El Mirador

4,543 years since initial death
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Valerie was in the grip of the devil himself.

Mark slightly tilted his head to the side, maintaining direct eye-contact with her. "What do you know of this place?"

His words caught her off guard. She couldn't respond, rather she was left entirely speechless. His grip was beginning to loosen slightly, but he wouldn't let her go. "This is your history, and I demand answers."

Then, his grip tightened once more. Before she could do anything, her body was forcefully thrown against the cracked wall of the temple.

The impact was strong enough to completely break through it. Valerie was sent plummeting downwards, falling through several branches that cut her in the process. By the time she reached the bottom, she was shrouded in darkness. Mark stood at the top, poking his head through the hole in the wall to look for her.

"Until you tell me why you crashed a plane here, you're not leaving this temple." He spoke loudly from above, his tone continued to sound sinister. "Dead or alive, it doesn't matter to me. Although let's be honest, you'll still live after we're done here."

"What?! You think I did this? Mark, you're insane!" Valerie was shaking from fear, she needed to protect herself.

Suddenly, Mark leaned forward. His whole body began to drop into the darkness. The sheer hight alone should have broken a few bones, but he handled it as if it was nothing. His knees simply bent during the hard collision below. Like a machine, he slowly straightened his posture.

Valerie reached for her breast pocket, finding a small and thankfully, intact flashlight attached to her jacket. She was lucky to have fallen facing up earlier, keeping it from breaking. One more thing she had that Mark didn't, was a weapon. It wasn't an ordinary weapon, rather it was something personal that she had made herself.

It resembled a long, dark handle. That was until she activated it. With the push of a button, a sharp blade suddenly extended from the front and back. It wasn't long, but the dark handle was now a double-bladed dagger. Additionally, the blade itself bared a pink glow to it, resembling her sin's personal color.

What made this dagger unique apart from the double blade was its second mechanism. If she wanted to, she could practically snap the dagger in half as the handle folds and detaches from itself. It leaves her with two daggers, allowing her to dual-wield her weapon. In this case however, she kept it intact. She only ever used dual-wielding when furious or facing multiple enemies. On her husband, she couldn't even imagine harming him.

Mark's expressions seemed to alter again. "Don't even bother. You're weak, you're fragile. A selfish slut with dark intentions. As if I'd ever let myself get defeated by a person of your stature." 

"I don't even understand what I've done to deserve this! Mark, what the hell are you saying?" She kept her dagger close to her waist. If he tries anything, she'll be ready for it.

"My name is not Mark!" His reaction was sudden and jolting. He had come to a complete halt. With his hands to his side, Valerie could clearly see they were shaking. This wasn't right. "The name is Maalik, as it has been from the start. Just as you are Violet, not Valerie. I named you myself after rescuing you and you should be grateful because clearly I'm the only man you've ever met who's ever been decent to you. Any person who sees a young, attractive and naked woman washed ashore; most of them would have treated you differently, if you know what I mean. I could have raped you any chance I had but I never did because I respected you!"

His response was unexpected. It was slow and heavy, leaving a very nerving tone. He didn't smile or frown, rather he formed a sinister expression, one that was entirely neutral. "Or would you prefer the name Awilix?"

That had done it. The mentioning of her ancient name caused her to grit her teeth and slightly shiver. It's a name she had forgotten for years now, and he just brought it back up. "You don't get to say that name."

"Awilix, Awilix, Awilix." As if to mock her, he maliciously sang her name. "Awilix Dacey, the pathetic outcast of the Mayan world. What exactly did you do to piss off an entire Empire?"

Before she had time to comprehend what he meant, he started to walk towards her. He always preferred making the first move. Valerie didn't want to hurt him, but it seemed she had no choice in the matter. "Enough Mark! This isn't you, none of it is! Don't think for a second that I won't defend myself!"

When she noticed that her warning was ignored, she needed to take action. With a single slash forward, her attack had struck him, but it was futile. He had caught her blade with his hand, forcefully pulling it away. With his other hand, he held onto her and shoved her back against the wall with his full strength.

