Chapter Eleven: The Reason (Part One)

Cincinnati, Ohio- January 21st, 2010

"This is by far the worst idea you've ever had."

Mark watched the stupid, obnoxious smirk appear on his little brother's face as he sat in front of his laptop. He was in a hotel room in Ohio and he was Skype calling Glenn, who now preferred to be called Kane, who was in a Nevada Asylum, currently using his recreation time to tell his brother just what he was planning.

"It's not that bad of an idea. Think about it, you help me, I help you," he said, smirking. Mark barked laughter in return, shaking his head at his brother.

"I'm not going to let your boyfriend suck my dick just so you can help me with Serenity. And if you force it on me, I will call rape."

Kane rolled his eyes, leaning back in his seat. Behind him was Doctor Stevie, the psychologist who had admitted Kane to begin with. He was taking notes and keeping a close eye on his favorite patient.

"You are so touchy when it comes to your sexuality," he groaned, flopping his head down onto the desk in front of him. Mark smiled.

Though they'd briefly come to blows before, Mark and Kane had essentially straightened out their differences, leaving it in the past, simply because they realized they needed each other. Mark needed his little brother, who wasn't so little at seven-feet tall, three-hundred pounds, to help him convince Serenity to leave his soul alone, and Kane needed Mark to help him get out of the asylum, preferably with his lover and long-time partner, Raven, in tow. The problem was, Kane couldn't actively discuss his escape plan while his doctor was behind him because he would be thrown into solitary confinement for the rest of his sentence, which was until his death, and Mark couldn't openly discuss his problem with Serenity because he didn't know who might be listening, especially the dark Goddess herself. She'd admitted to Mark before that she was always watching, she knew where he was at all times and knew every word he ever said. But he didn't know if she was still watching, considering the last time he'd seen her, she had thrown him off a balcony, and the last time he'd heard her voice in his mind, she was screeching at him not to share his immortality.

"Not really, little brother," he replied with a smirk. "I am very open about my sexuality. I just don't want to get super AIDS from Raven, because we all know he takes it from you so hard you probably gave him the ultra plague."

Kane smirked in return, looking up at the screen. "I haven't had it in a very long time, but I can tell you that he is very, very good."

Mark rolled his eyes. "Kane, I don't want to know. Back on topic please."

"What exactly are you going about to do about the Bitch Goddess from Hell? Because you're probably not going to survive when she comes to collect."

"That's exactly why I need your help."

"What help am I going to be from a padded cell?"

"You could at least give me an idea besides the one you've already given me, because let's face it, I would rather go free diving in shark infested waters while covered in goat blood than be raped by your boyfriend."

Kane's hairless eyebrow rose. "That is incredibly specific."

Mark stared at his brother for a second before letting out an exasperated sigh. The bald idiot that was in front of him couldn't possibly be this thick, could he? Kane had ditched the mask a few years before this conversation and he looked just as hideous as Mark thought he would, he'd also torn away the top half of his red jump suit, revealing his pale chest, dotted with scars from skin grafts gone awry. He was a monster now, and it was something he loved more than anything else in the world, except maybe murdering people.

"I've learned to be specific. When you give a request to someone as vague as 'make me the Lord of Darkness', you figure out the mistake pretty fucking quickly." Mark curled his lips angrily. He could see Stevie looking over at Kane as if to say 'times up' and he growled.

"I get the feeling I'm about to be dragged back to my cell kicking and screaming. I'll call you tomorrow," Kane said, standing before Stevie had a chance to even call him over. The screen went back to it's usual blue wave which left Mark alone with his thoughts. Probably not the best idea, considering his mindset.

Serenity was coming and there was nothing he could do about it.

Just as he was about retrieve one of the pillows that he'd thrown to the ground the night before and scream into it, the hotel room door opened and in stepped Michelle McCool, his new fiance. Her long blonde hair was tied up in a bun and she had a defeated look on her face. Mark stood from his seat and walked over to her, taking her hand and bringing it up to his mouth, kissing her knuckles softly.

"What happened?" he asked, his free hand pulling her closer to him by her hips. She looked up at him and smiled softly.

"April said she would rather go bungee jumping without a bungee cord than be involved in our 'satanic union'," Michelle replied with a sigh, looking up into the eyes of her soon-to-be husband. He pulled her in close and hugged her, feeling her sigh again, wrapping her arms around his waist. "I know how much you wanted your whole family to be there in June."

"I know, baby," he whispered, gently stroking her head. That was two invitations that had been sent back to him now, one from April with a polite 'no', not including her little outburst at Michelle earlier, and one from Gunner that said in massive letters 'FUCK NO!' Not a good start to the year, granted, but there was still time. The wedding wasn't until June, and he still had a little bit of time after that to figure out just what the hell he was going to do about Serenity. October seemed to be the month for collecting, around the time of Halloween.

"You know," he said, pulling away from Michelle slightly, still keeping his hands on her lower back. "I really need to stop procrastinating."

Michelle giggled, swatting him on the chest. "What have you left til the last minute this time?"

Mark smirked, watching her walk towards the kitchen nook, grabbing a bottle of juice. "Well for one I need to get around to visiting my brother, and I need to talk to April myself."

It wasn't exactly a lie; he did need to figure out his troubled relationship with April and visit Kane. But he'd left off the crucial third point of trying to communicate with Serenity and ask what he could do to get out of their arrangement unscathed. Probably not going to happen, but worth a try.

