Markus's backstory.

WOOO FIRST PART

"Angelica?" Tad, a tall man with short brown hair, asked his wife.
"Yes, dear?" Angelica, a woman a bit shorter than Tad with long blonde hair, replied.
"Is it a boy or a girl?" Tad asked referring to their unborn child. He crossed his fingers hoping for a girl.
"It's a boy," Angelica answered.
"Oh.... yay" he responded with no enthusiasm. He was disappointed.
"Tad, you said you'd love the kid no matter the gender," Angelica said instantly picking up on Tad's tone.
"I know and i will" he lied. He hated the child already and he hadn't even seen it yet.
Tad strange and his wife angelica had been wanting a child for ages. Angelica wanted to have someone she could love. Tad wanted a girl that could help him distract people so he could capture them easily and torture them. Since the kid was to be a boy Tad had no use for him.
"The child will know nothing but love," Tad lied.
"That's the spirit, Tad!" Angelica said full of enthusiasm.
Despite his words Tad was already plotting ways to kill the child. Tad had no use for him so in Tad's mind the child had no need to be alive. If he was lucky, Tad might be able to figure out a way to kill the child before he was even born.
However, Tad had no such luck. He tried everything in the many powers he had since he was a demon to kill the kid, but much to his dismay his wife gave birth to a healthy baby boy.
"What will you name him, angelica?" Tad asked with hardly any emotion.
"How about Mark?"
"Sure, that works," Tad tried to put excitement in his voice, but he failed to do so.
"Hi there, little Mark," Angelina said to mark fondly. "Welcome to the world"
"Er.... Angelica?" Tad asked having another plan to kill mark.
"Yes, Tad?" Angelica asked still staring at Mark.
"Could I... maybe hold him?" Tad said also looking at Mark.
"Absolutely," she said delighted and she gave Mark to Tad.
"Thank you," he took Mark and purposely dropped him onto his head hoping to kill him. He failed and Mark survived.
"Oh, my poor child," Angelica said as she picked up Mark who was crying. "Tad you must be more careful."
"Yes I know. I'm sorry," he said watching Angelica calm Mark.
Angelica sang Mark a lullaby ignoring Tad.
A few weeks after Mark was able to leave the hospital Angelica had to go to her friends wedding and left Mark at home with Tad. Tad was ecstatic at the chance to do away with the child. Dropping him from a low height didn't work so well the last time, but maybe if Tad dropped him from the roof it would get rid of the kid once and for all. After debating what to do for around 2 hours Tad picked Mark up and teleported to the roof. He looked at the kid. Mark had golden eyes and his hair was blonde.
Tad looked straight into Mark's eyes and said, "Just die you useless piece of trash." Tad smiled a bit and threw Mark off of the roof.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Angelica shrieked and flew to catch Mark. She was an angel so she was able to catch him just in time. "Why did you throw him off of the roof?"
"I don't know what came over me... I'm sorry. Is he okay?" Tad said convincing Angelica it was all a mistake.
"He's perfectly fine," Angelica told him.
Those words caused Tad to groan inwardly. Mark didn't get even a little injured. Why was it so hard to get rid of one kid? To make things worse Tad may have issues getting time with Mark alone.
"That's good to hear," Tad lied.
"Tad?" Angelica asked seriously.
"Yes?"
"You realize you're sleeping on the couch tonight, right?"
"Yeah....."
"Good," Angelica replied smiling.
Much to Tad's delight Angelica left him and Mark alone the next week. He tried repeatedly to kill the kid. With every failed attempt to kill Mark, Tad grew to hate the child more and more. As Tad's loathing for Mark grew his attempts to murder Mark got worse and worse.
On Mark's 2nd birthday Tad tried to stab him to death.
-marks pov-
H....h....hi... my name is Mark Strange. As of yesterday i was 2. My father, Tad Strange, tried to kill me again. I say again because Tad is always trying to kill me. For as long as i can remember he has tried to send me to my death. He seems to always let it slip his mind that I am a demon like him. I am a being of infinite energy. The only difference between us is Tad has no beginning and no end. I have a beginning but no end.
