In Embers (The Ember Series Book 3) (13 page)

~ Leader Of The Broken Hearts: Papa Roach ~

3 YEARS AFTER LEAVING MAUI…

Thursday - 12:01 a.m. - January 1
st

The days and nights were a blur now, all running into the other. That’s why it stunned me when the drunken customer screamed the date into the air at the top of his lungs. It was New Year’s after all and nothing rang in the holiday like alcohol and fireworks. His words were slurred and manic, but as each new number escaped his mouth, I felt further and further away. Had it really been three years since I left Maui? Was time really flying that fast?

I dug my fingers into the strings of my guitar and played harder. I didn’t want to know this new information. Three years since I’ve seen Asia or Sam. Three blank years since I’ve held my daughter, Madi. How could it be?

As everyone around the room danced and screamed, taunting Father Time, I finished my song and left the stage. Upset, I made my way outside the lodge and found the bright stars being assaulted by fireworks. They echoed through the canyon, ricocheting off every nook and crevice. The night air was cold and unrelenting, but I dared it to slow my racing memories. I hadn’t let the past catch up with me in years, but now, it was as if someone had blown a hole in the dam I had built so long ago. I didn’t want to remember this. I didn’t want to feel this.

As the world began to crush me in an overwhelming anxiety attack, Lewis ran up behind me with an extra jacket in his hand. “You okay, man?”

Looking at him with curls of steam spinning from my hands, I tried to explain, “I’m fine. Just feeling a little claustrophobic…that’s all.”

“Claustrophobic? Inside th
e biggest hole on the planet?” He smiled. “What’s going on, Max?”

“Nothing,” I snapped, but felt bad for doing it.

He walked up to me slowly and frowned. “Okay,” he sighed. “Well, can you tell me at least one thing?”

Feeling dizzy, I answered, “What?”

“Why are your hands on fire?” he asked, in shock. His eyes were as big as saucers and locked onto my hands. They were at my sides and thin ribbons of orange and yellow flickered along my skin.

“Holy shit!” I screamed out.

“Damn right, holy shit!” he echoed, and quickly threw me to the ground. “Stop! Drop! Roll!” he panicked. He kicked at me on the ground, trying to get me to roll faster. When the fires only intensified he stepped back and readied himself.

“Lewis, don’t freak out…” I warned, and stood up slowly. Trails of heat and flame shadowed my movements like sparklers on the Fourth of July.

“Dude, you’re on fire!”

“I know.”

“How? Does it hurt? Are you an alien?” He spun around like he was going to run and waved his arms in the air. “Oh God, my best friend is an alien! Oh jeez!”

“Lewis…” I called to him.

“Oh man, I’m going to be on the news…”

“Lewis!” I shouted. “I’m not an alien!” My voice reverberated along the walls of the canyon, stunning the half-dozen patrons as they walked out the exit of the lodge. All of them watched us as if we were insane.

“Max?” Lewis asked, catching his breath. My hands were no longer burning, but a faint trail of smoke twisted around my body and head. His eyes searched me for any signs of damage. I nodded toward the small crowd and offered up an awkward smile.

“Looks like my friend has had too much to drink tonight,” I said, hopefully covering our tracks. The group of people paused for a moment watching us intensely. Finally, one of the men hollered back to us.

“Me too! Woohoo! Happy New Year’s!”

Lewis walked up to me slowly and softly began to swipe the dirt from my clothes.

“Umm…sorry about throwing you to the ground.”

With a worried smile, I said, “An alien? Really? No more paranormal books for you, my friend.” We both let a nervous laugh out. I returned to the entertainment room of the lodge and started to gather my musical gear, and Lewis reluctantly helped. He didn’t say a word, just shadowed my every move. As he helped carry my equipment to the bed of my pickup truck, I let a long sigh out. T
he heat from my breath crystallized into the icy night air.

“Max?” Lewis whispered.

I looked up at him worried.

His face filled with a crooked smile before he leaned in to me and asked, “Are you…like…a superhero?”

I laughed so hard it actually hurt my lungs. After what felt like ten minutes I slid my hand onto his shoulder and exhaled another long relieved laugh.

“No, I’m not a superhero.” Sneaking a peek at my hands, I felt a little like my old self. My fires were back…sort of. I wasn’t sure I could completely control them at will, but they were there again, just under my skin.

“Oh, okay,” he wilted.

Crypti
cally, I said, “I’m the villain.”

“Seriously?” he asked, in a mumble.

Climbing into my truck, I said, “Come on. I’ll tell you the whole story.”

Lewis and I drove to a private spot on the very edge of the canyon and shared a belated toast to the upcoming year. We sat in the cab of my truck watching the night turn to dawn. I spent the entire time telling him my story. The good, the bad, and the ugly. All of it. From the day I lost my little sister to the very moment he and I met on the side of the road, two years before.

He just stared at me as I spoke and when I was finally finished he wiped his brow with a handkerchief and gasped. “That’s the coolest story I’ve ever heard.”

“I guess.”

“Sad, but amazing, Max.”

Rubbing the temples of my head, I felt as if I had removed a huge weight from my shoulders but I still felt incomplete and lost. “Story of my cursed life.”

“I don’t think you’re cursed at all.” He smiled.

“You don’t?”

“Nope. You’re blessed.”

“What?” I couldn’t believe my ears.

“Max, you have a gift. You’re basically a walking comic book hero…just without the cape and boots,” he cracked himself up, and laughter filled the cab of the truck. “Don’t get me wrong, you’ve experienced some of the worst things this world has to offer, but you’ve also seen the world, saved lives, loved two women, and you’re a father.”

“I guess…”

“I guess? Max, out there right now is a little girl who loves you. No matter what you do, no matter how far you run, she will always love you,” he said, proudly.

