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written by dornish queen
Characters: Max Phillips x reader
Length: 1040 (a little longer than usual)
Warnings: death, I can’t think of anything else
A/N: Bloodsucking Bastards AU; This is an epilogue for the stories “Last Day” and “First Day”. If you have not read those, I would read that before this one.
“Oh Fuck!”
Those were Max Phillips’ last words as he felt the wood stake sink into his chest. Not the most graceful of exits, he would have to admit. He looked at the stake penetrating his heart, then stared up into the eyes of his killer, a newbie vampire hunter, no more than 16 years old.
“Really? This is how I’m going out?” He thought to himself.
Before he had the chance to roll his eyes in disgust, he exploded into a pile of bloody guts. And he had decided to wear his best suit that day for no particular reason. What a shame.
In a blink of an eye, he was somewhere else. He felt his chest frantically. The stake was gone and he was still dressed in his finest suit. His body felt whole and solid, and something felt different. He felt his chest and felt something he had not felt in a long time. A thumping. A heart that had been long dead was beating in his chest. But how could that be? He should be nothing but a pile of ground meat.
He took a deep breath and felt his heart again. Pure elation and then the realization that he had to be dead.
“Oh God! I’m in Hell!” Max uttered to himself.
“Actually, I was told this is called “receiving.” Came a soft, joyous voice behind him.
Max turned and saw her, only a few feet behind him. He let out a trembling breath as she took his hands into hers. It had been so long, and yet he still remembered her touch. Her lips gently gliding across the top of his hand until he was caressing her face. Her young face and her eyes that sparkled like a hundred suns. He wrapped his arms around her tight, lifting her up off the ground. She was real and breathing and alive just like him.
“Um, Babe? Can you put me down? It’s getting hard to breathe.” She said in her sassy voice. God how he missed that!
“Receiving, you say?” He said as he flicked a stray tear off his face. “All I see is a park. Actually, we’re in a dog park?”
“That’s interesting. You see, they told me that people see different things.” She began calmly, as though this was a normal conversation over morning coffee.
“Who’s they?” Max asked, looking puzzled and still a little in shock.
“Upper management.” She said, as a Golden Doodle walked up to them and began sniffing at Max. “They said the dogs were put here to make the transition easier for incoming people.”
“Incoming…transition…what…I need to sit down.” Max said perplexed as he made his way to a park bench, the Golden Doodle jumping on top and resting his head on Max’s lap.
She sat close to him and the dog, clearly amused at how much Max seemed to enjoy the dog’s company.
“Our ride will be here soon to pick us up to go see The Boss.” She said as the dog began to lick her hand.
“But, I’m a vampire. Don’t I end up going to the “other” place?” Max began.
“No…you WERE a vampire.” She said, smiling at him, looking at various vehicles as they drove by, until a white sedan pulled up to them. The driver motioning them to get inside the car door that seemed to open as though it had a mind of its own. “Come on. That’s our ride. Let’s go.”
She steps in the back the car, and as Max starts to makes his way into the car. He is frozen in place, as though there is an invisible barrier preventing him from entering.
“Babe? What’s wrong? Come in.” She asked, puzzled.
“Something’s not right. I don’t belong here.” Max started, as he stared at her waiting for him in the car.
“In or Out, Buddy!” hollered the chauffeur from the front. “I haven’t got all day!”
Max hesitantly got into the car, the leather seat crinkling under his weight. He felt her head lean against his shoulder as he settled in, the car door closing with a loud THUMP.
“Good to have you here, Max!” cried the chauffeur, more cheerful now that he was back on schedule. “You know, your lady friend there? She would not leave, kept saying how she was waiting for someone. We tried telling her not to wait and that you just can’t tell sometimes. You know? Sometimes you get the other driver? You know what I mean, Max?”
“Wait… How do you know my name?
“You’re ON my itinerary, Max!” shouted the driver, as he waved a piece of notebook paper above his head. “You know… you don’t act like people normally do when I pick them up. Most people are happy when they see me.”
“I guess I’m just a little confused.” Max began to say.
“Well, I’ve been doing this a long time, and I’ve never been wrong! If I was…BOY would The Boss be mad! I know good people when I see them, and believe me. YOU are good people. Alright we’re here!” The driver exclaimed gleefully.
Max looked out the car window and saw the apartment building he lived in.
“Are you sure this is the right place?” Max began.
“It says to take you kids home.” The driver said as he looked over his list frantically. “Oh look, your tour guide’s here!”
They both got out of the car and walked toward their tour guide sitting patiently outside Max’s building, but there was only a dog. It was the same Golden Doodle that came up to Max at the park.
“Our tour guide is a dog?” they both said in unison, looking back at the driver.
But the driver only giggled and shrugged his shoulders. “Hey, be happy you got the dog!”
“Um…I’m sorry. I didn’t catch your name.” Max said leaning in the front window to give the driver tip money for the ride.
“My name’s Peter, but you can call me Pete!” He said as he took the cash from Max. “Welcome home, kids.”
As Peter drove away, they walked hand in hand toward the Golden Doodle and into the building.
The End