One Hundred Tears Away........

by MagikKatya

The chestnut haired lady was singing to her again. She had just had a truly terrible nightmare, and had woken up shaking. The chestnut hair lady came in quickly and began to sing to her.

"It's okay, Neena, don't worry, there's nothing there that's in the dark that isn't there in the light," she whispered soothingly to the frightened girl.

"The attic, Momma! I heard something in the attic! Where Mr. Archibald lives! I heard a person scream," the girl whispered pointing to where their boarder lived.

"Neena, how many times have we been through this. Mr. Archibald is a director. The screaming comes from scary movies that he watches to get in the mood for his writings. You remember Miss Taume, don't you?" the woman asked.

"The lady who played the guitar?"

"Yes, that's right. Well remember how she would play at all hours of the night? It's just like that, my darling."

"He still creeps me out, Momma," she whispered fearfully.

"I know, Neena, but we need the money. By having a couple boarders living here, we have extra money. It's that simple. I'll leave the light on for you, how about that?" the woman asked kissing her head.

"Thanks Momma, night."

"Sleep well, my love."

The next day Neena, and her best friend(and the only girl that could put up with Neena's oddities for more than an hour), Sarah were sitting on the staircase talking in hushed whispers.

"I don't care what Momma says, I heard a real person screaming up there! I know I did. I can tell the difference between real and make believe!"

"I think you spend too much time reading those James Bond novels, Neena. I mean, you're boarder looks like a harmless nerd."

"Well, we'll find out, won't we?" Neena laughed reaching into the back of her jet black hair that was tied up in a bun. Sarah narrowed her eyes..

"How, Neena?"

Neena produced a single bobby pin and smiled. "We'll break into his -no, my attic! All good spies do this. This is what I'm going to do when I get older you know, I'm going to be a spy."

"Neena, don't be stupid, you're eyes are purple. They'd give you away in two seconds!" Sarah scoffed as Neena rolled her eyes.

"Ever hear of contacts, dummy? Now come on, concentrate. Momma's not home, so we only have a little while. You're my look out."

"Yeah, I'm looking out for your mom, and flying bobby pins when this thing fails." Sarah grumbled as she heard a click. Neena pushed the door open.

"You were saying, girl wonder?" Neena teased as Sarah looked shocked.

"Neen! You actually did it! You picked the lock! Why didn't you tell me you were so good?"

"I don't know, Sarah, it just happens. If I try a little bit, I can make anything open. It's a gift. Now come on, we'll case the joint," Neena laughed stepping on the old wooden stairs. She gagged at the smell coming from up in the attic. Sarah held her hand.

"Neena, I don't like this. I think we should go to my house and stay over there," Sarah whispered as Neena rolled her eyes.

"Sarah, when are you going to grow up? You'll never make it in the spy business," Neena scoffed as Sarah rolled her eyes.

"Good! I don't want to be a spy! You do. I want to be a nurse, so I can help people," Sarah whispered as Neena pushed her against the wall of the stairs.

"Shut up. I hear something!"

"But....but isn't he suppose to be out?"

"Exactly! Let's check it out!" Neena said dashing silently up the stairs.

"Neena! Wait up!" Sarah squealed rushing up the stairs and bumping into Neena. The two went flying in a ball of fury across the living room floor of the attic.

"Ouch! Real smooth, Sarah," Neena groaned pushing herself up on her knees and elbows. "You okay?"

"Uh huh. I'm fine. So, we're in his living room. Now what?" Sarah asked helping Neena stand up. Both girls looked around the room.

Nothing seemed to horrible. The place was spotlessly neat. Everything was spectacularly clean, and everything had a place.

"Obsessive compulsive disorder in it's finest, wouldn't you say, Sarah?" Neena remarked as Sarah giggled. She went over to a bookshelf littered with movies. She gasped. "What?"

"This guy is totally into gore. Every one of these movies is a horror flick! And half of them are like triple X or NC-17."

"Lovely," Neena said tapping her chin with her pointer finger. She closed one and looked around the room. "The guy's a perv, but I always knew that. Let's go to the lair of darkness."

"Where's that, Neena?" Sarah asked shuddering at some of the titles of the movies. Neena grinned a charming smile to her best friend.

"His bedroom, Sarah. Locked of course," Neena said taking out her bobby pin once more. After a couple seconds she grinned triumphantly. "Unlocked." Both girls stared at the door.

"Well? If you think I'm going in there first, you're more loony tunes than I originally thought," Sarah hissed as Neena nodded.

