New Jersey

4,516 years since initial death
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Waiting.

The little boy stood by the empty basketball court, waiting for his parents to return. Sunlight basked the park in heat, causing the nearby monkey bars to become solid hot to touch. Little Markus had to keep waiting, watching the parking lot for his mom's car.

All the other kids left the area, leaving him alone. The only other people here were two adults sitting at a nearby picnic table. A man and woman, laughing together. The woman leaned in to kiss the man before standing back up and heading to her car.

Markus held on to his backpack hanging over his back. He couldn't wait here any longer, his mom was running late.

However, he wouldn't have to wait alone any longer. Company was arriving.

When Markus spotted the two of them approach him, he sighed and pretended he didn't see them. Keeping his head down, he really hoped no one would speak to him.

"Hey Markus!"

The two figures that approached him were actually two young girls that knew him. They all went to the same school, and clearly Markus didn't like them. They never were kind to him.

They giggled together before standing next to him. The lead girl with the blonde pigtail reached into one of her pockets, pulling out a phone. She opened the camera on her phone, swiping it to video and began recording.

"Markus, say hi to the camera!" She said, waving her phone in front of his face.

"I- I- I d- d- d- d- don't want t- to talk." Markus struggled to speak, stuttering constantly as he looked away from the camera. The girls on the other hand continued to laugh.

The lead girl stood closer next to him, taunting him further. "Aw, are you shy? Is it because I'm pretty?"

She snickered some more. The other girl next to her contributed to the laughter, then deciding to speak up too. "Yeah Markus, don't you know how to speak to girls?"

Their chattering and giggles were loud enough to be heard across the playground. The adult man sitting at the bench alone noticed the commotion, watching from afar.

"Leave m- m- m- me a..."

"Leave me alone?" The main girl finished the boy's sentence. "But we're having so much fun."

Markus was too scared to talk back, resorting to begging them to stop. "P- p- please E- Emma."

The main girl named Emma continued to record him, with her friend cheering her on. They never noticed the nearby picnic table was now empty.

That's when Markus looked back up, suddenly noticing the grown man in dark clothing slowly approach them. He had his own phone out, scrolling through a virtual map and pulling up an address. The man was pretending to walk casually without a single care for the bullying.

Finally, Emma noticed him too. She lowered her phone and tried to look innocent. But her attempts at playing nice wouldn't work here.

The man walked directly past her, jolting one hand forward in the process to snatch her phone. Emma started shouting at him, but he didn't listen. Instead, he continued to walk while deleting the recording on her phone.

"Hey! Give it back!" She persisted, following the grown adult as he now scrolled through her phone and pulled up the contacts. Instead of calling any named contacts, he decided to dial three numbers only.

Still strolling at a measly pace, he ignored the girl behind him. In his other hand was his own phone, pulling up the very address they were at. He waited until he heard the operator on the other end speak to him.

"911, what's your emergency?"

The man replied calmly and with a slight bit of worrisome in his tone. "Hey there, I need an ambulance at 399 Asbury Park Blvd. Zip code 07753. Sunshine Village Park. There's a little girl here, I think she's hurt. She's in the basketball court, right by the skatepark and playground. Please send a doctor here asap."

Ending the call, he stopped walking to stand right by a trash can. He turned around to face the girl that's been screaming at him the whole time.

"Give me back my phone!" Emma yelled at him. The two other kids behind stayed back and watched.

The adult man replied calmly. "Oh, I'm sorry. Of course you can have it back."

He offered her the phone. But right before she could take it, he moved his hands around. Then, he tossed the phone to the side, having it drop directly into the trash can. "Aw shucks, well that's too bad. Sorry about that little girl."

Emma's eyes had widened as she ran to the trash can. The man beside her however wasn't finished just yet. His hands jolted again, this time grabbing her arm. He tugged her back before using his other hand to grab her waist.

She began screaming yet again, this time out of pure fear. This man was kidnapping her, carrying her in her arms as he suddenly began speed-walking back towards the basketball court. The other kids were shocked as the other girl started yelling at him to stop.

But he didn't stop, not until he stood right beside one basketball hoop. Still carrying the little girl in his arms, he looked up at the hoop and smiled. "Hey, I think I can score a two-pointer from here. What do you think?"

The moment he said it, he tossed Emma straight into the air towards the basket. Her screams only worsened at this point.

He ran underneath her and caught her before she could hit the ground. "Not quite there, that was a miss. How about a three-pointer instead?"

Taking a couple steps back, he ignored the pleads for help. Even the other girl stood next to him, begging him to stop. Alas, he never cared to hear her out.

"Ready?" He said to Emma, carefully lining his shot from afar. "Here we go, scream if you're having fun!"

He threw up high up in the air, chuckling slightly from the screaming that still ensued. She never made it close to reaching the basket. He pretended to try and catch her, only to stop short and have her collide with the hard, solid ground.

"Geez kid, you've gotta lose some weight! I can't even dribble you at this rate. So I've got a different idea. Alright, how about this? Slam dunk time! Let's go!"

He was enjoying this. Picking her up from the ground, he stood directly below the hoop. Taking aim once again, he ignored her cries for help. The other girl nearby went over to tug at his pants, hoping he would stop. "Let her go already!"

"Oh don't worry sweetheart, I'll let her go in a second. Come on, third time's the charm. Watch this under-throw!" He didn't hesitate at all to toss her high up in the sky again. This time, he wouldn't need to catch her.

