The Haunted Orphanage

Chapter 83

Mark's POV

I felt Jack's breathing hitch for a second as he stood there, frozen. However, without warning, he swiftly grabbed the back of my head and began kissing back while bringing our bodies even closer together.

I smiled and pulled my head away a bit. The second our lips were no longer touching, the music scratched to a stop.

I looked over to the radio, but it didn't look any different than it had before. "Jack, why do you think the music stopped?"

After not receiving a response, I looked back to Jack. His eyes were narrowed and he seemed to be staring straight through me.

I hesitated before stuttering, "J-Jack?"

In perfect unison, Jack replied with a voice coming from the radio, "Sorry, Mark, you made the wrong move."

I felt Jack's hand slowly move away from my head and saw him reach behind his back. I was glued where I was, still not completely sure what was going on.

I felt something at my side move as a small weight was relieved. That damn sword must've fallen.

Jack began turning around in a full circle when I noticed a blade in his hand. Still frozen on the spot, I prepared to feel an agonizing pain.

That pain never reached me, though.

Before the blade slashed through my chest, I was yanked backward and thrown to the floor. Someone leaped over me and stood between me and Jack in a fighting stance.

The boy seemed about the same age as Reagan and those other kids, but at least ten times more mature. He had scars lining the part of his face that I could see. A bandana covered his mouth and nose. He was wearing a ripped up, black shirt and torn, dirty gray shorts.

My eyes dropped down to his right leg, where there was something imprinted on his skin. I got a clear view of what it said, but wasn't completely sure if I believed my eyes.

The brand on the boy's leg read, "KYLE".

In a voice that sounded nothing like his own, Jack asked, "Kyle, what the hell are you doing here?"

Kyle didn't respond. Instead, he remained in his fighting stance and turned his head to face me. "Mark, you have to get up and fight. They win if you don't."

"Why should I trust you?" I questioned the boy in front of me.

He fell out of his fighting position and looked at the floor. "I...I guess you really have no reason to trust me. Especially here. But," he paused and seemed like he was blinking back tears, "Mark, you're the only person still standing in their way."

I moved into a sitting position. "Standing in who's way? What's really going on?"

"You're the only one left keeping the bad guys from getting exactly what they want. They've made an alliance with the King of the freaking Underworld!" Kyle swiftly wiped a hand across his face and continued at the same quick pace, "They're going after Dan and everyone with him next! They're all about to fall into a trap, and they just saved Percy for heaven's sake! You're the only one standing between the bad guys and the...well, the innocent guys!"

A tear fell from his face and hit the floor. I watched him clench his fists at his sides before I asked, "Are you really trying to help me?"

"I'm trying to help the people who can't help themselves." He took a deep breath. "Mark, they want Reagan. That's why all of this is happening. They want you and all of your friends out so that they can keep her here. That's what they tried to get you to agree on back at the orphanage, remember?! They want to do what they did to me, to Reagan. When you left the orphanage and went to the Underworld with Anti, everything paused. You forced them to a standstill, and Anti knows damn well that's what he did!"