It all happened so fast. One minute Max as on the floor with her life flashing before her eyes - her childhood, her parents, the fact that she hadn’t called her sister in almost a week - and the next the blonde was off of her, pushed against the wall by a huge man. He swiftly removed her head from her body. [i]With his bare hands.[/i] He turned to Max, a massive dark figure looming over her on the floor. His wild, fire red eyes burned into her own. She could hardly breathe. [i]What the hell?[/i] He had swooped in at the very second he needed her. Like a dark angel of death. But not her own death; rather, a dark guardian angel. [i]It’s him. It has to be him.[/i] She sat up slightly, but remained seated on the floor. She scooted back, using the wall for support. Even if she was right about this stranger being her sire, it didn’t mean he wasn’t dangerous. He was a purebred vampire, after all. It would take little to no effort on his part to wipe her from existence. Max glanced over at the remains of the vampire he had killed. What was left of the ashen blonde was evidence enough that Max was in the presence of a badass killer. But, oddly enough, she felt no fear. In fact, all she felt was safe and…at home. And curious.  Always curious. It was this curiosity that prompted a question in her head. It was an inappropriate question considering the circumstances. She wasn’t going to ask how he got there, how he knew she was in trouble or how he even knew who she was. She was going to ask the wrong question of a man who had just taken a life right in front of her eyes. The one question that always burned in her. “Are you him?”