A TALE OF THE SEVEN..... Written by : Stephen McMahon AUTHOR'S NOTE: This Story also Available in Word Format, in a slightly earlier version, but with Fonts that greatly increase the enjoyment of the Tale. Anybody interested in the WORD Version should e-mail me at jmcmahon@iol.ie. Based on characters designed by Neil Gaiman, who can all be found in the SANDMAN Graphic Novels. If you don't have them, go out, right now, and buy them all. Its worth it, believe me. PROLOGUE - MY FAULT He deserves it. He's scum. He killed her and he deserves to die. This man should already be dead for what he has done. But I can't do it. I can't bring myself to look into another man's eyes and pull the trigger. I can't stand the thought of blowing this man's ( He is no man. He is scum ) brains out. He's begging. I should kill him now. People could pass by soon. That would be bad. Mister let me go Im sorry I didn't mean it whoever you are please please God let me GO I promise I won't say a word!! I scream. "SHUT UP!!" I can't hear myself think. My hand clamps on the handle. My resolve hardens. I press down on the trigger. The hammer draws back. A noise, then. A thunderclap in the dark, and the weight is lifted from my shoulders. In the distance, a lady screams. It's done. It's over. He is gone and she has been avenged. It occurs to me then that the whole damned thing is a lie. Revenge is not sweet. It leaves a taste in my mouth far more bitter than any lemon could ever be. He is silent. Finally. In death, he has found his peace. I haven't got that peace. I want that peace so badly. He is lucky. He doesn't have to do it any more. He doesn't have to rise in the morning and go to work. He doesn't have to pass by the faces on the street. The same faces. The same streets. Every day. He was lucky. He is dead. He can never know what it is like to hold your wife in your arms and see the light drain from her eyes. He can never know. Nobody can ever know what it is like. Tears are in my eyes as I glance at what is left of his head. There is blood on the floor. There is a dead man on the floor. There is blood on my hands. More blood. Blood for Blood, a motto I have been living by this past week. It is a falsehood. Blood for Blood for Blood. It is a neverending circle of misery and hate. I understand now. It is on my clothes, on my face. Even in death this man is laughing at me. I wretch violently, desperately trying to rid myself of the sickness inside me. Suddenly, a scream. Not a far-away scream like the earlier scream. This offending noise is behind me. I should turn. I should stop the screaming, end the noise, the disturbance. I can't. I am weak. Too weak. She would. She was stronger than me. Kinder than me. Better than me. She was...perfect. I cry out as, deep within me, my own soul whispers to me... If she was here she would berate me. She was not perfect, nobody is perfect, that was what she always said, before... before... I am on the floor. I am crying. Weak weak weak. The gun falls from my weak hand as it rises to dry away the tears. I'm never going to see her again. I loved her more than anyone loved anything in this whole damned world of ours. I loved the shape her mouth made when she smiled, I loved her for her face, I loved her for everything. And now I'm trying to remember what she smells like and I can't and God I loved her smell and I can't remember what it was like. All this because of this scum lying on the floor beside me. All of this because of a simple mistake. All of this because I wasn't there when she needed me. She needed me. I wasn't there. She died. She needs me still but she is dead. I will not fail again, and all I want is to go to her and be with her forever... Lying on the ground I am weeping. My tears fall into a pool of his blood, causing ripples to spread across the surface. He did more than send ripples through my blood. He destroyed me and he killed my wife, and it's not fair and I need to be with her one last time. I reach for the gun. I will find her and tell her I love her, how I 'm so sorry that she's dead because of me. It's my fault. It's all my fault. They killed her and my son and it's all my fault. I raise the gun to my mouth, and I shut my eyes. I will end this miserable, hateful life, and I will go to her... I am thinking of her voice and it is ripping me up inside and I can't take it any more and it's all... my... FAULT. In the end, I am not truly killing myself to be with her. I am killing myself because the pain is too much. And I am thinking of what she always said about people who killed themselves... she thought they were cowards who were not strong enough to face life... BANG. I fall to the floor. Something is wrong. I did not pull the trigger. I am not lying dead. Something hit me. And like that... I'm gone. GONE She's gone... and so am I.... drifting on a cold cold wind... I slip silently to the ground. The back of my head feels like it has exploded. The scum have taken my weapon from me. They have taken my love away from me again. I would have found her again. I would have been with her forever in Heaven ( deep within me, a voice cries out: suicide takes you to hell. It is easy to ignore it ) But now she's gone forever. I can never see her again. Ever. The thought of life without her is unbearable. I want to die and I want to get away from the voice inside me. It whispers in my ear. Over and over again... She's gone... and it's all your fault... I try not to listen to it. But it is loud. Too loud for my ears. It deafens me. Even now, as I lie unconscious on the ground, I should not feel anything. But I do. I see my body lying there, I see the policewoman at my head, lifting me into the van. I am