Mark’s POV

Clouds gathered themselves, covering the night sky in grey. Roaring their angry cry, they released their unending water supply flooding the earth with heavy rain.

I turned on the windshield wipers to help me gain back my sight on the road as we drove into the night. The sensors of the streetlamps activated, turning themselves on automatic to light up the streets- letting everyone know that the night was gaining on us.

Leaning back in the driver's seat, with my elbow propelled against the edge of the window, I rested my chin on the back of my hand as I used the other one to stir the wheel leisurely. The silence mixed with the rapid tapping sound of the rain was ear deafening, reigning the inside of the car.

Now and then I would throw a glance at the pretty woman next to me whose presence I was highly conscious of. Even if my eyes were focused on the road, my mind and body only cared about the grumpy kitten, who wore a detached face expression as she gazed outside how the lampposts swiftly passed by. Her arms folded in front of her chest and her back twisted towards me, only allowing me to perceive her delicate face through the reflection of the window.

I didn’t spout nonsense when I said that my kitten was beyond alluring, being dyed in the enemy's blood. My eyes wandered from the tattered hem of her gown, which previously reached the floor to now hover slightly above her knees. Creases appeared between my brows as I saw the blisters on her knees that she had gained from her crawling adventure.

I then looked at the blood that was soaked into the torso part of her dress, forming a big blotch on her heaving chest. The front part of her flaming hair strands was coated with blood that now slowly turned maroon as it dried up. And if you looked closely, faint smudges of red trails could be seen on her rosy cheeks as if she tried to erase it.

She looked like the lady in red but even more gorgeous who brought a scythe with her to pass down her judgments on those bastards. My mind was in an continues turmoil with my feelings. I was fucking enraged that someone dared to touch what was mine. I don’t care if he’s already dead. My anger won’t be settled until I find his family and kill them in the most gruesome way possible, and then they can all fucking join each other in hell. I was proud at the thought of my kitten’s first kill. I wanted to be there and savor every second, but I felt protective, as I didn’t want her to go through something like that, wanting to keep her oblivious to that side of the world.

Under my scrutinizing gaze, April’s face grimaced, and I watched how she (sexily) drew her bottom lip between her teeth while she was fumbling around with her slim fingers. I had to withhold a grin from resurfacing, as I knew that my presence influenced her. My kitten’s feelings have been wavering in to the right directions lately and she isn’t even aware of it herself. Reminiscing, I thought back to the time when we had kissed. Although she was under influence of alcohol, she didn’t resist me nor tried to push me away and you know what they say; you’re more honest when you’re drunk.

And now today when we were forced to play Casper’s despicable game, she went out of her way to rescue me as if it was the most obvious thing to do. Even after all I had done to her, threatening her with the lives of the people that she cared for. The first thing that she did was saving me- how could I not fucking love this adorable creature?

“Mark?” Her serene voice that came out carefully, freighted with nervousness, grabbed my attention and I straightened my posture- placing my other hand on the stir wheel. Masking my intrigue behind my stoic expression, I threw her a side glance, responding to her with a raised brow, “Yes?”

Her green globes met my blue ones through the window before she looked away again. Those delicious lips tentatively parted slightly from each other while she laid her folded hands on her lap, clenching them tightly.

“I want to go home.”

The muscle in my jaw tightened, and I stared hard at the road, feeling the veins in my body pumping with rage as I knew what she meant with that. Offering her a tight smile, I said, “We are going home.”

She finally turned around, facing me with her weary eyes. “You know what I mean Mark.” Her voice was soft, as if scared she was stepping on a landmine and she fucking was.

“In that case, you should also know what my response means.” I uttered in derision before turning my head around with a smile that didn’t reach one’s eye.

Placing her hands on the edge of the side of her chair, she marginally slanted her upper body in my direction. She had to crane her head up to look at me as she pleaded, reiterating her request. “Mark please, I want to go home.”

The smile that I had on for display faltered, a frown replacing it. Unwittingly, my hands tightened their hold on the stir, the color in my knuckles being drained to white. “Kitten,” I started through gritted teeth. “Why the hell would you want to go back to that forsaken place that you call home?”

April wants to go back to her apartment. That sorry excuse of a rickety building and she thinks I would allow her. Ha! What a joke if she ever thinks that I would let her go back to that place. She doesn’t know it yet, but I’ve bribed the landlord in to terminating her contract on that apartment. In the next few months, she will receive a notice to pack her stuff and leave. That way, she wouldn’t have a choice but to live with me permanently.

She shifted her eyes away from me, pondering how she could convince me to let her go back. Retracting her hands from the edge of the chair, she leaned back in her seat, bringing her hands up to caress her arms. “I need some space.”

I gasped dramatically, bringing my hand in front of my agape mouth. “Are you saying that our house doesn’t have enough space? Is it too tiny for you? I never knew that my kitten was raised up with a silver spoon. I can get you a bigger house if the current one doesn’t accommodate to your taste.”

