Dark Secret

Chapter 6

"Come on Jack I'm sure he didn't mean it." Matt said whilst rubbing Jacks back supportively.
"Mark isn't that kinda guy, he loves you more than anything!" Jack was sitting on the sofa, his head down and his eyes puffy from crying.
"Well if he didn't mean it why would he say it?" he mumbled. Matt tried to answer, but no words would come. He had no explanation as to why Mark would be acting so irrationally, it wasn't like him at all. Ryan emerged from the kitchen and handed Jack and Matt a mug of coffee and went back to retrieve his own. He came back and sat on the sofa beside them, all sitting quietly until Ryan broke the silence.

"I have heard Mark talk like that before, but only the once. I promised I wouldn't say anything about it but-" Jack lifted his head and stared at Ryan, a mixture of confusion and annoyance on his face.
"And you only thought to mention this NOW? When? And to who? His last prize catch huh? Tell me Ryan!" He put his head down and looked as if he was about to cry with Jack shouting at him. With Jack still shouting at him he finally gave up trying to protect Mark.
"DANIEL! IT WAS DANIEL OK? IS THAT WHAT YOU WANTED TO HEAR?" By this point Ryan had tears running down his cheeks. He didn't want to bring up Daniel like this, or at all if it could be helped. He wanted to remember the good things about Daniel, not all of this bullshit. Jack's face went red and he looked away, ashamed of forcing up memories he knew Ryan had been trying to avoid. Matt just sat for a moment, twiddling his thumbs. Yeah he had been best friends with Daniel but not like Ryan had. He stood up and began to head for the door.
"Matt where are ye goin'?" Jack asked, slightly lifting his head to glance over at him.
"I'm going to go see Mark, find out what's going on with him. I'll keep in touch."

Matt pulled up outside the house and walked up to the door and rang the bell. He stood for a moment, waiting for some kind of response.
Nothing.
He rang the doorbell again and called through the door.
"Mark? You home? It's Matt." He stood there a few seconds longer and then started to walk down the path before hearing a large thud from inside the house. He ran back towards the door, pressing his ear against it to try and listen out for Mark. He could hear faint talking from somewhere in the house, confused as to who else would be here. He cautiously turned the doorknob trying to open it as quietly as possible but it was locked.

'Probably should have asked Jack for his keys before I left. Crap.'

Something was wrong with Mark and Matt was determined to find out what was up. He went round the side of the house and into the back. Chica was sitting at the door, whining as she tried to get back in.
"Hey Chica!"
She spotted Matt and bounded over as he crouched down to give her a hug, her licking his chin in return. She began to whine again, trying to let him know she wanted to get back in. He walked over to the glass sliding doors which effortlessly slid open, Chica running past him and into the house. He followed, stopping and looking around him. The place was a complete wreck. There was broken plates and cups all across the floor and kitchen bench, everything that had been sitting neatly on shelves had been pulled off onto the floor along with the shelves themselves having being yanked off the walls. Anything made of glass or any other fragile material had been completely obliterated, the tv smashed and even parts of the sofa and cushions had been shredded. Matt stood there, his jaw unhinged as he looked at the destruction surrounding him.
'Mark can't have done this, it looks like some kind of animal got into the house and wrecked the place. Mark may be strong, but I doubt he is strong enough to pull shelves off of walls, right? Unless... Oh crap it's-" his thought was interrupted by another thud coming from upstairs. He cautiously made his way towards the stairs but suddenly stopped when he heard a small yelp from the dining area. He quietly made his way over there dzato find Chica with a small shard of plate stuck in her foot.

Matt didn't want to call her over incase Mark heard him or she made it worse so he snuck over to her and scooped her in his arms as best he could and carried her over the sliding doors, opening them as quietly as possible. He got her outside and put her down on one of the sun loungers. The piece wasn't deeply imbedded so he quickly yanked it out which earned him a bite on the arm.
"Ow... That fucking hurt!" He yelled, then quickly covering his mouth as he remembered Mark was still upstairs. He sat still for a moment to see if Mark would come down to invesu, but there was still no sign of him. He shot an angry look at Chica before giving up and ruffling the fur on top of her head.
"You're a fucking arsehole you know that?" He left Chica to lie in the sun for a bit after he was sure her paw had stopped bleeding and went back into the house and again made his way towards the stairs. He began to creep up the stairs when he heard Mark start shouting again at apparently himself. Matt proceeded towards the closed door at the end of the corridor where he heard the muffled shouting getting louder. Suddenly the shouting stopped and Matt froze just outside the door, wondering if Mark had heard him. He couldn't hear anything and he couldn't decide if that was good or bad, then again he couldn't hear any footsteps coming towards the door. He pressed his ear against the door, hearing Mark shakily whisper something that suddenly made Matt's realise what was about to happen;
"I'm sorry Jack."