Captivated (An Affliction Novel) (8 page)

“Thanks.” I said with a smile. “But really Markus, I’m fine.” I assured him.

It worried me that Markus was going to keep an eye on Dean. There was no telling what could happen. “What do you mean exactly when you say you’re going to keep an eye on Dean? Are you going to follow him around or something? Wait until he strikes again? Do you think he’s a serial killer? What if he tries to kill you for seeing him?” I blurted everything before closing my mouth with my hand to keep myself from talking more nonsense.

“I have something in mind. A theory, if you will. Weird stuff is going on Mindy.” He stood up and stretched out his arms. “I’m going to get to the bottom of it.”

“What? I know you want to be a detective and all but I don’t think you should mess with Dean. Let the cops do it, Markus.” I insisted.

“I’d give you the same advice.” he hinted.

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“Ayden.” he reminded me.

“Oh. I don’t think he’ll bother me again.” I assured him.

“By the way…I see the way Dean looks at you.” he said matter-of-factly.

“It’s nothing, Markus. I’m sure I’m not the only one.” I said, though not fully believing the words coming out of my mouth.

“Actually, you are.” he said. “I see him stare at you. I can tell he tries not to. He’s not very slick about it.” Markus added.

“Do you think he likes me?” I asked. I already thought I knew the answer. I didn’t know why I was so interested. I guess it was the thought of someone so incredibly hot checking me out. And Dean wasn’t just hot, he was a masterpiece.

“Why else would he stare at you? All the same, I think you should stay away from him.” he insisted.

“I already do. It’s not like I hang out with him or anything.” I looked down at my nail and started picking at the polish. “It’s not like we’re friends anymore...” My voice shrank so it wouldn’t sound affected.

“I know. I just don’t want you getting hurt. He’s trouble.” Markus said.

“Are you sure about what you saw?” I asked again.

“Positive.” He sounded sure of himself. “I gotta get going. I have some things I have to take care of tonight.” He headed out the door and didn’t come back.

I wasn’t sure that I believed him. Dean didn’t hurt people like that. I knew he had a heart still. He was not a monster. And a body didn’t just disappear like that. Markus even thought a ghost played tricks on him. He said that every time he vacuumed at his house, a little girl would unplug the cord and take off. I have yet to see her or any other ghost for that matter. I really thought his mind was playing tricks on him again. And he was so determined to prove it to me. He vacuumed practically every day just so he could get a photo shot of her. I have yet to see it because he told me ‘she was too fast’.

Dean came to mind again. I couldn’t believe the way he was acting. Like he liked me. I was actually a little excited about that. But I was never going to admit it to Markus, especially not after what he thought happened. I decided I had to go with him and see whatever it was he needed to see for myself. I was also hoping I would bump into the mystery guy that saved me. Quickly running to my window, I hoped to catch Markus before he drove off. Luckily, he was barely opening his car door. I opened the window swiftly and called out his name.

“Yeah?” he yelled out. Markus walked away from his car and stood under my window to hear better.

“Can I go with you tonight?” I asked.

“I don’t think
it’s such a good idea, Mindy” Markus shook his head.

“Awww, come on.” I made a sad face. One that always worked on Markus. He was such a softy and saying
‘no’ to me was always difficult for him. “Pleeeaase!” I begged.

“Fine, then,” he continued, “I’ll pick you up at eight.” Markus turned around shaking his head again at his failure to reject me and hopped into the shoe.

I actually looked forward to spying on Dean. Mainly because I was curious to know what it was he did in his spare time. I knew he
definitely
worked out. And he didn’t have many friends that I’ve seen, so he probably didn’t spend much time with others. In fact, every time I’ve seen him out in public, he’s been by himself or with Shane at the lunch table. Which when I thought about it, didn’t make any sense at all. Especially because of the fist fight they almost had. I’d never seen Dean so pissed off.

“Mindy!” my mom called out. It seemed Markus had left the door open. She popped her head in with a warm smile. “I got up pretty early so I went to Carmen’s house for coffee. She wanted to go to the store so we headed over there. When did you come home last night?” she asked.