"Wrong choice, Awilix." He was fully aware of his actions, he knew what he was doing to her. Then, his mind turned to the dagger in his hand. It wasn't his primary weapon of choice, but it was perfect for the time being. His ripper days had completely returned to him, and he instantly knew what he needed to do. Valerie was just another woman, similar to the ones he ripped apart in the streets of London. Before she could retaliate, he was ready to drive the blade into her skull. 

There was however one thing he had forgotten. He's a heavy hitter, she's a fast striker. Her agility far exceeded his own. She could see his every attack coming from a mile away. Raising her knee, she struck his crotch just hard enough to have him momentarily loosen his grip around her neck. That gave her the opportunity she needed to grab his wrist and force him back.

Never letting go of his wrist, she decided to run directly towards him, using his own torso as a wall. Maneuvering both her feet, she launched herself backwards in the air off his own chest, breaking his wrist in the process.

The dagger fell to the floor once more, only for her to grab it. She left him no time to recover, making her way towards him and aiming for his neck. Instead of slitting it, she held onto him with her other hand and leapt behind him. Before he could even react, she had him in a chokehold.

"Jesus Christ, you've gone psycho!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. Once more, she had no intention of killing him. She couldn't even find the strength to do so. "We can talk this out without needing to kill each other! What the hell is wrong with you?!"

For a second, he stopped. He was beginning to loosen his resistance, it was working.

Valerie noticed this, but still held on until he completely submitted. "Please, just drop your anger. I don't know what's happening to you but we can work this out."

Finally, he stopped. They both started breathing properly again. She let go of his neck, sighing to herself. He turned around to face her, appearing apologetic. Proceeding with caution, she took a step forward while clenching her dagger. Her other hand tried to touch her husband's cheek.

"You need to tell me what exactly happened to you." Valerie spoke softly. "I mean, you almost killed me. Are you even aware of what you did? You can't hit a woman like that, let alone your own wife." 

"I'm sorry." Mark responded calmly, showing no signs of anger. He paused for a moment to catch his breath before delivering his last line.

"But, I really don't care."

Valerie was immediately caught off guard as Mark delivered a powerful punch to her face. It was all a trick, and he had the chance to end this now.

"Son of a bitch!" Valerie was stunned by his attack, collapsing to the ground because of one vital error. Mark had already lunged towards her. His hands were gripped around her neck, slowly draining the life out of her. Fortunately for her, she still had the dagger in her hand.

She didn't think twice before jabbing the dagger into the side of his shoulder repeatedly. This can only end with someone's death, and it was time she fought back with no more mercy. Jab after jab, she stabbed his shoulder nearly a dozen times.

However, much to her surprise, this accomplished nothing. Mark paid her no attention whatsoever and never shrugged at the pain. Even his broken wrist from before was fully healed by now. Every stab from Valerie's dagger was disregarded as his wrath transcended to the point where he could withstand more pain than a juggernaut.

Her attacks became incredibly weaker, but she had another trick to pull. She lifted her legs and pushed them against his chest. In her final effort, she quickly lifted one of her feet straight up, kicking Mark in his jaw and knocking him back.

The moment his hands were removed from her neck, she loudly gasped for air. She was mere seconds away from death, and it was enough to make up her mind. Upon standing back up, she held her dagger with both hands and used whatever strength she had left to snap it in half.

Her dagger was separated in two, allowing her to dual-wield. Without giving her husband time to attack, she made the first move and ran forward. Her lightning-quick reflexes had her strike Mark before he could even defend himself. Withstanding so many blows, he was beginning to weaken but he wasn't out of the fight just yet.

When one of her daggers penetrated through Mark's hand, he used his other free hand to grab her. His head was violently rammed against Valerie, head-butting her hard. He ripped the dagger out of his hand, feeling the pain finally resonating from it. A few more hits and he's done for. 

As for Valerie, she took a few steps back. She couldn't stay here and fight forever, this had to end one way or another. Shining her flashlight across the room, she noticed a familiar path, one she hadn't been on for so long. She knew exactly where it led.

Immediately, she made a run for it. There were a few roots in the way, obviously the jungle had penetrated through the temple, growing inside of it. Her agility gave her the advantage as she quickly navigated through the halls. Mark followed after her, but he never ran. Instead, he walked menacingly.

