Chapter 7
Ravati blinked the water out of her eyes, wondering what the Hell had gotten into him, and shook her head before turning the shower off. She shivered a little, peeling out of her wet clothes, and put them over the shower before wrapping a towel around her body. She then changed the bandage of her leg, having enough of a shower for that day since the water had been freezing cold, and hissed as she washed her gashes out. After that, she stormed downstairs, wearing nothing, but the towel, and planted her hands on her hips. "What the fuck was THAT about? Did you EXPECT me to be thrilled that your fucking mutts tore up the room I'm staying in and some of MY personal belongings?!"
Mark looked at her, blinking before standing up, pushing away from the table. "I expect you to act like a damned adult about it, Ravati!" He growled gruffly. "Go put on some fuckin' clothes, this ain't a goddamn whore house!"
"Fuck you, prick! You're the one who set me in that fuckin' shower!" She then turned on her heel and stomped upstairs, her leg throbbing, but she completely ignored it. She shook her head as she looked at her destroyed room and slammed the door behind her before changing. She decided on a pair of pajama pants with a tank top, not wanting to stay inside right now, and limped downstairs barefoot. Her hair hanging loosely down her back and over her shoulders. "Hey warden, I'm going outside for some air. I'm not being stuck in this fucking house the entire summer, prick." She crossed her arms in front of her chest, wanting to be as far away from him as possible.
Mark had spent the time she was in the shower banging his head against the table, telling himself she was just over being cradle bait, which was a big flat no in his book. Also, she was his best friend's niece. Another major no. When she came back down and gave him lip, he forgot all about the woman thing and his mind automatically registered her for the snot nosed little punk she was. "Then I'm comin' with ya." He announced. "You can't be trusted."
"Mark, honestly, where the fuck am I gonna go? My friends are in jail or god knows where else and I have a pretty good idea that the sheriff would pick my ass up even if I DID try to make a fucking run for it." She couldn't believe she couldn't even go outside for ten minutes by herself just to get some air and some of her emotions out. Her room was destroyed as she raked a hand through her hair. "You need to worry about getting me some new blankets because those mutts completely tore up the ones that are currently on the bed. "She informed him coldly.
"Already got that sorted." He replied, pushing open the screen door and bowed mockingly. "You can walk around the yard, whatever, I'll sit on the porch, but if ya even head towards the gate, the dogs will add on to that wound on yer leg." He informed her.
"Whatever." She muttered under her breath and limped outside, breathing in the fresh air, and sighed heavily to herself. She actually walked to the middle of the yard and sat down, drawing her knees up, and buried her face in them. She wanted to know what had happened to her friends, her family. They were her family, or as close as it was going to get. She wanted to know why her uncle just didn't let the sheriff take her away from him if he hated her this much to do this to her. So many emotions ran through her and Ravati found herself wanting to cry. She was trapped with an overbearing prick that worked her from dawn till dusk and was constantly trying to butt into her personal life. She looked up, feeling a few tears spill down her cheeks, and jumped when she felt a wet nose on her arm. She glared at the dog at first, her eyebrows furrowed, but that quickly changed when the dog licked her tears away on her cheek and whined a little. It was Hades, the dog who had bitten her. "What the Hell do you want, mutt?" She asked, her tone soft and sniffled a little as she brought her hand up to allow him to sniff her.
Mark watched from his place on the porch swing as Hades kissed Ravati's ass and shook his head. That dog had a split personality or something. He was loving on Ravati now, but if she made a move to run, he'd go for her throat. "Great, my dog needs Welbutrin…" He groaned, shaking his head. His green eyes locked on Ravati, taking in the way she was sitting, and knew she was probably feeling emotionally like shit. He sighed, raking a hand through his hair. He'd lighten up on her when she acted like an adult instead of a child.
"You're not so bad are ya?" She softly said to the dog once he allowed her to pet him and smiled. It wasn't one of those cocky, arrogant smiles either. This was a genuine smile that would light up a dark room. She petted him for a long while and just sat out there, staring at the descending sun that was on the horizon, and sighed heavily. Ravati knew if she wanted to live the rest of the summer that she had to change her attitude. She had to just take things with a grain of salt and stop hating Mark because that obvious wasn't getting her anywhere. She raked a hand through her hair, wiping her tears away, and slowly stood up, wiping the dirt from her pajama pants, and turned around as she limped back into the house. "I'm done being outside now." She softly said before limping past him and headed for the stairs, having become a master at this.
Mark arched an eyebrow, following her inside slowly, watching her head up the stairs. He was curious about the lack of anger or hostility in her tone as well as the fact that she didn't shoot him a nasty look. "Vati…ya hungry or somethin'? I can make you soup if yer not feelin' well." He offered, knowing she was exhausted.
Slowly turning around to face him, she simply nodded, knowing she couldn't deny it any longer, and slid down the banister since she'd only made it halfway up, landing on her feet like a pro. "Soup if you've got it, Mark." She quietly said, running a hand through her hair, and followed him into the kitchen. Anytime Ravati cried, all the anger diminished from her system, but her problem was she held all of them in for too long. She hated crying. It was a weakness in her eyes as she sat down at the table and put her head in her hands, truly exhausted from the past few days.
Mark nodded, walking into the kitchen and opened a cupboard. "What kind? Chicken noodle, vegetable, chicken and rice…" He started listing them off to her, glancing over his shoulder at her.
"Chicken and rice." She answered softly, her elbows resting on her legs, and rubbed her temple, feeling a headache coming on. It was from her lack of eating as she sighed, shaking her head back and forth, and wondered what happened to her friends. The man before her had the answers and she craved to know them. "Mark, will you…tell me what happened to my friends?" She asked, not looking at him, just stared down at her lap, and closed her eyes, the tears already building in them.
