Chapter 8

Ond Verden

Two days ago

All around was dark. There was nothing, no noise or anything. All there was, was the fact that he knew he was there, wherever there was. The darkness settled quite cozily around him, and it seemed to reflect his thoughts, with no memory of how he had gotten to this point he was at a loss.

His body also seemed to respond to the darkness in a numbing manner. It seemed as though all of his senses had simply quit working. There was no distinct odor to the place, or taste, Daniel couldn't even tell if the ground was hard in which he laid upon, well he assumed he was lying down. The only reason he knew he was still alive in some way or form was that he was thinking therefore he existed.

But this state of mind or whatever trance he had slipped in began to lift as he began to feel the world around him again. Immediately a sense of dread flooded his inner thoughts. Daniel closed his eyes trying to cope with the overwhelming flood of thoughts now swimming in his head. It was as if someone had flipped a switch in his head to allow him to absorb everything in.

Questions nagged the back of his mind as he wondered how long he had been "out of it" or whatever his predicament was now. Slowly but surely everything was coming back to him, as he waited there in the darkness. His fear of momentary blindness was put to rest as he slowly he began to pick up faint traces of light.

The light that had begun to seep through the haziness was a dim light. Daniel tried to open his eyes to try and understand where he was and what going on. The task was difficult due to the fact that the place he was a dimly light place. It was like the hour of twilight, the hour or so the world sat in a state between the evening hours and the night. Visibility was poor, and shadows casted mysterious images that your imagination would run wild with what lied in the darkness. Despite the dimness of the land Daniel could not see much anyways, because at some point in time he had lost his glasses. Still he couldn't just lie there, he didn't even know where there was.

Now fully awake from the heavy haze Daniel got up and looked around at his surrounding to see if he was in any immediate danger. The land was familiar to him. He was surrounded by a semicircular wall which was crumbling. It opened up to a deep purple sky; where no stars or moon was found. The walls that surrounded him looked to be solid black. A few feet in front of him, laid a black figure. He slowly approached the figure, and nearly tripped over another. Looking down at the black shape before him, he realized that it was a person in front of him. Bending down he could see that it was Major Benson. He was out cold, not even Daniel tripping over him had stirred him. He reached his hand out to seek a pulse. When he found one a wave of mixed emotions washed over him.

He was glad the major was still alive, but he also remembered the events that had unfolded, that had led him to his current predicament. The major could still be posed. Daniel looked around again at his surroundings. As he took in the crumbling walls, and the lack of ceiling, he realized that he was still in the chamber. A new sense of understanding settled in his mind. The device in the massive chamber had to be the portal between the two worlds, he was in Ond Verden, the world that reflected Jord, in direct translation; he was in the dark world.

Getting up from his squat position he had taken next to the major, he walked over towards the other black figure, figuring it had to be the doctor. He squat down beside him and also checked for a pulse. Finding one he let out a sigh. A moment of confusion as to what his emotions should be towards them filled his mind.

"Now what" Daniel said aloud trying to fill the emptiness he felt this world contained. He glanced behind him to where the major laid. "Well best to keep them together" Daniel replied to his own question. It made perfect sense; keep them both under his watch at the same time. Grabbing the other doctor's arms he got up and began to drag him over to where the major's black figure laid.

It didn't take him long to drag the doctor next to the major. He positioned him into a more comfortable position, once again checking his pulse for any change. His pulse was normal, a slower steady beat. Next he turned back to the Major reaching towards his throat to check for his pulse when all of a sudden a hand grabbed his wrist to halt his progress. Daniel jumped out of surprised, and looked at his wrist realized that the hand belonged to Major Benson.

"Major Benson?" Daniel called out unsure of who was in control of that hand. "Jackson?" The Major replied in a raspy voice. A wave of relief flooded over Daniel. This was in fact Major Benson, well he felt a little safer. "What happened, where are?" The major continued as he released his grasp on Daniel and brought his hand over his eyes and began to rub them.

"We are in the ruins" Daniel replied with the truth, he just left out the fact that they were now in a different dimension. The major seemed to accept his answer as he continued to rub his eyes as if to relieve tension. Daniel sat down next to the man and studied his face the best he could in the strange light of the planet. "Major Benson?" Daniel began, but was interrupted "I don't feel so good" the Major said as he placed his hand down on his chest, his eyes not opening once.

