Monsters

24

Ring! The bell to Monsutakohi chirruped. Nobody looked up. Imari was mixing cake batter, her little arms strained with exhaustion. Ryobe yawned as he filled the coffee machine for the third time that busy day. Kenji winced every time his platter rested against healing arms. Haruki's legs ached every time he skipped over to a customer. Mariko's grin was too big and her heart jumped every time a customer wearing green game in. It had been a few days since any one had heard from Olive Branch and they were all edge. What was he planning? But today was the busiest day of the summer - it was the end of the school holidays and students needed to catch up on all the homework they didn't do - and none of the workers had time to even think.

"Hello Mariko." A familiar little voice spoke. She looked up, not saying anything. "Don't worry. It's just me. I need to explain everything to you. But right now doesn't look so good. What time do you finish?"

"Six." Marie replied quietly. Jamey could see the slight shake of the girl's hands as she picked up a mug.

"Ok then. See you then."

When six o'clock came and the five packed their things, ready to go.

"Guys wait." Marie suddenly burst, having been fairly quiet all day. "Jamey's out there."

"She is? How do you know?" Kenji frowned as Ryobe looked out of the window.

"She told me. You guys must have been so busy you didn't see." Without waiting for anyone to say anything, Ryobe opened the door and invited the small girl in.

"What do you want?" He demanded.

"I've come to give you something. An explanation." Ken slammed a plate onto the side and growled through gritted teeth.

"Then get to explaining." Jamey took a deep breath.

"He had cancer. Zephyr was dying."

"Oh okay. I guess it's all okay th-" Imari flung her arms around sarcastically but was quickly cut off by Marie.

"Had? Was?"

"He died a few days ago. Madelyn's dead too. She jumped..." She looked away for just a second, thoughts of her only friend filling her mind before proceeding to tell the group what had happened those few days ago.

"That doesn't explain his obsession with Marie." Ru put his arm around her waist, frowning.

"She can regenerate quickly. The only thing keeping him alive was the flesh of Dark Eyes. But with someone like you Marie, he wouldn't need to kill any more. He was overjoyed when you survived. But when you left, he wouldn't eat for days and... He's gone now." Ru pulled Marie slightly closer to him.

"Good."

"Ru!"

"He killed so many people! He killed Maro. He almost killed Marie. He drove me and Ken apart. So dont 'Ru' me, Imari. I don't feel sorry for the bastard."

"Fucking hell, Ru." Ryobe shook his head. "I mean, yeah I agree but. The guy's dead. Have some respect."

"What is there to respect." He spat back. Gently, Marie placed her hand on his shoulder, calming him slightly.

"Everyone has suffered greatly because of him. It is good that he's dead and that nobody else will suffer the same way. But getting angry won't help. Years of bruised knuckles and therapy has taught me that. I'm sorry, Jamey, that you had to play such a part in it."

"I should have walked away. I know that." Grimacing, Jamey sighed and tried to shake away the tears in her eyes. "But I was a coward. I still am. If he hadn't died, I would still be by his side with Madelyn. She couldn't live without him. He beat her, abused her, belittled her, he even tried to eat her in his last moments. But she still loved him enough to pity his slow death. And she still loved him enough to kill herself once he was dead."

"That's... awful." Feeling sorry for her earlier sarcasm, Imari found herself hugging the smaller girl tightly. "Do you have somewhere to stay?"

"Yes. Zephyr had money. It's mine, now. I'm leaving the country. But I don't know where to go so if anyone has any suggestions."

"England." Grinning, Marie scribbled something onto a napkin. "Go to London. You'll love it there."

"Thank you. Thank you, Monsutakohi. You lost so much, but you saved me. I'm free now. I'll be eternally grateful. You saved many other people. Many people who weren't even involved in the situation, but would have been in the future. You are heroes. Thank you for being here."

And with that, she left, and the bell on the door chimed happily for the last time...

The last time in this story, at least...