Note: This is a fanfiction based off of a story that I am working on finishing at the current moment. The names have been changed to suit the storyline. I don't own or have anything to do with the WWE, its partners, or The Undertaker

Chapter Nine

Deciding to go with his gut instinct, Mark removed himself from the store, and stepped out onto the small porch that was nestled outside with a couple of benches placed in designated spots close to the door so people could have a place to rest their tired and hurting feet.

The stranger quickly turned his back in Mark's direction, and attempted to flip the collar of his waist length leather jacket up enough so it wouldn't be easy to tell what he looked like.

I don't think so, buddy.

He shook his head at the individual trying to keep him from seeing who he really was. His long legs took him to the man that stood a foot less taller than him, erasing any of the previous gap from existence. Reaching with his right hand, Mark grabbed a hold of him by the back of his neck, and escorted him over to one of the benches.

"I believe…You need to sit down." He barked at the stranger that gave off a very uneasy vibe to him. His once friendly and sensual tone he had used with Emily had turned into that of an animalistic, deep growl dripping with an overprotective nature for the young woman in the shop. "Now that we are face to face with one another…Perhaps you can tell me why you were looking in the window of the shop."

"I don't have to tell you anything, you dumb piece of shit." The man replied, attempting to sound fearsome in his shaky, slightly higher pitched voice. "What I do is none of your damn-"

Before he could finish the sentence, Mark wrapped his large hand around his throat, and gripped onto it with enough strength to where it would hinder him from completing his sentence. He brought his head in closer to his own, and narrowed his piercing emerald stare into that of the pale blue one that the individual sat before him possessed as he lowered his voice to sound much more threatening that it really was.

"I am going to ask you this only one more time, you pathetic poser…and then I am going to either let you go or pop your head off your neck with just a squeeze of my hand if you want to keep playing this little game with me."

In that very moment, his gaze found the person that had tried miserably to appear tough as nails quickly turning into that of mush the very second he had issued his deadly serious threat to him. He struggled to keep from smirking at him as he spoke to him once more, finding how he was behaving now to be quite entertaining.

"Now…I am going to ask you this one…last…time. Why were you looking in the window of the shop?"

"I…" The traveling voyeur said, "I was looking for my friend."

"Who is your 'friend'?"

"Emily Withers."

Mark immediately grew concerned when he uttered Emily's name, and could tell that this wasn't the type of person that Belle's grand-daughter would be associating with. The way he was greasy and shady was enough to tell him that he was still lying to him, and that was grounds enough to rough him up a bit.

He gripped onto his neck a little tighter, and pushed his head back against the window that he was in front of, causing the back of it to bounce off of it with enough force to make his intent to take things to the next level even further. Mark waited for him to focus on him once more before he spoke to him with his anger coming out of his voice.

"How about we try this again?"

Walking out of the dressing room that she had been inside of, Emily had herself dressed in the clothes she was wearing when she left her grandmother's home earlier that day. She kept the dress she planned on getting for the party that night on the elbow of her right arm as she approached the front counter of the store. The smile that Mark had caused to dance across her face still remained, as well as the feeling of excitement and contentment that he had brought on by his presence and how special he made her feel.

Mark certainly is one of a kind. He can make me feel like I am the only woman in the world that he has eyes for, and no one else but me will do for him.

I am pretty sure it is quite clear that what you just said is actually an accurate statement about how he feels about you, Emily.

She couldn't agree with her conscience better. Her grandmother's ranch hand had been around her and involved with her time at the farm ever since he had arrived there the previous month and he had shared a passionate moment with her in the loft of the barn above where the horses are kept in their stalls.

There was something else that was very obvious and she couldn't deny: She had started to develop feelings for Mark. Ever since the moment that things took an intimate turn for the two of them in the privacy of her grandmother's horse barn, her mind had not let her have a second to herself. The thoughts that ran through her mind in her spare time were full of nothing but of having another encounter with Mark without anyone interrupting them.

Reaching the front desk, Emily showed a kind smile to the lady at the register as she placed the dress down before her, and reached into her pocket.

"Is this all for you today, miss?" The cashier asked, getting the dress and scanning the code on the tag of it.

"That is correct." Emily replied, smiling. "This is the only thing I need to get today."

"Very well…It will be twenty-five dollar even."

Wow. Really? Only twenty-five dollars? I thought that maybe it would cost more than that…but all the better for me to hear.

Emily pulled out a twenty and a five from her pocket, and handed it towards the woman behind the counter. She watched her smile to her after she took the money and placed it inside of the cash register prior to easing the dress into a nearby bag for her. Her eyes moved away from her, and focused towards the direction of the large window that was in front of the shop.

On the other side of the glass, Mark was clearly seen with a look to kill on his face towards the individual that was sitting before him on the bench while one of his hands were wrapped around base of their neck.

Mark? Wait a minute...What is he doing out there to that guy?!

The feeling of contentment and excitement she had felt went flying away from her and was replaced by that of confusion and fear from the sight of her grandmother's helper manhandling an unknown person right outside of the dress shop she had went into.

"Here you go, miss."

Emily snapped herself out of the stare she had fallen under at what Mark was doing, and focused on the store clerk. She kept her attention on her for a brief moment as her right hand accepted the bag from her while at the same time her head nodded to her.

"T-Thanks."

"You are welcome, miss, and have a nice day."

I am not sure how nice it is going to be with Mark out there trying to hurt someone on one of the benches that belong to the store.

Emily gave one more nod of her head, and slowly turned her attention back to the front window. Finding Mark to still be having his hand around the throat of the person she could only see the back of, she made a quick walk in the direction of the front door of the shop with the intention of finding out what he was doing.