*Max jogs out of the hotel, glancing back now and again to see if Elanah would follow. Content she was still inside her room; he moves across the road and into one of the back alleys. He'd given into the primal urge to run; this time motivated by the Man instead of the Beast. He had to clear his head, deal with the flood of emotions racing through his head. He'd lied to Elanah, a fact that was only adding guilt to the emotions pulling the Mekhet in several directions at once*


*He passes by an abandoned house, the back door missing from the door frame. For a moment, movement catches Max's eye, and he stops. Edging closer, he peeks inside the dilapidated home; light from the street light outside reflecting off a mirror inside what was once a living room. He sighs softly, Max had always had a sneaking suspicion his reflection, blurred as it was; wasn't truly his own.* Time I had a talk with myself.... *He says softly.*


*Max pulls up a discarded dinning room chair as he draws closer to the mirror; turning it around so he can rest his arms on the curved back. He straddles the chair, looking into the mirror at the blurred outline of a dark-haired man* Well, you got what you wanted, Maxie... *It's Max's voice, his lips moving to form the words. Yet, to him, it seems as if they're coming from the man in the mirror.* One of the reasons for coming out here was to get in touch with your humanity again. Tell me, how are those emotions treating you?


*Max growls, sneering at himself* Go to hell. I knew it was going to be painful. Better to deal with the pain then ignore it and become of one those soulless bastards back in New York. Oh please, you haven't changed. You left her as soon as it was getting inconvenient to deal with the situation. Unless you were just after her for her body... She was the one after me! It's not my fault I remind her of the lover she killed! Besides, she's the one that guided me. If she didn't want to, she would have stopped it...

*His voice wavers at the last sentence; Max not entirely sure it's the truth. The reflection in the mirror only smiles at him*I don't know Maxie. Emotionally and physically abused; she might be reaching out to you just to have someone to continue the abuse. No! Everything she's been through, now she has a chance to put it behind her, make a fresh start of things. Damn it, I'm helping her! *Max stands up, pacing the floor quickly as he kicks the chair out of the way*

Yes, you're helping her; helping her to understand the nature of the Kindred. You break her down, make love to her, then, when she needs you to be there the most; you run. Tell me, Maxie, is abandonment on of the lessons she needs to learn? She seems to have had so many lessons in it already... *Max turns, staring at the mirror. The reflection seems to be smiling at him; or is it just his imagination. He marches to the mirror, pressing his nose to it; pushing out his will to make the image come into sharp focus. He glares at the image, staring back into his own eyes.* I'm a little distracted. I've got monster's chasing me, performed exsanguination on myself last night, and now have a rather attractive young woman clinging to me for emotional stability! What do you want me to do?

*His reflection only shrugs* If you don't know, I don't either. What I DO know is, it would be a real shame if between now and the time you figure out what to do; she decided it would be nice to watch the sun rise...*The reflection smiles; though Max is sure his mouth didn't move. It's a hungry, predatory grin; and Max recoils in shock and terror as he realizes he's staring into the face of his own Beast. He falls back, almost tripping over the chair he kicked earlier. * No! *He screams out; fingers wrapping around the back of the chair; tossing it over his shoulder with a primal fury at the mirror. The glass shatters into a thousand pieces; Max instinctively covering his his face. He feels the pin pricks of a dozen slivers of glass slicing shallow scratches into his forehead and cheeks.*

*The last of the glass falls to the floor, like the soft tinkling of bells as they land. He collapses against a wall; sliding down it until he's setting on the floor. With his back against the wall, he calm his racing heart, shutting off the flow of blood through his veins. He rests there for a moment, then pulls his phone out of his pocket. He pauses for a moment, debating with himself before dialing Elanah's number*