127 Take a chance!

"See anything...?" Said Daren while standing on top of a building carefully watching Lilith, Evlin, and Ellie training from a distance.

"Nothing yet..." Answered Marcus who was by his side checking their surroundings looking for enemies that might jump out of nowhere.

They were both on the lookout and ready to jump into action in case Mia has sent another monster to chase after Evlin. Marcus was wearing a simple combination of black pants and a blue sleeveless shirt suggested by Evlin, which he gladly accepted. Daren on the other hand was wearing a black hooded jacket with grey pants. Evlin told him that black really went well with him so he just accepted to make her happy.

Lance was resting on top of Eclipse who was by their side with Sphinx as well. Both feline creatures had slept on top of the hotel blending in with the night. Daren and Evlin worried that they might have felt cold but both had incredibly huge amounts of fur that kept them warm all night.

East was still in her room using the internet connection to keep researching. She was also trying to avoid contact with everyone since there is only so much glaring one person can take in one day.

"You think she was right about that second attack...?" Whispered Marcus to Daren. "What if we are wasting our time being here? What if she is already long gone?"

"Then there is nothing we can do... We don't know where she's hiding or where the demons are yet... All we can do for now is wait... Wait for either East to find the location, or for Mia to strike again..."

"I don't like this... I feel like we could be doing more..."

"If we try to circle the whole city looking for Mia with no direction we will just end up getting lost. I know it's frustrating but this is the best we can do right now..." Said Daren trying to calm the young lad.

"Fine..." Marcus said, finally accepting his situation.

Daren noticed his frustration and tried to think about saying something to take his mind off of things.

"By the way..." He started. "What's up with you and Ellie...?"

"Eh...?" Marcus looked at Daren surprised. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, she keeps glaring at you every time you two are in the same room... Did you upset her or something?"

"Oh... That... Apparently Evlin told her about the time I stabbed her heart with an arrow, and now she hates me..."

"Oh..." Daren realized that this might not have been the best subject to change into.

"Yeah..."

"You ok...?"

"I'm fine... It's not like I of all people have the right to blame a young kid for being angry about something... Especially when her reason makes way more sense than mine..."

"Huh... You don't still blame yourself for what happened in the past do you?"

"Wouldn't you?" Said Marcus while looking intensely at Daren. "I messed up a lot, Daren... Like... A lot... If the universe decided that a little girl constantly glaring at me is to be my punishment, then I can live with it...I honestly deserved way worse..."

"Marcus, don't say that... You suffered just like everyone else under East's hand... Heck... I think you suffered more than us..."

"Still... I caused a lot of suffering myself... I was supposed to follow my father's footsteps... But do you think he would be proud of me if he saw who I became?" Marcus said while resting his forehead on his fist while sitting down.

"I know he would..."

Marcus stared at Daren.

"That guy only respected one thing, and one thing only... That people would try to be themselves while trying to find their own happiness... And this is exactly what you're doing right now." Said Daren while crouching to pat Marcus on the back.

"... Thanks!" Responded Marcus. He tried to show Daren that he understood his intentions, but deep inside, part of him still wished he could find a way to truly make it up with everyone about his mistakes. Right now, he was wondering if maybe saving Evlin from Mia by eliminating her would be the answer. Save his new friend from his old friend. Marcus then realized that he had a lot of complicated relationships with women for some reason.

Daren saw that the lad was still not fully recovered and decided to try a little more. Daren was feeling really good about himself for how he managed to help Evlin the other day, he was wondering if he might have some kind of talent for understanding people. He assumed this kind of skill might be necessary in the future once he started to live a real family life with Lilith and Lance.

"Anything else still bothering you?" He said.

"Huh...?"

"You still look a little down... If you need an ear, I can lend it to you..."

"... Well... There is one thing... But it's kinda weird to talk about it..."

"It's ok... I'm a weird guy Myself..." Daren said confident in himself. He tried to guess what Marcus was so problematic about. He assumed it had to do with East and how weird it must have been to see her again after such a long time.

"Mmmm... How do I put it..." Marcus started to think about what to say while crossing his arms.

Daren just kept waiting for the lad to start. He noticed that his face started to turn red like an apple, which made Daren begin to doubt about what his problem was.

"I... I think... I think I might have... Developed some feelings..."

