Four figures sat around an exquisite wooden table. The sun set slowly over the mountain ridge, its brilliant afterglow fleeting in a haze of red while the night invited itself to the sky.
Melissa delicately placed a covered basket on the table.
"Please forgive me- we only have bread right now."
Mark smiled reassuringly. He noticed the sudden break in the middle of her apology. It seemed that there was no time left for him.
"No problem. If anything, you might have been spoiling me a bit too much these past few months."
The fair mother exuded an aura of regret, but not for the bread. No, she simply couldn't bring herself to express what was truly on her mind.
Everyone in the room was tense. Something needed to be done, they all knew what it was, but nobody wanted to.
Silence descended once more. The room had the air of a boiling pot covered by a trembling lid, threatening to burst in the next moment, screeching in urgency.
There was not a sound, but Mark almost felt like he could hear the minds of the people sitting around, yelling to do something they didn't want to.
He didn't want the pressure to continue- it was becoming tiring and unbearable, so he brought about the beginning of the end.
"I know what you guys want to say. Please don't hold back-"
Jack raised his hand.
"Let me get some wine."
Mark watched the old man rise and head to the cellar.
He looked at the bread. Maybe it would fill his empty body.
Yet as appealing as the stale staple appeared to be, he felt no desire for it. His stomach was empty but it was almost as if the void itself had filled him. It simply seemed wrong to eat at the moment.
The old man returned with a bottle firmly clenched in his hands, while in another he pinched a few glasses. Jack didn't hesitate to pour the toxin and swirl it around. For a moment, his glass seemed to contain a whirlpool of blood.
"Would you like some?"
Mark shook his head.
"I don't drink."
Jack shrugged in a fashion that seemed to say "Whatever you say" before haplessly pouring the red wine into his mouth. Mark almost flinched from the lack of etiquette.
"Ah, truly a delicacy for the soul."
He raised his head and stared into the ceiling, then returned his gaze to the room and continued.
"Have you looked at the streets these past few days, from the window?"
Mark nodded.
"Yes."
Jack refilled his glass and then took another sip, each of his words seemed to require some of the bloody toxin.
"Then you would have noticed how there have been some new people recently. Hoodlum scoundrels, all of them."
Mark stared at the table.
"The Spheks. They must be looking for me."
It was like those guys were a relentless swarm, the way they pursued tasks with such obstinance.
"You think they will ever stop?"
Mark shook his head, he had heard legends about the bloodthirsty gang. In one of them, they had allegedly killed some man for a three-year grudge.
"No, I'll probably be found soon enough."
Jack sighed. The old man seemed to have aged years in the past few moments.
"I had a feeling things would turn like this..."
His mouth seemed to have fought against his will, he cut himself short and refused to continue.
A soft crunch resounded.
The brunette trembled, she took the bread and sank her teeth into it. She seemed overcome by anguish.
Melissa picked up the torch her husband had dropped.
"Mark, we beg you, please leave before they come."
Jack looked forward with equal solemnity. His gaze carried the same sentiments.
In his pale black eyes, a war was being fought. Logic and emotion tore each other apart in a savage fight.
He needed this house to support him. There was no job to be found, which meant no money or food. Only by truly delving into the murky depths of society's underbelly would Mark have a chance to survive outside of this sanctuary. Yet, that would be a gamble in itself, a high-stakes game of life and death where the reward was nearly nothing.
Leaving would condemn him to the mercy of dire struggle on the streets.
But if he stayed, maybe the Spheks would give up and find something better to do, maybe they wouldn't be able to find him at all.
His fists tightened. He looked to the side, where the brunette hung her head.
She abruptly lifted herself with a desperate plea in her peach eyes.
"Wait! Please don't make him go. Why are we punishing him like this? He just saved me from those people, he could do it again!"
Jack looked at his daughter, his expression melted for a second before hardening once more.
"No. You heard Mark. They weren't chasing you in the first place, and he almost died. It was luck that let you two live."
Mark couldn't argue with that. If the Spheks hadn't been trying to recruit him, he probably would have died that night. He shouldn't have stopped in that alley at all.
Yet even with her father's reasoning, the brunette seemed unrelenting.
"Still, you can't just leave him! He'll just die in the streets with the way things are! You might as well be putting him out as food for a pack of savage dogs! You can't be serious about this, right? Right!?"
Something in the old man seemed to have snapped, maybe it was his moral restraints, or it could have been his soberness.
He slammed the table, piercing his daughter with a glare.
Passion, fervent passion leaked from his entire being.
"Him! Him! Stop saying him! It's not about Mark, this is about you! I don't give the smallest shit about what happens to him! But you- You. Are. Not. Allowed. To. Die!"
The brunette stood up, another argument ready to fly from her lips.
"Stop!"
The room lost its heat, returning to neutrality. Mark exerted his ability to its greatest reaches to achieve this effect.
He sighed.
"I'll leave tomorrow."
The brunette reached to him.
"Wait-"
Before she could continue, Mark had already left his chair and the room.
It was slightly amusing how her actions had made him more willing to leave. She cared for him, why couldn't he do the same?
Slowly walking to his bed, the next day suddenly seemed to become infinitely more dreadful.
As if a swamp was right before him, and he was willingly walking into it, this kind of beloved stupidity is what kills a person.
And yet, it feels so right.
Was there something wrong with his mind? Or had the idea of self-sacrifice been a virtue for him all along?
It wasn't like he had anything to offer before, but now he did. So maybe he simply had a good heart. At least, that's a way to look at it positively.
Footsteps chased his trail.
A hand tugged at his shoulder and forcibly turned him around.
For the first time since Mark had met her, the brunette looked truly, utterly mad at him.
He smiled crookedly.
"I'm sorry."
Silence followed, her peach eyes still pierced him with a chilling ire.
She seemed to have so much to say, yet all her sentiments were clumped together, clogging her mind and mouth.
Seeing that his apology did nearly nothing, Mark continued with another approach. He gently took her hands and held them close.
"I'll live. No matter what happens, I'll live and see you again."
Her eyes flashed with doubt and hope.
Mark smiled in return.
"Don't worry so much, I'm quite hard to kill, after all."
She clenched his hand.
"Promise me."
"I promise."
She leaned in for a kiss, and Mark did the same.
They savored the brief moment where all solemnity was lost to an indescribable looseness. It felt so long in the moment, yet so short after the end.
Mark watched a tear appear on her delicate face, then he saw her visage crumble into a crying mess. He pulled her into an embrace and held her there.
He walked to her room then tucked her in the bed. She slowly calmed while he sat by her side. The process was slow and would have been unbearably boring, but it filled his heart nevertheless.
At some point, she closed her eyes and lay peacefully still.
It was a sight to appreciate, a sight to him only. He rested his eyes for a short while.
Then he rose from the chair, turned, and began to walk.
Yet before he could take a step, his hand was taken in a delicate grasp.
The brunette gazed at him with the softness of a spring flower.
"Stay with me..."
Mark stood still for a second before turning back.
Through the window, a final ray of the red afterglow radiated amidst the darkness.