Markus's backstory.

Miss me? admit it you missed me~

quick note before i start typing this out. yes. i am still alive. shocking i know. i wasnt really planning on continuing this but my friend has convinced me that i should continue. as im sure you noticed i removed the last chapter. i decided to rewrite it and add some details. so you finally get to know what happens next. as the story continues!!
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"Hey kid," Bill said focusing on mark again
"Y-y-yeah?" Mark asked his teeth chattering.
"Let's get you some dry clothes and warm you up, okay?" Bill suggested.
"O-o-Okay," he replied.
Bill, noticing Mark was weak on his legs, picked him up and carried him to what Bill called home. It wasn't anything special. In fact all it was was an old abandoned building deep in the woods. There were vines growing over the side of the wall. There were cracks in the glass of the windows. Inside the house most of the furniture had dust on it and Bill brushed it off.
"Sorry. I've been staying with my boyfriend. He doesnt much like it when I stay here. He says the conditions are entirely unhealthy." He lit a fire in the fireplace and had Mark sit close to it.
"This should help warm you up. I'm going to go and try to find you some dry clothes. They'll be big and for that I apologize. However, I'm fairly certain that big clothes are preferable over wet ones," he says as he has his hands behind his back.
Mark nods a small bit and says, "Yeah. it is."
Bill pats the child's head and walks off to find him a clean outfit. As he rummaged through his drawers he found a silver locket and smiled at it fondly. He shook his head. Now was not the time to be dwelling in the past. He got the smallest set of clothes he could find as well as a blue hoodie. If they didn't fit, he would just use magic to shrink them. He walked back to Mark who he found staring blankly into the fire. He nudged the kid.
"What do ya see when you look at the fire?"
Mark gave him a confused look and asked, "What do you mean?"
"When I look at fire... I see destruction and I can hear screams. What do you see?"
"Uhm... I guess I see..." he stared into the fire thinking a bit. He gave Bill a helpless look.
"It's not a trick question, promise. I'm only being curious."
"I.... I see pain... suffering... yet at the same time I... I feel safe.." he told his uncle looking up at him.
Bill nodded and stared into the fire saying, "odd how the mind works. Something so awful making us feel safe. Anyway, here." He held the clothes out to Mark. "Just leave the wet ones on the floor by the door. I'll wash them later."
Mark nodded and whispered, "thank you." He quietly stood up and tried to figure out where the bathroom is. He looked at Bill when he heard the demon giggle. His uncle pointed at a door not far from where Mark stood. The boy nodded and rushed into the bathroom. He quietly shut the door and looked around. He found there were lots of spider webs around the room which freaked him out. There were weeds poking up through the ground. He felt bad that his uncle had to live in these conditions. He wasn't really a bad guy. He was starting to wonder if he actually killed his mother or if that was just a lie Tad told him. He frowned as he pulled off his shirt. He hadn't thought of Tad much since he was pulled out of the water. He removed his pants and boxers putting on the clean ones Bill gave him then pulled stared at the hoodie. Was Tad looking for him? Did he care? Yes. Why? Easy. He was worried Tad would hurt Bill. He liked Bill and he'd hate to see him hurt because of Mark. He shook his head. Tad left him in that pond. He probably wouldn't go for the corpse until morning. That way he could be sure he didn't accidentally save the kid's life. Mark heard a knock on the door and jumped startled.
"Hey, you alive in there kiddo?" he heard Bill ask.
"Y-y-yeah," he told the dream demon as he pulled the hoodie on and walked out of the bathroom after neatly placing his clothes beside the door.
Bill walked over and examined the clothes on Mark. This made the young child feel self conscious. He didn't say so though. He didn't want to accidentally offend Bill in any way. after a while of Bill walking around Mark in circles the demon stood up straight. "Too small.." Bill muttered and placed his hand on Mark's shoulder using a small bit of magic to shrink the clothes. "hm... thats better!" he exclaimed happily. He pulled his nephew in for a hug.
Mark looked up at him tensely before he calmed down and slowly yet hesitantly hugged back. Bill heard laughter in his mind and rolled his eyes. Kill was such a child sometimes. He didn't see what was so funny about Mark's fear of contact, but Kill was insane so maybe that had something to do with it. Then again Bill was insane so that really didn't make much sense. He found insanity almost as fun as he found pain. He let go of Mark and smiled at him. He then walked to the couch and sat down draping a hand over his eyes exhausted. Mark didn't understand what he did that exhausted him so much, so he assumed it was the magic. Tad was always exhausted after he used magic to punish him m, but he hid it well. He looked around Bill's house and felt something he didn't feel often. Sympathy welled up inside of his chest. How is it that someone as nice as Bill had nothing but this house? It was falling apart! Then there was Tad with his stupid mansion and building he used for torturing. It wasn't fair! Bill was nice and caring. Tad couldn't care less if Mark died and in fact he was actively trying to cause that. Then, why? Why was it that Tad had so much fortune and luck. He jumped startled when Bill snapped his fingers in front of Mark's face
"Earth to Mark," Bill said smiling at the kid when he saw his eyes focus. "Did ya hear me?"
