Chapter 208: Awkward Car Ride

Sometimes, life can be a bitch.

You can have hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt that you didn't accumulate passed onto you by a family member who died, and are forced to assume responsibility for all of it.

You might get that special moment with a girl that you've had a massive crush on; but when you open her legs it smell like a seafood boil.

You could win thirteen regular season football games and STILL miss the top four slots for playoff contention.

However, there is very little that can compare to the awkwardness of sitting in the third row of a car, between your ex and a girl you currently have feelings for.

This seating chart wasn't done intentionally, but everyone else in the vehicle was certainly making sure that they enjoyed every moment of this delightful accident.

By nature, Melanie could be a somewhat chatty person and right now she was trying to interact with the one person in the car she didn't know: Malachi.

"So you're the guy who went missing, huh? You sure are popular around here." She said kindly.

"I guess.."

"You don't seem like the talkative type though. Does having shadow powers make you all broody like that or is this just a normal thing for you?"

Serana, Aubrey, and Joanne all snickered as Malachi felt his brow twitch of it's own volition.

"...I'm just like that I guess."

"Eh??? That's boring though!"

"Sorry to disappoint-"

Mal felt his phone buzz in his pocket and pulled it out against his better judgment.

Serana : Don't be so mean to our little amnesiac! She's just trying to be friendly with you.

Malachi: That's the reason we broke up, she was too damn friendly.

Serana : If you were going to hold that against her you wouldn't have saved her.

Malachi : Says who? I can be mad she cheated on me and still not want her to get beat on by some asshole.

Serana : She doesn't remember!

Malachi : I do.

"Why are you being so petty?"

When Mal felt Joanne whisper in his ear, he felt all of the blood in his body rush to one specific area.

He turned his head ever so slightly and found Joanne's face dangerously close to his.

"All of the women you have around you, yet you still have animosity for your first girlfriend?"

"Of course." He whispered back. "I don't really care what the reason is, cheating is despicable. No matter what kind of problems she had, I will never forgive her for going to another man to seek help when she could have just come to me."

"I heard you didn't have any money back then. What would have been the point of her telling you?"

"I was already going to bed hungry to make sure that Aubrey ate every day. There is nothing I would not have done to assist her if she only asked."

"You are such a weird kid... Going above and beyond for everyone like this is hardly the norm."

"I take care of those I love. You're going to tell me that I'm wrong for that?"

Joanne noticed that Mal's lips were beginning to get closer and closer to hers with every passing second.

She was embarrassed by the fact that he was really about to kiss her in a car full of people but when she remembered that she was bold enough to grab him in front of her daughter, this no longer seemed so daunting.

"Yea, yea... Just do whatever you want quickly, alright? What do you need it immobilized for anyway?"

"I wanted to try something." Mal said mischievously.

He closed his eyes to concentrate, and an absurd amount of negative energy started to leave his body.

However, instead of just simmering around his figure, it started to go up into the sky.

The daylight that Nyx had returned to this world disappeared in an instant once again- at least in this specific area.

Out of nowhere, the clouds parted way for a massive red and black hand that coursed with the power of negativity and shadow.

And since the two are often synonymous with each other, their powers only became amplified when used in conjunction like this.

The hand was so large that it was easily able to fit the entire bird-like creature in it's palm with no issue at all.

The creature started to panic and flee when the shadowy hand clasped around it's body and tightened it's grip.

The time it took for Mal to crush the bat with it's new and devastating power was abysmally short, but the sound of such a large beast's bones being crunched up would linger for forever.

Once he was done, Mal wiped his brow of sweat as he looked over at Joanne to get her thoughts.

"Show off." She muttered.

"Aww you're not impressed? I tried really hard for you though." He said as he pulled her closer.

"...Well... Your effort deserves to be rewarded I guess."

-

As Melanie watched Joanne and Malachi start kissing in midair, she folded her arms as she realized that something seemed to be wrong.

The contrast between this man now and the one she met in the car was just too different!

Even when he was fighting the monster he seemed to be playful, so why was he acting like she was some kind of plague!

Why didn't he like her!?

She hadn't even done anything to him!

'Unless..'

"Hey... That guy... we know each other, right?"

When she saw all of the remaining girls in her group flinch, she knew that she had hit the nail on the head.

"Why is he acting like this then?! Were we enemies?!" Melanie questioned.

"You used to date." Ryo said blankly.

"Babe!" Serana cried as she punched him.

"What? She was going to find out at some point." he shrugged.

Melanie felt her head start to spin dramatically at this revelation.

"We... used to date? Why would no one tell me that?! Why in god's name did we break up?!"

Aubrey knew that she had to save this situation somehow, so she gritted her teeth as she tried to come up with an excuse.

She finally thought of one that seemed believable, but it was not what she would call 'casualty free'.

"You guys broke up... because you caught him jerking off to pictures of your mom."