I came to in a passage of the castle I had not been before. My hands were
tied behind me. I try to walk and they allow me to walk behind the
leaders... several others were walking behind me. I follow them for what
seems like ages... I am thankful for the length of the trip... the longer
we walk, the clearer my head gets. I need to have a clear head... these men
plan to kill me. They underestimate my strength. I'm no longer the drugged
slave they once knew.
We turn a corner and begin to follow an underground river... that's when I attack. My hands may be tied behind my back, but I still have my feet... and I make full use of them! I kick back and knock three of the men down behind me. The two men in front turn and raise daggers. One of them brings his dagger down, aiming for my chest... but I turn and he slices through the ropes that tie my hands instead. I snap my wrists and the ropes fall off. I grin at them and they back away.
I know there's too many of them and I'm still too weak. I rush the two men in front and knock them down. Glancing behind me, I could see the others rush forward and know I have no other choice. I leap into the river and dived. I swam as hard as I could and finally surfaced for air. I could hear the men behind me yelling and cursing each other. I decided to follow the river and hoped it would lead outside. The waters were ice cold and I was beginning to lose feeling in my hands and feet. I knew I had to get out of the water as soon as I could.
"Did we get her? Where's her body?" one of the men asked.
"Who cares? She's gone now. Let's go," another answered.
"But Kurtan wanted to..." the first man began.
"Forget Kurtan!" The second man said and began to walk back the way they came. The group followed him, except for two individuals. They looked at each other and without a word dived into the frigid waters. They swam quickly, stopping to listen every few minutes. After swimming for a while, they stopped.
"Xena! Xena!" a female voice called. After listening for a moment a deep male voice joined in. They continued to swim with the current and calling out every few minutes. Neither noticed the current picking up speed. They didn't notice the roar that gradually grew louder, until it was too late.
"I think we'd better get out of here. I don't like the sound of that." The female said.
"There's nothing to grab onto! Gabrielle, can you..." the man's voice ended in a scream as the two friends went over the edge of an underground waterfall. They landed in a deep pool and surfaced, treading water desperately.
"Autolycus? Are you okay?" Gabrielle called.
"Right here, Gabrielle. I'm fine, what about you?" the thief returned.
"I'm fine. I can't see anything though," the bard answered.
"Neither can I, but I can sure smell that stench!" Autolycus said in a disgusted voice.
"Hey, I can almost feel the bottom here. It's shallower. Follow the sound of my voice," Gabrielle said.
"Right behind you, sunshine! I wonder if Xena made it this far?" Autolycus responded.
I could hear the voices... I knew who they were... and I tried answering... but I was so cold and weak... my voice didn't carry far. I can hear them now... they were close. Would they hear me this time? Should I even bother?
Maybe it's better if they never found me. Why would they want me? If I was broken once, it could happen again. Next time it could cost me more than just a broken spirit... it could cost me my friends.
"Xena!" she was close... I opened my mouth to answer.
"Xena!" I knew him... I loved him... and thought he loved me... at one time. I felt a tear slide down my cheek.
"...here..." I called weakly. My voice was barely audible... I'm sure they didn't hear me.
"I think I heard her! Over here!" Gabrielle was almost on top of me. I could hear her tripping on the uneven footing.
"This is disgusting! What are we walking on? Garbage? Xena! Where are you?" I smiled as I heard Autolycus grumbling to himself. It's a good thing they didn't know what they were walking on. I heard someone fall near me and seconds later a scream echoed through the cave. It was Gabrielle.
"Bodies! Lots of them! That's what the stench is! Xena, where are you? Answer me!" Gabrielle sounded frantic.
"...over here... Gabrielle..." I called out as loud as I could and soon felt her soft hands gingerly touching my body. I grabbed her hands and soon felt her arms hugging me close. I cringed as she touched my wounds. "Over here Autolycus! I've found her! Xena, do you know the way out of here?"
I shook my head and then realized that she couldn't see it. "No... but I think the tunnel goes deeper. Maybe if we follow it, we'll get to the surface." I wasn't sure if it would or not... but that was the only thing I could think of. I felt other hands on me and reached out to touch them. Autolycus... I let my hands follow his arms and eventually to his face. I recognize the goatee and well-trimmed moustache.
"Let's get you out of here!" he said... it was the sweetest thing I had ever heard him say.
