Just Another Funeral

“You have to go to his funeral. You’re all he has.” Stacy said softly. Mark rocked in the chair, using the momentum to get up, ignoring her at first. He brushed his chin length, curly, black hair and He threw on his jacket before finally answering her.

“I’m not the only one he has. I won’t be the only one there, and if we both are there, it won't end well.” He said.

“I thought you were his last living relative.” She stated.

“I am. He’s got one dead that’s still hanging around.” He said absently.

He was so tired, he hadn’t slept a full night in so long. He moved schools and states often. He was running from his father, but he was also running from a mistake he had made. His uncle Malakhi had done his best to keep him safe, despite the power Malakhi had. Even now Mark wondered if he was raised by his uncle or by the demon possessing him. Mark’s father killed his twin then those events led to the death of his uncle. Even demons couldn't withstand every evil, or every mistake made, or maybe they couldn't withstand Jareth. He was too old, too seasoned, and Mark believed he still had the aid of Lilith, even though she didn’t have an earthly form. Mark had seen Malakhi's body, how he just looked like a husk. He wanted to believe it was Jareth so he could be more furious at him.

Mark was hunted because Lilith needed him to give her an earthly form, well, one reason he was hunted. He had messed that up for someone else, he couldn’t imagine how horribly it would go if Lilith tried through him.

“Hello?” Stacy asked, “Can you even hear me, Mark?”

“Huh?” He looked up. His eyes wandered everywhere besides hers. He liked the way the sun shined in her blonde hair, and how her earrings gave a hint to her personality. Anything to distract him from what was happening around him

“What does that mean? A zombie?” She snickered.

“No, he’s a vampire.” Mark answered.

“Oh, that’s not good. Doesn't the government watch and regulate them pretty heavily?” She said. She was stretching, dressed in running clothes.

“I was going to go running with you.” He said with a frown.

“We can’t be seen together, remember?” She said, matching his frown with a mocking one.

“I get that you’re a witch but I'm a wizard. Are we really that different?” He said, adding under his breath.

“Mark, we are very different. The elders won't induct me into the coven properly if they think you might cause me to stray from our beliefs. Plus, you're dangerous to us, being able to do magic without spells or potions.” She said with a shrug.

“This sucks.” He said, slipping his shoes on. He looked at the walls of the hotel. They had pretended to be in their twenties to live here. There were dorms but she knew the head of her dorm pretty well and was able to slip out. Mark just didn’t care if he was caught. He lived here with Stacy and these walls were home as much as his dorm. Here and the local club that they also lied to to get in. As much as he would miss this place, it was time to move on. For once he cared about leaving, but he couldn't let himself be sad about it, because he had to do it. He couldn't stay.

He glanced out the window, standing and pulling the curtain closed.

“Are you alright? You went pale.” Stacy said.

“Run away with me.” He said, spinning around and smiling weakly.

“What?” She scoffed, “No.” Her smile faded as she spoke, “No, I’m duel enrolled in college, I’m working up the ranks in my coven. You have a future ahead of you too! Your grades are amazing. If you would stay still and stop moving around you could duel enroll in college too. Now that Malakhi is gone you can stay put.”

“I’m not staying put, not here. They are taking me to that reform school because of my record. I didn’t even do anything that bad. Partying, sneaking out of the dorms. I didn’t even actually steal anything they just thought I was going to. Malakhi didn’t want me stuck in one place either but he chose this place out of all the options. ” He protested.

“You’re so close, Mark. We both are.” She said, softly. She reached over and put a hand on his arm.

“I’m not staying in one place, I can’t.” He said.

“Why not?” She asked.

“It doesn’t matter. If I leave or I go to school, you’re not going with me and you aren’t waiting for me.” He said, starting to grab his things and shove them into his backpack. He didn’t have very much, he moved around too much. Packing it together was easy.

“You have to stay.” She said. There was something strange in her voice, urgent.

“I can’t, you don’t understand.” He said.

“Tell me why, Mark.” Stacy said.

“Stacy! I’m leaving, you can’t stop me.” He shouted.

“I have to.” Stacy said, her tone changed again.

“What-...” He started to say, being interrupted by Stacy punching him in the jaw. He fell away from her, trying to grab the desk behind him, but his hand landed on papers and slipped, falling completely to the floor and hitting his head on the desk leg. It was happening so fast.

"Mark, she needs you, you have to stay. Too many people have been hurt because you won't just give in."

The room spun as he heard crashes. The room around him was being trashed. He slowly sat up, holding a bloody spot on his head as Stacy screamed. She had called someone and was just screaming incoherently into the speaker. She had worked up tears and she was injured too.

“I hit him to get him off and he fell and I don’t know what to do, oh, he’s getting up!” She shouted. She gave them the room number and the rest of the conversation was muffled as Mark struggled to stay awake. The blood was getting on everything, his hands, his shirt, his face. He patted the floor around him and grabbed the closest thing that felt like cloth and pressed it to his head as police sirens grew louder outside. He hissed lightly at the pain but applied pressure.

It was hard to breathe and he was struggling to stay awake. He wasn’t dying but he had lost enough blood to make him dizzy. He jumped hard as the front door was busted open. He dropped the shirt he had been holding to his face and lifted his hands so his palms were visible. Stacy was standing and across the room from him and cowering.

“She attacked me!” He tried to tell them.

“He was talking about running away and when I tried to stop him he started throwing things.” She shouted.

"Please help me!" Mark said quietly as he laid back onto the floor, still holding his hands up.

Everything was a blur from there but he realized they had both been arrested. At least they hadn't believed either of them instead of just taking her side. He was hurt worse, so he was obviously attacked, but he didn't protest too much. It didn't matter. They had him and he was going to be stuck at that reform school