"Yeah, I'm not going one on one with the demon daughter again," Michelle said, breaking through his thoughts. He looked at her, sitting cross legged on top of the kitchen counter. He grinned at her. "Hey, WWE gave her that name, not me."

Mark's grin switched to a smirk as he ran a set of fingers through his hair. "Is she still in her hotel room?"

"She was getting up to tend to baby number three when I left."

"I'll be back. If I come back in a body bag, she murdered me."

Michelle laughed, but it was a laugh that hid her actual fear of what April would actually do to her father.

~X~

Mark tapped three times on April's hotel room door and waited, expecting April to scream in his face. Instead, it was Xander who opened the door, his tail-feathers looking incredibly ruffled, so to speak. His black hair was spiked all over his head and he had the business end of a butcher's knife sticking out of his mouth. He raised an eyebrow at his father-in-law. He and April were a week away from their second wedding anniversary, so Mark could understand why he looked so disgruntled and tired.

"Evening, Xander," Mark said politely, raising an eyebrow at him. Xander blinked and removed the knife from his mouth.

"I gather Michelle gave you the bad news, then?" he asked, leaning against the door frame, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Tell my sperm donor to choke on a bag of cement!" April called from in the room. Mark rolled his eyes.

"Can I at least try and talk to you?" he called back, watching Xander turn and look at his wife. Judging by the look on the rocker's face, he was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Mark sighed loudly and shoved Xander out of the way, stepping into the darkened room. The blinds had been drawn so his youngest grand-child, the two-month-old Piper, could sleep peacefully. He caught her light snoring from the bassinet that was set up across from the bed where his second oldest child was sitting, legs and arms crossed, Calaway scowl all over her face.

"Piss off, Deadman," she growled, glaring daggers at her father.

"No, not until I find out why you won't be attending my wedding," he growled in return, standing his ground and staring down his ever-defiant child. She didn't bat an eye as her eyebrow rose.

"You know why, now get out."

"Really? Because you happened to go to high-school with Michelle you've decided to be the uber bitch you've grown into? That's so incredibly mature."

"Reminds me of you, marrying someone almost twenty years your junior."

"I think I'm gonna go fill my stomach with enough vodka to put me in a coma," Xander muttered, putting the knife he'd been holding on the table near the door, vacating the room before someone started throwing things everywhere.

"I know for a fact this is not about the age gap. You didn't like Sara either."

April scowled, standing and facing her father, her full six-foot-two frame illuminated by the lamp behind her. She looked like a terrifying silhouette, ready to pounce on someone in a darkened alley. He stood his ground, crossing both arms over his chest.

"Maybe not, but she was a lot nicer than McBitch," she seethed, walking towards her father. He watched her move gracefully from the bed to just in front of him. She looked up at him and he could see fury in her eyes. But he'd faced the Goddess of Bargaining and Judgment and come out the other side relatively unscathed, so this was a walk in the park to him. "Now get out of my hotel room before I call the police."

"You'd call the cops on your own father?"

"You're no father to me, you lying hypocrite, now get out."

That caught Mark off guard. He blinked at her, feeling his heart crack in half all over again. The same thing had happened when she'd run away from home when she was sixteen. For over a year he'd worried about her, even going as far as to call her housemates several times a day just to make sure she was still breathing. Yes, he was that kind of father, but it had never been a bad thing, even back then.

He could feel his shoulders shaking as he tried to hold himself back from crying, swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat. He could see the rage in her eyes, steaming hot and raw. His family was falling apart even further, all because he wanted to be happy, with what little time he had left. He turned to the table beside the door and retrieved the knife, handing it to April, handle first. It was a butcher's knife, used for cooking, but what he had in mind was a little bit different to filleting a fish.

A little, but not much.

"I know how you must feel right now; you're bubbling with rage. I understand that," Mark said, watching the look of confusion cross his daughter's face. "I live with an insurmountable level of rage every day of my life. I watch you and Anna and Gunner and Abbi all growing and changing like the seasons. I can't change, no matter how much I wish I could." He sighed, removing his leather jacket. This was going to hurt a lot. "With you hating me... I can't bare it. So, drive that knife into my black, little heart. Give me what I deserve. I have nothing left to lose."

April looked at the knife in her hand then at her father. He blinked, moving his arms out so she had a clear shot. His face remained stoic as he watched her contemplating her decision. And then, as if some wave of emotion washed over her, her eyes darkened and she lunged, driving the blade through his chest and into his heart, piercing it.

He dropped to his knees, feeling everything he wished he couldn't; shame, fear, rage, and most of all, regret. Everything he'd ever done and would ever do was right here. He'd spawned children, beautiful children, all unique and wonderful. He was darkness, chaos and fear inside a corked up bottle waiting to explode.

April stepped back, watching her father closely. He looked up at her, feeling his eyes turn black.

"You can't kill me, Angel. I know, I've tried. Thousands of times now, more than I can count actually, I have gotten low and haven't seen a way out. So I put a gun in my mouth and fired... then spat the bullet back out."

April dropped to her knees in front of her father, her eyes wide with confusion.

"What are you?"

"A monster, that's all I've ever been."

April let out a shrill scream as she scooted away from her father, watching the flames ignite around him.

It was at that very moment that Xander returned, pushing open the door with a bottle of Vodka in his hands. As he took in the scene in front of him, the bottle dropped to the floor and shattered. He watched, his mouth dropped open in a silent scream, as the fire around his father-in-law dimmed.

Mark smiled, pulling the knife from his chest and standing, turning to his son-in-law.

"That was a waste of good liquor."