thinking that her hands remind me of her so much. And I want to cry out and die. But they put me in the van and drive me away and I am alone again. And I hear the voice again... She's gone... and it's all your fault... And I cry out. And I scream into the dark. And there is no answer. I cry out "GOD! ANSWER ME! I loved her and you took her away from me! She was the most precious thing on this cursed earth and you took her from me and I want her back..." There is no answer, and I scream into the void again, "You took her and I want her back. If I can't have her back then take my life for hers. Anything, Christ, anyone, just give... her... BACK!" The final words are a scream against the black... No answer. I see myself then. I am no longer the man I was. Without her, life is meaningless. Without her, I don't want to go on. And then, from the Void, an answer. A voice unlike anything I have ever heard. A voice so grave, it hurts my ears. "There is no God. You are screaming in nothingness. You are screaming too loud, little mortal. Stop it. There is no love. There is only me. Only despair. You interest me, I should not be able to hear you, this is a rare case indeed... You must be in excrutiating pain. Curios indeed. Very well, little mortal, return to whence you came, I have business to attend to." I feel a tug. Somebody wants me to return to where I came from. I cannot. There is nothing left there for me. I hear a shuffle in the darkness. I hear the voice again, in the distance this time, faded and difficult to discern... "Desire, I stand in my Gallery and I hold your sigil. Talk to me, my sister/brother, there has been a most fascinating incident. Come to my realm, twin, and we shall talk." Another voice. This one does not hurt my ears. It is soothing and loving all at once. No it's not. It's the harshness in my ( dead ) mothers voice, it whispers of previous lives, earlier happiness which has now left me... It sounds like my love did. "Despair, I am busy. Can this not wait? I am watching this new Dream Lord's actions with care, it is most interesting. Did you see what he said to the Hall woman? But wait, how did this mortal find his way here?" "Mortal?? He is still here? My apologies, I had thought to send him back. Return to your rock, mortal. This conversation is not for your ears. Begone." I am hurled through the void. I am terrified, confused. The blackness seems to have a texture, many textures. I am swimming in a sea of black, and I am afraid. Suddenly, from the black, a colour. I see it in the distance. I will myself towards it. As I approach, I note that it is not just one colour, but many colours. I am taken into the colours, I am lost in shades of luminescence. Then I stop. Surrounded by a sea of confusion. I hear a noise. Almost like a voice, a strange voice. It's tone wilts when it should be rising, and vice versa. "Hello sad man. Why did you come here I wonder. But you cannot talk so do not answer me please sad man. I wonder how you got here. Sad man, I will look into your mind. I can do that you know here in my realm I can do anything I want." There is a pause then. The colours close in on me, sneaking into me. I am filled with a bizaare, indescribable sensation. When the colors retreat, I feel violated... The voice resumes. "Oh sad man I see why you are so sad now. I don't know if I can help you though, you really ought to talk to Death or Dream. But they are always busy and they never talk to anybody except each other and maybe one of us sometimes, but not a lot. I remember once the old Dream went with me and we looked for our brother and I drove a car and I met the dancing ladies and.... I will talk to the new Dream for you. He is new but he is not dark and scary like the other dream was. Not on the outside anyway. On the outside he is... ummm... all whitey and the old Dream was all dark and sometimes he was scary and mean and cruel and he said nasty things and he saw my little people kissing and he said 'stop' and I nearly cried I mean just because he was sad he was being spooky and... A sobbing noise. I am very confused. What the hell are all these people talking about? Is that me sobbing? No, it is the voice then, crying in the colours. "And... and... I think it might be my fault he died, and sometimes now I wonder if I should just turn into a doggy and go away with Barnabus to see Destruction and stay with him forever and ever. If he was here he would have saved Dream. But he wasn't and he didn't even turn up at the Wake even though EVERYBODY else was there, even Death and we made a man and he got the shroud and.... Sad Man I am sorry, since Dream's death I am finding it more difficult to stay separate, I find myself thinking about him and I forget to put the glimmer in my eye some times. I am changing again, and I don't know what is going to happen. Go back to earth and wait for Dream, he will visit you...Um...I hope he does I'll try to talk to him soon....oh Sad Man you have to go now but I REALLY wanted you to meet my doggy Barnabus and my little fishys and...." "Mister...mister....hey mister...wake up mister..." and the darkness is gone... ALONE IN THE DARK I want to die. My head hurts and I don't know where I am and I want to die. God, I want to die more than I 've ever wanted anything in my whole life. Not true, I wanted her more. And now she's gone... and now I am crying again. Alone. In the dark. Suddenly, there is a noise in the darkness. A jingle of keys, and a sliver of light pierces the dark veil surrounding me. Ching... Chack... and there is a door opening near me. A stranger has his hand on my shoulder. The way he grabs it, so much like she used to do when she was angry, when she had some