"Anytime."

Revelations I'd longed to be in the arms of many guys before, but not any of the feelings were this compelling. With Marcus, I could wait eternities, if only for a short embrace. But I had to admit, there was something terrifying in his gaze. And there was something sinister about a thousand black crows flooding the sky above me on my way back to the trailer to get some more clothes.

I walked home that evening. The railroad track stretched out for miles beside the wooded area. I didn't like being here at night, in the trailer, when the train howled through on its way to delivery. I always imagined the train carrying dead bodies to another place. Only, little did the conductor know, the bodies weren't dead.

The wind was biting. Extremely cold. The skies overcast. As I pa.s.sed porches I saw that many pumpkins had been turned into jack-o-lanterns.

When I arrived at the trailer park, I heard screaming coming from inside. Nick and mom were in another fight. But this one sounded dangerous. I stood in the driveway, listening, when all of a sudden, a gla.s.s bottle crashed through the front window of the trailer, and shattered on the gravel outside.

"You f.u.c.king b.i.t.c.h! Get here. I'll f.u.c.king kill you!" My breath caught. My pulse increased. No way was I going to enter that house. I reached in my purse to retrieve my cell phone, ready to punch 911. My hands shook.

Then, someone touched my shoulders from behind and I jumped. I spun around to see Marcus standing there. I looked back at the trailer, then at him. Infuriated and embarra.s.sed.

"You followed me?" I yelled.

"No," he smiled.

I felt like crying. "I didn't want you to come here. I didn't want you to see where I lived. How did you find me?"

"It's easy to find anyone these days." He ran his hand through his hair.

"I can't believe this."

"They always fight like that?"

"Look. My life is none of your business. Okay?"

He looked at me, the lines in his forehead increased. "Ellie, this doesn't have to be your life."

"But it is."

"It's not." Then he added. "Come with me."

"I can't just leave them like this."

"Yes you can."

"He's probably choking her or something."

"Ellie, your mom is a lost soul. You're not. You can't do anything about this. Of course you can call the cops, but...She's not going to leave him. It's inevitable. People accept the kind of treatment in life they think they deserve, especially where love is concerned. You deserve better than this. I'm worried that if you stay around this any longer, you'll come to think it's normal. It's not."

Just then, a memory of Declan choking me flashed in my eyes. I almost felt the sensation of being choked, like suddenly I couldn't breathe. I was having a panic attack.

Marcus noticed and he took my hand into his, and ran his other hand over my forehead and through my hair. "Just breathe. Relax. It's okay."

If only he knew that his touch was doing everything but helping me breathe, relax.

When I calmed down enough to be able to string together semi-coherent sentences, I asked him, "Why do you care so much, anyway?"

He pressed his forehead to mine. "See what I mean about getting away from here?"

He kissed my neck and I shivered. When I looked up, past Marcus, I saw Declan standing there with his hands in his pockets. He cleared his throat, with emphasis, and Marcus spun around.

"What are you doing here, Declan?" I said.

"Coming to settle this for good."

"Go away. I'm not with you anymore, so you have no reason to be here."

Marcus glared at him.

"What's with all this, anyway? This guy," he indicated Marcus, "isn't any different than any other guy. He's only after one thing. But he obviously doesn't know you, because he's wasting more time than what's necessary. Didn't take me long."

In one motion, Marcus tackled Declan to the ground and punched him in the face. I watched as his eyes grew fierce, glowed with anger, and he had a look upon his face like he might growl or become a terrifying beast. I could tell he was trying to control his temper. His blow to Declan's face caused blood.

Declan kicked him off and scrambled to his feet. "You're a f.u.c.king freak!"

Marcus wasn't about to back down.

"I hope both of you f.u.c.king drop dead," Declan said, then walked away, toward the railroad tracks. I heard the train coming. The sound increased with every second. Marcus waited until Declan had neared the railroad tracks, and then, before I could inhale and exhale, Marcus ran after him in one swift blur and tackled him from behind. Declan fell face forward on the tracks.

I screamed. "Marcus, stop!" But I could barely even hear my own voice over the wailing of the train.

I watched, terrified of what might happen. The train was inching closer.

Somehow, Declan had managed to roll Marcus over and he held him down on the railroad tracks with all his force. I knew if I didn't do something, someone might die.

I ran as fast as I could and tried to pry Declan off of Marcus. But Declan's force, when he elbowed me in the ribcage, knocked me onto the railroad tracks, too.

