Thanks to school, there's going to be a lot of delay, even more than there
has been already. I blame it all on the wonderful homework that comes with
honors courses. Umm, so. sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. sorry.
Okay, I know it has upset some people that Stuart Reed and Malcolm have the relationship (or lack there of) that they do in this story. I think I need to say that I don't believe Stuart was an abusive father, one whom Malcolm
feared so much that suicide was the only escape he could think of. I actually believe he was just a strict father, and maybe a little peeved off that Malcolm chose to abandon family tradition by joining Starfleet, but not abusive. And if there IS any dislike for his father (and vice versa),
which I believe there is, like in ANY relationship, it isn't for that reason. But for the purposes in this story, in which each of them needs a fear so strong and so terrifying to them, that even knowing (as it was in
Malcolm's case) that their fear could not possibly surface so far from
Earth, they would still be petrified to face it.
I hope that cleared things up. And now on to chapter 9.
Chapter 9
Among the Ashes
"*Again*?" Malcolm asked breathlessly as he limped over to Trip, his side aching. "What do you mean, 'Back *again*'?"
His eyes narrowed. "Don'tcha think you've done enough?" he hissed.
"I... I've never..." he began, really unsure of what he was going to say when he had no idea what he was being accused of in the first place. "I really don't know..."
"Shut up!" he interrupted, causing Malcolm to flinch. "Just shut the hell up!" Malcolm backed off a little. "What do you want now?! You already *have* the girl! You already tricked me! You already killed everyone on Enterprise! If you think I'm gonna help you any more, you might as well leave now, 'cause the only thing left fer you t' do is kill me!"
"You don't understand..." he started, anger and sadness constricting his throat.
"What isn't there t' understand?!" He got in Malcolm's face, the Lieutenant trying to find any scrap of courage to keep fighting to pull his friend up from drowning in whatever darkness he'd been pushed into. "You murderer," he snarled, "you...."
But he stopped. He took a good look at Malcolm, staring hard into his eyes until the lieutenant became extremely uncomfortable. "Malcolm?" he muttered softly, seeing the familiar sparkle of life in his cobalt blue eyes, and beginning to trust him. He backed off slightly, but he could feel himself shaking, losing his composure and his strength to continue.
He nodded slowly. "It's me, Trip."
He started to give in to that trust, but then pulled back from it. It could all just be an illusion. Just another illusion.... He was truly in Hell. He sat down on the ground, shaking his head in disbelief. "No. No.... Ya *can't* be Malcolm. Malcolm's dead...."
Malcolm glared at him. "I don't know where you got that idea, but I can assure you- I am very alive."
"Sure, *you* are. But *Malcolm*...." He started to rock back and forth a little, his arms folded and hugging his knees to his chest.
"Trip...." Malcolm murmured, closing the gap between him and his friend.
"No!" he shouted. "Don't come near me!"
Malcolm didn't know what to do. There was nothing he could say or do that would change Trip's mind. He had obviously been tricked, tricked worse than *he* had been, and was now void of any grip on the real world or his own sanity.
Trip then began to laugh in a quiet, strange, sinister way that chilled Malcolm. "Y'know.... I really didn't know who you were gonna be this time.... But comin' back as Malcolm again...." He shook his head, twitching slightly. "That was real smart. But *I'm* not fallin' for it."
"Trip-"
"Stop callin' me that!" he yelled out angrily. "I already told'ja, I'm not gonna believe you, so leave me the hell alone!"
Malcolm watched Trip carefully, waiting for the rage to leave him, but it didn't. The fear and the anger wouldn't fade, but he had to help his friend. He knew he was failing, and so tried a different approach. "T'Pol's sick."
He looked concerned, but turned away, unwilling to give in.
"She can't seem to grasp reality anymore."
Trip turned away further.
"She doesn't even recognize me."
Malcolm saw Trip's eyes dart around in front of him as he battled with his thoughts, but he still didn't move.
