A/N A Christmas Present, a second chapter!

Requiem III: The Search for The Truth

By Bonnie Eagan & Alisa Joaquin

Part Four: Who is Marlene?

Marlene Elizabeth Pei crouched in the corner of her shadowed prison cell; a prison cell that was like none other. To someone else looking in they would be able to just make out a spacious bedroom with a seating area, a private bathroom, and a large wardrobe cabinet against the far wall. Two large windows could be seen, but they were covered with heavy drapes that had been pulled partially back revealing blue tinted sheers that matched. The sheers allowed just enough light into the room to keep the place from feeling gloomy. Still, to Marlene, it did not matter what the room looked like. It had been her prison cell now for three years. This was the fourth residence she had been moved to, and the fourth state. She did not know what the old priest was trying to accomplish when after only six months of being in Maine, the old man packed up their belongings and moved them from where they had been living. She had not even seen the old priest the last two times she moved. His face was becoming a dim memory in her mind. All she could remember were the words he just kept telling her.

"It was for your protection," he had said. "I made a promise that I would keep you safe."

But keeping her safe and keeping her a prisoner were two separate things. It had also been ten years since she had seen her son. One day, the old priest decided that they should be kept apart, again saying it was for their own safety, but Marlene no longer believed what Kim Luc was telling her. Calculating in her head, she realized her son just had his 39th birthday.

'Has it really been that long?' she thought. 'How long must I live this way? When will I ever get to feel the sun on my face again?' She thought about the last place they had been. It had been in a secluded wooded area. The house was huge, more like a mansion. A brick wall that was eight feet in height had surrounded the place. At least in that place she was allowed the freedom to move around the house and the grounds. In this place, she was lucky to even be allowed to walk around the rest of the house, if she was even in a house. Each time she had been moved Marlene had been blindfolded so she could not learn the location of where she had been taken. Eventually, she would find out the name of the city and the state she was in, but other than that, she knew nothing about the specific location of where she was staying. This time, she didn't even know what city she was in. She no longer cared.

'When can I be free?' she asked herself. 'I don't even know why I needed to go into hiding. His holiness never told me who was after me. Why must I remain a prisoner when my so-called enemy may not even be alive any more or maybe forgot I even exist? I don't even know where my son has been taken to or if I will ever see him, again. I don't even know if he's still alive.'

That last thought started Marlene's emotions on a downward spiral once, again. Each day she remained here her spirit slowly eroded away. She didn't even get a chance to say goodbye to her sister, Laura, whom she had not seen since they had been babies. She later had learned Laura died back in 1966. She never had a chance to meet her nephew or her brother-in-law. Oh, how she would have loved to see her sister's wedding. 'I bet she made a beautiful bride,' Marlene thought to herself. 'If only I could have met her fiancé. I bet he was a handsome man.'

As she thought of her sister, Marlene's thoughts turned toward her own husband, Li Pei. They shared much in such a short time together. She, sharing her life as the daughter of a diplomat and he, as a child of the Shaolin. She learned of his earlier life before he came to live with the Dalai Lama. He would tell her of his childhood friend before they were separated, torn apart by soldiers who attacked their temple home. She later realized her brother-in-law was the same childhood friend of Li Pei's. What was his name? She could barely recall it. It had been very unusual, a mixture of Chinese and American. If only Li Pei would come, but Li Pei knew nothing of her plight. She had not even been allowed to write him when she was taken to America.

'He must be searching for me,' she thought. 'He'd know if something had happened to me. If I died. Wouldn't he know? He's Shaolin. Oh, Li Pei where are you? Please find me before I die. I don't want to die alone.'

At that moment, a knock came on the door. Then a key was being inserted into the lock. There was an audible click, and a shaft of sunlight entered the dim room.

"Lunch is served, Madam." A maid with a tray covered with silver domes came into the room. She stopped by a small coffee table that sat in front of the small sofa in the sitting area and eyed the uneaten breakfast from that morning. The only thing that had been touched was the glass of water. It had been emptied. She laid the lunch tray down and picked up the other tray. She then proceeded to shake her head, and carrying the wasted food out into the hall, she re-locked the door behind her. Returning to the kitchen, she turned to the only other member of the household.