Mark shook his head feeling bad that he hadn't heard his uncle speaking.
"Well, I said that you should stay here for the night. I can sense a storm brewing."
Oh no. Not a storm. Why'd it have to be a storm. He was terrified of storms. Of couse it wasn't his fault. He used to love them. He used to find comfort in them. That was until Tad noticed his son's love of storms. Tad hated it when Mark was happy. Mark shook his head chasing the memory away. He'd deal with it later. He didn't want his uncle to see him freak out over something as silly as the weather so he smiles.
"No, it's okay. I'd hate to overstay my welcome," he said coming up with an excuse quickly as he headed towards the door. "Tad will be looking for me soon anyway."
"I'm not scared of Tad. Let him look."
"I don't want to cause problems. Thank you for everything, Uncle."
Bill nodded quietly. As if the boy could actually burden him. He absolutely adored being around him. Of course he probably knew the reason why. As the thought crossed the demons mind, me his stomach churned and he groaned softly.
"Stay safe, kiddo. You are always welcome here," he told his nephew calmly.
Once Mark was out of the door Kill appeared in front of Bill staring at him in disbelief. "You told me there was no chance you made her pregnant."
"She told me it was Tad's kid."
"He looks like you."
"I know. Thats part of the reason I think he is..."
"You told her you didn't want to though!"
"She didn't care..."
"You're gay.."
"She didn't care..."
"That's messed up."
Bill nodded in agreement. "And the fact that she made Tad make me kill her.. she was a coward. She didn't want to deal with the being she created"
"That's twisted."
"That's how she works. Hard to believe she's an angel."
"Wait. She's an angel?"
Bill nodded solemnly. "Yeah, I know it's hard to believe."
"Especially after she married your brother..." Kill mumbled.
Meanwhile~~
Mark looked around after leaving the house. Everything looked the same. He groaned quietly as he looked up at the sky his face growing pale. Bill wasn't wrong. It was going to storm. The sky was really dark. He ran off in a random direction desperate to get home before it started. As he ran, however, it started to rain. He looked around desperately as he tried to find a place to hide. As he searched a loud clap of thunder could be heard mere seconds after a flash of lightning filled the sky with light. Mark fell to his knees shaking. He had a flashback as he always did when it stormed after that night.
"Mark~ are you awake?" The demon boy heard a voice ask as he was flicked repeatedly.
He opened his eyes slowly and looked up at his father. Tad smiled widely "Morning~"
"Hi.. whats up?" he asked his father.
"Shhh. Listen," Tad replied.
Suddenly Mark heard the sound of thunder and smiled. "It's storming!" he looked at his father excitement in his eyes.
Tad nodded "Yes. It is. I've noticed how calm you are when it storms. I don't want that. So let's play a game~"
Mark paled as he asked, "game...?"
"Yes. The rules are simple. Everytime it thunders weather it's loud or not I am going to push this button," he explained.
It was only after he said that that Mark realized he was hooked up to Tad's electric chair. He gave Tad a fearful look. The look on his son's face made Tad happy.
"The louder the thunder is the higher the voltage of electricity I use."
As if on cue a really loud clap of thunder could be heard. Tad gave a sadistic smile as he turned the electricity all the way up and pushed the button. Mark screamed out as he got electrocuted.
Hours pass and it keeps storming. Tad was having too much fun with his game. His son had already passed out, but he didn't mind. He liked watching the boy's body twitch.
Meanwhile
Tad smiled as he looked at the clock. It was almost midnight. A smirk came to his face as he heard thunder. His mind went back to that same night that ruined the storms for his son. That was a fun night. He stood up and left the house. It was about time he went off and retrieved his son. He smiled as he noticed it was raining buckets. If Mark had somehow gotten out of the pond alive then he'd be petrified. It'd be so much easier to collect his son if he was scared. He grabbed an umbrella and walked out into the night. He had a bounce in his step. "Oh happy days~" he exclaimed as he strode into the night. "He's either dead or scared out of his wits!"
