Chapter 10

Steve had been up all night. After his date with Cindy, he'd checked to see if Chalice was back yet. When he found she wasn't, he'd sent Cindy home and waited. He'd called Jason, only to get some mumbled answer. Something about nuts and a mirror. Finally, he couldn't stand it anymore and called her cell phone, groaning when he got her voicemail. "Challie, it's me. When ya get this, come home or call me. I'm worried bout ya, darlin'." He said, hanging up and ran a hand over his bald head in frustration and fear.

Chalice stared out the window, dressed in her clothes from the previous night, and had her arms wrapped around herself. Mark was sleeping in bed and she wanted to be with him, but she couldn't sleep. She knew her brother was probably worried sick about her. She'd gotten his voicemail and knew this was going to be a recipe for disaster. She sighed heavily, finally opening her cell phone, and dialed Steve's number, waiting for him to answer. "Please don't hate me, brother." She whispered softly to herself just as his voice sounded over the receiver.

"Challie? Where are ya? Who ya with? Jason said somethin', but I couldn't understand a damned word the kid said besides mirrors. What happened?" Steve demanded, firing off one question after the other, worried sick about her. "Darlin', come on back to the room."

"Steve, calm down, I'm fine. Jason turned out to be a real creep and forced himself on me last night. I kneed him in the balls and left the club and ended up…coming back with…someone else." She hesitated saying those last few words, swallowing hard, and could already feel the tears burning her eyes.

Steve's blue eyes widened. "HE DID WHAT?" He roared angrily, not believing the audacity of that punk to put his hands on his baby sister! Silence reigned except for the sounds of him obviously pacing back and forth, cursing worse than a sailor. "I'm gonna kill that bastard!" He said the minute he came back on before taking a deep breath. "Who're ya with?"

Chalice could already feel herself trembling from head to toe as she placed her hand on the wall to steady herself. She knew she couldn't tell her brother something like this over the phone. The tears were already sliding down her cheeks from pure fear of how he would react. How he would feel. She just hoped he loved her enough to allow her to make her own decisions in life as she took a deep, shaky breath. "Steve, please tell me that no matter what happens, no matter what I do in life, you'll always be there for me." Her voice cracked as she slowly sank down to her knees on the carpeted floor. "Please just promise me you won't hate me."

Steve frowned, wondering what could be so bad she would ask him this. "Challie, ya know I'm always gonna be there for ya." He reassured her gently, feeling his own heart break. "I would never hate ya, now what's goin' on? Why don't ya just come home and we'll talk bout this face to face."

"Okay, I'm on my way." She whispered softly, wiping away her stray tears, and shakily breathed out, "I love you brother. Please remember that." Before he could get another word out, she snapped the lid of her cell shut and wrapped her arms around herself, rocking back and forth. She finally stood up on her feet, staring out at the morning sky, and knew she had to go wake Mark up. She hated to do it, but she didn't want him to think she'd changed her mind about them being together because she hadn't.

"Want me to come with you?" Mark asked, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind. He'd woken up when she moved from the bed. "You are going to tell him aren't you?"

"I have to." She replied softly, wiping her tears and slowly turned around to face him. She was trembling so hard because she was truly terrified of what her brother might do to her. Steve had NEVER laid a hand on her, not ever, but this was his enemy and she wanted to have a relationship with him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." She apologized, thinking her phone call did it.

Mark chuckled softly. "I woke up when you moved." He assured her, pressing his forehead to hers. "He won't hurt you." He whispered, as if reading her mind. "He hates me, but he loves you more. You don't have to face him alone, Chalice. I'll go with you."

Taking a deep, shaky breath, Chalice ran her hand up and caressed his face with the back of her hand. She knew she needed him there, not knowing what to expect from her brother at this point. "Please come with me." She softly pleaded, her blue eyes already filling with tears of fright of her brother's wrath. "I know I'm weak, but he's my big brother and I don't have the strength to face him alone…" She whispered out and buried her face in his chest.

Mark held her against him, letting her cry. He hated this. Hearing her cry, feeling her tears beat down on his chest, but he knew she probably needed this. Finally, he gently held her at arm's length and peered down into her eyes. "Let's get dressed and go see him." He said softly, his green eyes promising her everything would be alright.

