Chapter 4: A Man Apart
Darkness enveloped him as he moved silently out of the building. The guard only nodded as he went past. He'd been here so long that they all knew him and didn't bother with the formalities of asking for his ID.
Mark looked around him, his eyes landing on the brightened skylight of the cafeteria. Zell was sharing stories no doubt. As good of a friend as Zell was, he'd tell you his life story if you asked him.
Mark sighed before slipping into the shadows of the night.
"Well, it all happened along time ago, when we were kids ..." Zell began.
"You see, Mark and I grew up in the same orphanage, the only difference is that I got adopted and he didn't. But anyway, I was always a scrawny kid, always picked on and beat-up. That's why I took up martial arts, so that no one could ever pick on me again. When I was 7 years old, my mom sent me into Dueling City to buy some supplies. We were in the middle of moving from Galbadia back to Balamb, so she sent me to get supplies for the trip while she packed the luggage."
"So, being the kid I was, I jumped at the job, seeing it as a sign of her finally treating me like a grownup. I was almost to the store when I was attacked. You see, I was wearing nice clothes for the trip; they were the best I owned. My attackers thought that I had a lot of money, or that my parents did. So, they jumped me. They beat me up pretty badly; they took the little money I had when they were scared off by someone or something. But one of the cowards turned back and shot me in the stomach. Shot me, a Seven Year old KID!"
"As I lay there, bleeding to death, my short life flashed before my eyes. All the people I had ever known; my parents, Father Alexander, the man that ran the orphanage, the other kids from the orphanage. As my eyes began to close I saw a face that I remembered from the orphanage. At first I thought it was a dream, but then I felt myself being lifted and carried. The next thing I knew I was waking up in a room I'd never seen before. It turns out that Mark had been living on the streets in Dueling City for a few years, ever since the orphanage was destroyed by a hurricane. He's the one that scared my attackers away and saved me. He had dressed my wound. At first this didn't bother me, but then I began to wonder why a 7 year old would know how to dress a bullet wound. As I recovered, Mark told me that he had been shot a few times and had to learn quickly or die. Once I had regained consciousness, he had gotten my phone number and called my Mom. She was there almost before the receiver was replaced."
Zell took a breath and a sip of his cola, arranging his thoughts so he wouldn't give anything away.
"When my mom arrived, she called in a doctor. The doctor was amazed at the dressing Mark did, once he got past that he admitted that I shouldn't be moved for a few more days while the stitches he'd put in healed. So I had to stay in the small room that Mark lived in for a week. He was hardly there, usually hurt or covered in blood, it was pretty strange but when he was here we would talk. Well, he'd talk as much as he does now, very little. But he and I became friends, when I left I invited him to go with us to Balamb, but he said no. He said he had some things to do in Dueling still, and that we'd meet up at Balamb Garden. And that's what we did. 2 years later we were both admitted to Balamb Garden, we've been here ever since."
"Wow," Selphie said as she stared in awe at the man before her. Rinoa could only nod her head.
"Who knew Mark was such a hero and that you were such a wimp?" Selphie asked with a grin.
"Hey!" Zell said in his defense, forcing the other two to begin laughing.
"I don't see what's so funny," Zell huffed as he crossed his arms over his chest, drawing more laughs from the girls.
Mark looked up at the sign, it's meaning very clear to him. He hated having to sneak around like this to get his food. Skillfully picking the lock he entered the back room of the building.
The alarm system had been easy to circumvent, after growing up on the streets of Dueling City, most security systems were.
He silently approached the freezers stored there. Opening the one he wanted he quickly grabbed two liquid filled bags, stuffing them into his coat. He retreated to the shadows he came from, relocking the door behind him.
Having reached the safety of his dorm room, Mark carefully placed the bags in his mini-fridge. He sighed as he closed the door.
This never gets any easier. He thought as he pushed off from where he was leaning on the fridge.
Retracing his steps to the door, he was stopped by a meow. Looking to his left he saw a pair of orange-yellow eyes staring back at him. The orange long-haired tabby leapt from his perch on a shelf and strode over to his master.
