Chapter Eight
(Back to Maddy's POV)
A knock on my bedroom door startled me as I was watching an episode of Ghost Hunters on my bed. Allison had gone out to lunch, so I didn't expect there to be anyone around. Plus, it didn't help that I was watching a somewhat spooky show.
"Yeah?" I cautiously asked, ready to grab the lamp on my bedside table to use as a weapon in case it was some kind of intruder. But it wasn't. A familiar deep voice spoke from the other side of the door.
"Can I come in? It's me."
I got up off my bed and opened the door, smiling when I saw Dark on the other side.
"I knocked this time," he said.
"How considerate of you," I retorted. "So, what are you doing here? Allison could have seen you."
"I saw her leaving when I showed up. It's not as if I would mindlessly teleport into the hallway without figuring out if she's here or not first," he explained. He almost seemed offended that I would ever think he would be that stupid or reckless.
"Smart. Yeah, she left to go get lunch with friends. And once again, what are you doing here?"
"Well, I was hoping we could spend some time together. I would say we could go out, but with Allison gone..."
"She won't be gone forever, you know. She'll be back in an hour, I'm sure," I reminded him as he looked lustfully at me.
"An hour is plenty of time."
"Plenty of time for what, exactly?" I asked, even though I knew what the answer was. He already had me backed up against the wall.
"This." His lips collided with mine and he grabbed my wrists, holding them against the wall so I couldn't get away - as if I wanted to. He bit my bottom lip roughly, and I tasted blood. As okay as I was with lip biting, I didn't exactly enjoy bleeding from it, but I decided to brush it off - surely it was just an accident.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to draw blood," he apologized. "I just really, really want you. And I always get what I want."
I practically melted as he kissed my neck, nibbled my ear, completely eliminated the space between our bodies...but then he pulled something out of his pocket - something shiny - and I didn't have time to scream before he sliced my neck with a knife.
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I was sweating when I woke up, horrified by my dream that had turned into a nightmare. I hadn't had a nightmare since my last one about Dark and his coin toss game with Mark and I, back when we had first made our deal. I was glad that this dream was less disturbing. At least Mark wasn't brought into it, and I didn't have to let him die right in front of me this time. But it was a scary dream, either way.
I didn't get a whole lot of sleep after that, so I decided coffee was necessary - more specifically, iced coffee from my favorite shop. I showered, made myself look presentable, and headed out a bit earlier than I normally would. Even so, I managed to be there at the same time as Mark, who I hadn't seen since my last downtown date with Dark. I didn't know what had happened since then, but today he had two nasty-looking black eyes, so whatever it was, it couldn't have been good. Either way, he seemed to be in a decent mood when he saw me.
"Hey Mads," Mark greeted me, his happy expression quickly changing when he realized he had called me Mads like he used to.
"Hey! Before you say anything, don't worry about it. I don't mind being called Mads," I assured him, and he instantly looked a lot less worried.
"It's just an old habit, calling you that."
"I know. It's fine. But I do kind of want to sit down and talk, if you have the time," I said.
"Yeah, definitely. I actually wanted to talk to you, too."
We ordered our usual drinks as well as a few doughnuts and we took a seat near the window.
"I know the last time we saw each other wasn't exactly ideal...I'm sorry about that, Mark. I feel really bad about it. Dark didn't have to be such an asshole."
"Well, he tends to be one a lot. I'm used to that. It's not like you were purposefully trying to make me feel bad," Mark replied.
"Yeah. Well, speaking of assholes, what asshole gave you those black eyes? Did you get in a fight or something?" I wondered, my curiosity getting the best of me.
"Something like that, yeah. But I'm fine, and I'd rather not talk about it. Let's talk about you," Mark changed the subject.
"Me? What about me? I mean, there's not much to tell."
"Okay, not just you. You and Dark," he clarified.
"Why would you even want to know about that?" I asked, confused. Didn't the thought of Dark and I together bother him?
"Because he tells me about it. He tells me things, and sometimes I'm not sure if they're true or if he's just trying to get to me," Mark said, staring deeply into his coffee cup as if he didn't want to look at me.
"Okay. What has he been telling you?"
Mark was quiet for a moment, probably sorting through information in his mind and figuring out what to start with.
"Well, he talks to me about he dates you've gone on where I haven't been around. He's sent pictures before. He tells me what you two have done," Mark explained, still looking down at his drink.
"We've kissed a few times. I'm guessing he's told you about that."
"He's told me more than that. He says you stayed the night with him." I could tell by the tone of Mark's voice that he wasn't happy, and it made me a little nervous. I felt like I had done something wrong and I was about to get in trouble with my dad.
"Yeah, I stayed at his place," I confirmed, trying to avoid the topic of what exactly we did when I stayed there. Unfortunately, Mark wasn't going to let me avoid that subject.
"So, you slept with him?"
"I slept next to him, yes." I couldn't lie - I was terrible at it. I was praying that Mark would leave it at that and assume that by that, I meant we didn't do anything, but I apparently was very unlucky that morning.
