Time is running out now.

We’ve been seeing what you want,
You’ve got us cornered right now
Falling asleep from our vanity
May cost us our lives

I hear them getting closer
Their howls are sending chills down my spine
Time is running out now,
They’re coming down the hills from behind

Caer huddled with her brother in her arms, the darkness around them complete, even to her senses. Her sight was deceiving her in ways she didn’t understand and what made things worse was that she wasn’t sure she could trust anybody else either. She was sore, exhausted, hungry and terrified beyond all reasoning. She’d seen things tonight that had unnerved and unbalanced her.  Her stomach coiled in tight knots and she had to force herself not to curl her fingers into the palm of her hands, she’d already cut the palms twice from clenching her fists so hard that the nails pierced skin.

Kriff this place. Kriff it to the darkest pits. She just wanted out of here and wanted to get her crew out of here with minimal damages as possible. Every noise was a reason for panic, ever silence doubly so. Each breath was as loud as a scream and it felt like the tiniest movement would bring repercussions that the crew were not ready to face.

What was supposed to be a simple rescue mission had turned into a never ending nightmare. The planet Kullus has been nothing more than abandoned ball of dust, the massive star port dark and empty had been the tip off something wasn’t right. Piles of clothing everywhere, sorted and color coded as if some mad man with OCD had piled them there then hid away. The city abandoned, nothing seemingly touched. The night in an apartment had been draining but they’d kept hope that someone would be alive to talk to, to get answers out of.

The creepiest thing had been when Neirov had sworn he’d seen someone drag a kid down an alley way. They had chased after him and had nearly crashed into a wall. A wall that had been lined with crucified dolls and stuffed animals. Caer still felt the urge to throw up even now.

She stroked her brothers hair and huddled against the wall, the darkness feeling oppressing and cold. She shivered and tried not to think about the past three…or was it four..days. The screaming winds that chased them into the temple, the whispers, people going missing, the frayed tempers and finally the manifestation of that lunatic who had nearly killed them all tonight.

Her heart hammered in her chest and the ice prickles of fear  running through her. She swallowed the lump in her throat and just hummed under her breath trying to put that visual of that haunted and grotesque face out of her mind.  The whispers and the sensations rolling through her mind and calling up every detail.

What had helped them? Something had pulled that horrible creature away from them, pushed it away from them and had disappeared. Arten, Lucien and Neirov had spoken of a Bothan child, but Caer had yet to witness this creature helping them. Besides if it was a child why hadn’t it produced itself and why wasn’t it with them here right now? It had taken that unseen helper, Caer acting as the shield, Raiyden as the balance (as tenuous as that was during that situation) and Neirov acting as the sword directing their energies to drive the thing off. Dyme and Kheni had unloaded everything they had into the creature.

She just wanted to run. Why didn’t they just run? There was nothing here. Nothing worth saving and if anything WAS alive in there, it sure as hell wasn’t anything they could help.

Because it was Artens mission and he hadn’t called it off. To do so now would be mutiny and Caer knew this.

We’ve been searching on and on
But there’s no trace to be found
It’s like they all have just vanished
But I know they’re around

I feel them getting closer
The howls are sending chills down my spine
Time is running out now
They’re coming down the hills from behind

She just wanted to go home. Make them all safe and sane again. She wanted to see Tom and forget this nightmare. This was the culmination of every single nightmare she’d had as a child and adult rolled into one. It was like some vicious god of dreams had thought it’d be hilarious to stick her in her own personal hell.

But she knew others suffered too. So it wasn’t just her. Neirov had accused her of luring him off to discuss relationships and things best left between friends. Lucien had claimed that Neirov had walked away from the group. Both had claimed that she’d been seen in the halls luring people off. It had been unnerving at best and infuriating at worst.

Lucien looked over at her and offered an exhausted smile, his broken wrist elevated. She gave him a weak smile and leaned back, falling into a sleep that was really nothing more than hells playground. Tomorrow they would continue their way through this maze of a supposed Jedi temple and try to find a power source to open rooms and try to find their way out; otherwise they could just end up wandering the halls until they became ghosts themselves.

When we start killing
It’s all coming down right now
From the night that we’ve created
I wanna be awakened somehow
(I wanna be awakened right now)

(Song- When we start Killing, Within temptation)