Many thanks to my wonderful beta night animal :) And thanks for all the kind reviews – I enjoyed reading them very much!
Chapter 25
No, no, no, please let this be a nightmare. I never ever want to meet this creature again. An icy shiver ran down his spine, a single sweat bead formed on his forehead and found its way down the tip of his nose, towards the ground. The Wraith got up, sluggishly, glancing at the terrified human still cowering at the floor, and turned around slowly, still looking at the grass. Wake up from this insane dream. You're still snuggled up in the leafy hole. Argh, whom are you kidding? This is reality. A very bad reality. He raised his head and there she stood, leaning against the last tree in the semicircle with an extremely smug smile on her face. The being tossed something yellow, semitransparent into the air and caught it again.
"Missing something?" she asked with an evil, toothy smile.
The control crystal! You…§"&! He growled viciously, which earned him a giggle from the entity.
"Oh, you are so entertaining." The smile broadened. "You both are." Both? The Wraith scowled.
"You know, I could not believe my eyes when the cell door alarm went off and I watched you sneaking away. Predator and prey working together, then even the prey dragging along the predator… what a sight." The creature smiled, amused. "I just could not resist letting you two escape, best entertainment I had in years. Oh, come on, don't look so surprised. Did you really think I did not secure the mechanism against unauthorized activation?" she added with a sugar sweet voice. The Alien hid his face in his hands:
"The cliff, the near crash, almost freezing to death …and you just watched?!" He moaned. I knew something was off. The entity laughed unpleasantly while still tossing the crystal. "Oh yes, a human and a Wraith stuck in a hole. I was not able to resist the temptation to teach the young one how to absorb energy from environmental heat. It was so cute how the two of you snuggled up to keep warm. Was that not funny?" The creature could not speak anymore, she was giggling too hard. Funny? Funny! He roared.
Beside him, Rodney jumped in terror and ran off into the woods.
"Oh, look, now you have scared your little human companion away," the entity said with mock sadness. She stopped playing with the control crystal and her expression became serious.
"So, what am I going to do with you, Fluffy? Seeing you walking through the vegetable patches with a human is only amusing for so long." The creature walked towards the Wraith, swinging her hips exaggeratingly.
"So, what shall I do?" She leant forward, penetrating his personal space. A nasty smile formed on her lips. "Would it not be appropriate to punish you for your disobedience?" The Alien took a step back. Please, no more punishments, I have really had enough of those.
"Oh, is the poor little Wraith afraid," she taunted him.
How dare you…He inhaled deeply but his response stuck in his throat as the creature gripped his neck and throttled him, while lifting him from the ground. The Wraith gasped helplessly. Air, I need air. Just before unconsciousness claimed him, the being dropped him to the floor, where he set coughing and panting. Meanwhile, the entity produced a short, dirty knife, which looked nasty with all its spikes.
"Should I cut you into pieces bit by bit? How much can you regenerate?" she whispered quietly into his ear, dragging the knife's tip along his arm. The shallow wound didn't take long to heal.
"Or shall I rip out every single organ of yours, Fluffy." Although her voice was low it still sounded dangerous, and her eyes where alive with glee. She grabbed his head with one clawed hand and brought the knife close to his face with the other. Too close to my eye, way too close. …You are not joking, are you? Running seems like a good idea now. The Wraith jerked his head suddenly and the being let go in surprise. Blood was trickling out of the scratches her talons had left, but he didn't care as he dashed into the forest right after the human. Away, I need to run away.
The Wraith heard the creature giggle far behind him, then a noise like a thousand daggers ripping meat apart ruptured the air. He winced and tried to run even faster. Whatever that was, it's going to be bad.
"You cannot escape. There is nowhere to go for you on this planet," her voice sounded from above. The Alien glanced up and saw the creature flying above the treetops. Was that sound you taking off? Oh, not good, not good. Unfortunately, she is right. I am so screwed. There is no sanctuary. He shivered. Good grief, her wings flapping sound like a whip slashing. This is like a bad omen.
The Wraith kept sprinting through the woods, not caring about all the cuts the thorns gave him, and soon he spotted Rodney, running for dear life in front of him. Just as he had almost caught up, the human stumbled - trying to stop in time as a cliff suddenly came into view. The man waved his arms in a futile attempt to regain balance, a high pitched scream pinching the air as Rodney lost the fight and fell over the cliff. The Wraith came barley in time to grab McKay's vest and pull him back onto safe ground. Shocked, they both stood there for a moment.
"Oh God, oh God,"the human whispered quietly. He was beginning to shake slightly. The Alien looked around hectically to decide which way to go, as he glimpsed a shadow lurking within the trees at the bottom of the ravine. The young one. §"&! The black creature glided into view over the chasm, chuckling maliciously. She mocked them:
"Oh, is there somebody running out of options?" The Wraith growled, then realised that the black mist had started creeping up the rocky wall towards them.
"Run, Rodney!" He rushed past the human and up a steep slope to their right, along the cliff side.
Although McKay reacted instantly and followed his companion, he fell behind quickly. He's not going to make it at that speed. The dark vapour is catching up. … I don't even know if I will be fast enough to evade recapture. But maybe you will distract them long enough to give me at least a head start. The Alien glanced up again and spotted the grown up performing some weird movements in the air. She obviously had a hard time staying air borne while having a laughing fit. Not good! The entity regained her balance after calming down a bit, drew nearer and told him, giggling:
"You know that you are heading for a dead end, don't you? In front of you is a steep wall, plunging down. You cannot escape me. If you give up now, I will let you rest in a nice cell tonight. What do you say?"
"I'd rather jump down that cliff than come back with you. I won't let you torture me again!" he snapped at her.
"Torture, torture …do I really torture you" she mused quietly, "Oh, who cares, it is fun making you miserable! Judging by your expression, I'd better fly ahead and get myself ready to catch you, should you really jump. The young one will take care of the rest." The creature smiled nastily one more time and vanished out of sight over the tree tops.
The Wraith stopped, panting hard. What can I do now? I'm so screwed. He watched as the black mist hunted McKay uphill. The entity had surrounded him on three sides, leaving him only one direction to flee in. The extensions of the being to your left and right are not too large, but it is still moving too fast for you to ever outrun it. Hm, your breath is going becoming irregular. I've seen that before…prey on the brink of exhaustion. You are not going to make it much longer. He waited and glanced over the edge of the cliff he was standing at. Nothing I can do anymore. This wall is not high enough to kill me, but a jump will certainly injure me enough to be captured without a problem. …Rodney said direct contact with this misty entity is lethal. So this is how it will end. Let's hope he is right. TheWraith waited with closed eyes, he could hear the human's tired feet scraping along the ground, coming closer and closer and then a different sound, something crackling. What new cruelty is this
TBC
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Fluffy, crossing his hands irritatingly: "Do you really want to know? How can it be funny or entertaining when I have to run for my life? You surly just get a lot of bad reviews!"
Me: "Sshhh, Fluffy, you're spoiling the fun – now they know that your survived the experience."
Fluffy: "I do not particularly care, just one more chapter and an epilogue to suffer through. I shall be so glad when this is over!"
Me rolls eyes