Chapter 45: Mark of Cain

chapter 45: mark of cain malachi was able to get out of his hospital room fairly easily. because doctors figured there was nothing wrong with him and he was just exhausted, he wasn't actually hooked up to anything. currently, he was nestled up against sei's breasts in his cat form as she carried him to melanie's room. he'd decided that this was the best way to move throughout the hospital without drawing attention. it had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he wanted to feel her breasts. the two were completely unrelated! 'so soft... like giant marshmallows.. she smells great too!' oddly enough, sei was having similar thoughts. 'he's so soft and fluffy! he has to be the cutest cat i've ever seen!' she screamed internally. 'i should do this more often.' mal thought. 'i should ask him to change more often.' sei thought. the happy mood of the couple was so palpable that the nearby aubrey was collateral damage. 'ugh, i wish they'd just get a room.' she thought as she rolled her eyes. upon reaching melanie's hospital room, there were three doctors inside all writing down something on their charts. "hello." the three turned around to see a beautiful older woman holding a cat and an attractive young girl. "i'm sorry ma'am but this patient can't see visitors at this time." one of the doctors said. suddenly, he looked sei up and down and flashed her a flirtatious smile. "i would be happy to escort you to our cafeteria if you'd like?" in truth, sei was disgusted and wanted to make her displeasure known. before she'd even gotten the chance, malachi leapt out of her grasp and returned to his true appearance. he possessively wrapped his arm around her and flashed the perverted doctor a menacing glare. the three doctors took several steps backwards. of course they recognized one of the most famous men in the world, how could they not? but only at that moment did the doctor remember that malachi was often photographed with an older woman that looked eerily similar to the one in front of him now. "i-i was just-" "get out." malachi ordered. he currently did not have his glasses on so his eyes were burning an intense and frightening orange. the doctor wasted no time and hurriedly excused himself from the room. 'w-was malachi always so possessive?' sei squirmed a bit in his grasp. seeing a new side to the man she loved, she became slightly aroused. as sei's mind began to fill with dangerous thoughts, one of the other doctors finally got over his fear and realized why malachi must've come. "mr. saint, y-you did this correct?" he gestured to the sleeping melanie. "i'm still not exactly sure what's going on." malachi said. aubrey and sei had told him something but he found it too wild to believe. the doctors sighed before they began a game of rock paper scissors. "what are you doing?" malachi asked in confusion. "we're deciding who has to demonstrate." one doctor explained. malachi didn't understand but elected not to comment further. ""rock!"" ""paper!"" ""scissors!"" one doctor threw up rock, the other scissors. "damn it!" "yes! i'm safe!" malachi stared at all of this in disbelief. was what happened to melanie really that dangerous? the doctor who'd lost put on a forlorn expression as he looked at malachi. "can you atleast.. catch me?" "uhh.. sure?" the man seemed satisfied with this answer and he took a deep breath before he pulled a clean needle from the nearby cabinet. he walked towards melanie and prepared to prick her arm when it happened. bang! "gah!!" a shield of bright golden light left melanie's body and threw the poor doctor into the air. malachi hurriedly caught him before he hit the ground as promised, but he was so shocked that he'd almost missed him. as hard as it was to believe, what the girls had told him earlier was true. but what was even more surprising was that malachi recognized the energy. "i... think i might've did this, but it's not like i really know how." malachi said honestly. the energy blast he felt earlier was frightening similar to the feeling his golden flames gave off. so much so that if he'd closed his eyes, he would've thought someone else had his same power. "you did this honey?" sei asked in shock. "no fair! why does your shitty ex get super powers and not your cute sister!" aubrey finally made her displeasure known. "i didn't give it to her on purpose!" malachi defended. "then give it to me on purpose!" malachi ignored her and walked forward to investigate. he tried a few times to absorb the power from melanie back into himself, but it proved to be to no avail. mal took a closer look at her body and saw a faint glowing symbol on her forehead. "hey can you hand me my phone?" he suddenly asked. sei fished malachi's phone out of her purse and watched as he began to dial a number. "who are you calling?" "an old man." - of course, rowan was extremely worried about mal like everyone else who knew him. his hospitalization wasn't on the news, but the fact that he'd left his car at his farm was very concerning. after he'd made sure mal was okay, he immediately gave him all of the information he was asking for. rowan deduced that mal had bestowed upon melanie the mark of cain. in short, she was now unable to be killed by natural means. any harmful attack not containing divinity or magic, would immediately be repelled. "christ.." when malachi finally got off the phone, he rubbed his temples in frustration. nove-lb-1n life had suddenly become way too complicated for his taste. if the doctors couldn't pierce melanie's skin, they would have no way to place ivs to keep her from dying in her sleep. she would die because she was too well protected! "well? could you figure out how to remove it?" a doctor asked. malachi unfortunately shook his head no when he suddenly had an idea. "no but.. i know a way you could treat her anyway." since melanie couldn't be pierced by anything not containing mana, all they needed to do was to treat her as if she were a blessed. usually, blessed do not go to hospitals but there have been a few rare occasions where it was necessary. in those moments, the tools used on them were made from mana ore inside of gates. it was outrageously expensive but what other choice did they have? mal told the doctors his idea and they became incredibly excited. using such high quality tools was every doctors dream! "and i want everything you saw in this room to stay a secret, alright? " mal said. if word got around that he could make everyday people practically invulnerable, his life would become even more insane than it already was. luckily, the doctors were not idiots and solemnly swore that her condition would remain a secret. with that done, he went back to his room to prepare to be discharged and was surprised by what he saw. standing at the door holding balloons and flowers was luna autumn.