Chapter 11: Taken
O'Neill cursed freely, and ran to the window. He looked out into the yard, and saw nothing; his eyes crossed the grounds, and rested on the forest. The woods were nothing, but a black blotch against the dark night, he couldn't see anything.
His stomach churned, and he had to look away from the forest to keep himself in control. The thought of Jonas being taken by that thing made him sick. He only hoped that Jonas hadn't been taken, he only hoped that the young man had suspected the creature's coming and got out. However, the state of the room made that possibility seem incredibly unlikely.
Without a word, he ran to Carter's door, and beat on it wildly for a few seconds, until he heard a sound from within. Seconds later, a sleepy looking Carter opened the door, rubbing her eyes to banish the feeling of sleep. When she saw Colonel O'Neill, she ceased her actions and her eyes immediately widened as she saw the frightened look on his face.
"Sir? What's wrong?" She asked, and her voice was raspy from just waking up.
"It's got Jonas." Jack said, and that was all he needed to say, for she immediately picked up on what he meant.
"How?" Sam asked.
"His window wasn't shut. It had to have climbed in through there." Jack stated.
"Sir, his window is on the second floor, how is that possible?"
"I dunno, but he's gone."
"Colonel, we have to find him." Sam said sternly.
"I plan on it. Right now. Come on, I'm going to go and get Teal'c." Jack replied.
"I'll be right there, Sir." Sam answered quickly, not even offering to argue. Jonas was missing, and she was determined to help find him.
After all members of SG-1 were awake and ready to go, they instantly set out for the forest, toting flashlights along with them to light the way.
They weren't going to deny that they were slightly frightened. At least Jack and Sam were a bit frightened, Teal'c didn't seem to be bothered by it, he was as stoic as ever.
They crept quietly outside, their feet hitting the stone yard, sent haunting echoes throughout the silent night.
O'Neill trained his flashlight on the yard ahead of him, while Sam swept hers from right to left. Teal'c did the same. As they neared the forest outside of Jonas's window, Jack's light revealed a fresh path through the brush. A path which looked to have been caused by something dragging, Jonas, perhaps?
O'Neill shuddered to think of it, and instead turned his flashlight toward the path. With a deep breath, he dared to step inside the forest. Immediately everything seemed to change. He air took on a sorrow-like quality, loaded with feelings of menace and malignance. He knew right away that something wasn't right in this forest. He had the notion to turn and run back to the palace as fast as he could and lock the door behind him, but when he thought of Jonas, that notion immediately evaporated and he pressed on.
An hour of walking later, O'Neill halted and listened to see if he could hear anything. There was nothing, not even the faint, high-pitched hum that usually accompanied silence. The forest had no sounds whatsoever, and the air sheltered them in thick silence, a silence that seemed almost too silent to be real. The only thing that any of them heard was the beat of their hearts, and the rush of blood in their ears.
A dense mist settled on the forest floor, quilting the ground and looking almost as though something could creep through it at any time and none of them would even know something hid in the mist until it was too late. The only thing that seemed clearly visible was the dragging path; the path broke through the mist in a jagged pattern, and seemed to go on for an eternity.
Colonel O'Neill listened to the deep silence once again, heard nothing and moved on, the others falling into formation behind him. None could see how far the path stretched, and there was no telling where it would lead them in the end. Still they walked on into the mist and the haunting shadows that threatened to overtake them.
A faint snapping of twigs burst through the silence, and SG-1 stopped instantly, all hearing the noise. The snapping sounded to be coming from ahead of them, far ahead of them; it was merely a faint noise in the darkness.
O'Neill motioned for Carter and Teal'c to pick up speed, and he jogged stealthily after the sounds, following them, no matter where they took him. The path under his feet zigzagged in crazy patterns, but O'Neill followed it almost as if it were a straight line, never missing a turn or a switch in direction.
When at last they drew near enough to hear the snapping clearly, Jack stopped to scan the forest ahead of him. Through the mist, he saw a shadowy form ambling slowly along, something dragging behind it. O'Neill was tempted to start shooting, but resisted, he was too far back, and he'd never be able to hit the target.
As the form got further away, O'Neill once again followed after it, jogging silently, the mist flowing behind him like a great, long cape. The figure stopped, and turned back, in the mist, O'Neill saw the evil red of watching eyes, eyes that searched and nearly found him, but didn't. As Jack and the others watched, the shadow drug its catch through an opening in the trees and vanished. SG-1 followed.