The vent had led Malia into a smaller room with no doors. Quickly slamming the palm of her hand against the red button near the vent she had crawled out of, she waited for it's entry way to open and let out a cry when nothing happened. Malia could barely hear anything as she attempted to force open the hatch itself with her bare hands, knowing Peter had made a run for it with that thing close behind. Or so she hoped. She didn't even know what to call it. She knew it wasn't human. While she did see some sort of body underneath the black slime, the thing seemed to be almost controlling it. Forcing herself to calm down, she turned her attention toward the room.

"I just need to get out of here, and find Peter." Her eyes scanned around the environment, landing on lives in materials. Someone had or was living in between the vent passages as she noticed a sleeping bag thrown in the corner and emptied protein wrappers scattered about the floor. The person even had a working radio and coffee maker! Malia decided upon those surprising finds to grab whatever she could find which led to being: batteries, medical supplies and instant bread packages? She looked over the material rather confused before stuffing it inside her bag. She couldn't leave from where she came; the other vent in the room being the only way out.

Hesitantly crawling inside the hatch, Malia turned on her faulty headlamp and let out a heavy sigh before making her way toward its exit. "Please be in a safe room," She whispered to herself as she peeked her head out and looked around for any signs of life. Nothing. Only the eerie sounds of the ship's malfunction systems were heard, echoing off the metal. And no Peter. She walked away from the vent as she left it, adjusted the strap of her satchel and bit the insides of her cheek. She didn't know what to do. Find a way back or wait for Peter to make his way toward her? Looking toward either side of her, she ducked behind a cabinet as two figures emerged.

Peter stumbled out into the hall, still trying to shake off the attack. After the vent had shut him off from following Malia, that thing had jumped him. It was fast, insanely fast, and strong too. He'd managed to get one fiery shot on it which sent it shrieking into the vents above. Couldn't even be sure if he'd hurt it or just scared it as fast as it'd all happened. Even if he had done some damage, he sure hadn't gotten off easy. When it'd found him it had slammed it's full weight into him. Damn things felt like getting hit by a freighter. That first hit had made his skull bounce off the wall like a rubber ball, jostling his brain around pretty good. But what concerned him most was the cut. The thing had gotten in a swipe with it's talon like claws, catching his torso. Both his jacket and shirt underneath had been cut to ribbons as he'd been slit from chest to belly. Not so deep as to cause vital damage, but enough to be worried about.

He put his hand on the wall, trying to regain his composure. His eyes darted around the hall. He'd been cut off from both the Milano and Malia, almost as though the ship itself had intended it. A map would do wonders right now. Peter continued forward, leaving a crimson hand print on the wall. He had to find Malia. He'd barely survived his scrap with that thing strapped with his blasters, and she was unarmed. It'd been him that'd talked her into coming with him, and if she got - Peter cut off that line of thinking, not wanting to even imagine the scenario.

The first door that Peter saw with a working pad next to it he opened. It looked like a dining room, but the place was a wreck. Food items lay scattered all over the floor and the round table in the middle had been tipped over. One part of the table was much darker than the rest. It was hard to tell in the low light, but Peter assumed it was blood. He glanced over his shoulder to see that the wall was spattered with it as well. Peter took a seat in the chair closest to him, wincing as his torso burned with the movement. He peeled off his shredded jacket and shirt before giving his wounds a look. Hopefully he'd find something to patch himself up while he was looking for Malia as this room was sparse with items of use. "Oh well." Peter stood up, holding his torso as he did. "Better get going."

All Malia could do was look on as the two individuals entered the tattered room she was in. She had been so preoccupied in her own thoughts, she had nearly been seen by them before she found a place to hide in. Most, if not all of her suspicions were right about the ship. Something had happened inside the Torrens, leaving it close to abandoned with crew members still inside. The two who stood not far from her viewpoint were proof of that, along with the conversation she was starting to tune in to. It was a woman and man — doctor by the look of his stained lab coat who appeared in their late forties. They stopped amidst the middle of the room and spoke in hushed tones.