Another thing I've learned is that after I make it to a certain age -the age varies per person- I won't grow anymore. Not only will i remain the same size, but ill stay that age too. I'll remain that age for all of eternity.
I won't know when that is until the year after it. Mom said I won't age on my birthday. It doesn't really make any sense. I don't really understand how that works, but I'm sure I'll figure it out when the time comes.
I guess people would describe my life as unfair or call my dad's actions of attempting to murder me as morally wrong, but I've never known anything else. I'm almost certain that all the attempts at murder Tad has done to me aren't healthy. I don't have any marks on me to show what he's been doing to me since I was born, but not all scars are physical.
Besides my life isn't too bad. I have my mom and she cares deeply for me. As long as I have my mom I know that nothing Tad ever does to me will ever hold me back.
Today I plan on exploring the woods behind our house. I just hope Tad doesn't insist on coming to "keep me safe." I'll just ask Mom while Tad isn't around. I don't even call Tad "Dad" he is unworthy of that title. Unfortunately, when I talk to or about Tad around people he's close to I have to call him "Dad."
When I walked downstairs, I was amazed at how lucky i was. Tad was going to visit his friend. I was free to explore all I wanted without worrying about Tad trying to kill me.
"Mom?" I asked after i was sure Tad had left.
"Yeah, Mark? What is it?" She asked with a hint of concern in her voice. She was always like that when i asked her a question.
"I was wondering if I could explore the woods behind the house."
"Mark, you can go just be home by dark," she said her voice calm again.
"Okay, thanks," I said running out the door closing it behind me.
I took in a deep breath of fresh air. Free at last! Sure it was only until it started to get dark, but it was more than I was used to. Smiling, I took my first step into the woods by myself.
Except... I'm never really alone. Even if i want to be alone. If Tad isn't with me "she" is. I can't seem to get rid of her and I'm not quite sure if I want to. Her name? Well, I still don't know it. She refused to tell me when I asked her.
She has brown hair that she keeps pulled up. She usually wears shorts and short sleeves or jeans and a jacket. She has baby blue eyes and she somehow always knows how to make me laugh. Today she was laying on a tree branch.
"Hi, Mark. Long time no see," she said.
"It sure has been a while, hasn't it?" I replied still unsure about how I felt about her.
"How have things been going for you?"
"Same as always. Tad left to visit his friend so I get to be out without him."
"Oh, so does he still try to... well you know."
"Yeah, amazing he doesn't leave any marks."
"Mark has no marks," she said before erupting into laughter.
"Yeah... anyway I'm going to explore for a bit."
"I'm coming," she instantly calmed down and hopped out of the tree.
"It's not like I have a choice, so let's go."
I started walking off in a random direction heading deeper into the woods. I knew she followed because she kept breaking twigs. We walked without saying anything for about half an hour.
"Mark, I'm going to answer the question you've been asking for ages."
"Your name?"
"It's Holly."
"Holly... I like it."
"Thanks..."
"Uh huh."
"I need you something, Mark."
"What is it?" I asked somewhat worried.
"I'm moving tonight."
"That's... unfortunate."
"I'll miss you, Mark," she said running off towards town.
"Well, that just happened," I said to myself.
"Who was that?" A voice I knew would haunt me for the rest of my life asked.
"No one," I lied.
"And you expect me to believe that?" Tad asked walking up to me and he slapped my face.
"If I didn't, I wouldn't have said it," I spat.
"Don't talk to me in that manner," he said slapping me across the face again.
"Sorry," I replied not feeling at all sorry.
"Now, who was that girl?" He asked deadly calm.
"It's none of your business."
"Fine. We'll do this the hard way," he said smiling. "Tell me who she is now and you can avoid the consequences."
"She is no one," I braced myself.
"Fine. So be it."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I mean we will be doing this the hard way," he said still smiling. He snapped his fingers and a dog of every breed appeared.
They were made with magic, so they were even more dangerous than normal dogs. They all stared at me growling, their teeth bared. Their teeth all looked like tiny razors. I didn't want to know what they were capable of.
"So what will it be?" Tad asked.
"It's none of your business. So back off."
"Attack," Tad ordered the dogs.
They all lunged at me and started chewing on me. The pain and agony I felt can't even be described. I could feel them ripping at my skin hungrily.
