The Fate Of The Marked

Chapter Seven

If anyone found out about my midnight adventure, they kept  it to themselves. I waited with dread all week for it to be mentioned, but it never was. On Wednesday, I came upstairs to find that the window had bee nailed shut.

Mick woke me early Friday morning. He stood over my bed, already dressed, hair still wet from showering, with a grin on his face. It was still dark outside. I sat up and flicked my lamp on. The clock said it was five AM. He sat at the edge of the bed, looking more exeberant than I'd ever seen him. This was the third time this had happened this week. Sometimes he came into talk because he couldn't sleep, others because he had a nightmare.

I didn't mind sitting up with him. I couldn't sleep for long at once, either. He told me that he didn't want to wake Christi or Jason up. He never spoke about anything around the time his mother left he or Jordan, but got sad whenever the subject of why he was at the farm came up. I told him as much as I could, but mostly kept quiet and listened.

I blinked the sleep from my eyes. I had had more dreams over the last three nights, all in the same dark room, but the woman never appeared. My worry had grown as the days passed by. All the dreams ended in the same abrupt way. Sometimes, there were whispered voices. Sometimes there was screaming. Sometimes, though, it was quiet. Mick sat feet away, oblivious to my fear. He was bouncing up and down with excitement, but stilled suddenly. In a flash, I knew why he was up so early. It was Friday.

Adoption Day, as Christi and Jason had been calling it.

"Are you nervous?" He asked, not bothering to keep his voice down anymore.

Max had been moved onto the second floor with Christi, Jason and Holly. Yesterday, when everyone got up for school and left, Max missed the bus. Christi went upstairs to find him when the school called around noon about his absence, but he wasn't there. He wasn't anywhere in the house. Christi called Jason, who left work and looked for him on the streets in town. Jason found him walking down the highway, headed south, and brought him back.

Max had fought and scratched Jason up, and only calmed down when Christi threatened to call Social Services again to come and take him until he stopped fighting. He had eaten dinner before inflating again. He yelled as he went up the stairs that he was going to get out while he could, before it was too late.

He'd stared at me the whole time.

Mick nudged my leg, bringing me back to reality. He was biting his lip, all signs of joy gone, besides a small spark in his eyes. I was closer with him than with anyone else in the house just because of that. He didn't have a mean bone in his body. I had attempted to keep my distance, remembering how dangerous this could be with the strange man in town, but gave up quickly. Hopefully, I would be gone soon, and would learn more from the woman.

If she ever answered.

"Kind of," I murmured, picking up a blanket off the end of the bed and throwing it over his shoulders.

"Do you think we'll both leave?" He asked quietly. "I mean, all of us? Holly and Max and Jordan."

I considered it for a moment.

"I don't think they'll split you and Jordan up, if that's what your worried about." I said, trying to ease his fear.

It worked. He was smiled softly and handed me the blanket back.

Mick ran for his room. I took a long, hot shower, savoring the feeling of the water. I dressed slowly, checking as I had done every day to make sure the mark on my shoulder was still there and was well covered. It seemed darker, somehow. I went back to my room and picked up some of the papers that were laying around. Other than that, the room was spotless. There was nothing left for me to do.