Thank you for the reviews :). It is getting a little chaotic, isn't it g. This is the last part of the act three.
As soon as she saw the glinting knife, Rona turned and ran. She tripped up some more steps, bouncing off the walls in the darkness, her hands out more to keep her balance than to find any door levers. She needed to get ahead, find a suitable nook to wedge herself in to lie in wait for her dagger-wielding attacker. That was the only way she was gonna be able to get the better of him in the narrow space. Even just being able to stick a leg out and trip him would at least give her time to swoop down with her wooden spoon!
Unbeknownst to Rona, her 'attacker' had shrieked when she had and run down the narrower corridor that lay at a right angle to the one along the exterior wall. In seconds nothing but his scampering footsteps suggested there had ever been a second person there.
Reece stopped at the top of the steps, listening intently to the two sets of footsteps running in different directions; and the almost as loud running footsteps that seemed to be coming from the other side of the wall with accompanying screams and growling and… some kind of piano sonata?
Hoping rather futilely that he had already forged some kind of symbiotic link with his Slayer, he picked a direction to follow at random and steadily set off again.
The ballroom was mostly empty, with just a few stragglers uneasily wandering back in through the patio doors now that Zeke's noise had faded.
Iggy was still playing the piano like a very musically-gifted madman, cheerfully providing a soundtrack for the fun and games. He'd been a little disappointed when his lady-friend had run off screaming – Victor's fault for trying to grab her straight off the piano stool – but she'd been too young for him anyway, really.
Owen had followed the worst of the rumpus out into the foyer, probably, Iggy surmised, to give Zeke a good talking to if he could get him to calm down for half a second.
"There! That one." Victor pointed surreptitiously to a tall blonde walking across the ballroom looking even more lost than the rest of the shocked kids.
"A girl?" asked his friend, uncertainly.
"It's the twenty-first century, so they tell me," Victor said. "Equal opportunities abound; and gender will make no difference to the experiment."
The four boys from Boudenver Academy had long since run away, deciding to abandon their equipment in favour of saving their heights. Of his other two choices, Iggy's lady friend had screamed so loud, he'd been worried about losing focus at a crucial moment, and the second, well the boy had been so short already that even his pure scientist's soul didn't think that was fair.
"Please, go and fetch her." Victor urged his friend.
"But…"
Victor gave him a look.
"I do this under duress," his friend intoned to no one in particular and then went to do as he was told, because that was what he did, what he had been built to do.
Iggy's tune turned darker, his many fingers thumping the keys in a dramatic style.
Naomi was so surprised to find herself unexpectedly picked up gently by the tallest man she had ever seen in her life, that she didn't even scream. She stared at him with wide eyes, her breathing shallow as he carried her back towards the stage.
"What… what do you want? Put me down!"
He didn't look at her, but stared straight ahead as he walked purposely forward. His forehead was huge and had a tattoo of stitches across it. God she hoped it was a tattoo! His mouth was a grim, unhappy line and his eyes looked sad.
"What are you doing?" she asked as he laid her down on the stage.
She tried struggling, but he held down her shoulders with one hand and her ankles with his other and it was like struggling against steel.
"Please don't." she insisted, figuring this was a good one size fits all response to whatever he had planned.
Naomi didn't know what the hell had happened in the last hour, but it had been way more of a Halloween party that she had expected. When the wolf man had started chasing people around, she had run one way and the three Slayers had run the other – which in hindsight hadn't been the best plan, but then they hadn't actually had time for planning – She had only just made it through the patio doors without losing the rear out of her outfit.
She had come back in to the find everyone once the confusion seemed to have simmered down, but no one was about, no one she recognised anyway. No Slayers, no Reece, no one she could shout to for help.
"Okay these won't hurt." A short man, maybe in his fifties with dark hair brill-creamed to his head, leaned over her.
"What won't hurt?" She was still struggling valiantly, but it was having no discernable effect.
"These?" He held them up so she could see thin black and red wires with a cross between a clamp and a needle at the end of each one.
"How can they not hurt!" she demanded. It was hurting just to imagine what they might be for.
"They will hurt, but only for a minute," said the big man holding her, and she had a feeling, by the way he said it, that he was speaking from experience.
"Really, my friend, we must work on you bedside manner when we return home."
"If the child must endure this, she should know the truth at least."
"Why are you suddenly so squeamish?"
"I do not think this is necessary."
"Would you prefer me skip the experimental stage and simply try it on you?"
