Staid and Fatuous

Dark: Mistakes Were Made

I dropped the bloody knife I used to slit Mark's throat and watched as Anti's eyes flickered from black to green. His pale skin started to glitch, and his body had risen an inch or two off the ground. The room had turned suddenly silent. The room became stuffy, the smell of blood making me want to choke.

Something grabbed my shoulder and spun me around. What I saw added more mystery to what was already happening. "Ah! Old friend, are you surprised to see me?" I couldn't speak. I thought I had killed Mark, in fact, Mark's body was still laying on the table behind me. But here he was, standing right in front of me. "Confused are we?" The 'other' Mark asked. "Allow me to elaborate." He pushed me over to a chair. "To make a long story short, neither you or I belong in this dimension. The house we are currently in sits on a flux. Mark came here some years back, messed around with the book you were using and opened a few portals. With that, he let us in. All of the egos, just different versions of himself from different worlds." I was speechless, and even more so when Mark, the one I had supposedly killed, sat up on the table and coughed harshly. The Mark that stood over me and smiled. "I have a few tricks of my own up my sleeve, old friend. Now, I must take Mark and be on my way now. It was such a hassle to get here!" He turned away and added over his shoulder. "And by the way, I'm the Actor." Actor grabbed Mark by the arm and dragged him towards a gleaming white portal I hadn't even noticed was there. Anti growled menacingly and pounced like a hungry panther on the Actor's back.

Mark dropped to the ground and went limp once more. Anti's screams pierced the air as he was stabbed and thrown off to the side. The Actor wiped some blood off his chin and jumped back to his feet.

I was fucking tired of being pushed around. I ran over to Actor and threw a punch, but he grabbed my fist as if it were nothing. He started to squeeze my hand, the knuckles popped, and soon I heard the sickening sound of my bones cracking. I yelled out in anguish and he let go, kicking me in the stomach. The Actor chuckled darkly and kneeled beside me as I clutched my stomach. "It's not fair. Is it?" It was painful to hear those words. I didn't know exactly what happened next though. There was a flash, I kept slipping in and out of consciousness like a drunk baboon. There were muffled yells filtering through the haze.

Before I knew it, I was being dragged out into the hall by someone and being slapped lightly across the face repeatedly until I came back into full focus.

"Damien! Wake up you bloody fool, we have to stop him!" I could have fainted right then and there. William kneeled in front of me and smiled warmly. "Hey, welcome back." He chuckled. I shook my head. What the fuck was going on? "What's wrong with you moustache, William?" I asked. William just grinned. "That's a story for another day!" His pink moustache twitched. "And by the way, it's Wilford now." I scoffed as he helped me back to my feet. "Wilford... Well, I'm Dark now." Wilford waved his hand. I noticed that his nails were painted a glittery pink, rainbow suspenders strapped over his chest. "Ah Damien, always pulling my leg, you are! Where's Celine?" I groaned audibly. "She's sleeping." I said sarcastically, and of course he didn't catch it. "Good good, if she saw me she would carve my heart out. Now, let's kick this guy's ass and save Mark!" He pointed to the Actor that was currently trying to pry Anti off of his back.

Wilford pulled a small pink and gold gun from who knows where and went in guns blazing. I ran in the library after him, holding my injured hand to my chest, and grabbed Anti's switchblade from the floor. It wasn't in my best interest to keep Mark safe before the Actor showed up to steal him away, but now it was it was a great concern to save him. If Mark died, then Wilford and I would die too. I was a fool thinking I could fix things by killing the very man that allowed us into existence. Blinded by my own fury. Considering that we haven't evaporated yet, Actor had actually brought Mark back to life. Thankfully, too. I didn't want to wither away just yet. Wilford shot off his gun and caught Actor's shoulder. The snake of a man cried out and reached at the oozing blood.

Anti jumped off of him and turned his crazed glare to me. I gasped in shock when he ran towards me at full speed and headbutted my ribs. I went to the ground and had to lay there for a minute or two to catch my breath. Wilford yelled out. "Son of a bitch- GET OFF ME YOU TURTLE!" I hopped to my feet and ignored how dizzy I got. I grabbed Anti by the back of the neck and threw him off Wilford. I felt a tinge of regret. The Actor grinned devilishly and struck his fist into the air and it emitted a golden haze. Mark's body stood up, his bones cracking and popping as he did so. His eyes were glazed over and glowing a bright orange. Great, this fucker could posses people too? Mark's body moved forward menacingly, reaching out towards me.

As soon as he did though, Actor fell down just as a loud pop echoed through the room. The Actor touched the smoking bullet hole in his chest and smiled as if he were on dopamine. "See you chaps again soon then." He laughed maniacally, his body suddenly then exploded into shards of glass. They slowly melted into the carpet until there was nothing left. Wilford lowered his gun with a scowl. "Hopefully we won't see him for a while." I nodded in agreement. "Alright Wil, check on Mark and I'll deal with-" Wilford cut me off. "Your crazy boyfriend?" I flipped him off and turned to Anti. He was laying on his back panting like a dog in the intense heat of a Arizona summer.

His eyes had gone back to their normal mitch-match colors. I helped him to his feet and hugged him close to my chest. He weakly put his arms around me. "We're going to have a long talk after we all get cleaned up." I whispered into his ear. "Yeah, I think we all need an explanation." He shakily replied.