I couldn't move. My hair had wrapped itself around the jarred metal of the tracks. I tried to raise up, but I couldn't and Declan still held Marcus down by the throat, trying to drain his life force.

I turned my head an inch, just far enough to see the train, headed my way, only inches from my face now, the lights blinding my vision and I thought, Oh my G.o.d, I'm going to die. This is it. I inhaled for that final moment, but before I could exhale, some force s.n.a.t.c.hed me off the tracks and I went tumbling down into the woods.

When my vision became clear again, I looked up to see Marcus was the one hovering above me. Dirt and twigs in my hair. My head throbbed. I felt a burning sting on my arms and legs. I'd been nicked with cuts.

I tried to slow my breathing. Everything still sort-of spun around me.

"H-how," I stammered. "How did you move that fast? He had you pinned by the throat. That train was inches from my face." I stared up into his eyes, which were glowing yellow.

"I wasn't going to let you die. Not like that."

Something in his tone and his eyes made a certain curiosity flicker in my entire being. "Then how are you going to let me die?'

He ignored my question and pushed up onto his feet. He extended his hand to me and I took it. I was covered in debris. I heard a rumble and then it began to rain. The cold water soaked through my clothes and drenched me, drenched us both, as we stood in those woods that evening.

His eyes glistened and his red lips were wet and trembling. He looked vulnerable. Tragic, even.

The rain fell harder and the skies thundered. Marcus stood there and stared at me. A second later, I pushed him against the tree and kissed him.

When I pulled away, he didn't look satisfied. He grabbed me and we swapped places. He backed me against the tree and kissed me.

"I need to get you out of this rain, before you get sick."

"How does one get out of this rain so swiftly?"

"Hmm." He pretended to ponder the question.

"What did you do to Declan, anyway?'

"I didn't kill him, if that's what you're wondering, but I've got a good feeling he won't be coming back around you."

"Thanks, Marcus."

"Don't thank me. Now, as for this thunderstorm..." He looked up in the skies. "I think it will stop raining about...now." And it did. Right after he said it, the rain ceased.

"The thunderclouds will disperse and the sun will shine through." That happened, too. He looked at me and smiled.

"That's. Not. Natural." A creepy feeling overcame me. But it dissipated just as soon as it'd arrived, once Marcus took my hands into his and entwined our fingers. "You don't have to be afraid of me, Eleanor. I wouldn't want you to be. I'm not asking anything from you. I just hate not having you near me. So, please. Don't run away."

I looked away. His gaze was too intense. It was extremely difficult to be near him and not want to have his entire body wrapped around mine. My biggest fear, was that my emotions would cause me to spiral out of control. With anyone else, it might not have mattered. But with Marcus, everything mattered. I realized that even though I had no clue what I was even doing anymore, Marcus was the only part of my life that made any sense. And that was the most frightening thought I'd ever had.

Secret Garden Marcus was a seriously dark soul. I'd never met anyone like him. He was someone I could picture being in my life forever. And that didn't scare me.

I sat in Calculus trying to drown away the teacher's lecture with thoughts of what my future would be and where I'd be a few years from now. And it was strange because every time I thought about my life in terms of days, weeks, months, and even years from now, I kept seeing Marcus. I sighed. I'm a silly seventeen year old girl infatuated with a guy I barely know. Or...I may be...in love.

I shuddered at the thought. But I did think of Marcus. A lot.

He made me incredibly happy. I'm pretty sure I couldn't see reality past the existence of his lips on mine, but I didn't need to. Experiences taught me that life was short and sometimes you die young. And if fate were to decide that today be the last day of my life, then I didn't want it to be ordinary or forgettable. I didn't want my last day of life to be spent taking Calculus notes and computing numbers. I wanted it to be spent exploring Marcus's mind. And his body.

Only if I could.

Were we even dating? Was he my boyfriend? I didn't even have the answers to the most basic questions like, did he even go to school? But I didn't need them. The mystery was electric.

I focused my gaze out the window. The breeze made the gra.s.s dance. A few people I knew here at school walked down the sidewalk toward the front office.

I turned my attention back to the Calc lecture, but a second later, a violin melody melted onto the airwaves and crept beyond the windows where I sat and into the cla.s.sroom. I searched outside for the source of this sound, but I noticed that no one seemed to hear the sound. No one but me. The teacher kept talking and the students kept listening, scribbling notes. The sound painted a perfect portrait of a dark romantic paradise. Why could no one else hear this?