And there it was; the question that could get me into a whole mess of trouble. My excuse was fair, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to tell her about last night anymore. She already had high blood pressure and I was sure hearing about someone trying to hurt her little girl would send it soaring up into dangerous levels. My mom stressed out way too easily, but I had to tell her something.

“I don’t know what time, actually.” It was true. I didn’t know what time my hero brought me home. “Sorry, I think it was past my curfew. I didn’t really look at the time.” Another truth.

“Well, I’m going to your aunt’s house tonight. Do you want to go with me?” she asked, brushing it off.

“Actually, mom. I kind of already told Markus I’d help him with something.” Even though it was another truth, I felt like such a liar. I hated keeping things fro
m her. If I told her any of the actual events and what Markus and I were up to, I’m sure that she would keep me tied up in the house for my own safety.

“Okay, then. But I’ll be leaving soon. I want you back by eleven tonight.” she demanded.

“Thanks, mom.” I exhaled.

Fortunately, she left the room without any more questions I couldn’t answer honestly. As soon as she closed the door, I jumped to my feet.

After polishing my nails, I hopped in the shower and started getting ready for tonight. After I got myself all prettied up and some time had passed, I went downstairs. It was dark in the house now. My mom had left during daylight, so she didn’t leave any lights on. I carefully felt my way along the wall to the stairs.
Don’t trip
.
Don’t trip
.
Don’t trip
. 

It was quite a while until Markus was supposed to pick me up, so I popped in an action movie. The
re was a lot of fighting in that one. The hero of the movie was fighting numerous bad guys at the same time, too. Markus came to mind then. It hit me that we were going to act as the good guys tonight. Would it be dangerous? Would Markus be wrong? Would there be running involved again? At least I was wearing actual shoes tonight. It was difficult to look better than last night when I had to dress down. But at least I was comfortable that time.

The
doorbell rang right at eight. I opened it and Markus stood there, dressed in all black. Oh yeah, that was sure to be some night.

re you going to wear
that
tonight?” Markus asked.

    “What’s wrong with this?” I spat out. Looking down at myself, I realized what he was talking about-I was wearing a vibrant red shirt with light pants. An outfit that attracted attention probably wasn’t a good idea tonight. I swiveled around and ran upstairs to get a more appropriate outfit for spying. Having a better idea on what to wear now, I found a little black shirt and black hip huggers to go with it. My midriff top would show a little, but it was the only black shirt I had. Well, other than the one I wore around the house that had a picture of a skunk saying ‘love stinks’ on it.

“You done checking yourself out yet?” Markus called out.

“Shut up!” I hollered while running down the stairs. “Alright! Let’s go!”

“Why are you so excited?” Markus asked.

“Do I look excited?” I asked while giving him a mischievous smile.

“Yeah. You do. Tonight I’m going to follow some guy around that could be a killer and you’re acting like you’re meeting up with a boy you like.” He stared at me, studying my face, and a smile formed on his lips.

“What?” I asked.

“You want to bump into your mysterious boyfriend don’t you?” He threw back a chuckle. “I knew it!”

“No. I want to go catch me a bad guy. That’s all!” I snapped back.

“Whatever.” Markus laughed out. “You ready yet?” He reached for the front door and opened it.

Before we stepped out, I made sure all the doors to the house were locked. Markus was fidgeting with the passenger door to his car, but he eventually opened it for me and hopped in on the other side. I was eager to get the night started with. It felt like we were going on a mission, like in a movie or something. I never really
did anything exciting like what we were about to do.

I wasn’t sure if I was getting impatient or if Markus was just too slow. I stared at him in disbelief. How can a person be so slow? In a sloth-like motion, he buckled himself up and adjusted his seat. Then, he checked his mirrors by moving them around a bit and then placing them back to where they were in the first place. What the crap? Didn’t he just get in and drive the car
to my house? Everything should have been set up already. I didn’t understand how he always got to places on time. It was like he lived in his own little leisure world.