"Only fair, I suppose. I'll go first," Neena said pushing the door open. What the girls saw chilled them to the bone.

In the small bedroom was a murderer's delight. Three nearly dead women laid on the floor, and two more terrified woman laid undressed on the bed, all of them bound. Blood, and knives, and papers littered the floor. One of the women on the bed, had a horrific expression on her face as she tried to talk through the gag on her mouth.

"Neena, I want to go home. Now!" Sarah cried out a little frantically resting her head on Neena's shoulder.

"Oh god, what's that smell? I'm going to be sick. Sarah, we can't leave these people like this. And mom said having the pocket knife deluxe was impratical for a girl, ha. Never know when you have to battle wackos in your own house," Neena muttered, getting her knife out of her pocket. Sarah nodded. Help me untie them. We have to get them out of here."

Neena crept over to the woman on the bed. "Here, ma'am. This'll sting a little." Neena whispered cutting the ropes away from her wrists that were covered in burns. The woman winced. Sarah came forward with some men's shirts.

"Here, ma'am put this on." Sarah said wrapping the shirt around the lady's shoulders. The woman's entire body was shaking.

"Thank you. We have to get out of here. Gotta get to the cops. He's crazy," the woman sobbed as Neena nodded.

"Sarah, go call the cops. Tell them to get off their asses and get over here now," Neena commanded as her best friend darted out of the room. The woman stood up shakely.

"No you don't understand, we have to get out of here! Now. Leave these girls here, before it's too late!" the woman sobbed frantically.

"Miss, we can't leave them here. That's inhumane," Neena said as the woman grabbed her by the upper arm.

"You don't understand. This is a trap. He'll be back. Soon. Please, just get me out of here!" the woman yelped as it finally dawned on Neena. She nodded.

"All right. Come on, we'll go next door. You'll be safe-," Neena said as she saw Mr. Archibald holding a knife to Sarah's throat. She was crying. "No."

"Shhh Paula, you'll ruin the surprise. I've been waiting so long for you, Neena. It's about time you've come up here. So long," he repeated glaring at her. The woman, Paula, pushed Neena behind her.

"Let her go, Thomas. They're just children," she said defianantly. He grinned an evil grin at them.

"I've been waiting for this day, Paula. Look at her. Look how perfect she is," he whispered as Neena shuddered.

"Let Sarah go! My mom will be home! She'll come looking for us," Neena protested as he smiled at her.

"Nice try, Neena. I told your mother it was my birthday, and she insisted on making dinner for me. It'll take her hours to drive to Athens to get the ingredients, even longer to find the exact ones needed. You're mine. It's simple, your friend's life for yours. She's so fragile, it won't take anything to break her neck."

Neena looked at Sarah who was shaking her head. "Don't Neena, don't do it, please," she whispered as Archibald sliced the knife across her pretty face.

"Silence, you little brat!" he roared as Neena jerked at the pain Sarah must have been in. She hung her head, and stepped out from behind Paula..

"Let her leave then. I'm the one you want," Neena said as Sarah sobbed.. He pushed Sarah into Paula's arms.

"Do you think I'm stupid Neena? If I let her go, she goes right to the police, and I'm in jail before I have my fun with you. Paula, tie her up if you value your life and hers." he said grabbing Neena's arm. He kissed her cheek, causing her to shudder in disgust. He began to drag her back to the bedroom.

Sarah watched in horror, but then got an idea. She broke away from Paula, who didn't offer that much resistance in the first place. She ran to the bookshelf, and began knocking the movies off the shelves, taking them out of their covers and knocking them on the floor. He turned around.

"What are you doing, you little bitch! Stop that, I'll kill you! Stop that!" he said, but she just ignored him and continued to knock them off the shelf in disarray. He ran to the shelf and began to pick them up. "Stop that! They have to be in order. They have to stay in order!" Sarah, with tears flying down her face continued knocking them off the shelf as she watched Neena run to the window. She grabbed on to the tree and sat on the branch.

"Come on, Sarah, run!" Neena called stretching her arms out. Sarah stopped knocking them over and took off for the window, the blood on her face running into her eyes. Archibald struck her down. The blow staggered her to the ground.

"Please, Sarah, get up!" Neena screamed reaching out to her friend. She couldn't get back inside now. She could only watch.

Sarah stood up again and ran to the window. Archibald grabbed at her jacket. She forced her arms back so the jacket slid off her arms easily. She would make it, they would be okay. She climbed up on the window, trying to catch her breath before making the final jump to the try.