"Well, congratulations, you're not a machine."

Marcus looked at him a little annoyed.

"Sorry, please go on... What kind of feelings?"

"... I think... Ugh... This is embarrassing..." Marcus took a deep breath and tried to relax. Daren just kept looking at him wondering what in the world was upsetting him so much.

"Marcus...?"

"I think I might like Evlin..." He finally admitted.

"... Huh... That's it...?" Daren said.

"No, I mean... I... I think I really like her... Like... A lot!"

"Oh..." Daren crossed his arms for a bit while pondering for a while and then looked at Marcus once again. "Huh... That's it...?"

"Daren!! I'm serious!!"

"Oh, I believe you... I just... Don't know what the big deal is..." Daren said while raising both eyebrows.

"You don't think liking someone is a big deal?"

"Liking someone is one of the easiest things in the world... Anyone can like anyone... Doing something about it is what truly matters to me..."

Marcus looked at Daren, intrigued about how calm he was talking about the subject.

"When I was young, I used to have a wife... At first, we weren't really close, but after spending more time with her I began to develop a much bigger affection towards her and started to wonder just what was I doing with my life before meeting her."

Marcus just kept listening. He knew Daren used to be married but he never truly talked about that much. Probably because he felt it would make the mood awkward with Lilith.

"After I lost her... I thought I would never like someone again... But then I met Lilith... And new feelings started to appear... And once again I tried my best to make it clear I wanted to be by her side... Because I know how much joy it can bring you to be close to the one you care about..."

Marcus watched as Daren moved towards the edge of the building so he could see Lilith and the girls in the distance.

"I feel like loving someone is about not wasting time... I know many don't agree with me... But in my opinion... If you like her... Really like her... Then go ahead and let her know."

"... Are you sure...? Even after you asked Lilith to marry you, you two still are... You know..."

"Yeah... I know... She told me that I was trying to rush things too much... As if I was trying to replace my old wife with her... But I honestly don't feel that way... I truly just want to be with her... And I want to make sure she understands my feelings..."

"I see..."

"I don't know how Evlin feels... I don't even know if the concept of love ever even crossed that girl's mind... But if there is a chance that you two can have a future together... Don't you want to take a small risk and find out?"

"... Maybe..."

If Marcus admitted his feelings for Evlin and she showed that she felt the same, the two could possibly start something, something that he never thought could be possible for him. But nothing about Evlin's behavior showed that she had any deeper kind of feeling for Marcus. He wondered if he should try to wait, wait for her to start looking at him as a potential life partner. But at the same time, he wondered if she would ever really look at him like that unless he placed the idea in her mind. As of right now, Evlin most likely just thought of Marcus as a little brother.

Daren's words started to ring louder in the silver-haired lad's mind. If he wanted this to happen, if he wanted to find out if it could happen, he needed to take a risk, make a gamble.

"Daren!" Marcus said as he stood up. "Could you please be on the lookout by yourself for a moment?"

"Mmmm...? Why...?"

"I... I wanna go talk to Evlin..." Marcus answered while shaking.

"..." Daren looked at the trembling lad. "You sure...? You seem nervous..."

"If I try to wait for me to not be nervous, I think I'll wait forever..." He said as he tried to take a deep breath to stop trembling. "I need to know if it could work!"

Daren looked at Marcus in the eyes, and saw a lot of resolve in them.

"I see... I wish you luck Marcus..."

"Thanks, Daren!!" Marcus said while mounting on Sphinx to get off the building.

Daren just looked at the lad chasing after his dream. He was feeling really proud of both himself and of Marcus. The lad was being honest with himself and Daren was managing to help people in his own way. "Maybe I'm good at this after all..."

"Good at being full of yourself?" Said a voice coming from behind Daren.

"What the...!!??" He turned around with his heart almost jumping from his mouth. "Oh... It's you..."

"Yeah... Me..." Said East while holding a phone on one hand with her arms crossed. She was wearing a white shirt and blue long shorts. Her long blond hair was tied up behind her head by a hair clip. She was looking at Daren with a pair of dead eyes as if saying 'The hell are you doing...?'

"What do you want?" Said Daren with a defensive tone while glaring at her.

"I came here to let you know that I found the location. It's time to move."

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