Meanwhile
Kill put his feet up on the coffee table as he looked out of the window at the rain and storm raging outside. "It's coming down pretty hard.... do you think he made it home alright?"
Bill paused and looked over at the red version of himself. "Since when did you care about others?"
"I don't," he told the other demon coldly.
"Wow. Sorry you just seemed worried..."
"I am. Aren't you?"
"Yeah... I have to believe in him though. I have to hope he is okay," the yellow demon whispers.
"Oh? Why is that?"
"He's family. Ciphers and Stranges are born strong. I think that's thanks to Dad," Bill explained to Kill.
"Your dad? You never talk about him what was he like?" the red demon inquires.
"He was.... awful.."
"How so?"
Bill gave kill a pleading look. "Please dont make me explain.."
"That bad?" Kill asked shocked by Bill's response. He hadn't seen Bill like that before.
Bill nods silently.
"Did he only tortu-"
"No. He did Tad too. I just got it the most..." Bill shut his eyes as he gripped his arm. "He had special rooms in his basement where he made us stay so he knew where we were as he got his torturing ready. He didn't always have a reason to do it either. Most of the times it was over small mistakes..." he explains to Kill.
"Small mistakes?" the red demon asked curiously.
"I overslept one time and he poured an entire bottle of holy water onto me..." he whispered.
"Ouch..."
Bill nodded.
"That's not the worst thing.... I can tell. Whats wrong?"
"You.... You're right. That's not the worst thing he did... I was ten when he did the worst thing ever...."
"What?"
Bill told Kill by taking the other demon into his mind and letting him view the worst memory he had.
Bill was ten and giggled as he used magic to float upwards and put a bucket of water on it after he cracked it open. He was planning on getting revenge for his brother. He heard Tad crying all night and felt really bad for his brother. He zoned out as he remembered the night before. He had been in bed hugging a pug plushie his mother gave him. He had a small present for his brother for after he was freed from his father's clutches. He had hidden it it under his bed from his father. Isen didn't like it when he had things that made him happy. He didn't care if the plush he had was taken but he did care about the one he had for his brother. As he slowly started to drift off, he heard crying from his brothers room. He got the plush from underneath his bed and sneaked out of his room and into his brothers. He froze when he saw Tad. His brother had cuts all over his face and arms. There was blood sliding down into his eyes. Bill ran over to the wall activating a secret lever opening a hidden passage in the wall and rushed in. Tad noticed that his brother had dropped the plush he brought in. It was a black cat. Bill ran out of the room with bandages and started to treat his brothers wounds.
"Bill..."
"Yeah, Tad?"
"You dropped your plush.."
"It's yours. I got it for you."
"Why?"
"Because you're my brother."
Bill looked at Tad confused when he felt his brothers hands wrap around his torso.
"Thank you, Bill," Tad whispered.
Bill smiled and hugged his brother. "Don't mention it, Taddy."
"I like that nickname..." his brother whispered as he slowly calmed down in his brothers embrace.
"I'm happy you do. I'll call you it more often. You should sleep though," Bill led Tad to the bed and gently sat him down.
"Bill..?"
"Yeah, Taddy?"
"I'm scared..."
"Of what? Dad?" Bill asked his brother as he sat on the bed beside him.
The younger boy nodded and let his head fall onto his brothers arm feeling safe around him. Bill gave Tad a sympathetic look and wrapped his arm around his brother pulling him close to help him calm down. "I know he's scary Taddy, but we'll be okay.. we have each other after all."
Tad smiled at Bill happily. "Yeah. We'll show him!"
Bill nodded in approval and said, "that's the spirit, Taddy."
"Are you going to go back to your room?" Tad asked his brother hesitantly.
"Depends. Do you want me to?"
Tad shook his head vigorously.
"Then I'll stay here with you."
Tad hugged Bill. Bill smiled at his brother and felt as his brothers body fell limp in his arms and he laid him on the bed.
"Go away, Dad. He's asleep."
"I can see that," a voice spoke from the darkness of the corner. "I'm surprised you were able to get him to fall asleep after everything I did to him in that basement."
"Dad, you need to lay off of him. He's a kid!"
"So are you. I don't really care in all honesty. You two are mere mistakes. I wish you were never born."
"I know," Bill said as he ran his hand through his younger brothers hair to keep him calm and asleep. "He's younger. He doesn't deserve any of this..."
"Oh? And you do?" the man asked stepping out of the shadows. He had brown hair and blue eyes. He wore a suit and a purple satanic cross. Bill wanted to rip the cross pendant off of his neck.