"It could kill."
"That's a highly improbably outcome. Look, I only intend to take an inch from her, but if it works, I could shorten you by a foot, more if you wish."
Naomi watched the exchange above her with terrified eyes.
The big man looked down at her, his eyes sadder than before, but somehow hopeful too. "I am sorry. Close your eyes, it will be over very soon."
"Oh dear Lord." She was trembling now more than struggling. She closed her eyes, not because of the instruction, but because she couldn't bear to look at them anymore. "Please? Please don't do this."
"Hey Guys, what's going on?"
The chirpy, cheerful voice made her open her eyes again. She breathed a sigh of relief, but Andrew didn't even spare her a glance as he grinned at the two men.
"Nothing, go away," Victor said curtly.
"It doesn't look like nothing to me. Hey, is that a robot woman?" he asked excitedly, finally looking down at Naomi's body, but not meeting her eyes. "My friend used to program his robo-chicks with something like this. It was way cool."
"No, she is not a robot." Victor was peering at him suspiciously, not sure what to make of this enthusiastic lanky boy. "Your friend is a scientist?"
"In a way." Andrew nodded. He went around to the other side of what they had all thought to be turntables earlier and looked at all the mystical slash technical buttons and dials in genuine delight. "And I was sort of his assistant."
"Was?"
"He died. So what are you doing? Is that a real girl?" He looked over the top of the equipment at Naomi again.
"Yes, it is a real girl." Said the big man irritably. "Why don't we experiment on him instead? He is just as tall."
"No, no, I've prepared her now," Victor said as he finished rubbing some liquorice smelling oil on both of Naomi's temples. "Besides…" he let that hang in the air as he studied Andrew intently for several moments.
"So what are you doing?" Andrew asked again.
"We are going to make her shorter." Victor said grandly, rubbing his hands together.
"Cool!" Andrew's face split into an excited grin. "Can you really do that?"
"We're going to try."
"Ooh can I help?"
"You're going to help him?" Naomi shouted, struggling harder. "You wanker!"
"Hey, there's no need for name calling!" Andrew shouted back, gaining a look of respect from Victor. "I used to be an evil mastermind, you know? Just because I've decided to try out a redemptive path to see how it feels, doesn't mean I don't still have urges!"
Naomi managed to kick her legs around a little. "You arse! Shorter or not, I'm still gonna beat seven shades of poo out you when I get out of this."
"I promise you this won't hurt for long, please just lay still." Victor held the wires up to her head, ready to stick them in and clamp them down.
"See, he said they wouldn't hurt much," Andrew tried to sooth her. "Stop acting like a baby."
Victor turned the blonde man again thoughtfully. "You know, I have not met anyone as refreshing as you in a long time."
"Thanks." Andrew beamed. "Uh, that was a compliment, right?"
"Yes." Victor gave him a small smile. "I wonder, are you currently employed?"
Andrew sighed deeply, "Well, if you can call it that. Washing dishes and cooking and cleaning the house for minimum wage and no verbal thanks whatsoever. Everyone else thinks they have it so hard, but no one even notices all the hard work I do all day every day."
"Cooking, and cleaning houses," Victor asked surprised. "But that's woman's work."
"So much for equal opportunities," muttered his friend.
Victor ignored him. "No, a strapping lad like you should be in proper employment; doing work that befits your bright mind and enthusiasm. Have you ever considered full time Igor-ing?"
"Huh?"
"Sorry, I should not use slang terms, but they are just so easy to fall into. It means to be a full time…" he mumbled something that sounded like 'dad' "…scientist's assistant."
"A what scientist?" Naomi asked.
"It's not important, just more slang. So are you interested?"
"In working for you?" Andrew smiled as he contemplated it. "Like I'd get to help with experiments and stuff?"
"Yes, I had a chap, but he turned out to be a buffoon," he shot Igor – still at the piano and listening in – a dirty look. "So I have an opening."
"Yeah, okay," Andrew clapped his hands together. "It has to be better than what I'm doing now. So did you want me to start right this minute? I could push the buttons, or I could stick the wires in her, or… or, you know, whatever you need? How much will I get paid?"
There was a harsh, "Hah!" from Igor, but when they all looked over he was playing with his eyes closed, his lumpy head swaying dreamily from side to side.
"We'll discuss money later," Victor said hurriedly. "And I think it best for your first time if you come around here and push the electrodes in while I handle the dials. Too much power and she will end up the same height as Paddy."
