Killed By Kindness
A/N: Did ya hear the rumor that Nation was murdered, supposedly by someone who looked very much like Brad Majors? Well, this is the story of that fateful night. It just goes to show...being helpful was not the best choice for her.
Disclaimer: The characters don't belong to me. Neither does the story, in fact. I read this plot somewhere and tonight I was inspired to write the story myself. So don't sue me or accuse me of plagiarism, because I'm guilty of none of that.
"Cosmo, darling, I'm going out for a bit. Perhaps I'll meet up with one of the girls at the bar or something- I know Laura Ansalong's in town, so maybe I'll see her tonight." Nation grinned as she brushed her hair and did her makeup, readying herself for a fantastic night out. Cosmo was staying at home to research audiovibratory physio-molecular transport devices, and he told her to just go out and have a fun time. The two had gotten married last year in the tiny country of Leinale; it was the only place where their...sort of relationship...was accepted. You see, they shared one very large thing in common. They shared the same father, so they were technically half-siblings. But they saw nothing wrong with their relationship. Nation would always say, "It's not like we chose to fall for each other. It just happened!" So there they were, sharing a brand-new apartment on Christopher Street in Manhattan, New York. It was a far cry from the simpler Denton, Ohio, but they loved urban life. Cosmo took a position as the new head of psychiatry at the Gibbs-Prior Institute of Mental Health, and Nation was a success with her private psychiatry practice in the city. In fact, Nation had found out earlier that day that one of the top hospitals in the city was considering her for their chief of staff of mental health. So, she wanted to go out and celebrate. She grabbed her coat and straightened her skirt, and she was out the door after giving Cosmo a peck on the cheek.
She found herself walking down near Tompkins Square Park when a familiar voice called out. "Nation! Nation McKinley! It's really you!" She turned around to see a slightly younger girl running towards her. Long hair, slightly long facial features and a voice unlike any other, it was indeed Nurse Laura Ansalong, in town to look at work on the NYC club scene. Nation ran and met her halfway, where the two friends embraced and started laughing- they were just so happy to see each other again. "Oh, my God. Laura. It's been so long, how have you been?" Laura explained how she had finally left Ricky (he had a penchant for taking photographs of her in her nightwear) and was relocating to the city in a matter of weeks. Nation explained all that had been going on with her after leaving Dentonvale three years before. "Where's that darling brother of yours?" Laura asked Nation. "Oh, he's working as usual. He's doing another research paper. But, he's happy. That's all that matters. So, where are we off to tonight?" Laura thought for a minute and then snapped her fingers. "I know! There's a new bar just opened. Blumire, I think it's called. Something like that. I heard their martinis are the best in the city. They're not all that expensive, either, and it's just a few blocks away around St. Mark's Place. Do you want to go there?" Nation smiled. "You know I can't resist a martini. Why not? Let's go."
"'Scuse me, ma'am, but do you have a dollar on you?" A little boy walked up to Nation, timid smile on his face. "I got a hole in my pocket, and my last two quarters fell out of it. I'm kinda hungry..." Nation laughed. "Of course." She handed him a few dollars out of a sizable wad of cash and patted him on the head. "Now, you go and eat, and get your pockets fixed before you lose any more money. Are you going to be all right getting home?" The boy nodded. "I just live a few blocks away. I'll be fine. There's no food in the house right now so I decided to go out to eat. I'll just get something over at the store and go right back home, ma'am. Thank you very much." "Nation. My name's Nation. Have a nice night." The boy scampered off to the store, and when Nation turned back around, Laura was grinning. "You're just so very nice. Not many people like that around here." "Now come on, Laura, you know I can be a bit of a rude girl if I wish to be...Oh, is that the bar?" The bar stood in front of them, blue and purple neon lights announcing "Blumiere, Now Open for Happy Hour." Laura laughed. "Blumiere. You see? I told you it was something like that." The girls walked in, giggling. Another person had noticed Nation's act of kindness- a homeless guy across the street with brown hair, taped up glasses, and a tattered T-shirt saying "Dentonvale".
