Category: Road to Nowhere

“As the rain falls from the sky you can hear her crying. As she cries you can see her tears, not every drop but some are tears and those tears are me.” The girl smiled again. “I am what is left when the rain is given a divine calling.”

Nathan could tell that this didn’t satisfy Sarah’s curiosity. “Who are the people in here, are the agents of the Black Rider?” Nathan was trying to change the subject.

“They are not agents of the Black Rider,” Tears replied, “They have a much darker purpose. The Black Rider does not frequent here, and so they use it while she is gone. They carry the stink of the Stranger with them and their darkness.”

“Do they use the pool then?” Sarah questioned, calmer now than before.

“Of course, why else would they come here? It is not safe here you know, not for just meeting anyway.” Then she added almost off handedly, “there is a blank door here, I’m sure they like that too.”

There was a light laugh in the room, almost a giggle. Tears of the Crying Rain smiled and the light broke out into the tiny lights Sarah and Nathan had seen when they first entered the room. Her eyes were closed again, almost like she was peacefully sleeping.

“The poor children, they cannot ask me anymore questions,” the voice said. Then the light humming came back and faded away.

“The blank door must be in the main room where they had gathered,” Sarah whispered, “I wonder how they use it.”

“I wondered what caused the echo she came from,” Nathan said thinking out loud. He hadn’t really been listening to Sarah. “I mean, she said she was an echo, something has to cause the echo. Right?”

Sarah agreed, though she wasn’t sure what could have caused such an echo.

“No, we are different. He is a seer,” the girl replied. “He sees more most cannot, even in the darkest of night his eyes can still capture the light.”

“And are you not a seer?” Sarah said a little impatiently.

“This some has much need of patience and learning,” the girl responded curtly. “I can see what was but can see no more what is and certainly not what will be.”

“What is the Watergate?” Nathan asked.

The girl smiled. “Ah, the Watergate. This is where I live. This is where I see. This is where I learn. This room anyway. Then came the Black Rider who built the halls around this room and gathered the Seeing pool.”

“Who is the Black Rider?” Nathan asked.

“The Black Rider is not known to me,” she responded, “only her works are plain for me to see.”

Sarah was going to make a remark about the girl’s inability to see anything clearly but she was distracted by some voices outside the door. Nathan and Sarah suddenly remembered where they were and what they had been doing before talking to the girl.

“Do not worry, you are safe in here,” the girl said. “I choose when to let them in and I am busy with you, for the moment.”

“And who, again, are you?” Sarah asked sounding a little annoyed.

“I already told you, I am…” the girl started.

“Yes, yes, you are the shadow of a rising sun,” Sarah interrupted. “Do you have a name?”

“A name, let me think for a minute,” the girl responded. After a minute she spoke again, “I am Tears of the Crying Rain.” Sarah and Nathan exchange puzzled looks.

The room was dark, very dark. Sarah and Nathan just stayed behind the door listening for footsteps. They heard some coming but they turned and headed down the hall and headed to the Seeing Pool.

Nathan turned around slowly. He gasped and froze. Sarah turned around and froze as well. The room that they were in was filled with hundreds of tiny faint lights. It took Nathan a minute to realize that the lights were all moving. But the light wasn’t what captured Nathan’s attention. In the middle of the room was a simple wood chair with a young girl sitting in it that seemed distantly familiar to Nathan. The girl seemed aware of the Sarah and Nathan being in the room but uncaring.

Nathan was mesmerized by the dancing lights. The lights slowly spun and moved around the room. The lights were starting to gather around the girl’s outstretched hands. They collapsed into a tight ball which she coupled her hand around. Her eyes flew open and both Nathan and Sarah were caught in the gaze of her shimmering grey eyes.

A humming filled the room, like a child playing a game. As it grew louder the humming changed to a teasing, almost lyrical taunting.

“The time has come for me to answer some.” It was a little girl’s voice. “These some have seen the dark seer but thirst for more.”

The girl started to speak, “What do you want?” she asked.

“Who are you?” Nathan asked.

“You ask this question often,” she responded. “I am the shadow of a rising moon after the sun has set. I am the echo left in an empty room.”

“That really helped,” Sarah whispered sarcastically. The girl shot a look at Sarah. “Are you a seer like the Dark Seer?” Sarah asked.

“A Dark Seer to be exact,” the Seer corrected Nathan’s comment. “I can see things that others cannot. I see in the darkest of night to continue give a ray of hope in the piercing blackness.”  

“How is your vision boy?” the voice asked. The eyes and the voice sounded so familiar but he couldn’t think where he had seen and heard them. “What are you doing here?” the voice spoke again, impatient this time. Then Nathan knew: the voice, the face, belonged to the Dark Seer.

“Why do you ask, can’t you can see?” Nathan responded

“No, my sight is limited,” The Seer responded. “Where are you that we can see each other?” Nathan hesitated. He still wasn’t sure where the Dark Seer fit into what was going on. He obviously had some connection to the Watergate.  “Step back for a moment,” the Seer commanded. Nathan obeyed then stepped back to the pool.

“You are in the Watergate,” the Seer said sounding shocked. “How did you get in there?”

Sarah stepped forward to the pool then nudged Nathan. “Who is he?” she asked.

Nathan had almost forgotten that she was there.

“He is a seer I saw after meeting Divine,” Nathan whispered to her.