The woman with mossy styled brown hair, sternly asserted, "Dr. Lingard, who boarded our ship?"

"I don't know, scavengers perhaps?" The man in front of her replied nervously. "I-I...may have—,"

"What?" Malia leaned herself in a bit forward as the woman pressed for an answer. She was sure the doctor was speaking about Peter and her. It was strange the vent behind her had sealed off when before it automatically opened upon any type of motion. But, why would he do it? They didn't look dangerous. Because of his decision, Peter could be dead! She closed her eyes shut momentarily to drive the image out of her head and continued to focus on the rest of the exchange between the strangers. Maybe the doctor knew where Peter had headed and his location.

Lingard adjusted his cracked glasses. "I may have separated them. For good reason, Ellen."

"Which was?" Ellen placed a lazy hand on her hip and cocked her head to one side. "Lingard?"

The frazzled doctor took a minute to respond. "Our entity was after one of them; the girl to be exact." He began to say while wringing his hands. "When she entered the vent, I manually closed it from our communication corner, leaving it at bay with the man she boarded with." Lingard paused in his speech afterward as Ellen let out a heavy sigh and shook her head in a disappointed manner. She opened her mouth, but was interrupted by her colleague who raised both his hands up defensively. "You see it was after her. We can use that to lure the creature off, allowing us to escape!"

Amidst his passionate clarification, Ellen repeated his name multiple times before raising one of her hands to stop him completely. "Lingard! You do not make decisions without my consent. That thing goes from host to host. Where is the man she boarded on with? Was he inhabited? And the girl?" She demanded, raising her tone of voice. She waited for the doctor to come to his senses again, then turned in the direction Malia was hiding in as the sound of metal being moved was heard. Her hand quickly retrieved her pistol while Lingard shuffled behind her and cowered, whispering, 'it couldn't be in here with them.'

'Damn it!' Malia cursed under her breath, having let her hand push the cabinet forward from the weight she pressed against it while she listened in. She ducked further down behind it's cover and thought about what to do next. She couldn't run without the risk of being shot at or attempt sliding into the vent again. Ellen didn't seem like the type to shoot at someone who willingly stepped forward, so she opted for the peaceful white flag action instead. "I don't want any trouble!" She blurted out, causing Lingard to jump from her voice. She slowly revealed one hand then the next as she stood out from her hiding place.

"I just want to find my friend and leave. We just boarded to find a battery for our ship." She felt like she needed to debunk any of Dr. Lingard's hidden suspicions right away since he wanted to use her as some sort of bait and be truthful to gain at least the upper hand. "Please," Malia added in with concern lodged in her brown eyes. She looked in between Ellen and Lingard for any immediate reaction and lowered her hands once the gun was put away. 'Now with that out of the way,' She said to herself, feeling relieved, 'she could focus on finding Peter,' or try to. As she attempted to speak after a minute of silence, Ellen spoke first.

"Let's find your friend."

Peter peered around the corner to find yet another dim corridor. He cautiously stepped out, keeping both of his blasters raised as he started down the hall. Items of every sort lay scattered about, but Peter's mind had shifted completely from the scavenging mission. He glanced down, catching his reflection in a pool of liquid and shaking his head. It looked like he'd been through a war after just one run in with that damn thing. He'd begrudgingly left his jacket, as it was obviously beyond repair. His shirt had seen it's last day too as he had torn that to pieces to use as makeshift bandages for his wound. And that was another thing.

Peter looked around, hoping to find a med bay or something. The cut that that thing had given him may be worse than he'd initially thought. It'd taken some doing with his 'bandages' to get it to stop bleeding, and even then it was seeping through the cloth. He needed to get back to the Milano. There were at least some real bandages there and some other stuff. But he didn't know how to get to it, and even if he did there was no chance he'd leave Malia.

