Marked

It had been two weeks since Rosario started working at Bud’s Auto Repair and she had settled in to the routine of things quite comfortably. Aside from Gabriel, she was the only person who worked there so responsibilities were split pretty evenly between the two of them. He tended to handle the customers more since it was his place and most of them were people he or his grandparents knew. For such a small, locally owned car shop he had a surprising number of customers and a steady stream of vehicles going in and out of the garage every day. Most things were routine checks like oil changes, alignments, brake pad replacement, and simple jobs of that nature that were easy to finish daily between the two of them.

Rosario worked diligently from the time she got up, usually before Gabriel even arrived to open up the shop, until the evening after closing hours. She loved the job and an entire day could pass by without her even realizing she had worked through lunch. She would forget to eat altogether if her boss didn’t remind her, which he usually did by gruffly offering an extra sandwich from his home packed lunch. Rosario thought it was sweet that his girlfriend or wife packed him a little brown bagged lunch every day and sent him on his way, but she didn’t comment on it.

In fact, the two hardly spoke at all. They didn’t greet each other in the mornings and Gabriel only told her goodbye in the evening so she would know he was gone for the day. They shared a few words about car problems and fixes when issues arose, or to determine who would work on what, but nothing other than that. There were no conversations about personal lives or daily niceties like asking how the other was doing. That sort of talk was meaningless for the two of them, so they simply didn’t do it. Rosario was fine with the silence they shared. It was a comfortable one and there was no need for useless chatter when so many different things demanded their attention. They worked well as a team by sticking to the unspoken rule of staying out of each other’s way.

Today had been unusually slow for the shop, which Rosario was thankful for since an unnatural sweltering heat had suddenly come upon the coastal city. The temperature jumped up to the 90’s early in the morning and by the afternoon it had reached almost 100, which was nearly unheard of in a town where ‘unbearably hot’ was 85 degrees Fahrenheit. She had her stained coveralls rolled down to her waist with the sleeves tied in front of her like a belt, so that only her thin heather-colored tank top and her sports bra separated her skin from the hot breeze. As per usual the small bone rosary was tucked away safely in Rosario’s shirt, where it had stayed since the day she put it on. She was far too nervous to take the thing off considering the events that led up to her wearing it in the first place.

It was hot in a way that the air sapped moisture from her skin, causing her to sweat out water just as fast as she drank it. Gabriel had gone down the block to the gas station and gotten them each a gallon sized jug of water to drink while they worked, reminding her to ‘stay hydrated so you don’t fall out.’ It sounded like a military thing to Rosario but she heeded his advice regardless and sucked down water as often as she could without feeling sick. Her hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail and sweat beaded the back of her neck, but there was no relief from the heat wave. Most older buildings along the California coast didn’t have air conditioning since it generally wasn’t needed and Bud’s was no exception.

The coolest Rosario could get was from opening up the garage doors and letting the breeze waft in, though even that was hot enough that it felt like wind from inside an oven. Regardless she still worked diligently on one of the two cars that had been brought in today. Currently she had an older model convertible up on the lift high enough that she could stand beneath it comfortably without hitting her head. Rosario worked under it, pulling a few parts out so she could get to the one she suspected needed replacement. It’d been a project that had consumed most of the morning since she moved slow from the heat and took frequent breaks to sit and cool off.

Now Rosario was in her zone, elbow deep in the guts of the convertible above her, humming contentedly as she worked. Sweat practically poured out of her but she ignored it, not minding being grimy and dirty. There was grease smudged on her arms and a spot where it smeared across her cheek, but the way her brows furrowed in deep focus showed that she wasn’t aware. Gabriel had to say her name three times to get her attention, but when she heard, “Rosario,” barked angrily she dropped her arms to her side and met his gaze instantly, feeling abashed. He used his typical way of looking at her like she was a naughty child caught doing something wrong. It made her self-conscious of everything she did.

