Several hours had passed, and Mark was still sitting on the bed with Vivian as she was fast asleep. He knew sooner or later Nicholas would be finding Michelle, and Vivian's world would be shattered. Mark was not sure how things were going to be handled; beyond a whirlwind of people will be sprung on this household. He has seen it so many times in his line of work. Mark continued to run his fingers against Vivian's cheeks, bushing against the same path over and over. He looked outside and got lost in the moment for a bit until he heard the crash that came from the kitchen. He bowed his head as he looked down at Vivian, still fast asleep, and knew that Nicholas had found Michelle.
Mark walked down the stairs as he saw Nicholas running around the house, trying to hide the house's items that should never be around a child. He then picked up the phone and called the emergency number. Mark noticed that his voice was shaking as he spoke out of breath, "My wife is not breathing."
Mark stood outside in the shadow as he watched the parade of cars that started to drive into the house. He knew he needed to leave but also did not want to let Vivian alone. He saw the light of her bedroom turned on. He stood back in the darkness and watched more and more cars arriving. He finally noticed a female carrying out Vivian over her shoulder with a blanket wrapped around her. Vivian looked over in the shadow over the adult carrying her shoulder and noticed Mark. He could see her mouth, his name, and her hand outstretched towards him. Mark instantly wanted Vivian to be older so he could take her away from all of this. He tilted his large brim black hat and disappeared into the night.
"I began to wonder if you got lost finding your way home," Randall said as he took a long drag of his pipe as he rocked on the chair on the front porch. He always seemed easy, which was a nice change from the chaos that Mark was coming from.
"No, I was with Vivian," he said almost in a sad, depressing way. He sat down on the stoop of the porch, his long black trench coat opening and draping the step.
"Why the long face?" Randall said after studying him for a while. Randall wasn't sure if he wanted to get into this subject, but the question was already asked.
"I had to take Vivian's mother tonight." He paused. "She was not on my list tonight when I picked it up, but when I was visiting, the call came in. I knew the number it was telling me." He paused again. "Vivian is going to be a mess."
"She will be okay. You need to understand that a human child is very resilient and will find her way to make it through." Randall studied Mark again, and he knew something else was on his mind. "Just say it."
"I want to know Vivian's number." He yelled out, and just like Blaze's good timing skills, and he started to scream at the TV so loud that they both could hear him through the closed windows. Both their heads turned towards the window, looking at Blaze, not even realizing that he was extremely loud with his headphones on.
"Do you want to know that information?" Randall knew this path very well and would never send someone on this road. Mark looked down at his hand that was propped up against his knee. He rubbed his two fingers together.
"Yeah, I do," He said, almost breathless as his mind started to go down a dark path. Randall could tell and didn't want him to go too far down that rabbit hole.
"Give me some time, and I will let you know," Randall said, and Mark stood up.
"I am going to bed. Good Morning." Mark said with a big sigh and walked into the house. He didn't even bother to interrupt Blaze. He just walked up the steps to his bedroom.
It has been over a week, and Mark still has not seen Vivian since that night. He tried to ignore that nagging feeling in his stomach to go visit her but knew he would not be able to ignore it forever. His mind started to race that maybe she might figure out what he was beyond an"old soul" like he told her. He looked down at his tattoo and almost wished for it to send him to her. His mind returned to the task at hand. He had five names on the list tonight and needs to get it completed. He looked up at the pink sky and took a deep sigh, and headed out for the night.
Vivian came out of the shower as used both hands to turn off the water as she dripped on the floor. Her hair was draped over her shoulder and dripped on her face. She pushed her hair back and put it in a clip, and she grabbed her towel and got herself dried off. She got herself ready for bed. This routine was still new to her even tho she has been doing this same routine for a bit over a week. It still did not make it any easier on her.
Vivian walked out of the bathroom in her pajamas. She walked down the steps and held onto the railing. She looked at her father sitting on the couch as the TV played some shows. "Good night, dad," She called to him in her small voice with no response. She waited a bit longer as he still did not return her call. She finally heard him snoring fast asleep. She looked at the front door that was the end of the stairs. Her eyes started to well up with tears. She wished her mother would just come walking into the house, and things would be back to normal. She finally picked herself up and walked back up the stairs and into her bedroom, closing the door behind her.
Mark saw the light on in Vivian's bedroom. He was surprised that she was still awake. He walked into the house, noticing that Nicholas was back to his normal, sitting in front of the TV passed out from the drugs. He shook his head and walked up the stairs. He opened Vivian's door, and she was lying in her bed, already asleep. He smiled at himself as he turned off the light. Vivian woke up and looked up to see Mark.
"Mark?" she said almost in a questioning tone. She sat up in bed as she rubbed her eyes. Mark sat down at the foot of her bed. "Where have you been?"
"I've been around. I had to go to work." He paused. "How have you been?"
