A/N: Yeah, I suppose I have been going all out with the creepy stuff, I hope nobody minds though. Okay, you all have the background story of what's been taking place on the planet, you've been introduced to the problem. Now let's get going with some action eh?
Chapter 4: A Nightmare That is Too Real
The final embers of the fire died into nothing, and Colonel O'Neill stirred in his sleep. He opened his eyes and was greeted with darkness, hearing the comforting sounds of his team breathing around him. They must've fallen asleep before we were taken to our rooms. What was the last thing he recalled? Ah yes, the last thing he was certain that he recalled was the mention of disappearances and murders that had been taking place around the village for the past couple of months.
After that he must've tuned everything out, for he didn't truly remember any of it. He looked around in the darkness, seeing the forms of his team, sleeping soundly where they sat, his gaze automatically drifted to where Major Carter was. He watched her for a few moments, she shifted position, and he quickly turned away incase she were to wake up. However, she only switched position.
He heard a slight commotion outside the library window, down in the yard and he quietly stumbled over to where the window was still slightly open. He looked down, and saw a shadowy figure moving stealthily through the night. The figure looked to be carrying a burden, but from the distance, O'Neill was unable to tell what.
He found himself drifting in a sort of trance-like feeling as he watched the form below him. It moved silently, and without clumsiness. It almost glided through the yard. He continued to watch the silent form, and saw it turn toward him. Quickly, he ducked out of sight until he heard the silent movement resume.
When he felt it safe, he rose up in front of the window again, and quickly stumbled backwards with a yell. He toppled over something, and found himself frozen in place, he couldn't move, he couldn't even tear his eyes away.
The form that had been down below, had somehow scaled the wall, and was now sitting on the window ledge, watching him through bright red eyes, rimmed with yellow. The figure remained in shadows, and only the eyes were visible. The thing groaned, a low, throaty growl, that vibrated O'Neill's bones.
Finding his movement, Jack quickly scooted back, and managed to bump into something, as he tore his gaze from the yellow rimmed stare to look at what he'd bumped into, he saw Jonas stir instantly, and open his eyes, blinking the sleep from them. Jonas looked down and saw Colonel O'Neill, quickly turn his head back to something else. When Jonas looked up, he immediately reached for his gun.
A strange, shadowed figure was advancing on Colonel O'Neill, and the older man, was moving his mouth, but no words came out. Jonas took a hurried aim at the shape with the terrifying eyes and fired without a second thought.
His shot missed, went wide and embedded itself into the wall next to the window. Seeing that his shot had missed, Jonas quickly pushed himself from the chair and took a stand next to where Colonel O'Neill was hurrying to gain his feet.
"What is that thing?" Jonas called out in surprise.
"Something that isn't a people person." Jack replied quickly, finding his voice to be slightly hushed and gravelly.
Jonas fired again, and the figure charged at him. From around the room, the other sleepers were quickly getting to their feet and grabbing whatever was closest to defend themselves. Jonas saw the form heading for Colonel O'Neill and quickly pushed him out of the way, both of them falling into the clear, in a heap on the ground.
"Shoot it Carter!" Jack yelled, after gently rolling out from beneath Jonas.
Three shots rang out and one made a solid connection for sure, the figure wailed a deafening yowl, that temporarily blocked out everyone's hearing, before leaping through the window. Sam rushed to the ledge and looked down with wide, blue eyes. The thing, whatever it had been was quickly hurrying off into the shadows that surrounded the palace.
"Close the window!" Johnston yelled. Carter did as she was asked, and when she looked back, she saw Jonas and Colonel O'Neill hurrying off after the creature that had been threatening them.
She followed behind Teal'c who took off after Jonas's vanishing shape. They burst through the front doors and ran over the cobblestone yard, their footsteps echoing around them in the silence. They rounded the corner, and saw the bushes moving in the darkness. It was a sure sign that something had been through there recently.
With a wide-eyed glance back, Jonas parted the brush and followed the path that had been left behind. Without asking questions, all followed him, all except for Johnston, who had halted his running just inside the front door.
Jonas dodged through the brush, leapt over twisted roots, and ducked around larger trees, until he finally reached an opening, scarcely lit by the fading moonlight of the night. All that greeted him were hundreds of shadows, inching ever so closer to him, and coming from all sides.
From the shadows, he saw the glint of eyes that caught what little light there was, and he quickly shot. The shot missed, and the next thing he knew, a creature was rushing at him from the shadows, red eyes brimming with hatred and something that Jonas could only explain as pure evil.