Kendal groaned loudly as she fought her way back to consciousness. She pried her eyes open to find absolute darkness and panicked momentarily fearing she had been buried alive. She thrust out her arms to instinctively push back the cover but found nothing constraining her. The next thing to assault her senses was the foul and fetid odor that permeated this space; it was a mixture of sweat, fear, desperation, death and decay and try as she might she could not fight back the urge to vomit. She rolled quickly onto her knees and emptied the contents of her stomach.

Once the dry heaves had receded the memory of what had happened slowly began to return. She could clearly see and feel the clawed hand grab her as she touched the mirror's surface and then the horrific realization that she was being pulled unwillingly into another world. A fresh wave of terror broke over her and she began to tremble uncontrollably. Where the hell was she and what had brought her here? She'd been so anxious to meet an alien entity but this experience was proving to be nothing like she imagined.

She cautiously sat up drew herself up into a ball and began rocking slowly back and forth trying desperately to stem the flood of tears, control her rising fear and recover some shred of rational thought. As she rocked she began assessing the world around her noting what she could despite being unable to see anything.

This place seemed large and was uncomfortably hot and humid as she noticed her clothes plastered to her body by sweat, there was no hint of breeze moving the fetid air and the atmosphere was oppressive as though she were buried under piles of wet, heavy woolen blankets. And although she couldn't see it she sensed there was something in here with her, something huge that exuded a malevolence and hatred like an overpowering musk the likes of which she had never experienced. As a fresh wave of terror crashed over her she whimpered involuntarily and rocked harder.

She had heard the phrase 'frozen with fear' but until now had no real appreciation for what that meant. She desperately wanted to seek a way out of this place but was terrified at the thought of running into whatever lurked nearby. As she sat there trying to make her body move she heard something sigh and groan as it moved next to her.

'Oh god it's coming towards me' she thought as she listened to the thing scrabble and rustle on the floor beside her. Had she not been paralyzed by fear she would have screamed out and bolted when it rolled heavily into her and moaned out loud. She held her breath and stopped her rocking in hopes that whatever it was would back off and leave her alone.

Pressed hard against her, it coughed then groaned in what sounded like pain. Suddenly the thing grasped her arm and she let loose a scream trying desperately to wrench free from its powerful grip.

"K…Kendal? Is that you?" the thing asked.

"Lee, Lee is that you?" she replied tentatively. Relief washed over her as she realized that she wouldn't have to face this horror alone.

"Yeah, at least I think so." Lee replied as he pulled himself up to a seated position groaning in pain as he stressed his injured ribs. "What happened, where are we?"

"Oh thank god," she said in relief as she threw her arms around him like a drowning swimmer latching on to a life preserver . "I have no idea where we are or what happened. The last thing I remember was noticing something odd about the mirror in my bathroom and when I went to touch it something grabbed me and pulled me in."

Lee grunted in pain at the death grip she had applied to his upper body. Knowing how terrified she must be he gently wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tight against him then placed a hand on the back of her head and gently stroked her hair trying to calm her down. "That's pretty much the same thing that I remember."

She immediately felt safer in his arms, his voice was a soothing balm that drove back the fear and she relaxed somewhat. For the first time since she'd awakened in this hell hole she now had some sense of hope that they would escape this place and make it back to Seaview and safety. His calm and confident demeanor quieted her nerves and her uncontrolled shaking began to fade.

Once he felt her tremors abate he released his hold and gently peeled her back. He reached out and finding her face carefully wiped the tears off her cheeks with his thumb. "Are you all right, are you hurt?"

"I don't think so, I'm just frightened. How about you, how are your ribs?"

"I'm doing fine, and none the worse for wear. Jamie has mastered the art of the tape job so although I'm sore my ribs feel pretty stable. Have you checked out this place at all? Has anything contacted you since you've been awake?"

"No, I came to just a bit before you did. I have no idea how much time has passed since we were brought here. I do however get the feeling there is something huge and monstrous lurking somewhere out there but it hasn't contacted me."

As if on cue a low and malevolent laugh rumbled next to them, making them both jump in surprise. "Now is that anyway to talk about one's host?" queried a rasping, gurgling, mucus laden voice.

"Who are you and why did you bring us here?" demanded Lee.

"I am just another wrongly imprisoned creature like you; locked in the center of this planet you call earth. Why I brought you here is to help liberate us all from the confines of this cell and the Keepers," it replied.

"And how pray tell are we to help 'liberate' us from these keepers?" Lee asked.

"You possess many powerful weapons on that remarkable vessel you command, Captain. You need only send them to the depths below your boat and detonate them to loosen our bonds and set us all free," it answered simply. It counted desperately on these simple beings being unaware of what else would occur when they let loose the atomic power harnessed in their missiles.

"Yes and in the process destroy my boat, my people and my world. There's no way in hell I would ever allow that to happen." Lee spat back.

It growled, irked at having underestimated their grasp of the consequences of that action. "Oh I think you will gladly dispatch your weapons into the trench above if only to put an end to the agony you will now endure."

Suddenly a huge pair of yellow, soulless eyes appeared accompanied by an evil sneer baring a mouthful of yellowed, long, pointed teeth each one roughly the length of a man. It reached forward and grabbed Lee much like a child's doll and began slowly closing its powerful hand around his already damaged chest. Lee cried out unable to fight off the attack or to bite back the pain as he felt his ribs move and shift under the increasing pressure. He heard Kendal screaming at the thing to stop; it was going to kill him. He felt then heard his undamaged ribs bend and break, he cried out once more as the pain in his chest clamped down as hard as his tormentor's fist then he succumbed to the darkness.

Realizing his prisoner was no longer conscious and continued torture would not yield what it wanted it dropped Lee unceremoniously to the ground. It looked over to Kendal and sneered once again. "Convince the good captain to do as I say or you will be next," it said then shuffled off across the room.

Kendal heard rather than saw Lee's body hit the floor like a sack of laundry. She crawled quickly in the direction of the sound until she encountered his limp form. She rolled him gently on his back and placed her finger on his throat in desperate search of a pulse. Much to her relief she found a strong and steady beat. "Oh god Lee are you all right? Can you hear me?" she asked urgently. Uncertain about what he'd been subject to she began running her hands down his body in search of any injuries. As she probed his chest she felt the telltale signs of newly broken ribs. She pressed her ear to his chest and listened intently as he breathed. She sighed in relief when she heard no signs that the new injuries had compromised his lungs. Nearly overwhelmed by all that she had experienced, she stretched out next to his battered body, softly kissed his forehead then gently rested her head on his shoulder and wept.