"I don't like this. I prepare a perfectly good meal and it goes uneaten. It's been three days. What's she trying to do, starve herself? I'm getting worried."

"I'll go phone the Master."

"Are you sure you should be disturbing him?"

"What other choice do we have?"

"You know what he'll say, Jake. He will try to bring someone in to force feed her. You know what happened the last time."

Jake reached up to his cheek and rubbed the long narrow scar that ran down the length of the side of his face. "Maybe you're right, Mia. I would not want to go up against him a second time. But there's got to be some way we can get her to eat."

"Maybe there is." Mia pulled out the set of keys from her pocket.

"No, you know the Master has forbidden her to even know."

"If we don't do something, he's going to have a dead woman on his hands. She needs this."

"But if she finds out where she's at, she might ask more questions," Jake warned.

"Who's to say she's not asking them now. What she needs is to be outside in the sunshine, but because of where we're at, that's not possible. I see no other way."

"Very well. But don't say I didn't warn you. If the Master finds out you've let her watch television, he'll have both our heads this time."

"Don't worry. He's not going to find out. I'll make sure it's only on for an hour or two."

Mia went back to the bedroom and unlocked the door to Marlene's room. She entered the room and approached Marlene as quietly and peacefully as she dared. "Madam, I have a little surprise for you."

"Please, go away. I don't want anything," Marlene said from a voice that was weak and a bit raspy from disuse.

"I think you will like this." Mia approached the wardrobe and selected a small key. She inserted it into the lock. As she opened the doors, Mai turned back to see Marlene's reaction then stepped aside so she could get a full view of what was inside.

Marlene raised her head off the chair that she had been sitting on the floor next to and stared into the now open cabinet. "What is it?"

Mia, still facing Marlene, stated, "It's a television. Should I turn it on for you?"

Marlene's eyes became wide. She had not seen a television in years. The last time she saw one was fou years ago. Anticipation filled her at the prospect of seeing once again what was going on in the outside world. All she could do was nod her head.

Kwai Chang Caine sat in meditation, back in his private kwoon after being away for a year. It felt good to be home. He was please at least on one thing. Peter had kept his promise and had taken care of this place however, he could not enjoy it. He had to find a way to calm his spirit in order so he could deal with his disrespectful son and to try to deal with his own emotions regarding his father. He had not expected to feel so angry. Granted Peter had apologized for the manner he had spoken to the Ancient. Learning that he had been disrespectful toward his grandfather was another matter. Caine could accept Peter being disrespectful toward him because of those lost years. It took them a very long time to repair their strained and broken relationship. Peter, however, did not know Matthew, and to be rude and disrespectful of the eldest member of the family was not the Chinese way, nor was it the Shaolin way. Caine feared that the lesson that Peter would have to learn would be a severe one.

Caine however, had other issues in himself that needed dealing with as well. The anger that he felt toward his father still existed. To concentrate on Peter, he would first have to quiet his own raging emotions. As Caine meditated on how he was going to teach his son a lesson, a feeling of great despair washed over him. It was so deep as to be palatable. Tears of anguish flowed down Caine's cheeks. These tears would have been understood and mistaken by others as tears of joy except they were not his own. He merely responded to the owner of those tears. He had not felt such despair since he thought Peter had been lost to him. At that moment, Peter rushed into the room, sweat pouring from his forehead.

"Pop, are you alright?" Peter knelt beside his father. He reached up and wiped one of the tears from his father's cheek. "I sensed you were in some kind of pain."

"It is not me, Peter, but someone is in deep pain," Caine replied.

"Who?"

"I do not know."

Father and son looked at each other with sudden understanding. Someone needed help. But in the back of Caine's mind anger remained, and it would seem that Peter's lesson was going to have to wait.

Continues With Part 5