The place was just as grim as he remembered. That was the only memory he had of it to be honest, having only visited once it hadn't changed at all since the last time. And neither had the figure stood directly in front of him. His eyes, his voice and his mannerisms all the same. But his face, was one re-opening old nightmares.
"So, where is she?" His darkened eyes stared him down.
"I couldn't bring her with me, Marquis. Are you crazy?" Furrowing his brow densely, Drake moved closer in an attempt to keep their conversation concealed without drawing attention to himself. He wasn't wanted in this part of town.
"Well then just how exactly do you expect me to help you? Hm? I need to see her."
"You know damn well that ain't happenin'. Forget that." He rubbed his mouth growing increasingly frustrated with this meeting.
"I'm afraid I can't help you then." He turned his back nonchalantly as he continued to speak. "Don't let the gate hit you on the way out, Aubrey."
"No, wait!" Grabbing his shoulder quickly he stopped him in his tracks. "Just...wait."
"For what? I'm a busy man y'know?"
"Look, I just need your advice. You don't need to see her or speak to her. I'll tell you what's goin' on and you give me a straight answer."
"Sounds serious." Only just beginning to take the situation seriously he eyed Drake's worried features. His thoughts screaming out to him.
"Please? I wouldn't be here if it wasn't serious."
Shifting his gaze around the surroundings he inhaled before connecting eyes again. "Meet me 'round the back in an hour. If you ain't there by the time I get there, just move on. I can't help you."
Without another word he pulled away harshly and disappeared back up the stone steps. Leaving Drake to try and stay invisible for the next sixty minutes.
***
"Damn, Kristin. It's hot as hell in here." Harlan's face was the picture of irritation as he shut the kitchen side door behind him. His shift was finally over and it was time to switch roles. "Why you got the place boiling like a freakin' oven?"
"I don't have time to explain." Talking with a hint of stress she grabbed her purse and coat. "Jackson is asleep, he had his dinner early and Nicki's sleepin' on the couch. If you need anything call me." Giving him the quickest most emotionless kiss ever she reached for the handle before his hand stopped her.
"My day was good thank you for askin'." He smiled weakly as she sighed.
"Look, I'm sorry, I don't mean to be so moody. Nothing was going my way today and I'm just hoping this night shift isn't as stressful as today was."
"Why, what happened?" He frowned a little and spoke again before she got chance. "I'm sure you can risk bein' 5 minutes late." He was right. Always arriving on time for anything, she knew it wouldn't affect her to be tardy just this one time.
"Oh, nothing really." She lied. "I'm just overreactin', I'm fine. Really." She changed her mind about telling him last minute. That's all she needed, her husband going off on one to top off all the other stresses she was dealing with.
"Well, as long as you're sure." He gave her a concerned look before kissing her.
"I'm sure, I'll see you when I get home. Don't forget, call me if you need anything." Reaching the door, she turned to look at him.
"I can handle things, Kris. Don't worry, we'll be fine."
Her worried expression didn't make him feel any better about the situation. She seemed, jittery. Like she always was when she was hiding something. He'd get to the bottom of it eventually, he was sure of that at least.
The moment she left the house it was thrown into a sleepy silence, with only his own company he decided to have his dinner alone in the kitchen before clearing up and heading into the living area. She was still sparked out on the sofa. Her blonde locks framing her fatigued face as she remained oblivious to his presence. He wasn't quite so sure how things were going to turn out for these two lost individuals staying with them. His mind became plagued with worry as he lowered himself gently into the recliner chair. Just looking at her, she didn't appear to be any worse than she was a couple of weeks ago, maybe she'd even gained a little weight but she still looked sickly. The darkness under her eyes seemed to be growing day by day, alerting them to her exhaustion but there was nothing they could do to help her. Nothing that wouldn't have dire consequences.
~ Flashback ~
His eyes wandered over his brother's, face. It was like looking in a mirror, the biggest pain of being a twin. The distinctions in personality were all that they could be distinguished by.
