The air was thick, warm, and moist. Most of Haven's inhabitants had retreated to their homes to get out if the disgusting feeling in the air. Jak was one of the less fortunate, his small apartment in The Slums didn't have air conditioning. He tossed and turned in his bed, struggling to breathe in his sleep. The air was almost too thick to breathe, choking him, one would say strangling him…
He had been up all night, in his father's lap, trying his best to fall asleep, but to no avail. Damas was getting tire, but promised himself he wouldn't fall asleep until his son Mar could. The poor child not only had a nightmare earlier, but now was coughing on the unusually wet air. There had been rainfall in the Wastelands, something that was out of the ordinary, but the aftermath had left the air covered by a damp curtain. Sig rushed in immediately with urgent news.
"We've spotted some spies outside of the Palace, they've been prowling around for a half-hour. They might be makin' a move soon Damas, we have to brace ourselves now." He said.
"I'll be there in a minute", he said, rushing over to Mar's room to keep him safe from harm. Mar was still young and could be in danger if left unattended, but this was the safest place for him at the time. Putting him in his small bed, Damas placed a thin silk sheet around him and tucked him in tightly. "Don't worry, my son, I'll be back for you as soon as I can. Stay here, alright?" Running back into the throne room, Damas picked up a gun and got ready to defend the Palace form whatever threat the spies posed.
Jak continued to roll around in his bed, fighting the sheets that held him down in place, they weighed his arms down, and were too warm, making him sweat even more. He felt completely helpless underneath them, as though the harder he fought, the more they smothered him.
Mar struggled to get free; feeling frightened and betrayed that his father had just left him alone in his room. The bed sheets held him down pretty well, and his small body couldn't move. He kicked and pushed and clawed until he had enough room to squeeze his way out. He hit the floor, and whined, for he had hit his arm on the side of the bed. After a few minutes of sobbing lightly, he had gotten up and began to slowly walk out. Passing through the curtains that separated his room from the corridor, he walked slowly, his feet hitting the cool stone floor. As he looked to the window, he noticed the sky was incredibly cloudy, and no light shone through it. The sky seemed to be tinted red a bit, and he let out a faint whimper. He couldn't shake the feeling that someone was there…
Jak clawed at his sheets, trying to hold himself down and stop himself from shaking so hard. He continued his struggled breathing, taking deep, heavy pants as he trashed around on his bed.
Mar turned around, but saw nothing but shadows. Carefully, he turned back around and headed towards the throne room where he assumed his father would be. He would sit in his lap again and he'd eventually fall asleep in his arms, feeling safe and away from anything that might harm him. He smiled, excitedly speeding up his pace. If there was one thing Mar hated, it was being alone. As he made his way farther and farther down the hallway, he felt someone lift him up off the ground. He turned his head to see a tall, thin man wearing a cloak holding him. As he was about to cry out, the man stuffed a damp rag in his mouth.
"Be quiet and you shall go unharmed. I better not here a single word out of you, you hear me? Not a single word…" the man spit the words out as if they were acidic. His long slender fingers put their hands over Mar's mouth, and forced the rag further into his mouth, to the point where it was almost choking him. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out some sort of communication device. "You may cease the distraction now, I've found what I've came for, let's get out of here." Turning to the open window from which he entered, he slowly climbed out and leaned on the ledge as he heard footsteps coming.
"…Some of them had tattoos on their ugly-ass faces. So they're from Haven City and the Krimzon Guard." It was Sig and Damas, walking and talking. "They disappeared as fast as they came, so who knows what in the hell they were here for."
"Search around to see if anything missing. I have to get back to Mar, he's probably lonely right now." Damas said, as he continued down towards the end of the hallway.
"You do that," Sig said with a yawn. "Bet it feels like you can't leave him alone for more than a second, doesn't it?" he made a turn down another hall and walked away. Mar was about to make an attempt to cry out to his father for help, but the man held a knife up to his throat.
"I swear by the Precursors if you say anything, I will kill you, you little bastard, he whispered through gritted teeth. The child could do nothing more than allow tears to silently fall. A transport vehicle has pulled up at the bottom of the wall; it was sleek, and silent in the night. As the man slid down the wall by a rope, Mar felt all of his emotions bottle up inside of him. He longed to scream, to shout, make noise and draw attention to himself in some way. His fear had taken over completely and he was petrified with fear, his eyes had become swollen from all the crying. He reached his hand up as he felt them slide down the wall further, the wind rushing through their hair, the sensation of falling, trying to take in more air, but he instead choked once more as very little of the wet air filled his lungs. Everything was happening so fast, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
"HELP, PLEASE, NO! GET OFF OF ME, GET AWAY!" Jak screamed and kicked, trying to force himself free from his bed.
"Jak... Jak! Hey! Easy, EASY. Calm down! What is wrong with you?" his best friend shouted, giving him a few smacks across the face. After hearing his name a few times, Jak finally opened his eyes to see his best friend standing on his chest, staring at him. Slowly everything began to sink in. He was in bed in their apartment, everything was alright, nobody was threatening him with a knife, nobody was taking him away, everything was calm aside from the fact that he was covered in sweat and just terrified his best friend.
"I'm… I'm… yeah, I'm okay." He spoke between pants. He understood at once why he never spoke for most of his life. Fear. Pure and utter fear of that incident. It was his worst nightmare, and he had just relived it. Still, he had gained the courage to speak later on in life, although his rage had overcome his fear, and even now, he shouted out, something he couldn't do as a child because he was afraid of the consequences Being in Haven had changed him, somehow, he felt as though he was no longer afraid of all the things that he had gone through in his life. They were part of the past and he was an adult now, he had to let go of his fears and realize that the worst is over. He'd been hit with everything the city could hit him with and he was still standing strong.
"Yeah, so, since you're done having night terrors, ya mind heading into the shower? You're sweaty, and smelly, and… ick…" Daxter said, fanning the air around him to clear the scent. Pushing his fuzzy best friend to the floor, Jak stood up and smiled. It was dawn now and the weather seemed to be improving.
"Sure thing Dax, afterwards, let's go out and have some fun. No reason to hang around inside and be miserable all day." He replied with a smile.