“But it’s been so long since I’ve seen her.”

“She carries your spark.”

Wow. Lewis had in the span of two-minutes centered me again. Since meeting Lewis I had been in denial, a free fall of emotions. I needed a new start, a normal day to day life. I needed to rewind myself. That’s what I had done, found a new life, a new home, a new job. I helped with odd jobs throughout the Grand Canyon Park, and played the lodges banquet room on special occasions for extra money. Lewis got me the job. I didn’t really need the money at all. Asia had split her enormous inheritance with me years earlier and I had hardly put a dent in the bank account she gifted me. I never felt right using the money without her anyways, so I just used it if it was an emergency.

Living in and around the canyon had freed me in some ways, even though I was still running from my past. I just didn’t realize it until tonight, until Lewis put me in my place. He had become a great friend. Heck, his mother even let me stay in the same room for the first six months until I bought my own trailer.

“Thank you, Lewis.” I started up my truck and tagged him in the shoulder with a soft punch.

“Where we headed?”

“Home,” I smiled. “I need to look up an address…in Seattle.”

Back at my trailer Lewis paced anxiously as we waited for the horribly slow internet connection to bring up the search results. Oz ran around Lewis’ legs playfully tugging at his heels. He liked Lewis even more than I did. I think it was because Lewis would sneak him little chunks of bacon whenever he could. Lewis was officially King Oz approved.

Suddenly, Sam’s name and information popped up on the screen. She was living in a suburb of upper Seattle and apparently still using her last name.

“Is that her?” Lewis asked, with a yawn. He reached out and filled his metal mug with fresh coffee.

“I think so,” I said, unsure.

Lewis was thinking the same thing I was and said, “She never married?”

“I can’t tell. Maybe her and Kai married, but she kept her last name. I mean, his last name was Kadooka,” I joked.

Lewis stared over my shoulder at the computer screen, and nodded, “I see a phone number.”

“And?” I shrank in my seat.

“Call her.”

“I can’t,” I fumbled.

“Why not?” he asked, taking a long sip from his cup.

“What do I say?”

“Start with hello and work your way up to, how’s our daughter?” Quickly he picked up my cell and began dialing for me.

I wanted to stop him but I couldn’t move. The familiar sound began to ring from the speakers and he tossed the phone to me. It landed in my palm and it took all my concentration not to burn it up. Sam’s voice came through the speaker and I thought I would pass out.

“Hello?”

“Sam…” I barely whispered. The line went silent for a moment and I almost hung up.

“Max, is that you?” she said, breathlessly.

“Aloha,” I teased. Instantly, the line went dead as she hung up on me. Embarrassment and anger filled my face and I looked over at Lewis.

With a frown, he smirked, “So, how’s she doing?”

“Shut up! Obviously she doesn’t want to talk to me. She left me three years ago with my daughter and my best friend! Man, I am so stupid,” I pouted.

Lewis sat down next to me and slid a fresh cup of coffee in front of me.
“Don’t give up yet. There’s still another person we need to try and find…Asia,” he dared.

“You can’t be serious…” I stood up in a fit. “Asia doesn’t want to be found. She doesn’t want me in her life or she wouldn’t have left me in the first place.” I leaned my head against the fake wood paneling of my mobile home and sulked.

“I didn’t even get a reason why she left, Lewis.”

“Finding her is a long shot, but it’s worth a try,” he said, with a crooked grin.

“Trust me, if she wanted me in her life, she’d find me. Nothing comes between Asia and her storms,” I said, flatly. And if on cue, my cell phone rang on the table. Lewis looked down at it with huge eyes.

“No way!” he gasped. Slowly, I reached down and picked it up.

Gently, I swiped the screen and said, “Hello?”

“Damn you, Max!” Sam cursed. “It’s been three years! Where have you been?”

Her anger stirred the flames in my heart and I snapped back, “Where have I been? You left me, remember!”

“To make a safer life for Madison! You remember her, Max, the daughter you abandoned!” she scolded.

Abandoned
?
Was she crazy? “It’s not abandonment when you leave first!” I cussed through clenched teeth.

“This was a mistake…” she started to say.

Focusing my anger, I asked, “Can I talk to Madi?”

“Are you kidding? No!”

“Please, Sam,” I begged.

“You could have called all this time, or wro
te, or sent her birthday cards…Christmas gifts…” she started to cry.

“How could I do that? You left without letting me say goodbye. You stole Madi from me! My absence is your fault!” I screamed, not able to control my famous temper anymore.

“I left you an address and a phone number as soon as we were settled. I sent it in a letter. I even sent it to your mother when I never heard from you. You remember her, Max? Or did you run away from her too?” Sam said, and my heart broke all over again.

I took a few intense seconds to try and calm myself. Steam rolled from my shoulders and Lewis stood just out of reach from me, fanning a dishtowel my way in an attempt to cool me off. I ignored him and focused my attention back on Sam’s faint sobs.

“Tell Madi I love her.”

“Max?” Sam softened her tone.

“Have a good life, Sam,” I whispered hard.

“Wait…Max…”

“Goodbye, Sam, I love you.” Quickly, I hung up the phone and smashed it into the floor with a crash of fire and smoke. Oz ran and hid under the couch and Lewis stood frozen with a coffee mug in one hand and a dangling dishtowel in the other. I walked outside and greeted the morning sun with tears in my eyes and a scream in my throat.

Across the road was a white van with no markings and tinted windows. It’s engine rolled alive and it pulled away as soon as I saw it. The scene was all too familiar
, but I didn’t care. As a matter of fact, I was tired of caring about anything anymore.

I walked down the road and spent the morning by myself. Just my broken past and my resurrected inferno.