Chapter 14

"But why did you keep them if you knew he wanted them so badly?" Caressa was getting over the initial shock that Steve Austin was the perpetrator who had murdered Mark and suddenly wondered where his grave was. She shuddered at the thought before turning around and staring at the still full lit moon outside. "How could I have activated the amulet? All I did was touch it." Now she sounded confused, her eyebrows scrunched together in careful concentration, trying to piece this all together.

"I kept them because- well, because I wanted 'em." Mark said sheepishly. "You kept them too, in the same trunk you found that amulet." He rolled his eyes. "Things like diamonds have a pretty allurin' side to them. You should have dumped them in a river the minute ya found them, Ressa. As fer the amulet, all it needed was to be found I suppose, found and it helped that you felt a pull to it." He smirked slightly. "A pull to me."

"I love you Mark." She started crying, burying her face in her hands, shaking her head back and forth. "How can I be in love with a ghost?" She whispered and leaned back against his chest as his arms encircled her waist, sniffling softly. "Life is so unfair. You're my match and yet, you don't even have a heart to give even though I feel it pounding against my back right now." She turned and buried her face in his chest, wrapping her arms tightly around him, shivering when a cool breeze blew through the balcony doors. "I will get rid of the diamonds when I know it's safe." She assured him quietly. "I don't want them, I just hid them to keep them out of the wrong hands. I knew something fishy went down when I first found them and now I do. I'll also be sure to keep Steve Austin at bay, though he can't stop from coming in the shop."

"God, I wish he could see me." Mark said longingly, a trace of evil in his tone. "I would scare that man so damn bad he'd die of a fuckin' heart attack, then I'd haunt his fuckin' afterlife!" Sighing, he calmed himself, resting his chin on her head. "The best thing for ya darlin' is to get rid of them and forget about me." He said sadly, his supposedly dead heart breaking. "It isn't healthy for you to...love me, I'm dead, Caressa. I have nothin' to give you."

"No matter what happens, I will never stop loving you, Mark Calaway." Caressa stated softly, but firmly wanting to make it clear to him that he would forever be in her heart and mind. "A person doesn't die fully and there's always memories to carry with me." She didn't step away from him, refusing to let him go, more tears cascading down her face like two rapid streams. Why was fate so cruel at times? Here was a man who was killed over a small fortune by his best friend and never got the chance to live a full life. 'Steve Austin is going to pay.' She thought vengefully, deciding she was going to get Mark's revenge for him if it was the last thing she did, amber eyes flashing.

"Maybe." He said quietly. "But eventually, you will forget me and you need too." Mark stared down at her, noting the amber flash and frowned. "Don't even consider goin' after him, Caressa. He's dangerous as hell. Come on, he managed to take down my huge ass." He attempted humor, but it fell flat. Finally, he took her small hands in his, pressing his head to hers. "Don't do anythin' that'll get you killed, darlin'. Death ain't what it's cracked up to be, as far as I know, there ain't a shinin' light to take you home."

"I won't forget you." She cupped his face in her hands and softly kissed his lips, relishing the warmth he brought to her, before slowly pulling back. "You can tell me anything you want, but I won't listen. I'm stubborn." She actually smiled and ran her fingers through his black hair. "As far as Austin goes, he needs to pay for what you did and I have the diamonds. I can lure him in somehow to tell the truth..." She bit her bottom lip when Mark glared at her, telling her his answer already. "Mark, your soul won't be able to rest in peace until that son of a bitch pays for what he did to you. That's probably why you came back, not just the amulet..." Dear god she'd been watching WAY too much television lately.

And he said so outright, "Stop watchin' so much damn TV, it's rottin' yer brain, Caressa. I don't care if I'm back to wait on that bastard to pay for what he did. I'll wait an eternity and then some so long as yer safe. You promised me that you wouldn't do things that were likely to get you killed, remember?" He pleaded. "Just get rid of the diamonds and get away from here darlin'. Far, far away."