We follow the tunnels for what seemed like an eternity... we moved slowly along the uneven ground. I stumble over an unseen rock and felt hands helping to steady me. "Are you okay? We can rest if you need to." Gabrielle voice asked with concern.
"No, I'm alright. Still going through withdrawal from the drugs they gave me, but I'm okay." I answered. I felt sick to my stomach but I wasn't going to tell her that. I thought I could hear something ahead of us in the tunnel... it sounded like someone whistling.
"Do you hear that?" Autolycus whispered.
"Let me lead," I whispered. I didn't want my friends to get hurt. I had a bad feeling in my gut. I had no idea what we'd find at the end of this tunnel, but I knew it wouldn't be good. I felt Gabrielle move past me...
I was now in the lead with Gabrielle behind me with one hand on my back. I moved slowly down the tunnel and it gradually began to slope upwards. I could see a crevice with light coming from it a short way ahead of me. I inched to the opening and looked in. I covered my mouth in shock. Below me in a deep pool of blood was Kurtan. He was naked and alone. His face rippled as though it were changing shape, which it soon did. In a matter of minutes I saw Kurtan change from the human shape I was accustomed to seeing him in to a dark red demonic shape. He scooped handfuls of the blood and drank it as though it were fine wine. I could see pieces of human remains floating in the pool and he casually picked these pieces up and sucked the blood off them and then delicately ate them.
I could feel Gabrielle and Autolycus looking over my shoulders and glancing at them saw they were just as disgusted as I was. I looked back at the demon and gasped as he raised his head to look straight at me. I could feel his gaze burn deep into my soul.
"Blood, Xena, bathe in a pool of warm blood once a moon cycle and you will live forever! Care to join me?" the demon grinned and licked his lips.
"Let's get out of here!" I said quietly to the others.
"There is no where you can run to, no place you can hide. I will find you anywhere. But I do enjoy a little game of cat and mouse every now and then. If you take the first tunnel to your left, you will reach the surface about a half-mile from Amphipolis. I will allow you to reach the surface before I come after you. I look forward to feasting on your flesh!" We could hear Kurtan's laughter echo throughout the tunnels as we stumbled back… away from the macabre scene before us.
A short distance down the tunnel we found the turn-off that Kurtan mentioned. I stopped. "What do we do now?" Gabrielle asked.
"Well, either we can go back and deal with big and ugly or we can go this way and..." Autolycus started.
"No." I interrupted, knowing what I had to do. I knew Autolycus and Gabrielle would have a better chance of escape if they weren't with me. "There's another way. I'm going back." My voice was firm, but I was wishing someone would stop me.
"Xena, you can't! You're in no shape to do this alone!" Gabrielle stopped me.
"Gabrielle's right. We can't let you do this … alone... that's why we're going back with you." Autolycus sounded scared... and reluctant. I didn't blame him. None of us knew what we were getting into.
"You don't have to. I don't want you to get hurt because of me." I loved them both all the more. I knew they wouldn't leave me.
"Don't be silly, Xena. We're with you to the end, whatever that may be. So, what should we do now?" Gabrielle asked.
"We go back. I can't allow him to continue killing. It could have been one of you that I killed next," I said.
"Lead the way, demon slayer! We're right behind you!" Autolycus always had a snappy comment no matter what kind of situation he found himself in. It felt good to know that some things haven't changed.
I led them back to the crevice where we saw Kurtan and looked cautiously into the chamber below. It was empty. Autolycus attached a line to solid- looking rock and we lowered ourselves to the floor below. The pool of blood was lower than before and we could see the bodies hanging upside down above it, still dripping blood into the pool. Some of the bodies looked half- eaten. All had the heads removed and a quick look at the ground around the pool showed the heads of the victims, with the eyes and brains removed. Gabrielle turned away, covering her mouth and Autolycus looked like he was fighting a losing battle with his stomach himself. I recognized several of the heads as people who I killed. I closed my eyes and fought a wave of nausea. I opened them again and tried not to breathe the foul air. I looked around quickly and saw a door halfway across the room.
"Come on! The door's over there," I said to the others and started making my own way to the door. I put my finger to my lips and motioned the others to stop as I continued walking silently to the door. I laid my ear upon it and listened intently for a few seconds before I heard anything. The shuffling of feet and the mutterings of outcasts gave the ambush away. I pointed to the door and counted down from three on my fingers. We threw the door open and began attacking before the outcasts knew what happened.
