CAUGHT BETWEEN Spin-offs & What-ifs

Dark Influence 1

CANON
{{A/N: Your filler name in this spin-off is "Aliza" because I don't want to write (y/n) each time. Also that's what the character's name originally was before I changed it to a fanfic.}}

I can't do this for much longer.
I hopped out of my car and gave a friendly smile to the person passing me on the sidewalk. I didn't know them, but it was nice to give people a smile. I don't care much for my reputation in the neighborhood, I only give smiles because I feel like everyone deserves at least one.
Mark. Let me out.
As the person passed under my nose, ignoring me, a feeling struck me in the gut and made my mouth water. I tried desperately to not lose my posture and continue on with a straight back. I hated every second of this, and was usually why I stayed away from people. I keep to myself most of the time if I can help it. I don't want to hurt anyone.
Let me out. I have to get out.
I ignored the booming voice in my head and made my way down my driveway towards my house. As I put my hand on my door, something caught my eye at the house next to mine. My neighbor, my friend, was on a ladder leaning against her house. I wasn't sure what she was doing, so I went over to have a closer look. As I approached, I saw that she was installing some home security cameras. I cracked a smile, knowing I could interact with her in this way.
"Cameras?" I asked.
From the sound of my sudden voice, she jumped, the ladder underneath her wobbled and I instinctively reached out to stabilize it. Damn, I should have given her a heads up before I started flapping my huge mouth.
"I am so sorry." I apologized as she turned her head and looked down at me. Her blueish-gray eyes started off at worried but that melted away when she saw me. I gave her a smile, "You've been really jumpy lately. You doing alright?"
"Yeah, I've just.." Aliza's gaze averted from mine, like she didn't want to finish her sentence, "..got some problems going on."
"Yeah, the cameras kinda gave that away." I said lightheartedly but changed to a more serious tone when I saw how serious she was, "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Um.." She scanned the ground around the base of the ladder, and then pointed at something, "Can you hand me that screwdriver down there. I guess it fell down."
Anything to help. I feel kinda bad for almost knocking her off the ladder. I reached down and handed it to her, "Here you go."
"Thanks."
"So, cameras. Reminds me of the time I worked at that one pizzeria in town as a security guard. I don't think I ever told you that, did I?" I asked her. I wanted to interact and have a conversation with her so bad but she was so focused on the cameras. I didn't even know if she was listening or not.
"Uh huh." She nodded absentmindedly.
Despite knowing she was not really paying mind to my story, I continued, "Yeah. That place was really spooky. The mascot characters would always freak me out." I gave a lighthearted chuckle, but she was still not paying attention. I must have been just background noise for her.
I didn't want to distract her, so maybe I should just take my leave. The last thing I wanted was for my words to cause her to fall over.
"I'll leave you to it, then." I stated, turning my heel.
The sound of the ladder wobbling latched my attention back to her. I didn't know how she had become so unstable, but I didn't have time to think about it. She had lost her footing and began to fall off the ladder. I reached forward at inhuman speeds and caught her as soon as she fell. She wrapped her pale arms around me and clung onto my neck like her life depended on it. She had been closing her eyes tightly during the fall, but when she realized she was safe she opened them back up.
Aliza's showed her surprise that I caught her. I was surprised too, but I chose not to show that emotion to her. "You okay?" I asked.
Aliza looked away for a moment as a redness invaded her face, "I-I.. y-yeah.. I'm fine."
We both looked at each other for a moment, until my eyes found their way over to her neck.
"What's on your..?" I trailed off as I stared.
I realized earlier that she had been wearing a scarf for the past week, which was odd. Aliza never wears scarves, they're not really her thing. Usually when someone wears scarves in that sense, they're trying to cover something up. My first thought was hickeys, but upon further inspection, I could now see that her scarf had lowered from the fall. She was bandaged up, and some of her skin around the bandage was reddish purple from bruising.
Someone did this to her.
She must have known what I was looking at and got defensive. Aliza released herself from my grasp and dropped to her feet, backing up, "I-it's nothing, really. Just an accident."
From the way she was acting, I didn't believe that one bit. I stepped closer to her and gently pulled the scarf back down. I examined her bandaged neck that had a little red seeping through, "How...did this happen?" I said quietly.
I'm going to kill whoever did this to her.
The familiar feeling of something rising up from my chest like molten fire started up again as I thought about who could have done this to her. Does she have a boyfriend that I'm not aware of? We're really close; she would tell me if she had a boyfriend. Maybe someone on the street did this to her. Did she get jumped?
"N-nothing really." She said as she pulled away from me. "Y-you know what? I think I'll set my cameras up later. I'll see you tomorrow, Mark."
I was about to say something to her but she quickly walked away and into her house. I shut my mouth in defeat. I was torn between forcing the answer out of her so she can't get hurt again and letting her have her space. There's no one who can hurt her in her house. I can give her some time without the fear of her being hurt again. Maybe she'll take the time she needs to tell me about what's going on.
She's setting up cameras.. and she has bruises on her neck. She is obviously paranoid about something. Usually we tell each other almost everything, so this must be a big deal if she's keeping it a secret. She must not want to worry me.
Well, I'm always worried about you.