Funeral Day

[April 28th,Monday]

With it being a week since the incident, Marcus was cleared to leave the hospital. Sitting in his hospital bed, dressed in a black suit and tie, he sighed wondering how today would play out. To take his mind off things, Marcus continued getting used to the features of his new NeuroNet. NeuroNet was what he had mentioned days before he met with the detective but he was still a novice with understanding all the neat tricks and options available to him now.

While he scrolled through social media, he continued to read posts from his classmates and others in the school. By now the news of the tragic night had leaked, courtesy of a pair of heartbroken parents who wanted those who knew Damian to attend the funeral.

After it had been revealed, speculation spread like wildfire causing students and teachers alike to gossip and make assumptions about what had occurred. Marcus was called many things, had opinions formed against him, and his teachers had stopped supporting him saying that his slipping grades were probably from him getting involved in shady stuff.

With the support of his peers all but gone, only Natalia stood by Marcus. She had visited a few days in a row, supporting and helping him get through this tough time. Today though, she had not visited as she was getting ready for the funeral herself.

Knock! Knock!

"May I come in for a moment?" A woman's voice was heard as Marcus hid his NeuroNet from view as his head turned to the door. Seeing an older woman with shoulder-length dark red hair tied into a ponytail stepping inside, Marcus wondered who she was.

"Do I know you, Miss?" He questioned, his gaze scanning her closely, her body adorned by a black leather jacket and matching black leggings while the shirt underneath was a warm red.

"You don't, but you did know a friend of mine, even if only briefly…" She said, her expression and voice softening as she was lost in thought for a split second.

"Your name?" He asked gently, wanting to keep the conversation flowing.

"Lena, Lena Foster" She responded, stepping to the end of his bed.

"Who is the friend that knew me?"

"Her name was Mari… She was the one you tried to help a week ago…"

Listening, Marcus was a bit stunned as he wondered how or why a friend of the girl he watched die was standing in front of him. Just as he began thinking of if she wanted revenge or something he was stopped as a hand touched his shoulder.

"Relax, I'm not here for revenge or anything of that sort," Lena said, a smile forming on her face as she looked at the stupefied face Marcus had, it appearing goofy to her.

"I want to thank you for trying to save her," she spoke, her voice filled with gratitude and remorse. The last thing I heard from her was that she got tipped off about something happening somewhere. I tried to find her, to help her, but I was too late. If I could have been there then… then… things could have been different." She said, whispering as she took a small breath before sighing.

Sensing the guilt hidden within her words, Marcus was going to say something but was interrupted by Lena looking up at him once again, her sadness pushed back as she stared into his eyes, and she spoke, "I would like you to have my number, You can call me for anything and I'll be there for you like I tried to be for Mari…"

"Why do you want me to have it though?" He questioned, confused by the turn of events.

"I admire your attempt to help Mari, I also heard that she tried to help you escape before she died." She spoke, wiping away the tears threatening to fall from her moistening eyes, "Maybe, just maybe, I can be there for you. I want to do for you what I couldn't do for her."

Seeing her desire to turn her sense of loss and remorse into something meaningful, Marcus accepted her offer and added her number to his contact list through his NeuroNet. "Thank you"

"If anything happens or if you need an ear to talk in, feel free to call me ok? I'll be there as soon as possible." Lena said with a wide smile, turning to leave the room as she set the neuro link on transparency to view it as she walked, stepping by Marcus's parents in the hallway on her way out of the hospital.

Dialing a number, one that answered almost instantly, Lena greeted the other person before asking a single question. "Were you able to install a backdoor tracker onto his NeuroNet?"

"One sec…"

"Vivi, did you do it or not!" She asked, her voice sounding stern and cold.

"Yes, I did, no need to get all aggressive!" Vivi responded as a blue-haired human picture emoticon showed up on Lena's NeuroNet. As it did, a popup window appeared as a map of the surrounding area appeared with a red dot signifying Marcus dead in the middle.

"Now, I hopefully won't be late helping someone again …" Lena whispered somberly.

…

..

.

With Marcus attending Damian's funeral within a nicely established church in the city, he was unable to stay for the burial, and the parents refused his participation due to his role in everything.