We finally broke through the lines and started to run. The horde followed us through the maze of tunnels and turned several corners, trying to lose the outcasts. We finally had to slow our pace because of me. The tunnels were lit here and although I tried to hide how much pain I was in, it showed clearly on my face and Gabrielle had us slow down. I was worried the horde might catch up with us, we could still hear them behind us. But for the moment at least it seemed we were relatively safe...well, as safe as you could be in a viper's nest.
We walked down a series of tunnels that I think I recognized. As we rounded another corner, I gasped... I remember this place! The ropes hanging from the ceiling... the stale air... this was where they took me after they captured me. Vivid images raced through my mind... the beatings... the starvation... the stories... the hot poker... the Rat... Kurtan. My friends let me be for a moment, but the sounds of pursuit were getting closer and I knew we had to leave.
We walked a little further and rounded another corner and saw another mob of vagrants coming towards us. I saw a tunnel off to the side and we ran down it. We could hear the sounds behinds us growing louder and we tried to hurry, but I wasn't as fast as the others. I was slowing them down... I knew it... so did they. If it wasn't for me, they could have escaped this nightmare by now!
"Go on! I'll catch up!" I waved my hand to encourage them to leave me behind but they looked at each other and ran back to me and each put an arm around my waist and to help me. We moved a little faster, but not fast enough. I could hear our pursuers closing in. We turned another corner and came face to face with a group that were waiting for us.
"Guess we stand and fight." Gabrielle said and prepared herself.
"It's been fun, Xena. Hey, at least we get to go out in style! Alright you circus clown rejects, let's party!" Autolycus said grimly.
Gabrielle and Autolycus didn't waste any time and attacked quickly. The thugs soon surrounded them and more were coming from behind us. We were lost.
"Xena! We could use some help here!" Autolycus called out.
The derelicts behind us were almost upon us and I still hadn't raised a hand to help my friends. How could I help? I was barely able to stand on my own two feet. A group of thugs grabbed me from behind and I felt like I was being buried alive under a mountain of human flesh. I didn't try to defend myself from the vicious kicks and punches. I looked up and saw Gabrielle and Autolycus being slowly overwhelmed.
"Xena! We need your help!" I heard Gabrielle's plea for help and felt something stir within me. She was bleeding from several cuts on her head and body. Autolycus wasn't faring much better. His clothing was being torn off and his chest was bare. I could see several cuts and gashes bleeding freely on his well-toned body. He glanced at me and I could see the fear and desperation in his eyes.
"Do something! Anything!" I could hear his voice and eyes reaching out.
"Xena, please!" Gabrielle screamed out before she was lost to view.
I felt the stirrings within me grow stronger and now I realized what it was... anger. How dare these worthless creatures hurt my friends! I raised my arms and voice in defiance and threw off three of the scum at once. Gabrielle and Autolycus, encouraged by my actions, redoubled their efforts and managed to fight off several of the men.
"Get her! She must die!" I barely heard the man's shout in my anger. Two men behind me grabbed my arms and tried to hold me but I flipped over their heads and brought my arms together causing the two to knock their heads together. I grinned savagely and attacked a third man to my side. With a swift kick to his sternum, he was lying on the ground and rolling around in agony. I grabbed the hair of two more men and smacked their heads together viciously. I felt the adrenaline rush through my blood and I felt incredible!
The men were starting to back away from me now, but I wouldn't let them go. They had to be punished for their crimes! They all had to be punished! I lashed out at several men and they fell to my feet unconscious. Gabrielle and Autolycus had backed away from me. Good thing, I wouldn't want to hurt them accidentally. I found a knife on the floor of the tunnel and grabbed it. Most of the men who had attacked us were now lying on the floor either dead or unconscious. I saw a few scattered survivors trying to retreat and I screamed and ran at them, managing to catch one before they ran off. I held the man's head tight as I sliced his neck open and felt the warm blood run over my fingers. I dropped the body and almost collapsed myself. I felt suddenly exhausted and started to sink to the ground and felt strong hands helping me to my feet again. Who...? Oh yeah, Gabrielle and Autolycus.
"Let's get you out of here." Gabrielle said softly. I could almost smell her fear. As the bloodlust subsided, I began to recall more of the last few minutes.