minor problem with one of my actions. And I think to myself: I would give anything to have her back. "Geddup." I do not move. Again, louder this time, near to my ear: "You deaf asshole? I said GET UP!" The last words are a roar in my ear. "Why?" I mumble through dry, swollen lips. It hurts to talk and the light is hurting my eyes as I open them. "Because..." he adds, "you have a visitor." I don't want visitors. I don't want life any more. I don't want to see their faces peering at me through glass, eyes full of accusation, of pity. "I don't want their pity. I don't want their love. I want to be with my wife again. I don't care what I have to do I will have her back." "No wonder she left you here to rot, your parents are here, not your wife." I scream out. I struggle in vain at my restraints. Blinded by fury, I am fighting the unbreakable chains. I cannot get to this scum. The man backs away, nervously, bathed in sweat. "Uhhhh....OK mister, you don't have to see your visitors..." He is scared. He is standing there with his gun in its holster and I am helpless and he is scared. He does not know what scared is. Scared is when you see you see your wife and son standing helplessly by as they are slain where they stand. Scared is when you realise that it should be you standing there, and not them. He leaves, and I am alone in the darkness once more. A VISIT FROM DANIEL I am not alone. In the corner of the room stands a... I don't know what it is. It is not a boy, and it is not a man. It is a mixture of both. And in his eyes is a dark twinkle, a twinkle which is full of promise and intrigue.... "Neil Coleman. I have come here as a boon to my younger sister, I am sure you know her, her name is Delirium. She is changing into something new and different, something nobody except, perhaps, Destiny knows of. But this fact is of no concern in this particular matter... My sister has asked me to review your problems and do what is in my power to do. I would not have come, but it is not just my younger sister who has requested this. To see Despair and Desire in agreement is normal, but with Delirium involved, the rules state that I must hear your case. Speak mortal, and tell me your story. I am, after all, the new Prince of Stories, and I will need all the stories I can hear..... I speak then. In a slow voice, I tell him of my story: "She was incredible. The most incredible woman who ever lived. When she smiled, the sun paled. I loved her more than anything else in the whole world. Her name was Linda Zaske. We married 4 months ago, on a beautiful day in March. We only married because she was pregnant, and she was terrified of her parents reaction. But we loved each other - if we had not married then, we would have married soon.... 1 month after the marriage, she gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, who we named Jake. The world was perfect, I was happy and I loved her. "Last Wednesday, we were out at a film, late at night, maybe 10, maybe later... We had decided to bring the baby along, mainly because we couldn't really afford a babysitter. Money is... was.. tight, the baby was proving to be expensive, and my job at the hospital wasn't entirely adequate. But all we truly needed was each other. As long as we were together, we were happy ( and now she's gone and it's all my fault )... As we walked to the car, she told me that she had forgotten her bag. I went back inside to get it, leaving her and Jake to go to the car ( stupid stupid stupid ). I went inside and got the bag. When I came back out, I saw them standing there. Waiting beside the boot of the car for me. I had forgotten to leave the keys ( it's my fault it was all my fault ). Jake saw me walking towards him. He ran out onto the road to meet me. ( I look in his face and see love and promise. Perhaps had he survived I could live for him )" I am sobbing now. The tears are hot on my face in the dark. The stranger puts his hand on my shoulder. "Neil Coleman, be strong, it is what she would have wanted." "A car turned the corner into the carpark. It was driving fast... too fast... ( If he hadn't driven so fast she would be alive.... Linda saw it coming. She saw only the danger to her baby, she... she... ran out onto the road, reaching for the child. She was so kind, she didn't care for herself, for the damage she might suffer for her thoughtless action. The bag dropped from my hands as I cried out to them. Time slows, and I am forced to slow with it... everything is moving slowly, and I am too slow by far.... The driver hits Linda first, sending her spinning to the side. She might have survived had her head not impacted violently on a parked car. She fell to the ground, lifeless. My son ( My SON God damn you you bastars )stood motionless. Watching as the car bore down on him, he didn't flinch at all. It hit him head on, he was sent flying through the air, he died almost instantly ( amazing how one second can make such a huge difference... ). I sank to the ground. The car drove on. I threw myself out in front of it. Hoping to stop it, or die trying. For some reason, he chose to avoid me, so soon after killing all I lived for, he avoided me ( he was laughing at me...he must have known life without them would be hell... ). He swerved, smashing the back of the car into a wall. Before long he started up again, driving off. I had sense enough to scribble down the plate number. I left then, using what friends I had to devise a means for revenge. I knew too well that the law would let this man away with his life. I could not bear the thought. So I killed him, not for pleasure, or satisfaction. I killed him because he made my life a living hell. Do you know what it's like to