Peter's eyes glanced down yet another corridor as he reached a cross in the path. This one was sealed off by a pretty hefty looking door with big glass sections on either side. 'Locked, I'm sure' he said to himself as he started to leave. Just as he did some motion on the other side of the door caught his eye. His breath hitched as that thing immediately came to mind. But, what if it was Malia? Even if it was a slight chance he had to check. He started for the door, tripping as a sudden wave if nausea overtook him. Shaking his head, he continued, hoping that if it had been Malia that she hadn't walked by.

He reached the door, leaning on the wall beside it for support as he tapped his blaster in the glass. After a few seconds a face appeared in the window. It was a woman, all disheveled and serious. Her eyes found Peter and she gestured at the pad beside him. Peter pressed the pad and a speaker near it crackled to life, followed by a voice. "Who are you?"

Peter sighed, oddly glad just to have the silence of the place broken. "Star-Lord."

The woman furrowed her brow. "There was a third one of you?" She glanced over her shoulder. "This is no time to be lying."

Peter shook his head. "What are you talking about?"

Another voice came through the speaker, quieter than the first. "No, that's Peter!"

The woman stepped aside and a rush of relief hit him as Malia peered through the glass. Peter put a hand on the glass, tapping it as a smile crossed his face. "Some first scavenging run, huh?"

"Yeah," Malia lifted the corners of her mouth into a smile, feeling relieved to see Peter again. She was starting to believe she would never find him. With Doctor Lingard's persistent detours and stop at their communication center, her hopes were diminishing by the second back there. But — everything worked out. He was safe and okay…? Her gleeful thought faded into a dark corner of her mind as her brown eyes locked onto the smear of blood his hand left on the glass. She pressed her face up against the window, with panic, to peer further out and look at his form before anyone could notice.

"Peter…," She looked up at him the minute her gaze found his terrible wound and knitted her brows together in worry. He gave her an apologetic expression in response and she rolled her eyes, not wanting to laugh at his nonchalant attitude. Malia hated how he could just take her out of her gloom with his dumb misplaced humor. Covering the handprint he left stained on the glass with her own hand as if she was returning the gesture he made, she turned to glance directly at Ellen. "Can we please let him in?" She asked, pushing herself a bit from the door to see her reaction.

Doctor Lingard took a hesitant step forward, causing Ellen to shift her attention toward her friend's skepticism. He raised a finger in the air then adjusted his glasses as if he were looking for the right words to say. Malia stared at him, the awkward silence starting to make her anxious. 'What was with him?' She wondered as he finally spoke. "I believe we should leave him outside," His gaze directed itself toward Ellen, before his finger rose again and pointed at the door. "We can't allow stupid mistakes like that!" He added without a stutter. "Who's to say that thing isn't just waiting for us to open the door."

"Lingard, you need to calm down and think rationally here." Ellen stated, obviously growing annoyed.

Lingard scoffed in response. "And you need to take immediate precautions!"

Malia looked on between the two then back at Peter. She didn't really have a choice but to tell them. "He's hurt!" Taking her hand off the glass, she walked into their circle. "We can't leave him out there."

"What!? That's even worse. What did I tell you?" Lingard exclaimed rather loudly. He threw his hands up in the air in disbelief as he took in Ellen's calm exterior then turned to Malia. His glare burned almost into her face. "Sorry, but your boyfriend isn't coming in here."

Malia stepped closer to him and shouted, "He isn't infected, you asshole!"

"Yet, you dumb girl. Yet. I demand—,"

"Absolutely nothing." Ellen interjected as she made her way toward the door. "I will check him myself before allowing him inside." She retrieved her pistol from it's holster and sternly glanced at Lingard. "Remember who's in charge here."

