Marked

Chapter 19

"Please don't be scared." he said nearing me slowly.

I could tell he could see the fear behind my eyes and the trembling of my hands only gave me away even more. And I was scared; I found you he had said. The whispers had faded, everything around mas in complete silence.

And then there was him.

He started nearing me slowly, his hands held up as a sign of peace. He neared me slowly but surely, no brash movements.

I took a couple steps back, a wary look on my face.

"Who are you?"

"Terrence, no last name"

"How did you find me?"

"I don't know"

My eyes were blank, I tried to exclude all emotion from my face. He said he had found me yet he didn't really know how. It felt like too much to process.

"How can you not know?"

"Why were you running through the woods?" he blurted out.

"I don't know"

"Same thing here, I ended up running through the woods and crashing into you"

"Did you hear anything? I mean, inside your head?" I asked, my voice just a trembling whisper, but from the way his eyes faltered I could tell he had heard.

"Look out, don't trust" his words came out almost as an apology, enunciated and carefully wrapped up.

My mind tried to shawl itself around all this; I had no concise idea of what I was entirely or what I could do. He was like me; he could help me. But then there were those whispers, they were supposed to mean something and tonight it was pretty clear.

I could not trust him; that would be the right thing to do.

"I- I'm s- sorry" I stammered before I turned around and ran as fast as I could.

I could hear his footsteps closing up on me, but I only ran faster until I couldn't hear him anymore. My heart beat loudly in my chest, like the flutter of a bird's wings during flight.

Somehow, someway I had the unhealthy habit of running away when times got rough. I began to walk back into the noise zone. This night felt too much like the one I had met Marcus, but things had gone sideways today. I kept walking. As soon as I neared the first crowd, I did my best to blend in, but every now and then I would see a flutter in the tree branches or the ghost of a presence.

And then I would feel his eyes on me, even from a distance; the sensation of his presence was never ending.

-

"So you found what?" Marcus's voice resonated through the school halls, dark circles covered his eyes and his skin was as pale as the walls behind him, making his bright green eyes stand out.

"It's not a what" I said with a low voice, "it's a who? He was a morpher I could tell and would you mind keeping it down?" I glanced behind me, I was used to the stares and the sudden whispers behind my back, the ones in my head were the ones that I had a tougher time with, but that didn't mean that I wanted to be a focal point in the school's gossip again.

"Are you completely sure that he was a morpher?? I mean he could just be some tattooed guy getting high in the woods" his voice came out desperate, was he afraid for me?

Maybe. Most likely.

"We heard the same whispers." I said bluntly.

He ran his hand through his hair as he paled even more than before and then he pulled me into his arms, hugging me tight. He put his chin over my head; I could even feel his heartbeat under his shirt. Slow and steady as always.

"I just can't imagine what would have happened" he whispered, "he could've hurt you, he could-, I just can't" he last words were like light shudders, barely escaping his throat.

We just stood there in silence, his arms around and mine around him; I felt safe with him, somehow he had become home the moment mine was overwhelmed by the secrets I never knew I had.

"Awww" someone suddenly said, "If you get any sweeter I might get a tooth ache!" Jen pranced towards us as she giggled, making me split from him in a sudden move and creating blush on my cheeks.

"I didn't see you at my party last Saturday Marcus" she went on, making him shift awkwardly, "why was that?"

"I had some personal family affairs," he said and then he turned to me, "I have to go, see you after school?" I nodded and he kissed my cheek. He turned around and walked away, making today feel less of a date and more like a promise.

"So things are growing serious between you two?" Jen said, bursting me out of my though bubble.

"Uh, yeah yeah" I answered turning my head to her. "Things have been good between him and I and that's such a weird feeling with everything that has happened"

Jen remained silent for a second and then the bell rang.

"See you later" she murmured as she walked away and I headed my own way.

After school I headed back to Jen's, she sped through the highway, music loud on her speakers and freedom palpable in the air. She let the roof of her convertible down, wind brushed past her face and her dark aviator shades.

once again I would find myself looking out into the woods, as I always did, every now and then I would figure a rustle in the trees or the trace of a presence. But the chances were scarce, he would not find me even if he were looking, it could just be a squirrel climbing a tree or deer that had lost it's way, not him, not Terrence.

Terrence.

His name resonated in my head like a poem, it had a presence in my thoughts and a role in my dreams since even before I had met him. Somehow I always knew him, he never left.

I had dreamt him last night, only to realize that I had dreamt him once before. When I woke up everyday before the change my dreams would end up as a blank canvas, there was nothing, no memory it was empty.

But now, my oldest dreams came back in flashes full of color and emotion. They came and went, triggered by the smallest of moments and the simplest of things and at the end of every dream a shadow would appear. It would be tall and lean, yet built and it would just be standing there, waiting.

Last night he had faded back into color and deep down I knew that those brown eyes would haunt me in the long run.

-

We were shuffling through papers as we had been, making sure that they remained in the same order as we did ever since we found this place and once again we were going to go home empty handed.

My fingers were sore from all the paper cuts; the surveillance screen showcased all the empty rooms in the house. Marcus was standing on the other side of the room, analyzing the medicine cabinet in silence. I had no idea of what he was looking for; I could barely understand half the tag of each flask. I gave up and before I knew it I was out of that place and was walking up the stairs. I ended up in front of my bedroom door and stepped in tentatively.

It was a mess, all my drawers were out, the mattress was flipped and lying on the floor, there was a mountain of blankets right next to it. My vanity's mirror was cracked and broken, shards of it were lying on the floor; they looked like tiny little teardrops when the light hit them right.

I carefully stepped around them and knelt down on my wooden floor. I picked up the loose piece and let out air I didn't know I was holding as I saw that the box was still there. I picked it out with trembling hands and took of the lid; everything was still there.

All my memories and keepsakes.

And for what felt like a long time, I genuinely smiled.