"Alicia!"

     Alicia stopped walking down the hallway of the arena and turned on her heel at the sound of her name to see Ivory running towards her.
 
    "Is it true?! Is it really true?!" Ivory said in a slightly breathless voice.
 
    Alicia was confused. "Is what true?"
 
    "Everything! Everyone is talking about it!"
 
    "Talking about what?" Alicia was getting more than a little confused by the questions. Ivory pulled her into a nearby room for privacy.
 
    "Alicia, I want your honest answer. After what happened last night at the hotel and after everyone left, did The
 
    Undertaker leave with us, or did he stay with you?"

     It took Alicia a minute to remember that The Undertaker was Mark's ring name. "He stayed, but nothing happened." Ivory looked at her with a look of pure disbelief. "Ivory I swear that nothing happened!"

     "That's not what I heard."

     "Then what did you hear?"

     Ivory debated for a moment whether to tell her or not, then thought that it would be best if Alicia heard it from her instead of someone else. "Rumor has it that you slept with The Undertaker."

     "What?!"

     "That's what people are saying."

     "Who? Who is saying this?"

     "Well, I know that Paul Bearer mentioned it to a few people."

     Alicia had to think for a second, but remembered that he was the tubby man that was always around Mark. But why would he want to make Mark look bad? She didn't know what to say. From what she heard, it sounded like there was nothing she could do. She knew that there were very strict rules about having any type of romantic involvement with a wrestler and she might lose her temporary job. "Ivory I swear that Mark and I have no relationship at all."

     Ivory had about a million more questions running through her head, but thought that the night was going to be bad enough for her. "Well whatever happens, I'll believe you." With that said, she left the room.

     Alicia walked out of the room and for the first time that night, she noticed all the heads in the hallway swing in her direction, followed by silence. Everyone heard the rumors, but she didn't care. She knew that they weren't true, and would make sure that she would get to the bottom of this. Holding her head high, she walked down the hallways do to the medical office to begin her job.

     She was a bit surprised to find that the door was closed. She knocked softly and didn't get an answer, so she turned the doorknob and opened the door, expecting to see the doctor there in the lighted room, but instead she saw the complete opposite.

     The room was dark. Not so much that you wouldn't be able to see, but dark enough it cause visibility to be poor. She wondered if she had the right room, but the sign on the door that said 'Medical' told her that she did have the right room. She walked into the room with caution after failing to find a light switch.

     "Hello?" She said, the sound of her voice echoing off the walls. She turned at the sound of something behind her. "Is someone there?" The only answer was the door slamming shut.

     Alicia had never been fond of the dark and ran to the door, rattling the doorknob, and ended up banging on the door. "Let me out!" She yelled, but stopped at the sound of footsteps behind her.

     She whirled around and pressed herself against the door, fearing that it was Val who had locked her in the room. She knew that he was angry with her and the last place she wanted to be was locked in a dark room with him. She could hear the footsteps get louder and louder and began to panic.

     "Val, please, I'm sorry I made you mad," she pleaded, not knowing what to say.
 She noticed that the footsteps had stopped and she squinted into the darkness to try to see him, but was stopped when she felt a hand against her cheek.

     She managed to hold back the scream that threatened to come out of her throat and tried to shrink back towards the wall, but found that a second hand was holding her shoulder. She wanted to stop trembling, but the fear that she would end up in an emergency room was too much.

     "Val please don't hurt me!" She whimpered. "I didn't want to get you in trouble! I didn't mean to cause all of this, but please don't hurt me!" By this time she had started crying, and knew that a man like Val would probably like knowing that he could make her cry. She was completely surprised when the hand on her face began to gently stroke her cheek.

     "Hush Alicia." A deep voice told her.

     There was no doubt in her mind that it wasn't Val in front of her, but Mark. She sighed in relief and a smile came to her face.

     "You scared me half to death!" She exclaimed as she turned away from him to again try to open the door, but he turned her back around to face him.

     The first thing she thought was that he had been injured and had come to get medical attention. "Are you ok?"

     "No."

     There was something different about his voice. She was sure that it was Mark she was talking to, but he sounded different. Something that she couldn't place. Becoming concerned, she reached up to the hand that was still on her face. "What's wrong?" He remained silent and unmoving. She wondered if he was in his character and remembered that she had been advised to stay away from him when he was. The silence in the room was slowly driving her crazy and she wished he would say something. "Are you sure you're all right?" To her complete surprise, he reached out towards her and pulled her towards him and into his arms, which wrapped around her waist the second she was near, holding her in a tight embrace against his chest.

     She wasn't sure why Mark was acting this way, but it was obvious that he needed some type of comfort. She let him pull her to him and press her against him until she could feel the softness of his black velvet robe against her cheek. She stood there, slightly confused as he held her against his frame with one hand while the other stroked her hair.

     "Val will pay for what he did to you and you will not lose your job. I will take care of the rumors that you hear." She heard him say. What she didn't know was that when he had first heard the rumors he had gone completely crazy, destroying everything his hands touched.
 
    "I'm sorry that I caused you all this trouble."
 
    "You have nothing to be sorry about my angel."
 
    He had said it again; the name that he had given her. She pulled out of his arms and looked up to where she guessed his face was. "Why do you call me 'angel'?"
 
    Damn it, he hadn't meant to say that. He turned his head away so he wouldn't have to look at her, but he knew that he was just trying to avoid the question. "Mark?" He heard her say. Sighing, he looked back down to see a look of concern on her face. Lifting his hands, he cradled her head in his hands. He wanted to tell her, but not here and not now. He took one last look at her then stepped away from her and left the room, leaving her alone.

     'Something's wrong with him.' Alicia thought. 'It's like I'm causing problems, including putting a wrestlers job in jeopardy. If that's true, then maybe I should just go home.'
 

    Copyright 2000 by Lady Serria

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