Nodding and wiping her tears away, Chalice walked over and slipped her heels on that she'd worn the previous night. She took a brush out of her purse she always carried with her and brushed her locks out, not wanting to look like she was thoroughly ravished, and took a deep shaky breath. She was silently praying that this went well, but had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that it wouldn't. 'I love him, brother and I'm not sorry for it.' She thought as she stared back at her reflection, trying to get the redness and puffiness to go away from her eyes, and smiled when she seen Mark's reflection. "You ready?" She quietly asked.

Nodding, Mark tightened the bandana around his head, studying her for a moment. She looked like she'd been assaulted a few times. Her clothes were wrinkled behind belief. Her hair was brushed, but it had a wild look to it and she was pale, eyes swollen from crying. He walked over to her and took her purse from her, setting it down on the bed before pulling a long sleeved black button down shirt from his bag.

Tenderly, he stripped her out of her shirt and skirt, pulling his shirt over her head and smoothed it down her body. On him, it was a normal shirt, but on her, it looked like a dress, accenting her womanly curves while at the same time leaving plenty to the imagination. He then braided her hair with nimble fingers, using one of his plastic bands to hold it in place at the bottom. "Now I'm ready." He said gently, taking in her appearance once more.

Chalice blinked several times and walked back over to the mirror, seeing how huge his shirt was on her, and shook her head. Her cheeks tinged as she turned around to face him and smiled as she leaned up on her tiptoes, kissing his lips softly, knowing why he did it. "Thank you." She whispered softly and turned around as she took a deep breath before heading out the door, carrying her clothes with her that he'd stripped her out of, and headed to her brother's room.

Steve was pacing another hole in the carpet, shooting nervous glances at the clock every few minutes. He sighed, rubbing his head, wondering what could be so damned bad that Chalice would think he hated her. He nearly jumped when there was a soft knock on the door, rushing over to open it. He seen her and pulled her into his arms, hugging her tightly to his chest. When he finally stepped back, his blue eyes took in her clothes. "Where the Hell did ya get them…" The words died on his lips when the Undertaker came into view.

Chalice was trembling so hard against her brother, her teeth were chattering and she wasn't cold. She slowly pulled back from him, her blue eyes pleading with him to understand, and could already feel the tears stinging them. She could say nothing, her heart pounding furiously in her chest, and smiled a little when Mark's hands landed on her shoulders comfortingly. "We need to talk." She finally whispered out, swallowing past the lump that had formed in her throat, and could already see the rage building in her brother's eyes. "Please brother, don't be angry." Her voice was pleading.

Steve forced himself to take a deep, calming breath and nodded, stepping aside to let them in. Once the door closed, he rounded on them both, his eyes fastened with Chalice's, forcing himself to ignore his enemy. "Challie, what's going on?" He demanded, trying to keep the anger out of his voice.

"Remember that person I told you I came back to the hotel with?" She asked, causing her brother to nod, and glanced over to Mark, who was standing right beside her. He had black shades on over his eyes, but she could still see the green burning through them. "Mark is the one who threw Jason through a mirror in the club after he forced himself on me. He then followed me to make sure I was okay and…" Her words died as she sighed and refused to look away from her brother. "I love him, Steve."

Mark stepped forward to stand in front of her when Steve took a step towards her. He didn't honestly think Steve would hit his sister, but he knew Steve was angry. Beyond angry and might accidentally hurt her in his rage. Steve glared at 'Taker, glancing back to his sister, who was behind his adversary, and finally demanded, "How do you know this isn't some damned mind game he's playin' on ya?"

Chalice was shocked that Mark actually stepped in front of her and sighed heavily when she heard that. "Why would he tell me to call him by his real name if he was playing a mind game on me, Steve?" She stepped out from behind Mark, nodding at him as she stood in front of him. "I told you. He has a heart. He's an intense man, but he does have a heart otherwise he would've used me against you. He didn't though. Why can't you see that he's not as evil and heartless as you and everyone else thinks he is?" Tears were forming in her eyes again as she leaned back against Mark when his arms wrapped around her shoulders.

