Chapter Three
Tainted

"Mark… it's not that big of a deal." Zoey started with a sigh, reaching out toward him. Mark cringed away from the woman. She dropped her hand. "…We get fresh blood every other day. We can supply you. You don't even need to tell anyone." She smiled at Harry, "And Harold can help you. That's what roommates are for."

"Just…" The dark haired teen bit his lip, "Just go, leave me alone." He fell onto his back, rolling to face away from the other three nonhumans.

Zoey frowned, standing up straight to turn to the other two inhabitants. "…Stevie-Rae, let's go." She sighed, walking from the room. After a moment's hesitation, the red vampyre followed.

Harry stared at his roommate with a concerned frown, his fingers playing over themselves nervously, as if he wanted to say something but didn't dare. He took a breath to speak, but Mark cut in.

"Just don't talk. Let me just…" His voice slowly died, broken by the tears that streamed from his eyes, clogging his throat. He cursed himself in his mind, he hated showing weakness to other people. Knowing Harry, he'd probably take it as trust or whatever. In truth, the whole change had sent him into a spiral of pain and regret. He sighed.

There was a long silence, and Mark had finally begun to fall asleep when something warm touched his back.

"…What the fuck did I say about the touching stuff?" He hissed.

Harry hesitated before he hugged Mark tightly. "…You look like you really need a hug." He whispered softly, "Please don't shove me away. I want to be friends, and I want you to be able to come to me if you're in trouble."

Mark let out a long, drawn out sigh. "…If you stop hugging me, you can share a bed." He muttered.

Harry grinned, leaning back to lay on Mark's bed properly, careful not to touch him.

Slowly, Mark began to dose off.

It was dark, but thick, as if her were floating in tar. He tried to look around, but his eyes were blind, or perhaps there was merely nothing to see. He groped forward and found he could move. It was sluggish and hard, but he managed it. He scrambled forward through the black nothingness, trying to find… what? He wasn't quite sure. He just… had to keep moving. If he stopped… something bad would happen. He wasn't sure what.

His foot touched ground and he fell to the floor. It was still dark, but the air seemed too thin until it was almost normal.

In front of him was a moonlit forest, or rather it was a moonlit clearing that was surrounded by forest. A woman was sitting in the middle, seeming to glow with her own beauty. He couldn't quite focus on her face, as if it wasn't fully formed, or perhaps his eyes just couldn't focus on her beauty.

"Where… am I?" he asked, though he quickly lost interest in the answer as he watched his words wave through the air as colour, caught on some lazy bounding wind, carrying the blues and greens of his words.

The woman smiled, or at least he thought she did. Somehow he just knew what she was doing, even though he couldn't recognize her visually. "Welcome, child, you're currently residing within your room, peacefully asleep." Her words were different, they shimmered, beautiful and colourless, almost not even there, like the woman who spoke them.

"Asleep?" Mark frowned, "So… this is a dream?"

"Not quite, my son." The woman chuckled, and the night seemed to join in on her amusement, the air rippling with her musical, joyous laughter. "I have come to warn you."

"Warn me?" The teen scoffed, "About what? A science test about the chemical balance of blood?"

The beautiful woman frowned, shaking her head. "No, child." She sighed, and the trees creaked with it. "Your mark, I'm sure you've noticed." She gestured to the mirror that hadn't been there before.

Mark looking into it and his fledgling mark seemed to burn from his flesh, appearing much more obvious than it was in real life.

"…Yeah? So? Does it mean I'm… special or something?" He sighed, rubbing the mark.

"…No, Mark." The woman stated simply as the teen pulled his hand away, covered in black tar. "You're sick, and not the kind of sick that will cancel your change and bring you close to me before your time."

Mark tried to wipe off the tar, but it bubbled and spread slowly up his arm. He screamed, his attempts to get it off becoming more frantic and desperate the faster it crawled up his arm.

"Your hatred for vampyre kind has… regrettably, affected your change." She continued, "If you don't accept yourself for who and what you will become, you will become something even worse than the thing you fear to be."

Mark, who was now entirely encased in the tar, looked up at the mirror again.

The sight he saw shocked him. A man was staring back, but… he didn't look anything like a man. He was tall, with long black hair. He was wearing the same clothes as Mark, and but unlike Mark, he was smiling. It was a broken smile, the kind of smile that taints a man's lips when he's lost his mind and can think of nothing more than the needs that drive him. Also unlike Mark, he had a tail, it spread at the end, making a rounded diamond shape. It swung happily from side to side, reminiscent to a cat when it sees a bird on the other side of the glass window. His hands were clawed, long, dark talons sprouted from his long fingers. His skin was covered in that same black tar, but it was part of him, and shined like scales. Barely visible was the traditional vampire mask tattoo, but it was shaped like curled, lined horns, framing his hazel eyes to make him look even more demonic, the mark, of course, was also black, making the rest of the strange man's body look faintly blue. This… creature also had wings, large, dragon-like wings. They folded neatly on his back, created even more menace to his overall look.

Mark jumped, stepping away from the mirror.

"Look, Mark, look at what you're turning yourself into." The woman sighed, appearing next to Mark, holding his shoulders gently. "This is what hatred causes. It's turned into a poison that will alter you to something even I can't help." She gestured to the mirror-man. "You will be a demon."

He turned around rapidly, swinging his arms out to shove the woman away. "That's not fair! I didn't even want to change at all!" He shrieked, kicking the mirror in.

It broke, and the man in the mirror still stood there. Its eyes darkened with pleasure, taking a step forward now that it was free.

Mark screamed, running away from the creature.

