Forever

Chapter 30

We walk hand and hand over to the base of the tree, my eyes mostly stay on the calm glistening water with the colors of the sun dancing on the ripples of the lake. Marcus stops and I almost run into him but I stop just in time, the hand that I am not holding is place on the trunk of the tree tracing a pattern that I can't quite see "this tree must be hundreds of years old" I say staring up at the huge truck, judging by the size it has to at least be 200 years old

"It is" he says quietly "look" he motions towards the pattern he was tracing and I drop his hand as he backs away

I come to see that the pattern is a large heart with an E and a M carved right into it "wow how old do you think this is?" I ask, it looks like it grew with the tree and is just as old

"347 years" he says at first I think he's joking but when I look up to his face there is no trace of a joke

"How do you know?" My curiosity eating me up

"Because I was there" his voice hardly above a whisper and I can't hold it in any more I start to laugh. Hard.

"Ok Marcus" I say calming down and trying to catch my breath

When I look at him he looks beyond nervous and won't even look up at me "Marcus what are you saying? You've lives for 347 years?" I say sounding crazy

"No" he says and I let out a sigh "371 seeing as I was twenty four when it happened"

I turn to him and raise an eyebrow "What are you talking about?" I take one small step away from him

"Will you sit down?" He ask leaning against the truck and sliding to the ground below us, I don't answer I just follow slowly, sliding down "gosh I thought I had this whole speech worked out...now I don't know where to begin" he says quietly more to himself than to me

"Just try because I'm lost" I tell him honestly

"Ok...do you remember when I told you I didn't want to be with you? That my job was more important to me than you were?"

I flinch back at the question, like I really wanted to ever hear those words come out of his mouth again "how could I forget" I say getting nervous myself. Is he going to break my heart again all over? My heart lodges into my throat at the thought.

"I didn't mean a single thing" I let out a breath I didn't think I was holding in as he continues "here it goes" he whispers "I...I have a brother, Caine, he...he's evil just understand that, he is the most cruel crazy thing in this world. Caine wants to ruin my life for something that happened many many...many years ago, so he said if I didn't break it off with you he-" he says his anger rising, I scoot closer to him and hug his arm until his breathing return to is normal state "he said he would hurt you, kill you and do other unspeakable things to you if I didn't leave you. I wasn't thinking, I thought that it was truly best to keep you away from me, that I would sacrifice my happiness for your safety" he says shaking his head in frustration "I learned that was very wrong, that you were safe with me, that I could protect you from him" he positions his body to face me and his hands engulfed mine "I won't let him hurt you, I'm working out some things and I'll protect you" he says

Well that explains one of the many things on my mind "I know you will but I'm still so confused, what did he do that was so evil? Where is he? How does he know about me? What does he blame you for that makes him want to make your life so miserable?"