Shadow used his blood magic to force everyone to stay in place, except for Max. Shadow snarled at him.

  Max cried out his name, but Shadow ignored his plea for life. He smirked. He approached Max and pushed him to the ground. Shadow punched him, over and over. Max dodged every blow.

  Shadow laughed and backed away, then the crows were sent in to kill Max!

  "Why are you doing this?" Max exclaimed.

  Shadow then simply answered. "You threatened me....besides, I need a new soul to claim." Max shook at how calm and ruthless Shadow was.

  Max didn't want to admit it, but he preferred the meaner, bitchier version of him.

  Shadow snarled at him again. Max looked into the deep, black, soulless eyes that took over his friend.

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  "Come on, man. Wake up! This isn't you!"

  Shadow snarled again. "You don't get it, I've ALWAYS been this way!"

  Max looked at Zack and Rose, then looked back at his friend.

  "Come on, I'm not losing you too!"

  Rose broke the spell cast on her, and she moved. She stepped in, tears were streaming down her cheeks. "Brother, you don't want this."

  Their soulless friend looked at all of them, then found his way back to Max. Seeing this, Rose raised her hands to summon her magic. "Gabriel, don't make me do this!" She sobbed.

  But her brother didn't listen, he continued to stare Max down. He raised his head, and the birds came soaring down. He looked at Shadow again. Anger struck him.

  "Do you think Crimson would've wanted this?" Max shouted. Then all of a sudden, time moved still. The birds stopped, and the air went still. Rose and Zack looked at their surroundings.

  Max can notice the guilt behind Shadow's eyes. His friend looked at the ground. Max shook his head at this. "Your friend wouldn't have wanted you to kill."

  Shadow whispered, this time his voice changed back to a normal teenage boy's. "I don't know how many people died because of me."