Emma landed directly inside of the hoop, becoming stuck inside as her legs were left dangling off the rim. Her head was resting on the backboard. Obviously, that didn't stop her from shrieking as loud as she possibly could.

"Woo!!" The man jumped with his hands up, laughing as he began yelling. "Yeah man, you guys see that?! Hell yeah, now that's a basket!"

The other girl stood below the basket, trying to jump and reach Emma but to no avail. The man stood over her, observing his own work. "Yeah maybe now you'll learn not to harass people. No wonder your parents just let you wander wherever you want without supervision. Poor parenting, that's what it is. It's about time someone taught you little shits how to grow the hell up and leave people alone. Sneaky little bastards."

Turning back around, he left the two of them and began walking towards the boy who watched in absolute horror. The man reached into his pocket, pulling out his wallet. From there, he took $50 in cash and handed it to him.

"For your trouble." He said with a wholesome smile. The boy hesitated before slowly taking it from him.

"T- t- th- thank y- y- y-"

The man gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Hey, don't mention it, Markus. If it makes you feel any better, my name's Markus too. Well, technically it's Mark. But they're practically the same."

He was about to walk off before he turned around again. "Oh and next time, don't just stand there with a frown on your face. Come on, look at me."

Markus looked back at him, letting him continue. "Here's my advice. Next time this happens, you don't need to say anything. Just keep your shoulders up and your back straight. Keep eye contact with whoever's talking. Stare right back at them and show confidence. You maintain that posture, and no one will want to mess with you. But if they persist, you talk back and prove you're not going to take anymore of their crap. Got it?"

The boy nodded. He wanted to speak back to him, carefully trying to form his words. "Y- y- y- ye- ye-"

"Easy there kid. Take it nice and slow, come on." Mark kneeled beside him keeping eye contact with him.

Markus still tried to speak through his stutter. "Y- yes, s- s- s- s-"

"You've got it, almost there." Mark continued to show support, ignoring the girls behind him still screaming. "Yes sir, it's easy."

"S- s- sir. Y- y- yes, s- sir."

Mark smiled back, reaching out with a hand. Markus slowly grabbed his hand as they shook on it.

"Y- yes, sir."

That was it. Mark stood back up, preparing to leave. "I'm proud of you Markus, I really am. Remember to keep your posture and remind those kids that you are not to be messed with. And once again, don't mention it. I'm serious about it."

"Yes, sir!" Markus firmly said it, smiling back.

Mark walked away from the scene, heading for his car that was parked nearby. Reversing out of the parking lot, he drove carefully just as another car arrived. It was Markus mother, finally here to pick up her son.

But Mark never stayed to explain anything. He just drove by and through the neighborhood. Once he reached the main road, he heard the sirens. The ambulance was here, driving right past him as it approached the park.

Just as he entered the freeway, his phone began ringing. Valerie was on the other end. He sighed before answering it and keeping it on speakerphone.

"Hey, how's it going?"

Valerie never bothered to answer him, instead she had a question for him. "Where are you right now?"

Mark took a second to reply, wondering what was wrong. "Right by Walmart, why?"

"Uh huh." She sounded skeptical and quite upset, given her tone and quick responses. "So not at the park?"

"What park?" He suddenly became nervous. How could she have known?

"Alright Mark, no need to act stupid here. You were at the park. It showed up on my phone, remember we had them linked through that app?"

Mark silently cursed to himself, watching the road as he continued to drive. It took him a few seconds to think of a response. "My phone got stolen."

"Stolen?" Valerie's voice was slightly becoming louder. "I guess the pretty girl next door managed to steal more than just your phone. Did you kiss her?"

"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about." He turned the car and parked at the road's shoulder. If this continues, he'll lose his temper and possibly ram into someone.

"You know, I can understand if you want some boundaries after being together for a hundred years now or if you're tired of me. But you don't have to lie about it, Mark."

He lost his train of thought, resting his head on the steering wheel in silence. There was nothing he felt he could say to defend himself but he had to keep thinking. Sometimes he wishes he can just tell her how he truly feels.

After what felt like a few minutes, Valerie finally had enough of waiting. "Goodbye, Mark."

"Fuck you Valerie!" He suddenly erupted in a violent outrage. "Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you! A hundred years of tolerating you and doing everything to keep you happy, yet you have the audacity to accuse me of cheating on you? I was at the park because I wanted to chill the hell out for once in my life, get away from you and just breathe! I've spent years working hard to keep you happy and this is my reward? Are you kidding me?"

His breathing escalated, forcing him to catch his breath. But that didn't stop him from continuing to lash out at her. "I have to find new ways to rack in money just to fund your luxurious life because you just have to live like a queen! Why do I even bother living life the way I want to when you're clearly more important? I should be on my knees worshipping you, my holy highness! I'm just your pet dog; your slave for all of eternity! God forbid I talk to another female out on the streets, cause I'm yours for the rest of my infinite, never-ending life! Fucking terrific! I hope you're happy, you bitch!"

Just as he was about to go for another round, Valerie already hung up the phone. He was still fuming with rage, and now he had no one to take it out on. That just forced him to lash out and slam his steering wheel several times.

Finally beginning to calm down, he took a few deep breaths. Pulling back onto the road, he drove down the freeway as he turned the radio on. Anything to drown out the noise and dark thoughts lingering in his head.

By now, he believes that one day Valerie will become the death of him.

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