“No!” she yelled hastily; her eyes snapped at me as her eyebrows came together. “It’s not the space of the house that’s the problem. I just need some personal space.” She grumbly elaborated, putting emphasis on personal.

She is using that personal space as an excuse to get away from me. To have a chance to think profoundly about everything, to gather more reasons to why she should never fall in love with me, to curb those feelings that’s overwhelming her heart- and then she will try to run away from me again. There’s no way that I will allow her to do that.

I clicked with my tongue, disgruntled as I raked my fingers through my warred hair locks. “If it is a personal space you want, then it should be sufficient to lock yourself up in one of the rooms at our place.”

“There are no locks on those rooms except for the ones that require a key to enter- a key that I don’t have.” She glared at me as she ushered those words under her breath.

“Bummer.”

“Mark.” She whined.

“Do you even have your phone with you?” I questioned.

“W-Well, no, I woke up without it. Casper must have taken it.”

Of course, that fucker did. I exasperated. “Even more reason to not let you out of my sight. How do I know if you’re not planning to use this as a chance to run away from me?”

Looking up from the road, I saw the traffic light swap from green to orange to quickly change into red. Using the weight of my feet, I slowly pushed down the brake until we came to a halt in front of the solid, elongated white line on the asphalt.

Letting out a sigh as I rested my hand on the gear, I felt April’s soft hand being placed on top of mine. Taken aback, I turned to look down at her pleading forest green eyes that were shimmering from the streetlights. Her bottom lip slightly pushed out, damping the agitation that was surrounding my heart. “Please Mark, you know that I have nowhere to run away to. So many stuff has happened… and I really just need some time for myself. One night is enough.”

Heeding her adorable persuasion, my eyes wandered from her eyes down to her trembling bottom lip. A surge of hunger rose in me- a hunger of need to taste and ravage her lips, to quench my unyielding thirst that I have for her. And my mind that recollected the moment that we had kissed didn’t help to curb down my desires.

A loud, angry honk sounded from behind us, pulling me away from my thoughts. It looks like the traffic light had sprung on green again and I was too preoccupied by my desire filled thoughts to notice that. Against my will, April retracted her soft hand from me so that I could shift the gear and speed off again, but her eyes still lingered on me, waiting for my response.

Bringing my hand up to my face, I dragged my palm down my face- pulling down my features before I released a sigh of resignation. “Fine…” I grumbled under my breath and I saw how April’s eyes shimmered with excitement, not able to contain back her smile.

“Really!?”

“Yeah, but only for one night. I will pick you up in the morning for work so you better be ready to go then.”

With a fixed smile, she nodded her head vehemently, bringing a smile to my face as I let out a chuckle at how much of a simpleton she was. Having her spending one night at that place will harm no one. She is shaken up from what had happened and she hasn’t opened her heart enough to me for her to seek solace from me. By allowing her this may help her like me more. Also, the cameras that I had hidden in her place are still there, as I didn’t find the time to discard them, seeing how busy I was trying to tame this kitten.

Throughout the whole drive kitten was squirming in her seat bouncing up and down as she looked excitedly out of the window in hope to perceive her apartment soon, which in return brought a foul taste in my mouth that was getting worse over time as it seems that she wanted to get away from me quickly.

Displeased by it, I scowled my face. If she keeps up this behavior, then I wouldn’t mind making an U-turn this instant.

The grim looking building what she identifies as her home (for now) came slowly in view. Before I could put the gear into park, the eager kitten had already unbuckled herself free from the seatbelt and got swiftly out of the car. I cursed under my breath while I hastily pressed the red button to open the latch of the seatbelt that held me confined to the chair.

This crazy girl! Does she even realize that she isn’t wearing any shoes? Worry etched my face as I bended my back to exit the car. Not caring about the car which wasn’t mine, I slammed the door shut hard as I turned my head to look over the roof of the car, ready to reprimand my disobedient cat.

I only saw the back of her head. Walking around the car, my eyes narrowed into a pair of slits when I saw April standing stiffly against the car, not making any attempt to move away from it.

Something wasn’t right, I thought, and called out to her when I finally stood next to her. But she wasn’t responding. Without blinking, she stared in to one direction. Shocks of turmoil went through her petite body, making one wonder whether she was trembling from the cold of the haling rain or from fear.

The amount of rain that was falling down from the sky was weighting down her hair, pasting her fringes against her forehead while straightening out her curls. Pressing down my lips into a thin line, I glanced down at her parted lips that were turning stale while staggering breaths made its way out of them.

Following her line of sight to see what got her in a state like this, I saw a woman that was around the same height as my kitten standing at the entrance of the apartment complex. The woman was dry as she was standing under the awning of the apartment. In her hand she held an umbrella that was folded closed. The crinkles on the corner of the side of her eyes and lips couldn’t mask her old age. Her hair was brown styled in a curly bob-style. With green eyes that resembled the ones of my kitten, she looked at April with a sad smile.

“Mom?”