Bonjour! Hey, a third chapter already! I'm impressed with myself. It must be this lack of things to do on holidays. *grin*

Warning: This chapter is slightly spooky, and there's mild swearing.

Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood, or Jack's paperknife.

Chapter 3- The First Attack

"Okay, guys." said Jack. "Don't panic. We'll figure this out."

"Oh, yeah, of course. It'll be a cinch, no problems." Owen said sarcastically. He crossed his arms and looked at the captain. "Have you got any ideas?"

"No. But," he said, as Owen made a 'there-we-go, I-told-you-so, and we're-screwed all rolled into one' gesture. "We'll think of something."

"I have an idea." said Tosh, who had been quietly discussing something with Ianto while Jack and Owen bickered.

"See?" said Jack, like a child trying to prove his point. "What is it?"

"Me and Ianto have agreed that we're okay with going downstairs to check out what's happened. We'll try and get some weapon-like things, and Ianto says that in one of the filing cabinets down there, there's a box of candles, food and water. An emergency kit. We'll also try to suss out what's actually happening, instead of standing around fighting like children." She spat the last word out angrily, and raised her eyebrows at Jack, who nodded.

"Okay. Here," he said, giving them the candle. "Hang on." He pulled out another candle, lit it off the first one, and stuck it in an empty coffee mug. "Go. And don't die."

Ianto sighed.

"What? Scared, are we?" Owen said.

"No. Wax is a bitch to clean off cups, that's all. Come on, Tosh." he said, taking Tosh's hand and steering her out the door. Owen sunk back down onto the floor, drumming his fingers for lack of something else to do. Jack sat back down in his chair, staring blankly into the flame.

In the quiet, menacing darkness the Hub seemed strangely sinister. Tosh shuddered, and stepped closer to Ianto.

"I don't like this at all." she said quietly.

"Yes. Something seems wrong, doesn't it? It's too quiet, even for a blackout." He held the candle closer to him, casting light on the ground before them. They reached Tosh's desk, and she bent down, and opened the bottom drawer. Pulling out the bottom, there was a hidden compartment. In it was some money, a lethal-looking knife, a gun (with bullets) and various other bits. She collected them up and placed them into her pocket, and handed Ianto the gun. She took the knife. Ianto cocked the gun, and handed Tosh the candle.

They'd just started back to Jack's office with the candles when they heard a noise.

The same footsteps. The same strange, shuffling noise. The raspy breaths.

Behind them.

Tosh grabbed the arm of Ianto's coat. He turned still as a statue, whether he was scared or alert, it was hard to tell. He took a deep breath and spun around. Tosh, holding on to his coat, was forced to turn around too. The candle light flickered.

Oh, God. Please, no. Stay alight! Please! Tosh begged the candle silently.

It sputtered and went out.

"Shit." Ianto said under his breath. "Tosh, stay close. Very close."

From the darkness in front of them they heard a raspy voice whisper.

"Time is running out, humans. Your feeble energy will not last for long."

There was a swishing noise, like that of a cloak, and Tosh screamed.

Sitting, waiting anxiously in Jack's office, Owen and Jack heard Tosh scream. It was a terrible noise, cutting through the eerie silent blackness like a knife. Owen jumped to his feet. Jack grabbed a paperknife and a pair of scissors.

"Here." He handed the scissors to Owen, who looked at him with a 'you-can't-actually-be-serious' look on his face. "Just take them. Hopefully we won't actually have to defend ourselves with them."

Owen swallowed and grabbed the bottle with the candle. He was heading for the door when Jack put his hand out to stop him. He turned. It was clear from his facial expression that he cared more about Ianto and Tosh, especially Tosh, than he let on. He was letting his tough, cynical mask slip, and that worried Jack.

"What?"

"Be careful. Tosh might have just slipped over or something."

"With a scream like that? Bullshit." He headed for the door.

Back downstairs, Ianto pointed his gun into the darkness. He couldn't shoot, in case he hit Tosh. But it made him feel slightly more safe.

The same, raspy voice whispered something. Tosh whimpered, and he could hear her struggling. Clearly, whatever was in the darkness had her as a hostage.

"Let her go." Ianto said, more boldly than he felt.

"Or what are you going to do, human? What makes you think your primitive bullets can hurt me? I am a child of Hecate. I feed on light and energy. I live in darkness. I have the upper hand. You are nothing more than food to me. And I'm hungry...so hungry..."

There was a slurpy, wishy-washy kind of noise, like liquid being sucked through a straw. Tosh screamed again, and screamed, and screamed. Her cries echoed around the silent room, making them seem ten times more terrifying. The noise stopped, and Tosh's screams trailed off. There was another 'swoosh' noise, and then the unmistakable thump of a body hitting the ground.

"Tosh!" Ianto called. "Tosh! Can you hear me? Where are you? Tosh!"

There was a faint moan from about a metre in front of him.

Ianto stepped forward cautiously, then his foot hit something soft. He bent down. There was footsteps behind him and he spun around, but it was just Owen, holding a lit candle, and Jack, holding a paperknife.

"Give me the candle." Ianto said calmly. Owen handed it over. Ianto shone the light over Tosh. There were no real injuries apart from some scratches on her neck. But she was unconscious, feverish and shaky. Jack, looking over Ianto's shoulder, took a sharp breath. Owen swore softly. Ianto handed him the candle wordlessly and picked Tosh up.

"Come on. We need to get her back to your office. I'll tell you what happened when we get there."

One of Ianto's greatest assets, Jack thought, is his ability to remain calm and level headed in a crisis. Such a manly quality...

Owen appeared suddenly.

"What the hell! Give some warning, Owen!" Jack said sharply. "What's that?"

"A medical kit. I'm the medic."

"No shit." said Jack, less sharply. "Come on. Ianto needs the light."

Owen followed, his senses on edge for any movement or noise, adrenaline pumping through his bloodstream. Whatever they were facing was still here. And deadly. Any one of them could be next.

Authors' Ramblings:

Ooh, spooky chapter! I wanted something dramatic to happen! And considering that Gwen is stuck outside the Hub (so I don't think she'll feature in this story), I made Tosh get hurt. Even though Tosh is like my third fave character. Also, it lets me make Owen show his nicer side. (I was shocked to find that he has one, too.)

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