Markus turned to me with an innocent smile. “Let’s go.” Then he put the car into drive and we were on our way.

“Is Tanya coming?” I asked.

“Nah. I think she got grounded for talking late on the phone with some guy. She doesn’t know about any of this anyway. She did try to get it out of me last night though. I just don’t think she can handle it.” Markus said.

“So where are we going?” I asked.

“Where I saw it all. The criminal always returns to the scene of the crime.” He narrowed his eyes. “I’ve seen it on the show Innocent Until Proven Criminal.”

“You watch that show too much.” I accused.

“Hey those episodes are from real cases. You’d know that if you weren’t so busy staring at the walls in your room.” he teased.

“Markus! I’m not that lame!” My jaw dropped. I raised my hand to my eye and put my index finger and thumb close to each other. “You’re this close to a kick and a punch,” I warned.

We pulled up to The Impulse. It looked pretty packed tonight-even more than last night. Predictably, there was not a single parking spot near the building. We ended up p
arking in the garage again. That time, I had on some regular shoes so my feet wouldn’t hurt during the walk. And also because I wanted to be prepared in case I needed to run. I looked a little too casual for the lounge though. Girls were wearing miniskirts with really cute tops. And others were basically in bikinis. Their cleavage was out, bellies were showing-the whole shebang. I guess it didn’t matter how I looked anyway because Markus lead me straight to the back of the lounge. We exited through the back doors and found that there was a cool breeze out tonight. The fresh air wrapped around me and flowed through my hair. It was quiet; I didn’t think anyone was out there. And there was a ladder attached to the building that reached the top. The building wasn’t that tall. It was just one story, so Markus and I easily climbed up to the roof and sat down with our legs hanging off. He had brought a bag with him, which consisted of at least two binoculars as he pulled them out and handed me the one with a neck strap on it.

“Cool!” I put my head through the strap and looked through them. “What else do you have in that bag?”

“Just some snacks.” He pulled out some chips and soda cans. A bad idea for me. I was trying to eat healthy and junk food was the only thing he brought. I was certain I could resist the temptation.

“I also brought you this.” Markus pulled out a miniature spray can.

“Thanks.” I didn’t know what the thing was. Wait…it looked like-

“It’s mace, Mindy,” he continued, “I don’t want you to freak out or anything. I just wanted you to be ready...in case something
ever happens again.” He put it in my hand and smiled. “Do you know how to use it?” he asked.

“Of course. You just grab it like this…” I wrapped my hand around the base and put my finger on the spray nozzle. I pointed it in front of me and turned towards Markus, the mace following.

“Whoa!” He ducked down and pushed my arm away. I swear, that had to be the fastest I’d seen him move. Ninja mode!

“Chill out. It’s not a gun or anything.” I said.

“Well don’t wave it around like a baton.” He let go of my hand and sat back up. “I want you to keep it with you,” Markus suggested.

“The binoculars, too?” Excitement filled my voice.

“No!” He shot out. “If anything happens to you again, you take this and without any hesitation…spray the whole can in the jerk-off’s eyes. It leaves a red dye all over the target. So after you empty it on him call the cops and they’ll be able to find him easier because of the red markings.” he informed me.

“So they can’t scrub it off or anything?” I asked.

“Nope.”

“Thanks. You really didn’t have to, but thanks.” I looked down at it in appreciation. He’d never given me anything before. Well, aside from birthday and Christmas gifts.

“Yeah yeah,” he said, shyly. “Just don’t go spraying me with it.”

He must have really cared about me to h
ave given me something like that. How sweet. Markus started searching the ground below us with his binoculars after raising them up to his eyes. I did the same. Nothing much was going on though. All I saw was a cute couple making out beside a dumpster. Not a place I would pick to do that, but hey, people do crazy stuff. Further down, I spotted an orange cat that was digging through a dumpster behind a different building. There had to be at least thirteen of them set across from each other. Every building’s back entrance had a wall that divided the dumpster from the door. It looked like a little room with a wall knocked down as an opening. A bit of debris was floating on the ground, with help from the wind. But nothing else was going on.