Andrew hastily came around to Naomi's side and took the electrodes from his new boss.
"Oh God, no, what are you thinking? Get off of me, now!" Naomi started yelling as Victor pointed to two ink dots he'd marked, one on either temple.
"Now, red in this side, black in the other. I appreciate you are bound to make a mistake at some point in your training, but please, don't let it be now."
"Red in the left, black in the right. Got it." Andrew promised. "When do I stick them in her?"
"With the way she is thrashing about it would best to wait until I am ready."
Victor moved around to the other side of the equipment and started pressing buttons at speed with one hand and spinning the dial carefully to where he wanted it with his other. He'd never used this gear before, but you wouldn't know it to watch him; either he was really good at what he did, or really bad.
"Okay…" Victor held his hand up as he looked at the energy reading on the digital screen rise. "Okay now!"
Andrew dropped the wires and threw all his weight into the not-turntables. It toppled easily on its stand and crashed into a surprised Victor. As the 'friend' was rising to tackle Andrew, the ex-evil mastermind turned back the other way and brought his foot up hard between the big man's legs. It wasn't clear who it hurt the most as they both yelped. The man went to his knees, surprise and pain twisting his already unattractive features, and the almost a man started to hop about, clutching his foot in both hands.
Victor launched himself over the damaged equipment, intent on throttling Andrew to death, but Naomi was rising from the stage now, and it was such an easy shot she couldn't resist. Her fist connected with Victor's nose and he staggered back, tripping over the magical transmuter and landing amid its wreckage.
"Time to go." Naomi shook her bruised fist in the hopes it would lessen the pain – it didn't – and grabbed Andrew's arm, who went from hopping to hobbling towards the patio doors.
"Get them back!" Victor demanded angrily.
Iggy's eyes were open again and he was grinning in glee as he switched to a wacky Benny Hill style chase tune.
Victor's friend dutifully marched across the ballroom. He was a little pissed himself. He hadn't wanted to do the experiment on the girl, it had just felt wrong – she was so pretty – but he hadn't wanted his one chance at fitting in with normal humans turned into a pile of fizzling spare parts either.
Andrew and Naomi made it the patio doors as fast as possible and instead of running away, made for the closest patch of dense shrubbery, planning to hide for a while before making their getaway.
They watched as the big man came through the doors, looked left and right and then took the shortest route around to the front of the house to find them.
"Thanks," Naomi said quietly after a few moments.
"You're welcome. Sorry it took me so long. I'm not really any good at rescuing the girl." Andrew whispered.
"Well, you did really well at it tonight," Naomi promised, and then hesitantly added, "Sorry I called you a wanker."
"That's okay." There was a pause. "What is a wanker?"
Naomi blushed. "Um, ask Craig."
"So then he said that the best kind of love was all wild and passionate and dangerous and trust was less important than that," Buffy was saying as they walked up the dark road through the woods. "Kinda the whole 'If you feel a thing and I feel a thing that's all that matters', but in Spike-speak."
They were about halfway home now, but neither of them was rushing. Faith had made an offhand joke about Buffy's trust issues a mile back. Buffy was still explaining, or trying to.
"Well so far, I'm not disagreeing." Faith shrugged. "Wild, passionate and dangerous sounds pretty good to me."
"This was about a minute before he…" There was a pregnant pause, about nine months pregnant, and Faith got it then.
"Before he...!"
Buffy spoke quickly before she could finish, "Before he tried to do what he tried to do, yes. It didn't exactly sell me on the wild, passionate and dangerous angle."
"I can get that. Can't say I like you thinking I'm anything like him though," she admitted.
She remembered Xander, looking up at her in fear as she was grinding down on him, her hands around his throat… and she pulled away from Buffy's hand to run both of hers through her hair, tugging it hard as she tried to force the memory away.
"I would never, ever do that to you! I know you got no reason to believe me, but I swear, Buffy; I'd… I'd… I don't know, jump off'a the roof, or drink a bottle of bleach first…"
"Faith, it's okay, I know you wouldn't." Buffy moved in front of her, making her stop, and put her hands on Faith's shoulders comfortingly. "That thought never even crossed my mind."
Faith really wanted to believe that, but… she looked deep into Buffy's eyes. "I done shit like that, B, you know that. I don't blame you if that's why you don't trust me. Shit, you really know how to pick us, girlfriend."
