Hand in Hand

33. Markus

Markus heard the screams and cries of a little child coming from the old wooden farmhouse in Jinae as he hid on the side of the porch. It had been the only house that he had ever felt at home in. He could imagine her sticky fingers reaching up for her mother to comfort her, but who was going to comfort the mother? Heavy raindrops fell and muffled the voices inside the house but they were so hurt that his guilty heart forced him to listen.

"He's not coming back, Anneliese!" Dieter yelled at his daughter. "Not this time!"

Ann was the strongest person Markus had ever known. She had always been strong for him and it wasn't fair to leave her but he was doing it for them. He should have talked to her one last time instead of leaving nothing but a sloppily written note that explained nothing.

"He wouldn't just leave us for no good reason!"

Markus could have cried right then and there. He had never heard her that broken down before and he hated to imagine what she looked like crying for him.

The cries of his daughter went on. Why was no one comforting her?

"How many times has he left before? Even if he did come back, he'd just leave again!"

"Markus' faults are no reason to yell at your daughter!"

Lotte's tough voice was comforting. She was the only mother Markus had ever had. He always knew Dieter only tolerated him because he loved his daughter and granddaughter so much, but Lotte was understanding and patient. Plus, she was the only one who could ever put Dieter in his place.

Markus pulled his sopping hood farther over his head. Thunder rumbled in the black sky, it was almost as loud as his daughter's cries.

From inside the house, glass shattered and the women all screamed. For a split second, Markus considered barging in the house. His fatherly instincts were vanished at the sound of Dieter's voice.

"If that criminal ever shows his face in my house again, I'll put a bullet in his heart and leave him for the pigs, you got that Anneliese?"

"Dieter, just what the hell do you-"

"He won't break apart my family again!"

"Dieter! Don't you dare walk away from me!"

Lotte and Dieter's voices became softer. He could no longer hear Ann's sweet voice but his daughter was still crying out. Markus took it as his cue to leave; Kenny was waiting for him in the forest.

Taking one last look at the house he loved so much, he began walking off in the wet night.

"Don't go outside!"

Markus turned back around to the house and his eyes widened. Quickly he hid behind a tree and held his breath. He watched his screaming daughter run down the porch and into the muddy forest barefoot.

"(Y/n)!"

Anneliese dropped to her knees on the front porch, tears streaming down her emotionless face, past her gaping mouth. She couldn't see past the front gate, she couldn't see her daughter but at the same time, she couldn't move her body. Lotte came running out of the house in her nightgown, frantically shaking Ann.

Markus watched them, unable to move. He stood so still that he jumped at the little hand pulling at the end of his jacket. Glossy eyes looked up at him.

"How did you find me?" He whispered as he picked up his whimpering daughter.

Her tiny hand reached out and grabbed his nose. She leaned into his big chest and nuzzled into the crook on his neck.