Hey everyone! Sorry for the delay in posting. This past week has been a complete mess and the word 'hectic' doesn't even describe my life right now! Also, my friend borrowed my USB pen which has ALL my stories and stuff on it last Friday, brought it back on Monday, borrowed it Monday afternoon, took it home, was ill on Tuesday and gave it back to me yesterday. But I couldn't post yesterday because I was up from 8am and didn't get to bed until midnight and I didn't have time! So yeah, really sorry again!

No shoutouts this time. Not allowed anymore. 'sulks'. But if you ask me a question in a review I will get back to you. And if there is some big issue that keeps getting brought up I'll address it here! Lol! Ok, no further messin' around. Here's chapter 7. Enjoy, and if you can forgive me for the delay, let me know what you think at the end!

What are you scared of?

Tori was sitting on her surfboard out at sea. Everything was calm and peaceful. Then a large wave appeared from nowhere and knocked her off. Cold water swirled around her as she began to sink down. Her arms and legs were like lead and she couldn't move. The surface of the water hovered above her head but she couldn't reach it. She was drowning. Panic set in as she clawed desperately for the surface, but it just kept getting further and further away…

"No no no!" she cried as she lay on the ground.

"Tori, what is it?" Blake asked, crouching down beside her.

"Can't. Reach. The. Surface," she gasped.

"Tori don't be silly," Shane said, kneeling down on her other side. "You're a water ninja, be calm. Control your fear, don't let it control you. Come on Tori, you can do this."

Shane's words reached Tori as she struggled with the water. Come on Tori, she told herself. Relax, breathe. She stopped struggling. I have the power of water. I am not going to die like this. I will not die like this. She rose up to meet the surface and gasped in lungfuls of refreshing air.

Tori opened her eyes just as she stopped fading and became solid again. Seeing the others crowded around her, she sat up quickly, looking a little embarrassed.

"Well done Tori," Cam said with a smile.

"Are you ok?" Blake asked.

She managed to smile at him, "I'm ok now. That was horrible." She shuddered at the memory of the icy water suffocating her. "I'll be fine," she said in a whisper.

Blake helped her to her feet, his arm around her waist. They stood for a few awkward seconds, then Blake took his arm back. "I'm glad you're ok," he said in a low voice, before turning back to the group.

Tori stared at him for a moment, wishing he hadn't removed his arm. "Me too," she said with a smile. There was an awkward silence.

"We should be getting back to Ninja Ops," Cam said, breaking the moment.

They nodded and were beginning to walk back towards the forest when Dustin froze.

"Dustin?" Shane asked.

Dustin's face was white, then he too began to fade.

The monster lunged at him, but he was too quick. All it took was a little concentration and Dustin disappeared into the earth. But then his power failed him. Rock and dirt was pressing in on him, surrounding him, suffocating him. He was deep in the earth and trapped. Dirt was everywhere, in his eyes, his mouth. He was going to die and no one would ever know. Buried alive…

"Dustin, dude, come on. Snap out of this," Shane spoke to his best friend.

Dustin turned and actually looked at him, but did not see him, "Trapped," he whispered.

Tori understood, "He's claustrophobic," she told the others, before speaking to Dustin in a calming voice. "It's ok Dustin. You're going to be fine. Remember, you're an earth ninja; rock and soil can't hurt you.

Rock and soil surrounded him, but then Tori reached him. Rock and soil can't hurt me, I have the power of earth, he thought and squeezed his eyes tightly shut. He could do this, just like training. He wouldn't let it beat him. He shot upwards and exploded out of the dirt. Free.

He opened his eyes in time to see his hand become solid. He took a deep gulp of air and then gave himself a shake. "Why am I an earth ninja?" he asked with another shake.

"Because you like dirt," Shane said with a grin and slapped him on the shoulder.

"You hit it enough times when you ride anyway," Blake chipped in.

"Hey," Dustin punched him on the arm, "You're one to talk, you…" But their light-hearted bickering was cut off by shriek from Hunter.

They turned to him staring past them, at nothing. He gave another cry and stumbled backwards.

"Get away from me," he yelled, but not to his fellow rangers.

Phil came closer to Hunter, a metal baseball bat in his hand. Hunter saw Blake lying on the floor, his head in a pool of blood. Phil had got him already and now it was Hunter's turn; "Time to make you pay boy," he hissed. Hunter screamed as the baseball bat swung towards his head. Just as it hit, darkness surrounded him. It was a black impenetrable darkness that wrapped around him like a fist. And in the darkness, his nightmares returned to get him…

Hunter was curled up in a ball screaming and crying. It reminded Blake of him having a nightmare, but this was ten times worse.

Blake paled as Hunter began to fade.

"Come on Hunter; it's ok, I'm here," he said to his brother, but his soothing words went unheard.

He was going to lose his brother. After everything that they gone through together, Hunter was just going to disappear and leave him all alone. But this wasn't an illusion like all the others had been. This was real…

"Blake," Tori gasped as he too began to fade. He turned to look at them, an expression of sadness on his face.

"My greatest fear is losing my brother," he said quietly, tears in his eyes. "And it's happening. If Hunter disappears, so do I."

"Gods," Shane whispered as the realisation sunk in. They all knew that the Bradley's were close but none of them had quite known how inextricably linked they were.

"Hunter's not going to pull out of this," Blake continued. "He's in too deep. You have to destroy the monster that caused this if you want to save us both."