A Deal With Dark

Five

"So when I didn't answer, you walked in anyways?"

"Obviously."

"You're unbelievable." I rolled my eyes, unsure of what else to say to him.

"So are you. I didn't expect you to show any real affection for me. I thought you'd keep pretending to hate me for a little longer," Dark explained, clicking a pen that he had picked up from my desk.

"I'm not pretending, I do hate you. There's no affection between us," I scoffed.

"Really? It sure didn't seem that way the other night. In fact, you seemed pretty interested in me, especially when we said goodnight," he simpered, putting a hand on my shoulder. His touch made me jump again.

"That was nothing, Dark," I assured him, pushing his hand off of me.

"You're a terrible liar, Maddy. And you're awfully jumpy today, too. There's no reason to be so nervous. Your roommate's not here to catch me and find out who 'Derek' really is. It's just the two of us," he reminded me as he walked around my desk chair, staying a little too close for comfort. I liked it better when he stood against the wall with his arms crossed, brooding.

"Considering the fact that you've held a knife to my throat before when we were alone, it's only natural for me to be nervous," I said, staring ahead at my computer screen to avoid his eyes.

"Sure, but I don't think that's what you're worried about now. I think you're nervous because you're starting to like me a little, even though you might not want to admit that to yourself. You're on edge, wondering what I'm going to do next." He was right about me being on edge - I felt incredibly uneasy as he bent down so that he was more on my level. "You want something to happen, don't you?" He was practically speaking directly in my ear, and it sent a chill down my spine. Even so, I didn't want him to think he was affecting me.

"I want you to tell me why you're here," I told him, speaking slowly and calmly.

"I came to talk about what had happened on our date, but I see you want to change the subject. Mark wasn't too keen on talking to me about it, either," he revealed.

"You talked to him?" I tried not to focus too much on my ex-boyfriend, especially now that I knew I was probably hurting him by spending time with Dark. But I did want to hear how he was doing.

"Yeah, I did. He didn't seem to want to believe that you enjoyed yourself, but I guess that's a common theme between the two of you. I really pissed him off. But he knows not to push my buttons," Dark spoke.

"You didn't do anything to him, did you?" I wondered, speaking quietly. I was kind of afraid of what Dark's answer might be.

"No. You're keeping up your end of the deal, and he's a smart guy. There was really no reason for me to hurt him. You don't have to worry about that," Dark promised. I let out a sigh of relief.

"So, when's our next date?" I asked. Dark laughed.

"See, I knew you liked me. You can't even wait to go out with me again," he smirked.

"Oh, get over yourself. You just always seem to show up when you want to plan another date, so I assumed today was no different."

"Well, I guess you assumed correctly. I was thinking, why wait? There's this new ice cream shop downtown that has black ice cream and black waffle cones, even. Both of us love black, right? Why not take a walk and go get some?"

"Oh, so now you're planning sweet, spontaneous adventures for the two of us? You're trying really hard these days, aren't you?" I rolled my eyes.

"That's awfully nice of you to think so highly of me, but I happen to know that Mark's in the area and I'm craving something sweet. Save your progress on that photo so we can go, will you?"

We headed downtown, hand in hand, and I wondered when we'd run into Mark. My thoughts were answered when we left the ice cream shop, each of us enjoying our own gothic-looking dairy treat. Mark looked like he had just gone on a run judging by the cutoff shirt, shorts, and the sweat on his forehead, and I guessed he was on his way to grab a smoothie. He often treated himself to one after working out, or he at least used to. His face almost seemed to sink when he saw Dark and I holding hands and eating ice cream.

"Good afternoon, Mark. Have you been to the new ice cream place yet? It's so good, you'd love it!" Dark just had to make a comment, and Mark ignored it. I could see the pain in his face as he passed us, roughly bumping shoulders with Dark but not saying a word to either of us. I glanced over my shoulder and thought about saying something to him, but what could I say? Sorry I'm dating the demonic version of you and I'm hurting you even more than I already did? Yeah, right.

Dark and I continued walking, making our way to the park. We spent at least an hour just walking and talking before we headed back to my apartment, but I couldn't shake the horrible feeling I had from seeing Mark. Seeing him made me feel absolutely terrible about this whole thing, because he didn't deserve to be treated like this. I still cared about him, after all, and he must have been thinking that I couldn't care less about him or his feelings.

"Is something wrong?" Dark asked, following me into my room where he had found me before our date. Since Allison was at work, he actually came inside with me to say goodbye.

"Why would it matter to you?" I questioned him coldly.

"Because I can't have you being upset from seeing Mark. The whole point of our deal is to see him and to make sure that he sees us together. You're not having second thoughts, are you?"

"So what if I am?" I inquired. I knew it was a risky thing to say, but the words came out of my mouth before I could really think it through. As I suspected, I didn't choose my words very wisely. Dark pushed me up against the wall hard, holding me there with a tight grip on my wrists. He didn't get his favorite knife out this time, but it felt every bit as dangerous as the night we first met. I could only assume that he either had a weapon in his pocket or he would resort to snapping my neck if he had to. I couldn't speak without thinking again.

"You know what will happen if you back out. If you care about your ex like I think you do, you won't do that. So, what's it going to be? Are you still having second thoughts?" Dark's voice was deeper and more sincere than usual - it kind of scared me. I knew he wouldn't hesitate to hurt me or anyone else in that moment if I messed up.

"No, I'm not having second thoughts," I croaked.

"Good, because believe it or not, I've been enjoying my time with you. I'm sure it must be hard to see Mark like that sometimes, but I can help you get over that," Dark assured me. He lifted my chin slightly and kissed me, taking me back to our dinner date. Somehow, I forgot about my sadness and fear and anything else I had been feeling, and it was just Dark and I, kissing in my room. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him back, loving every second of his lips being on mine. We hadn't kissed this passionately before, and now the fact that he had me up against a wall was sensual instead of scary. But once again, Dark was the first to break away. Clearly, he didn't just love torturing Mark - he loved torturing me, too.

"I'll see you soon, Maddy." He disappeared again with a mischievous grin, and I was left alone in my room, incredibly conflicted. I had been reminded of how disgusting this deal with him was, and yet, when our lips were locked, logic and reason seemed to go out the window. Why was I letting him do this to me? Why were his tricks working on me?