Everything was dark. His head hurt, no, everything hurt. Like he'd been dragged across a gravel road.

          He raised his head slowly, slumber still clogging his senses. When had he fallen asleep? He tried to move his body, to no avail.

          Where was he?

          What was going on?

          His senses began to return, be it agonizingly slowly. He could feel smooth fabric covering his eyes. So he was blindfolded. Great.

          He was sitting on something. He wiggled a little bit, as that was all he could do. It felt like a chair. A hard, wooden, uncomfortable chair. Another thing to add to the list.

          He regained feeling in his arms. He didn't even realize they were numb until pain shot through them from being forced behind him in an awkward position for too long.

          ...What?

          He tugged on his limbs. Sure enough, they were pulled behind him. He hissed in pain when ropes chafed against the skin on his wrists when he moved them.

          He was tied to a chair. In an unknown place. With who knows who watching.

          He panicked.

          Struggling in the ropes, he realized more bound his ankles to the legs of the chair. This increased his fear and he began to hyperventilate, calling out into the unknown.

          "Hello?! Is anyone there?! Please, I-I–"

          "Max..."

          He jumped, stilling at the sound of his name. The voice was familiar, but it was too quiet for him to put a finger on it.

          "Wh-who's there? I-I d-don't kn-know what's go–"

          "Shhh...you're fine, everything's fine..."

          The voice was louder, and closer, this time. A stone of disbelief, fear, and confusion settled into his heart, making his body go cold. He recognized it now. His suspicions were confirmed when the blindfold was lifted.

          Ross's face was disturbingly close to his own, and Max leaned back in surprise. "R-Ross! Wh...what ar-are you d-doing?" He glanced around, but all he could see was Ross's smiling face.

          The brunette stood straight. He was still smiling. Something was very off, the entire upper half of his face was lost in shadow. "Nothing...you're fine..."

          "Ross, clearly I am not fine!" Anger drowned out his fear momentarily. His default emotion. "I'm tied to a fucking chair!" To accentuate his point, he struggled a bit, ignoring the pain that shot through his body. "Now let me go!"

          Ross frowned. The red-head could see the glint of light on his glasses hidden in the darkness, but not his eyes. "No, I'm afraid I can't do that." He smiled again, wider and creepier than the last. "You'll miss the game I have planned. I'll be right back." He turned and walked through a door Max didn't notice embedded in the wall.

          As soon as Ross was gone, Max scanned the room. It was rather small, and completely made out of some kind of stone that looked green in the dim light. Burnt-out torches decorated the walls in set intervals, the red embers making them look like redstone torches from MineCraft. Besides that, the room was empty.

          Max began to struggle again, tugging at the binds on his wrists, gritting his teeth as the skin there was rubbed raw. It was when he felt a warm liquid run down his hands that he stopped, wincing as even the slightest movement aggravated the new wounds.

          He looked up when the door opened again. The red-head caught a glimpse of some stairs leading up before it slammed shut and Ross was in front of him again.

          He was carrying another one of the 'redstone' torches, his face glowing red due to the light. His eyes, however, were still hidden. Something about the way Ross was acting was disturbingly familiar.

          He stepped closer, and Max recoiled as much as he could away from him. "Ro-Ross, what's going on? Wh-why are you doing this?"

          "We can be best friends forever..." A single tear slid down Ross's face as his smile grew.

          The red-head blinked. "What? Ross, we are best friends. We live together for God's sake!"

          "...you'll never leave me now..."

          "...what?"

          "...I'm so lonely..."

          "Ross, what are you–"

          "The Red Sun never sets..."

          It clicked in Max's mind. "Red Sun? What are you talking about, Ross? We finished the RedStoner series months ago. The Red Sun doesn't exist." He narrowed his eyes. "What's going on?"

          Ross giggled, sending shivers up Max's spine. It was so creepy. "Do you really want to know?"

          Max nodded, swallowing hard. Did he really, though?

          Ross raised the torch, and the shadows melted away, revealing something he wished he could unsee.

          Ross's eyes were completely black, like his pupils had swallowed them whole. It almost looked as if they were...

          Closed.

          The red-head began to struggle again, fear piercing him as soon as he saw those eyes. "What the fuck?! What happened to your eyes?!" He ignored the pain shooting through his wrists and the feeling of warm blood running down his hands again.

          Ross walked forward till he was directly in front of Max and placed a finger on his lips hushing him. Max froze, eyes widening, as he cringed away from the touch.

          "Shhh...everything is fine..."

          "Stop saying that!" He was going to say more, but then Ross dropped his torch and collapsed, hands clasped over his ears, eyes closed. Max watched with a sick sense of amazement, wanting to turn away but finding himself unable to, as Ross writhed on the ground, screaming.

          "No! No no no!" Ross sat up, eyes still closed, and grabbed Max's shirt. He could see the sweat glistening on Ross's face as his eyelids twitched. Suddenly, they snapped open. His eyes were back to normal, the blue orbs wide with fear. "Max! Y-you gotta h-help me! I-I-I don't kn-know what's h-happen–ah!"