"Ready to talk yet?" Tad asked after about an hour of being a chew toy for a large group of dogs.
"Yes, just call them off," I begged.
"Good," he called off the dogs. "Now who is she?"
"Her name is Holly. We met the first time I went out without you. She wouldn't quit following me around when I was alone after that."
"See, was that so hard?" He teased me.
"Burn in Hades."
"Don't talk to me like that," he fumed and slapped my face again.
"Sorry, Dad," I said.
"That's better," he said. He then walked away.
That took me by surprise. Usually, Tad healed my wounds so that Mom didn't notice and start questioning things. I guess I should've been suspicious then, but I wasn't. I just thought he had forgotten.
"Angelica is dead by the way," Tad said.
"What? How? When?" I asked my heart sinking.
"Bill Cipher got to her a couple hours after I left."
Looking at his face, I was willing to bet he asked Bill to do it. That or he forced him to kill her. Tad didn't look at all upset. He kept looking at me his eyes filled with fury. He was probably mad I didn't die.
He most likely hired Bill to get rid of Mom and me. After all from what I've heard he didn't even love her. Tad probably didn't think of the possibility of me leaving the house. Judging by the way he was looking at me he had done a lot to make this possible and I had ruined everything by not being at home. I didn't care.
"Don't get too upset. I have another wife," he said pulling me out of my thoughts.
He had a faraway look on his face and my heart sank further. He loved her. If Tad loved her she was probably as foul and loathsome as he was.
"Oh, what's her name?"
"Hope. And you will show her respect."
"Okay....." I replied not liking what i was hearing.
"So that means I no longer need to heal your injuries."
"I figured," I said causing Tad to stop dead in his tracks.
"Mark, I will not stand for this disrespect," he said with a tone of warning in his voice.
"That's strange, you're standing right now," I said bitterly.
"You are such a foul, loathsome creature," he said and he slapped me once again. He pushed me causing me to fall.
"How long?" I said struggling to keep my temper under control.
"How long what?" He sneered.
"How long have you been cheating on Mom?" I asked my fury starting to the best of me.
"Ever since you were born."
"Why? What did she ever do to you?" I asked my my voice shaking because of my anger.
"Get up I haven't all day," he said starting to get irritated.
"What did Mom ever do to you?" I repeated.
"Gave birth to you," Tad said indifferently.
"What?!" I said in shock.
"GET UP, NOW." He yelled clearly tired of dealing with me.
I got up and ran in the opposite direction of the house. I couldn't deal with him anymore. In fact, in that moment I began to wish for what he wanted most. I began to wish for death.
"Get him," I heard Tad order.
I could hear a dogs paws padding in the ground of the woods. He had sent a dog after me. I knew instantly I had no chance of getting away. I stopped running and let the dog catch up to me.
Within seconds it was inches from my face. It was a greyhound. It had surprisingly pleasant smelling breath. That's just something you notice when a dog is breathing in your face. It picked me up in its mouth and bounded off towards Tad. It was being gentle this time. Not ripping at my flesh like it had last time.
In no time the dog walked into our house and put me down. It licked my hand and I pet it before. It had a collar that read "Duke" so I assumed that was his name.
"Hey, Mark, is that you?" Tad asked.
"Mark is that the kid's name?" A voice i assumed was Hope's asked.
"Yep," Tad responded.
I remained silent. Maybe if I stayed quiet they'd forget I was here. They continued to talk for a bit. I was beginning to think they had forgotten about me when Tad once again asked if I was home.
"Er.... yeah I'm here," I said ruefully.
"Good," Tad replied.
"I wanna see the little guy," Hope said excitedly.
"Feel free," Tad said.
A woman of around 30 came into the living room. She wore a purple dress that went down to around her knees. She had on black high heels, the heel about an inch high. Her hair went halfway down her back and was soft brown color. She had icy blue eyes that pierced you and searched your soul.
"Hi! I'm Hope, and you must be Mark," she said as she held out her hand for me to shake.
She had long purple fingernails- well I wouldn't call them nails... talons would be a better word. They were extremely sharp. If she were -as i feared- anything like Tad, then I wanted to keep her and her freakishly long nails away from me. Unfortunately, she wanted to shake my hand and I had no choice but to oblige.
