42nd Country Road

Pretty is Right

I woke up to Mark gently stroking my hair. I opened my eyes. It looked like there was someone standing in the corner of the doorway. I shot up keeping my eyes glued to the door.

"Ev, what's wrong?" Mark asked.

"There's someone in the door frame," I said, my eyes wide with fear.

"Ev, there's no one there," He said. He ran his hand down my back sitting up and gently kissing my neck. I turned to him.

"I swear there's someone there," I said. I looked back and it was gone.

"I told you , there is no one there," He said in a comforting voice. I turned back to him and looked him in the eyes.

"I thought that... there was someone there," I said.

"I'm here to protect you, you are going to be okay," Mark said.

"I-I'm sorry," I said. Suddenly his lips met mine. His hands were placed between my shoulder blades. I wrapped my arms around his neck.

"Don't be," he said breaking away and looking into my eyes. I smiled and touched my nose to his.

"Okay," I said quietly. He laughed at me, grinning.

"Why are you so damn cute all the time?" He said. I laughed in return. His hand rested on my waist.

"Breakfast?" I asked.

"You bet," He replied. We got out of bed and headed to breakfast. I stepped down to here a board underneath my feet shift. Mark was already at the door.

"You okay?" He asked

"Ya, I'm fine I'll meet you out there," I said. I stepped on the board again. This time one side popped up. I pulled it up to see a gun and a note. I picked up both. I unfolded the note and read it. It read:

'Get out, while you still can. There's someone down here, It's not safe. Save Steven, Save Martha. Save Me.'

It gave me chills. I went dark and walked out of the room.

"Handsome, Jack, Steven," I called as I walked into the kitchen. I set the gun on the counter.

"Where did you get this?" Mark said, dark. Jack and Steven came into the kitchen, their eyes dark.

"It was a present from under the floorboards," I said, setting the open note onto the table. Mark took the note into his hands and read it.

"Who else is here?" He asked. I heard a noise behind me. I turned around to see the dark figure the normal me saw in the room. I grabbed the gun.

"Who are you?" Jack asked

"The first and the last," The stranger said. He threw a knife hitting Steven in the chest, killing him. Jack went normal and went down to him.

"You've made a mistake," I said pointing the gun at him.

"Are you going to shoot?" The figure said. Mark was already reading my mind by handing me a knife. I threw it at the figure hitting him in the shoulder. He groaned loudly. I walked over to him dragging him into the light of the dim candles. I held the gun to his temple.

"Still think I'm going to shoot?" I said through my teeth, anger mixing with the black inside my eyes.

"No," He said grinning. His hair was a dirty blonde, his eyes grey and is face, torn.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I asked.

"Let's just say I was on the run, stole a few things ended up killing a store clerk and I came here for safety, I knew Martha," He said

"You just killed her grandson," I said.

"Woops," he said, "Why are your eyes black?"

"Accidentally took a pill, killed a few hundred, told people that I could do a few favors," I said.

"Pretty, be gentle," Mark said running his hand through my hair, "We don't want to kill him just yet, do we?" My eyes fluttered at the touch of his hand.

"Pretty is right," The man confirmed. At that Mark lost it. Grabbed the back of his shirt and ripping the gun from my hand. He slammed the man against the wall.

"She's mine," He yelled at him.