THE DEAD ZONE ~ Marhinki

.15

Mari awoke that morning in a serious amount of pain. Last night she had barely remembered that she was stabbed, but this morning she didn't know how she could ever forget. The kind man jumped to his feet as she released a small groan of pain. He shuffled around opening and closing drawers and cabinets, muttering to himself. Finally he produced white pills from a cabinet, before rushing over to her side.

"Swallow these," He told her gently. "They will help to relieve the pain." She glanced at the small white pills that were in his palm, before slowly picking them up. She didn't put them anywhere near her mouth, instead she just looked at man who was offering them. He turned and handed her a glass of water. 

"Why are you helping us?" Mari asked, trying to hide the obvious pain in her voice. The man just looked at her, like the answer was obvious.

"Just take the pills, Mari." He turned and Mari slowly raised the glass of water to her lips before swallowing the pills. She still wasn't sure if she could trust this man, but she decided that he wouldn't go through all of the trouble of stitching up her wound to kill her now. So she took the pills, but she still didn't trust him. Not yet, anyway. 

"Who are you?" The man turned back around to face her, and shook his head. 

"I know you don't trust me." He stated this, his gaze never leaving her face. "And I don't trust you. I'm helping you because Matt asked me too. And as soon as you are recovered, you are getting the hell out of my house, unless you magically convince me that you aren't about to ruin my life and kill one of my only friends." 

"If you're talking about Sohinki, I'm not going to kill him," She snapped. "I've done nothing but save his life. He wouldn't have lasted one day in the Dead Zone without me!" The man laughed.

"He wouldn't have lasted one day?" He shook his head, still laughing. "Then you don't know Matthew Sohinki." 

"What aren't you telling me?"

"A lot," The man answered. "You've been inside the Dead Zone for years, you don't know anything about this world." Mari slowly sat up, looking the man up and down.

"I'm going to need your help." 

~*~

She was sitting on the couch, curled up with a mug of... something. She wasn't sure anymore. She hadn't had a warm drink since she was thrown into the Dead Zone, in fact, she hadn't had a real meal since she was thrown into the Dead Zone. But now she was sitting on a man's couch. A man that had pulled a knife out of her chest. She shook her head and leaned into the chest of the man who's arm was thrown around her. 

"Damien," Sohinki greeted, as the man entered the room. That was Mari's first clue of his name. That was Mari first clue to why she was beginning to recognize him. Damien only nodded as a greeting before sitting across from the five fugitives. 

"I need to know who killed the prince." Mari stared him down. Damien cocked an eyebrow, but moved to answer her question anyway.

"Matthew Sohinki," He answered. Sohinki shifted, just as Mari narrowed her eyes. 

"Lying to me just makes me want to kill you," Mari snapped. "Tell me the truth, who killed the prince?" 

"Fine," Damien rolled his eyes. "The prince killed himself. The king wanted to cover it up, didn't want anyone to think that his son was weak, so he called it a murder and pinned it on Matt." 

"The prince killed himself?" 

"Shocked?" Damien smirked. "Did you really think that someone would kill the prince? The prince was the only hope for this damn country, why would anyone kill him?" Mari only glared at him. Her mind was reeling, and finally, instead of asking another question, she doubled over. She groaned in pain. Sohinki, turned towards her, visibly worried. Damien looked a little more skeptical, but he too rushed over, helping her to her feet. 

"Let's continue this conversation in the morning," Sohinki suggested. "Mari needs rest." Mari gave him a weak smile and Wes picked her up, following Damien to one of his many guest bedrooms. After Wes deposited her on the bed, and after Damien pressed more pills into her hand, Mari sat up, placing the pills on the nightstand beside her.

She needed time to think, and if faking that she was in pain was the way to get that time, she was going to do it. She had planned everything so carefully when she was in the Dead Zone. She had planned for everything, or so she thought. She hadn't ever imagined the prince being dead, and she hadn't ever imagined that she would meet Sohinki. And learning that the prince killed himself? Now she couldn't even get revenge. And now the real question? What in the world was she going to do now? 

And with the pain slowly creeping back into her chest, Mari swallowed the white pills and laid down on the bed. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. She had a lot of thinking to do.

~*~

When she woke up the next morning, she still had no idea what she was going to do. But she slipped out of bed, groaning in pain as she stood up. She stumbled to the door of her room, panting slightly at the pain pulsing through her chest. She walked through the hallway, realizing that it was still early by the fact that the sun was just barely peaking in through the windows. She moved to the closest door, slowly opening it and peaking in. Lasercorn was passed out on the bed, the sheets tangling him. Mari smiled at her sleeping friend before, slowly closing the door, and moving to the next one. This one held the person she was looking for.

She opened the door wide enough for her to slip in, and pushed it closed behind her. The man shot up in his bed, locking eyes with Mari. She sat down on the edge of his bed.

"We need to talk."