"We need to get out of here!" he finally said, his voice forceful and determined. "*None* of us can take much more of this!"
Trip didn't turn around, didn't even acknowledge what Malcolm said, which frustrated him immensely. He had had enough of trying to reason with Trip, especially now that he wouldn't even listen.
Malcolm walked over to Trip, grabbing him roughly by the shoulders and forcing him to look into his eyes. "Damn you, Trip!" he shouted, infuriated. "I don't care *what* you've seen, we've all seen *something*! We've all been manipulated, we've all been terrified! But you can't always just turn away from what scares you!"
Suddenly, Malcolm stopped in horror. He looked down into Trip's panic-stricken eyes, and saw himself in his place- as a boy no older than ten years of age. But what scared him most was that in his own place... he envisioned his father.
He released his grip on Trip's shoulders, and pulled away, walking backwards toward where he came from.
"I can't believe I just said that..." he murmured. He looked back at Trip, still on the ground, watching him closely.
".Why?" he asked in a hushed voice that Malcolm could hardly hear.
"My father... he always told me that." He paused. "In fact, that was one of the few pieces of advice he had for me. He hardly ever said anything much to me, so...." His voice faded out, and he had nothing more to say.
Just then he realized his opportunity to convince Trip of what he knew. "I saw my father here. He felt real to me, even though I knew he wasn't," he explained, his voice cracking a bit. "I'm sure the Malcolm you saw was the same."
"Why do you keep doin' this?" he asked, beginning to distrust Malcolm again.
"Because I want us to get out of here," he insisted, walking over to Trip and sitting next to him. Trip watched him cautiously out of the corner of his eye, but did not move away. "I won't leave you behind. I won't go back without you."
Trip's mind flashed back to when the two of them were floating in Shuttlepod One, waiting for Enterprise to retrieve them, a seemingly impossible hope. With only two days' air left, they assumed they were doomed to death, and so, his mind set on ensuring that one of them made it back- that one being Malcolm- Trip had decided to sacrifice himself. His place in the airlock would leave Malcolm with the oxygen he would have used. But Malcolm had told him that he would rather die with him than live with the oxygen he would have given up.
His eyes found the Lieutenant once again.
"So it's really *you*, Malcolm...."
*^*^*^*^*^*^*
Hoshi watched as T'Pol worsened, not really sure what to do for her. Her eyes seemed so distant and blind; she didn't even know Hoshi was there anymore. Compared to the sub-commander Hoshi knew... this T'Pol looked wild, like an untamed animal. Hoshi had to continue to monitor her so she would stay on the ground, as she was now often trying to get up and escape- but when Hoshi tried to keep her seated, her hands barely gripping T'Pol's shoulders to not provoke her to any more violence, the Vulcan slashed at the air to try to pull her off, her eyes unseeing, unfocused on the ensign. She probably thought, in her crazed state, that creatures were trying to keep her there, and she was terrified.
She stayed huddled on the ground, curled up, her eyes darting madly at demons that weren't there, muttering in Vulcan to the nonexistent ghosts that she lashed out at. But then again, Hoshi thought, in this place, who knows whether they're real or not. The being that invaded their minds was real- not exactly tangible or visible when it wanted to be, but very real.
"Nothing could be more true," came a voice from behind her, making Hoshi quickly turn around. "Do not doubt what you know, Ensign Sato."
She stared open-mouthed at the ghostly figure before her, as hollow as her voice, and her color as faded and graying as in an old photo. "Who...?"
"There isn't time," she said hurriedly. "I am afraid that with T'Pol in this state, you will need all the strength you can retain. He will take it from you, and there is little time left if you are to do it alone."
"Do *what* alone?" Her mind reeled with the mass of strange information she had just been informed of.