Sighing, Mark put the soup on the stove in a pot, adding some water to it before turning on the burner. He leaned against the counter to stare at her, nodding finally. "David is in prison for murder. He got Jillian, she was a police officer." He raked a hand through his hair. "John is in the Juvenile Center for escapin' the jail, breakin' and enterin' as well as stealin' from Glen Jacobs, public disturbance involvin' some kinda fight and fleein' and alludin'."
"Christ…" Ravati whispered out, putting her face in her hands, and felt even sicker to her stomach. It didn't surprise her that David had murdered because the man was a loose cannon waiting to fire. As for John, Ravati couldn't believe he actually got sent to lock up and suddenly realized he hadn't mentioned Angel. She blinked back her tears and folded her hands together tightly, staring at the wall before her, and cleared her throat before asking, "What about Angel?"
Mark shrugged, pouring the soup in a bowl and setting it in front of her, getting her a spoon. "She's spendin' the summer with yer Uncle. She was caught the night they all tried runnin' and wound up spendin' the night in jail. There was some kinda incident and Steve cut a deal with the sheriff and her parents." He sat down opposite of her. "So she's in the same boat you are."
"Lovely." She muttered, stirring her soup with the spoon, and sighed heavily as she raked a hand through her hair. "Thanks…for telling me about them…" She trailed her words off and proceeded to eat her soup in silence, taking it slow so she didn't hack it up, and coughed a little. She raked her hand through her hair, gripping it, eating with the other one, staring at the table as thoughts ran through her mind. John wasn't exactly her boyfriend, more like a boy toy, but they never had sex. She wouldn't allow it.
Mark nodded. "I said if ya ate, I would." He said finally, getting up to pour himself a glass of orange juice, pouring her one, and setting it down in front of her. "You coulda been in lock up too, Vati. In some shit hole with a bunch of guys tryin' who knows what, or in a women's facility…"
"I've done time. It's not a big deal to me." She replied nonchalantly, shrugging her shoulders, and finished her soup before pushing the bowl away, rubbing her face with her hands. "That's a walk in the park compared to this and my uncle knew that, which is why he sent me here." She closed her eyes, not believing her gang had finally got caught for their wrong doings.
Mark smirked slightly, leaning back in his chair. A walk in the park compared to this, huh? That was something at least. At least some kind of impression was being made on her. He stood up and walked out of kitchen, crouching down in the living room in front of the fireplace, and soon had a roaring fire going. He stretched out on the floor, letting the warmth wash over him and soothe his soul.
After sitting there for a few minutes, Ravati finally felt the exhaustion wash over her and sighed heavily as she walked out into the living room. Seeing the fire, Ravati raked a hand through her hair as she limped toward the stairs. She winced, knowing her leg was incredibly sore from that day's work, but she wasn't going to falter in front of Mark. She wasn't going to be broken, no matter what he did to her. She slowly began making her way up them, finally arriving at the top, and headed into her room, sighing heavily at the ripped up blanket. Just what she wanted to deal with. "Fuckin' dogs." She muttered under her breath and started ripping them off the bed.
Mark remembered she needed blankets and groaned, heading upstairs. He ripped the blankets and pillows off of his bed, these being the only extra ones in the house. Though she didn't need to know that. He folded them neatly before going to her bedroom, knocked on her door before stepping in, setting them down on the stripped bed. "G'night, darlin'." He said tiredly, heading back downstairs, having every intention of sleeping in front of the fire.
Ravati sighed as she threw the blankets that were shredded in the corner, deciding she'd deal with them tomorrow, and placed the clean ones on her bed. She crawled underneath the comforter, her door ajar, and closed her eyes, snuggling into the pillow. Crying always exhausted and tired her out so Ravati wasn't surprised when she fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. Her last thoughts were of the summer ahead and what lay in her path, knowing she was going to be broken sooner or later by Mark. It was just a matter of time, no matter how much she tried denying it.
~!~
Mark studied the garden, leaning on the hoe he'd been using, smiling in satisfaction, seeing the shoots. He glanced over at Ravati, who was wiping dirt off on her hands, and shook his head. They'd weeded and fertilized, the compost heap being put to use, nasty work. "You look like you could use a bath and bed." He commented, feeling the same way. "Tomorrow, we're goin' to town."
"For what?" She asked tiredly, wiping the sweat from her forehead, and stood up, wearing a pair of jeans since she knew she'd be gardening with an old tank top that she normally worked in. She walked over and rinsed her hands off, knowing she needed a shower, but she wasn't really tired, just exhausted, if that made any sense.
Mark chuckled softly, shaking his head. He leaned on the hoe against the house and gripped the wheelbarrow handles in his hands, pushing it back over to its place in the shed. He cracked his neck, groaning when he felt a crick, knowing that was going to be hurting. He led the way inside the house, groaning again at how hot and stuffy it was. "Fuck this…" He growled, peeling off his shirt and walking over to the sink, drawing some water and splashing it on himself.
"Why don't you just jump in the pool?" She asked curiously, leaning in the doorway with her arms crossed in front of her chest. Surprisingly enough, Ravati and Mark had gotten along the past two weeks. She even ate dinner with him every night and he was showing her how to cook steaks, which were his specialty. She honestly didn't mind it. It was something new and different. Her leg was healed up completely, just having a faint scar of the bite marks from Hades, who had also warmed up to her. As for Pain and Panic, Ravati just stayed away from them, still angry for what they did to her room. "Or better yet, don't you have air conditioning?"
