Sharing The Secret



Pt. 1 -Illusions





"Noooooo" Bob screamed as he cringed against the cold and jagged stone wall. Rough hands grabbing him and throwing him roughly to the floor . He struggled with the hands, forcing his attacker back against the wall. But it was futile as three more sets of hands grabbed him and forced him down on his knees. Bob opened his mouth to yell for help but the sound he issued was one of pure agony.



Bob shot up in his bed, breathing heavily and soaked with sweat, he ran a shaky hand through his long hair before touching his cheeks, which glistens with freshly spilt tears. He got up some what unsteadily and went into the bathroom. Turning on the light he looked at himself in the mirror "God" he said, he looked like shit. The dark circles under his eyes and the lack of sleep he'd been getting made him look like a drug addict.

Not that it was entirely untrue Bob thought as he opened a bottle of pain killer and swallowed six of the little pills.

He sighed knowing there wouldn't be any more sleep tonight and made his way into the kitchen, sitting down at the table, he stared, just stared at the plates and shakers on the table trying to think of something anything else but that hellish memory. Yet it seemed to Bob that the more he tried to get on with his life and forget , the more insistent the memory became. Till he could hardly bear it, and now he found he was in a cruel and twisted scenario that was doomed to replay again and again till it drove him mad . It had become an obsession ,he would have the same nightmare over and over , night after night than to calm himself he would take the painkiller but the drugs only made him think of it more, ...think of them...... .

Bob screamed as he swung the entire table against the wall, plates and silverware crashing to the floor. "LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!!" He screeched clutching his head, trying to stop the turmoil that raged inside him. Alone on the floor Bob crouched with his face in his hands, his small blue frame shook as he cried softly . "please ..g.go away" he whimpered to no one. Out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of a silvery object. Leaning closer he picked up the sheering knife silently and hugged it closely to his chest. Still sobbing he touched the blade to his wrists, then fell back on the cold kitchen floor as he felt the warm rush of liquid trickling down his arm.

Soon he would be free of the nightmares which haunted him. Soon.



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"Beep ,beep beep" the alarm sounded by Dot's head . Dot groaned and smacked the device to the floor before sighing and getting out of bed. She dressed and made her way downstairs to the hustle of the diner , which was already in full swing with poor Cecil flying to and fro ordering the various customers to wait at the bar.

"Madame, it is good to see you up" he started "have y... Wait at the bar!" he yelled again zipping off. Dot smiled at him then went over to a table where Matrix and Andria were sitting. " Is something wrong Matrix ?" Dot asked her brother who appeared genuinely perplexed at the meal before him.

He slowly looked from his plate to her then back to his plate again " I asked for over easy " he finally said, then pretended to mourn over the mistake while Andria and Dot giggled.

"Dot, Dot !!" a shrill voice came from the stairs.

"Ut-oh, it's mini me " Matrix said. He , and the others turned to see the frantic little sprite come charging in through the diner.

"Dot ," Enzo said almost bouncing on his feet "when's Bob coming , I want to show him my new trick."

"I don't know Enzo, maybe he slept in" she answered "he hasn't been sleeping well lately"

"Really ?" Matrix asked , concern in his voice "what's wrong ?"

Dot looked up at him " I ...I'm really not sure...he's just not been himself since he got back from the web. It's like he's hiding something"

"He seems fine to me " Matrix said " maybe he was upset about mainframe when we arrived. I mean the system was pretty trashed, it was probably a real blow to him.

"Then why is he still upset? The systems been fixed , even better than before " Andria asked

Dot sighed "He puts on a good show Matrix, but his eyes give him away....haven't you noticed how different they look?"

"Um... I don't usually stare at Bob's eyes, Dot" Matrix began

"His eyes are different now like something's been taken from them, that sparkle of life they always had is gone..."she said " and been replaced with....

"Dot, his eyes aren't any different"Matrix protested

"With pain and despair " Dot said ignoring Matrix for the moment " and .........."

"And...?" Matrix asked

"......Humiliation" Dot said sadly staring at the table, while Andria and Matrix exchanged a look between them. If anyone, Dot was the one who knew Bob best, and when she sensed a problem she was seldom wrong.

Matrix nodded solemnly. "Maybe Bob has been a little upset lately" he said "He hasn't really joked around like he use to, has he ?"

Dot shook her head " no and it's almost like it pains him to smile ."

The three of them sat in silence, trying to figure out the next step

"laugh" a small voice said

"What" Dot said as she and the others turned to Enzo. They had been so caught up in their talk they had forgot him.

