Marked (ON HOLD)

Chapter 2

Danielle Campbell as Anastasia De Angeles

Erik sat in the driver's seat of his car, his marked arm extended; hand tightly gripping the steering wheel. Thescenery around the car kept changing, as he drove through the abandoned streetsof his hometown. He couldn't help but wonder where he had heard the name De Angeles before, but he knew it was somewhere he did not want to go back to, not even in memory. Erik turned his head slightly to stare at the sleeping girl beside him. Her long, toned legs tugged under her body as she laid in a fetal position in the passenger seat. The wind blowing through his open windows caused her brown wavy hair to tumble against her small face, while her long eyelashes rested softly against her cheeks. Erik felt intrigued by the young woman; he knew that behind her pouty lips and big eyes, many secrets were hidden. With a sigh, Erik looked away from the girl's body and back at the road.

"No... Momma, please... No... Stop..." Erik furrowed his eyebrows as the small woman started whimpering in her sleep. Small specks of sweat accumulated along her hair line as her body tremored. With a gasp, Anastasia sat upright. Panic consumed her as she looked around her trying to place a finger on where she was;her face paling. 

"Hey Anastasia, are you alright?"

In a flash, Anastasia turned around to face the source of the voice, before slowly falling back in her seat. She shut her eyes while attempting to catch her breath. 

Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale; that's it almost there Anastasia!

"Just a nightmare," she muttered, her one hand gripping her mark as she opened up her eyes. Erik bobbed his head once while continuing to drive.

"Want to talk about it?" 

"It was just about my mom's his- never mind I'd rather just forget about it," Anastasia was mad at herself for almost spilling the beans. She didn't even know the man's name and she was already about to pour out her secrets to him! "What's your name, if you don't mind me asking?" Her face turned to him, eyes shamelessly taking him in for the first time. Handsome could not even describe him; the man seemed to have come from a GQ magazine! From his golden hair, to his hypnotizing ocean blue eyes; Anastasia was almost too scared to keep checking him out.

"Erik," he mumbled while making a left turn into a small motel. 

"Erik... The name fits you" a smile formed on her face. Erik licked his lips but stayed quiet, not knowing what to say. After a few minutes of silently sitting in the parked car, Anastasia cleared her throat.

"Right, uh... I would take you to your home but I have a feeling that you're not from around here," Erik said while getting out of the car, Anastasia following. 

"Great observation," she mumbled while pulling her short dress down.

"I'll get two rooms for tonight, after that we part ways."

Anastasia frowned, "part ways? But I'm not from around here; you're the only person I actually know in this place." Other than my mom who is someone I don't want to see anytime soon.

Erik held the lobby door open letting Anastasia step in before him, his eyes not once trailing away from her long legs. "We'll plan everything later. I'm too tired to even think right now." Anastasia nodded while shyly standing beside the man, the height difference making her bite her bottom lip. Oh how I love tall men. She watched quietly as he paid for the two rooms and grabbed the keys. No words were exchanged as both made their way down the hallways. Peeling gray paint decorated the walls.

"You've got room 12. If you need me I'm four doors down, room 20." He handed her the small card key before walking away. Anastasia ran a hand through her tousled hair before stepping in the room, letting the stained white door close behind her.

*~*

A cold shiver awoke Erik from his slumber, a shiver that he only got when something bad was happening. He looked around him to see if anything was out of place before deciding to go check on Anastasia. The tall man grabbed his sweatpants that lay on the ground beside him and pulled them on. After making sure to grab his room key and gun, Erik made his way out of his room.  He didn't bother to even grab his shirt. As he approached Anastasia's room, a feeling of dread filled him. Her room door was wide open, whimpers coming from within. Without hesitating, Erik ran into the room, gun in hand.

*~*

Anastasia had been lying wide awake in bed ever since Erik had left her side. Although she tried to fall asleep, the short woman could not ignore all the questions running through her mind.

Who is Erik?

Can I trust him?

Will he turn me in to the Society or worst yet, kill me?

Will they find me?

Or will she find me first?

A loud pounding on her room door interrupted her thoughts. She placed her small feet on the cold ground, her blisters from having been barefoot outside, aching. Anastasia smiled as she made her way to the door ignoring the pain from her feet. Withoutbothering to look through the peephole and see who it was, the brunette unlockedthe latch and opened the door. 

"Erik did you-" 

Her small body hit the ground as a gun was smacked against her face. Through blurry eyes, she watched as a group of officers trudged into her room, their guns aimed directly at her. Anastasia knew they were here for one reason only, what she didn't know was how they had found her. Police badges mocked her as one of the men walked up to her sending a strong right hook to her left eye. Well, that's surely going to bruise.

Without second thought, Erik shot the first man he laid eyes on. The man that was once punching Anastasia now lay on the ground, blood gushing out of the bullet wound in his shoulder as he groaned in pain. Erik then turned and shot a second man in the thigh causing the man to effortlessly fall beside his comrade. Unlike the other two police officers, the last man standing put up a fight. With a hard kick from the chubby officer, Erik's gun was thrown across the room.

Anastasia watched a foggy image of two men battling on the ground, their arms constantly swinging. She knew that the other two men on the ground would eventually join in although hurt. Small whimpers left the toned girls lips as she slowly pushed her body closer to the wounded officers. With shaky hands, Anastasia grabbed both of the fallen pistols using one to knock out the man that had beaten her. The other gun was aimed directly at the raven haired, wounded officer beside her.

"Hey Officer Kingsley," the officer fighting Erik turned to look at the small girl he had once protected. "Let him go or he'll be hurt worse." Her teeth were clenched as she spat the words in the old man's direction.

"Annie, sweetie, lower the gun" the old man raised his hands, letting a beaten Erik drop to the ground, "We just came to talk."

A huff was heard as Anastasia continued to glare at the man, "that's a funny way of talking ya'll got there." The brunette cocked her head sideways, a gun pointed towards the white haired man. "How did you find me Kingsley?"

Erik slowly stood from the ground and pressed his gun to the older man's lower back.

"Oh come on Annie, you really expected us not to find you? It was pretty easy actually, all we had to do was tell people who your mom is and they'd tell us everything we needed to know. Funny how much they fear her. "

Erik looked into Anastasia's eyes; he could detect fear and comprehension in them. He frowned while arching an eyebrow, an expression that asked a silent, 'what does he mean?'  In response, Anastasia shook her heard.

"You haven't told him who you are, have you? Oh man, you two are a funny pair, huh Erik?" Kingsley let out a chuckle before adding, "Kill me go ahead, today is my date anyways. December 7th... I'm surprised you're still alive Annie. But then again with your mom being an A-" a bullet pierced through the old man's head before he could finish.

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