"Y-You want me to leave Houston?" She actually gaped at him and shook her head frantically, stepping back from his arms, pursing her lips tightly together. "Nobody is going to run me off! This is my dream, what I've worked so hard for! No, I'm not leaving this place, I'm going to stick by and run Shadow Riders better than it's ever been and make the owner proud! Not to mention I still have ideas to renovate your house." She walked over to stand on the balcony again, wrapping her arms around herself, closing her eyes. "I will make you this promise. I will get rid of the diamonds and I won't go after the man who killed you."

"He could come after you." Mark said flatly, not pleased with this arrangement. Firstly, she was in danger as long as Steve was around, simply because Steve would eventually suspect she had found the diamonds if he didn't already. Secondly, if he was stuck in some sort of limbo, it was going to be harder to keep himself away from her when he was encouraging her to forget all about him. "I have to go." He said sadly, reaching out to caress the side of her face, the yearning in his eyes, wishing he could stay, knowing he couldn't.

"I have your amulet and I'm the reason you came back. I don't understand why you can't stay with me." Caressa sniffled as she slowly felt Mark let her go, turning around to face him, and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. "I love you and I can't forget about you. You have my heart, dead or not." She wanted to make him realize that he was the one for her, no matter if he was the afterlife or not, and kissed his lips passionately. Her aching body was begging for him to stay, longing for his arms, but she knew deep down he wouldn't for his own reasons and purposes.

"That's just it darlin', I can't stay even though I want too. It doesn't work that way." He said gently, the pain on her face mirrored on his. "I'm driftin' between worlds. I come back when I can, but eventually the other side pulls me back." Mark looked thoughtful, rubbing his chin. Since she knew what he was, he didn't bother trying to walk away, he just began to fade out in front of her. "I think it's because when yer dead, yer supposed to stay dead. Not get back up and go back, even if nobody can see ya. It upsets the balance."

The tears flowed harder as Caressa watched him slowly fade in front of her and pressed her hand against his chest, staring into those emerald green eyes. "Then come back to me. No matter how long it takes, come back to me Mark." She begged, trembling from head to toe as the grains ran through her hand, seeing him slowly float out of her balcony door. Caressa snatched the amulet from her bed and clutched it to her chest, her eyes never leaving the sky, hoping and praying she saw Mark again as her eyes squeezed tightly shut. It was official, Caressa had fallen head over heels for a man that truly was not available and it nearly killed her.

John had woken up, feeling stiff as hell from sleeping upright against a door. Slowly, groaning, he got to his feet, knocking lightly, having heard Caressa in there talking to herself. "Care?" He called hesitantly, still ready to be her shadow unless she talked to him, proved to him that she wasn't as crazy as he was starting to think. "Honey, can I come in?"

Slowly turning to stare at her bedroom door, Caressa knew she had to talk to her brother, especially after what he saw. If only Mark were here, then she could prove she wasn't totally crazy. Sighing, Caressa walked over and unlocked her door, groaning when John nearly clobbered her with a hug, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I'm not crazy, John." She whispered, trembling slightly against him, burying her face in his neck. "Really, I'm not." She wanted him to believe her, but knew deep down he wouldn't simply because he couldn't see what she did when it came to Mark.

John didn't know what to say right now. All he could do was hold her against him, rubbing her back soothingly. Finally, he cleared his throat, gently holding her at arm's length. His blue eyes peered down at her, worry still very evident in them. "Care, maybe you're just working too hard. You've been putting in some long hours lately, sis. Why don't we go home and visit Mom and Dad for a weekend? Take a mini-vacation?" He suggested softly.

"No!" She shouted at him, suddenly pushing away, wrapping her arms around herself. "I'm not crazy, John! I'm not! Mark is real! He was killed okay? He was murdered over those diamonds we found in his shop, Shadow Riders! Look," She paused, holding out the amulet to his vision, her voice calming down a little more. "I found this in the attic when I went up there to hide the diamonds, John. This amulet is the reason Mark came back from the other side. Because I found it and somehow activated it, I'm the only one who can see him and touch him." Her eyes closed momentarily before turning away from him. "I'm not crazy. I know I sound like it, but I'm not. You have to believe me or you need to just leave me alone."