Buffy smiled. "That's true, but… Faith, what you did before you went to prison, that's… that wasn't you! I mean, it was you, obviously, but it wasn't the real you; it was the you who was scared and confused and alone and trying to act like she wasn't any of that. You let the Slayer – who, let's face it, is part demon anyway – take the wheel and you made some really bad decisions because of it, but, I remember the girl you were before the accident with Finch and I know the woman you were when you came back to Sunnydale six months ago and… that's who I'm with now. That's who…" Faith held her breath when Buffy hesitated, before repeating, with a self-conscious smile, "…I'm with now."
Faith slowly smiled and reached up to tuck some hair behind Buffy's ear. She wanted to kiss her, but didn't dare; she didn't want to reduce this conversation to another bicker-fest about doing it.
"You keep making me feel better like that, I'm not even gonna need therapy," she said instead.
"Oh, I don't know, I don't think I'm that good." Buffy smirked at her.
"Funny." Faith smiled, and Buffy kissed her.
It only lasted a second or two, which was just as well seeing as her heart stopped as soon as Buffy's lips touched hers. She wondered if kissing Buffy would ever be less than a phenomenal thing, and she really hoped not.
"Thank you," she sighed.
"Thank you?" Buffy grinned.
"I, uh," Faith looked down at where the light of the half moon made the boots on Buffy's feet shine, embarrassed.
Buffy chuckled and touched her fingertips to Faith's down tucked chin. Looking up, Faith's heart stopped all over again as Buffy moved in for a slightly more lingering kiss.
"You're welcome," Buffy said softly as she pulled back again.
Thinking it was okay now Faith's hands went to Buffy's waist, holding her gently as she leaned in to kiss her. Buffy met her halfway; her hand's going to Faith's shoulders.
Faith's heart restarted with a jolt when she realised this time Buffy wasn't pulling away, and then it started going triple time when there were suddenly two tongues in her mouth. She wasted no time in taking advantage of it, and God! Buffy's tongue felt so good against her own; so soft, so strong, so… eager.
"God, I love kissing you!" Buffy mumbled against her lips.
How something so simple, so vanilla when it came right down to it, could get her so aroused was beyond Faith. While running on a kinda low level horny all the time, it usually took more than this to get her so worked up, but Buffy's mumbled words had her tingling all over, especially in the good places.
"Feel free to do it as much as you want," Faith mumbled back, before her tongue slipped into Buffy's hot, lime-and-alcohol-tasting mouth again.
"'Kay." Buffy's arms were around her neck now, hers around Buffy's waist, holding her close, their bodies flush together.
Some little annoying voice in the back of Faith's brain was telling her to stop now. To show Buffy she could be restrained and respectful and shit. Buffy had her issues, and gee did Faith know how that could screw you up, and she was pretty sure their conversation on this road, however sweet and understanding, wasn't gonna resolve them all just like that. She should stop now, walk Buffy home and maybe, hopefully, get a kiss just this hot before it was time to go to bed. It would show Buffy she really did care, that she really had listened, that she really didn't want her just for the physical stuff.
That's what she should do. Wasn't what she was going to do though.
Her hands slid down to Buffy's hot pants and she squeezed her ass cheeks as tenderly as it was possible to do in a move like that. As Buffy moaned softly and plunged her tongue so deep into her mouth that she felt it in her pussy – in a kinda symbolic way obviously – Faith's brain sang out the word 'Hallelujah!' over and over again.
"This okay?" Faith checked when they had to take a minute to catch their breath.
"Better than okay," Buffy assured her.
"Sure you don't wanna take this home and see what happens?"
"No." Buffy shook her head. "I'll have sobered up by the time we walk home."
Faith pulled away a little, not sure that she liked the sound of that, but damned if she knew why exactly.
"Are you saying I'm taking advantage of you?" she asked carefully. "'Cause for some strange reason I don't wanna do that, not tonight anyway."
Buffy smiled. "Not taking advantage per se. Just making the most of me not having the inhibitions we both wish I didn't have the rest of the time."
Faith didn't really follow the sentence, mostly because it was hard to follow anything but the thrill in her chest and the throb in her pants.
"Yeah, okay." She kissed her again, deciding to accept things at face value for now; positive Buffy would soon let her know if she went too far.
The way Buffy was pressing into her, almost rubbing against her, had Faith thinking all the way might not be too far tonight. Buffy's next words just encouraged that thought.
"Oh God, you're making me so hot." Buffy's hands slid under the back of her torn t-shirt, the chill of them fluttering over the overheated skin of her back made Faith moan.
