Frozen Heart - Prologue. Prologue - Maximilian

Eat, walk, work, read, sleep. The four actions that defined 17 year-old Maximilian. You could even say that most of the time, he was on auto-pilot, never really thinking, never really feeling. Friends? What a strange concept that is... Maximilian had had only one friend in all of his young life, and even him had left him. With each passing year the memory of that boy faded away, destined to be forgotten. Maximilian wasn't a bad person, he wasn't mean, far from it! Deep down he had a pure heart, an honest heart, a golden heart. Maybe it's this purity that had fated him to become who he was. Not having any friends was a choice, as was inhibiting his emotions, not having any passion, not showing, not telling, all of those were a choice he had made long ago.

Early in his life he put up a frozen wall around his heart, he had locked it away, just as he had locked away his emotions, his feelings. Why you may ask, because if he hadn't his mind would have shattered, life would have been unbearable, and everything around him would remind him of his pain and his misery. He wished he had died that day, on THE day, that rueful day were his life was turned into a living nightmare. Every detail of that day stayed engraved in his memory, but tightly smothered under layers upon layers of protections he had put in place. Maximilian knew the memories were there, but he refused to look at them, he refused to call them up, he refused to relive that terrible day. So you, dear reader, might be able to understand Maximilian, I have dug up the memories of that day. Understand that this will be painful, for him and for you.

It was a hot, sunny day like so many others, Max and his parents were walking in town, they had even gotten an ice-cream to quench their thirst and cool down a bit. Max held Mom with his left hand, while his right held onto Dad. They had to pass quickly to the bank, no more than two minutes, out of all the time in the world it had to be those two minutes, it took only two minutes for Max's life to change. Who knows what would have happened if they hadn't gotten that ice-cream, or if Dad hadn't wanted to take a picture of his wife and son smiling on a bench in the park. If only...

They went in as anyone would have. Counters with nice ladies behind glass behind them lined up the right wall, on the other side of the room, a huge glass window gave a magnificent view of the park, you could even see the duck pond! A few desks and some chairs were lined up on that side. Max wanted to see the ducks, so Mom took him while Dad went to see the nice ladies. At some point, Max doesn't know when, a man entered the bank, Max remembers that he bumped into someone going out, that attracted his attention for a moment. He didn't pay attention to the wild look the man had in his eyes, ducks were much more interesting. He was about to ask Mom why ducklings were yellow when the man pulled out a gun and started shouting. Mom brought Max close to her and ducked behind a desk, hiding under it, and shielding her son with her body. A loud detonation resonated in the room and a man fell on the dusk with a thud. His head dangled over the edge of the desk, a big red hole in it, and with a thick, red liquid dripping out rhythmically. The man continued shouting, at some point Mom whispered:

"Stay right here and be quite my love, Mom will be right back."

She then hugged Max tightly and got up and walked away sobbing.

Maximilian never heard her voice again, and he never saw Dad again. He moved to live with his only family, an aunt he had on his father's side. She lived alone in a big mansion lost in the woods that sprawled to the north of a town not far. On the outside it looked imposing, and yet graceful. It managed to be huge while still fitting in with the local environment. But the most notable thing about this aunt's mansion is the library. The biggest room in the house, with it's own floor, it was lined from floor to ceiling with books, some old, some new, all in almost perfect condition. A massive worktable took up the center of the library. Over the years, Maximilian spent most of his time in that library, reading, writing, learning while looking out at the forest through large windows. He lived mostly alone there, as his Aunt was frequently away because of her job. Maximilian learned early on how to take care of himself, his Aunt never cared for him, she didn't love him, and she didn't want any trouble. She took care of Maximilian, she covered his basic needs, she clothed him with sturdy unbranded clothes, and she took him to the doctor if he was sick. She never complained about Maximilian, nor did she praise him. Both never expressed any form of emotion, and they kept verbal interactions to a very strict minimum, a few words once every few days.

This is how began Maximilian's life. He had no one, no family, no friends. There was one though who stood out, there was one exception. One boy who weakened the ice around his heart.