Disclaimer: I do not own Falling skies or any of the characters, even if I wish I do. All rights belong to TNT.

Author Notes: Okay. Update! Thanks for reviews! And yes, creepy is good. :D I have an idea... yet I cannot share it... it must be a surprise or else the full effect will be lost! :0 Be prepared... I won't make you wait too many chapters for the surprise.

BEN POV

I walked steadily across the icy snows. It had dropped several more degrees today, and the ice had frozen to the point where I couldn't even step through it into the snow. Several times I almost slipped, but managed to catch myself. My reflexes prevented me from cracking my head on the ice like another fighter had done just earlier that day. I was walking to the only heated vehicle we had. We no longer had to worry about beamers locating our heat signatures because they had long since been destroyed. We needed to keep going. It was only the tip of winter and we couldn't wait out the next few months freezing to death on this mountain. Weaver wouldn't listen. Apparently we were safest here. Yes, safest from our enemies. Not from the cold though. I was mostly indifferent to the winter chill. But today it went beyond my abilities to be able to take the cold. I shivered and rubbed my hands together, my teeth trying not to clatter. The heated bus was packed. There was little room to even enter it. Even so, everyone gathered around the outside and let the warmth from the vehicle itself seep through the walls into their body.

That's when I saw the little boy sitting a long ways away, on the ice, with everyone giving him a wide berth. He was probably nine or ten – Matt's age – and was one of the harnessed kids left behind with us. He still had his harness, having refused to take it off and no one was going to force him to remove it. He wanted the harness. He wanted to transform – whatever that meant. I didn't understand how he could live his skitters after what they did to him, but apparently he had a different experience than me. He face was covered in flakes and scales, his eyes yellow in colour, hair almost completely gone. His fingers were clawed and he now had an extra, small claw on each hand – like a sixth finger – and arching curves around his mouth that looked a lot like fangs. Looking at him, I felt a strong sense of sympathy. Everyone was treating him like he was a freak or a monster. He was just a kid. Still just a kid. I walked over to him, not caring that I was cold. He was unresponsive until I knelt down in front of him and smiled at him, trying to comfort him enough that he wouldn't be scared or angry at me.

"What's your name? I'm Ben," I said, waiting to see some flicker of human recognition in his eyes, but they remained dead. He didn't seem to care one way or the other that someone went to talk to him. In fact, I wasn't sure he even knew he was human anymore. Did he remember his name? Did he even remember anyone of his old life? His parents, siblings, friends, things he used to do? Did he care? I tried to wonder. But then I was scared and didn't want to think that far.

"My name is John," the boy said, with a voice so blank that I wondered if he had any consciousness left.

I looked out among the trees beyond, not sure what I was going to say. For a moment I though I saw something flickering through the leaves. Keeping my eye on it, I said "I was harnessed once too. But not as long. I got it removed. I still have spikes, though," I added, not completely sure where I wanted to go with my conversation.

"I miss my guardian," John said.

In the trees, it moved again and vanished.

HAL POV

By now I was beyond tired. It was the third morning in a row I had woken up screaming from a nightmare I couldn't remember. I shouldn't say screaming exactly. Just about to whenever I woke. All I knew was that every time I woke in the darkness I knew something was there. Nothing anyone could say was going to change that. My hands were shaking violently as I moved outside, bumping into someone. It was still very early morning and the sun hadn't risen yet. I jerked away in panic, letting out a cross between a snarl and yelp. My hands went out and others caught my wrists to stop me from attacking the person.

"Hal, it's just me!" Ben's voice came to me over the sound of my blood racing in my ears and as my eyes adjusted to the dark, I gradually recognized him.

"Ben? What are you doing out here?" I asked, feeling slightly irritated. What was he doing, walking around in the dark scaring everyone half to death? And by everyone it meant me, but my heart was still racing and I was trying to calm myself down.

"I was just out for a walk..." Ben asked, sounding confused. I bit back what I wanted to say, feeling confused myself. Why was I so angry? It wasn't a big deal. Then I remembered the feeling of being watched and followed. The feeling that I wasn't alone in the dark – and I wasn't talking about other people. Things, monsters, beasts. Something wasn't safe. It followed me no matter where I want. And Ben might be able to understand.

"Did you notice anything... out of the ordinary while you were walking?" I asked, feeling a sharp tension in my chest. I felt suffocated. Unable to breathe or move. It was right behind me, I knew it. I was shaking violently but hoped Ben wouldn't notice. The cold was making my leg ache unbelievably. He would probably assume my shaking was shivering.

"No... nothing at all," Ben said, but there was something in his voice that seemed guarded. I didn't question him though. I needed him to see the thingstanding behind me that was going to hurt us. He didn't. "It's cold out here, bro. You should get back inside."

And with that, he walked right past me, straight through the creature that I knew was there but could not be seen. Why couldn't he see it? Perhaps it was hiding now. Watching from the distance. Yet I could still feel its hot breath on the back of my neck, watching me. And it waited.

I shut my eyes and released a long shudder, sinking slowly to the ground. The wind whistled around me, and the ice clung through the skin not covered by my gloves. My knee burned severely, making me bite back a childish whimper. Behind me, at the entrance of our little room, the ground crackled where it walked.