“It’s one o’clock. Did you have lunch?” He asked, as he did every day. She shook her head no, as she did every day. “I have an extra turkey sandwich. Come eat.”

Glancing longingly up at her project, Rosario decided she might as well eat something so that she didn’t get sick from the heat; she stepped out from under the lifted car. “Yeah, thanks,” she said politely as she unthinkingly lifted up the hem of her tank top to wipe the sweat from her face, exposing her midriff. When she lowered her hand and dropped the edge of her shirt back into place, the look on Gabriel’s face embarrassed her to the extreme. His gaze stared fiercely at her hip, a fire in him she hadn’t seen before, and she could only imagine it was something inappropriate he was thinking. “Uh, s-sorry,” she stammered lamely.

The next few moments were a blur to Rosario. She saw Gabriel’s face twist into a mixture of pain and rage as he advanced upon her, his eyes boring holes in her abdomen. Then he had grabbed her shirt and yanked it up, once again exposing her flat stomach and her shapely hip bones, staring at the birthmark. She cried out in fear, taking a step back as she flailed her hands out to hit him somewhere, anywhere, so she could get away. Gabriel caught her wrist in a grip so strong it hurt and when she looked at his face all she saw was anger in his snarl and those burning light brown eyes. Rosario was confused and frightened, whimpering, “Please don’t.” She didn’t want this to happen again just when she had decided to take charge of her own life.

“Do you know what this is?” Gabriel asked quietly, deadly fierce; she didn’t know what he was talking about.

“W-what?” Rosario asked, fighting back tears.

Gabriel yanked her arm up fiercely and snapped, “Do you know what this is?!”

She looked down to where his other hand was pointing and stared uncomprehendingly at her left hip. She was silent for a few moments before she whispered questioningly, “My birthmark?”

Their gaze met again and he stared at her angrily as silence fell. Rosario held back tears though her vision was blurred with the unshed water in them, trying to calm herself while he searched her light green eyes for whatever it was he wanted from her. Finally Gabriel sighed and released her wrist, turning his back to her and running a calloused hand through his chestnut hair. His shoulders slumped and he looked defeated. Rosario rubbed her wrist to work the lingering pain away, knowing she’d likely sport a purple bruise for a few days. She remained standing there, confused and knowing he wasn’t done with her just yet. Honestly, curiosity kept her pinned on the spot instead of sending her bolting towards her truck.

Finally Gabriel turned back around, now looking more distressed than angry. “I’m sorry,” was the first thing he said. He cleared his throat and gestured to her wrist, “I didn’t mean to hurt you. Are you alright?” She nodded that she was, since she had received far worse in her life. He let out a breath of relief before he opened his mouth to say something else, paused, and closed it. There were a few more seconds of agonizing silence. “So, you really don’t know what that is?” He asked.

“No,” Rosario replied softly, “It’s just a birthmark.” When she said it her voice cracked and she dropped her gaze to the floor, now feeling uncertain. She thought back to how it had glowed the night she turned eighteen, then burned to the point she felt sick that day. And the rosary had stopped it all for some reason. Thinking of the necklace made her touch it subconsciously for a moment as she brought her gaze back up to Gabriel’s. “…Why?” She asked timidly, afraid of the answer.

There was another long pause where he searched her eyes for something, she didn’t quite know what, but he must’ve found it. He unzipped his dark grey coveralls in the front and pulled them down to rest on his hips, then slowly lifted the hem of the white muscle shirt stretched tightly across his abs. Rosario gasped, her right hand flying to her heart to rest right on the little cross against her skin. There on Gabriel’s left hip was a birthmark, red, angry, and an exact match to hers. Very solemnly and with a sense of chilling finality, he whispered, “You’re a cambion.”

“A… what?”

“Cambion. The result of a human and a demon pairing.”

She stared blankly, uncomprehending.

“You’re half demon, half human,” Gabriel said slowly.

Rosario shamelessly spun on her heel and ran away, as fast as she could, with no thought of her future on her mind.