"Reach, Sarah. You can make it. I'll help you. Please," Neena said desperatly. Sarah nodded and jumped to the tree.

Sarah sighed in the air. She was going to make it. She would be fine. She saw Neena's outstretched arm and smiled. They were both okay. It was at the second that she felt a sharp jerk on her foot. She turned her head, and saw Archibald holding on to her leg. He was pulling her back in!

"NO!" she screamed! She kicked him, and watched him stagger backwards. She looked back to Neena, who had a terrified look on her beautiful face.. She couldn't understand why. She had gotten away from Archibald hadn't she? She then noticed that her hand was getting further and further away. She was falling She didn't even scream, she just closed her eyes and surrendered to the blessed silence.

Neena screamed in horror as she heard Sarah land on the hard concrete below. She scurried down the tree sobbing the whole time. She rushed to Sarah's side, and fell to her knees. "Please Sarah, be all right. Please," she whispered, but Sarah didn't answer. Neena sobbed harder, and watched as blood pooled perfectly around Sarah's left eye.

"Gracious child, why are you-oh no. Sarah-," a neighbor said coming over to the crying girl. Neena shook her head.

"She's dead. Call the police, Mrs. Storter, she's been murdered," Neena said with flat finality. The woman rushed back to her house.

Neena stood silent guard over her best friend. The left side of her own face tingling. The blood on Sarah's face had form a perfectly brillant red spot around her closed eye. "Forgive me, Sarah. I'm so very very sorry," Neena said kissing her forehead.

An hour later....

The police had removed eight dead and mangled bodies from the house-not including Sarah's. The hurt women where taken to the hospital, and Archibald was taken away in hand cuffs, screaming the entire time. Neena had insisted on staying to watch the entire thing. She was shaking violently, partly from the cold night air, and partly from the horror.

Her hand touched her left eye. A black spot had developed around her eye, indentical to the formation the blood had taken on Sarah's face. She felt hands touch her shoulder, and she jumped.

"It's okay, Neena. You looked cold. I thought you could use this," a young police officer said wrapping a blanket around her shoulders. He smiled a sad battered smile at her.

"Thank you. Are they going to be okay?" Neena asked softly. The young man with a white streak in his hair nodded.

"They'll be fine. I'm more worried about you, Neena," he said kindly.

"Neena's dead. She died along with Sarah. Only Domino exsists now," she whispered as his eyes watched her with pain.

"Listen to me, Domino, you'll come through this okay. You're a strong girl, don't give up on life. Not everything you'll see will be this bad," he said putting a necklace around her neck. It was a silver disc with a foreign symbol on it, like nothing she had ever seen.

"What does this mean?" she asked rubbing it against her fingers.

"It means hope. Don't ever lose it, Dom," he said gently kissing her. He placed a rough hand against her cheek. "Take care, Dom, we'll meet again." He walked away.

"Wait! What's your name?" she called after him.

He grinned at her. "Dayspring!" he called out disappearing as he turned the corner.

"Dayspring," murmured to herself. She looked at the packed backpack next to her side and the bus ticket to Los Angeles. From now on she was on her own. She started down the street, ready to start her new life, a life that was only a hundred tears away, but tears she would refuse to cry.

The shriveled old man looked at the young man next to him. "Nathan, are you sure this is wise. I do not like affecting the time stream like this," he said as the younger man grinned.

"You worry to much, Blaquesmith. We aren't doing anything drastic. We're watching after someone special," he said dryly.

"She is beautiful isn't she? So much like Aliya, but so different. She's close to the edge though, Nathan. Are you sure you want to waste time on her destiny. It does not look good."

"You said she would be an important part of my future if properly trained."

"True, but I don't know how important. I can't talk you out of this can I?"

"No, and she won't remember us. We'll just be a gentle push for her, to keep her going. Where is our little Domino going now?"

"Los Angeles. She'll run into trouble there. Why can't she go to a nice place like Kansas. She will be the death of me, Nathan."

"I'm certain she would enjoy that very much. Bodyslide two: Los Angeles. I wish we could have saved her young friend. Domino might never have become what she is, if Sarah had lived."

Blaquesmith stared at the dead body of the young girl that they hovered over invisibly. "She served her purpose, Nathan. This will not be the last death of a close friend that Neena will suffer. From now on, happiness for Neena will only be a hundred tears away."

The End

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