"Hello Carbuncle," Mark said as he picked up the cat, scratching him behind the ears. "Are you hungry, I bought you some food?"
His only answer was an enthusiastic meow as the small animal leapt to the floor and ran to his food dish. Mark gave a rare smile as he grabbed the bag of food and followed. Carbuncle was turning in circles in anticipation of his meal, meowing when he completed a circuit.
Mark tore open the top of the bag and filled his dish, Carbuncle quickly set to work eating, his tail swishing happily as he munched away.
Mark placed the bag in a cabinet before he refilled the water dish.
"I'll be back in a bit, I'm going to talk to Zell," Mark said to the cat, who replied with a muffled meow, his face whiskers deep in the food.
Mark noted the time as he stalked the halls, it was past curfew. This meant that neither Zell nor the others were in the Cafeteria, so he quickly changed course for Zell's dorm room.
Knocking on the door, Mark quickly entered before any of the faculty came by during their rounds.
"Mark, man, what took ya? I expected you back hours ago," Zell began as he closed the door.
"Sorry," was all Mark said as he leaned against the wall, Zell knew why he was here.
"Don't worry, I didn't tell them anything. I just told them the story of how you saved my life when I was shot," he explained to the brooding young man.
"Thank you for being specific about which time it was; I have saved your life about a dozen times."
"I know, I know, and I'm grateful," Zell began only to be cut off.
"What else did you tell them?"
"Well, nothing. I left out all the paranormal details of that day, everything about the Vampires. After my story they began teasing me. I wish you were there, that would have at least diverted Rinoa." Zell narrowed his eyes as he grinned and looked at Mark. "She likes you, you know."
Mark just snorted, his arms still crossed.
"I'm sure she likes the mystery more than the person Zell, most women do if you remember. Remember Quistis?"
"Yeah, she almost killed me, I remember that. I don't know why you didn't kill her when you had the chance."
Mark sighed as he dropped his arms to his side, his eyes cast towards Heaven.
"Zell, I'm not even sure why I didn't stake her. Something told me her living, would somehow change the world."
Zell snorted his opinion of Quistis' 'living'.
"Mark, as far as I remember, she's wasn't doing a very good job of 'living'. She was barely hanging on in fact."
"But how bad can she be, she did refuse to feed."
"I know," Zell sighed, "But that still doesn't explain why."
"She was just a child at the time Zell, you know I can't kill children, Vampire or not."
"Ya know, I wonder what ever happened to her anyway," Zell said after a moment of silence passed between them.
"Last I heard, she was in Galbadia getting a medical degree, but that was a few years ago."
"I wonder what she could be doing in Galbadia, the Vampire Capital of Gaia."
"Not a clue. Zell, I need you to make a trip to Father Alexander, I need some supplies for this weekend."
"Sure thing Mark, what do you need?"
"Well, first I'll need..."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Well you have readers do I leave a good cliff hanger or what?)
Mark: that sucks! Even I could do a better job! What kind of a pathetic author are you?
(...I was only joking about the cliff hanger thing...But you've pushed me too far now...)
Mark: Oh shit...
The author pulls out a huge mallet about the size of a car and begins to swing it like a mad man.
Mark: Mommy help me!
Mark recieves a huge wack to the head and lays on the floor unconsious. Suddenly Seifer appears holding a digital camera and his gun blade. Seifer cuts off Mark's clothing with his weapon, revealing Mark's body. Seifer then takes multiple nude pictures of our cool, yet extremely annoying hero.
Seifer: I can't wait to print these off! Mark's groupies are gonna have a field day when they see this!
The author and Seifer begin to laugh evilly together, Mark begins to stir and the author knocks him out again.
(Wait till the end of the story Seifer, then we can humiliate him)
Seifer begins to pout, but does as his told. Not wanting to face the wraph of the author.
Just as Seifer returns to the story, he calls out to the readers
Seifer: P.S send long reviews
(Damn that's my line...)