Wesley and Claire looked intently at Maddox, slowly moving away from him. Claire's blue eyes were wide with fear as she positioned herself behind Wesley Amherst.

He was certainly stronger than her, which she made note of as she grazed her hand over his arm from behind him. He was about twice her size, making it easy for Claire to hide almost completely behind him without being seen. Peeking around Wesley's shoulder, she eyed Maddox.

Maddox looked... empowered. His wide smile was that of a demon's; grim, stern, and daring.

His muscles had grown larger than before, adding strength to his otherwise limp body. He seemed oblivious to the fact, though.

Maddox's brown eyes were cold, like that of a dull wood crackling with the red embers that had grown bright by the power of the Red Giant.

He looked as if something- someone else had inhabited his body, taking on its shape and morphing Maddox to their will into a terrifying, grizzly monster. He looked like he had risen from the depths of Hell, awaiting any prey that came near him.

Wesley put his arm out behind him, a motion to protect the smaller woman behind him. He took a deep breath, allowing for his manipulative rage to rise to the surface.

Wesley puffed out his chest, a brave move that seemed to tempt Maddox into inching closer to the man. Clenching his fists, Wesley moved unbelievably fast behind Maddox.

He had gained undeniable speed, moving as quickly as the lightning that flashed across the sky, only to retreat and flash again.

Wesley was taken aback by such a new power, but embraced it quickly, quite the contrary to how Cole accepted the knives growing from his hands the day before.

Wesley returned Maddox's devilish smile to him, moving quickly in circles around the 19-year-old. Maddox became quickly dizzy and nearly fell to the scorching hot Arizona sand, but stretched out his wings instead, pulling himself upward into the air.

The farther up he traveled, the more blisters from the Red Giant's ultraviolet light he endured. He couldn't feel the pain, though. He couldn't feel anything. Maddox had a singular thought on his mind, and that was to get Claire away from Wesley.

Once he reached a height of about twenty feet in the air, Maddox darted back down, heading toward Claire with a Swoosh! With a graceful movement about him, he grabbed her by the torso, and held her close to himself as he flew away from Wesley Amherst.

Claire struggled against Maddox's newly-proclaimed muscular weight, but her struggle provided no avail. She couldn't free herself.

"Get... off of me!" Punching his chest as he held onto her, tears fell silently down Claire's cheek.

Unphased by her punching, Maddox looked down at Claire. He wasn't... Maddox. He didn't seem like the respectable guy she had met before. No, he was different. Evil, even. Frightened, she became stiff, unable to move under his weight.

"Do you want me to drop you?" Maddox rolled his eyes as he turned Claire around, allowing her to see below them. A 70-foot drop awaited her if she were to be dropped.

Surely, if she were dropped, she'd have to be scraped off of what little pavement remained in Sedona.

Trembling, Claire looked up at Maddox, shaking her head "no."

"Alright then." Maddox shook his head in frustration, then looked back down at Claire, realizing that he had frightened her.

"Look, I'm only doing this to help you." Maddox began to lower himself to the ground, keeping Claire close. The last thing he wanted to do was drop her, but if she kept struggling against him, he'd have no choice.

The Red Giant had begun to set. They'd been flying for hours, and it was time to rest. Despite the nationwide curfew from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., going out at night was no longer safe.

Many, such as Maddox himself, had to make one of two choices.

Break the curfew and face the sun, or follow the curfew and face angry civilians.

He chose the former.

Though he nearly boiled in blisters from too much sunburn, Claire seemed unphased by the Red Giant.

She had a little sunburn on her cheeks and arms, but other than that, she looked as if she had only gone on a trip to the beach for one day and came back. That is, if the beaches weren't drying up like they are now.

Finding a small shelter near a few pine trees that were left standing rather than demolished by the sun like most of the others, Maddox eased his feet to the ground, letting go of Claire and tucking in his white, feathery wings.

"How is this helping, Maddox? Wesley was a nice guy."

"Claire, he's from Chaos."

Claire looked at him in utter disbelief, brushing off the thought of such a preposterous accusation.

"What? No, he's not!"

"Your mother begs to differ, darling." Maddox drew out the last word, allowing it to roll off of his tongue freely. He sounded carefree, but he was anything but. Sarcasm was the most likely tone, Claire guessed.

"Anaia Adara's opinion doesn't matter."

"You shouldn't call your mother by her full name, Claire. That's just rude." Maddox crossed his arms, sarcasm still taking over his tone. He seemed like the old Maddox that Claire had come to know. Color had been restored to his eyes as they shined brown in the scorching evening glow of the Red Giant.

His newly acquired muscles hadn't worn down to return his body to its lanky state, but he was normal again. Glad to see that Maddox had returned- the true Maddox- Claire grinned, but hid her joy.

He probably doesn't know what happened. What I saw, she decided.

Rolling her eyes, she pushed her tangled hair behind her ear and moved toward the worn-down wooden shack in the corner of the pine trees. "My mother was no mother at all. No mother abandons her child. Oh, and Maddox?"

"Yeah?"

"You changed the subject." Claire grinned, daring him to continue. A hint of sarcasm with a bit of delight hid away in her voice.

"Huh?"

"Why'd you take me from there? Getting me away from Wesley? There's no way he's part of Chaos... I- I saw something in him. He's not who you think he is, Maddox."

"You talk like you know the guy," Maddox rolled his eyes as he turned from her, making his way into the wooden shack that they'd both call "home" tonight.

"Maybe I do!"

"No, Claire! Just shut up about the guy, alright? He's bad news, I know he is!"

"How?"

Maddox placed a hand on his forehead, wiping his face free of beads of sweat. "I just know, okay? Can't you trust me?"

"Trust is a gift that must be earned. And you haven't earned it yet." Claire rushed past him through the doorway, and made her way into the living room of the shack, plopping down on the old, dusty couch.

"You take the bedroom. I'll sleep here."

"Whatever floats your boat, Claire. Most people make others sleep on the couch while they take the bedroom," Maddox chuckled.

"Maybe I'm not most people. Maybe I want you to sleep good, too." With that, Claire faced the inside of the dusty couch, not to say another word for the rest of the night while Maddox retreated to the back bedroom of the shack.