"Wow! You really kicked their butts. But we've got to get out of here, I think I can hear more of them coming." I barely heard his voice as I could feel myself fading again. I closed my eyes and allowed the blackness to take me... and that's when the dreams came.
We turn a corner and begin to follow an underground river... that's when I attack. My hands may be tied behind my back, but I still have my feet... and I make full use of them! I kick back and knock three of the men down behind me. The two men in front turn and raise daggers. One of them brings his dagger down, aiming for my chest... but I turn and he slices through the ropes that tie my hands instead. I snap my wrists and the ropes fall off. I grin at them and they back away.
I know there's too many of them and I'm still too weak. I rush the two men in front and knock them down. Glancing behind me, I could see the others rush forward and know I have no other choice. I leap into the river and dived. I swam as hard as I could and finally surfaced for air. I could hear the men behind me yelling and cursing each other. I decided to follow the river and hoped it would lead outside. The waters were ice cold and I was beginning to lose feeling in my hands and feet. I knew I had to get out of the water as soon as I could.
"Did we get her? Where's her body?" one of the men asked.
"Who cares? She's gone now. Let's go," another answered.
"But Kurtan wanted to..." the first man began.
"Forget Kurtan!" The second man said and began to walk back the way they came. The group followed him, except for two individuals. They looked at each other and without a word dived into the frigid waters. They swam quickly, stopping to listen every few minutes. After swimming for a while, they stopped.
"Xena! Xena!" a female voice called. After listening for a moment a deep male voice joined in. They continued to swim with the current and calling out every few minutes. Neither noticed the current picking up speed. They didn't notice the roar that gradually grew louder, until it was too late.
"I think we'd better get out of here. I don't like the sound of that." The female said.
"There's nothing to grab onto! Gabrielle, can you..." the man's voice ended in a scream as the two friends went over the edge of an underground waterfall. They landed in a deep pool and surfaced, treading water desperately.
"Autolycus? Are you okay?" Gabrielle called.
"Right here, Gabrielle. I'm fine, what about you?" the thief returned.
"I'm fine. I can't see anything though," the bard answered.
"Neither can I, but I can sure smell that stench!" Autolycus said in a disgusted voice.
"Hey, I can almost feel the bottom here. It's shallower. Follow the sound of my voice," Gabrielle said.
"Right behind you, sunshine! I wonder if Xena made it this far?" Autolycus responded.
I could hear the voices... I knew who they were... and I tried answering... but I was so cold and weak... my voice didn't carry far. I can hear them now... they were close. Would they hear me this time? Should I even bother?
Maybe it's better if they never found me. Why would they want me? If I was broken once, it could happen again. Next time it could cost me more than just a broken spirit... it could cost me my friends.
"Xena!" she was close... I opened my mouth to answer.
"Xena!" I knew him... I loved him... and thought he loved me... at one time. I felt a tear slide down my cheek.
"...here..." I called weakly. My voice was barely audible... I'm sure they didn't hear me.
"I think I heard her! Over here!" Gabrielle was almost on top of me. I could hear her tripping on the uneven footing.
"This is disgusting! What are we walking on? Garbage? Xena! Where are you?" I smiled as I heard Autolycus grumbling to himself. It's a good thing they didn't know what they were walking on. I heard someone fall near me and seconds later a scream echoed through the cave. It was Gabrielle.
"Bodies! Lots of them! That's what the stench is! Xena, where are you? Answer me!" Gabrielle sounded frantic.
"...over here... Gabrielle..." I called out as loud as I could and soon felt her soft hands gingerly touching my body. I grabbed her hands and soon felt her arms hugging me close. I cringed as she touched my wounds. "Over here Autolycus! I've found her! Xena, do you know the way out of here?"
I shook my head and then realized that she couldn't see it. "No... but I think the tunnel goes deeper. Maybe if we follow it, we'll get to the surface." I wasn't sure if it would or not... but that was the only thing I could think of. I felt other hands on me and reached out to touch them. Autolycus... I let my hands follow his arms and eventually to his face. I recognize the goatee and well-trimmed moustache.
"Let's get you out of here!" he said... it was the sweetest thing I had ever heard him say.
We follow the tunnels for what seemed like an eternity... we moved slowly along the uneven ground. I stumble over an unseen rock and felt hands helping to steady me. "Are you okay? We can rest if you need to." Gabrielle voice asked with concern.