Malia let out a whispered, 'thank you,' upon hearing Ellen's decision, still wanting to give Doctor Lingard a piece of her mind. She understood his overbearing caution, she really did, but Peter didn't look like the guy that had dropped from the vent. There was no black material on him. Lingard just wanted to work with fear not common sense. Closing the door as Ellen stepped outside, she pressed her face again up to the glass to watch. Even if she knew Peter wasn't infected, she still prayed for the confirmation.

Peter glanced up as the woman kept her distance, noticing the gun in her hand. She eyed him for a few seconds before finally speaking. "Put your weapons on the ground at your feet."

Peter glanced down at his blasters, shaking his head. "No way. I'm not disarming myself with that thing running around."

Ellen tensed up and was about to say something when the speaker crackled again to life. "Peter, it's okay. Just listen to her, please."

Peter looked over at Malia as she silently pleaded with him through the bloodstained glass. He sighed, dropping his weapons to the ground. "You Ellen?" The woman furrowed her brow before Peter pointed at the speaker. "Heard it all."

Ellen nodded, putting her pistol away. "Then you know I'm here to look you over. How bad are you hurt?"

Peter chuckled and waved off the question. "Eh, it's just a scratch. I've had much worse."

Ellen raised her brow. "You can drop all that stuff, because I don't buy it." She nodded towards the door. "And she can't hear it."

Peter was taken aback for a few moments before he decided to do what she'd said and drop his bravado and humor. His shoulders slumped immediately as his walls went down. "It's just as much for my sanity, you know?" Ellen ignored him and gestured at his wound. He sighed, glancing down at the mess of his torso. "It's deeper than I thought. I've lost more blood than I'd care to in a day."

Ellen stepped forward and flicked on a light that was attached to her suit. "Your arms." Peter obliged her and lifted his arms enough so she could see all of the damage. "That thing do this?"

Peter sighed. "Well, I didn't do it to myself." Ellen looked up and met Peter's eyes, her serious look making his good nature dampen even further. "Yeah, it caught me with it's claws or whatever."

Ellen gingerly removed the bandages, making Peter wince with every motion. She studied the wound for a while before standing back up and meeting his eyes. "How are you?"

Peter stole a glance at Malia and shrugged. "I'm fine." Ellen cocked her head slightly and silently awaited a different answer. Peter sighed as the last of his defenses were demolished by this woman he'd never met before. "I'm f*cking terrified, lost and pretty pissed off at Poindexter in there for calling my partner 'dumb'. Is there anything else you want to drag out of me?"

A hint of a smile played at one side of Ellen's mouth as she tapped the speaker. Ellen bent down and picked up his blasters, clipping them to her belt. "You put me or anyone else at risk and I won't hesitate to drop you. Understood." Peter nodded. "He's clear. We're coming in." The door clicked as it started to open and Ellen looked Peter over again. "Not that it's any of my business, but if that's how you act all the time I think your partner could use a little bit of, well, the genuine thing."

Peter glanced at the floor as the door continued to noisily rise. He still didn't like dropping his defenses around Malia because frankly, it scared him. He'd lost everyone he'd opened up to some way or another and knew he couldn't afford to lose her. So, even though he loved having her around, he kept her at a safe distance. For both of their sakes. "You're right." Peter looked up and offered a smirk. "It's not your business.

"This is a mistake!" Doctor Lingard fumed the second Ellen stepped foot inside the room with Peter at her side. He clenched both his fist into balls, visibly shaken by the decision she had made. "I am the Doctor here. Shouldn't I have any real say on his actual condition?" He darted his beady eyes between his female colleague and unwanted guest with distaste and waited for an answer — he unfortunately did not get one. "Fine. I will not be treating any wounds." He turned on his heel upon the rigid response of silence and walked off to the other side of the room.

Malia's brown eyes followed his retreating figure in utter shock from his behaviour. She never really liked Doctors to begin with for their overbearing personas. However, Lingard was one of those bent out of shape kinds that only made you worry about their state of mind. And she was already past the stage of worry; she was alarmed. Turning her gaze away toward Ellen for a brief moment, she noticed the mossy haired woman nod in her direction as if she were thinking the same thing. "Ignore him," She uttered out before making her way toward Lingard shortly after.

