?'

He felt his heart palpitating faster at the sound. It was the same voice from before. He didn't take much time in realizing the evil motive behind those words.

"Don't you dare-" he tried speaking but a burning sensation filled his throat and prevented him from doing so.

His face started heating up as he felt something strangling him. Everything was so sudden that it didn't even spare him any time to think or act. All he did was trying his best not to let out the energy that rampaged within him, which was desperately trying to come out.

'It must be so painful holding it in. Trust me, you don't have to.' The heavy voice echoed in his head.

Julie continued rubbing Max's back, not sure of what was happening to him. She felt his muscles stiffen, and his body heating up. There wasn't even anyone nearby whom she could call for help.

He knew this time what would be the consequence if he let himself loose. He didn't want to give that evil voice the chance to control his actions once again.

'This pain isn't even worth what you're trying to protect. How long do you think you can keep up? You'll ultimately end up hurting her, or maybe even worse.' The voice broke into a cackle as if this was all amusing to him.

"For God's sake Max, will you at least tell me what's wrong? You're starting to freak me out now," she said. Her voice shook, clearly showing how scared she was.

'Answer her, won't you? Tell her that you're about to kill her.'

The only response from Max to these words was pushing Julie away from him. He didn't look towards her and tried to get away, but his body wasn't ready to cooperate. Hardly had he taken one or two steps when he fell back on the ground.

"Are you kidding me? Forget about walking, it seems you can barely breathe and you still want to run away?" She held his arm with one hand and continued rubbing his back with the other. She saw how hard he was trying so hard to get away from her. Even though she somewhat understood that he wanted to keep himself away so that he couldn't hurt her, but she had no idea what was going on within him.

'End this already or else I will...'

"Get away from me!" Max screamed unable to hold it in anymore. Even though he didn't want that to happen, a strong gust of wind escaped his hand.

One moment ago Julie was right beside him, and the next, she was thrown mid-air as she went flying towards the giant rock in that superman pose. The only difference was her expression that was of shock and horror.

Tears dwelled in his wide-open eyes, and a feeling of disgust took over him. No matter how hard he tried, he ended up doing what he feared all along. He ended up hurting the person who didn't even care about herself before barging into a storm for him. There was nothing that she could get from all this, but still, she came after him.

Everything then calmed down. There was no longer any pain in his body.

'You could have done much be-'

Max ignored the voice, and without giving it a second thought, hurried towards Julie. A breath of relief washed over his anxiety when he saw that she had not hit against the rock. Luckily, she landed just a hand's distance away from it and wasn't severely hurt other than a few scratches on her arms and legs.

"How stubborn can you be?" he questioned, keeping her head on his lap and checking her for any sign of injury. He didn't pay attention to that voice anymore.

"Probably b-better than you," she said as she let out a faint chuckle.

"Just a few inches and you could be dead meat!"

He couldn't believe her resilience. Instead of being angry or scared at what he did, Julie lay on his lap with a calm expression on her face. She was obviously hurt, but still, she didn't let it show. That was when Max realized that she was trying way harder to make him feel better, even harder than Max.

"But that didn't happen. And according to me, it was only because you didn't want that to happen. And look! You seem totally fine now," she said with a bright smile lightening her face up.

Max really didn't want that to happen, not to Julie, and that was the reason he could hold it in for so long despite the pain it was causing. But now, Julie's words came to him like some healing incantation that cured him of the darkness that made its home within him and made him swear that he wouldn't allow his own self to be used for hurting people he cared about.

He felt free as the evil was parting away from him. He could, in fact, see that happening- a purple cloud slowly seeped out of his chest and went flowing towards the sky. The feeling was almost paranoia, but it was true.

'You might have forced me out this time, but we'll meet again. This isn't over yet, Max.'

The words sent a chill down his spine as the last of that smoke came out. He didn't hear anything after that. On looking towards Julie, he figured out that she couldn't see the cloud ebbing out of him but she still needed answers to all that had happened, and so did Max.

She tried getting up but let out a slight grown when her back twisted. "I guess this is going to hurt tomorrow," she muttered.

"Let's just get back, shall we?" he asked softly. A slightly warm, flat feeling was occupying the vacant place within him.

'Finally,' Julie thought, unable to resist that infectious smile.

He held her arms firmly and helped her get up on her feet. He did feel sorry for dragging her into all this but things were hardly in his control. Not to mention, he had already tried keeping her away from him for a gazillion times only to fail at every attempt. She was crazy, stubborn, unreasonable, and whatnot, but she was also the most loyal and caring person he could ever find. All the weird circumstances they went through unmasked the soft spot he had in his heart for her.

"Look," she said as she pointed towards the horizon.

The birds sang to the shine of the rising sun as the reddish hue was being scattered throughout. The bright dawn was gently casting away the cloak of night, bathing the meadows in that yellow light. Winds were now singing a different tune, a bit scary to the ears, but also beautiful. The dark night had finally passed away.

"I knew this sight would definitely pique interest of the one who always has his head in the clouds," she teased Max.

