Marcus Harrison's Paradise

Monster

Marcus and I were sitting in the garden area in the middle of the night. The grass was still wet from the rain and the air contained the fresh earthy smell. I inhaled the petrichor as I looked at the sky – the clouds weren't at sight and the sky was decorated with stars and a full moon. It looked magnificent. There was complete silence – the only thing that could be heard was the susurrating of leaves. Marcus was sitting beside me with his eyes on the grass while I was mesmerized by the beauty of the night.

"Are you sure it was your father?" Marcus asked after a long period of silence.

His question ruined my mood. My father is the last person I want to talk about right now. I sighed, "Yes." I answered with even looking at him. I can't be more about it – he was my father. I can't take the picture of him holding a gun against my head from my mind – it is impossible to forget and quite honestly I think that this will haunt me for the rest of my life.

"Why would he fake his death?" He said in a soft voice. It was more of a thought than a question. Marcus fell quiet after that and my mind lingered around my parents. I saw my father today but, what about my mother? Is she alive or not? I closed my eyes and pictured my mother. I honestly don't want to know where my mother is if she's alive and with my father – seeing my father pointing a gun at me was enough. I can't see my mother like that. I have sweet memories of my mother and I don't want to ruin them.

Marcus sighed and put his arm around my shoulder. "Everything is going to be okay." He whispered and kissed my temple. I closed my eyes and leaned into him – resting my head over his chest. I closed my eyes as Marcus embraced me with care. We both once again fell quiet and I slept in Marcus's arms – while listening to his heartbeat.

The next morning I woke up to see myself lying on my bed. I was confused for a second before I remembered being with Marcus. A small smile lit on my face as I realized that he put me on the bed. I rubbed my face and looked at the wall-clock to see that it was past eight in the morning. As I wasn't sleepy anymore – I stood up on my feet, made the bed before fetching fresh clothes from the closet, and went in for the shower. After taking a warm shower – I brushed my teeth and changed into blue jeans and a white button-up blouse.

I sneezed a couple of times since I woke up – it must be because I exposed myself in rain then took a long cold shower and then again exposed myself in the open air. I grabbed a couple of tissues just in case of a runny nose before skipping out of the room.

As I was walking down the stairs I saw everyone sitting in the lounge area – except for Owen and Elizabeth. I smiled as I saw Kathie playing with Marcus's phone while he was trying to take it away from her. I chuckled as I saw her scolding to Marcus as he took the phone away.

"Just give her the phone. Why aren't you giving it to her?" Ben chuckled as he took his niece in his arms.

"She shouldn't be playing with technology – she is too young. She has lots and lots of toys to play with." Marcus replied. "And Ben, don't you dare give her your phone." He warned his cousin.

Ben rolled his eyes, "It's the twenty-first century." He mocked him.

Marcus sighed and got up on his feet before folding and putting the newspaper on the table, "I don't care." He answered to Ben before taking her from him.

Ben chuckled, "Fine." He surrendered.

"You can come down now, Charlie." I averted my eyes to see Silas sitting on the couch with a smirk on his face. My face heated as I saw Marcus and Ben twirling their heads towards me.

I looked at Silas and smiled, "Yeah." I said and climbed down the few stairs.

"Good morning, Charlie." Ben greeted me before he sipped his coffee.