"He's going to get himself killed," Malia shook her head as Ellen engaged in some heavy conversation with the Doctor. She let out a heavy sigh then finally turned to Peter, feeling a wave of relief hit her frazzled nerves. "You look awful," She noted playfully with a genuine smile that quickly faded as her attention landed back on his wound. It looked horrible. She bit the inside of her cheek and let out a small gasp as she recalled the medical supplies she had scavenged on her own. They didn't need Lingard. Through shaky hands, she opened her satchel and pulled out all the materials.

"I'm no Doctor," Malia paused to mimic their rowdy physician. "But, I can be one hell of a nurse!" She scattered the items out on a nearby surface, quite unsure of her own statement and took in a deep breath. The least she could do was patch him up. She felt like that was the only thing she was good for. "Alright, I think I have everything." She turned to Peter once she tied her hair back, tucking away it's pesky strands and blinked up at him. "I promise I won't kill you."

Peter sat next to the supplies Malia had sat out so that he was at eye level with her. He kept his full attention on her as she looked over the supplies. Yet again he found himself admiring how she handled herself under such trying circumstances. He chuckled as she fumbled with a roll of medical tape. "I don't know. This may be your only chance to get rid of me without arousing suspicion."

Malia glanced up from her task, a small smile crossing her lips. "Please, we're alone in a ship all the time. I've got plenty of chances to off you."

Peter laughed, wincing as it made his wound burn. He looked past Malia as Ellen left Lingard to his moping and made her way back over to them. "Alright, I've got to try and get comms up and running again, try and get a signal out."

Peter held up a hand, trying to keep the pain out of his voice as Malia patched him up. "Not to sound like a dick or anything, but all I care about is getting the hell off of this ship. If you want you can tag along and we'll drop you off somewhere." He nodded towards Lingard. "It's a maybe for him though."

Lingard threw up his hands. "How can we even trust this... this brutish oaf."

Peter pointed at the doctor. "Don't think this cut will keep me from kicking your ass, four eyes!"

Malia put a hand on Peter's shoulder. "He's an asshole, but he's some of the only help we have."

Ellen watched both Malia and Peter intently. "Don't make me regret my choices, both of you. And we can't just leave. The research we've done here is too valuable to just leave."

Peter shrugged. "Fine, just tell us where our ship is and we'll get out of your hair." He looked at Lingard. "Sounds good, white Erkel?"

Ellen started towards a door. "We'll talk about it when I get back. Lingard," She tossed one of Peter's blasters to the doctor who fumbled with it after sloppily catching it. "only use it if absolutely necessary." She pointed at all of them then to a camera in the corner. "I'm watching. If I'm not back in ten, finish the job and fix the comms."

She left, leaving Lingard to oversee them with a smug look on his face. Malia finished bandaging Peter and began returning the supplies to her bag. Peter put a hand on hers, making her stop her task and look up at him. "How are you holding up, Mal?"

"Me? I'm fine." Malia let Peter's hand linger over her own for a few seconds before locking her brown eyes with his blue ones. She really wasn't holding up as well as it may have appeared. She was a nervous wreck inside. There was this gut wrenching feeling poking at her that just wouldn't go away. She let out a heavy sigh amidst stealing a skeptical glance at Lingard, who stared back, then moved closer to Peter. "Okay. I'm not fine. I'm scared, you're half immobile and Ellen just left us with...!" She avoided looking toward the doctor, narrowing her eyes in his direction instead and squeezed Peter's hand for emphasis. "I don't trust him, but we can't just leave."