The two women sat at the bar, chatting away, when suddenly Laura noticed something. "Nation! Your ring, it's beautiful! So, you and dear old Cosmo have tied the knot?" Nation replied, "Yes, we got married three months ago. It was beautiful. We couldn't find your number or else we would have invited you to the wedding! You remember Bert Schnick, don't you? He was one of the people who officiated at the service." Laura thought on this for a moment. "Nation...Where on earth did you go that actually did your wedding?" "Leinale. It's quite near the Bahamas. We found a priest there that consented to marry us. I explained how we ended up together, that it wasn't by choice, but by fate. He obviously believed me, because the following week we were married!" Laura asked, "Do you have pictures? I want to see pictures! Oh, hold on, here comes the bartender. Yes. May I have a blue martini, dry, go easy on the vermouth? What do you want?" Nation ordered a cosmopolitan. Then she went in her wallet to dig out the wedding pictures which she carried with her all the time. "This one is of the beach where we got married. And this is me, in my wedding dress. Isn't it beautiful?" Nation was right, it was a beautiful picture. It featured Nation, red hair flowing down her back and contrasting with a porcelain-colored white dress, with a corset-style bodice and a long billowy skirt. She stood barefoot on the beach looking out at the ocean. "Oh my gosh, you look so pretty! I wish I could have been there!" Laura said. "I wish you could have too..." said Nation. "Maybe we'll have something for our four month anniversary. It is next week, it'd be nice if you came to celebrate with us." "Are you sure I wouldn't be intruding? I wouldn't want to disturb you on your anniversary." "Don't worry, it'll be fun if we all go out that evening. We can go out to a restaurant or a club. Cosmo's been really into the nightlife around here since we moved here." Laura smiled as she downed the last of her drink.
"May I have another?" Laura asked the bartender an hour later. "Sure, ma'am. Uh, can I get your friend here anything?" Nation looked up at the bartender and shook her head. "No thanks. Any more and I'll be walking into walls and talking to clocks. Uh, I'll have a coffee, if you don't mind. Black, nothing in it." A few minutes later the bartender served their drinks and they toasted to each other. "To forbidden love," Laura said. Nation smiled and said "To good hangover cures." They clinked glasses and drank to their health. After another half-hour at the bar, the girls left and continued walking down St. Mark's Place. "So, Nation, where are you living now?" "Oh, I live at 120 Christopher Street. It's a nice brownstone apartment building. Hey, do you want to see it on our way back?" Laura said, "Okay! I'd love to see the apartment! And I haven't seen Cosmo in a long time. So that should be nice." They walked the streets and looked in the shop windows. "Oh, look, Nation, Bloomingdale's. It's the one department store I like in this city. I wish it were open- do you remember when we used to go to the one in Akron, just to try things on?" Nation remembered. It was right after they had moved to Denton from England, from their little flat in Sloane Square to a mental institution in northeast Denton. Laura had been the first person to befriend Nation- despite all their talk about "happy hearts and smiling faces," Dentonians really did not accept Cosmo and Nation at first. Once their TV show was on, however, they were two of the most popular people in Denton, going to parties every week and living a wonderful life. Nation McKinley and Laura Ansalong became fast friends, and soon, the two were inseparable. It was their favorite pastime to visit the Bloomingdale's every month to try on things that they couldn't afford. "Yeah," Nation whispered. "I remember."
The girls headed back toward Cosmo and Nation's apartment- Nation had invited her friend back for coffee and conversation. They rounded the corner and saw the apartment complex, two blocks away. "Oh, no! Nation, I forgot something back at the apartment. I forgot my cell phone- with my luck, they've probably been trying to call me all night! Look, I live right there. Come on in with me so I can get my phone and stop worrying." Nation said, "I rather like the fresh air. I think I'll stay out here. I'll wait right here for you, so just hurry up." Laura made sure it was all right, and then she went in the apartment. On the street, Nation felt apprehensive and uneasy. She felt like so many do in large cities- as if she was constantly being watched. Suddenly an unfamiliar voice filled the air. "Oh, Doctor McKinley...I need your help." Nation turned around. A young man, rather disheveled looking, walked towards her. "Oh my- Oh my God, is that you, Brad?" "Yes, Nation, it's me. And I need your help. It's Janet- she collapsed in that alley over there." He pointed to a dark space inbetween two brownstones. "We were walking and all of a sudden she was on the floor. I was running for help, and there you are. Please, let's go." Nation nodded. "Let's go. Oh...Laura will wonder where I am. She'll just have to wait." They rushed across the street and were in the alley. They went to the end of the alley, where Brad said Janet had collapsed. "Brad...where's Janet? I don't see her." He laughed. "I know. She's not here. But you are. And I'll be needing that ring on your finger."