"You will be afraid, Hoshi, but please, stay strong," she encouraged, ignoring the question. "Go to him. There is no other choice now. I cannot-"
She broke off, her apparition flickering. "He is very near," she warned. "He has T'Pol, and he will soon have you all if you don't.." She did not finish, her eyes growing wide with terror as she focused on something Hoshi knew to be horrible. "He knows," she gasped.
She turned her eyes to Hoshi. "Run."
Hoshi trembled, knowing that the chase had just begun, and that she was more alone in this than she ever imagined before. She turned to T'Pol, attempting to take her off the ground and get her as far away as possible, but T'Pol resisted.
"Leave her!" the girl demanded. "Run!" Then she faded into nothing.
She took one last look at T'Pol, who was almost completely unaware of the situation, though a look of fear had crossed over her face unlike any Hoshi had previously seen. She felt extremely guilty for deserting her, but T'Pol was already gone, held captive in whatever hallucinations, whatever world this creature had her in. She felt awful, but she needed to escape, and so she ran. She ran faster than she had ever thought she could. And as she retreated, her mind raced- seemed almost to outrun her in her escape.
She couldn't help but wonder then how she could ever overtake her own mind. That was more or less what she was being asked to do, considering that the being she was trying to escape was connected to her thoughts. And where could she run to if the entire world was all just an illusion? Where could she go when she was never moving from her place on Enterprise? How could she fight something that wasn't there at all?
She was nearing the hills, but nowhere near Trip or Malcolm, and T'Pol was far beyond able to help her, needing help herself. She looked back at where T'Pol still was, clawing at invisible forces that bound her to her delusion.
She spun back around and screamed, yellow eyes staring back at her.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
Muahahahaha.. Okay, that was strange. But you get the point.
I'm nearing the conclusion to "Open Your Eyes.," but when you'll actually *see* it is iffy. For now, I work. And I say STUPID SCHOOL because, well,
yeah. I was actually almost finished with this chapter at the end of August, so what does *that* tell you? Stupid people that tell us "students
only get about an hour of homework a night.." Oh yeah? Come to *my*
school, you idiots.
So, uh, on that note. review please! I've been deprived for reasons
already discussed and complained about.
Okay, I know it has upset some people that Stuart Reed and Malcolm have the relationship (or lack there of) that they do in this story. I think I need to say that I don't believe Stuart was an abusive father, one whom Malcolm
feared so much that suicide was the only escape he could think of. I actually believe he was just a strict father, and maybe a little peeved off that Malcolm chose to abandon family tradition by joining Starfleet, but not abusive. And if there IS any dislike for his father (and vice versa),
which I believe there is, like in ANY relationship, it isn't for that reason. But for the purposes in this story, in which each of them needs a fear so strong and so terrifying to them, that even knowing (as it was in
Malcolm's case) that their fear could not possibly surface so far from
Earth, they would still be petrified to face it.
I hope that cleared things up. And now on to chapter 9.
Chapter 9
Among the Ashes
"*Again*?" Malcolm asked breathlessly as he limped over to Trip, his side aching. "What do you mean, 'Back *again*'?"
His eyes narrowed. "Don'tcha think you've done enough?" he hissed.
"I... I've never..." he began, really unsure of what he was going to say when he had no idea what he was being accused of in the first place. "I really don't know..."
"Shut up!" he interrupted, causing Malcolm to flinch. "Just shut the hell up!" Malcolm backed off a little. "What do you want now?! You already *have* the girl! You already tricked me! You already killed everyone on Enterprise! If you think I'm gonna help you any more, you might as well leave now, 'cause the only thing left fer you t' do is kill me!"
"You don't understand..." he started, anger and sadness constricting his throat.
"What isn't there t' understand?!" He got in Malcolm's face, the Lieutenant trying to find any scrap of courage to keep fighting to pull his friend up from drowning in whatever darkness he'd been pushed into. "You murderer," he snarled, "you...."
