Marrying Darkiplier

Chapter Thirteen: Anti's Place

Sean yelped, clinging to Natemare's sides in a death grip. Everything was a blur of color and heat as the bike sped off onto the road. The tires flared into wheels of pure fire and the roar of the engine rattled Sean to the core. Peeking over Natemare's shoulder, Sean found it more tolerable that the things in front of the bike weren't a blur. Natemare navigated the highway must like Dark could in his car, but with one major difference. Natemare's bike was smaller than half the cars on the highway and the demons seemed to like the challenge of trying to run him off the road. Natemare rocked his foot on the pedal to shift the bike up and down as vehicles swerved around him. Sean screamed as truck sped up next to them and swerved to slam into their side to pin them against the guard rail. For a second Sean saw his life flash before his eyes, seconds before the vehicle went right through them and slammed into the rail. The sounds of squealing tires and crunching metal deafened Sean. Natemare's bike flawlessly moved through the vehicle as if it were a ghost, surprising Sean. After flinching from passing through metal, Sean looked at Natemare and gasped in surprise. Natemare looked different now. His body was smoldering with black smoke like he was more ghost than solid.

Natemare's eyes rippled with purple flames that streaked down his cheeks and his ears grew out into smoky black points, while his fingers lengthened eerily with sharp claws at the ends. Another vehicle started to swerve toward Natemare, until Natemare looked at him and opened his mouth to expose an overly large mouth with glowing white rows of sharp teeth. The demon driving screamed, yanking his wheel away which caused him to slam into another vehicle on his other side. Natemare watched the car crash with a frightening grin, before turning his eyes back onto the road. Shifting his bike to go faster, Natemare let out a distorted cheer of excitement. Sean wanted to yell how crazy he was but found himself laughing. Natemare looked over his shoulder briefly to lock eyes with him with a smaller smile, then shifted the bike into a tight drifting turn. The bike leaned so close to the pavement that Sean could smell the heated pavement. He almost fell off, until Natemare reached back to keep him up a bit longer. Adjusting the bike upright, Natemare touched something on his bike, causing it to pulse with a heavy base to music that Sean didn't understand. The pounding bass drowned out the sounds of other vehicles and was perfectly timed with the roar of the bike's engine. It made Sean smirk to see Natemare tap his heel on the pedal to the beat. If he was singing, he couldn't hear it.

Before too long, Natemare was slowing the bike to turn off down a road that no other vehicles were taking. Compared to the paved highway, this road was little more than dusty dirt. Natemare gradually slowed his back down from the crazy speed of the highway, until Sean could see scenery again. For miles in every direction was an open field of brown grass. While the sky here was so clear with smeared golden light where the ground met the sky that blended into bright red skies, that itself faded to a soft black. The sight reminded him heavily of a less lush version of Ireland. It was beautiful in its own strange way. It gave off a dark sunset vibe. Full of mystery and its own comforting peace in this crazy world. Natemare's body changed back to normal, his features taking in the beautiful view with distant dark brown eyes. Sean could tell that he'd been here before. A lot. Tapping his shoulder, Sean asked him over the fading music and soft purr of the engine. "Why are we here?" Natemare smirked back at him, before pointing to something ahead as he calmly told him. "This is Anti's favorite place." Sean followed his finger to a structure he recognized in the distance. Stonehenge.

Natemare slowed to a stop a good distance away, turning off the engine before adding coolly. "Anti comes here when he's upset or wants to be alone. Dark doesn't even know about this place. Too far out in the country for his liking. But for Anti... He's someone else out here. Calmer." Climbing off the bike, Sean slowly walked toward the structure, uttering out to himself. "I can see why. It feels... different here. Reminds me of... home." Natemare walked past him, lightly chuckling out. "Ireland? Ya. Anti used to talk about how all Ireland looked like this." Walking up to a stone, Natemare touched it, adding with distant smile. "Anti once told me that he felt less... scattered here. He glitched less here and wasn't so restless. So, I promised him that I wouldn't tell Dark this is where he'd run off too. I wanted him to feel safe here." Sean smiled to himself, happily telling Natemare. "Thank you." Natemare gave him a confused look. So, Sean shrugged out. "For keeping this secret for him. Thank you." Natemare snorted with a tiny smile, looking away as he mumbled out. "Anti would beat you senseless for thinking he needs this place." Walking into the center of the circle structure, Sean cooed out openly. "I can't explain it. But I know he does. I can feel it... This place means more to him than anything he owns."