Chapter 9: Locked Out
"A night murderer? Colonel, are you sure?" Hammond asked quickly, his voice sounding worried.
"A walking shadow thing actually. It's not very friendly." Jack corrected.
"Colonel, I want you and your team to return home immediately. I don't trust leaving you there." Hammond replied.
"No can do, General, as much as we'd love to, we can't." Jack said.
"Why not?"
"Well you see, Jonas kinda found a dead guy outside his window." Jack announced.
"Why would that stop you? I suspect it's already been taken care of?"
"Yes Sir, but they want Jonas to stick around, and I am not going to leave him here alone, General."
"How long do they want him to stay?"
"Well, we don't really know, the detective told him to stay close incase they had more questions." O'Neill replied.
"Surely they don't think that Jonas had anything to do with it, do they?" Hammond asked quickly.
"Not that I know of, but that detective guy seemed awfully suspicious of him."
Hammond was silent.
"Fine, you have until tomorrow, then you are to come back." Hammond replied, his voice sounding a bit agitated, if not nervous.
"We'll be there General, but we should really be going now, it's nearly dark. We've still got a fifteen-minute walk ahead of us. We don't feel like meeting up with any living shadows." O'Neill said.
"Very well, Colonel. Go, and please, be careful!"
"We always are, Sir." Jack said and ended the transmission.
The sky had turned a dark blue shade, and the sun was no longer visible. There was just enough light to say that night hadn't fully fallen yet.
"C'mon Jonas, let's get going." O'Neill replied and took the lead, his hand hanging next to his gun, ready to grab the weapon if the need presented itself.
Jonas didn't argue, and he eagerly followed O'Neill back. Just as they entered the village limits, movement in the shadows caught their attention, then came a low, throaty moan.
"Faster, Jonas!" Jack hissed, and began to jog. Jonas followed him.
By now, the dark had fully fallen, and shadows stretched out all around the two men, running through the pale moonlight. The conversation with General Hammond had taken longer than expected, nearly twenty minutes, because the General wanted every bit of information about what SG-1 had walked into.
The moan sounded from closer behind, nearly on top of Jonas, and the men pushed themselves that much harder in order to escape the thing coming after them. When they finally reached the palace, they instantly hurried to the door, only to find that it was locked up tight.
"Bastard! He locked us out!" Jack exclaimed.
Jonas's eyes grew wide as he heard rustling behind him.
"Open the damn door!" Jack yelled, there was no answer, and O'Neill released a string of colorful curses as he pounded on the door.
"Let us in, Johnston, we've got a very angry thing on our tails!" Jack yelled again, this time he was awarded with the sounds of speaking coming from behind the locked door.
"We can't leave them out there to get killed!" That was Sam's voice, desperately pleading.
"The shadow is following them. If I were to open the door, it would surely get in and kill us all." Johnston, his voice sounded slightly regretful and frightened.
"Open the door, or I will open it myself." Teal'c replied firmly.
"You cannot!" Johnston yelled.
"I can." Teal'c replied.
There was movement behind them once again, and O'Neill beat on the door, harder this time.
"Damn it, Johnston, do you want our murders on your conscience?" Jack yelled.
"Let them in, that thing's going to kill them!" Sam yelled.
Silence from Johnston.
"Open the door, please!" Jonas called to those who were hearing his pleas.
"Stand aside." Teal'c replied, there sounded as if there was slight resistance, and then the sounds of the bolts were heard as they were slid out of the way, and the door unlatched.
Movement behind them again, much closer, and there was a slight snarl. Jonas turned just in time to be sideswiped by something very heavy. He went down, and brought a hand up to where he'd been struck. His fingertips came away, stained with his blood. Whatever had struck him had left a gash in his upper right arm. He raised his head to stare into the red eyes of the walking shadow.
"Colonel!" Jonas yelled for help.
Jack turned around to see Jonas sprawled on the ground in front of the shadow creature.
The door behind Jack was opened, and Teal'c stood there, holding the door back, despite the resistance from Johnston.
Jack quickly drew his gun and fired at the thing hovering in front of Jonas. He knew the shots wouldn't kill it, but perhaps they would stun it, giving Jonas enough time to get away.
The shot hit, and the thing lurched forward, falling into a heap on the ground, Jonas rolling out of the way just in time.
"Come on, Jonas!" Jack yelled, rushing to help the young man to his feet. As the creature stirred, Jack pulled Jonas inside, and Teal'c slammed the door, sliding the bolts back into place.
All eyes turned to Jonas.
"Are you hurt?" Sam asked, her eyes locked onto his face.
" It hit me, and I've been cut. It's not too bad though." Jonas replied, pulling a bloodstained hand away from an open wound on his upper right arm.
Sam instantly went to him and took a close look at the wound. There were three cuts, about three inches in length apiece, and each one was bleeding freely.
"It's deep, Jonas. We should get it cleaned up." She replied.
Jonas nodded and took a few steps, meaning to follow her, but he was instantly stopped, when a wave of dizziness washed over him. The sounds around him drowned away to near nothing, and were only foggy echoes in his ears. He swayed a bit, and held up a hand, brushing Sam's shoulder as he did so. She turned to him and her eyes grew wide.
The dizziness increased, and Jonas sunk to the ground, landing harshly. Everyone dropped next to him and he saw mouths moving, but all he could hear was a dull humming in his ears.
The next thing he knew, he felt himself falling backwards. He felt somebody's hands catch him, and tilted his head to see who it was. He saw a concerned looking Colonel O'Neill speaking to him. Still he heard nothing, and slipped further into darkness, the last thing he recalled was Colonel O'Neill tapping his cheek in an attempt to rouse him. An attempt that was unsuccessful.
A/N: Sorry about the Jonas bashing, but I couldn't resist. I'll try to refrain myself from it in later chapters, but there will be no promises. Sorry!