"No, I'm alright. Still going through withdrawal from the drugs they gave me, but I'm okay." I answered. I felt sick to my stomach but I wasn't going to tell her that. I thought I could hear something ahead of us in the tunnel... it sounded like someone whistling.
"Do you hear that?" Autolycus whispered.
"Let me lead," I whispered. I didn't want my friends to get hurt. I had a bad feeling in my gut. I had no idea what we'd find at the end of this tunnel, but I knew it wouldn't be good. I felt Gabrielle move past me...
I was now in the lead with Gabrielle behind me with one hand on my back. I moved slowly down the tunnel and it gradually began to slope upwards. I could see a crevice with light coming from it a short way ahead of me. I inched to the opening and looked in. I covered my mouth in shock. Below me in a deep pool of blood was Kurtan. He was naked and alone. His face rippled as though it were changing shape, which it soon did. In a matter of minutes I saw Kurtan change from the human shape I was accustomed to seeing him in to a dark red demonic shape. He scooped handfuls of the blood and drank it as though it were fine wine. I could see pieces of human remains floating in the pool and he casually picked these pieces up and sucked the blood off them and then delicately ate them.
I could feel Gabrielle and Autolycus looking over my shoulders and glancing at them saw they were just as disgusted as I was. I looked back at the demon and gasped as he raised his head to look straight at me. I could feel his gaze burn deep into my soul.
"Blood, Xena, bathe in a pool of warm blood once a moon cycle and you will live forever! Care to join me?" the demon grinned and licked his lips.
"Let's get out of here!" I said quietly to the others.
"There is no where you can run to, no place you can hide. I will find you anywhere. But I do enjoy a little game of cat and mouse every now and then. If you take the first tunnel to your left, you will reach the surface about a half-mile from Amphipolis. I will allow you to reach the surface before I come after you. I look forward to feasting on your flesh!" We could hear Kurtan's laughter echo throughout the tunnels as we stumbled back… away from the macabre scene before us.
A short distance down the tunnel we found the turn-off that Kurtan mentioned. I stopped. "What do we do now?" Gabrielle asked.
"Well, either we can go back and deal with big and ugly or we can go this way and..." Autolycus started.
"No." I interrupted, knowing what I had to do. I knew Autolycus and Gabrielle would have a better chance of escape if they weren't with me. "There's another way. I'm going back." My voice was firm, but I was wishing someone would stop me.
"Xena, you can't! You're in no shape to do this alone!" Gabrielle stopped me.
"Gabrielle's right. We can't let you do this … alone... that's why we're going back with you." Autolycus sounded scared... and reluctant. I didn't blame him. None of us knew what we were getting into.
"You don't have to. I don't want you to get hurt because of me." I loved them both all the more. I knew they wouldn't leave me.
"Don't be silly, Xena. We're with you to the end, whatever that may be. So, what should we do now?" Gabrielle asked.
"We go back. I can't allow him to continue killing. It could have been one of you that I killed next," I said.
"Lead the way, demon slayer! We're right behind you!" Autolycus always had a snappy comment no matter what kind of situation he found himself in. It felt good to know that some things haven't changed.
I led them back to the crevice where we saw Kurtan and looked cautiously into the chamber below. It was empty. Autolycus attached a line to solid- looking rock and we lowered ourselves to the floor below. The pool of blood was lower than before and we could see the bodies hanging upside down above it, still dripping blood into the pool. Some of the bodies looked half- eaten. All had the heads removed and a quick look at the ground around the pool showed the heads of the victims, with the eyes and brains removed. Gabrielle turned away, covering her mouth and Autolycus looked like he was fighting a losing battle with his stomach himself. I recognized several of the heads as people who I killed. I closed my eyes and fought a wave of nausea. I opened them again and tried not to breathe the foul air. I looked around quickly and saw a door halfway across the room.
"Come on! The door's over there," I said to the others and started making my own way to the door. I put my finger to my lips and motioned the others to stop as I continued walking silently to the door. I laid my ear upon it and listened intently for a few seconds before I heard anything. The shuffling of feet and the mutterings of outcasts gave the ambush away. I pointed to the door and counted down from three on my fingers. We threw the door open and began attacking before the outcasts knew what happened.