"Mom went to heaven." She said to him, and Mark swallowed hard as he looked at her. Her eyes filled up with tears, and he reached out to her, and she quickly fell into his chest. She wrapped her arms around him, and he wrapped his arms around her. She sobbed into him. He brushed her wet hair back away from her face. He didn't know what to say to her. He normally was not around for this part. He just knew that her being in his arms right now made sense and made something inside of him ache just a bit less.
Blaze sat on the couch as he and Hailey played video games. The two of them screamed and bumped into each other as they raced each other on the TV screen. Hailey shrieked as Blaze jumped on top of her, and she dropped the controller onto the floor. Mark walked downstairs right in time as he looked over at the two of them, laughing at each other.
"Oh hey Mark," Blaze said and smiled as he stood up a bit out of breath. "You remember Hailey?" She said and sat up as Blaze picked up the controller, and she fixed her lime green/ blonde hair.
"Oh yes. How are you doing, Hailey?" Mark asked as he noticed that Hailey and Blazed looked like a real couple dressed almost the same way, even down to the multi-colored dyed hair and safety-pinned tied clothes.
"I am doing well, Mark. How are you?" She asked, being polite. She was always a polite child, even when she was younger. Mark was a bit confused seeing her as an adult. He took a deep breath and got himself together.
"I forgot to tell you, Hails, that Mark has imprinted on a Vivian from your world."
"Oh, how cool is that! I hope I get to meet her." She said, very excited and Mark just gave Blaze a look of death. Blaze just shrugged his shoulder at him.
"She is going to be eight years old in a few days." He paused. "How old are you now, Hailey?"
"I am going to be 16 in a few months." She paused and looked at Blaze, almost questioning if she should have even said her age.
"I have been bringing Hailey here since she was like 10?" He questioned himself and looked at Hailey.
"Yeah, about that time. I was bugging him," Hailey giggled a bit as she started to play with her fingers showing that she was getting nervous.
"Well, it was nice seeing you, Hailey. Don't let me ruin your game. Make sure you beat Blaze. He is always bragging about being number one," Mark said with a smirk on his face as Mark walked out to the porch where Randall was sitting.
Randall was watching the pink daylight sky starting to come over the mountains. "Good Night, Randall"
"Good Night. I see you saw that Blaze brought Hailey over." He paused and placed his pipe in his lips but did not take a drag of it.
"Yeah, is it just me, or do they look like a couple?" Mark asked as he took a seat on the step-like he normally did when he wanted to talk about a deep conversation.
"So, you noticed how the relationship has changed," Randall said and shook his head slowly up and down.
"Yeah?" Mark looked at him with a quizzical look him.
"As Vivian gets older, your relationship might change too. I remember when" He paused and took a deep drag from the pipe "changed, and she meant more to me than before" Mark looked down at the dirt and gravel in the front yard. Mark noticed that Randall was remembering Monika, and he sat in silence.
"I gotta get going. I need to pick up a gift for Vivian. Her birthday is coming up, and I am thinking of getting her one of those crystals that glow." Mark paused and stood up as he watched Randall come back to this world.
"Yeah, she will like that. How old will she be?"
"8 years old," he paused, and Randall smiled. "She is going to be a teenager in no time." Randall started to laugh, and Mark shook his head
"I will just enjoy the ice cream in the backyard and all her questions on why I only show up at strange times."
"Yes, those are the memories to remember." Randall paused. "Well, make sure you get her a good crystal." He smiled, and Mark walked off the porch as his long trench coat flowed behind him. He tilted his brim on his hat and headed into town.
Vivian sat on the swings alone as she swung a bit as watched many other kids playing in small groups. She also watched the parents and how they talked to each other. Her eyes scanned back and forth over the area that was blocked off with the tree line. She knew she was alone in the park since her father did not take her to the park often and didn't care where she was until the streetlights came on. There were a lot of people out today since it was a nice evening. She looked over at the treeline once more and saw Mark walking out of the trees and heading towards her. She smiled with delight as she walked over towards him. There were not many people over there, and she knew that she could talk to him without noticing her. She was getting better when she interacted with Mark over the last two years. She walked over to him and leaned her head on his arm.
"It has been some time since you have been here." She paused and looked up at him as she started to dance around in the field.
"Yeah, I figured that I would visit you now instead of later. I am not sure how late I am going to be at work." Mark smiled at her, and he took a seat in the small field; and Vivian picked some dandelion as she started to play with them and blow the petals into the wind. He looked at her and wondered how she would be as a teenager and then a young adult just like Hailey.
"Do you think I can go with you to work sometime?" She paused, and Mark tilted his head to her know she had no idea what work was. "I will be home before school."
"Maybe one day I will show you my house." He said almost without thinking but figured if he promised something, she would just change the subject. Vivian spun around in the field, releasing more dandelion petals into the field, along with her hair flying around her. Mark sat in the field for a while as he watched Vivian play and dance around. He couldn't imagine her older than the age she was right now. "Vivi, isn't your birthday coming up soon?"