But he stopped. He took a good look at Malcolm, staring hard into his eyes until the lieutenant became extremely uncomfortable. "Malcolm?" he muttered softly, seeing the familiar sparkle of life in his cobalt blue eyes, and beginning to trust him. He backed off slightly, but he could feel himself shaking, losing his composure and his strength to continue.
He nodded slowly. "It's me, Trip."
He started to give in to that trust, but then pulled back from it. It could all just be an illusion. Just another illusion.... He was truly in Hell. He sat down on the ground, shaking his head in disbelief. "No. No.... Ya *can't* be Malcolm. Malcolm's dead...."
Malcolm glared at him. "I don't know where you got that idea, but I can assure you- I am very alive."
"Sure, *you* are. But *Malcolm*...." He started to rock back and forth a little, his arms folded and hugging his knees to his chest.
"Trip...." Malcolm murmured, closing the gap between him and his friend.
"No!" he shouted. "Don't come near me!"
Malcolm didn't know what to do. There was nothing he could say or do that would change Trip's mind. He had obviously been tricked, tricked worse than *he* had been, and was now void of any grip on the real world or his own sanity.
Trip then began to laugh in a quiet, strange, sinister way that chilled Malcolm. "Y'know.... I really didn't know who you were gonna be this time.... But comin' back as Malcolm again...." He shook his head, twitching slightly. "That was real smart. But *I'm* not fallin' for it."
"Trip-"
"Stop callin' me that!" he yelled out angrily. "I already told'ja, I'm not gonna believe you, so leave me the hell alone!"
Malcolm watched Trip carefully, waiting for the rage to leave him, but it didn't. The fear and the anger wouldn't fade, but he had to help his friend. He knew he was failing, and so tried a different approach. "T'Pol's sick."
He looked concerned, but turned away, unwilling to give in.
"She can't seem to grasp reality anymore."
Trip turned away further.
"She doesn't even recognize me."
Malcolm saw Trip's eyes dart around in front of him as he battled with his thoughts, but he still didn't move.
"We need to get out of here!" he finally said, his voice forceful and determined. "*None* of us can take much more of this!"
Trip didn't turn around, didn't even acknowledge what Malcolm said, which frustrated him immensely. He had had enough of trying to reason with Trip, especially now that he wouldn't even listen.
Malcolm walked over to Trip, grabbing him roughly by the shoulders and forcing him to look into his eyes. "Damn you, Trip!" he shouted, infuriated. "I don't care *what* you've seen, we've all seen *something*! We've all been manipulated, we've all been terrified! But you can't always just turn away from what scares you!"
Suddenly, Malcolm stopped in horror. He looked down into Trip's panic-stricken eyes, and saw himself in his place- as a boy no older than ten years of age. But what scared him most was that in his own place... he envisioned his father.
He released his grip on Trip's shoulders, and pulled away, walking backwards toward where he came from.
"I can't believe I just said that..." he murmured. He looked back at Trip, still on the ground, watching him closely.
".Why?" he asked in a hushed voice that Malcolm could hardly hear.
"My father... he always told me that." He paused. "In fact, that was one of the few pieces of advice he had for me. He hardly ever said anything much to me, so...." His voice faded out, and he had nothing more to say.
Just then he realized his opportunity to convince Trip of what he knew. "I saw my father here. He felt real to me, even though I knew he wasn't," he explained, his voice cracking a bit. "I'm sure the Malcolm you saw was the same."
"Why do you keep doin' this?" he asked, beginning to distrust Malcolm again.
"Because I want us to get out of here," he insisted, walking over to Trip and sitting next to him. Trip watched him cautiously out of the corner of his eye, but did not move away. "I won't leave you behind. I won't go back without you."
Trip's mind flashed back to when the two of them were floating in Shuttlepod One, waiting for Enterprise to retrieve them, a seemingly impossible hope. With only two days' air left, they assumed they were doomed to death, and so, his mind set on ensuring that one of them made it back- that one being Malcolm- Trip had decided to sacrifice himself. His place in the airlock would leave Malcolm with the oxygen he would have used. But Malcolm had told him that he would rather die with him than live with the oxygen he would have given up.