"Brad...what do you need my ring for? Drugs? Is it drugs? I can get you those, just please...not my ring. What is it? Dilaudid? Valium? I can get you anything you want." "No, Nation, I just want the ring. Simple, really, although I must warn you that if you don't give it to me nicely, I'll get it by force." Then Brad pulled a six-inch switchblade from his jeans pocket. "You see? Force. Now, do as I said!" Brad thrust the knife forward, slitting Nation's arm. She looked at it and tears flowed down her face. She backed away. "No...Brad, please, you're not being you right now...Please, calm down. Please..." She backed up, and backed up, and backed up, and then her back hit solid stone wall. She was trapped, and the man standing before her was certainly not in his right mind. "You have one last chance. Give me the ring." Nation reached for the ring, made like she was going to give it to him, and took off at breakneck speed toward the other end of the alley, where the safer Manhattan streets waited. Brad cut her off midway down the alley and held the blade to her throat. "If there's one thing I have learned, for I have had to live here in the alley after you and your crazy brother wrecked my reputation as a sane person, it is where one's jugular vein is located. It's right there, right where this knife is pointed. Now, rupturing that vein is most certainly fatal. What'll it be- the ring, or your life?" At the mention of Cosmo being "crazy", Nation was infuriated. "No, my darling is NOT crazy, I assure you!" She tried to grab the knife handle, but Brad brought the other end towards her palm where it was cut. Then he pulled the ring off of her finger, and she immediately started to scream. "No!" She ran towards the alley, and tried to grab the ring from him again. He swung the blade at her, and it hit her side, piercing her and completely disappearing under white skin covered by a white shirt, now quickly turning crimson. She gasped, "T-take it. ...Help! Anyone...please? Is anyone there? Please, anyone, I need help." A strange accent came from Nation's lips as she spoke. Brad looked incredulous and gasped, "Magenta?" as he ran from the alley.
Laura exited the apartment and looked around. Nation was nowhere in view. "Nation?" she cried. "Nation, are you there? I'm ready now..." She ran across the street and into the alley, crying out for her dear friend. "Laura? Over here..." Laura ran over only to see her friend covered in blood and lying on the cold ground, the red brighter than her beautiful hair. "Oh, no. What happened?" With a fading voice, Nation asked, "Please, get me to the hospital. Brad Majors. He stole my ring and then did this to me. Never mind about the hospital...it's too late already." Laura just held her in her arms, crying for help, calling 911 on her cell phone, and assuring Nation that it would all be all right. It was not all right. As the paramedics raced down the alley five minutes later, she was nearly gone. "Tell Cosmo...I love him. Okay? Go visit him on our anniversary. Thank you for giving me one of the best...nights of my life." She slumped over as the paramedics got to her side. One spoke as the other checked her pulse. "Let's get her on a gurney. I think we can save her." "No, we can't. There's no pulse, no heartbeat, no signs of life. She's gone. I'm sorry, ma'am." Laura screamed. "Can you try? I mean it's your job to save people, not to give them hope and take it away like that!" The paramedic said, "We'll try something." To the other medic he said, "Start chest compressions and CPR on three. One...two...three." They worked on her for what seemed like forever, but to no avail. "I'm sorry. She's not coming back. Please accompany us in the ambulance to the hospital. We'll clean her up, and you can contact her family." Laura solemnly and sobbingly went with them to the hospital, supported by the arm of a paramedic. She called Cosmo, who hung up the phone after saying he'd be right there. Cosmo arrived three minutes later, having raced along pavements and city streets, only to see his love cold and anything but alive. "My darling sister, you were always too kind. Now you've learned...and here you are, in oblivion. But I'll always love you, my darling. I swear it. And nobody will ever hurt you again."
Fin.