As always in life, people choose their own pathways and make their own choices. And in the case of the twins, Marquis was forever the protagonist and Malik the antagonist in every situation. Nobody knew why Malik had derailed so much but having always being subject to comparison with his brother, it actually couldn't have been more obvious. The never ending achievements and praise he received was a sort of fuel spurring on Malik's jealousy. He'd never live up to those standards, never accomplish anything and never be as good as Marquis. So, quite illogically, his method was to do exactly the opposite. His behaviour spiralled out of control, starting off with violent incidents and petty crime to try and taint his name further. To his surprise, it worked and faster than he'd imagined too. His reputation was polar to that of his twin, yet just as powerful. During Malik's quest for an unimaginable fear staining his name, Marquis had further excelled himself in their Vampire community. Their small, scattered colonies were dying fast, with more and more of their kind choosing to settle amongst humans there was only few settlements left. But not if Marquis was in charge. He wanted to ensure the stability of this colony and he would do whatever it took to make sure this community was built on pure tradition and a sturdy foundation for success and survival.
Over the years people began to take note of his actions and behaviour, further separating him from the ''Good" twin. Creating this brutal name for himself he became completely alienated. Sinking lower and lower than ever before. He hit a low point before realising he wasn't alone in this life, surely there were others out there that he could fall into place with. This flashbulb thought took him far away from his home town and his brother. For a while people actually believed he'd died. That is until 3 years later when he returned with a vengeance. And this time, it was his turn to have something his brother wanted. Something he could cruelly snatch away from him. Something his brother could never get back.
~ End of Flashback ~
"What the hell took you so damn long? I been waitin' here longer than an hour now!" Pushing his brows together fiercely Drake's anger was obvious to Marquis.
"I did tell you I was a busy man." He cocked his eyebrow before stepping aside. "You should probably come in, before someone sees you."
Hesitantly entering the dryness of the house he courteously wiped his feet before guiding himself through the hallway and into the kitchen.
"Now, what exactly is it that you need my help with?" Smiling that sickeningly smug smile he took a seat at his own table, motioning for Drake to do the same thing. He could feel his eyes following his body as he sat swiftly, wanting to be in and out as quickly as possible. However, knowing Marquis, this meeting was going to drag.
"I already told you, it's Nicki."
"What about her? That's not a very helpful statement, is it?"
"She's sick." The short responses he was giving helped Marquis sense the hostility in his voice.
"And you want me to help her?"
"Look, I'ont know of anyone else that can help us right now! All I'm askin' is one small favor!"
"I guess your temper hasn't changed then."
His fists balled up under the table out of habit. "She did nothing wrong and you know that." The way his jaw clenched increased the tension growing in the room. Although considered the "good' twin, his easily flared anger resembled his brother's traits. "You and him are exactly the same. Fuck all that "good" twin "bad" twin shit. Look at you." He stood up angrily. "You're both as bad as one another." He pushed the chair away briskly and shook his head. "I was wrong to even come here." The second he turned to face the door he heard the chair Marquis was sat on grind against the tiles as he too stood up.
"I am nothing like him." The silence filled the space between them. "I loved Nicki more than you'll ever know."
"Yeah? Well, obviously not enough to look past what he did to her."
"He marked her, Drake. What else was I supposed to do?!"
"What I did and what I'm still doin'!" Their eyes met once again. "Do you not think I'm reminded every single day of what he did to her? She's permanently scarred in more ways than one and if you really truly loved her you would have looked past the physical damage. But you didn't. You had your chance, Marquis and you ignored it. You ignored her."
"She couldn't even look at me."
"Because you're a mirror image of Malik. Can you not understand that?" His temper cooled a little, recognising the regret on his face. "You let him win, you know why he went after her and why he did what he did. You just gave him exactly what he wanted."
"It would never have worked out."
"That's not the point. She needed someone to help her and everyone turned their back."
"Everyone except for you." He sat down once again, prompting Drake to do the same.
"I honestly believe I bumped into her for a reason, and to take her away from this place was exactly that reason."
"I hope you understand how sorry I am she was even caught up in this twisted power trip and sibling rivalry. I never meant for anyone else to get hurt. Especially not Onika."
"In that case, you should see this as your chance for redemption. You can help her now, the way you didn't when she needed you."
There was a stillness amongst them as he contemplated this decision. It was a complete no-brainer though. He'd been seeking redemption ever since the day his brother lay a hand on the woman he loved.
"Tell me what I can do."
***
"I was wonderin' when you'd wake." She was greeted by Harlan's chubby face across the room, he was sat comfortably in his chair, it looked like he'd been sat there a while.
"How long was I asleep?" Shifting herself around she sat upright on the couch and tried to make herself feel more awake. Her head was pounding and her heart racing.
"A good few hours, I've been back since eight."
"I'm sorry."
"What are you apologisin' for?" His brow wrinkled as his smile grew bigger.
