Inner Demons

New Reality

"You need to kill Anti while you have the chance." Dark urged Mark as the dark haired male tossed and turned in his sleep.

Mark squeezed his eyes shut tighter and let out a short sigh, hoping to ignore the demon.

"You really think you can just ignore me? I'm not like all of your other problems Mark." Dark pointed out coldly.

"Shut up." Mark hissed quietly.

"If you don't strike now, Anti will kill both of us. Do you really want that?" Dark continued tersely.

Mark didn't answer as he sat up slightly and glanced over at Jack, who seemed to be sleeping soundly.

"I'm not hurting my friend." Mark muttered under his breath before falling back onto the pillow and rubbing his face with his hands.

"Just stop trying to be a selfless fucking hero for two seconds and listen to me!" Dark snapped impatiently, causing Mark to flinch slightly.

Dark let out a huff of annoyance before abruptly falling silent, leaving Mark to his thoughts.

Chica whined softly as she laid down by Mark's feet, her head nudging Mark's leg.

"Hey puppo, at least I can trust you." Mark whispered with a light smile, opening his eyes to pet Chica.

Mark eventually got out of bed once he saw the sun begin to rise through the window, its golden rays shining onto Mark's face.

Mark tip-toed down the hall and towards the kitchen, trying to not wake up Felix or Jack in the process.

Chica padded alongside her owner, her tail wagging happily as she sat by her food bowl.

"Why do you care about her so much?" Dark spoke up in a curious tone.

"She's my dog and I care about her." Mark answered simply as he picked up Chica's dog food bag and began to fill her bowl.

"You know that's not who I meant." Dark replied, causing Mark to freeze mid-pour.

"Amy Nelson....why does she mean so much to you?" Dark pressed as Mark silently placed the dog food bag back in its original spot.

"Because I love her a lot. Not that you know anything about love." Mark retorted.

Dark fell silent once more, yet Mark could tell it was because the demon was deep in thought.

"Morning Mark." Jack greeted Mark as he walked into the kitchen, heading towards the coffee machine while Mark worked on making eggs.

"Morning. Is Felix still asleep?" Mark asked the Irishman as he cooked.

Jack poked his head out of the kitchen to glance into the living room before nodding at Mark.

Jack suddenly jumped in surprise when he felt something touch his leg, only to relax when he realized that it was Chica.

"Morning to ya too Chica." Jack smirked as he knelt down by the puppy and ran his hands through her golden fur.

"Breakfast is served." Mark declared in a French accent as he filled a plate with scrambled eggs for Jack.

"Thanks." Jack nodded in appreciation as he took the plate before sitting down at the table.

Mark opened the fridge to grab something to drink, cursing in anger when he realized that he was running low on food.

"Everything okay?" Jack asked worriedly.

"We'll have to get more food from somewhere." Mark admitted as he took a bottle of water from the fridge before closing it.

"How? There's probably demons everywhere." Jack interjected with a frown.

"I don't know, we'll have to deal with that later." Mark sighed in exasperation.

"Can you wake up Felix for breakfast?" Mark asked Jack as he made a plate for Felix and himself.

Jack grinned mischievously as he crept out of the kitchen, pausing at the couch before cupping his hands around his mouth.

"TOP OF THE MORNING TO YA FELIX!" Jack shouted before pouncing on top of the couch.

Mark laughed when he heard Felix scream in alarm, Jack laughing along as well.

"Fuck you!" Felix chuckled as he shoved Jack off of him, causing him to land on the floor with a thud.

"I think he's awake!" Jack informed Mark.

"Tell Felix that if he wants food, he'll have to get in here and get it!" Mark called back.

Felix let out a sleepy groan before stumbling into the kitchen with Jack, the Swede seeming barely awake.

"Here." Mark smiled lightly as he offered the pair a cup of coffee, Jack's expression instantly brightening as he took the bright red mug.

"Hey, uh, you do know that we don't have any food left in the fridge, right?" Felix asked Mark as he peered into the fridge, fishing out a gallon of milk.

"I know, we'll have to go out soon to get more stuff." Mark stated grimly.

"We'll need defense." Jack chimed in.

"How do we fight off demons?" Felix wondered aloud.

"I don't even know." Mark admitted.

"Salt wards demons off." Dark informed Mark.

"Salt wards off demons." Mark told Felix and Jack, earning surprised looks from the pair.

"How-"

"Dark told me." Mark interrupted Felix.

"Okay then, I guess we have a plan. We can go out after breakfast and see what we can find." Jack announced.

"Are you sure that Dark's telling the truth? He could be lying." Felix spoke up.

"The last thing I need is for you to die, and I want Jack alive so I can face Anti myself. Xilef however is of no importance to me anymore." Dark informed Mark.

"He's telling the truth." Mark assured Felix.

Wordlessly Jack searched through the cabinets until he pulled out a big bag of salt, his expression uncharacteristically serious.

"Lets go face our new reality."