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Mark Carter is the younger brother of Mary-Lynnette Carter, and fellow resident of Briar Creek, Oregon. As with his sister, he first appears in the second book, Daughters of Darkness, although this is his only appearance in the series.
Appearance[]
Mark is very close in physical appearance to Mary-Lynnette, having tanned skin, "dark and shiny" hair, as well as "blue and clear and snapping" eyes.
As a child, due to his severe asthma, Mark had originally "been thin and scrawny", causing him to be confined to an oxygen tent when he was two years old. He survived, and ultimately grew to be much stronger and healthier.
Personality[]
Initially, Mark is shown to be reserved and "shy", with a biting sarcastic streak and a tendency for muttering. As a child, having been confined to an oxygen tent due to his asthma, unable to have contact with others as a result had a profound impact on Mark. He became "shy and clingy" and "for years hadn't been able to go out for sports like the other kids."
Even though he eventually grew out of his weaker state, Mark retained his shyness and shortness of speech. When "defensive", he is known for snapping abruptly at people. However, he tries to curb this tendency around Mary-Lynnette, whom he really does care for. He is also softened by Jade, whom he loves in spite of her vampiric nature, although he is sickened at the idea of drinking blood. He is touched by her difference, calling her "brave[...]funny, and so....herself."
History[]
Daughters of Darkness[]
Mark first accompanies his sister to her favorite hill for starwatching, helping her carry her telescope. As they ascend, Mary-Lynnette discusses the arrival of Mrs. Burdock's nieces, although Mark is indifferent to the news. However, when Mary-Lynnette tries to suggest meeting the sisters (hoping to set Mark up with one of them), he explodes, angered at Mary-Lynnette's meddling, insisting he will find a girlfriend when he wishes to. To distract him, Mary-Lynnette points out a "star" (the planet Jupiter) for him to wish on.
As Mark descends the hill, he is regretful of fighting with his sister, whom he truly does like, although he is against her attempts to "fix him". As he leaves, he makes a wish for excitement to come to their town.
The next day, Mark is cornered by Mary-Lynnette; he initially suspects that she is angry with him for taking her Walkman (IPod in updated editions of the book). However, Mary-Lynnette only asks for his aid in spying on the Redfern sisters, especially in return for whatever had happened to her Walkman, getting him to reluctantly agree, though he clearly states he has no desire to speak with any of the girls.
While Mary-Lynnette goes to the front of the house, ultimately speaking with Rowan and Kestrel, Mark goes through the garden at the back of the farmhouse. There, he sees Jade for the first time on the back porch, dancing to a clock radio advertisement. He is entranced with Jade, although he startles her when she turns to face him. Frightened, Jade quickly fiddles with the radio to shut it; Mark races up to help her, moved at her apparent fear of him. After shutting it, Mark and Jade speak, the two taking a strong liking to each other. However, they are interrupted when Jade senses a creature in the garden, although she cannot smell it properly. Misunderstanding, Mark tries to calm Jade, but she refuses to let him hold onto her, nearly attacking Mary-Lynnette by mistake.
The siblings depart, but when Mary-Lynnette seeks to investigate Mrs. Burdock's disappearance further, Mark turns on her in anger, defending Jade. Seeing how much Mark is in love with the youngest Redfern sister, Mary-Lynnette outwardly agrees to drop the subject, though in reality she plans to investigate further on her own.
However, Mark, having an inkling of Mary-Lynnette's scheme, follows her back to the Redfern's, locating her in the goat shed behind the house. He confronts her, but Mary-Lynnette convinces him that her hunch regarding the girls is sound, although Mark still believes Jade incapable of killing anyone. He begs her to just go home with him, but at that moment the three sisters emerge from the house, seeking to rebury their aunt's body. Stunned when he sees Jade with her siblings digging up the garden, Mark and Mary-Lynnette follow them into the forest.
Once in the woods, Mark, devastated, witnesses the burial of Mrs. Burdock along with Mary-Lynnette, his asthma resurfacing due to stress. The two remain motionless when Kestrel begins listening, and then leaps over them to pin down and bite a deer, Jade and Rowan going to join her. Sobbing, and against Mary-Lynnette's urgent pleas for quiet, Mark calls out to Jade, who, along with her sisters, looks up and moves towards him. He demands to know what she's doing, despite Rowan and Kestrel's conclusion that the siblings must die for learning the truth about them.