"Yes," She stopped spinning and looked at him so innocently. Mark smiled at her and leaned back onto his arms as she turned back around and continued to spin. "Maybe dad will have a cake this year."
"Yeah, you think that he will remember?" He asked as he tilted his hat a bit to block out the setting sun.
"No," She laughed as she answered, "Jessi takes up his time." She paused and looked down at him. "You know, I don't like her much. She keeps telling me that they are going to send me away."
Mark smirked and thought maybe being sent away might just save her from a father who couldn't care about his daughter. "She hasn't stopped threatening that for a while now, Vi."
"Yeah, well, I want to call her out on it, but I won't," She said as she plopped down in the field next to him.
"How is school going?" He asked her since normally when he visited, she would be sitting on the floor of her room trying to finish homework she didn't understand.
"I am not into school." She said and made a face, but Mark knew a human life at one point of his journey and knew she needed to get through school.
"Yeah" He paused and thought back to when he was a child and going through school. Those memories were so long ago that they were even fuzzy. It had to be over 70 years now. He paused as his attention changed when Vivian stood up.
"I need to get back home before the lights get on." She paused and ran over to her backpack and jacket near one of the pavilion pillars. She grabbed it and turned back around to still see Mark standing there. She ran over to him. "Will you be able to walk me home?"
"Sure, let's get going," He said, and the two of them started to make their way walking home. Vivian continued to chatter about school and a few of the people there, and Mark just listened. He felt good being around her, and he didn't care about school unless it came to her safety.
A figure caught Vivian's attention that she could tell was not human. "Who is that?" She asked Mark and gently pointed over to a man that looked like he has not bathed in years. His hair was standing straight up, and his clothes looked old and filled with holes and covered in dirt. She leaned into Mark a bit.
"I am not sure, but let not bother him and keep walking," Mark said and knew that this was another soul, and his vibe was coming directly over to Vivian. Mark knew when Vivian was going to get older, she would meet more and more souls, and he would need to teach her the difference. This man that she saw now… was not a good person and wanted to cause havoc. But could he say that he was a good person that she should be around? Mark pushed the idea out of his head and looked down at Vivian, and smiled to himself.
"I better get inside before Dad gets mad," Vivian said as she spun around in front of Mark and walked backward as they started to walk across the yard. "Will you visit tonight?"
"Maybe, I will need to see how it goes with work, but don't worry, I won't forget." He said, and Vivian laughed and spun around in front of him, and just like that, he disappeared into thin air. Vivian stopped and stood in the middle of the yard all alone. She took a deep breath and headed into the house.
"Happy BIrthday!" Nicholas and Jessie screamed as she walked into the house. Vivian smiled as she looked at the two of them with a cake on the table. Jessie's brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail as her overalls hung off of her body, showing off Nicholas' white beater that was underneath.
"Thank you," Vivian said with a big smile as she knew that her birthday was not for another two days, but who was counting anyway. She put her bag down at the bottom of the steps as she walked into the kitchen; the two of them placed the cake on the counter and had a pizza on the stove.
"Go, get yourself some dinner," Jessi said, and Vivian was a bit cautious but decided to do it anyway. She grabbed herself a paper plate and grabbed a piece of pizza. She sat down at the kitchen table. Jessie and Nicholas did the same sitting at the table. "So, how was school?"
"Um, good" Vivian paused and waited a few moments to figure out the meaning of her being nice. Vivian took a bite of the pizza and slowly chewed it.
"That is good. Vivian," Nicholas started, "Jessie and I are thinking about moving." He said and looked at Vivian, who stopped chewing.
"You mean we would move from this house?" she said with a mouth full and all of a sudden felt horrible since leaving the house she would be leaving where her mother last was.
"Yes," Jessie said and grabbed Nicholas's hand, and the answer caught Vivian's attention. "I think it would be better for everyone to have a new change of scenery."
"Um," Vivian said and took another bite of pizza.
"Come, let's sing happy birthday," Jessi said and got up from the table and went to grab the cake and put on candles. Jessi walked right back to and table and put the cake in front of Vivian, still eating her pizza. Vivian moved her paper plate and tried to quickie swallow what was in her mouth. Jessi and Nicholas sang happy birthday, and Vivian looked over the staircase. She noticed something walking up the staircase but didn't know who or what it was. She took a deep breath and blew out the candles.
Vivian smiled as Jessie and Nicholas cheered. "Please excuse me. I need to use the bathroom." She said she jumped up from the table and ran up the stairs to follow whatever is happening. She ran right into her room and noticed a pink crystal about the size of the palm of her hand sitting on her dresser. She walked up to it and noticed that it glowed a faint orangish-yellow tint just like Mark's tattoo. She slowly picked up the crystal and held it in her hand. She smiled to herself and held it close to her chest. She knew it came from Mark, and tears streamed down her cheeks.