Crestfallen, Marcus was taken home by his parents, his dad an older gentleman with brown skin, a short puffy afro, and a well-kept beard, smiling at his mother as he stopped the car outside of their home. Their neighborhood is a set of mid-size homes on the outskirts of the city.

Stepping out of their car, a red sedan that was a newer model from that year, Marcus looked around, taking in his surroundings for the first time in a week. The city, covered by the veil, close by as if taunting him.

"Marcus let's go, you need to take your meds." His dad said as he and his wife walked through the front door of their home.

"Alright! Marcus yelled a reply while turning to walk into the house. As he did he spotted something a bit off, a couple of black identical SUVs parked down the street. Knowing the types of cars that come into this kind of neighborhood, as he's lived here for nearly eight, he concluded those cars were an abnormality.

"Must be a party or something happening down there…" Marcus said, dismissing it as he began walking to the front door of the house. It was then that he stopped in his tracks as a thought entered his mind, his heart beginning to race as he thought back to his conversation with Rhys during their first meeting.

…

..

.

"The trauma team reported seeing a pair of black SUVs leaving the scene when they arrived." Rhys said, his head lowering to check his watch before looking back to Marcus as he continued, "If you see anything like that in the future I need you to call me immediately! Some people have ways of finding where you live or where you go to school and if the guy that killed your friend and that girl found out you're alive, I won't put it past him to try and finish the job…"

…

..

.

Looking back at the two SUVs, Marcus's body went cold as he saw the identical black color. Turning to the door of his home, he found it open slightly with no other words from his mother. Not wanting to believe in the possibility, Marcus broke into a short sprint as he ran into his home, bursting the door open as he looked around.

"Mom?! Dad?!" He shouted, not hearing a response as he began stepping straight down the hall towards the kitchen, he felt his nerves getting to him as visions of Mari surfaced in his mind.

"Damn it, Just be ok please!" He said in his mind as he leaned against the wall, his heart almost beating out of his chest and causing him immense pain as he stopped momentarily in the hall, spotting a line of blood leading into a doorway.

Following the blood step by step, Marcus felt his reality breaking as he turned and stood in the doorway to the room. Feeling as if he had walked into a dream, Marcus was at a loss for words as he noticed a small group of suited men standing around the room, plastic covering the floors as a single man had a back to him.

Looking at the black-suited bald man standing with his back to the doorway Marcus was ready to write it off as an illusion. Unfortunately, he couldn't write it off as behind the man, the lifeless bodies of his parents lay on the plastic floor, their necks slashed creating a pool of blood. Looking at the handprints facing the doors, Marcus came to the assumption they tried to warn him but were unable to.

"Marcus was it?" The bald man, Kren asked, turned around, a bloodied handkerchief in his hand as he finished cleaning the knife in his hands before stuffing it in his pocket. Stepping towards him, smiling devilishly, he retrieved a pistol from under his jacket.

Seeing the pistol, the same he had seen a week ago, Marcus was frozen with shock and fear as the memories of that night flooded back, the words and sounds of gunshots drowning out the rest of what Kren was saying.

Blinking in awareness, the reason being that very same pistol now fitted with a silencer, tapping his heart once again. "I thought you wouldn't have survived before but now," Kren spoke, the pistol moving to Marcus's forehead, "I won't take any more chances, just die this time alright?"

"NOT A DAMN CHANCE!" A voice shouted, stunning them both as a black cybernetic arm wrapped around Marcus's neck and pulled him back against a surprisingly female body. At the same time, an identical black fist slammed into Kren's jaw, knocking it into an abnormal position as he stumbled back into the room before collapsing.

The other men, breaking from their momentary stupor, began drawing their weapons on the door. Yet, instead of seeing Marcus and the new woman, they only saw a small grenade flying in the air. Staring at it, recognizing it in an instant, they tried to warn each other as it exploded, releasing a loud burst of air and blinding white light.

As the grenade went off, Marcus looked at his savior, recognizing the red-haired, black-armed woman as Lena. Before he could say anything though, his hand was grabbed tightly as Lena pulled him out of the home, only saying one word, it resonated with him as he thought about his parents and what they would have tried saying to him, "RUN!"