DEADLY SECRETS

I do not own Hamtaro© or any affiliated characters. Any similar names, places or ideas used in this story are completely coincidental and unintentional.

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

Stan had been lying in his cage, looking up at the ceiling. He had not been to the clubhouse for days. Something strange had been going on with him, but he had no idea what. Every night he would have a dream . . . A dream about a dark figure running through the night. In some dreams it would be chasing something; maybe a rabbit, or a squirrel. He woke up from these dreams exasperated and sweaty, what he figured was from fright, and it took him hours sometimes to fall back asleep.

Every day he would try to remember more of the small details. In his dreams, everything seemed vivid, as if it were real. But as he tried to recall what had happened, it all seemed vague.

Along with that, Stan was beginning to quit eating his food. Not because he didn't want to, it was because he was just never hungry. He would wake up feeling like he had just eaten. Noel noticed his food bowl was still full after nearly five days, and took the hamster to the veterinarian's office. The vet explained there was nothing wrong with Stan, but told Noel to encourage him to eat by putting a small treat or two in his bowl. Noel followed his directions, but Stan still didn't eat.

Night had come fast. Stan laid in his cage, hoping his freakish dream would not return again that night. He shut his eyes, drifting off into slumber . . .

The dark figure moved swiftly through the night, on its way to a somehow familiar tree. It stopped at the door, forced it open, and barged in. Through the long tunnel, another door blocked the creature's path. It pulled the door from its hinges and through it to the side. It scanned the room, looking for prey. With its acute hearing, it picked up the noise of someone's breathing. It followed the sound to a sock lying on the floor. Inside the sock was a dozing hamster. The creature took this as a chance, and struck the sleeping hamster.

Startled, it woke up, deeply in pain. The hamster backed against the wall, holding its wound. The figure moved into the dim light of the room, of which then the hamster let out a shrill scream. The creature roared in response, sending the hamster cowering.

"P-please . . . d-d-don't hurt me . . ." The creature did not listen to his pleas. "Leave me alone! No! NOOOO!"

The beast opened its mighty jaws, exposing a mouthful of sharp teeth. With a quick lunge, it bit the hamster's neck, and it fell to the ground, completely lifeless . . .

"GYA!" Stan awoke with a start. His heart was beating fast, and he felt weak. He got up and looked into a mirror of his. On his face, surrounding his mouth, was blood. It had dried, so it had been there for a bit, but it wasn't there when he had gone to sleep. Where had it come from?

Stan decided he should go to the clubhouse this day, because even though these dreams continued to haunt him, he figured that the other ham-hams were worried. Maybe he could tell his sister what was going on. He washed the blood off his face, and snuck out of his cage.

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

Stan made his way over to his usual daytime hangout. The front door was damaged, from something he didn't know of. "Geez, what else did I miss when I was gone?" he said to himself. Continuing down the tunnel, he heard crying. Now what? He ran down the hallway as fast as he could, trying to see what was happening. When he got to the main room, there was no door. It looked like it had been broken off, and it was lying by the table in the center.

All the ham-hams were crowded around something by the wall, appearing to be uninterested by Stan's arrival. All but one, Sandy, ignored him.

"Stan . . . -sniffle- . . . you won't believe it -sniffle- . . ." She said between tears.

He squeezed between the others to see what the problem was. To his shock, it was Snoozer. He was lying on the floor, partially eaten, and surrounded in a pool of his own blood.

"W-w-we found him here this morning . . . -sniffle-"

All of a sudden, reality hit Stan.

"P-please . . . d-d-don't hurt me . . ."

"What happened to him?" he asked, sweating profusely.

Sandy stopped crying for a moment to explain. "I-I don't know . . . it looks like something attacked him. . ."

Stan looked down, and sure enough, Snoozer had a large bite mark on his neck, and multiple gashes on the rest of his body. His stomach had been slashed open.

"Leave me alone! No! NOOOO!"

The scenes kept repeating over and over again in Stan's head. They were driving him to the point of insanity.

With a quick lunge, it bit the hamster's neck, and it fell to the ground, completely lifeless . . .

Stan grabbed his head, breathing quickly. Sandy looked at him confused. "Is there something wrong?"

"No. I-it's just . . . I . . . I'm worried that the thing that killed Snoozer might come back," he lied.

"Hey, Stan's got a point," Boss stated. "What if the thing that killed Snoozer does come back?"

"We're not safe here!" Pashmina began to panic.

"Don't worry, guys. I'm sure it won't come back to the clubhouse. Besides, if it does, we'll outnumber it, right, Bijou?" The two began to rub cheeks. Boss looked on and growled angrily. Hamtaro, taking this as an expression of "back off!", immediately stopped.

Normally Stan would be angry at the sight of Hamtaro and Bijou together also, but his train of thought was set on something else. What if he really did kill Snoozer in a state of subconsciousness? He surely didn't do it himself, but . . . what if something was controlling him?

Sandy continued to observe Stan's odd behavior. Something was wrong with him, and she knew it.

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

That night, Stan's sister went over to his house and stopped at his cage. No one was there . . .