Save Me... A Markiplier Story

Episode 16 There's No Need For That

Mark's POV.

"Phi. No need to point the gun at me. Okay? I'm not going to do anything. Not a ding dong damn thing." I said.

"I know. They're blanks anyway. It won't kill you even if I shot you. Quit being such a damn baby." Sophia said.

She put the 45 down from pointing at me. I was able to unfreeze. I was scared like hell, but not dead yet. So I guess I was okay. She pushed me out of the way, and went into the livingroom. Someone knocked on the door. I went to my computer to see where the trace was. It was at my door. I ran back to the livingroom and I told Sophia to go to my room. She listened and I answered the door.

"Um, hello." I said.

The guy stared at me with a look of hate in his eyes. He was stocky, well built, and had black hair. Obviously dyed hair. He looked up at me and started talking.

"Is this the residence of Sophia Cena? She's a Missing Person for the past four years and we got word she lived here."

"Who's 'we'?" I asked.

"Unimportant. Yes or no. Does Sophia live here?"

"Not it the technical sense, no."

"I need an answer."

"Well you're outta luck dude. I'm not telling you anything about anyone until I get answers."

He got really mad when I said that.

"Okay, look gamer boy. I know who you are. Mark whatever. Where's my little sister?"

"Little sister? Your name wouldn't happen to be Michael, would it? And you wouldn't have happened to download and embed a Location Tracker in her phone either huh? I know you too. You missed a minor detail. You left the trace ability on."

He pushed through my door and slammed my head against the wall and pinned me.

"I said. Where is Sophia you ignorant little prick? Is she here or not? You lie, you're stuck in a certain creek without a paddle. Where is she?"

"By what I've heard, your the trainee and she's the punching bag. Your dad's the coach, your brother, Jake, is the encouragement, your daughter Brynn is the replacement bag, your wife is the one that agrees with whatever you say because she's scared to tell you no, and your mom is the sorry son of a bitch that lost her life getting in the way of it. Let me tell you something here, I don't approve the likes of you in my apartment calling me the bad guy."

I pushed him off of me and he fell onto the floor. I picked him up, got in his face and started demanding answers.

"Why are you doing this? I better get an answer out of you, you son of a bitch. Why are you treating your family like utter shit? They don't deserve it. And you know that damn well."

"Alright. That's none of you're damn business. Lettin' go of me might help your chances of gettin' answers though."

"I'm not an idiot. You think I'm letting you loose? How stupid do you think I am? You aren't going anywhere. You can forget it."

"I think you're pretty damn stupid if you're askin' me."

Sophia came out of my room and Michael saw her. He broke my grasp and started toward her. He'd started yelling and grabbed her arm, saying 'we need to go' or something or other. Phi just stood there, blank expression, almost mad. My common sense kicked in and I remembered what she said, what she was willing to do if she had to. I didn't see the gun so I assumed it wasn't there. I remembered what happened two days ago to me. The switchblade. Knowing what Sophia had said about being perfectly willing to hurt Michael, I saw her reach for the blade in her boot. I had to do something. Phi would kill him if I didn't.

"Hey!" I yelled. "Phi, I know what you're thinking. It's not worth it."

I ran over and grabbed Michael and tugged him away from Phi. She stepped back, breaking the grasp Michael had of her arm. But he never broke eye contact.

"You're not understanding." He said to her. "Brynn's getting hurt and it's your fault. You don't give a damn. You have a chance to fix her, save her. She's your niece after all. You should feel like shit! You're hiding with your little boyfriend here, while she's getting her ass kicked to save yours! You know it, too. I oughtta-"

I jerked him back, stopping him from talking any further. He was dehumanizing Phi. I wouldn't stand for it. I wouldn't listen to it anymore. I made him turn his face toward me and I held my hand out. Signaling Sophia for the switchblade. She handed it to me and I pinned Michael against the wall, he hit his head and it stunned him. I held my forearm and the blade to his throat. He was struggling to breathe, but I didn't care.

"Look," I said. "you come in my home and threaten Phi, we're gonna have a problem. I don't know what has to go through your head for you to think that what you're doing is okay, but it isn't! I can guarantee you that much. Pull your head out of your ass, you son of a bitch! Do you know how stupid you're making yourself look right now?"

He looked at me, sort of scared. Probably because he couldn't breathe much and there was a switchblade threatening his life. I don't know exactly what I was doing. I'd never threatened anyone literal harm. I guess I'd been acting subconsciously. I didn't know what I was doing. Once I realized what I'd done, I weakened. I let up, allowing Michael to breathe again.

"You know what? The past few months I've dealt with a lot of people. You're no different." I said. "You're just another person, who wants to get in the way of whatever the hell Sophia's trying to get away from. It's not going to happen. No way. Do you understand me?"

Michael nodded and I stepped back. Sophia was still standing behind me, watching what I had been doing. Michael stood for a second. Then started to say something.

"Alright. Consider me gone. Whatever. But don't you forget what I gave you the chance to do, Sophia. Remember your niece. The choice you had. Brynn's going through hell. You're the only one who could've helped her. But you didn't."