John wasn't about to leave her alone, the more she insisted she wasn't crazy, the more he believed she was. "Fine, okay." He said, shaking his head, rubbing a hand down his exhausted looking face. "So explain all of this to me again, about the diamonds and...Mark." He had a hard time saying it, especially since he didn't want to feed her delusions, but he wasn't keen to set her off on a rampage either.

Caressa was breathing heavily as she nodded, sitting down on her bed and patted the spot next to her. She started from the very beginning with them finding the diamonds, to finding the amulet and replacing the diamonds with it. She told him the opening night of the shop is when she first saw Mark. Her eyes closed as she pressed the amulet to her chest, explaining the time her and Mark spent together, including when they made love. "Now this is what I found at the shop tonight." She pulled the piece of paper out of her pocket and handed it to him, seeing John's eyes widen. "It all fits John. Mark was the owner of Shadow Riders and murdered by his best friend because he wanted the diamonds for himself." She shuddered, not wanting to believe Mark could be that greedy, but when it came to diamonds who wasn't? "He told me Steve Austin did it, killed him, but he doesn't know how."

Reluctant though he was to do it, John had to admit that certain pieces of her insane story fit. Though the fact that she kept insisting she had been talking, seeing and apparently sleeping with a dead guy only reinforced the insanity issue in his mind. "Okay, granted, some things do make sense, Caressa," He began slowly, staring down at the paper and the amulet. "But when someone dies, they're dead, they don't come back."

"That's what I thought too until now. Mark obviously had unfinished business or else he would've crossed over to the other side." She knew she sounded insane, but Caressa LOVED sci-fi Goth and often read about these types of things happening, spirits living on the earth due to unfinished business. "Look, I know it sounds insane, but I'm not crazy. He has emerald green eyes and long black hair. He's around seven feet tall and has sleeved tattoos. He wears all black and occasionally has black shades on. Sometimes his hair is tied back in a ponytail and sometimes it's a braid. John, how could I know so much detail..." She suddenly had a thought and smiled. "What if I could prove it to you? What if I could find a picture of Mark or something? Would you believe me then?"

John hesitated, wondering if Caressa had been watching Casper on repeat again, rubbing the back of his neck again, sighing. "I would believe you've seen a picture of him before or something. Care." He said at her exasperated expression. "Just...try to see this from my side, okay? If you could prove you've seen a ghost, some sort of intangible evidence. I'm sorry honey, I want to believe you, I really do."

"But you won't." She said quietly, standing up, and looked out the window where Mark had vanished into grains of salt, tears in her eyes. "That's fine, I understand John." She exhaled shakily and slowly turned around to stare at him. "I want you to leave. I want to be alone." Her amber eyes told him it wasn't up for discussion and if he loved her he would do what she asked. All she wanted to do was crawl into bed and fall asleep because she knew she would see Mark in her dreams like always.

"I'll go downstairs, but I'm not leaving, Care." John said firmly because he loved her so much was why he stayed, genuinely afraid for her sanity right now. "Look, why don't we start finding out what we can about Mark?" He suggested, trying to help, trying to believe. Damn it, he said her story made sense now didn't he? Could he help it he was apparently narrow minded?

"No, I don't want your help on this. I don't want you here, don't you get that? I want to be alone, John, completely alone. Go to Lizzie, she's probably worried sick about you." When he refused, she finally shoved him as hard as she could out of her bedroom. "Leave before I call the cops and have them escort you out of here!" She threatened, amber eyes narrowed, refusing to release the amulet that was clutched so tightly in her hand her knuckles were turning white. "I mean it, get out of here, go!" She slammed her bedroom door in his face and locked it before pressing her back to it, closing her eyes, her chest heavy while her heart thundered in her chest. When the time was right, she would get rid of the diamonds. She just had to find a place.

She could go ahead and call the cops because he wasn't fucking leaving. John headed downstairs, calling Lizzie to let her know where he was, not explaining the fact that his sister had apparently lost her ever loving mind, just saying Caressa needed him at the moment.

Mark could only watch all this, searing with agony. He couldn't make himself visible no matter how hard he tried or make Caressa hear him even though he had tried that as well. He wasn't sure why he was still here, but it was hell since every time he reached for her, his hand went through her.