rise every morning on your own? To have a huge portion of your life just taken away in an instant? No, of course you don't, nobody can. She's gone and I can't bear it any more...." "I...see ( no you don't, nobody can ever truly see ). So, what would you have me do? I could give you dreams of her, but before long you would go mad with grief. I can not help you my friend, but I sympathise. Wait here a moment, I will fetch my sister. The one you have not yet met. Older than me, but younger than brother Destiny, she may help you. Be patient, mortal, I shall be quick. And he is gone. And I am alone in the dark with my tears. I don't know what is happening to me. Who are these people to act as such? How did any of them get in here to talk to me? Destiny, Delirium? Despair? Desire?? I can sense that these people... well, I say people, I don't think these are ordinary people at all.... hold a great power, an ancient power, possibly even an endless power. And he is back, and before I notice he is back my attention is drawn to the dark figure beside him. It is a woman, ( definitely not a girl, I think to myself ) she looks angry and impatient. Her hands are on her hips, and she is wearing the most peculiar clothes. And, on a chain around her neck is the most unusual symbol, and it looks so familiar but I can't remember where I have seen it before... And now that I look closely, the woman is definitely familiar...like somebody I met long ago... Unusual, I think to myself, I guess those things have power after all. She speaks: "Oh Daniel, you called me here for this? A mortal in need? You must know that I have a lot of things to do, I cannot come to every mortal who wants to die, or every mortal who wants to have his loved ones ressurected." "My sister, I am sorry. You must know that I am new to these tasks. Had I known it would inconvenience you, I would not have asked." The man is shaking his head and sighing... "Daniel, you were right to call me, the rules in this matter are fairly clear. For a Dreamer to see more than 2 of us in his lifetime is cause for concern. The last man to do that was The.... sorry, before your time, Daniel. Anyway, I 'm not sure what we should do. In the last case, we did nothing, and the man went on to rewrite Destiny's book, causing all sorts of trouble in the process. He layed siege on the Endless, and nearly destroyed The Dreaming... so Morpheus had to deal with him... Swift, decisive action is imperative, whichever course we choose" There is a twinkle in her eye.... yes, I have definitely seen her before... and she is beautiful and her face promises the serenity my life needs, and were I not restrained I would reach out and touch her..... "Death?" the pale man speaks in the dark... "Yes?" "Sorry, I mean, would he want us to kill him, my sister?" He smiles. "Yes. He would. After the incident with the book, Destiny was changed deep within. He and Morpheus would both give anything to stop it happening again. I, as always, remain constant. I cannot take sides, this is up to you Daniel." And I want to reach out and touch her just once before I die... I speak through broken lips and it hurts very much to do so... "Listen, whoever you are... I think I love you, free me from my bondings, all I want is to touch you once before I die and I will maybe be happy again..." "Mortal. The lady you see before you is Death. She has the power to kill you, and also the power to..." He is abruptly cut off by his 'sister' who is undoing my restraints now. "Daniel, no, I can't do that in this case. Once a Finder's Lady is slain, she must remain so. To do otherwise would break every rule we have, and that can never happen, no matter what the consequences. No, all I can offer you is a quick Death." She reached out her hand. A pale white hand. I looked up into her pale white face, into her eyes. No emotion was betrayed there, no advice, no sympathy. "Neil Coleman. I rarely offer my hand of free will. You mortals seem to fear me even more so than my brother, but he is far more terrible. Neil. She is gone. Maybe she is waiting for you somewhere in the Sunless Lands. Take my hand and be with her forever." I cannot help it. The urge is overwhelming... I can see only one thing to do... I reach out and touch her hand. There is a noise, a huge noise, like the flapping of giant wings.... I can hear a voice calling me. It is her voice. I am with her again... together... forever........ EPILOGUE - ENDLESS "My sister, you surprise me. You are supposed to be a constant, like Brother Destiny. The price he paid for his change was huge. All evidence of his mortality has been erased - he is no longer a man at heart, he is the personification of Fate. What just happened? You encouraged that man, a violation of the worst order. "Has the death of Morpheus changed you in some way? Are you no longer the lady you once where? The Death he knew would never have taken such an active role in the affairs of mortals, no matter what...." "Daniel be silent. You do not know me. I do what I will, when I will. Of all of us, I have the most power..." This seems to shock Daniel, and when he speaks once more he sounds confused, nervous, and fearful.... "The most power? My sister, what is happening to you? Power? We are the Endless, my sister, we do not care for power..." But he is alone...his sister has gone, and Daniel is truly worried. He feels what Morpheus would have felt... terror... Sheer... unadulterated... terror... And, in the darkness, the King Of Dreams is crying.... END Author's Note : I am currently working on another story of the Endless. Mail me for details, I may be a while before I get to post it on rec.arts.comics.dc.vertigo...................