The Taste of Seduction

"This unfortunate incident led us to questioning each other. You were just concerned and you trusted my judgment when I thought I was right. I—"

"Austin, there\'s nothing to apologize for," Marcus interrupted, giving him a small smile. "No matter what, I will still join you guys and see this through even though he no longer trusts me."

With that, he started walking, following the couple in an acceptable distance so as to not provoke Atlas further. Austin then followed them with a sigh, walking alongside Marcus as they continued onward.

***

"\'The traitor is acting quickly; think now and reflect. A jealous heart is dangerous and not one to be trampled with.\' That\'s the statement that kept repeating as we struggled! What else could it be?"

"You\'re jealous that I\'m with Meredith and she chose me. You think I was not awake that night to witness your cute little speech along with the kiss?"

"Because you love Meredith so much that you\'d do anything she asks you to. You promised to come to this journey. We\'re just a responsibility, right?"

"He took this as an opportunity to get rid of me so he can be with you."

"Then what\'s up with the mysterious guy\'s statement? The traitor acted quickly, Marcus triggered the trap. He loves Meredith and she chose me… doesn\'t that come with jealousy? He made us argue before we even went back to earth!"

"He\'s the traitor!"

"Stay away from us… or else, I\'ll kill you."

"I trusted you… and you broke that trust with your fucking selfish desires."

Atlas\' words stung him. He still remembered the statements he told everyone about him—remembering word per word.

He meant well, he really wanted to save and help them. He didn\'t mean to trigger the trap; he was just concerned about the two, especially concerned about Meredith.

Atlas\' words repeated in his mind like a song on repeat. It already stung him that Meredith chose him, but it stung him as well to know that the man\'s trust disappeared in an instant and not slowly. They were just getting closer to each other, too!

When he thought that they respected each other and that they will be great friends… turns out that things wouldn\'t continue as great as he hoped it would be when they talked and started getting close.

But even then, Marcus will still vow to protect Meredith and accompany them until their journey ends. He will only leave when everything\'s done—when they have already accomplished what they need to accomplish.

Not wanting to provoke Atlas more than he already is, he decided to keep his distance while he walked alongside Austin in silence.

***

Atlas couldn\'t help but glance at Marcus from time to time, cautious of his movements. As they continued walking the straight path, obviously already done with the maze of the labyrinth, Meredith let out a sigh, getting his attention when she sighed.

"You know… Marcus didn\'t seem to do that on purpose," she said, Atlas scoffing at her statement.

"I knew you\'d say that," he mumbled, only she could hear. With another sigh she spoke again, saying what she thinks.

"He was obviously surprised when he triggered the trap. He was about to help us but Austin stopped him so there won\'t be another trigger. The moment the traps were disabled, he rushed in to grab and help you—pulling you up for your safety."

"That doesn\'t count," Atlas replied, rolling his eyes in annoyance. "What if he did that because he was guilty?"

"Atlas—"

"Well, what do you think?" he interrupted, making her remember what the mysterious voice had told them. "It was repeated again and again before we started the challenge and before we could even end it. That there is a traitor among us—that he is driven by jealousy."

Meredith\'s lips were on a thin line, quiet as she knew that there are no words that could convince Atlas that what happened a while ago was an accident.

"You chose me… he was jealous and he made us fight before we went back here on earth. And then he followed us around, rescued you because he still loves you. He said he\'s going to let you go but once an opportunity of my disappearance presented itself, he took the change for an attack!"

"Oh, Atlas…" Meredith stopped walking for a while, looking at him with a slight frustration in her eyes. "He came with us, willing to break the soul tie ASAP the moment we retrieve the book. Isn\'t that enough?"

"No, it\'s not enough," Atlas replied, his brows creasing together. "It\'s obviously not nothing if the mysterious voice kept repeating the statement over and over."

"What if it\'s just a distraction, or a challenge to check if our trust and loyalty would waver? Like another trap? To just make us question what we think, huh?" Meredith asked, Atlas going quiet for a while as he was hesitant to answer.

He knew that Meredith made sense, but deep down, he didn\'t want to consider it for a moment.

He strongly believes that Marcus is the traitor and that he is jealous of him that she chose him, that\'s that.

"Let\'s not talk about this anymore," Atlas said, already walking ahead as he kind of left Meredith alone before she followed in tow. "We\'re about to end the journey and get the book. Let\'s just break the soul tie and get this thing over with—with his help. I don\'t care if we\'re using him if he chose to stay."

Meredith looked back to look at Marcus and Austin. As she met eyes with the vampire, Meredith mouthed to say sorry, the vampire just shaking his head to dismiss it, knowing that Atlas is set into thinking that he is a traitor.

With a comforting pat on his shoulder, Austin gave him a small smile, as if reassuring him that everything will be okay since it will be all over soon.