I hesitantly took her hand and shook it. Looking up into her face, I felt a sense of foreboding. Then she smiled. I could help but wonder how anti climatic that was. Still, if Tad liked her, I didn't trust her.
"I'm going to my room," I said walking to my room which was just a closet in Tad's room.
"Mark, go outside," Tad said and he threw me out the window in his room.
"You had a dog bring me inside," I fumed.
"And now I'm throwing you outside."
"We have doors," I replied still very upset.
"They are overrated," Tad said as he shut and locked the window.
"Your face is overrated," I muttered under my breath.
"What was that?" Tad asked.
"Nothing," I replied running off into the woods.
For the first time ever I was truly alone. I wasn't sad, I was happy running through the woods dodging through the trees. I loved the feeling of wind in my hair. I was happy and nothing could ruin this moment.
Why is it that whenever someone says or thinks something like that something goes wrong? The second I thought that I heard a twig snap behind me. It wasn't an animal, I'd been in the woods long enough to tell the difference. I stood still and listened to the footsteps. It wasn't anyone I knew. Was it too much to ask for a little alone time? Apparently it was.
I turned around quickly to see who it was.
There was a man in his early 20's. He had blonde hair and yellow eyes. He wore blue jeans and a short sleeved shirt with a light blue pine tree printed on it. He also had a cape that was a glittery black on the inside and a bright yellow with an eye on the back. He wasn't paying attention to where he was going until he was a few feet away from me.
"Who are you?" He asked looking up wasting no time on questioning my existence.
"I could ask the same to you," I replied my voice shaking, it made my entire sentence sound pathetic.
"Kid, I asked you first," he said either not noticing my fear or not caring.
"Mark Strange," I told him taking notice that he flinched when he heard my name.
"Mark Strange," he repeated dumbfounded.
"Correct. Now your turn, who are you?" I responded my voice still somewhat shaky.
"The name's Bill, Bill Cipher," he sounded relieved that I didn't recognize him.
"Bill Cipher?" I asked. This was the man who killed my mom. That's why he was relieved I didn't recognize him.
"The one and only."
"Then I am pleased to meet you, uncle," I said deciding to keep the fact I knew he killed Mom a secret.
"You too, kid," he replied his voice full of uncertainty. "Why are you out here all alone?"
"I was thrown out a window," I said being completely honest.
"Can't say im surprised," Bill replied.
"What?" I asked confused. I knew Bill knew Tad, but still the fact that he wasn't surprised that Tad threw me out a window caught me completely off guard.
"Tad throwing you out a window doesn't surprise me. He is always telling me how useless you are. He says you can't do anything right. He said you can't even die right," Bill said matter-of-factly.
"I see," I already knew all of this, but for some reason Bill's matter-of-fact tone made me cry.
"Oh no, oh no oh no," Bill said horrified at what he had caused. "Please don't cry. I thought you knew already."
"I did. I don't know why I'm crying," I replied still crying.
"Kid, please stop. You're making me feel bad," he pleaded.
"I'm trying. I don't even know where these tears are coming from."
"Kid, I don't do emotions."
"You don't have to. You don't even have to stay. You can just leave now if you want," I said sure he would leave.
"You may not know this since this is the first time we've met, but I find myself incapable of leaving a crying child all alone in the woods," he said. He hesitated before he put his hand on my shoulder trying to comfort me.
I flinched at the contact despite my best efforts not to. He removed his hand from my shoulder a look of pure guilt covering his face.
"Sorry, kid, I didn't mean to..." he said.
"You didn't. That's just how I react when anyone touches me," I explained.
"Are you sure?"
"I have no reason to lie to you."
Bill knelt down and stared into my eyes. They were still glistening with tears. He searched my eyes seeming to note every detail.
"Kid, you have the deadest looking eyes I've ever seen in a living creature," he said after a while.
"I see," I replied interested by that statement for some reason.
"You've been through a lot for someone your age. Demon or no demon, no one should have to live like that. Unfortunately, we demons don't have child services I could report all of the abuse you've been through to. For what it's worth, I hate Tad too," he said showing something no one's ever shown me before: sympathy.