“So how long are we going to be here?” I sighed.

“There you go,” Markus murmured.

“What!” I screeched.

“You get bored way too easily. We’re going to be here all night, Mindy.” Markus stated.

“It was just a question. Geeeesh!” I let my binoculars hang from my neck and then I grabbed the bag of chips. Before opening it, I read the nutritional facts on the back of the package. “I don’t know how you can eat this stuff.” Actually, I did know. Every bite was filled with the crunchy goodness of super cheesy bursts of flavor. And that savory tang had every single taste bud on your tongue rejoicing in delight. Before I knew it, I was placing a chip in my mouth. Darn! The temptation got to me. Markus looked at me and shook his head, knowing exactly what was going to happen.

I didn’t know how many hours had passed since we’d been on the roof, but time seemed to be dragging. All we were looking at was the same couple hiding behind walls and making out. I was beginning to feel like a pervert.

“How long have we been here?” I wondered out loud. I hoped he didn’t hear me.

“Only a couple of hours.” Markus mumbled. Crap! He did hear me.

“I don’t think he’s coming tonight,” I said.

“The night is young.” Markus was still looking through the binoculars. “He’ll show up any minute now.” Markus assured me.

“I have to be home by eleven tonight.” I informed.

“Me too.” Markus said while looking at his watch. “My dad’s just looking for an excuse to ground me.”

“Why?” I asked, not surprised.

“You know the millions of bushes in my front yard?” Markus asked.

“Yeah.” I nodded.

“Well, they need some major trimming and he’s waiting until I mess up so it can be my punishment.” Markus said.

“Don’t you guys take turns? I thought you did them last time.” I mentioned.

“I did. It’s his turn, but he keeps pushing it off on purpose, waiting…” Markus said.

The alley remained empty and quiet, other than the one couple. The same couple that had been out here forever. I zoomed in on them and from what I could see, the guy was good-looking. Other than needing a tan, he had very nice features. I couldn’t see the girls face but that was probably because her boyfriend was giving her a ridiculously long hickey.

Out of sheer boredom, I started fiddling with my new weapon of destruction-my mace.

“There he is!” Markus whispered suddenly.

“Finally.” I brought my binoculars back up to my eyes and sure enough, there was Dean. Man, did he look good. Tanya would be drooling if she were there, so it was only appropriate that I drool for her. Once again, he had on a black shirt that hugged every ripple of muscle. I liked that color on him because it matched his jet black hair. What! I liked? Wait a minute, what’s going on here? Shouldn’t I have been paying attention to the giant sword thing he had in his hand? The blade was black and dangerously sharp from what I could see. He was dragging it behind him and the steel was scraping the pavement he was walking on. Slowly, he made his way to the make-out couple and stopped in front of them.

The guy detached himself from the hickey attack he was giving and looked up at Dean. And he looked scared. He dropped the girl on the floor. The motionless girl. What the heck was going on? I wanted to get a closer look, so I started adjusting the settings. But I was actually making it worse. Everything was blurry! Crap! Not again! Crap! Markus stood up.

“Are you watching this?” he desperately asked, still keeping his voice low enough for only me to hear.

“I can’t adjust this stupid thing!” I quietly cried out. I banged on it as if that would even work.

“My God!” Markus whimpered out.

I tried squinting to get a better look at what was going on
, but it was impossible for me to see. The distance between us was too great and with my bad eyesight, I would never be able to make anything out anyway. I calmly tried adjusting the binoculars again. It was always better to calmly do things than to frantically do it. I turned the zoom nozzle slowly to the right, then slightly to the left. There. Now, it was focused. I quickly looked through them again and found that the make-out couple was no longer there. Not even the girl that was lying on the floor was there. Dean was the only one in sight, standing in front of what seemed to be a pile of clothes and staring at the ground in front of him. He swung the sword thing around. It looked pretty heavy to me, but he was able to handle it like it was made out of light plastic. Still holding onto the handle, he threw it over his shoulder and slid it into a strap on his back.