Disclaimer: I don't own "Blood Tears".

A/N: I feel it's only fair to say that I update as soon as I get a review, and I only have 6 completed chapters so far. After that, I'm afraid you'll have to be patient and read them as I write them. But summer draws nigh and I should have more time.

Not Alone Anymore

Antares led Darry into a small room devoid of pipes. It was sparsely furnished with a low bed with red sheets and a black comforter, a couple beanbags scattered around, a nightstand with a lamp, a dresser with some candles and an incense burner on it, and a small refrigerator against one wall. Antares went over to the dresser, stuck a stick of incense into the burner, and lit it with an expertly struck match. That done, she lit the candles with the match before blowing it out and pinching out the stick after a moment, letting it smoke. She turned back to Darry.

"I hope that doesn't bother you," she said, indicating the incense. "I just can't stand the smell down here. Anywhere he goes it immediately smells like him."

"No, it's OK," said Darry. "I don't mind." Antares nodded and gestured to the fridge.

"Hungry?" she asked. Darry nodded after a moment's consideration. Antares went to the fridge and opened it.

"I don't have much," she said apologetically, "and I'm a strict vegetarian. I just can't eat meat anymore, not after…well, you know." Darry nodded, then remembered Antares's back was to him.

"Yeah, I understand," he said. "Whatever you have, I don't care."

"K," said Antares, rummaging around. Darry looked around the room, looking to see if she had a stereo since he heard someone singing. When he didn't see one, he realized it was Antares singing. He gazed at her, curious, listening to her:

"Welcome to my realm;
We're both condemned to live
It's a dark fate, I
can hear your calls
I can hear your calls
The eternal life

Can't hold it, it burns
Each night I cry in pain

Alive,
Though the end appears, my friend
And blood tears I cry
You've searched, and you've found
Cut off your old friend's hand

My mind's in frozen dreams
Rotten flesh of bitter lies
Welcome to where Time stands still
No one leaves, and no one ever will

I see it still burns
Each night I cry in pain

And blood tears I cry
Endless grief remained inside
And blood tears I cry
Endless grief remained inside

It seems so clearly
Bent, the bow
'Cus life in me is gone
And a cruel wind's blowing cold
And a cruel wind's blowing cold
In blame

And life, it shall wane
Each night I cry in pain

And blood tears I cry
Endless grief remained inside
Cut off your old friend's hand."

Both the song and her clear voice were heartbreakingly mournful, and Darry found himself blinking tears from his eyes. Antares straightened, kicked the fridge door shut, and turned back to Darry with two black plastic bowls in her hands.

"This is about all I've got left," she said apologetically. "Fruit salad or garden salad with no dressing, though I have a couple dressing packets if you like."

"You take your pick," said Darry. Antares nodded and handed him the fruit salad, which he accepted and started on hungrily. Antares sat on the bed and gestured for him to join her, which he did. She hoped the glucose in the fruit would help Darry calm down, as he was very clearly still shaking, try as he might to hide it. The two ate in silence for a short while, each wrapped in their own private thoughts. Presently, Antares broke the stillness:

"It's not 'beating you', by the way," she said conversationally.

"Hmm?" asked Darry, glancing up.

"The license plate. It's not 'beating you'."

Darry blinked in surprise at the randomness of the statement, and curiosity. "What is it, then?"

"Break it down a little more; you were close."

"I don't get it."

"Three words, not two. B-E-A-T-N-G-U. 'Be eating you', as in he'll be eating you."

Darry grimaced. "Oh," he said in a small voice. Antares nodded.

"It's his sick joke. I told him it was disgusting when I figured it out. He just laughed at me and said, 'But they can't say I didn't warn them!' Like anyone takes those plates literally. A guy I knew in school got stuck with plates that said 'PMS-247'. He got made fun of, sure, 'cus he couldn't afford designer plates, but no one seriously believed he got PMS. There's no point in trying to apply rational human logic to what he does. He's a frickin' madman, a sociopathic zoophagous freak of Nature. Evolution's little joke, I guess." Darry nodded this time. He considered her for a moment.

"How long have you been here?" he asked. "With him, I mean."

"I was his first this spring," she answered solemnly. Darry's eyes widened.

"My God," he said softly. "You've had to live like this all this time? Wow, you must be pretty damn strong. I don't know if I could make it through all this. Honestly, I was on the verge of screaming for my mom when the Creeper brought me here." Antares gave a little laugh.