"No... No one does, but-"
"Oh my~ how noble of you. If it's going to happen either way you want it to be you," a wicked smile comes to the mans face.
"Tad doesn't deserve this. His mind works differently. I've seen it. I've been in his mind. If you keep going down this path he's going to be as bad a father to his kid as you are to us."
"Oh?~"
Bill paled. He made a mistake. His father loved the idea of his son carrying on his legacy. He watched in horror as his father picked Tad up.
"HEY! GIVE HIM BAC-"
"Shut up, Bill. You'll wake him~" the man said then noticed the plush in Tad's arms. "That's odd..." he muttered. "I don't recall giving him that..."
Bill glared at the man "I gave it to him."
"....hmm... fine then I'll let him keep it. It will be beneficial to let him have a safety blanket," the man mutters.
"ISEN NO!" Bill screamed.
A shadow covered Isen's face as he looked at Bill. He dropped Tad onto the bed and picked Bill up by his shirt. "DON'T YOU DARE USE THAT NAME YOU LITTLE BRAT," Isen yelled as he threw the boy into a wall.
Bill coughed up blood as he slid down the wall. He looked at his brother when he heard his father cuss. The screams had woken his brother. He saw Isen throw him. He had punched his father in his weakest spot.
Isen grabbed Tad by the neck and pinned him to a wall.
"Don't YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN," Isen yelled at his youngest son.
Bill grit his teeth as he saw his brother flinch. "Dad! Stop it you're scaring him!"
"Good! He needs to learn not to hurt me."
"Dad he was defending me!"
"That was his first mistake," he muttered as he drops Tad.
Bill ran over and hugged his brother glaring at Isen. "Where is mom?" the young dream demon demanded to know.
"She went to a night club or something," Isen told Bill with a shrug.
"No...."
"Yeah we're alone. Exciting isn't it?"
"Very~" Tad says smiling.
Bill blinks fearfully. Oh no. It was too late. Tad had snapped. Bill before into a corner as his brother approached their father. He gripped Isen's arm an evil look in his eyes.
"Dad."
"Hm?"
"Never!" he squeezed his father's arm so tightly that it broke. "Hurt my brother like that again," he says cheerfully.
Isen just pats Tad's head and leaves the room.
Bill shook his head to focus on his harmless little prank. He heard footsteps which pulled him from his memory. He hid as his father walked to the basement. Isen opened the door and got drenched. He blinked in confusion for a moment before a look of anger crossed his face. "BILL." He turned and looked at where Bill was hiding.
The young demon paled and ran. He eneded up running into his mother. His mother was a beautiful woman with blond hair and bright golden eyes. She hugged her son in confusion. "Hey. Shh. Bill it's okay what's wrong."
"Dad."
She nodded silently and pushed her son behind her as she stood up to face her husband who ran towards the two with a knife. "Isen.. babe calm down.."
"Daphne, no. He drenched me in water!"
"It was a harmless prank."
"Move."
"No. He's my son too."
"I don't care. Move or I'll kill you," Isen threatened.
"No. You won't kill me. Babe, you just need to calm down."
Bill watched as his mother walked over and hugged Isen. Bill jumps as he feels arms wrap around him, but he relaxes once he realizes it's Tad.
"Hi, Taddy."
"Morning, Bill."
All of a sudden Isen thrusts the knife he had in his hand into Daphne's heart. Bill's eyes widen and he covers his brother's eyes. He was too late. Tad had seen. That was the final blow to the kid's mental state. After that he started acting more like Isen. He distanced himself from Bill, but Bill saw him carrying around the cat plush around all the time.
The memory ended and Kill stared at Bill. "That is horrible.... it doesn't excuse Tad's behavior... but it does explain it."
Bill nods silently. He tensed as the red demon hugged him. "Hey. It's over."
Bill hugged him nodding quietly.
meanwhile
Mark was curled up on the ground covering his ears crying. He hated this. He was so weak. He reminded himself that it wasn't forever. The storm would end. He just had to be patient. He got up and used a tree to support himself. He walked off in a random direction getting lost. He didn't care he just wanted to find shelter. Everytime he heard thunder or saw lighting he fell to the ground in fear. After exploring for about half an hour he found a cave and ran in. He went as far in as he could and curled up wirh his hands covering his ears. An hour passes with Mark alone cowering from the storm. After a while, he hears footsteps coming from behind him. He tenses and when someone touches his shoulder he screams. The person responds to the screams by covereing Mark's mouth. He couldn't see in the dark. He didn't know what to do or how to react. After a few moments of silence Mark was knocked out.