♛Shadows Lurk♛ Darkiplier x Reader

« ♡ » Chapter 19 - The Visitor

Mark glanced around Die's office. What do I do now?

He suddenly became aware of an item in the pocket of his pants, reaching in to retrieve it. Mark became confused when his pocket produced a small leather-bound notebook.

Then suddenly his mind began to get cloudy, as if there was thick mist sitting in his brain.

Don't touch that. Dark stated much rather than asked.

Why not? What is it?

Mark knew it must have been something of Dark's, but he had no clue what it even was.

It's none of your concern.

Mark was dissatisfied with Dark's answer, his curiosity getting the better of him.

What's he gonna do? Stop me?

Mark reached over with his right hand to open the small journal, only to feel a slight resistance. It wasn't much, and it barely hindered him, so Mark shook it away before moving once again to open the journal.

This time his arm was completely frozen in place. For a moment it felt numb- no, not numb, just... cloudy. Hazy. Like he had no control over it.

"Dark," Mark muttered through gritted teeth, "How the hell are you doing that?"

Wouldn't you like to know, Dark said rather sarcastically.

Mark struggled for about a minute or so against Dark to regain back control of his arm, but getting no further than a slight tug this way and that.

"Fine!" Mark burst out suddenly, shoving the book back into his pocket. "I won't look at your stupid book," he finished, and Mark began to regain the feeling in his arm. Little did he know that Dark had barely enough energy after that to stay conscious.

And Mark, now more curious than ever, began to desperately wonder why Dark would feel so protective over a journal.

Shaking his head to clear it, Mark walked out of Die's office. As far as he was concerned, he had no way of tapping into Dark's demon powers, so he was forced to walk his way around this ginormous castle.

Truth be told, Mark had no idea where he was going. He just felt the urge to wander. He noticed a large window up ahead, picking up his pace to get to it.

When he stood before the window Mark was stunned. He didn't know what he expected, but it certainly wasn't this.

This window overlooked the town- if you could even call it that. Everything somehow seemed grey all at once; if not completely dreary and devoid of joy. The hills looked grassy, not that it really helped the demeanour of the outside world. The houses, although distant, looked old, rickety and bland. They were organised into neat lines crisscrossed with bland roads.

Not a single piece of modern technology in sight, nor anything that even resembled the 21st century- hell, the 19th century. There were no easily identifiable landmarks or geographical clues that would help Mark decipher where he was in the world.

Was this the same Earth he had left all those years ago? What had Dark done to it?

I fixed it, Dark commented suddenly.

"You broke it," Mark whispered, still staring out at the decrepit, sorry excuse for a town.

"Broke what?" came a new voice, and Mark felt as though he had jumped several feet into the air out of surprise.

"Don't sneak up on a guy like that!" He exclaimed somewhat angrily, spinning around to face whoever it was. Mark felt a spike of anxiety rush through him as he realised it was Flare- but Mark wasn't so sure that it was his anxiety alone.