"Y'know, just layin' around in your home whilst y'all are workin'. I feel like we're spongin'."
"And we'll keep tellin' you it's fine. Stop worryin' about it." He set his newspaper down. "We offered to put you up and we'll make sure you're both sorted before you're on your way."
"You have no idea how thankful we are."
"I'm pretty sure I could have a guess." He laughed, making her smile. "Anyway, how about somethin' to eat? Kris said you haven't had anythin' all day."
"Is Aubrey back?" Completely ignoring his question she felt her hope deflate even further when his smile faded.
"No, we haven't heard anythin'. I'm sorry."
He felt consumed by the silence as she nodded small and looked down at her bump, but she was overwhelmed with the loudness of his thoughts. They were screaming out at her, all kicking her into a panic.
"Nicki?" Upon hearing her sniffle her stood up and moved towards her. "Hey, what's goin' on?" Becoming lost for a fraction of a second he quickly clicked on and developed a strong urge to kick himself. He'd forgotten his thoughts were no longer private. "Nicki, I don't mea-"
"No." She wiped her eyes swiftly and returned her gaze back to her bump as she continued to cry. "You're right. All of this, what we're doing, it's completely pointless. Isn't it?"
"That's not what I was meanin'."
"I heard everything, you think we're just wastin' our time and you're right. We are." He continued to study her distressed state, he had nothing to say to comfort her. No matter what he said, his thoughts were telling her the truth and it had hit her hard. "I don't know why I thought we'd be able to get through this, I mean even when we get to New York or if we even get there, we're just gon' be runnin' forever. We'll never get away."
Not exactly knowing what to do he put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently. "I think we should just hang in there until Drake gets back, he must have somethin' up his sleeve, right? I mean you've made it this far, haven't you?" Trying to reassure her he asked again before she nodded, but the tears continued to roll down her face.
"Sometimes..." Stalling briefly, she almost changed her mind about confiding but to be honest these feelings were eating her up.
He squeezed again, encouraging her to speak. "Sometimes what?"
"I don't know, sometimes I just...I wish none of this was happenin'." She sniffled yet again and he could feel her body quivering through his hand.
"Well, obviously that's a normal thing to-"
Deciphering his thoughts before he could answer she interrupted. "No. I mean, I wish I hadn't got pregnant in the first place. What kind of life are we gon' have?" Wiping her cheeks she kept her gaze away from his, trying to avoid any sort of judgement. "Does that make me a bad person?"
"Not in the slightest." Giving up on his feeble attempt to comfort her he pulled her closer to himself. This time, his thoughts were not at all contradictory, letting her know he wasn't lying.
"I feel like shit, thinkin' all this stuff. I love this baby more than anythin' yet I wish it wasn't happenin' like this."
"Have you spoken to Drake about any of this?"
"Not a word. I couldn't. He does so much for us, I'ont wanna throw it all back in his face." He saw her hand come up to rest on her bump as she sighed. "I just wanna wake up and have nothin' to worry about."
"We could start now, come on." He pulled away gently and looked at her tear-filled, puzzled face. "There's a plate of of food in there waitin' for you. I'mma go heat it up whilst you get yourself showered, okay?" He saw her nod gently, the sudden movements were making her skull feel like it was about to split. "We need to act more positive about all of this, I understand it's gotta be hard but what else can we do?" He gave her shoulder one last squeeze and stood up. "You okay to get yourself upstairs?"
"Yeah, yeah I'll be fine." She continued to smile at his back as headed towards the kitchen. "And thank you, Dave."
"Don't mention it." His chuckle carried through into the kitchen as he started to clatter around with plates and cutlery. The distinct sounds all started to merge into one big noise as she stood up slowly, her focus was darting about all over the place forcing her to steady herself on the arm of the chair. Mentally noting it as a bad migraine and having had too much sleep she started climbing up the stairs slowly, her muscles felt weak and the struggle was obvious the farther she got up the stairs. Then, without any other warning, her ears where met with silence as her vision faded to black.
...
*I know, it's kinda short. Actually a lot short but oh well. I forgot my blogger password and all this other drama happened. Also, please let me know if this is boring you all? I need to know so I can try and fix it. I hit walls w/all my fics and getting back into them was super difficult. :/ But anywho thanku to those who commented last chapter & I hope this was okay for whoever still reads! OH and thanku to those who commented on my other new fic Perfect Feud, I really appreciate it!*