And that was the issue. They couldn't just up and run around a ship as big as it was, looking for an exit and...Malia cursed under her breath. 'The battery,' She thought to herself, lowering her eyes toward the necklace she had given Peter. It too was stained with a bit of blood. She stared at it in silence then wiped her thumb over the small spot. "Just remembered," She gently flicked her finger overthe quartz. "We don't have a running ship to return to either." Lifting her head with a brief smile, she noticed how close they were to each other and awkwardly stood in place. She was going to stand her ground this time and not pull away like she had so many times before.

"Uh-hum!"

Doctor Lingard abruptly cleared his throat as Malia opened her mouth to say something. "Sorry to interrupt you two," He pointed between them in annoyance, taking a step forward from the corner he was in. "But, I'm still in the room. So, If you can refrain yourselves from whatever it is you're doing, I'd highly appreciate it." He drew out each word with distaste while he pushed up his glasses and craned out his neck, waiting for them to step away from each other. "Hello!?" Upon not seeing any mediate reaction, he took another step forward, nervously fumbling over his own feet. "I'm in charge now." His eyes darted to and fro between the pair. "So do it!"

"We aren't doing anything." Malia turned her attention toward Lingard in annoyance.

Lingard scoffed at her reply. "I have eyes, girl." He glared over at Peter. "You and your boyfriend don't fool me, with your 'whispering'." Doctor Lingard lifted his hands and made air quotes over his last word before continuing. "I know what you're doing." He added, pointing fiercely between them.

Malia shook her head in disbelief, covered her mouth and laughed, unable to keep a straight face for much longer. "We were just talking," She chuckled, wondering how Ellen put up with Lingard. The guy was a frantic mess. But, at least she could thank him for taking her out of their stressful situation for whatever minutes were passing by. "Just don't look at us. It's that simple." She expressed with a shrug. She watched him struggle to find any words then stalked off to his side of the room again. "I swear we were just talking," She blurted out, turning to look at Peter. "Mad Doctor Alert."

Peter nodded in agreement as he eyed the shifty doctor warily. "Too much time in a lab will do that to you." He noted Malia's closeness and that his hand still rested on hers. At certain times he doubted his decision to keep her at a distance to protect himself. This was one of those times. And at those times he usually defused any tension with a joke or something, but after everything that'd happened today he was finding it hard to even think straight. "Mal?"

Malia raised her brow. "Yeah?"

Peter sighed, debating whether or not to ask her the question that's been on her mind. He finally decided to do so, simply to put his mind at ease. "What the hell made you want to stay with me? After earth, I mean."

Malia blinked and stared at him blankly for a few moments. "Well..." She paused, looking around as though she were searching for the answer. After a few seconds she looked back at him and gave a smile. "I stayed because..." The answer was cut short as something grabbed Peter by the back of the head, pulling him away from Malia. "Peter!"

Peter didn't even have a chance to react as he was dragged across the floor. The grip on his head started to feel like it was spreading, covering more of him every second. He yelled as his ears were overtaken, making the chaos of the situation sound like he was hearing it from underwater. His struggles against the vice like grip were useless. Panic started to set in as the hold neared his mouth and nose. He was hoisted into the air so that he hung above the room, dangling helplessly. Lingard raised the blaster Ellen had given him and started firing wildly.

A torrent of fiery blasts blazed past Peter, one close enough to burn his arm. He tried to shout, but the stuff had started to fill his mouth. Malia knocked the weapon from the doctor's hand and shoved him hard enough to send him crashing into a cabinet. She looked up at Peter, the horror on her face saying it all. Peter grabbed at the stuff only to have it take his hands and pin them against his chest. Blackness overtook his eyes as the darkness snaked it's way down his throat. He felt himself hoisted upward and slammed into metal before being dragged through the cramped space.