Rowan proposes they sit and discuss things, and Mark agrees, though he is on the verge of hysteria over the revelations. He is still reeling over realizing Jade and her family are vampires, and is further disturbed when Rowan confirms that they were burying the body of their aunt. However, Jade speaks against killing him, claiming he is her soulmate, although both Rowan and Kestrel are highly skeptical. Mary-Lynnette swings a flashlight towards Jade in an attempt to escape, but Mark blocks the blow, leading to a brief scuffle between Mary-Lynnette and the sisters; Mark drags her away from the fight. Mark asks why they have to fight and kill each other, but when Mary-Lynnette claims they killed Mrs. Burdock, the girls vehemently deny it, explaining themselves and what had truly happened.
The two families agree to conduct a blood tie ceremony, with both Carter siblings giving and taking blood from each Redfern girl, binding the two clans as kin; Rowan chides Mark and Jade for taking a little longer than the rest, the couple obviously enjoying the experience. Jade also admits to falling in love with Mark, breaking Night World law, although she nonchalantly mentions that this also places him in peril when he tries to protest Jade's action on his behalf.
After the ceremony is finished, as they depart, Mary-Lynnette notes Mark's joy with Jade, whom he claims sees him for who he truly is. He mentions wanting to help Mary-Lynnette find someone too, but she only echoes what he had told her earlier: she will find a boyfriend when she wishes to. All of them return to the house, Mark and Jade hand-in-hand and helping each other out of the forest, and discuss the possible suspects involved in Aunt Opal's murder. Upon learning of the Night World, Mark is thrilled at the possibility of Jade being able to read his mind. However, they are interrupted when Jade discovers the dead goat, Ethyl, lying on the porch, impaled with several stakes and with a black iris in its mouth.
The group is then confronted by Ash, who knows about the Carters' knowledge of the Night World and insists they leave, as he does not want to kill them, having learned Mary-Lynnette is his soulmate. When Mary-Lynnette confronts the Redfern male, Mark drags her away, believing her to be crazy for attacking Ash, although he admits his pride in her for doing so. Upon returning home with his sister, the next afternoon, Mark speculates excitedly with her on the possibility of becoming vampires themselves.
The Redferns and Carters, after deducing that Ash is innocent of his aunt's murder, seek out Jeremy Lovett, another resident of the town, whom Mary-Lynnette quickly realizes is a werewolf and another Night Person. Mark also, against Mary-Lynnette's defense of him, believes Jeremy to be the culprit, citing the Lovett family history and a body having been recently found on Jeremy's ancestral land. On the way to the gas station where Jeremy works, Mark shows Jade the town from the car. When Tiggy, Jade's kitten, escapes her grasp, Mark follows her as she tries to chase the kitten down, but to no avail.
They all return to the Burdock farmhouse; while the Redferns go hunting, Mark and Mary-Lynnette try to think of possible suspects, though Mark is in disbelief that one of the listed people, Bunny Marten, is capable of harming a goat, despite Mary-Lynnette seeing her with wooden cuticle sticks found in Ethyl. Debating for hours as the girls and Ash slowly return, Mark, alongside Jade, nearly drops off to sleep, only interrupted when Mary-Lynnette and Ash decide to go out for a walk in the woods, to which Mark begins to protest, in vain.
Mark is last seen with Jade and the others inside the Burdock house Monday night, having learned of Ash's performance before Quinn to conceal the truth of what has happened and the murder of their aunt. Ash indirectly asks if Mark would like to become a vampire, but Mary-Lynnette's brother declines, having witnessed Jade hunt and, according to her "[thrown] up" at the sight, although Mark continues holding hands with Jade.
Ash and Mary-Lynnette - Those Who Favor Fire[]
Mark, along with Jade and her sisters, are mentioned by Mary-Lynnette when she is forced to abandon her college after it is attacked by a dragon. However, she is concerned as, even with a special phone provided by Circle Daybreak, she cannot contact her brother or blood-sisters.
Appearances[]
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