"He was protecting me!" Max throws up his hands too. "And I don't feel hurt by him. I don't... I don't know what I feel, okay? I'm still trying to figure it out but... he wasn't wrong!"
Max's frustration simmers down into something heavier, like a weight pushing down on his shoulders, shrinking him several inches.
"You remember how we ended up in other people's memories that one time on the ship? Erin went into one of mine. She killed Erik. She took me back home to my family. It was everything I'd secretly dreamed of. But we weren't safe. Me, my sister, my dad, and Erin had to move all the way around the world to Japan. We were hiding in Tokyo for a year. Then we got attacked in our apartment by vampires. Just like Erik said would happen. They almost killed my dad and sister. If Erin wasn't there to fight them off..." He can't bring himself to finish that thought.
"And we had to run again. Pick up everything all over again. My dad already had to leave the business he'd owned for years, and my sister had to drop out of medical school. For me. And it still wasn't enough. They'd have to spend their entire lives afraid of getting attacked, for me! Give up everything they wanted in life. For. Me."
He shakes his head bitterly.
"I was actually glad when I woke back up and found out it was all just a... memory. I just wanted things to go back to how they were, with Erik alive. I... I never got over seeing him die like that. What more do you want? Does he have to be dead for good before anyone will listen to what I want??"
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Max's frustration simmers down into something heavier, like a weight pushing down on his shoulders, shrinking him several inches.
"You remember how we ended up in other people's memories that one time on the ship? Erin went into one of mine. She killed Erik. She took me back home to my family. It was everything I'd secretly dreamed of. But we weren't safe. Me, my sister, my dad, and Erin had to move all the way around the world to Japan. We were hiding in Tokyo for a year. Then we got attacked in our apartment by vampires. Just like Erik said would happen. They almost killed my dad and sister. If Erin wasn't there to fight them off..." He can't bring himself to finish that thought.
"And we had to run again. Pick up everything all over again. My dad already had to leave the business he'd owned for years, and my sister had to drop out of medical school. For me. And it still wasn't enough. They'd have to spend their entire lives afraid of getting attacked, for me! Give up everything they wanted in life. For. Me."
He shakes his head bitterly.
"I was actually glad when I woke back up and found out it was all just a... memory. I just wanted things to go back to how they were, with Erik alive. I... I never got over seeing him die like that. What more do you want? Does he have to be dead for good before anyone will listen to what I want??"