Tears of Madeira

The sound of the rain against the window almost drowned out the sound of his vomitting. There was blood on the toilet seat and blood on Kevin's mouth which he wiped away.

"You are dying," came the soft voice in his mind.

"Thank you Florence Fucking Nightngale," he spat back at the god casually watching him from the bathroom counter. "I am aware of that fact."

"You will be dead by morning," Jasper continued as if he was discussing when the rain would end.

Kevin went cold then another spasm hit him.

"Your insides have started to hemorage. Soon your organs will begin shutting down. Your kidneys and liver will go first, your drinking has speeded that process, then jandice will start to set in and your lungs will fill and you will drown in your own poisoned blood. It will be..." Jasper paused to look closer at the man on the floor, "...is a very painful process but you are stubborn and will remain concious for most of it."

"Fuck you and all of your kind."

"I recall you enjoying ..."

Kevin managed to growl.

"This is becoming difficult. We have important matters to discuss. Let me ease you."

"If it is such a *gasp* inconvience to you why don't just snap your fucking fingers and make me do what ...", Kevin's words trailed off into a stream of growled curses as a new wave of pain overtook him.

"It isn't my choice to make."

Kevin rested his burning head against the porcillin. "What do you mean, isn't your choice?"

"A master can not be equals with a slave no matter how well the slave is treated. Even when the slave is freed the past may never be truely scrubbed away. The best there may be is separation. We have learned our lesson and pay for it even now. We will not make the same mistake twice even if it means that we will be lonely once more. That which we gave away returns and we shall not force it on you though it may save you. You are free to commit suicide if that is what you choose."

"What the fuck are you?"

"You already know that answer Watcher."

"I won't..." He began to cough blood.

"Would you have me ease you?"

The coughing continued until finally Kevin nodded his agreement, blood dripped through the yellowed skin of his fingers. Jasper touched him with the toe of his foot and his breathing eased.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Advocate."

"For what?"

"For your choice."

"And if I refuse?"

"That is a choice. You will die tonight and your voice will not be heard. Silence is an answer and it is one that others have chosen."

"And if I accept? Wait.. others?"

"Yes. Other advocates have stepped foreward. They will speak when the time comes just as you may."

"Is he..."

"Yes. He is one."

Kevin launched into a stream of obsenities about Jasper's parentage that would have been physically impossible for anyone not of Jasper's lineage.

"What the FUCK were you thinking?"

"We did not chose him. He was chosen by your kind and his own desire. He speaks for the purpose he represents as you may speak for yours if you so choose."

"I'm not going to live long enough to speak for anything. I'm going to die in the morning you said."

"I could be wrong."

Kevin glared.

"Do it."

"As you wish."

Kevin screamed for a long time.

No one heard him.

In the morning Brodie found Kevin unconcious on the bathroom floor in a pool of his own blood. Drawn on the mirror in that same blood was a clock, its hands pointing out three minutes to midnight.