We finally broke through the lines and started to run. The horde followed us through the maze of tunnels and turned several corners, trying to lose the outcasts. We finally had to slow our pace because of me. The tunnels were lit here and although I tried to hide how much pain I was in, it showed clearly on my face and Gabrielle had us slow down. I was worried the horde might catch up with us, we could still hear them behind us. But for the moment at least it seemed we were relatively safe...well, as safe as you could be in a viper's nest.
We walked down a series of tunnels that I think I recognized. As we rounded another corner, I gasped... I remember this place! The ropes hanging from the ceiling... the stale air... this was where they took me after they captured me. Vivid images raced through my mind... the beatings... the starvation... the stories... the hot poker... the Rat... Kurtan. My friends let me be for a moment, but the sounds of pursuit were getting closer and I knew we had to leave.
We walked a little further and rounded another corner and saw another mob of vagrants coming towards us. I saw a tunnel off to the side and we ran down it. We could hear the sounds behinds us growing louder and we tried to hurry, but I wasn't as fast as the others. I was slowing them down... I knew it... so did they. If it wasn't for me, they could have escaped this nightmare by now!
"Go on! I'll catch up!" I waved my hand to encourage them to leave me behind but they looked at each other and ran back to me and each put an arm around my waist and to help me. We moved a little faster, but not fast enough. I could hear our pursuers closing in. We turned another corner and came face to face with a group that were waiting for us.
"Guess we stand and fight." Gabrielle said and prepared herself.
"It's been fun, Xena. Hey, at least we get to go out in style! Alright you circus clown rejects, let's party!" Autolycus said grimly.
Gabrielle and Autolycus didn't waste any time and attacked quickly. The thugs soon surrounded them and more were coming from behind us. We were lost.
"Xena! We could use some help here!" Autolycus called out.
The derelicts behind us were almost upon us and I still hadn't raised a hand to help my friends. How could I help? I was barely able to stand on my own two feet. A group of thugs grabbed me from behind and I felt like I was being buried alive under a mountain of human flesh. I didn't try to defend myself from the vicious kicks and punches. I looked up and saw Gabrielle and Autolycus being slowly overwhelmed.
"Xena! We need your help!" I heard Gabrielle's plea for help and felt something stir within me. She was bleeding from several cuts on her head and body. Autolycus wasn't faring much better. His clothing was being torn off and his chest was bare. I could see several cuts and gashes bleeding freely on his well-toned body. He glanced at me and I could see the fear and desperation in his eyes.
"Do something! Anything!" I could hear his voice and eyes reaching out.
"Xena, please!" Gabrielle screamed out before she was lost to view.
I felt the stirrings within me grow stronger and now I realized what it was... anger. How dare these worthless creatures hurt my friends! I raised my arms and voice in defiance and threw off three of the scum at once. Gabrielle and Autolycus, encouraged by my actions, redoubled their efforts and managed to fight off several of the men.
"Get her! She must die!" I barely heard the man's shout in my anger. Two men behind me grabbed my arms and tried to hold me but I flipped over their heads and brought my arms together causing the two to knock their heads together. I grinned savagely and attacked a third man to my side. With a swift kick to his sternum, he was lying on the ground and rolling around in agony. I grabbed the hair of two more men and smacked their heads together viciously. I felt the adrenaline rush through my blood and I felt incredible!
The men were starting to back away from me now, but I wouldn't let them go. They had to be punished for their crimes! They all had to be punished! I lashed out at several men and they fell to my feet unconscious. Gabrielle and Autolycus had backed away from me. Good thing, I wouldn't want to hurt them accidentally. I found a knife on the floor of the tunnel and grabbed it. Most of the men who had attacked us were now lying on the floor either dead or unconscious. I saw a few scattered survivors trying to retreat and I screamed and ran at them, managing to catch one before they ran off. I held the man's head tight as I sliced his neck open and felt the warm blood run over my fingers. I dropped the body and almost collapsed myself. I felt suddenly exhausted and started to sink to the ground and felt strong hands helping me to my feet again. Who...? Oh yeah, Gabrielle and Autolycus.
"Let's get you out of here." Gabrielle said softly. I could almost smell her fear. As the bloodlust subsided, I began to recall more of the last few minutes.
"Wow! You really kicked their butts. But we've got to get out of here, I think I can hear more of them coming." I barely heard his voice as I could feel myself fading again. I closed my eyes and allowed the blackness to take me... and that's when the dreams came.
