Marked

by A.N. Meade

about what happened, but in that moment she didn’t.

  There she was staring at the house that she used to call home. It was so strange. It was like she was looking at someone else’s house, like this was someone else’s life. It didn’t feel as menacing from the outside anymore. For once, she would appreciate the beauty of the structure of the house. It sat back from the gravel road about five hundred feet or so. It was small and quaint. She and Marc were standing just behind the house by a big cherry tree.

  “Listen.” He spoke so softly. She wasn’t sure why but at first she felt afraid. She had many memories wrapped up here. She told herself that they had no power over her now, but still she felt the fear building slowly within her. Then, looking toward the house she fixed her gaze and focused. She closed her eyes. At first, she heard the branches shifting in the wind. She could hear the soft trickle of the creek behind them. Next, she heard footsteps, like pacing. Then, she heard his voice. It was her former husband.

  “So, what am I supposed to do? The police can’t find any trace of her anywhere.” He was frustrated. She could see the veins in his neck and forehead that were too full from the strain of it. The rush of his blood was loud in her ears, and it took all her concentration to focus on their words.

  He was speaking with a friend of his. She could recognize the voice of the other man. “Do you think she just ran off, or do you think they’ll find her somewhere?”

  “I don’t know. She was always so damned restless.” What a strange assessment of her. She had always been the opposite of that she thought. She stayed at home. She cared for his needs above her own. Before her marriage she had cared for her brothers and sisters. She had never traveled, never really dated. Maybe even though she never did anything adventurous, he had still felt that longing with in her somehow. It was strange to think that perhaps he had learned that much about her at least. Some part of him had sensed her unhappiness, and just did not care.

  “Do you think that she might have known about Jessica?” The question was direct and easily understood, still she found herself repeating it multiple times in her mind. Who was Jessica?

  “No, I mean how could she know? It was just a couple of times anyway.” He was so sure of her ignorance on the subject. He had put his intelligence to some use it seemed. She just wished it had been for a more positive purpose than to deceive her. If he had tried equally as hard to save their marriage she wondered if it would have made a difference.

  “Yeah, probably not. It was just so weird for her to take off without telling anyone about it, you know? I would have thought she would have at least said something to her family. I’m sorry man, this sucks.” His coworker seemed to have a better understanding of her character. Her family had always been a top priority for her. If she had thought of any other way to escape the pain and torment she felt, she would have done anything. She never meant to hurt them. If this man that she barely knew could put together that she would have talked to them if she could, she was sure that they must think her dead too.

  “It’s okay. It had just gotten to be a bunch of drama with her all the time anyway. She and I hadn’t been happy for a while. I hope she is okay though.” He seemed so cold toward her. His concern was far less than it should have been for all she had given him.

  Tears welled up in her eyes. He hadn’t said anything that she didn’t expect, but it still felt like a knife to her chest to hear it. It was true, every word. They hadn’t been happy together for a long time. It was more about the chase for him, and once he had her, the effort that their marriage would have taken to maintain was just plainly more effort than he was willing to put in it. It was true too, that they had each come together with their own separate trust issues, and maybe they should have taken care of themselves first. They certainly weren’t ready to handle being married. It hurt none the less. It felt like a huge failure. She didn’t like failing or falling short at anything. The tears fell quietly onto her cheek and down her face, falling and splashing onto the ground beneath.

  She had held onto a small sliver of hope that he did still love her and care for her. Then, the whole thing wouldn’t have seemed like such a big mistake. Maybe he never did love her at all, but rather the idea of her. She was beautiful, charismatic, free spirited. Where did that person go? How could he have given up on her so easily? He watched her drown beneath the pain of the life they had created.

  Marc stood there with her for the better part of an hour. He turned his face. It was too hard to see her crying. She listened to the conversation, trying to take it in, trying to understand it as best she could. Marc knew all too well how hard it was to let go of the guilt of past regrets. When her crying quieted, he asked her gently, “Did you find what you needed to find?”

  “I think so.” Her voice was only a soft whisper.

  “Let us go then.” He had known how hard this would be for her. It hurt to see her in pain, but he knew that she had to do whatever she needed to close this part of her life. No one’s life is made up of the happy moments only, it takes the good moments along with the painful ones to shape who we are. It was hard, but she needed this, and he was happy to have been there for her. He picked her up in his arms like a child, and let her cradle her head against his chest. He took her back to his home in the wilderness.

  It was good to be gone from that house. It had been her home for many years, but she was glad to be far from it. She had come to understand what Marc had meant about it not being a good idea to go back. Still, she was happy to have gained some degree of closure about it.

  They arrived just outside the mansion in the side garden. It was bear with winter setting in, but was still so beautiful. The hedges were dull from the cold, but even that muted splash of color was so welcome against the grey overcast sky. Everything was essentially dead, but she could sense the blooms there still. They were waiting, resting beneath the cool ground for their time to live again. This was a time of rebirth for her too. She needed to get her thoughts together. She wanted to make the most of her new life.

  When they went inside Natasha and Enric were already sitting down to lunch.

  “Where have you two been off to? You left so early this morning.” Enric was curious, but also there was an air of concern. He wondered where she had been, but he also worried that something was wrong for her to run off so quickly.

  “I just had something that I needed to take care of, so Marc went with me.” Kate gave as short an answer as she thought she could get away with. She didn’t really want to talk about what had happened. She didn’t want to think about it ever again.

  “With such urgency? Are you going away or something?” To have only known him the lesser part of a week, Enric had certainly learned quickly to read her tone and body language.

  Sensing the tension, and knowing that she would be better off to think of anything other than this morning and that house, Marc interrupted. “As a matter of fact, we are. We are planning a holiday to Paris.”

  Natasha’s response was clearly surprised. Enrich realized that her mouth was practically gaped open and while he himself seemed jolted, he remained much more composed and continued. He stumbled over his words. “Well. Are? When? How soon are you leaving?”

  Marc stabbed his food forcefully. He seemed almost annoyed at their reaction. “As early as tomorrow morning.”

  “So, why Paris then?” Enric was asking question after question, and none of his reaction seemed positive in the least. He seemed far more concerned than curious right now. Kate could not help but wonder what was going unsaid.

  Marc recognized the growing concern on Kate’s face. He put down his fork lightly and looked into her eyes as he answered Enric. “She has always dreamed of seeing Paris, and I would like more than anything to revisit our home country together.”

  His reasoning was sound, Enric could give him that, but anxiety and concern filled him anyway. “Do you wish our company then?”

  Marc knew that Natasha had another gala to plan and that Enri
c needed time to adjust to his new role. It would be natural for Natasha to need time with him to work through feelings of jealousness. If she weren’t jealous of Kate herself, she would have to feel the effect of the time that this new endeavor would take up. “No, you have work to do here. I’ll pay a visit to Liam. He should be able to take care of whatever we need while we are away.”

  Liam was a long time acquaintance of Marc’s. He was a physician who had often used his connections to help through difficult times. Normally it would seem strange for Marc to travel without Natasha, but given the circumstances they would have to make due. Enric was sure that Marc had a good reason for asking them to stay behind. He wanted to go with them though, even knowing that Marc would do what was best.

  After lunch, Marc sent Natasha to take Kate into town to get whatever she needed for the trip. Just as they were heading out the door, Marc stopped them.

  “Oh, wait!” He pulled an old Polaroid camera out of the side drawer of the entry hall table. “I need a picture for our passports.”

  Kate turned her head to the side, giving Marc a little bit of attitude. “I thought vampires didn’t have reflections?”

  He loved hearing that playful tone in her voice again, there was something about how she would