His eyes found the Lieutenant once again.
"So it's really *you*, Malcolm...."
*^*^*^*^*^*^*
Hoshi watched as T'Pol worsened, not really sure what to do for her. Her eyes seemed so distant and blind; she didn't even know Hoshi was there anymore. Compared to the sub-commander Hoshi knew... this T'Pol looked wild, like an untamed animal. Hoshi had to continue to monitor her so she would stay on the ground, as she was now often trying to get up and escape- but when Hoshi tried to keep her seated, her hands barely gripping T'Pol's shoulders to not provoke her to any more violence, the Vulcan slashed at the air to try to pull her off, her eyes unseeing, unfocused on the ensign. She probably thought, in her crazed state, that creatures were trying to keep her there, and she was terrified.
She stayed huddled on the ground, curled up, her eyes darting madly at demons that weren't there, muttering in Vulcan to the nonexistent ghosts that she lashed out at. But then again, Hoshi thought, in this place, who knows whether they're real or not. The being that invaded their minds was real- not exactly tangible or visible when it wanted to be, but very real.
"Nothing could be more true," came a voice from behind her, making Hoshi quickly turn around. "Do not doubt what you know, Ensign Sato."
She stared open-mouthed at the ghostly figure before her, as hollow as her voice, and her color as faded and graying as in an old photo. "Who...?"
"There isn't time," she said hurriedly. "I am afraid that with T'Pol in this state, you will need all the strength you can retain. He will take it from you, and there is little time left if you are to do it alone."
"Do *what* alone?" Her mind reeled with the mass of strange information she had just been informed of.
"You will be afraid, Hoshi, but please, stay strong," she encouraged, ignoring the question. "Go to him. There is no other choice now. I cannot-"
She broke off, her apparition flickering. "He is very near," she warned. "He has T'Pol, and he will soon have you all if you don't.." She did not finish, her eyes growing wide with terror as she focused on something Hoshi knew to be horrible. "He knows," she gasped.
She turned her eyes to Hoshi. "Run."
Hoshi trembled, knowing that the chase had just begun, and that she was more alone in this than she ever imagined before. She turned to T'Pol, attempting to take her off the ground and get her as far away as possible, but T'Pol resisted.
"Leave her!" the girl demanded. "Run!" Then she faded into nothing.
She took one last look at T'Pol, who was almost completely unaware of the situation, though a look of fear had crossed over her face unlike any Hoshi had previously seen. She felt extremely guilty for deserting her, but T'Pol was already gone, held captive in whatever hallucinations, whatever world this creature had her in. She felt awful, but she needed to escape, and so she ran. She ran faster than she had ever thought she could. And as she retreated, her mind raced- seemed almost to outrun her in her escape.
She couldn't help but wonder then how she could ever overtake her own mind. That was more or less what she was being asked to do, considering that the being she was trying to escape was connected to her thoughts. And where could she run to if the entire world was all just an illusion? Where could she go when she was never moving from her place on Enterprise? How could she fight something that wasn't there at all?
She was nearing the hills, but nowhere near Trip or Malcolm, and T'Pol was far beyond able to help her, needing help herself. She looked back at where T'Pol still was, clawing at invisible forces that bound her to her delusion.
She spun back around and screamed, yellow eyes staring back at her.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
Muahahahaha.. Okay, that was strange. But you get the point.
I'm nearing the conclusion to "Open Your Eyes.," but when you'll actually *see* it is iffy. For now, I work. And I say STUPID SCHOOL because, well,
yeah. I was actually almost finished with this chapter at the end of August, so what does *that* tell you? Stupid people that tell us "students
only get about an hour of homework a night.." Oh yeah? Come to *my*
school, you idiots.
So, uh, on that note. review please! I've been deprived for reasons
already discussed and complained about.