~ * Hate Today, Dread Tomorrow *~

DISCLAMIER: I own none of Tamora Pierce's characters ie, Jon, Alanna, Numair, Daine and Kel. Unfortunately I'm not good enough!! They are all hers, but the plot ( if there is one) is mine, mine, mine all mine!!! Ehem thanks.

NB: Thank you everyone who has posted a review and I'll try to make it as unpainful for you as I can…I suppose most you can guess what is wrong and how she is going to die…ah but I'm twisted so you never know! Any way keep on r&r and thank you again to everyone!

The old man lay on the floor his eyes wide and shocked. Alanna, Jon and Numair all rushed to his side.

Everyone except Daine. She stayed where she was, coldly staring at the dead mans body. No emotion

showed on her face. She only looked up when someone called her name. Her reaction was slow, as if she

wasn't there. A smirk appeared on her face and Numair looked up at her and frowned. He came over to her

and looked her straight in the eye.

' Daine?' He asked carefully. She looked up into his eyes and he nearly fell over backwards. Her eyes

weren't her usual gray-blue they had changed into a deadly blood red. He gulped. And tried to call to

Jonathan and Alanna but his throat caught on itself. He watched her carefully but he was screaming inside.

Suddenly she let out a small scream and her body lifted up on it self before her eyes changed back to

normal.

' Numair' she whimpered and started to cry, curling up on herself. He rushed to her side and held her in his

arms as she sobbed. ' I'm so scared' she sobbed into his shoulder. Alanna and Jon had heard her start to cry

and had come over to see what was wrong. No one said anything as they all stared at the couple. Maids

rushed around in the background trying to wake the dead man, but all anyone could see was Numair and

Daine.

Rain pattered rhythmically on the roof and Numair looked solemnly out the window. He couldn't cry

anymore there was nothing left. He stared at the garden that he and Daine had walked through so many

times. Her cheerful face appeared in his vision and he smiled but it quickly disappeared. Last nights dinner

was still on the table, cold and uneatable now. Nothing in his room had moved he felt like a shadow

moving around the room at times, soulless, mindless. As you would when your life source, the one that

made you live, that made you smile and cry was gone. He felt as though half his soul had died when she

did. He sighed to himself and moved over to chair and curled up in it. Breathing in her sent. He always

believed that you never loose someone all in one go. They slowly disappear in small bits. Her smell used to

be everywhere, used to cover every bit of his being. He cried every time he found that that smell had

disappeared from some place or another. It used to be in the closet, it had now gone from there weeks ago.

It used to cover the bed and room, it wasn't so strong there any more. The only place that it was strong and

noticeable was in this chair now. Her presence though seemed as strong as ever. He hugged the pillow and

wished like nothing else that she was here now. Just for a moment so he could tell her that he loved her and

how sorry he was and he then thought that, if he did that then he would never be able to let her go again. It

was better to wish that he could move time back and hold her and live with her. And he would do

everything that they said they would do one day and do it all then. Regrets. Time, what a wonderful thing,

though he wished it didn't exist anymore.

Alanna and Jon were confused as they left the house hastily. Daine was still sobbing quietly whispering

that she wished she had never come here. Her small body shivered every now and then. Numair was as

confused as Alanna and Jon. He didn't understand what was wrong. He couldn't see it. When he asked her

what was wrong or what had happened she said that she didn't want to talk about it now. She said that she

would tell them all about it over dinner. She had somewhere along the line collected herself and stopped

being selfish. She started to remember that she was here to save the people of this village and she would do

all in her power to do so. When they had arrived back in the inn and safe in their room she announced that

she was going to try and reach out to these new immortals and no one could stop her. Numair had advised

that that wasn't a good idea. She had just death glared him and he knew that no matter what he said it

wouldn't change her mind. In the morning she told Jon and Alanna her plan. None of them agreed with it

but they also knew that she had her mind set on this and she wasn't going to let it go. After breakfast she

set her self up outside near the edge of the town. Alanna, Jon and Numair all hovered near by. After a

couple of moments, you could tell that she had made contact with them. They all watched nervously. She

caught her breathe then collapsed. The world seem to zero in on Numair as he watched her slowly fall to

the ground….

NB: Don't you just hate me! I love cliff hangers…and I'm only going to continue when I get more reviews…so go ahead… continue!