S.o.S. – Chapter 25

It's finally here! The sneak preview for my original work 'Demons in the Dark' is up and ready to read. You can find it on Facebook by clicking here or at the url at the bottom of this page. I hope to have an eReader version of the book out by the end of this year.

Also- fair warning. My final exams are upon me so I wouldn't expect any more posts for at least the next couple of weeks at least. But don't worry, I'm not going anywhere. And to make up for my future absence, I give you- an extra looonng chapter! I'm not entirely happy with it, but I just wanted to get it over with already.

Likes are Love. Shares are Hugs. And Reviews are always appreciated J

Feed the Muse! #liaveannos

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She heard footsteps crackle through the forest, muted and muffled though they were to her stunned and still ringing ears. It was as if her whole head were somehow under water, but the soldiers clearly weren't prioritizing stealth. Twigs and leaves snapped and crunched as Cassandra felt tears forming in her eyes.

She didn't want to die like this….

The footsteps were drawing closer, any minute now they'd be on top of her. A final footstep fell and she could see the tip of a black military combat boot through the thinner branches at the edge of a bush to her left. She could hear the soldier re-positioning his weapon in his hands, the click of the metal, the shush as it rubbed against the fabric of his uniform. Just one more step and she'd be in his line of fire. A few more from the soldier on her right and there would be two of them. She wanted to look away, to cry or run or hide and bury herself in her mother's arms. But her mom wasn't there. She was alone, and she was going to die alone.

"Hold fire!"

Cassandra's heart froze in her chest and she was fairly certain that in any other circumstances she would have thrown up by now. But as it was, all she could manage was to try and suppress the tremors of terror shaking her shoulders. She heard the sound of boot steps walk across the narrow clearing until a large, military uniform clad frame step around the brush to grim smugly down at her. She idly noticed the other two soldiers stepping around in formation, keeping their guns trained on her as their commander stood at ease, his hands clasped behind his shoulders and that damn grin still plastered all over his fat face.

"Well well Ms. Frasier. So nice of you to join us out here." Cassandra's eyebrows furrowed, confusion making its way through the fog of fear clouding her mind. That fat face was still grinning down at her… that very… familiar, fat face. "Saves us all the trouble of having to go looking for you in that mess back at the facility."

Cassandra was still far too confused (and more than a little terrified) to come up with a coherent response, so she just lay there. On her stomach, in the leaves, gaping up at him with a bewildered expression on her face. In response to her continued silence the commander nodded to his two men who kicked the abandoned zat (which she'd dropped in all the confusion) away from her. The one behind her kept his weapon trained on her position as the other one dragged her to her feet by her elbows. Her legs nearly collapsed under her as she stood, so the soldier had to remain standing at her side, holding up nearly half her wait as she wobbled vaguely in place until, finally, Cassandra seemed to have remembered her voice.

"Wha… what do you mean?" she asked dumbly. Under any other circumstances she was convinced she could have made a much better impression than this. But as it was, fear, confusion, panic, and her quickly fading adrenaline levels were making her slow to respond and even slower to comprehend.

"We've been looking for you," the Commander replied non chalantly as she just stood there, still wavering and perplexed. "The Visser's would like to have a little chat."

"Viss..?" Casandra began slowly, but the Commander wasn't listening to her anymore. Instead he was touching his hand to the comm in his ear.

"We've got her, bring the vans around- we'll meet in the clearing."

Before Cassandra could question what was going on, or really do more than stutter in shock and confusion, the two soldiers had flanked her, each grabbing an arm and propping her up between them. She idly noted that one of the soldiers, the one who had kicked her zat away, had now pocketed the weapon. She could hear the last remaining soldier on the other side of the tree trying to rouse his still unconscious companions.

'Yeah, good luck with that buddy,' she thought wryly to herself. She knew first hand that those soldiers would not be rising for at least another hour or so. No one could shake off a zat blast that quickly, not their first time at least.

"Ellias! Call up our men on the perimeter, call them back. We're moving out," the commander shouted at the man on the other side of the trees. She hears the soft voice of the other soldier as he spoke into the staticy, crackling radio clipped to the shoulder of hi tack vest. She strained her ears for any recognizable names or words, so clue as to who these people were or where they were from or where they were taking her. She held no illusions about her chances of escape at this point in time. Even with two men unconscious she was still outnumbered four to one, and it sounded like reinforcements were on their way. But if she could pick up a name, a place, a clue – anything, then it might help her mother and her make-shift family launch a rescue operation when they eventually noticed she was missing. She briefly thought about ditching her cell phone so that her new friends might be able to find it and at the very least call her mother. But it was probably more valuable on her then not, at least that way they could hopefully track the signal and triangulate her position. But even if her phone wasn't an option she wasn't completely without resources.

"Ugh!"

"Get up girly!" one of the soldiers commanded as she stumbled and fell. Her shoulders shook ad she let out a choked sob. "Come on kid- I said get up!"