I don't know what came over me, but the next thing I knew I was hugging Bill.
"Kid?" He asked uncertainly. He hesitated before he hugged me back.
"Thank you, uncle."
The fact he hated Tad made me want to trust him. I knew what he did to my mom, but I couldn't help thinking it was probably an accident. After all, he didn't seem like a bad person. He seemed trustworthy, but I refuse to trust anyone just like that. And let's be honest, hating Tad isn't a very good reason to trust someone.
"Don't mention it, kid," he said and he put his hands on my shoulders.
I looked into Bill's eyes trying to find any hidden motives for him to be trying so hard to earn my trust. Much to my surprise I found none. He was just being nice for the sake of being nice. It was something I wasn't used to from anyone besides Angelica, and then even she had a hidden motive I didn't know about. I trusted her blindly, which is a mistake I'll never make again.
"Well, I should probably get home before Tad comes looking for me," I turned and ran off towards home. I ran into my closet, AKA my room, when I got home.
"Welcome home," Tad said sarcastically.
I looked up and saw him leaning in the doorway. His brown hair was combed back and he wore his purple suit as usual. His sleeves were pulled up revealing his 'hail Satan!' Tattoo.
"So how was your walk?" He asked.
"None of your business," I replied coldly.
"Actually, it's all of my business because you're my son" he replied a bit irritated "so tell me"
"It was fine. Heres a question. Why do you care?" I asked silently fuming.
"I dont," he said shrugging.
"Thank you for explaining," I said struggling to keep the bitterness out of my voice.
"Yeah. Whatever" Tad said not caring at all.
"What do you want?" I asked politely.
"To tell you good night. Tomorrow you will start working for us," he said as an evil grin spread across his face.
"What?" I asked confused.
He didn't answer he just shut the light off and closed the door leaving me in darkness. I didnt mind though. I love the dark after all.
One thing I've learned is demons tend to have one area where they excell. They know a lot about that topic. Tad for instance knows a lot about torture and is great at it. Bill's area of expertise is conspiracies. Its too soon to know what mine is though.
I lay down on the blanket thats on the floor. It serves as my bed. I had a nightmare that night. In the nightmare Hope was chasing me with her insanely sharp nails. She kept using them to slice my skin apart and try to pick me up and fly away using a pair of red demon wings she had grown. Then out of no where bill showed up and shot her with a machine gun that shot doritos.
The next thing I knew Tad was waking me up demanding I make him eggs and bacon. I've never cooked before so naturally i burned everything. Tad got mad and he slapped me.
"Do it again. And dont burn it" he said before leaving the kitchen.
I tried again and didn't burn it this time. I undercooked it... Tad took one bite of it and threw me back into the kitchen. There was a loud crack that could be heard when I made contact with the kitchen counter. A sharp pain raced up my left arm, and it was so intense I couldn't help but cry out. My vision went black and I passed out. When i woke I was surrounded by darkness. I couldnt breathe and my body felt heavy. I was unable to move. What was this? Was i dying?
From the darkness above my head a hand reached down and grabbed my shirt. It pulled me up out of what I could now see was a pond. I doubled over and started coughing up water.
"What the heck were you thinking?" Bill asked me worry evident in his voice.
"Huh?" I responded confused.
"Why were you napping in a pond?"
"I dunno. Last thing I remember is getting thrown into the kitchen, a loud snap, and pain lacing up my arm. Then I passed out," I explained.

-third person focusing around Bill-

As bill looked at Mark. He couldn't stop the feeling of rage from overwhelming him. He had to keep Kill under control though. If he didn't, Kill would take over and do something dumb.
Mark was dripping wet and was struggling to breathe. Bill knew he had swallowed some water. The more he looked at Mark the more Bill hated Tad.
How could someone do that to their own son?
It made Bill mad, and Bill wasn't pleasant when he was mad.
"Bill let me have control," Kill begged.
"No," Bill replied shortly.
"Come on please."
"You always ask and the answer never changes. The answer is still no."
"But," Kill started.
"No buts," Bill interrupted.
"Fine," Kill said retreating into the back of Bill's consciousness.