Night Terrors

As Ratchet walked through the hallway, he remembered that he would have to sleep with Talwyn because there weren't enough rooms in the cabana to have one person have his own room. Except for Justin. But, either way, he was excited, but maybe a little bit scared at the fact of this. After all, she was unpredictable. When Ratchet invaded her station years ago, her welcoming party was an all-expense-paid trip out the airlock. But in a matter of minutes, she was telling him to lock up on his way out. But, little did he know that he had ended up meeting the love of his life in person for the very first time.

Ratchet entered the room, but didn't look at the bed just yet. First, he went into the bathroom. He decided he would skip the hydro-shower and save hot water for tomorrow. So, therefore, he just brushed his teeth and combed his fur (secretly all over). And fluffed it. This was a very important part of a Lombax's hair grooming process. He did it to keep his hair tidy and straight. But, he usually did a lot better of a job in the morning due to the fact that he would be doing things again then. Ratchet finally left the bathroom, and looked at the bed. There she was. She was smiling. For Ratchet, that was either really good or really bad. But Ratchet always hoped for the best.

"Guess what we're gonna do," She said with anticipation. But Ratchet was secretly scared to know.

"We are gonna watch the SCARIEST movie in the Polaris Galaxy," She continued.

Ratchet sighed with relief. "Which one?" He asked, getting a little more excited. This might not have been so bad after all.

Talwyn grinned again. "It's called Stalk and Murder!"

Ratchet had heard of that one, but it was old. In fact, it came out in holo-theaters when he was a young kit. But he could never scrape together the bolts or the time to go see it. Everyone said that even if you did have the money and time, you certainly couldn't get in. It was the biggest blockbuster that had ever hit Fastoon. But all in all, he was excited to see it for the first time.

Ratchet climbed into the bed and Talwyn turned on the Holo-vision. Ratchet had to admit that he was nervous. But it wasn't because of the movie or the fact that it was Rated X for intense blood and gore and strong language, but it was because he was watching this film in bed, with Talwyn, at midnight. After a few previews of other rather dirty movies, the show started.

Ratchet checked the screen. There wasn't much blood or gore yet, so Ratchet saw a chance. But how would he play it? Maybe I should try that arm thing. He thought. No, it's too simplistic. Ooh, maybe…no, to complex. Or perhaps…no, of course not! She's a Markazian, not a Lombax. She's got no fur. I could try that thing where…NO! It's too darn sexual. Ratchet tried thinking up other moves he could make. But, they were all too stupid, too obvious, too explicit, or just a sure crack-fire way to get him smacked before he even started. But, eventually, he came right back to his arm thing idea again. It was simple, but it wasn't explicit, and it almost always worked on HV so…

Ratchet raised his arms, as if stretching, opened his mouth, as if silently yawning, and slowly brought his arms down, just behind her head. He was looking away, but his peripheral vision helped him determine where that little area of neck behind her head was. He brought his elbow down over it. Perfection. Talwyn's head instantly came down over Ratchet's shoulder. Ratchet only let a small smile escape his lips, but in his head was a different story…

I did it! I did it! It worked! It worked! Yes, yes, yes, yes, YES!!! Aw, heck yeah!! I can't believe I actually pulled it off!!! Oh, yeah! Uh, huh!!

It was almost as if there was a celebratory party going on in his cerebellum. But, the party ended then and there. He had other things to focus on. Like how to keep Talwyn's head on his shoulder for the rest of the movie. Ratchet decided to just focus on the movie and make it last as long as possible.

There were two Cazar kits walking home from the park, apparently, and were walking home when they noticed the candy shop. They dawdled by it when suddenly, a horrendous figure that looked like an undead surgeon broke through the glass and landed in front of the two Cazars. It looked like his brain was about ready to pop out. He raised his machete and brought it down over one of the kit's face. What came out was way more blood than could've possibly come from a Cazar's head veins.

Talwyn uttered a little squeal and put her head down on Ratchet's shoulder and held him tightly. "It's okay," Ratchet said. "I'm here."

But it wasn't okay at all. The living child ran for his young life. But the undead man was faster. He raised the great sword, and severed off the kit's upper torso. This sent his organs spilling everywhere. The man, his surgeon's apron now painted red with blood, laughed an evil, revenge-filled laugh.

Ratchet screamed and pulled the covers over them. They held each other tightly and shook with paralyzed fear. Talwyn began lightly sobbing over Ratchet's shoulder, but Ratchet did not do the same. He was a brave hero, and heroes don't cry. But what he did do was start to think about Aphelion. Aphelion!! She was dead! Ratchet had forgotten all about it, and he felt bad for forgetting his fallen comrade. Heroes still don't cry, though.

For a while, the movie was nothing but the awful sounds of blood splattering, and the horrendous screams of the helpless victims. There was also the loud swearing that took place before the little children or teenagers were horrifically dismembered. If Justin were in here, this experience would pass by his gruesome RYNO V experience by light-years. It was the most bloody, horrific, gory, savage movie Ratchet had ever seen. But, it only ranked #4 on Ratchet's List of Unnecessarily Disgusting Stuff.