"…Hatred is not the life you're born with, it is the one you create on your own." The woman's words echoed through the air as the shadow of the monster in the mirror hovered over Mark. "Please, change your views so you can lead a better life."

The man in the mirror leapt onto the teen and he shrieked, feeling his spine rip from his body as the black thing began its feast.

He jumped, his eyes shooting open and he gasped, frozen in his bed where he lay alone. Slowly, he relaxed, his skin covered in sweat.

It… had been a dream. Or… was it? he frowned. It didn't feel like it had been a dream. He touched his back where the creature had ripped out his spine.

He felt liquid, bone, and ripped flesh. His heart stopped and his eyes widened, he took in air to scream as he sat up.

Nothing. The bed was clean, his back intact. He felt the spot where just second before had been nothing but a nest of ruined flesh. It was fine, though he could feel his racing heartbeat through the flesh. He relaxed once more, though the effect was not lost. It hadn't been a dream.

And… that woman.

His eyes widened once more. Had that… been the goddess? He tried to think back to what she looked like and found that he couldn't remember. All he remembered was her warning, clear and plain as if she was still speaking it to him now. He needed to learn how to accept himself for what he was.

He grimaced, rubbing his eyes with a groan. He couldn't even keep his human views and emotions! How could this possibly be fair? Changed physically in such a way that he can't even keep his own thoughts? That was… inhuman.

Of course, vampyres weren't human. Maybe free will to them was something different.

He sighed, getting up slowly, tugging at his clothes which had gotten turned and wrinkled from him squirming in his sleep. He padded over to the bathroom, closing the door with his foot. He leaned over the sink, turning it one to splash water on his face. He sighed once more, looking up at his reflection.

He shrieked, slamming against the back wall, knocking his head, making him close his eyes. He looked back at the mirror once more. A frown took his lips as he reached out a hand to touch the glass. He… clearly saw the man in the mirror again. When he looked back, the man was gone, replaced by his familiar reflection, only adorning the black moon. He looked pale, worried and fearful. His lips were pulled tight with stress, his eyes strained to stay attentive to everything around him.

He ran his fingers through his black hair, his hazel eyes staring at the other pair in the mirror.

"Fuck." He huffed, "I'm going fucking crazy." He flipped the toilet lid down so he could sit on it, rubbing his eyes.

The door opened outside as Harry returned. "…Mark?" He called upon seeing the empty bed.

The younger fledgling paused, debating about saying anything. He sighed, "I'm in the bathroom." He called. After all, eventually Harry would look in the bathroom.

"Oh." The blond smiled as he poked his head in the bathroom. "I brought you… um… breakfast from Professor Redbird."

"…You mean blood?" Mark's eyes narrowed.

Harold blushed. "…Um… yeah." He walked in with a bag of medical blood, placing it on the table. "I'll just… leave it here." He quickly walked out of the room.

Mark frowned, feeling a small urge to call after Harry, to apologize for being such an ass. However, when the door to the dorm closed, he sighed. He stared at the bag on the counter before hesitantly grabbing it. He squished it in his hands, making the liquid swish grotesquely through his fingers inside the bag. He sighed, biting a tiny hole in it at the top corner so he could drink.

Once more, the flavour exploded through his senses, making him shudder. He closed his eyes, using his tongue to open the hole wider. Eventually, the bag was emptied, and Mark found himself at a loss as to why. It had been so full, surely there should have been more…

He rubbed his hand over his face, feeling disgusted and horrified once more. He needed to accept this… this… feeling? This look? This life? He shook his head, tossing the bag in the trash. He couldn't do it. It was too revolting. Too… inhuman. He found himself longing for his home. He missed the quite woods surrounding his cabin. He missed his coffee maker and the quiet, loneliness he'd grown used to upon leaving his parents. All he wanted to do right that moment was run home, curl up in his favourite comforter and just wait until he coughed up his lungs and died.

He felt a cruel smile touch his lips and he stood. Well, he might as well explore the school he'd be damned to for the next few years of his life.

Review Challenges!

Should I focus more on romance or adventure? Either way I will have both eventually.
What do you think of my variation of the goddess?
What did you think the Man in the Mirror?
What sexuality do you think Harry i- I mean, Still like Harry? u
Can you come up with any predictions?

Howdy guys!
Hope you liked this installment of Mark's Marked adventure! :D

Yeah, Harry's a little gay but I can't decide if he is or not. It won't really have anything to do with the story at this point, I just like to have all my facts straight on my characters, like how Dumbledore is gay but it never actually mattered to the story.

I DON'T KNOW IF ANYONE NOTICED, BUT, THIS STORY HAS A LOT TO DO WITH THE WAY PEOPLE VIEW THEMSELVES AND HOW SELF HATRED IS REALLY DAMAGING TO A PERSON'S BODY AND MIND.
I mean what, haha?
Me, write a story with real meaning and reasoning? HAHA.

I like what I did with the goddess, though. I liked how in the original, she was very supportive and loving, but she was also helping the hero defeat the evil. I like to imagine this is how she treated Neferet when she first started to listen to Kalona. Invading her dreams to warn her of an evil that would damage her soul and body greatly if she didn't start dealing with it immediately.

HAHA, BUT THAT WOULD MEAN THAT I PLAN FOR MARK TO BE A VILLAIN, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...
-heavy breathing-

It's not like I have a hardcore-rockhard-boner for internal conflict and the great struggle of the mind.

NOPE, NOT ME.

in any case, I really love this story and how it's turning out, so I hope to get pretty far in it before something horrible happens and I can't finish.
ormaybeI'llactuallyfinishthisstory.