"As if you didn't-" Max stopped abruptly when his hand unknowingly touched the giant cobblestone behind them. To his surprise, the rock returned to him with a mild shock. He at first thought it to be some electrostatic spark, but when he turned around to see, his eyes were left wide open.

"What the-" His words got swallowed in a gulp as his hold on Julie's arm loosened.

She turned around to see what made Max react that way and was left equally shocked.

The rock was glowing! It clearly wasn't just because of the sunrise... it was illuminating itself.

Butterflies swirled around it, the chirping of birds sounded happier as they continued their sprightly dance around it, and the number of flowers they had seen earlier seemed to be doubled. It was eerie in no way. Instead, it seemed as if nature was rejoicing over something about it, about the moment they had long-awaited.

Max couldn't help getting pulled towards it as he slowly raised his hand before gently placing it over it. The mild shock he felt earlier was now replaced by a rapid surge of flashes in his mind.

He tightly shut his eyes as he continued to see the peoples he had never even met. He felt as if he was shown moments from someone else's life. He couldn't understand a thing that was happening but it made his heart sink. A drop of tear unknowingly escaped his eye. He didn't know why, but the blurred images made him yearn for something, or someone.

The flashes stopped abruptly. He opened his eyes to the feel of Julie holding his other hand. The moment he opened his eyes, he could no longer remember what he had seen. Just a feeling of a deeply rooted loss lingered with him.

The glow on the cobblestone toned down a little, and some sparkly silver threads danced on it making some patterns.

'What's this now?' His brows knit, and his legs took a step back.

Within a few seconds, words started appearing on it.

Fate has played her game again

Bringing him to the heart

For a glimpse of his transitory destiny

He felt a lump settle in his throat as he moved forward to read what followed. Julie's hold loosened as she continued gawking at the words which seemed to be some kind of poetry.

With the rise of the dawn of realization

The prophecy shall appear

For the one who has been chosen

Chosen to make a choice

A choice on which the fate of the world stands

Lest he takes the path of salvation,

The rocky terrain leading him to the unworthiness lying beneath,

With trials at each step

Waiting to send him tumbling down the path

Clothing the people he loves, in pain and blood

Could he control the rising flood?

Tearing all the ties that bind

Having nothing to hold him behind

Could he succeed at what made every other fail?

If he doesn't

Let tears flow, O ye people of the world.

For the Crimson Angel of Death is knocking at your doorsteps.

All that had happened earlier already made them doubt the word normal, but this was a lot to take in at once. It was not the first time Max reading about the 'chosen one'. He had read about it in Shane's diary before.

"Whoa..." Julie gasped.

'Shane, where are you? I need someone to give me an explanation for all this,' Max thought. A sigh of frustration came out of his mouth.

"Maybe I can help."

Julie recognized the voice at once. She turned around to see Morgan standing at a distance with her hands on her hips, and her eyes fixed on the words which had just appeared on the cobblestone.

For some reason, Julie wasn't surprised at the fact that Morgan managed to find them, and that too in a place about which even they were unaware of, even though she had just moved to Moonvale. She understood that the woman in front of her was much more than what met the eyes.

Suddenly she realized that in order to make her go after Max, Morgan told her that they might find something. 'Is this what she was talking about?' She pondered over the words the mysterious woman.

"So there are a few changes this time," Morgan said monotonously. Her brown eyes moved from the left corner to the right corner and gradually moved down. She didn't even take them off the stone until she finished reading.

Julie turned towards Max with a sheepish smile on her face, totally unsure of how he was going to react seeing his teacher in front of him at the moment.

Max was looking at Morgan for a while with his eyes wide open but then turned towards Julie, who didn't seem to be as shocked as he was.

He understood that there was something that he didn't know.

"You want to tell me something?" he questioned as he raised an eyebrow at Julie.

She let out a nervous laugh and had just opened her mouth to say something when Morgan interrupted in between.

"The only person who has some real stuff to explain here is me, so would you mind leaving that job to me?" She asked, walking closer to Max.

Max was too shocked to say anything.

"Come, I'll drop you both home. You both need to sneak back into your houses before anyone wakes up."

"Okay, wait. Where's everyone?"

"Exactly where they should be at this time, in their beds buried under their quilts," she said with a sly smile covering her face. "Now will you guys at least hurry up? Fitheach doesn't like to wait." She turned around and started moving.

"Who's Fitheach now?" Julie asked. Her brows knit at the mention of the weird name, but instead of replying, Morgan just continued moving.

Unable to think of anything else, Max and Julie followed her. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Another update in like foreverrrrrr! But I updated 2 chapters at once, does that help in toning down your anger?

I originally wanted these two parts to be a single chapter but it turned out to be a bit long (5364 words! XD) And hence, two chapters for ya'all.

I'm not very confident about the prophecy I created because for all I know, poetry has never been my thing. But still, I tried to do my best. Let me know what you think about this chapter(and the prophecy).]

Max and Julie's new teacher knows a lot about what's happening. Will she help them sort things out? Or is this taking them towards even bigger trouble?