What seemed like an eternity later, the movie finally ended. Ratchet looked to check, on a dare from Talwyn. It was all clear. There was no sign of anything. The screen on the Holo-vision was completely black, and the room was dark.

Ratchet went back under the covers and said: "It's alright, Tal." He said, trying to convince her that the movie was officially over. "The vid's over." But Talwyn showed no sign of wanting to talk, or wanting to stop shaking. "'Night, Tal," He said, and turned over to go to sleep. And, just as he was about to doze off, Ratchet heard a faint piece of Talwyn's voice say: "Good night, Ratchet."

The dream that followed was the most horrifying one Ratchet had ever seen.

"Come on, come on, Tal!" Ratchet said. "Hurry up with the system hack! The murderer is right behind us!"

"I'm tryin'," Talwyn said in reply. "But the freaking door won't budge."

Just then, the undead surgeon came slowly limping toward them like the zombie he was. Ratchet and Talwyn both screamed. Talwyn pushed on the door harder.

"HURRY UP!!" Ratchet screamed. Finally, Talwyn decided to shoot open the door. She drew her blaster, but before she could shoot, she dropped it. She turned to Ratchet. The blue eyes that Ratchet had come to love were now a sinister pitch black.

"It is okay, Ratchet," Said a voice that was not Talwyn's. "It will all be over soon."

Talwyn's dream was quite a bit different.

Ratchet and her were walking down a road on Planet Kerwan. It was very peaceful that evening. But she felt that something was not right…

"Hey, Tal," Ratchet said.

"Yes, Dear," She replied.

"Would you… oh, I dunno, maybe…wanna…Go see a…"

"I'd love to." She said.

Just then, a horrific undead surgeon popped out from behind an alley, and ran toward them. They both screamed. Just what the man wanted. He raised a chainsaw and sliced her boyfriend in the throat. Ratchet fell to the ground with his neck organs spilling out. The zombie raised the saw over Talwyn's head. She screamed her last scream…

Ratchet and Talwyn both awoke at the exact same time. They looked at each other. Ratchet notice that Talwyn was about to cry, but instead, she simply said: "You died!!"

Ratchet replied with: "You were possessed!!"

Talwyn had a terrified look on her face. Ratchet had never seen one of those looks before. And she had a lot of looks that she would give Ratchet from time to time. Ratchet definitely knew that she didn't like the movie, but she was trying to look tough and shake it off. But it was obvious that she was failing. Ratchet admitted that a machete-wielding undead surgeon was a very scary thing. Ratchet came to an instant decision.

"Look," He said. "No more late night fright movies at midnight, 'kay, Tal?"

"Alright," She responded through scared tears and breaking tones of voice.

Ratchet drifted to a slow sleep once more, and fortunately his nightmares had finally been put to an end almost as quick as they had started, but the same could not be said for Talwyn. She was fidgeting as she tried to fight the helpless battle that was sleeping peacefully. Ratchet was worried, but he knew that there were other things on his mind besides simple nightmares that were all in one's head.

One of those things was Aphelion. His trusty starship was no longer his. She was now residing in the spaceport in the sky. Ratchet hoped that she would have safe passage. Suddenly he felt he was just being extremely religious. But still, he definitely wished he could have flown her to Pokitaru. Hmm…

Another one Ratchet thought that he shouldn't worry about. It was the fact that he allowed Justin to be captured by Vorselon. He left him with Cronk and Zephyr. They were poorly armed and assumed that all the other enemies were as well armed as them, and usually needed Ratchet's help frequently. Ratchet began to have dreams about the fight on the warship. There were many concepts, they varied from happy to frightening, and each one had a message, as if a moral, to tell Ratchet. Ratchet saw each one. But the one he found most important was: "Focus more on what you want, therefore less on what you don't." That was exactly what he would have to do at that point.

Ratchet did not have an important alarm clock to wake him. But, he eventually did wake up. It was a quiet morning, and the sun was shining very brightly. That was odd. Funny. Ratchet thought. On Pokitaru, the sun isn't usually this bright in the morning at six o' clock. Hmm… Ratchet took a quick glance at the digital clock on the wall. 11:32 AM. Hmm… Wasn't there something I had to do at noon? Ratchet's eyes snapped open like shutters. His eyes looked like sunny-side up eggs in the sun. He turned those eggs on the clock one more time…

"TALWYN!!!!" He screamed as they both got out of bed at the same time. She looked as if there was something awful happening.

"What!" She shot back in worry. "Is the cabana on fire? Is there a burglar?!"

"WORSE!!!!" Ratchet screamed in horror.

Talwyn tried to come up with all the things in her head that could have been worse than that. One thought struck her. "Is the undead surgeon on the loose on the island?!" She asked in dismay.

"Ten times worse than that!!!!" Ratchet shouted.

That stumped Talwyn. She tried hard to think of something ten times worse than that, and nothing immediately sprung to mind.

"We're late for our massages!!!" Ratchet said.

"We're late for our massages???!!!" She said back in disbelief.

There was a short pause. Then they both screamed, "WE"RE LATE FOR OUR MASSAGES!!!!!!"

They ran out into the hallway and into bedrooms screaming, "EVERYBODY GET UP! WE"RE LATE FOR OUR MASSAGES!!!!"