From Eden.

In the dark of the night, when monsters and demons come out to play and run amok, you fall into a deep sleep. Your mind begins to wander, showing you what your true soul feels, and wants. When you're no longer in control, your mind feels as if it has been set free. You are blissful. When you’re dreaming, your heart and soul seep into your brain, taking control in showing you things that would pleasure them. While you're dreaming, living out your most wildest fantasies in a state of unconsciousness. You dream of that god-like boy holding you in his arms, his emerald eyes looking back at you, making all of your wildest dreams and fantasies come true.

You do not feel the black ink being carved into your skin. You may wince at the pain, but you refuse to be awake, never wanting this dream filled with pleasures to end. Once this carving is complete, the ink settles into your skin and the pain is gone. You are completely oblivious to what this means. You are now a target to your enemies, the ones who are apart of what is now a secret, and, by knowing said secret, they want to kill you in every way possible, and will never stop until they see the life drain from your eyes.
Either that, or they could want to keep you as their weapon, because now that you are marked, you are something to be kept locked away in hiding.

You just don't know it yet.

The ones who do know of this secret with loathe you and lust for you at the same time. They know you are special, something to be treasured. The carving begins once again, this time adding the finishing touches. You do not even notice the pain, as the dream of you and the god continues, fulfilling every desire that has haunted your mind from the first time you laid eyes on him.

The sun begins to rise, and the dream ends. The carving is complete and now, they wait.

----

I couldn’t remember how many times I hit snooze, wanting to stay in bed under my warm blankets for just a little while longer. The first week of being a new girl was over, and I was glad for it. No more stares in the hallway, no more teachers asking me if I knew this material, no more Gena for a couple of days. It was heaven. I buried my face into my pillow, pulling my comforter over my head, hoping that sleep would overtake me, just for a few more minutes.

No such luck came for me in my hopes of sleeping. Not ten seconds after I shut my eyes, seeing the red of my eyelids, I felt a sting coming from my lower back. Groaning with frustration, I threw the blanket off of me and made my way to the bathroom. Shutting the door behind me, I lifted up my shirt and turned around; my mouth hung agape at what I saw.

It was like a tattoo that I didn’t remember getting. The skin around the black ink was red and when I pressed my fingers to the strange symbol on my body, it burned like I was running a fever. I stared at the strange symbol, in both shock and awe. A circle with three horizontal lines marked my skin. I was completely awake now and I knew this wasn't some illusion from not having enough sleep. I touched the symbol again, tracing over it slowly and wincing at the pain. I couldn’t remember the pain of having this happen, but flashbacks of the dream I had the night before popped into my head and I suddenly remembered why I refused to wake up when this happened.

“What the fuck, what the fuck.” I muttered to myself, beginning to panic. My chest began to tighten and my hands began to shake. I pulled my shirt down and stepped out of the bathroom, making my way to Christina and Jacob’s room, hoping they would know something about what was now a new addition to my body.

Jacob was at work and for all I knew, Christina was still sleeping. I knocked on her door and opened it slightly to see their bed made up, and empty. Once I walked in, I could hear the sound of her shower running and sat on the bed, waiting for her to emerge from the bathroom.

When she opened the door, steam billowed out from behind her. She was clad in her housecoat, her hair wrapped up in a towel. When she saw me sitting there, her brow furrowed as a confused expression crossed her face.

“What is it Delilah?”

I stood up and turned around, lifting my shirt up for her to see.
“Please tell me you know something about this,” I said, a hint of begging in my voice.

I heard an audible gasp and turned around to see Christina’s hand covering her mouth.

“W-what is it?” I asked, my voice shaking as I pulled down my shirt. I was afraid to hear the answer.

“You've been marked,” Christina whispered, her fingers covering her mouth as her eyes held the expression of shock, and fear.

“Huh?” was the only response I could give to that.

“Marked. Imprinted,” Christina told me, chewing on her bottom lip, “someone - a Were or Shifter - has marked you as their own,”

“W-who?” my voice trembled as the question came from my lips. My mind was beginning to race with thoughts of who it could be.

“I don't know Delilah, you need to find someone with the exact same symbol. It could be anywhere on their body just like how it’s in a random place on your body. It has to be the exact same symbol.”

The confusion, fear, shock and all the other emotions I was feeling must have shone on my face, because Christina turned around and pulled her housecoat up until I could see a symbol marked on her thigh. It was a perfect circle, with two lines making an X inside of it.

“This is the symbol that marked me and Jacob. He has one too, but it’s on his shoulder blade. These markings mean that is your mate for life. It literally means till death do you two part,”

“Please tell me there’s some way to remove it,” I said, lifting my head up from the sight of the tattoo on her thigh. Tears pricked at my eyes and threatened to fall.

Christina shook her head, the look of disdain crossing her face, “if there is, we haven't found it yet,”

Hearing that was a blow to the chest. I felt sick and defeated. I left her room, careful not to have an emotional breakdown right then. Christina said something about talking to Jacob when he got home, but it went through one ear and right out of the other.

The thought of me being marked made me sick. I belonged to someone I didn’t even know and would have to spend the rest of my life with that person.

It wasn't a comforting thought.