"But you didn't have sex with him?" Mark asked quietly, practically whispering so the whole coffee shop wouldn't have to hear our business. In fact, I doubted that the people behind us could even hear, but that didn't change the fact that I heard and I had to answer him.
"Mark, do we really have to talk about this?" Now I was the one avoiding his eyes.
"So you did. He wasn't just trying to mess with me."
"I can't lie to you. Yes, we did. But I really don't want to talk to you about it. Can you respect that?" I could physically feel the anger and disappointment Mark had to be feeling - it was practically radiating off of him, and his eyes hid nothing.
"He's not a good guy, Mads. I know you have to go along with what he wants to an extent, but you can't let him convince you do do things like this. He's using you to get to me," Mark warned me.
"I know that. I know what he's doing. But I'm not doing anything I absolutely don't want to do. I choose to do things outside of just going on dates," I promised.
"I know, Maddy, but I don't think you really see it all. You think he has some kind of feelings for you, I can tell. And I'm sure he's convincing. I'm sure he makes it seem like he really enjoys spending time with you, like he wants to be with you. But he doesn't. He doesn't care about you at all. Don't do things with him because you think it's justified by the possibility of him having feelings, because he doesn't. Nothing he does is justified."
I knew Mark knew Dark better than I did. I knew he probably had a point. But for some reason, Mark's words made me angry. Dark couldn't be fabricating everything. He couldn't possibly fake his attraction to me. How do you fake lust? There couldn't be nothing there at all. I knew Dark's intentions weren't good, I knew I couldn't really trust him - he still scared me, and my dreams proved that - but he made me feel good. And at that moment, Mark was making me feel like absolute crap.
"How would you know? You haven't been around when he's shown real affection. You're just jealous and angry," I decided.
"And you're just completely naive," he retaliated.
That was it. I wasn't going to let him make me feel stupid anymore. I snatched my cup of coffee and my purse, ready to leave.
"See you later, Mark. Enjoy the doughnuts," I seethed as I stormed out of the coffee shop.
I drove to Dark's place, still angry by the time I knocked on his front door. I knew I could send him a message and he'd appear wherever I was, but driving gave me a chance to think things through. I knew I was just temporarily mad at Mark, but I didn't care. I was tired of feeling like a bad person because he still missed me, and I had a deal to keep, anyways.
"Oh, hey Maddy," Dark said, surprised to see me on his doorstep.
"We're going out. Somewhere near the coffee shop. Now." I grabbed his arm and pulled him out the door, pushing the memory of last night's dream out of my mind. Now wasn't the time to be worried or afraid.
"You're a little aggressive today. It's a nice change," Dark commented, a ridiculous grin on his face as I drove. We found a parking spot and headed for the coffee shop. I looked inside, hoping to see Mark still sitting at our table. I had no such luck, but I had a hunch about where he might be. He was in workout clothes and he had a full water bottle with him at the coffee shop - that meant he probably hadn't worked out yet. He liked to go on runs at the park, which was nearby. I had gone on runs with him before, and he always stopped at the fountain to drink some water and catch his breath. I wasn't normally one for making out in public places, but PDA was the easiest way for me to prove a point. Dark and I sat at the fountain, waiting around for Mark to show up.
"This is kind of insane for you, isn't it?" Dark questioned me. "I mean, for a demonic being like myself, this is nothing. But I never really pinned you for the type of person to follow your ex and wait for him just to make him jealous like this."
"Are you complaining? I mean, I thought I wasn't supposed to be nice to him. Just the other day you were threatening me for feeling bad for him, or did you forget that?" My fearlessness fizzled out a bit when I saw Dark's eyes darken.
"It would be wise for you to watch your mouth around me, or did you forget that?" I heard the fury in his voice, and even though I knew there couldn't be much for him to do to me in the middle of the park, it still scared me enough for me to back off.
A few minutes later, I saw Mark emerging from the forest trails and heading our way. Neither Dark nor I were in the best moods, but we'd have to ignore that for a minute.
"Listen, I know I've overstepped my bounds, but I can make it up to you," I told Dark, making eye contact with Mark as he neared.
"How so?"
"Well, I was thinking I'd start by doing this." I grabbed Dark and kissed him hard, using tongue and all, grasping at his shirt. Mark was already out of view by the time I pulled away, but i knew he had seen us and my plan had been a success. I got some disgusted looks from the people near us who had seen me throw myself at Dark, but I didn't even care. I got my point across to my ex, and that was all that mattered.
"Alright, I'm going home. Should I drive you to your place or are you just going to teleport there?" I asked.
"You mean to tell me that you kidnapped me just to make out in the park for a minute?" Dark inquired, his eyebrows furrowed.
"Don't pretend you didn't enjoy yourself! But believe it or not, I have things I need to get done that don't involve you."
"Fine. I guess I could always just go pester Mark some more," Dark decided, sounding bored.
"Some more?"
"Yeah. Who else would have given him those two black eyes? He's not exactly the fighting type - you of all people should know that."
I opened my mouth to speak but before I could say anything, Dark disappeared. Suddenly, I was starting to feel guilty about purposefully making such an effort to make Mark jealous, and Dark was seeming less attractive and more dangerous.