Now he stood beside them at the table "laugh, Bob never laughs any more, not at my jokes ..or or at the user or...." he hung his head " or at anything"

Dot turned back to the others , her little brother was right since he got back he had not laughed once.

"Something's wrong" she said

"Your right Dot" Matrix agreed with her " I mean Bob usually laughs at anything"

"He used to laugh at cheese whiz"Enzo said

Matrix gave him a look "Good god," he thought "was I ever that naive"

"I'm going over to Bob's I'll be back later" Dot said over her shoulder as she jumped on a zip board and made her way to kits sector.



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"Come on Mate" Ray teased flying in a low arch to where Mouse was running on the ground "you can do better than that"

A moment later he found himself on the ground with Mouse on top of him

"You were saying sugar" she said her accent adding to the sarcasm in her voice

Ray looked up at her "I was saying"he began then gave a slightly evil half smile before grabbing her and knocking her to the ground. He straddled her at the hips and began tickling her unmercifully.

" ha ha ha s..s stop Ha ha you a a a asshole ha ha ha " she laughed

" Say uncle" Ray grinned "and I might"

Muse looked up at him with an evil grin of her own then started to shout at the top of her lungs "help help..pervert arrghhh rape help .. Help!!!"

Several binomes who had been nearby ran to her aid . Mouse took off laughing as Ray was left to defend himself against an angry mob of binomes.

"Ha ha , oh that's very funny Mouse!" he called to her barely avoiding a purse swung at his face

Mouse smiled back at him sweetly before turning and heading to the diner.



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Dot arrived in kits sector a few nano's later , greeting some binomes as she made her way to Bob's apartment.

"Bob it's me , Dot" she called knocking on the door " Bob" She knocked again but still received no answer"maybe he's still sleeping?" she thought. She banged the door as hard as she dared without breaking it. "This is ridiculous, he must have heard that, why isn't he answering ?"

A cold hard nugget of fear began to make it's way into the pit of her stomach, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her credit card using a trick Mouse had taught her she opened the door and went inside.

"Bob" she called again"B..." Dot gazed around the apartment, the first thing to catch her eyes was a table on it's side up against the wall and a trail of shattered glass from the table to the kitchen. Dot crept onto the kitchen nervously

"What happened?" she thought to herself "Thieves or vandals perhaps "

Dot stopped "what if they're still here, they surely would have heard me knocking. They could be hiding in here anywhere" she thought turning quickly to run to the door.

"Uuunhh" Dot stopped, she turned and listened "unnnnh". It was so soft she had barely heard it, a quiet moan was coming from the kitchen.

Dot swallowed her fear and inched over to the kitchen .turning the corner she froze. The scream in her throat never making to her lips. Nothing could have prepared her for the gruesome sight before her.

"Bob" she at last managed to squeak out kneeling by the young sprites side " oh user !!" She cried as she frantically Vid windowed for an ambulance , then returned to the prone form on the floor.

"Bob why...w.w.why.did you do this " Dot cried to the unconscious guardian. She gently cradled his head in her lap , while holding his wrists tightly so he wouldn't loose what blood he had left.

She gasped when she looked at the pool surrounding Bob, covering him and now her too.

"Bob", she cried again. How pale his complexion had gotten, the once beautiful sky blue skin looked as though it had been laden with chalk, his arms were gaunt and limp their strength drain from them. And his face was worst of all, pale blue skin stretched over all too visible cheek bones, sunken in eyes with an empty stare. They looked but saw nothing. Dot bent down and placed a kiss on the still warm lips.



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The ambulance had arrived and taken her and Bob to the principal office, where a surprised Phong had comforted her.

"P Phong it was horrible" Dot said her composure now in tatters.

"Easy my child, we must attend to the matter at hand first , then we must help Bob's troubled soul." Phong began " I fear more may be upsetting him than meets the eye"

Dot nodded and went to sit on the couch in the waiting room. She tried to calm herself down but found her mind returning again and again to the scene of Bob laying on the floor, of the blood, of his unseeing eyes...

"Dot!!" Matrix yelled running into the med unit with the others close behind him

"What happened sugar? Mouse asked

They stopped in mid stride when Dot turned towards them, crimson patches covering her purple dress.

"Bob ?" Matrix asked

Dot nodded her head yes, fresh tears spilling down her cheeks.

Matrix walked over to his sister and took her in a loving embrace.

His voice cracked as he spoke to her " You were right Dot, you knew something was wrong "

Dot pushed away and strode over to the window before answering him in barely a whisper

"Not soon enough..... not soon enough



End Pt. 1