Both soldiers dragged her to her feet, grumbling and complaining as her legs faltered beneath her and they had to practically drag her through the trees, neither of them noticing the deep, clearly visible drag marks she was leaving in her wake.

Jake wiped at the sweat pooling in her eyes with the back of his sleeve. Who knew that the inside of an air conditioning matrix would be so freaking hot?

Actually, someone probably did know that. In fact, he'd put money on it that Erek had been in the know and just hadn't thought to tell him. Why would something like the ambient temperature being a gajillion degrees be something of relavence?

He groaned mentally. Jake really needed to get out of this heat – he was starting to sound like Marco, even in his own head. Pausing in his work to focus on that strange, abstract sort of focus it took to reach out with his mind. It was always infinitely more difficult to communicate this way when not in morph, he had neither the time nor the energy to change his form just to deliver a simple message.

'C-ss. –one. Rea-y?' he tried to ignore how spotty his message was and instead he kept his ears, or maybe it was his brain, open for Cassie's response. He waited for a few moments amidst the heat and noise of the air conditioner, and then a few moments more as he wasn't actually sure how much time had passed, before he tried to contact her again. 'Ca-? There?'

Again he was met with nothing for another long, hot, frustratingly silent moment. He was beginning to grow tense and aggravated as the silence droned on, until a flash of something hot and somehow pink welled up in his mind. He felt a lump in his throat as his head swam and his mouth ran dry. His hands shook as his entire system flooded with panic. And he knew in a heartbeat that this panic wasn't his own.

"Cassie!"

Jake felt his bones and skin shift, his body changing shape and form even as he surged forwards through the mess of pipes and vents and air filters. He took approximately three steps before his sneakered feet had been replaced by scaly lizard feet, his tiny claws clacking against the concrete and steel and aluminum as he scuttled through the framework. The world appeared blurry and distorted, his other senses fighting for dominance as the panic flooded and overloaded his lizard brain. But the thoughts of Cassie and the fact that the panic currently swimming around in his system kept him surging forward.

He saw the grating that he had entered through up ahead, the light streaming through it, and skittered under the strips of metal. He burst through the grating into the bright light of day, blinking rapidly to adjust his vision. But he wasn't at all prepared for what he saw.

Marco and Rachel glanced at each other, and then at the rag tag group that surrounded them, each of them clutching tightly to the make shift weapon in their hands. They were pinned down, gassed, cut-off, and desperate. There were two armed guards in front of the doors to the administrative offices. Not armed with Tasers or stun guns or even weird alien weapons (which is weird when alien weaponry becomes a more readily accepted alternative) but actual military grade weapons, with real live ammunition. And it was up to Marco and Rachel and a half dozen nerds to manage their own escape.

They spread out, trying to gain as much cover as possible before they launched. Marco looked seriously at Rachel and held up a hand on either side, counting down for the civilians spread out on either side of him. He held up his hands, slowly ticking of fingers.

Five seconds to go.

Marco glanced in what he hoped was a reassuring manner to Rachel as she nodded back encouragingly.

Four seconds to go.

He glanced to double check the positioning of the Taser at his side, ready to be snatched up as he surged forwards with the rest of them. Now he just had to get close enough to actually use it.

Three seconds to go.

He hoped the others had made it out ok. If this didn't go well, there was no guarantee that they would be able to render any assistance to their friends… or that their friends would even ever know what had happened to them.

Two seconds to go.

He wondered vaguely what his dad would think of him if he could see him now. You know, if he wasn't possessed by an evil alien slug occupying his brain.

He ticked down to the last finger – when an unearthly crash echoed through the eerie silence of the fog filled room. For a long moment Marco remained frozen behind his upturned card table. When he finally glanced over to Rachel his eyes nearly bugged out of his head as he realized that she was gone. He peaked around the corner, only to see the guards crumbled form lying underneath a very shaky looking blond headed teenager as the young man struggled to get to his feet. But Erek didn't seem to notice the remaining armed soldier behind him as he staggered to his feet. Before Marco could so much as shout a warning, however, Rachel had snuck up behind the remaining guard and jammed a Taser so hard into his back that Marco was sure it would leave a bruise.

His words were muffled and difficult to understand behind the mask that protected him from the remaining chemical fog, but he was pretty sure that his meaning was clearly understood as a muffled 'WTF?' carried across the echoing space. But Rachel had no time for his dramatics or theatrics as she jerked her head towards the now unguarded door to the administrative offices, and their ticket to freedom and, hopefully, safety.

Marco glanced behind them to find their rag tag group of rebels already following their lead. The dad had already retrieved his daughter and the soccer mom, and they were all just waiting for his cue. Finally, Marco relented to the absurdity of this new situation and waved them over, the nearly a dozen individuals making their way quickly and quietly through the entryway into the administrative offices and, following soccer dad's lead, began to make their way towards the emergency fire exit.

notes/ed-liaveannos/demons-in-the-dark-prelude/665595653572507