----

By the time Jacob came home, I was over at Brian’s house. As it turns out, Laura knew Zacky’s siblings as well as Matt’s sister. She, Zina, Amy, Matt and Henry were off to catch a movie under the guidance of Matt’s mother, and Zacky - not wanting to be home alone - came over and asked me if I wanted to join him in going over to Brian’s house. I was beyond happy he invited me over. It was a perfect way to get my imprinting off my mind and the fact I would be spending time with him made my heart skip a beat.

“Delilah!” Jimmy yelled, tackling me to the floor, his arms wrapped tightly around my waist while not two seconds ago I was walking into Brian’s living room before being seen by Jimmy who was now on top of me, pressing me down against the hardwood.

“Jim, get off of her, you’re gonna kill her,” Matt laughed, grabbing Jimmy by his shoulders and yanking him off of me. It was at that moment that my lungs fell in love with Matt as they sucked in all the oxygen they could get through my wind pipes. Matt extended his hand towards me, and I gladly took it as he easily lifted me to my feet without having me to put any effort into it whatsoever.

“Thanks,” I muttered, rubbing the spot where my new addition was; it was sore now from where I hit it when Jimmy tackled me.

“No problem,” Matt flashed me a smile as he walked into Brian’s kitchen to find something to eat.

“Welcome to mi casa!” Brian exclaimed, his arm draped over my shoulders as we walked into his house. “Ignore the smell. Johnny just had his bath today so some of his fishy smells are seeping through this entire place.” He chuckled, watching as Johnny flipped him the bird.

I scanned every visible part on each boy, secretly hoping that the tattoo on my back would show up on Zacky. But there was no such luck. His arms and neck were clear of any black ink.

I wasn’t so sure of what to do here. Everyone else was making themselves at home by either walking into the kitchen to get something to eat or walking into the living room and taking a spot on the couch or chairs provided. Brian had a nice place, even if it was small. The furniture most definitely matched his style, with a mismatched living room set and bright blue curtains in his kitchen. I could see Christina trying to decorate Laura or Henry’s house once they had decided to move out, and I was thankful Brian’s parents hadn't imposed that on him.

“Come on,” Brian muttered, his arm still draped over me. I suddenly felt very small, standing next to him as we walked into his living room. Something black caught my eye, and I turned my head to where my green eyes were looking out a very large window that was used as a door. The porch that was attached to Brian’s house led out into a crystal beach with white sand outlining the blue waters. I saw a black figure sitting on the sand, watching the water as it crashed against the shore. I immediately knew it was Zacky, sitting alone on the beach even though his back was faced towards me, I hadn’t even noticed his disappearance from Brian’s living room. I felt the sudden urge to run outside and talk to him, but it seemed like he was enjoying the solitude.

“You should go talk to him.” an unfamiliar voice rang in my ear, startling me. I turned to see Johnny standing there, his nose ring gleaming from the sunlight that streamed in.

“And why should I do that?” I asked, crossing my arms, turning to face him. We were about the same height, only his hair made him slightly taller.

Johnny shrugged, “because his parents fight a lot. He has to go through it alone, most of the time,”

I was shocked that he had said that much. I figured that he didn’t talk much because the rest of the guys always pick on him, making him careful about the things he said, which was something I could relate to. “And you think I would be able to help?” I asked suspiciously, not sure of what Johnny was trying to say.

Johnny nodded, looking from Zacky to me, “well, I’m sure you could, seeing when this happens, there’s jack shit me or the guys can do to cheer him up,”
“And besides,” Johnny smirked, “he wants you to talk to him.”

My brows furrowed at his words. “What makes you think that?” I asked. I couldn’t help but think that maybe Zacky really did find something about me that would interest him, and that maybe, just maybe, there was a part of him that liked me. Or else why would he invite me over to hang out with his friends?

“He thinks about you all the time. He’s crazy for you, and he wants you to talk to him.” Johnny smiled. Something told me that Johnny was more of an observer than a talker, meaning that he knew what each and every one of us was thinking by the way our body language and facial expressions were.

“You’re bullshiting,” I muttered, feeling my palms begin to sweat. There was no way Johnny was telling me the truth. He was playing some sick joke.

“No bullshit here,” Johnny held his hands up and took a step back, “but you might want to go now, he may start crying,” he chuckled as he walked away. Johnny did have a point, Zacky did look a bit down, even though I couldn’t see his face. His black hair that was sticking out in all different places as his head was looking down at the white sand as he sat criss-cross on the ground. I felt sorry for him. Even though Christina and Jacob never fought in front of us, it was easy to tell when the tension that hung in the air when they were. A part of me felt like I needed to go out there and make things better.

I looked over to see the rest of the guys sitting in Brian’s living room, watching TV. Even Johnny was there, and not beside me like he was a few minutes ago. He turned and flashed me a thumbs-up sign, letting me know that it was okay to go.

I took a deep breath and opened the doors, hoping that my legs wouldn't give out as I walked on the cool sand of the beach. My heart was pounding and my palms were sweaty. The ink on my back burned as I walked closer to Zacky, which made me want to turn around and go back inside, but I couldn’t. I knew I couldn’t. Something was pulling me towards him, almost as if by a force of nature.

“Zacky?”

Notes

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