He didn't say another word. I flipped the switchblade shut and handed it back to Phi. Michael just glared at me, then left. I was confused. What am I supposed to think? To say? Why is this happening to a single person who hasn't seemed to have done anything wrong? How did anything like this come about? What satanic world did Sophia live in? Where did her life go wrong? So many questions swirled through my mind within seconds. I didn't know where to begin. I didn't know what I was going to do. Am I set up for this? Is this what's going to happen the entire time I know Phi? I don't know if I can handle it. I'm not one to just give up though. Is this something I can't handle? How many more people are there? People who want Sophia to be harmed? Maybe this is something I'm not able to go through with. It's a huge slap in the face for sure. I just stood for a for a minute. Lost in my own mind-boggling world.

"I wasn't going to kill him." Sophia said, interrupting my train of thought, thankfully.

"What?" I asked.

"I wasn't going to kill him. Looked like you were though."

"No, I wasn't."

"Looked like it. But whatever."

"Hold on. Why in the hell are playing everything so cool? Like its just some regular, everyday thing?"

"Because it is. I'm not new to this you know. It's kind of been the thing of my life for the past 18 years. Nothing I haven't been through before."

"Well, I feel stupid then. Because apparently I'm the one overreacting."

"No. Forget it. I'll be right back."

Sophia started towards the front door and sounded irritated with something.

"Hey. Where are you going? Something wrong? Sophia?"

"Nothing. I said I'll be right back."

"You want me to go with you?"

"No."

Sophia's POV.

I wasn't going to say anything to Mark. I couldn't say anything without him taking it the wrong way. I walked out of the apartment and down to the office next door. I went in and was greeted by a familiar smiling face.

"Hello Sophia. How can I help you?" The desk attendant said.

"Hey Trey. I have a question."

"Shoot. Whatever you need."

"Remember when you told me I could have my key back whenever I needed it?"

"To your apartment? Why to you want it back? Is something wrong between you and your gamer boy?"

"Kinda. He wouldn't get it though. It's not his fault."

"What happened between you and Mark? I never knew there could be something that bad that you'd want your key back."

"It's nothing. Just, can I have it Trey?"

"Do you want to talk about it? I told you the first day you moved here that I'd help you out whenever you needed me. You look like you need a little help. So, what happened?"

"Trey. Just hand me my key. I'm not kidding."

"Sorry there sweet heart. I'm not joking either. I don't know what a sad face means to Americans, but in England, it means someone's sad."

"Quit being sympathetic. Just give me back my apartment key, you damn Brit."

"Nope. Sorry. Answers are answers. And I need them. If there's a problem with your relationship with Mark, I need to know."

"Fine. I'll tell you, only if I get my key first."

"Fair enough." Trey grabbed the key off the back wall and handed it to me.

I tried avoiding telling him by heading toward the stairs. Trey quickly figured out my plan and ran after me. He came up behind me, wrapped one arm around my waist and carried me back to the desk.

"Okay, kid. Obviously there is something wrong." He said. "And if you try to one up me, it's pretty bad. What is so wrong with your relationship that you can't spare five minutes to tell me about?"

"It's not even a legit relationship. The only thing different is the name. From friend, to girlfriend. I'm moving out of Mark's apartment. I can't let him get hurt anymore."

"What the bloody hell do you mean by 'hurt'?"

"My brother Michael came over a while ago. Threatening him, slammed Mark's head against the wall. After Michael left, I saw it in Mark's expression that he hated going through and trying to deal with everything that's happened to me. Luke, Michael, and everything else that is going to happen. I held a switchblade to his throat the other day, Trey."

"Wow. That's a lot to deal with. I'm sure that he's not just willing to let you handle everything on your own. You're just a-"

"Don't. Don't finish that. I'm not just a girl. I'm a soldier. I'm trained to handle whatever's thrown at me. But I can't. For whatever reason, I don't know. I'm a sergeant first class in the United States National Guard. Awarded with the Bronze Star and Purple Heart for doing something that I never thought I could do. And for what? To wimp out at the last possible second? I can't just let Mark deal with my problems because I'm deciding a wimpy little bitch. It'd kill him."

"Phi, you're not a soldier anymore. Honorably discharged, remember? You're not wimping out. You're trying. Sometimes it just doesn't work out the way you want it to. If you can become defensive enough to hold a knife to Mark's throat, you haven't wimped out at all. It's just not registering in that pretty little head of yours. Sometimes, people need help. Prized soldier or not. You want your key? Here. Just promise me you know what it is you're doing. Don't shut him out. The way I see it, you're more than he could ever want. If you were to just up and leave him, that, would kill him."

"Thanks Trey. Surprisingly, your accent makes me feel a little better. It's comforting. But I think I'll keep my key. It's not worth seeing Mark get hurt. I don't want anything to happen to him."

Trey gave me my key and I headed up stairs to my apartment. I unlocked the deadbolt and went inside. The apartment gave me a chill down my spine. Everything was put together like how Mark had said he tried to do. I closed the door behind me and walked around from room to room. The only things missing were my computer and some clothes. I hated this place. So much. But I told myself I wasn't going to have Mark get hurt because of something I did four years ago. It just wasn't worth it. I'd have to shut him out for him not to get hurt. It was going to be hard, but I had to. I'd made up my mind. Relationship: over. Living with him: over. Knowing him: over.