The Black Rose | Crankiplier/Dark x Ethan

3| OFFER

Ethan's pov

It was my lunch break at work, so I was just chilling.

There were only three costumers in the restaurant right now, so I wouldn't have to get up for a while.

I sighed, boredly swiping through my phone, trying to find something to do.

I was kinda wishing I had gotten Mark's number. Maybe we could've been chatting right now.

Or maybe he's not the kinda of person who likes to text? I still don't know all that much about him.

We had been talking for almost a month now. I just happened to see him around town or he would come over to Tyler's.

Even after all this time he was still sort of a mystery. It was charming, but a little strange.

The door to the restaurant opened, making a light ringing sound.

Since I was on break, I didn't bother turning around. I just continued what I was doing.

"Right this way, sir." I heard Hunter say to the costumer.

Much to my surprise someone sat down in the seat across from me.

I looked up in confusion.

A smile quickly came on to my face when I saw Mark sitting there.

"Mark? What are you doing here?" I questioned, setting my phone down.

"Well, I figured you could use some company. Plus it seemed like a good excuse to get to know you better."

He looked around the restaurant. "I've never heard about this place till now. Is the food good?"

I nodded, "it's really good. Plus it pays well so it's a win win." I answered.

"Oh, yeah, that's another reason why I came here," Mark started, sitting up straighter in his seat.

"I know Tyler's place is just temporary, so I was wondering if.. you'd like to move in with me? I know we've only known each other for a month, so if you want you could come over and take a look around?" He offered.

I looked at him in shock.

"Are you being serious?"

He winced slightly, "..yes?"

I opened my mouth to say something, but Mark put his hand up.

"Before you say anything, why don't you come over later tonight?"

"Okay, sounds like a deal."

^^^

I opened my phone, rechecking the address Mark sent me.

Yep, this was the right house.

It was fucking huge! The outside looked really nice and the house itself had a bit of a modern touch to it. The yard was pristine and well kept. If I didn't know Mark lived there, I would've assumed it was empty.

I mean I knew Mark had money, but not fancy two story house money.

I walked up to the front door, knocking a few times. A faint "coming" came from the other side of the door, along with a bark.

Mark had a dog? I saw him as more of a cat person honestly.

The door opened and I was instantly met with golden fur.

I laughed out of shock, petting the dog.

"Sorry about her." Mark apologized.

"It's fine. What's her name?" I asked, watching as the dog ran back into the house.

"Chica. I got her a few years back when I first moved here. She's not here all the time, though." He said, gesturing for me to come in.

I did, eyes widening in shock as I looked around.

It looked so fancy in the inside and it was much bigger than I thought  it was.

The living room was plainly decorated, but still really nice.

"This place is so nice. Did you decorate this by yourself?"

Mark chuckled, shaking his head. "Not really. Sean used to live here with me so he decorated the majority of it."

"Well it still looks really nice."

"Okay, well let me show you around a little bit."

He started walking, showing me around.

Each new room surprised me even more. He had his own office downstairs. It was pretty cool in there.  There were some future Cloak designs and a desk set up, along with a gaming set up.

We walked into the kitchen, where Mark approached a door.

"..and here's the basement. You're welcome to go down there..just don't touch anything. There's a lot of stuff down there from the previous owners." Mark said, opening the door.

It was like one of those creepy "Conjuring" basements. It was just stairs that led down to the room. It was day, so you could see pretty far down, but it was still creepy.

The stairs looked worn and dusty, almost as if the house had been rebuilt, but they didn't bother with the basement.

"Mark, quick question..has anyone ever died here?" I asked, mainly as a joke but it was still good to know.

Mark paused, mouth twitching slightly. He pursed his lips, closing the door to the basement.

"No..why do you ask?" He cautioned.

I felt a slight shiver go down my spine.  What was that reaction?

"W-well if I'm going to live here it would be nice to know it's not haunted." I said in a joking manner, trying to lighten the mood.

There was this weird tension in the air. Not flirtatious like it was sometimes between us, but something else.

Danger, maybe? Whatever it was, it was a red flag.

He cracked a smile and started walking again.

"How about we check out the upstairs?" He said, walking up the stairs.

I nodded, glancing back at the basement door.

The first room we looked at was the guest room, or soon to be my room if I decided to move in.

It was really nice inside. There was a big window inside and a nice bed, typical guest room stuff.

"If you decide to move in, you can change this up however you want. Paint the walls if you really feel like it." He said, chuckling a bit.

"This is huge for a guest room. This could be a living room in some houses." I marveled.

He chuckled slightly.

"Then there's my room," he opened the door and walked in.

"It's a little messy, but don't mind that. I didn't have much time to clean up."

Was he kidding? This room, unlike any of the other rooms in this house, looked like someone actually lived in it.

The only thing that was "messy" was just the nightstand, which was littered in papers.

"Well, what do you think? Is this house worthy of hosting the great Ethan Nestor?" Mark said in a terrible British accent.

"Hmm, it definitely has potential." I teased, following him as he walked towards the stairs.

"Wait..what room is that?" I asked, noticing a closed door at the end of the "hall"

Mark turned to look at it, the small smile on his face faltering.

"It's nothing special. Just where I keep random stuff or new Cloak designs. Don't worry about it." He said, walking down that stairs.

I followed him, doing a double take of the closer door before walking down.

Something was different..off about Mark.

S P O O K