Horrors Edge {Preview}

Chapter 3: On the Road

Last chapter! Please comment and criticize if you want love you!!! ❤️

    By the time Mark and Eliza finished packing, life at the motel began to stir. A family was leaving the motel at the same time the three parahunters were. Eliza, who was the first to exit the motel room, watched the parent's six-year-old son bound down the stairs, his parents following. The six-year-old reminded Eliza of Mark when he was that age. Julia, Eliza's younger sister, was able to start a family of her own and lived a happy life for a few years until a Hexpaw was spotted in the neighborhood Julia and her family lived in.

Eliza briefly recalled the day Julia's husband, Nathan, called her saying that Julia had passed away. It tore Eliza apart, but Nathan's personality seemed to take its toll just as bad. Both Nathan and his son, Mark, spent time traveling to different states from that point on; constantly moving from place to place. Mark didn't seem to get attached to anything afterward. When he and his father went to the park with her a few days after Julia's death, she studied the six-year-old. He would sit there and watch others bustle around him, Eliza could have compared him to a corpse, unmoving, no sign of life in his once vibrant and lively dark gray eyes.

Mark became distant, often choosing to hide his pain and sadness for the sake of others; often disguising it, at least when he was around people, with his goofy and childish teasing. It's like he thought if he showed people any sign of his inner demons, the reality of his hidden scars would settle in. There was a pain in Eliza's chest, knowing full on that Mark never recovered from his past. She could metaphorically see the shackles weighing down upon him as Mark walked around and continued to hunt the paranormal.

Meanwhile, as Eliza was reflecting in the past, Jocelyn continued to load up Eliza's truck while Mark loaded up his black 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS. Jocelyn admitted that a car like that suited him. The car was in great condition for a car from the 1970s.

'I wonder where he got such a nice car like that,' she thought, closing the truck's back door. Jocelyn continued to linger and observe Mark get into his car. The once suspicion, later becoming annoyance was replaced with curiosity; something that Jocelyn rarely, if ever, had when it came to other
Parahunters. Then again, the copper-haired woman met a few Parahunters who left Jocelyn to believe that these 'guardians of the night' were actually jerks seeking revenge and killing monsters along the way. The belief existed before partnering up with Eliza.

It was an eighteen-hour drive to Huntsville and with another ten to go, Mark was growing impatient as he listened to the radio. The lyrics of Get Up by Shinedown ran through Mark's head as he pulled into a gas station. Eliza's truck followed his lead pulling into a parking space most likely to buy food for the evening while Mark filled up his car's tank. He watched Jocelyn get out of the truck, stretching before she walked into the gas station.

Sealing the gas cap shut and moving his car to park next to his aunt's truck, Mark went inside the gas station to get food. The door signaled his entrance and simultaneously alerted Jocelyn that someone else had entered the room. Mark stood at the doorway scouring for the candy aisle. The sandy brown-haired man noticed that Jocelyn was looking at the energy drinks and he continued to grab a pack of Twizzlers.

Jocelyn looked up noticing Mark holding the bag of Twizzlers and wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Are you seriously going to eat those?" she gestured to the bag slightly with her head.

Mark raised an eyebrow comically. "What? Not a candy fan or a Twizzler fan?"

Jocelyn made her way to Mark's side, grabbed a pack of gummy bears weighing it in her hand before tossing it at Mark's chest. "Nah, just anything that you like, I don't," the copper-haired woman answered in a teasing manner.

"So you don't like chocolate?" Mark continued to play along as he fumbled barely catching the gummy bears with his free hand. Jocelyn laughed, a smile creeping from the corner of her mouth.

The honk of Eliza's truck caused the two's guards to go up as they both reached for their knives. Mark and Jocelyn relaxed realizing that it was only Eliza telling them to hurry up. After quickly paying for their food and drinks, both went to their respective vehicles.

Mark started to munch on one of the Twizzlers that he'd bought as he started his dad's car. Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin just finished playing allowing for a brief commercial break.

Jocelyn's eyes were growing heavy by the time they arrived at Leo's temporary residence. Eliza had been sleeping in the passenger's seat since Jocelyn switched places with her partner. Jocelyn urged Eliza awake with a light tap on Eliza's shoulder.
Mark's car pulled up in the driveway as Jocelyn and Eliza got out of the car while grabbing their stuff. It was Eliza who went to the front door knocking twice.

Leo opened the door slowly before taking out a flashlight and hovering the bright LED light over Eliza's brown eyes to make sure she wasn't a shifter. Her eyes didn't change to glowing mint green, her pupils didn't turn into slits either.

Leo lowered the flashlight when he realized she was human. "Sorry about that Eliza. You know how those shifters are."

"That's one way to wake up," Eliza blinked rapidly. "But it's good to see you, Leo."

Leo allowed for the three exhausted travelers to come inside after he finished testing Jocelyn and Mark. The trio set down their bags after Leo showed them to their separate rooms and told them to rest up. The four would discuss their plan of action later in the morning when daylight arrived.

Mark slipped off his tennis shoes as he took off his jacket and his necklace that was hidden underneath his shirt. Mark flopped onto his bed not before glancing at the ring on the chain and setting it on the nightstand next to him.
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November 17th, 20 years ago:

A young boy, about four years old, with untamed sandy brown hair and once bright gray eyes, slowly walked down the stairs of his house clinging to his stuffed wolf in one hand and his deceased mother's ring in the palm of his other hand. The boy carried the ring with him everywhere he went. The ring was a simple silver band with no jewels embedded in it but the inner ring had engraved in French; To an eternal love -J&N, 1992.

"Mark," the boy's father, Nathan, began to say as he put his mug of coffee in the dishwasher. Nathan grabbed his car keys and put on his jacket. "Are you ready to go to school?"

Mark nodded his head. "Yeah," he replied, sitting down at the bench near the front door to tie his well-worn shoes.

Nathan noted how quiet and obedient his son had gotten in the past few months his mother had been deceased. He also noticed how Mark held onto his mother's ring like a lifeline and as if it was the only thing keeping him sane. Nathan went into his bedroom quickly to find a necklace chain. Mark was in the middle of putting on his blue hooded sweater when his dad returned holding the necklace chain in his hand.

"Here kid," Nathan asked for Mark to hand him Julia's ring. Mark gave him the ring and Nathan let the ring slip onto the chain before returning it to his son.

Mark stared at the ring for a moment and put the chain around his neck, tucking underneath his shirt. The ring was one of the few good memories the boy had left of his mother and he wasn't willing to let them go just yet. Maybe, he would find peace in the future, but until then the boy's only concern was the darkness and self-hatred that would soon consume his soul.
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So how was the last chapter for this little preview book, I hope you enjoyed it! Love you Jelly Beans ❤️ bye!