Chapter Seven
Rodney slowly opened his eyes. His sight focused and relief rushed through him when he recognized his surroundings. The soft beeping of machines soothed him, eased his mind. He was safe in Atlantis. Closing his eyes, he released the breath he didn't know he'd been holding and sank deeper into the pillows. Footsteps came toward him and he opened his eyes.
Sheppard stepped in front of him, concern and a hint of aggravation in his eyes.
"Let me guess, Zelenka didn't find anything."
Sheppard shook his head. "No, but we're not going to stop trying to find a reason for this. Teyla went through that journal you brought back and found this."
He produced the notebook opened half way through. Rodney took it, both hopeful and full of dread of what he'd find.
The fog reins here. I don't know how long I've been here. I haven't found anything to tell me why. I found my way into a building that wasn't infested with strange monsters. I wasn't alone, though.
I discovered a woman hiding in a closet. She was both relieved and terrified to see me. She punched me in the face and tried to leave the room, but she stopped at the door. Apparently, she knew she'd be safer with a complete stranger than out there with the creatures.
She told me she'd been in the town before, confronted its secrets and demons years ago, but she had no idea why she was back.
A shiver went through Rodney. He looked at Sheppard, his heart racing.
"Someone had been there twice."
Sheppard nodded. "So far, that's the only mention of this person. We thought you'd want to know you're not the only one forced back to that town."
Rodney stared at the journal not knowing if he should be relieved or frightened. If the town wanted him back it only meant Silent Hill wasn't done with him. The question was still why?
"I guess I'll keep reading then. Nothing else to do here until Jennifer releases me."
"Good luck with that."
He glared at Sheppard, but the man only grinned and left. Rodney shook his head and went back to reading the diary. If the answers were here, he'd find them.
Thirty minutes later, eyes tired and stomach protesting, Rodney shut the journal and tossed it to the floor. He rubbed his eyes and sighed in frustration. He wasn't any closer to finding his answers than he was before.
"How's it going?" Jennifer's voice brought him out of his thoughts.
He looked at her, her brightness chased away the dreariness threatening to take him down into depression.
"Nowhere," he grumbled, pointing to the notebook on the floor. "I found out I'm not the first person the town demanded back, but it doesn't go any further than that."
Jennifer placed a tray piled with food on his lap. His mouth watered and he couldn't stop the smile crossing his lips.
"I don't know how you knew, but thanks."
"I heard your stomach across the room. Figured you should fill it before it grows a mouth and eats everything in sight."
Laughter escaped him and a weight seemed to lift off him. He wanted to kiss her for it. Instead, he grabbed the fork and dug into the eggs.
~*~
John Sheppard left the mess hall and headed for his quarters to grab his work out gear. He needed something to take his frustrations out on. A member of his team was being tortured by a strange power in the form of a town. He'd thought they'd defeated it months ago, but it wanted Rodney back for some reason. A reason they hadn't discovered. Yet.
He went through his memories, trying to see if they missed anything during that last fight five months ago. He couldn't come up with anything.
He shook his head and waved his hand over the door controls. The door swooshed open and he stepped inside. He grabbed the bag with the sticks.
Movement in the corner of the room caught his attention. He slowly removed one of the sticks from the bag and stared into the corner. He narrowed his eyes wondering if it was only his imagination.
He backed toward the door, his eyes glued on the corner. Nothing happened, but he didn't relax until the door to his room closed in front of him.
I'm starting to see things.
Sheppard shook his head and went to work off some steam.
~*~
Rodney stared at the ceiling in complete boredom. He sighed heavily, fighting the urge to fall asleep just to relieve the dullness. He wanted to leave this bed.
I feel fine. I should be allowed to get out of here. What's taking so long?
He smirked, figuring Jennifer wanted him all to herself for a little while longer. He shook his head and planned to tell her there was better ways to get him alone.
A clatter to his right alerted him. He sat up to look around the monitor. A metal cup rolled along the floor, hitting the foot of the bed beside his. He stared at it, wondering how it ended up on the floor.
Who knocked it over?
His heart picked up its pace as he raised eyes to an empty infirmary. There wasn't any reason for the cup to fall on the floor.
"Rodney? Are you all right?"
Rodney scrambled out of bed, grabbed his clothes and put them on. "We need to get out of here."
"What? Why? What's going on?"
He grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the infirmary doors. He didn't want to know what had made its way to Atlantis.
The doors slid open to reveal the weirdest creature he'd ever seen. It appeared hunched over, its face, at least, that's what he thought it was, swung in front of the body and was split down the middle. Rows of jagged teeth glistened in the light.
"Guess we can't go that way."
The monster screeched and stood up straighter. Its mouth opened and Rodney shoved Jennifer back inside the infirmary. The door shut and he heard a thud as the monster hit the hard surface.
"What the hell was that?" Jennifer's voice sounded like a squeak.
Rodney shook his head, trying to get his breath under control. "I'd never seen anything like it. Not even in that town."
"Great. How are we going to get out of here?"
He looked at her. Fear darkened her eyes and he felt for her. He didn't have a weapon to use against the creature.
Banging exploded through the infirmary and he jumped. He closed his eyes on a growl, realizing they couldn't stay here forever. They needed to get pass that beast to get out of here.
"What do you have we can turn into a weapon?"
Jennifer looked around the infirmary, then got to her feet. She headed into the second room and grabbed two tanks. He raised an eyebrow, wondering what went on in her head. She smiled at him.
"We're going to use these."
"You're going to turn them into missiles." He smiled as the idea formed in his mind.
"Yeah. We're going to give it a mouth full."
~*~
Sheppard wiped his forehead with a towel and slung the bag over his shoulder. He smiled at Teyla and motioned for her to lead the way out.
She stepped into the corridor. "Feel better?"
"Depends on what you mean by better? I can't think of why Rodney is being tormented again by that place."
"Do you think that journal will give him the answers?"
"When I left he was going through it, determined to find something."
Teyla turned to face him. "That was an hour ago. He hasn't contacted us."
A chill went through him. Had the town taken Rodney again? Not about to let that happen again, he yanked the sticks from the bag and took off down the corridor to the infirmary. He heard Teyla behind him and he hoped their practice weapons would be enough to take out whatever awaited them once they got there.
I hope I'm just overreacting and he just fell asleep.
He had a feeling it was wishful thinking and Rodney was in trouble.
He took the stairs two at a time and leaped onto the landing. Racing through the corridors, everything was a blur. He didn't want any other distractions until he reached the infirmary.
An explosion brought him to a stop. People ran, fast and far from the noise.
"That came from the infirmary."
"You don't think…"
Sheppard took off at a dead run. Fear and anger warred with each other and he shoved the dark images trying to take over his sight. He refused to allow such thoughts to cloud his mind. Not until he knew what had happened.
He slid to a stop at the sight of a gray body laying several feet from the doors. He stared at it then at the doors. Rodney and Jennifer stepped toward him. Their gaze fell on him and they smiled.
"What the hell happened?"
Rodney stared at the body then at him. "Looks like the monsters are finding a way into Atlantis."
"Great."
"If we can study this creature, maybe we can find why the town wants Rodney back."
Sheppard stared at Teyla. He doubted they'd find the reason why, but maybe they could learn something about the creatures. He looked at Jennifer.
"Will you be all right with this thing?"
"It's dead. What more can it do?"
Sheppard nodded. "Find out anything you can and get back to us."
A dark look came over Rodney and he could just image what the scientist thought.
"Yes, McKay, we're going back."
Rodney rolled his eyes, but said nothing. The eye roll was enough.
