Karras

Perfect

Max was hunched over the sink splashing water in his face. He looked in the mirror, breathing deeply. His eyes were bloodshot. He saw a black hooded figure with glowing red eyes appear in the mirror. "Kill the witches." Max was nearly hyperventilating now. "Kill the witches, Karras." The hooded figure's eyes glowed brighter, "Kill!" Max started coughing, he coughed out a black, goopy substance into the sink. Then, coughed up some blood into the sink. Max looked down at the black stuff and blood with worry in his eyes. He took a step back, trembling. Max backed into the wall and slid down to the ground.

Mel entered the bathroom, "Max?" Max was still trembling, hearing disembodied breathing. "Max, what's wrong?" Mel slowly kneeled down in front of him, he touched her arm. "I'm seeing things, hearing things. I think I'm going crazy." Mel touched his shoulder, noticed his eyes were red "What do you mean?" Max was still shaking, "Babe, you're shaking like when I gave you that nightmare." She took hold of his shoulders to steady him. "There's this evil looking thing and it's telling me to kill the coven." His nose started bleeding, he touched the blood and looked at the shiny red substance. Mel grabbed a tissue and put it up to his nose, he took hold of the tissue. "If anyone but me is making you crazy, that bothers me." "Kill." Max heard the voice again, he flinched, removed the tissue. More blood gushed from his nose. "There it is again."

Mel rose from the ground, taking his hands bringing him up to his knees, she put the tissue up to his nose. "Max..." "I don't wanna hurt anybody." He pulled Mel closer to her, embracing her midsection. She noticeably had a slight baby bump now. "You're not going to hurt anybody. You're the best man I know." Mel caressed his head. She wanted to cry. Her best friend and father to her child was being messed with. To the point of making him feel paranoid, like he was going insane. She was a little over three months pregnant. Mel wondered if their lives would always be like this. And her hormones sure didn't help. She rubbed his back, "You need to sleep." Max stood up, cleaned up his nose a bit, nodded and left the room. The wind blew through the bathroom window. Mel closed her robe, now snug around her bump. Her eyes took notice of something in the sink. She looked at the sink and saw the black goop and blood in the sink.

--

Mel and Max entered as Cordelia and Queenie chatted in the kitchen. "Hey Greeks!", Queen greeted the two. "Good morning you two." "Two and what is it a third?", Queen said. Mel giggled, put a hand to her stomach, "Sounds about right." "How are you guys? Sleep okay?" Max and Mel took a seat at the table. "Not really." "But that's my fault." Mel placed a hand on his shoulder, "He's seeing things and he's..." She stopped talking when she noticed Max staring into space. Max was having a vision. A three headed dragon breathing fire, the hydra. All of New Orleans in flames. He suddenly stood up, still staring into space. He saw many citizens, dead. The vision ended, he snapped out of it and his nose started to bleed. He got dizzy and was starting to lose his footing. Mel and Cordelia rose from their seats and held him upright. "What is it? A vision?" "Sit down, sit down." They sat him down. "Didn't know I could get those." Queenie handed Cordelia a napkin. Cordelia gave it to Max who wiped off his nose.

He winced, started rubbing his head. Cordelia placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, "Max..." "It's alright, I'm used to it." "What did you see?" Queenie was concerned, "You're scaring us Max." "A hydra, a three headed dragon. It's coming soon. I think I have to defeat it alone." "What makes you say that?" Max shrugged, "Just a feeling." Max finished cleaning up his nose then went over and threw away the bloody napkin. Max filled up a glass of water at the sink. Cordelia looked at him concerned, "Are you well enough to go to the ultrasound?" Max nodded then took a sip of his water. "Of course, I'll be fine." Queenie giggled, "Damn. Your god swimmers just may hold the cure for infertility, Max." He giggled.

--

Mel was lying back on the exam table in the doctor's office. Max held her hand as Cordelia sat off to the side. Max asked his mother, "What if our child does something like, magical? Like poof!?" "We don't know if they'll have developed abilities in the womb. If such a thing should happen, there's always a memory spell." Max looked at his fiancée, "How are you feeling?" Before Mel could answer she saw Max suddenly rub his forehead, squeezing his eyes shut in pain. "Shouldn't I be asking you that, sweetie?" "I'm fine. Just a headache." She took a hold of his arm, "I can't lose you. Not now...I need you to be here." "I'm here, I'm here. Someone or something is just warning me." Mel nodded and rubbed his hand. The doctor knocked on the door and then entered with a smile. "Hello, I'm Dr. Jackson." All three greeted her. "You're Mel, and this must be dad." Max pointed at his mom, "That's grandma." They all chuckled. "Cordelia." "Nice to meet you all."

The doctor put on some gloves and then took a seat next to Mel and the sonogram machine. "Ready to take a peek?" Max nodded, "Yes." Mel nodded. Jackson pulled up Mel's shirt exposing her bump. "The gel will be a little cold." Mel nodded. The doctor picked up the gel bottle and began squirting it on Mel's stomach. Jackson put the handheld transducer on the goddess's belly, moved it around a bit. "You nervous?" Mel nodded, "A little." Max put both hands on Mel's hand. Jackson pointed at the monitor showing a baby. "That is your baby." Max looked at it in awe. "Oh my..." Mel had tears in her eyes, looked at Max then back at the screen. "That's..." Max rubbed her shoulder, "Our kid, our baby's in there." Jackson moved the handheld some more. "Everything looks good." A heart beat came out of the machine, "Strong heart beat." Cordelia wiped away tears from her eyes. "Perfect. Our kid is perfect." Jackson moved the handheld again. "Next time I see you, we should be able to find out the sex if you guys want to know." They both looked at the screen in awe. "We hadn't really talked about it yet." Max kissed Mel's hand.

--

Mel laid on her back in bed next to Max. He was gently rubbing her stomach. "So crazy." Mel ran her fingers through his hair then placed her hand on top of his. "You should get some sleep." Max looked at their hands on her stomach then into her eyes, "I'm sorry for keeping you up, Mel. I don't know what's happening to me. Now I'm afraid for our child." Mel put her other hand on his hand, she looked into his eyes, "You know we can do this right?" He smiled, remembering when he told her the same thing. She continued, "I know the timing is off but...you, Max Karras were put on this earth to stop whatever uprising is to happen. And I believe in you."

He touched her cheek and kissed her. "Let's just hope your father doesn't find out." "Please, I don't want to think about that now." "What do you want to think about? Names?" Mel snuggled up to Max, "Just as long as it's not something weird like mine." He kissed her head, "It's not bad." "Why do you think I go by Mel? Melinoe isn't really a common name." "So, you want a common name? That's what I have. Me, many other humans and ninety percent of all canines in America." They both giggled. "At least you have more than one name. I just have one. Last names aren't really a thing." "At least they call you by your name. The gods only call me Karras." Mel giggled, "That's because they're weirdos." The couple laughed.