Sammie didn't sleep at all that night; she couldn't get the images out of her head. So eventually she sat up and logged onto her laptop which Jack had finally let her have back and she signed onto to msn, she was immediately greeted with a message
Emorocker28: Hey!!!!!!!!
Sammie-xox: Hey…
Emorocker28: Where have you been, your mobile is off
Sammie-xox: Sorry…I've been busy with stuff
Emorocker28???????????
Sammie-xox: It's complicated
Emo-rocker28: I tried your house but you weren't in
Sammie-xox: Yeah…sorry I've been out
Emorocker28: Sammie what is going on with you?????
Sammie-xox: Nothing!
Emorocker28: Are you trying to avoid me??????????
Sammie-xox: What??
Emorocker28: You keep making excuses
Sammie-xox: No it's the truth
Emorocker28: Then tell me what's going on
Sammie-xox: I can't…
Emorocker28: Whatever Sammie…you know I thought we were friends…
Sammie-xox: we are!
Emorocker28: You've changed Sammie
Emo-rocker28 has logged off
Sammie sighed as she saw those final words and she shut down her laptop, everything was changing, her mum was gone, her best friend just ditched her and now she had to live with a group of complete strangers who she knew nothing about. Sammie got back into bed, the silent tears streaming down her face.
Back on his office Jack sat up at his computer and sighed, on screen he had been following the conversation that Sammie had just been typing thanks to some clever technical device that Toshiko had put on Sammie's laptop just in case she told anyone about Torchwood. Jack had been reluctant to the idea but had eventually been won round but as he stared at the screen he wished he hadn't been won so easy
"Sir?" a voice broke through the silence
"Ianto how many times have I told you to call me Jack?" he smiled softly
"Sorry…Jack"
"How can I help you?"
"Are you ok Jack?"
"Why wouldn't I be?"
"Because you've been staring at the screen for the last seven minutes"
Jack sighed and turned the screen towards Ianto who quickly read the conversation, his eyes quickly darting from word to word.
"Oh…" he said softly after reading it
"What do we do?"
Ianto paused for a moment before saying "You're the boss…" and then he left the room
Jack sighed and switched off the monitor before saying to himself "Yeah…I am…"
The next morning Jack was up early calling the team in to the board room to discuss the latest alien sighting, Sammie entered last and it was obvious to every member in the room that she had been crying, her eyes looked red as well as sore and her face was drained of any colour, Jack sighed but started the meeting
"Ok team, this morning at 5am we got strong energy readings from any area called the Bracken Woods, we checked and we've had reading there before but this morning they were the strongest ever and people have phoned the police saying they had sightings of shadows and laughter and a whole host of spooky stuff"
"Bracken Woods, does it have any super natural history?" Gwen asked
"In the eighteenth century is was regarded as a place where witches would hold Sabbats and in the early nineteenth century there were a few bodies found there but no explanation to how they got there and so ever since then it's been seen as an unlucky place to go" Sammie said in one breath, the team all stared at Sammie
"How did you know that?" Owen asked looking shocked
"Did a project on it at school" she shrugged
Owen and Jack exchanged glances shocked at how much she knew
"Ok so we're going to do a trip out there to see what's going on, team you know what to do, so usual formation everybody"
And that was the end of the meeting; Sammie got up and started to walk back to her room when Jack stopped her
"Where are you going?"
"Well you don't need me"
"You are the only one of the team who knows about the woods in great detail, we need you"
"Part of the team?" Sammie said looking puzzled
"Yeah…part of the team" Jack smiled
And then things passed so quickly, she was in the S.U.V speeding towards Bracken Woods. When they go there Sammie started to remember details about woods and when she got out of the S.U.V and stood on the carpet of damp, rotting leaves she felt a chill pass through her and she shivered under the humid air. She looked at Jack and he nodded so she started taking a path along a route she knew well, soon she came to an old knotted oak tree and she stopped and turned to the others
"This is where the first body was supposedly found" she said as she took a step to the left and that's when it happened.
A man ran through the forest, terrified and calling out for help. He was dressed in formal but old style clothes which were no dirtied by mud and other grime from the forest floor
"Leave me alone" he screamed as he ran and stumbled through the undergrowth. As he turned round to see what was chasing him, he fell over a root and landed in the carpet of rotting leaves, taking in a mouthful of dirt and other nasty surprises
"What do you want from me?" he screamed but It was too late, a shadow crept over him and then came the piercing scream which shot through the silent forest, then silence…
"Sammie?" a worried voice brought Sammie to her senses and she groggily opened her eyes and murmured, she was laying on the forest floor and her head felt heavy and the images before her swirled in front of her eyes, when they eventually stopped she tried to sit up but strong hands pushed her back down
"You need to rest for a bit" came a voice from up above her
"Owen?" she said as she glanced up and sure enough there he was cradling her head in his hands
"Bet you never thought you'd be glad to see me" he smiled
"What happened?" she said groggily
"You passed out" Owen said pressing fingers to her neck to get her pulse "Your pulse is still quite weak"
"Where is he?"
"Where's who?" Jack said crouching down before her
"The man, he was running through here he was dressed in old clothes and he was being chased by something and then he tripped and then…"
Jack paused for a moment thinking whilst Owen tried to console Sammie who was now shaking and sobbing "Sammie I think you had a vision, I think that there is energy in these woods and you channelled it by accident and you saw what happened to one of these bodies all those years ago"
Sammie looked at Jack shaking and slowly she stood up, Owen gently holding her so she didn't fall, "Jack what does a shadow look like when its takes form on earth?"
"It literally looks like a shadow you would find on earth but it is much darker and it moves quickly and to look at one directly is truly terrifying, these shadows will kill, they have no remorse they just feed on the souls of humans and once they find a victim they won't stop until they hunt it down" Jack said solemnly
"Then that man was killed by a shadow and a shadow feeds on souls, and so I assume it takes energy from the souls and that means there's one after me from what you told me when I first met you" she said slowly
"Let's not make assumptions" Jack said looking at her
"Jack if we can stop this shadow, then we can save someone's life"
"No…"
"Why not?"
"You're just a child"
"Then why did you let me come?"
"Because…"
But Sammie didn't let Jack finish "I am nearly sixteen and from what you've told me I could be the key to this mystery and I am not going to let my mothers death be in vain" she shouted.
Jack paused "Ok fine but you stick close to me and you do not go out of anyone's sight"
"Fine"
"Then let's go" he said walking close to her.
But what the team didn't see was a dark shadow flick across the forest floor behind them.