The pain of the entity filling his wound made him want to scream, but he was completely un

Malia felt like her heart was about to burst out of her chest as she rushed toward the vent Peter had disappeared through. She lowered her head to look inside of it, gripping onto his blaster, and widened her eyes, feeling her breath hitch back into her throat. "P-peter?" She called out in a low whisper, seeing the leftover residue of the creature's black ooze smeared over the vent walls. There was no sign of it. Or most importantly, no sight of Peter. Only it's gross remnants and...sound? Malia cocked her head to one side. "Peter?" She leaned herself in to listen to the faint noise and stopped as Doctor Lingard's high pitched voice filled the room.

His shouts echoed in her ears, his frantic words almost seeming alien to her as she took her attention off the vent and screamed back in response. "I'm sorry, but you were going to shoot him!" Malia furrowed her brows at Lingard, who waltzed over to her upon gathering himself off the floor. His glasses had completely broken off now, but he desperately tried to keep them on his face between words. The look he had plastered across his shaken features made her feel guilty for her actions. She was truly sorry she had pushed him yet he was the one asking for it. "Just shut up!" She hollered at the top of her lungs, taking him by surprise.

"I-I knew this would happen," He stuttered as his eyes glided toward the vent. "I told you." He repeated in a defeated tone, causing her to panic. He saw something. As his beady eyes started to water, she heard it, the faint sound she had picked up minutes ago. It was no longer distant, instead close behind her. Malia hesitated to turn her own gaze toward the vent, afraid of what she might see — the image of that thing entering her mind. Bracing herself, she slowly turned her head in the direction of the vent and braved peeking inside the hatch. She had to know if it was Peter. And it was. Just not the one she recognized. "Oh my god," She gasped, covering her mouth with her hand.

Inside the vent crawled the entity, wrapped around Peter's entire form, like a second layer of skin. It covered every inch of his body, leaving only half of his face disclosed as the black muck patterned itself around his eyes. It was eating him! Malia pointed his blaster at it's bubbly form then stopped herself from shooting as her frightened eyes locked on to Peter's visible eye. It looked as if he were pleading with her not to shoot. Nodding through watery eyes of her own, she backed away from the vent and ran. She grabbed Lingard by the sleeves of his lab coat and dragged him out of the room. "We have to find Ellen. Now! We..."

Malia allowed her words to fade out as she and Doctor Lingard sprinted across the darkened facility. It wasn't safe bringing up Peter around him so she opted in remaining quiet. She was sure he knew what she was about to say by the glare he threw at her amidst them entering the next room. Peter was still inside that monster and responsive, which is all that mattered to her. It meant they, most likely Ellen and her, would need to pry him out of it. She only hoped time was on their side. She didn't know about that creature or how it truly operated. Only that it moved from host to host upon what Ellen said. "Oof." Feeling herself collide with something, she looked up.

Her feet had tangled into some misplaced wires that had caused her to trip forward onto an empty stretcher table. "Lingard!" Malia glanced down the narrow hall to see the Doctor continue to run forward without turning. "You f*cking asshole!" She shouted as she struggled to untangle the wires from her feet and stand up. He had deliberately moved the objects in front of her. Going after him, she threw out a barrage of vulgar words, her fist soon colliding against the door he slammed across her face. "What are you doing? Let me in." She tapped the glass centered amidst it's metal frame, seeing Lingard smile in some sort of triumph and shake his head.

"Sorry. Can't do that." He adjusted his broken glasses. "You can die with him out there."

Malia was about to kick the door when a loud crashing sound erupted in the room she was in. She instantly pressed her back against the metal of the door and scanned her eyes around the environment, unable to make out most things. The Torren itself didn't have much working lights besides the few that flickered on and off in the far end corners. "Please, Lingard." Her voice came out in a speak as the eerie sounds she couldn't pinpoint started to get louder. "Open the door." She added, catching the silhouette of Peter's figure slither down from a large shaft in the ceiling. He didn't even appear human to her anymore.