"I wouldn't blame you if you did," she said. "I already have. She didn't hear me, unfortunately. No one can."

"I can," said Darry gently. Antares looked at him quizzically. "I can hear you. I'm listening. You can talk to me." Antares smiled.

"That's all I could ask for right now," she said. "Well, all I could ask for and hope to receive. It's nice to have someone to talk to who understands. No one should have to, but still…it's nice." She sighed and looked away for a moment. "I used to spend all my time alone, locked in my room writing stories, listening to music, enjoying my own company. I thought that coming out to eat dinner with my family and occasionally watching TV with them on the weekends was enough. Now I'm terrified of being alone. It wasn't enough; there's no such thing as enough time with those you love who love you. I should've spent every spare second with them, telling them I loved them all. They knew, I know they knew, but still, I wish I could tell them again."

"You said you did," said Darry. "Before that thing carried you off, you said you said you loved them all. Last thing I said to my sister was 'Don't you be a hero!' Real warm and fuzzy, huh?" Antares shrugged. Darry sighed and gazed off into space for a moment. "How much time is left?"

"Say what?" asked Antares, turning to face him.

"How much time does it have left?" asked Darry. Antares thought a moment.

"Three, maybe four days," she said slowly. "What's the date today?"

"Uh, if it's not past midnight by now, then April ninth," replied Darry.

"The Spring Equinox was the twentieth of March," said Antartes contemplatively. "So the twenty-three days should end…April eleventh, give or take. We have just a little more than two days left."

"What's he going to do with us?" asked Darry. "What do you know about this thing?"

"Not much more than you, honestly," said Antares with a shrug. "He hibernates for twenty-three years and then gorges himself on living human flesh. Never animals, though – can't stand the taste. Nothing kills him, little hurts him, and a lot of the time even if he doesn't want something from a person he might kill them anyway just for the hell of it. As long as he can eat and regenerate any broken or mutilated body parts or organs, he won't die. As for what he's going to do with us, well…I found him building some sort of stasis chamber last week. I have a feeling that it's meant for me so I'll survive the next twenty-three years without food or anything, and without being able to run away."

"God, that's awful," said Darry softly.

"I tried to destroy it," she said, "or at least damage it, keep him from finishing it in time. I don't know what he would have done with me then, but it didn't work. He found me, fixed his machine, and threatened to take another of my fingers. He didn't. He made me stitch together the bodies of his victims from that night, swearing to make me eat them if I didn't. Now I don't even know where the damned pod is. I wouldn't do anything to it if I did. I've started to believe that I only exist in his presence now."

"No, that's not true!" said Darry fiercely. Antares looked up at him mildly. "You know that's not true," he said in a gentler tone. "You can't let that thing beat you down. That's how he controls you; you're afraid of him. But I think he's afraid of you in a way. He can't let you get away because you said there's no one else like you."

"No, I said that the likelihood of there being someone else like me is not promising," Antares corrected him. "But I hear what you're saying. I just can't help being afraid of him."

"I'm scared of him too," said Darry. "You'd have to be crazy not to be scared."

"Crazy and alive," Antares pointed out. Darry made a gesture of assent. Antares sighed and hugged her knees, having set aside her empty salad bowl a while back. She rested her chin on her knees thoughtfully, gazing out into space for a while. Presently, she looked back at Darry.

"What time is it, do you know?" she asked.

"Uh, no," said Darry. "I think it was just getting light outside when the Creeper brought me here. Wherever we are, we're pretty far from the road my sister and I were on. Or maybe it was just a lot later than I thought. Either way, I'm tired."

"Me too," agreed Antares. "I know there's not much room here, but…" she broke off as she got up and started moving beanbags together to form a sort of makeshift bed. That done, she pulled two of the blankets off her bed and put them over the beanbags. She turned to Darry. "You can take the bed. I don't sleep much anymore, so it doesn't really matter to me."

"Oh, no, that's OK-" began Darry, but Antares held up her hand.

"I insist," she said. "You've been through hell, the least I can do is give you a real bed to sleep in. I'll be fine." Her tone was soft as always, but she was firm. Darry knew the look she was giving him: it was the same as the one Trish used when she was adamant about something.

"All right," he said. Tired, the two kicked off their shoes and lay down in their beds.