I looked outside again and that's when I noticed movement from behind a tree and my pulse raced with antic.i.p.ation. Around the tree, Marcus turned, until he faced me with a bright smile on his face. He played the violin effortlessly. My skin tingled. He stopped playing and tilted his violin against the base of the tree. Hand in pockets, he leaned against the tree, and gazed at me. I smiled. He never failed to mesmerize me.

"Miss Piper, pay attention!"

"It's only math," I said, a little too audibly. Madison looked out the window, saw Marcus, then glowered at me with a glint of jealousy in her eyes.

"Well, after all, this is only your grade. This is only your future," The Calc teacher said.

I sighed. "Mrs. Taylor, with all respect, I'm not going to major in engineering or quantum physics. I may not go to college at all. I think having romantic affairs, belly dancing in Barcelona, and reading the greatest literary works of all time will suffice my life after high school. I only need a D to pa.s.s this cla.s.s. I'm sure I'll scrounge by somehow." Her face fell. I gathered my belongings and crammed them into my bag.

"You're kidding me, right?" Madison cooed.

" 'bout what?"

She motioned toward the window, at Marcus. "You're seriously with him?"

I stood from my seat.

"Sit down right now, Miss Piper."

I ignored the Calc teacher and told Madison, "Maybe I am. He's certainly no Declan." I smiled and disappeared out the door and hurried down the steps and across the school lawn. I'm sure Madison, the Calc teacher, and the rest of the student body on the south wing of the school witnessed me toss my arms around his neck and pa.s.sionately kiss him. When our lips parted, he said, "This way, please, Miss."

He held his violin by one hand and wrapped his other around me as he led me to the school parking lot.

I got a ton of stares. It wasn't until we got to the end of the school lawn and to the parking lot that I realized they weren't staring at me, but at the White 1958 Mercedes Benz convertible sitting there, shiny, fresh off the market appearance with red leather interior. I almost pa.s.sed out.

"Where did you get this?! You rob it from the past or something?"

He tried to hide his smile, but I saw the glimmer in his eye. He placed his violin in the small compartment in the back and opened the pa.s.senger door for me.

"Hop in."

He hurried around to the other side and he didn't open the door. He just jumped in.

I picked his black leather journal up off the seat. It was wrapped shut. I held it in my lap. He turned the ignition and it sparked to life, brand new. A smile crept across his face. With caution, he pulled out of the parking lot. When he cleared the school zone, he raised my hand to his lips and kissed it. He exited down a road with wooded areas on either side. The wind blew through my hair. The convertible top transitioned into place, enclosing us in a dark cavity. Everything around us was green, and then, a blur of what might've been green. Marcus picked up speed.

"Didn't know a car like this could go this fast."

"Don't underestimate Quinn."

"Quinn?"

"My car. It's sort-of been customized for my taste." He flipped a b.u.t.ton and blue flashing lights came on in the interior, followed by a dark symphony of orchestra-like sound. Music I'd never heard. But music that definitely intrigued me.

He let up off the accelerator and the car glided downward on a slope at incredible velocity. Adrenaline rush.

When we came to the end of the hill, he turned down another but smaller road-a hidden pa.s.sageway. He parked the car and killed the engine. He opened the door and got out, came around the pa.s.senger's side and opened my door to let me out.

"Welcome to the secret garden, My Lady."

An extremely old cemetery lay neglected before me, but it was tranquil. The gate was frail and rusted, and the ivy vines that twisted around it also stretched out and wrapped themselves around the stone wall. Marcus reached into the backseat to retrieve his violin. In an esoteric way, the violin case slightly resembled a coffin.

He carried his violin and walked with me into the cemetery. The headstones were weathered and unreadable, and flowers, or what may have been flowers, dead. A cool wind blew through the trees. He rested his violin against a stone and before I knew it, he swept me off my feet and tossed me over his shoulder.

I squealed. "Marcus Marble, put me down now!" He just laughed and twirled me around and carried me over to the stone wall and sat me atop.

"Be right back."

I glanced around the cemetery and could've sworn I saw or felt someone watching me. Someone other than Marcus. But Marcus returned before I had time to a.n.a.lyze it any further and he noticed my expression had shifted.

"What's wrong?"