Just a Virus {ON HOLD}

Chapter 3

"Anti, I presume? What've you done with Mark?"

The entity before me only chuckled.

"Maybe he's safe... Maybe he's not... Hell, maybe he's dead. It doesn't matter. What matters is that I'm here now, and he's not. So let's have a little talk."

"Show me Mark first."

My opposite groaned in frustration.

"Ugh! You're so damn stubborn!"

"That I realize. Now, show me Mark."

"Fine... If it's the only way you'll pay attention, then here..." He snapped his fingers, and I saw a mental image of Mark, chained to a wall in what appeared to be a dungeon.

"He's back in my realm. You'll have him back soon."

Poor Mark... He looked so scared. I found myself wanting to hold him, kiss him... Anything to comfort him, really.

"The sooner he's back the better. What is it we need to discuss?"

"Your kingdom. Well, my kingdom. Do you want it back?"

"Of course. Especially if you treat everyone like you treated Mark."

He became stone-faced, dropping the smirk he had worn every moment until then.

"...How the hell do you know about that?"

"He told me. I despise you."

Anti paused.

"I'm going to let you have your little boyfriend back now. I'm warning you, Jack... Don't believe everything he says. Don't believe anything he says."

I would've told him off, but I detected sincerity. It left me questioning Mark's motives in every aspect. Then again, maybe that's what he wan-

"Help!"

I was ripped from my thoughts by Mark's desperate cry for help. I turned to realize he was sitting on my bed, tied up and gagged with rope.

"Mark!"

I rushed to his sobbing form, wiping his tears away and carefully untying the  rope. He pressed his forehead against my shoulder as I untied him, and as soon as his arms were free, he wrapped them around me.

"Jack.. He.. I thought.. Oh God.."

"Hey, hey, hey," I soothed, rubbing his back, "I'm ok. You're ok. Everything is ok. Just take a deep breath..."

Mark did as instructed, and he slowly ceased crying, mellowing out as time progressed. He still clung to me tightly, though. And that never faltered.

"...So what did he want?" Mark inquired once he'd calmed down. I thought back to Anti's words.

"He... He told me I couldn't trust you."

"That's insane! I mean, obviously you do because you told me about it..." He paused to look into my eyes, "...You do trust me... Right?"

I didn't respond. I didn't know what I thought. But I knew what I felt, and the more I thought it over, the more I realized that I'd been played. If he could fool a seemingly intelligent guy like Mark and he could share pictures with me mentally, surely he could lie to an idiot like me.

"Right. I believe you. He didn't hurt you in that dungeon, did he?"

"No... My wrists are rather sore, though."

I held out my hand, and Mark placed his forearm there, wrist facing upward. I kissed along the obvious rope burn and repeated my action with his other arm. He blushed, and I chuckled at him.

"It's very late and it's been a long day. Let's go to bed, hm?"

Mark nodded, starting towards the living room.

"You can sleep in here with me if you'd like."

He turned, face lighting up like a child's on Christmas morning.

"Really?" He asked excitedly. I chuckled and nodded, and Mark crawled into bed beside me.

"Can... Can you hold me, please?"

I blushed, a bit startled. I complied, though, rolling over and wrapping an arm around Mark after turning the light off. He held onto my arm, and we fell asleep like that.