The Devil's Son

Ten

Maddie

We've been driving for so long I'm not even sure we're in California anymore. I had fallen asleep, and I open my eyes and see Marduk, driving endlessly down the road. We're not even on a highway. 

"Marduk," I mutter, subconsciously leaning against his shoudler. "You want me to drive?" 

"No," He says, his voice sounding distant and tired. "I'm alright. 'Sides, you can't drive anyway. You're only 15." 

"But we're driving on a completely empty road," I groan, snuggling against him. "I wanna go to a hotel. Come on, Marc, you promised a hotel!" I get angrier with every word. "Where are we Anyway! I wanna go home if we're not staying at a hotel." 

"I have to drive to a hotel!" Marduk cries. "And I don't know where we are, okay? So just leave me alone and let me drive!"

"You don't know where we are?!" I shriek, slamming my hands on the dashboard. "What do you MEAN you don't know where we are!"

"We're lost, okay?" Marduk shouts, his voice cracking. "I have absolutely no CLUE where we are."  

"WHAT THE HELL MARDUK!!" I scream, tears beginning to fall. "HOW!!! WHAT DID YOU DO, HOW COULD YOU HAVE BEEN SO STUPID?" 

"STOP!" He screams, a scream louder than anything I've ever heard before. He pulls over, and I notice something. His breathing is short and quick, and his face has gone nearly white. 

"Marduk?" I whisper. 

Then I realize that he has stress induced asthma attacks. Marduk gasps, and at this point I'm totally lost. 

"Marduk!" I cry, grabbing his arm and shaking him. He sounds awful. He's wheezing, and he's seriously gasping. He sounds like he's choking. 

"The...pill," He chokes out, "in the cupholder...." he's falling in and out of consciousness, still struggling to breathe. I grab the pill and shove it in his hand, and he takes two of them. 

Soon, his breathing slows, and he weakly leans back against the wall. He closes his eyes, one hand resting gently on the wheel. 

"T-t-that was a bad o-one," he stammers, his voice shaking. His whole body is trembling. 

"Well," I say, "it could be worse. You could be dead." 

I don't realize how bad and really scary the attack was until I see him manage a wobbly smile. He looks over at me. 

"W-were you s-scared?" He says, still sounding breathless. 

"Were you?" 

To my surprise, Marduk nods weakly. "Y-yeah," he admits. "I w-was." 

"Here," I say, handing him my water bottle. "Drink some water. You can have the bottle." 

"T-thanks," He says softly. He opens it and drinks out of it. 

He puts it down. All the sudden, a sharp laugh escapes him. 

"What?" I say, laughing nervously as well. 

"I'm sorry," He says, laughing, "I a-almost died!" He laughs, slamming his hand on the steering wheel. "I d-don't mean to laugh. It's o-out of shock." He looks at me and smiles. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it," I reply. "Hey, its late. Let's camp out for the night here." 

Marduk nods. "Hey," He says, a twinkle in his eye. "Maybe tomorrow I can give you a driving lesson. In case I almost die again."

"I'm surprised you managed to pull over," I reply. 

"I knew it was coming," He says. "I can feel it. Usually when I yell, or get really mad, the first voice crack usually means somethings wrong." 

"Wow." I mumble. 

"You know," Marduk says. "You're a really nice girl, Maddie." 

I smile. I lean against him, and for a while, as we both fall asleep in that position, I comepletly forget about home. I forget that Mom and Kenzie are out looking for me. I forget about Abby searching for Marduk so she can turn him in. 

All I can think about is me and Marduk together.

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A/n: awww most of y'all are probably gonna hate me. But that's okay because I'm still cool.
Okay, so I think I'm done for tonight. Thanks for everyone who read for making this a super fun night!
Shoutout of the chapter: kbhg23  for being so nice and my number one reader.
"And then Marduk died and Malani is happy forever."
~ Yutney ❣️