Faith dropped her hands a little, spent a moment stroking the backs of Buffy's thighs, before sliding them up and into the legs of her hot pants. They were so tight that the pressure she had to apply to get under them meant she slid beneath Buffy's panties too. She thought she might explode just from the sensation of the rounded, naked flesh in her palms.
"Ohhhhh!" Buffy shuddered hard against her as the material was pulled tight between her legs and Faith guessed that if she was anything close to as aroused as she was, that had to feel too damn good.
Headlight's swung into view around the bend half a mile up the road, and Faith cursed out loud. Why now? When Buffy was all but humping her. Buffy gave a frustrated little laugh as Faith pulled her hands free from the clingy material. They had to hurry to the side or end up road kill.
Faith was surprised when Buffy caught her hand and pulled her even further off of the road into the complete darkness of the trees. She'd figured the fun was over because of the untimely interruption, but the blonde clearly didn't think so as she pushed her against a tall Pine and ran fingers over her face to find her mouth before kissing her again.
It really was that dark that she could barely make out more than an outline of Buffy even with how close they were, so she closed her eyes and let touch take over. She ran her fingers up Buffy's arms, over her shoulders and down over her collar bones to the flesh pushed upwards by the stiff bodice. She teased there for a while, hearing Buffy's already harsh breathing get heavier, and then tried to press beneath, but the cardboard insert, or whatever it was, really was totally unyielding.
She splayed her hands over the top of it. "Can you even feel this?"
"Not really. Can you feel this?"
Hands slid up the front of her t-shirt to cup her breasts and her head thunked back hard against the tree trunk. "Yes!"
She heard Buffy chuckle. "Good."
"No not good," Faith groaned.
"Not good?" Buffy's hands slipped away.
"No, not that!" Faith said quickly. "That good good!" Great, now she sounded like a retard. "I just wanna get my hands on you too."
"Where your hands were earlier was pretty good good," Buffy whispered, before kissing her again.
Catching on quick Faith emulated her earlier position, her hands inside Buffy's hot pants, the firm curve of her ass warming her palms as she squeezed and pulled Buffy harder against her.
"Oh yeah, like that," Buffy mumbled dreamily as her lips grazed Faith's in a multitude of tiny kisses. "See this is what I mean."
"What is what you mean?"
"This! This heat. This all consuming hotness. This is what I'm scared of."
"Why scared?"
"I had strong feelings for Spike, but it was just heat. A lot of heat, but still just that. We were like wild animals together. He thought that was love, but it wasn't."
Faith really didn't like Buffy talking about Spike while they were this close, while they had their hands all over each other and were only steps away from being even closer, but she figured Buffy must have a point she was trying to get to and one that would probably enlighten her on a few things she should know.
"And?"
"I loved Angel with all my heart. I'd never known the feelings he gave me before, or since…"
Great, now she was bringing him into this too. Faith relaxed her grip and leant her head back against the tree.
"And?"
Buffy dropped her hands to Faith's hips, leaning her chin on her shoulder, cheek against her neck.
"They both ended in heartbreak and disillusion and burned up until there was nothing left."
"And?" Faith asked softly, really hoping the point was around the corner somewhere, and showed up before she felt depressed enough to feed herself to a passing bear.
"And neither of them come close to making me feel the way I do with you," Buffy replied, just as softly. "I want you all the time, I wanna get wild animal with you all the time, and it happened so quickly and we don't have the best history and you've made some questionable choices even since I fell for you and I want to forgive you and get naked with you and pretend the woods are alive with the sound of music, but I'm scared… I'm scared that its all happening too quick and too soon and our fire is gonna burn up and consume the last piece of my heart I have left, because the feelings I have for you… these feelings, they're too strong, they're too wild and dangerous and passionate and that just can't end… good."
Faith pulled her hands free again and spun Buffy around so it was her back against the tree. She cupped her face, holding it gently and placed a small kiss on her lips.
"I am not going anywhere, Buffy. And the way I feel about you isn't going to change, except maybe to get better, if that's even possible. We've been through shit, we'll go through more I expect, but we'll do it together, okay? Let the fire try and consume us, we'll send its ass packing with its flame between its legs. We can be wild, we can do it like animals and we'll wear the scratches with pride, why the hell not? I get what you mean, this is all too damn real for me too, but I'm not gonna run from it, not again, and I'm not gonna let you either. So you better just deal with that and the sooner the fuckin' better for both of us, okay?"
