Silence filled the church. Everyone was waiting for Mark's response.
Damian didn't expect Karin to decline. He swept his gaze from Karin to Mark, to Sister Deloris, then to Father Vincent, and finally back to Mark.
Mark had a blank face that even Damian couldn't tell what was going through his head.
Mark bent his head down slightly to look at the floor and chuckled softly, "Heh-heh…"
He raised his head back up but there was no smile on his face. He now had a menacing blank look on his face as he looked at Father Vincent.
"Wh… What… Did you threaten them with?" He had an underlying overtone filled with anger.
"We weren't threatened! This is my decision!" Karin placed her hand above her chest as she tried to make her point.
"Quiet, Karin." Mark said as he marched onward to Father Vincent.
Karin tried to speak but no voice came out of her mouth.
"How dare you hold my family hostage?" Mark coldly asked.
"We didn't do anything!" Sister Deloris shouted as Mark was approaching them.
"Of course you didn't…" Mark said sarcastically.
"Dad!" Rebecca screamed as he tried to run to him. Karin quickly grabbed her and held her in place.
"Dad!" She screamed again and again as she tried to loosen herself from her mother's grip.
…Tch. I should attack… Sister Deloris slowly reached for her pocket.
Father Vincent noticed her movement and calmly shook his head, implying her to stand down and not attack.
Sister Deloris was hesitant but still obeyed.
Mark was just two steps away from Father Vincent when he halted and spoke, "I'll rephrase the question… What did you tell Karin?"
Damian tapped Mark's shoulder, "What are you doing?"
Boom!
"Ack!" Damian coughed up blood upon impact.
Mark simply shrugged Damian off but he was flung across the right side pews and hit the wall with his back.
He felt like he was hit by a 6,000-pound light truck.
"Director Cross!" Karin screamed but couldn't go to help since she was holding her daughter down.
…I swear, I'll fuckin' kill this dumbass… Damian thought as he tried to straighten his vision and not blackout.
"Detective Jordan, you've gone too far!" Sister Deloris brought out a streamlined needle about 8 inches and was about to launch it.
"Stop." Mark coldly stared at her.
A bead of sweat trickled down Sister Deloris's face as she stood there, frozen. She disobeyed Father Vincent.
Father Vincent stood there, still. He wasn't wearing the smile he was before.
Veins started bulging out of Mark's face and neck. His eyes were very slowly becoming black.
"Dad, why are you doing this?" Rebecca screamed at the tip of her voice.
She managed to loosen her mother's grip on her and ran towards Mark.
"Becca, no!" Karin cried out in horror.
Pa…
Rebecca hugged Mark and sobbed as she spoke, "Dad please stop! They are just trying to help…"
The veins on Mark's face were slowly receding and his eyes were slowly reverting to normal.
Pow!
Mark was sent flying to the ground by Damian's impromptu punch from his cheek.
"Ow, damnit! F*cker." Damian's left hand was in serious pain.
Mark felt the punch a little and stood up with Rebecca's assistance.
Upon impact with Mark's face, Damian used [Demotion] to fully revert his demonizing process. Otherwise, Mark wouldn't even shake from the punch of a normal human.
Karin was relieved everything was back to normal and Rebecca was safe. She then ran forward to Damian, the only person that was hurt.
"Director Cross, your back…"
Damian felt the stinging pain from his back and was finding it a bit difficult to breathe or to straighten his back.
He placed his right hand on his back and raised the other to stop Karin and said, "...I'm fine."
…Some ribs are fractured, my spinal cord was affected and punching this dumbass tripled the damage. I should be thankful I can still move my limbs. Damn, this asshole didn't hold back at all… Damian's back was slightly bent and he groaned in pain from time to time as he tried to straighten his back.
Mark saw how Damian was struggling and turned to Karin, "Karin, please treat him…"
Karin moved a step closer but Damian raised his hand as he did before,
"I'm fine---
"Ack!"
He coughed blood again.
...He's bleeding internally… Karin extended her hand out to help but Damian still stopped her.
"Damian!" Mark shouted with urgency.
"Shut the hell up, will you? You're the one that did this to me." Damian retorted.
Mark didn't speak anymore as he felt melancholic.
Damian placed a hand on the middle part of his back and another hand on his upper rib cage.
Damian took a deep breath and used [Demotion], to heal himself.
Slowly, the pain reduced and he could straighten his back.
It was the second time he did it already. The first time was to help him reduce the pain a bit so he wouldn't pass out and so he could quickly stop Mark before he caused more damage.
…I only reduced the pain and it should wear off soon. The damage it's doing is still there… Damian appeared to be fine from plain sight.
"Did you heal yourself?!" Sister Deloris asked in surprise.
Damian was too lazy to answer. He ignored her question and found somewhere to sit.
"I don't think so. He can make me weaker when he touches me, so if my guess is right he only made the pain weaker." Mark said. He wasn't happy about it since it was only temporary.
"Nice work, Einstein. Next time shut the hell up, ok?" Damian said coldly.
Mark realized he spoke too much and went back to his melancholic state.
"We can't stay any longer," Damian swept his gaze from Mark to Karin and continued, "Decide what to do quickly."
Mark quickly snapped back from his dejection and said to Karin, "You guys have to come with me. I can keep you safe."
"No. I'm not following you no matter what you say." Karin stated.
"Then I'll leave with Rebecca."
"You wouldn't dare. She needs her mother."
"And her father too---"
"Don't you dare say that! Who left who? You left us and now you're saying---"
"I was wrong! And I'm sorry…"
"'Sorry' doesn't cut it, Mark…" Karin glanced at Damian, "You're dangerous, and I'm protecting our daughter from you."
Karin took Rebecca's hand and Rebecca sluggishly left Mark's side and went to her mother's.
Mark understood what was happening and dread was written all over his face.
He crawled himself into a corner he couldn't come out of.
"N-No, that was a mistake. I promise it won't happen again." He said.
Karin didn't reply, she just stepped back with her daughter and turned her gaze away from him.
"...No. You can't do this…" Mark was terrified.
…Sigh… Damian stood up and went close to Mark and spoke quietly,
"Use your brain, Einstein. You're gonna be hunting demons for a living in hopes your daughter doesn't have to…
"Look around. This is a church. Not one of the safest places but regarding this apocalypse they have much more secrets than China and the US government combined. Be wise about this."
Damian walked back to where he was and sat down.
"Mhrrrm!" Father Vincent harrumphed, calling everyone's attention.
"I understand this is not something I should butt in, but I suggest you let your daughter decide who she wants to follow."
"No way!" Karin retorted in the blink of an eye.
Damian noticed Rebecca was looking unhappy and spoke up, "I think what Father Vincent said is wise."
"Pardon my speech, but I don't give a damn about what anyone thinks! She's staying with me! Period!" Karin dismissed even the great Dr. Cross.
"I also think it's a better idea!" Mark said.
"I don't care what you say! She's staying with me!" Karin didn't budge for anyone.
"None of you know what it means to be a mother!" She added.
"Is it depriving your daughter of the right to decide for herself?" Damian asked.
"She's still too young to decide!"
Karin looked at her daughter and since she knew her daughter well, she knew Rebecca wouldn't say anything to retort to her mother's decision. She saw the sadness written all over Rebecca's face.
She had been waiting for her father to come back for a long time, and now he's here she's not allowed to be with him.
"Tch. Damnit. Fine. Let her decide." Karin said.
"Thank you." Mark said.
"I'm not doing it for you." Karin said.