The Redstone Demon

Chapter 4

The next time Max saw Ross, he thought he might understand what the other man meant by 'Red Sun that Never Set'. He had, after seeing what might be everyone in town heading into some sort of church or tabernacle, made of a stone that was a deep, dark, shining red, and not just because of the strange light, snuck out as far away from the glowing red orb as he could get, to try and find the real sun. And he had found it, right where it belonged, high up in the sky. It just wasn't visible in Redstone Town itself, blocked out by the horrible red light of the orb in the sky.

Max considered just running away. He really did. But as he tried to leave the town, he kept realizing reasons why he couldn't leave. First it was simple things, like forgetting his toothbrush, or having dropped his necklace on the way out of the motel, but then, once he had seemingly ran out of other reasons not to leave, he started getting more complicated thoughts. The main, recurring one being the thought of leaving that poor nineteen year old behind, in such a messed up place where, apparently, he'd never even seen the sunset. It just didn't feel right to leave him behind, not when Ross had gone out of his way to bring him to the motel, had helped him when he threw up, and had looked so adorably hopeful when he wrote his number on Max's arm. Not to mention the bright scarlet blush that had formed when Max had smiled at him, which he'd seen despite the other man's attempt to hide it.

After forty minutes of this, Max gave up. He just turned around, angrily, and headed back into town. As he slipped back into his motel room, he started to hear a crowd leaving the church, or whatever it was, heading through the town to their various residencies.

There was a knock at his door. "Hey, Max?" He heard a timid, yet already familiar voice from the other side.

"Ross." Max opened the door and greeted him, crossing his arms across his chest.

Ross glanced around, looking slightly scared. Then, he leaned in and spoke to Max in a low voice. "Um, you know what I said earlier, about not talking about the sun falling?" He whispered, looking slightly terrified. Max nodded, guarded. "I, uh, I think, that, um, for similar reasons, it'd probably be for the best if you came to the daily mass. Just, uh, just for safety's sake." He added pleadingly.

Max frowned. "I'm an atheist."

Ross looked like he was going to ask what that meant, but then shook his head. "Well, whatever, that doesn't matter. I, um, I just think, uh, I think it'd be better, for everyone, if you came to the daily mass. Like, really, for everyone, especially you." He was ringing his hands together, still glancing behind him frequently, as though he was expecting to see someone coming up behind him at any moment.

Sure enough, the sheriff was walking up to them, an blankly amicable expression on his face. "Ross, glad to see you're making friends." he greeted, nodding at the younger man. Ross gave him a nervous smile in return, stepping back a bit, out of the sheriff's line of vision, but staying in Max's. "And, you, what was it, Mack?" The sheriff raised an eyebrow at Max.

"It's Max." His arms, already crossed against his chest, tightened in irritation.

"Ah, yes. Max. Well, I was just wondering," the sheriff's eyes took on a sharp edge. "You wouldn't happen to be religious, would you?" Behind him, Ross was shaking his head frantically, looking extremely concerned.

"No." Max answered. Ross mouthed something at him, from behind the sheriff's head. "But," he added, deciding to follow the young man's advice. "I guess it's because I'm still searching." He lied easily. "You never know when you'll find the belief that's right for you."

Ross let out a small sigh of relief, while the sheriff gave Max a beaming smile. "Wonderful! Well, if you're still searching for your beliefs, perhaps you'd like to check out our daily mass, at the chapel? We'd love it if you joined us!"

"I'll consider it, thank you." Max gave the sheriff what he hoped was a winning smile. "I can't wait to see your town's traditions."

The sheriff nodded, turning and facing Ross, who had managed to hide all the utter fear that he'd been showing during other two's conversation, instead greeting the sheriff with his usual nervous smile, and a nod. "Well, I better be off. You two have fun, alright? I love it when our native boys make friends from other places."

"We will, sir." Ross gave him a small wave as he left, before turning back to Max and letting out a bigger, louder sigh. "See? You have to come to the mass. Please." His bright, shining eyes seemed to pierce Max's heart, begging him to do as he said.

"Okay, okay, fine." Max frowned, leaning up against the door frame. "But only because I'm pretty sure that guy isn't planning on doing anything good if I decide not to."

Ross relaxed, the fear mostly leaving his frame. "Okay, good. I don't want anything-" He cut himself off, looking scared again.

"You don't want anything what?" Max scowled at him.

Ross fidgeted with the hem of his sweater, face heating up, glancing back and forth once more. "I don't want anything bad to happen to you." He whispered, not meeting Max's eyes. "I'm sorry, I can't say anything more, I've already said more than is allowed, just come to mass. Please, it'll be better for everyone that way."

Max's scowl deepened, but, as it did, worry wormed its way through his body.

Ross glanced up at him, flinched, and looked back down. "I should probably go. Bye." He turned, slumping with melancholy. The horn on his narwhal hoodie was falling down over his face, pointing towards the ground a few feet in front of him.

Max let out a sigh of his own. "Bye, Ross." Then, unwilling to watch the younger man leave so sadly, he felt the urge to add on more. "I'll see you around, okay?"

Ross perked up slightly, glancing back at him, doing an even worse job of hiding his blush. "Uh, okay, Max!" He agreed, smiling.

Max smiled back. It wasn't as forced as last time, as this time he wanted to cheer up the adorable younger man, even if he didn't fully trust him yet.

Or, maybe, he did trust him. After all, Ross had stuck around and told Max what to say, when the sheriff came over. And he seemed to be trying to keep Max safe, to the best of his ability, from the bizarre things going on in his town. Max was honestly having trouble saying much against Ross right now, except that he was extremely naive. Or, perhaps, not necessarily naive, as he seemed plenty aware of what might be some horrible things going on in this town, but just, well, a bit ignorant to a lot of things outside of Redstone.

Max really needed to get his feelings worked out.