"Lingard!" Malia turned herself around and lifted her face up against the glass, feeling like she was going to throw up at the inhuman noises Peter screeched the minute he started to walk and twitch over to her. She could feel the tears begin to fall out of her eyes. She didn't want to shoot him or worse. Pounding the palm of her hands against the door while she yelled at Doctor Lingard to open the door once more, she felt as if everything moved in slow motion. Before she knew it, she was swept off her feet amidst her screaming. Sharp claws clamped over one of her ankles and forcefully dragged her across the floor.

"Peter! I know you're in there." Through her shaky voice, Malia tried to talk as her hands reached for any strong surface to grab onto. He hadn't moved from his original drop, but extended the size of his left arm to grab her, the black ooze holding onto her ankle in a vine grip. As no surface came in contact with her hands that could hold her in place, she frantically dug her nails into the substance trying to pry herself out of it. But, she couldn't. Upon a few more failed attempts, she lifted his blaster toward the side of his face which had morphed into some sort of mouth with teeth and fired four direct shots into it, feeling the grip around her ankle lessen.

"You useless thing, kill her!"

Lingard's agitated voice blared from the door speakers, causing Malia to turn her head in shock and let her mouth fall. Had he planned this? She looked down at her free ankle in surprise then back at Peter before widening her eyes. He no longer was there. Hearing the banging against the vents above her, she followed the noise directly to Lingard's enclosed space. "No!" She tried to get up, but winced from the pain that shot from her ankle. Peter was going after Lingard and he had no clue as he pressed his smug face against the window pane looking for him. She couldn't hear the grumblings he said, only the utter silence that followed after she started to crawl toward the door. The thing had gotten in.

Peter couldn't move as the darkness had completely engulfed his body. It was even in his mind, the one place where he should've found solace. He was a prisoner inside his own body, and his body hadn't stopped. Peter tried to push back at the void mentally, his muffled shouts as futile as that effort. And suddenly, he could see again. It was weird, like seeing through someone else's eyes, but after suffocating darkness he'd take it. His body moved through what could only be a vent. He tried again to shout, and this time there was an answer. 'Shhhh.'

It was a hissing voice that came from inside of his own head. The darkness pulled away from his mouth just enough for him to talk. "What the hell are you?"

Peter felt himself fall from the vent and land on his feet. His head turned to look around the small room. 'For now, I'm you.'

He heard a noise behind him and his head turned on it's own. Lingard crouched by the door, completely overtaken by fear. He stared at Peter in sheer terror. "What are you doing?"

Peter's taloned hand reached out for Lingard, digging into his shoulder and lifting him to his feet. 'No need for other hosts now that I've got you.'

Peter tried to protest, but the black ooze covered his mouth again. He helplessly watched as his other hand raised to the screaming doctor's head and outstretched a finger. His eyes looked past Lingard at Malia who watched through the window on the door. He felt his face contort into a smile that wasn't his own just before the outstretched finger shot into the side of Lingard's head. After some probing the black tendril inside the doctor's head expanded, quickly building the pressure inside the man's skull until it could no longer contain it. Lingard's head burst like a melon and his lifeless body fell to the ground.

Peter tried again to struggle, but had nothing to struggle with. His panic returned as he felt his body start to move. The thing put Peter's bloody hand on the window where a horrified Malia looked on from. It pulled away to reveal his face, but kept control over it through his brain. It'd snaked it's way inside and was controlling his every action. He could feel his memories being rifled through as though they were files, each one going past his eyes in rapid succession. "Mal."

It hadn't been him that'd said it, instead it was the thing speaking in his voice. Malia leaned a bit closer, putting her hand on the glass. Every part of him that was left to his control screamed for her to run away. "P- Peter?"

The thing jerked his head up to look into her eyes and pulled his mouth into a sinister grin. "I'm going to kill you."

That was the last thing Peter heard or saw before being thrown so deep into the darkness that nothing could reach him.

AUTHORS NOTE: Hope you lovely guys are still reading :) I updated just in time for the spooky season! There is a amage to a scifi horror classic in these chapters. I wonder if you guys can guess which one ;)