"Because I know him, Chalice!" Steve shouted urgently, not buying this for a minute, a second. "If you knew anything about him, you'd know he THRIVES on playin' games with people, darlin'. It's all one big joke to him." He seen the look on 'Taker's face and knew he had hit a nerve. What he was saying was the truth though. "He coulda asked ya to call him by his name just to make ya think…Whatever it is yer thinkin'. How do ya know this ain't one giant game, Chalice?"

Mark remained silent throughout all this, knowing Steve had a point. He was infamous for his mind games. He stared a hole through Steve, waiting for her answer.

"Because whenever I look into his eyes, I see something there that tells me it's not a mind game." She simply replied, wiping her tears away that had fallen down her cheeks, and sighed heavily. What did she honestly expect? For them to just get along and have a happy reunion and party? She knew better than that and knew her brother didn't trust this man for one second. "That night he kidnapped me and was going to…" She swallowed hard and shook her head. "He stopped when he seen how much I was hurting. He told me he was taking me back to you and that he wasn't using me against you. Why would he do something like that Steve, if this was all just one big sick and twisted mind game to him?" She questioned, having walked over to the window, out of Mark's arms, and wrapped her arms around herself, staring out of it.

Steve shot 'Taker a look, a mean and vicious look, pissed beyond belief now. "Challie, that's just how he is. He'll make ya love him and then when ya least expect it, darlin', he'll send ya fallin'." He sighed, walking over to rest his hands on her shoulders, hating to see her in pain like this. Torn like this. "Do you really love him?" He asked softly, his eyes closing.

"If I didn't, I wouldn't be fighting so hard with you about this." She retorted back in a whisper, meaning every word that came out of her mouth, and continued staring out the window. "You know what the kicker is?" She actually laughed, still not believing it, and turned around to face her brother, locking eyes with him. "He told me he loved me first and that he wanted to be with me."

Steve sighed heavily, moving so he could look at the both of them. "What about school, Chalice?" He questioned suddenly, knowing she still had to go back for her master's degree. "Yer gonna give up yer dreams?" Mark looked startled, his green eyes moving to bore into her, widened behind the black shades.

"I have a bachelor's degree in writing and journalism, Steve. I don't need a master's." She quietly responded, raking a hand through her hair, and turned to face them both. "Don't give me that look either of you. This is MY life and MY decision, not yours. My dreams are not crushed either. Matter of fact, I'm having a book published within the next few weeks as soon as my publisher calls. Try another excuse, bro." She rolled her eyes at him and crossed her arms in front of her chest in defiance, arching a challenging eyebrow at him.

"I'm not lookin' fer excuses." He shot back, shooting her a look of his own. After staring into her eyes for what seemed like an eternity, he walked over to 'Taker. "I ain't sayin' I'm givin' ya my damned blessin', but…if ya ever hurt her, I'm gonna rip out the heart she says you have, got it?" He threatened, meaning every word that came from his mouth, especially when it came to his baby sister. Mark folded his arms over his chest and stared at Steve, nodding, not trusting himself to speak at the moment. For fear he'd say something really nasty to the other man. Like maybe to go fuck himself, which he was thinking right now.

"I know this isn't going to be easy for both of you." She finally said, breaking up their heated gaze, and sighed. "I know it's probably going to be VERY awkward at family gatherings and such, but…" She shrugged her shoulders and patted her brother's shoulder. "The heart wants what the heart wants, Steve. Now you understand why I've been a zombie, a shell of myself for the past two and a half months."

"Family…gatherings?" Steve echoed weakly, flaring up at the chuckle from 'Taker. "Shut yer hole Deadman, just make sure ya bring the damned sun block when ya bring yer carcass there. Wouldn't want the sun killin' ya, huh?"

Mark growled, shooting Chalice a look that asked, 'Can I kill him?'

"STEVE WILLIAMS!" She shouted at her brother, planting her hands on her hips, and shook her head as she shoved him as hard as she could. "Now I understand why he always wants to choke slam your ass through tables!" She hissed dangerously, her eyes darkening with anger. "You apologize to him RIGHT NOW or ELSE." She threatened, meaning what she said, and pointed over at Mark. "His name isn't 'Taker either. His name is MARK. None of this Undertaker bullshit anymore. Have I made myself clear?" She ordered, calling the shots now, knowing her brother would comply with her or she'd hurt him.