The rain didn't stop for two days. Sophie watched it from her window, the world blurred by streaks of water. The house felt suffocating, every creak of the floorboards echoing louder than her thoughts. Her mother knocked occasionally, asking if she wanted to talk, but Sophie only murmured excuses. She couldn't explain this—not the whispers, not the notebook, not Marcus bleeding shadows into her chest.
When her phone finally buzzed, her heart lurched. Marcus. Meet me. By the tracks. Midnight.
She didn't hesitate. She slipped on her jacket, tucked her notebook under her arm, and slipped out the window into the wet night.
The train tracks stretched endlessly beneath the storm. Marcus stood on the edge, his hood pulled low, water dripping from his hair. He looked like a ghost carved from shadows, his hands buried in his pockets, his shoulders hunched against the rain.
Sophie ran to him, her chest aching with relief and dread all at once. "Marcus—"
But before she could finish, he pulled her into his arms. The kiss he gave her was desperate, bruising, like a drowning man clawing for air. Sophie clung to him, tasting rain and salt, feeling the tremor of his body under her hands.
When he finally pulled back, his eyes were wild. "I can't keep doing this," he rasped.
Her heart froze. "What do you mean?"
He stepped away, pacing along the tracks, his fists clenching. "Ethan's right. I'm losing control. I almost killed him, Sophie. I wanted to. I still want to. And the part of me that wanted that—that monster—it doesn't go away."
Sophie shook her head violently, tears mixing with the rain. "You're not a monster. You're broken, yes, but that doesn't make you unworthy of love."
Marcus stopped, his chest heaving. He looked at her with something close to anguish. "What if loving me destroys you?"
Sophie's breath caught. She stepped forward, grabbed his hand, pressed it against her heart. "Then let it. Because I'd rather burn with you than live without you."
His expression shattered. He pulled her into him again, burying his face in her neck, his body trembling. "You don't understand what you're asking for," he whispered, his voice cracking.
"I understand perfectly," Sophie whispered back.
The sound of footsteps broke the moment. Sophie stiffened. Marcus froze, then slowly turned his head. Ethan stood on the other side of the tracks, his umbrella tilted lazily over his shoulder, his smirk untouched by the rain.
"Well," he drawled, "isn't this romantic?"
Sophie's stomach dropped. Marcus moved instantly, putting himself in front of her. His body vibrated with fury.
Ethan laughed softly, shaking his head. "Always playing the protector. How sweet. But the truth is, Sophie doesn't need protecting from me. She needs protecting from you."
Sophie's voice shook, but she forced it out. "Leave us alone, Ethan."
He tilted his head, his gaze sliding over her. "You think he's your savior? No. He's your executioner. And the beautiful part? You'll walk willingly into the fire."
Marcus lunged. Sophie barely caught his arm, holding him back with every ounce of strength she had. "No!" she cried, her voice breaking. "He wants this, Marcus! Don't give it to him!"
Ethan chuckled, stepping closer, his umbrella casting a sharp shadow across his face. "See, Hale? She's already better at controlling you than you are yourself. Maybe I should thank her."
Marcus roared, breaking free from Sophie's grasp, but instead of swinging, he grabbed Ethan's umbrella and hurled it into the mud. Rain immediately drenched Ethan, but the boy didn't flinch. He only smiled wider.
"You're unraveling," Ethan whispered, leaning close enough that Marcus could feel his breath. "And when you finally snap, Sophie will see exactly what you are. And she'll come to me."
Marcus's fist shot up, but Sophie shoved herself between them. His knuckles stopped inches from her cheek, trembling, the raw violence behind them shaking his entire arm. His eyes locked on hers, wide, horrified.
Sophie's voice was steady, but her heart pounded like thunder. "Marcus. Look at me. Not him. Me."
His fist lowered, slowly, painfully. His breath came ragged, his eyes shimmering with brokenness. Sophie touched his cheek, ignoring the rain and the tears. "You're mine," she whispered fiercely. "Not his. Don't let him take you from me."
Marcus collapsed into her arms then, his forehead pressing into her shoulder, his body shaking with fury and grief. Sophie held him tightly, her glare cutting to Ethan. "You'll never have him," she spat.
Ethan only smirked, stepping back into the rain. "We'll see."
Then he was gone, swallowed by the storm.
Marcus clung to Sophie as if she were the last solid thing in his world. His voice broke against her ear. "I can't fight much longer."
Sophie tightened her arms around him, her tears lost to the rain. "Then don't fight alone."
They stood there in the storm, broken and trembling, the train tracks stretching endlessly into the night.