She let her forehead rest against Buffy's staring resolutely into the only part of her she could see.
"Okay," Buffy whispered.
"Okay," Faith agreed and stepped back. "Now let's go home."
"Let's not!" Buffy grabbed the front of her t-shirt and dragged her back again.
"Always gotta be in control!" Faith complained around Buffy's tongue, 'cept not really, obviously, plus there were hands on her ass now and her ass had missed this kinda attention.
"Get used to it," Buffy muttered, turning them again, pressing Faith into the tree so hard with her body, her back was gonna look like a bark rubbing.
Buffy was kissing her like there was no tomorrow, like there was no next minute even. This kiss right here was the embodiment of every dark, wild, dangerous emotion Buffy was afraid of and she was letting them all out of the box at once. All for her. It was Faith for once who could barely keep up, and damn did she like it more than she ever thought.
Buffy reluctantly dragged her mouth away, gasping to get some fresh air in her lungs, but there was now some minor but definite humping action going on in the darkness.
"Buffy," she breathed out, sliding her hands down the back of the hot pants and shifting her legs so the blonde had something more substantial to rock against.
"You want me right here, Faith?" Buffy whispered, warm breath caressing her ear and causing a ripple of electric excitement to stream through her.
"Yes."
"Standing up in the woods like this?"
"Yes."
"Ever fantasized about having your hand down the front of Wonder Woman's hot pants?"
"Not until tonight." Faith grinned, her legs were trembling; that was new.
"Good answer." Buffy's tongue flicked around her ear as she spoke. "Very good answer."
"So that was…" Faith had been about to say 'permission', but Buffy was kissing her again, stealing her words, her breath, her… hand!
It was plucked from the back of the shorts and then Buffy was guiding it around to where she wanted it, breathing hard through her nose as her own excitement rose and rose.
Faith was light-headed. She felt sixteen again, watching Buffy dance across the Bronze, feeling her heart thud in her chest every time the blonde even almost smiled at her. Gazing at her in the library as she trained, in what she thought, hoped, was a cool, uninterested way while subtly rocking on her chair and imagining situations just like this... but never as good as this.
When Buffy seemed sure she was able to take it from there, she fumbled with the fly of Faith's tattered jeans.
Oxygen being an issue, and Faith suddenly needing more of it than usual, she stopped kissing for a minute, licking her lips and swallowing as she felt Buffy's small hand slide inside her costume.
"You're my first Zombie," Buffy chuckled. "This is a special night."
"Yeah," Faith nodded seriously, their noses grazing gently together. "Sure as hell is."
Dawn ran downhill through the underbrush. She'd meant to stay on the gravel drive, but with the big bat continuously flapping its leathery wings around her head, she'd quickly become disorientated.
The bat had flown off ahead of her a minute before, and while she was feeling far from calm yet, she did have the wits about her to figure that if she kept running down in roughly this direction she'd hit the road between Boudenver and the camp at some point.
That was as if she didn't die from all the running first, of course.
New fear struck her heart as she heard thrashing in the bushes and long grass behind her. She hoped it was just the noise she was making playing tricks on her in the pitch dark of the woods, but the louder it got, the harder it was to convince herself.
She looked over her shoulder as she ran harder and faster, but could see nothing but the trees looming out of the silvery mist that was forming at knee level.
'Great, because it wasn't spooky enough out here!' she thought, distressed.
The crashing of running feet seemed to be all around her now, and the woods were revolving like some psychedelic seventies horror movie and then there was a man with shoulder length black hair in an evening suit stepping out from behind a tree and maybe he was a figment of her imagination like Dawn was hoping because as she tried to change direction and sprint past him, he was suddenly in front of her again, and again, and again.
Finally, dizzy now, her chest heaving, sweat dripping from her brow, she stumbled to a stop against a tree. Leaning on it heavily, she looked back and still saw nothing, although there definitely was something back there, coming towards her fast.
As she faced forward again, ready to run some more, she came face to face with her figment-man. He reached out and stroked her face, and should figments be that cold?
"You have played valiantly, my dear, and proven yourself a most worthy victory meal," he said softly. "And out here in the wilderness, Olwyn need never know. In fact, out here," he added, smiling coldly and showing off his fangs. "No one need ever know."
As he held her firmly by one arm and leaned in so close she could feel his chill lips her neck, Dawn screamed like she had never screamed before.
End of act three