There was nowhere she could possibly go to outrun him. He could take his time, and he'll make it count.

Valerie continued down the corridor, eventually leading to a staircase. It was heading downstairs, which was perfect for her. There was something down there she needed to see, regardless of the current fight. Glancing back at her left hand, the burning had stopped a while ago, but the inscription remained.

It was a symbol she oddly recognized. But she hadn't seen this happen before. Something about this place was reaching out to her, as if this temple was alive. Mark continued to follow her, remaining silent the whole time. He was like a terminator. Soon enough, they reached the ground level, but that wasn't it.

Underneath the temple, that's where she needed to go. Instead of a staircase, she searched for a tunnel leading to the abyss underground. With Mark still on her tail, she sprinted out of pure memory. Along the way, she noticed a few torches still in place against the surrounding walls. Fortunately for her, she was also carrying a lighter.

By the time Mark caught up to her, he could see the illumination of a fire. He stopped momentarily, just staring at the wall. In that brief moment, he started questioning himself. This gave Valerie the opportunity to reach the underground tunnel and light every torch she could find. The moment she laid her eyes ahead, she stopped dead in her tracks.

Meanwhile, Mark's sinister mind returned, forcing him to walk ominously into the tunnel. The torches perfectly shined the path ahead for him. If he wasn't under the control of his own sin, he would have taken the time to mesmerize at how impressive it all looked. Instead, he continued to walk, eventually reaching the main area. At first glance, he didn't know what to make of it.

It was a massive cave. Several ancient pieces furniture were scattered across the floor as torches lit up the entire area. On the walls were discs, some small and some large. He couldn't figure out what they were supposed to be. But the discs were everywhere he looked. It was clear that they were important somehow.

Even Valerie had stopped to stare at them. She knew exactly what they were. She heard Mark approaching her, but she didn't bother putting up a fight. Unbeknownst to him, she had just made the discovery of a lifetime.

Turning around, she was able to look back at Mark. He stood still at the opposite end of the cave. When he stared back at her, he too could tell that something was terribly wrong. But he was far too gone to care.

"This is all on you." Mark said, twirling Valerie second dagger slowly in his hand. "You wanted this. You wanted to be here, to see whatever lies here. What was your sin again? Lust? What made you so excited and aroused to bring a plane down?"

"Mark for the love of God, just stop! Listen to me, please! I haven't done anything, I'm just as confused as you are! But if you could just come to your senses, there's something you need to see." Valerie was practically begging for this fight to end. It wasn't right.

Mark's eyes had already darted to her hands. Just as he had done in Madrid, he spotted something wrong with her. On the palm of her right hand was a glowing pink inscription. Her sin was connecting with something here. That proved they were here for a reason, and it caused him to grit his teeth.

"Your hand. It's telling me everything I need to know. You deserve what's coming to you."

His mind was beginning to turn blank again. A white noise plagued his ears, producing a ringing sound that muffled his surroundings. Valerie was screaming back at him, waving her arms around. Yet he couldn't hear a single word that was being spoken. He's had enough, it was time to end this.

"It's on the fucking wall Mark! Right there, can't you see?!" She continued to scream, quickly noticing that he began to approach her with the dagger in hand. There was no use in talking anymore, there's only one way this confrontation would end.

And so they fought one final time. Husband and wife, fighting to the death.

Valerie would make the first move, sprinting towards him out of desperation. She suddenly began wall-riding on the closest stone column, taking drastic measures to confuse and outmaneuver her opponent. Then came her attack. The sharp end of her blade penetrating through his forehead and instantly ending the fight.

But things would turn out a bit differently this time. It's when Valerie realized the truth. Mark was no longer under the influence of his own wrath. He was in complete control of his own actions, and he wanted this.

He ducked right before her attack could even land. Instead, he managed to grab her and shove her against the closest wall. Before she could even fight back, he plunged one of her daggers straight into her neck.

Keeping her in place, he grabbed the second dagger with his other hand and brutally slashed her throat open. It nearly decapitated her in the process.

He ended it.

His wife's lifeless body collapsed to the floor.

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