          Some invisible force pushed Ross away from him as he let out a shrill scream. His back arched off the ground, his hands once again covering his ears, as if he was trying to block something out.

          Ross fell flat, and Max jumped. The room was now eerily silent, the screams stopping. Ross sat up again, eyes clearly closed once more, and he opened them with ease, unlike just minutes before. They were pitch black.

          "I see..." he said, voice deeper than usual, staring at his hands. "What makes you think you are in control? But no matter..." He stood, his gaze moving from his palms to Max as his grin returned. "You won't be fighting back any longer."

          Ross's right eye twitched and the red-head shrunk into his seat. His eyes then shifted from Max to the dropped torch, the dying embers scattered across the floor at their feet. "I need a new one. But first..." Ross moved behind the chair, and Max spoke, fear edging his voice.

          "R-Ross? Wh-what are you doing? I–ow!" He hissed in pain and grit his teeth as the rope trapping his wrists was pulled downward sharply, causing him to arch painfully, and his shoulders to rest uncomfortably on top of the back of the chair. He could feel his hands brush against the wooden bar that spanned between the back chair legs.

          Ross's hands slipped between his arms and he felt more rope ghost in between his wrists, the skin flaring up even at that slight touch. He was really regretting making them raw there.

          When Ross stepped back into his field of vision, Max desperately tried to pull himself out of the awkward position; his shoulders were really starting to hurt; but Ross had tied his hands to the bar. He was stuck in a worse position than before.

          Ross turned and plucked a new torch off the nearest wall. He looked back at Max, who swallowed, fear levels rising once more.

          "I'll make sure you'll never leave me again." His voice was back to normal as he took a step toward him.

          "You'll stay with me forever." Another step.

          "The Red Sun grows brighter every day." He was now directly in front of him once again, torch burning in his hand.

          "R-Ross! Ross, p-please, snap out of it! The Red Sun doesn't exist!" Max tried to reawaken his friend. He knew he was still in there!

          "Those who choose not to follow me will meet their end." Ross's voice deepened again as, with his free hand, he rolled up Max's shirt, exposing his bare chest and stomach.

          "Ross, wh-what are y-you–" The red-head cut himself off with a loud scream when Ross pressed the burning end of his torch into his skin, setting his nerves alight. The smell of burning flesh permeated the air as the torch was removed, the blackened skin smoking.

          Ross repeated the process, burning another circle into him a little to the left of the first. If anything, this one was more painful, Max screaming and Ross's smile never faltering.

          When he pulled away again, Max was panting, eyes squeezed shut. He felt like his sanity would snap if he had to go through any more of this. It hurt so much.

          "R-R-Ross...p-please...I-I-I c-can't t-take it...no more...please...no more..."

          "But we have to complete the set..."

          Max didn't have the strength to scream anymore, his voice gone, as Ross once again made the hot coals meet his sensitive skin, little pieces of rock getting in the caught in the flesh, as he slowly dragged it across his stomach. When he stepped back, a smiley face of blackened, smoldering flesh was burned permanently into him.

          The red-head was on the verge of unconsciousness, eyes half-closed, his breathing slow. His whole body had gone numb. He wanted so badly to just sleep, but something kept him from fading away.

          He was vaguely aware of Ross leaving the room, his footsteps echoing in the small room. The sound of the door closing almost didn't reach him; his pulse was pounding in his ears, drowning almost everything else out.

          Suddenly, he slumped forward when the ropes binding his wrists to the bar snapped, his head resting on his chest.

          He was so tired...

          Max lifted his head slightly when Ross stepped in front of him, the blade of the knife in his hand glinting in the dim light.

          "R...Ross...pl...ease..."

          He gasped when Ross lunged forward, the knife embedding itself in his chest. Blood gurgled up into his throat, and he spat some out, coughing. The thick, red liquid dripped from the corner of his mouth.

          The brunette removed the blade, and more blood welled from the deep wound, soon covering Max's entire chest. He coughed again. It began to run down his chin, staining his teeth.

          Time slowed.

          He let out one, final sigh.

          Max was dead.

____________________________________________________________________________

          Ross dropped the knife, pupils shrinking so his irises could be seen. His smile faded. He was back in control.

          But at what cost?

          He stood there staring at the lifeless body of his best friend. His red hair covered his eyes, but he knew they were still, vacant. Blood covered almost the entire front of his body.

          Ross fell to his knees.

          He did this.

          'You should not have abandoned me.' A deeper, more sinister version of his own voice entered his head.

          'You are only alive because I allow you to live.' Ross covered his ears, as if that would help. He'd heard all this before.

          'Now you must live with his blood on your hands.' He stared at his hands. They were coated in red.

          'You did this.'

          "No..." Ross's voice was barely a whisper.

          'You killed him.'

          "No..." His voice rose ever so slightly in volume.

          'You murdered your best friend.'

          "No!" Ross leapt up, hugging Max's still-warm body, sobbing. He didn't care that blood, blood he spilt, was soaking into his clothes. A dark laughter echoed in his mind.

          'Enjoy the aftermath of what you have done.'

          'My revenge has been had.'