The Sadian Chronicles: Book 2: From Mercury To Venus

In the Name of Love: Part 4

"I'm not going anywhere, not until you give me a good enough reason," he said stubbornly.

There was no getting around it. If she was going to get him to go away, she would have to tell him. "Fine!" she shouted about to give him what they want. "I'll sum it up in three letters. DID."

Marcus looked shocked but not afraid. "You?" She nodded confirming what she said was true. "It can't be, because you seem so together."

"It wasn't always like that," she said with pain in her eyes. "Even now, I have to live with the fact that there's a killer inside me."

"Have you gotten treatment?" he asked in concern.

"Sort of," she said being rather vague. "Carla helped, but somehow my personalities merged. The problem is I still hear the voices."

"What kind of voices?" he asked. He seemed to be more curious now than concerned. "Are you crazy or something?"

"No," she said and looked straight into his eye. She wanted to tell him the truth. She had too, even if he decided that it was too much for him to handle. She didn't know why, but she had to tell him. "Two other beings inhabit my body. Josie, the good one, but there's another. It's the one that makes me do things I don't want to do. Don't you see that I'm not a real person? I was never born... Not the way normal mortals are. I was created by Siercy... at least the part of me that's Mary was."

"This is kind of bizarre, yes, but I know who you are," he said, trying to reassure her but she just shook her head back and forth.

"No, you don't!" she shouted letting out her frustration. It seemed like he was just telling her what he thought she wanted to hear. "Siercy scares me, and sometimes I think I hear her... telling me to do things. Sometimes I don't know if it's her, or if it's me trying to sabotage my own life. Sometimes I wonder if I just made it all up. I want to feel normal, but I can't. It's because of the memory of her."

"You seem pretty normal to me, so maybe she doesn't exist anymore," he said but she knew that wasn't true. Josie had told her long ago that there was no way she could kill Siercy. The created can never kill the creator, but if she could get rid of her permanently she wouldn't hesitate. "Maybe she never did."

"She does exist, and she'll never die," Marianna said and that was a hard truth she had to live with. "I know she's real, just waiting for me to let my guard down." she turned her back to him no longer able to look at him. She couldn't stand to see the disgust he must have felt for her right then. "As long as we both inhabit this body she will forever taunt me."

He came towards her and put his arms around her. "All that matters is that you're here, and we are together. We are together, aren't we?"

She turned around to face him with his arms were still around her. "If you believe it then I guess we are," she said, burying her head in his chest. He held her for a few minutes until she raised her head and laughed a little. He looked intrigued by what was on her mind. "It's so strange," she said still laughing.

"What's strange?" he asked a little confused.

"Carla likes you, and Carla doesn't like anybody." She thought it was so funny. She usually would only date men Carla disapproved of. It didn't really matter because it would never last long, and there was no point in getting attached to someone Carla actually liked.

"Really, so I guess I passed the test," he said pleased with himself.

"I didn't know she put you under one," she said and put her arms around him. She leaned into him and kissed him. "So are we going to stay on this dusty old road all night?"

"I have an idea," he said, a devilish look coming to his eye. It made Marianna smiled again. "Why don't we go back to your place and celebrate?"

"Right," she said, walking back towards the car. Marcus followed her, holding her hand the whole way. "Then we can have Carla walk in on us again. It was funny the first time, but a second time might be too much for her."

"So what do you want to do?" he asked, but Marianna already had a solution to their problem.

"I have an idea," she said as they reached the car. She opened the driver's side door and quickly jumped in. He stayed frozen in his place. "Get in."

"First, tell me where we're going," he said with his hand on the latch on the passenger side door.

"It's a surprise," she said as she started the car. "Now, get in."

Where is Marianna take Marcus? Find out next time.