"Get some rest" Daniel replied as he scanned the major not noticing any injuries. The major must have slipped back into unconsciousness before he had finished speaking though, because there was no reply. Daniel decided to check for a pulse again hoping the major would not grab his wrist again. His pulse was normal, and he was not warm to the touch or anything. It must be the electrical discharge from the device that is making him feel ill Daniel thought to himself, knowing full well the effects of such things.

Making sure the two team members were uninjured, and scanning the surroundings another time Daniel had decided to check himself for any injuries. Finding nothing, of the injury sort, Daniel decided he had better see what he had and what he would need to get the three of them through their current state.

After a thorough search, his pockets, the Dr. Chowley, and Major Benson did not turn up much. He had a little bit of water, two candy bars, his tape recorder in a Ziploc bag, a pen, a penlight, and a lighter. He was unarmed, well that is not good. Now I have two options, avoid conflict, or rely on my hand to hand skills. Daniel let out a groan knowing he had two zat guns earlier, and his berretta.

That's when he felt it. Warmth. It was weird, he kept forgetting about the amulet that hung among his neck that would occasionally grow warm every now and then. Under normal circumstances he would have studied the amulet front and back a long time ago. But for some reason he kept forgetting he had it. Daniel had expected for the warmth to go away, like it had done numerous amount of times, but it did not. It continued to emit warmth. He pulled it out from under his shirt and began to study it.

"!" The heart wrenching scream filled the dead silence of the strange world. Major Benson screamed out again clenching at his chest, screaming out in an agonizing pain.

"Major Benson?" Daniel called as he rushed to side in utter confusion. Benson didn't seem to hear him, he just kept clutching at his chest rolling in pain. Daniel bent over him trying to locate the source of the Major's pain, trying to comfort him with his words. All in vain. All of a sudden the major's hands went from his chest to Daniel's chest grabbing a handful of his shirt. He tried to pull away but the Major had a death grip and was not letting him go anywhere. He stopped struggling to get away and tried to calm Benson again. This time Daniel yelled out his name hoping the Major would at least hear him.

Nothing, his eyes were still closed, in fact it looked as if he were clenching his eyes closed, preventing them from opening. The major began to pull Daniel closer to his face when finally his eyes shot open. Daniel became instantly terrified of what he saw and pulled away with enough force to rip his shirt from his grip. He fell on his back side ungracefully and crawled away backwards, trying to get away from what he had seen.

The major did not stop screaming his agonized screams, his hand still out clutching the fistful of shirt he had torn from Daniel's shirt. His other hand pounded down at his side as his back arched in pain. Daniel kept his distance but watched the Major in fascinated horror. His brain still not fully focusing on the matter at hand, he had no idea what to do. His desire to help the Major had won the battle that was battling in his mind, and cautiously he crawled towards the major again, but he kept his distance.

He called the Major's name again, and this time the major stopped. He stopped squirming in pain, and stopped screaming. Thinking that he had slipped into a state of unconsciousness, or died, Daniel crawled closer to determine what had just happened. The major laid there so very still, his eyes were still wide open.

His eyes, they were not like anything Daniel had seen before, they were solid black. Slowly Daniel reached out his hand towards the major to check for a pulse, when his hand stopped mid air. Odd, all those times I watch those horror movies yelling at the person that it's a trap and it's not over, and here I am, reaching my hand out… "This is ridiculous" Daniel said aloud as his hand continued towards Benson's throat. He placed his two fingers on his skin and the moment he made skin contact the Major let out a loud gasp, startling Daniel back.

And that's when it happened. His eye's, his solid black eyes stayed wide open, and from them the blackness, the shadow, flowed forth slowly consuming the Major's body until, he was completely covered in the shadow. Daniel stared in horrid fascination, not having the slightest idea of what was going on. Once the body was completely covered, the shadows suddenly ripped apart , ripping the body and sank into the ground. One minute Daniel was staring at Major Benson, the next he was staring at the ground with no trace of the major anywhere. Daniel stared at the spot that had "consumed" the Major in utter disbelief. The amulet burned hotly on his chest, but he couldn't draw his attention away from that spot, well that is until the doctor began the scream out in agonizing pain.

Daniel snapped his head around towards the other man lying there on the ground of the forsaken reality. He had began the same agonizing screams, and lurched at the same pains, and Daniel could do nothing for him. Mixed feelings flooded his mind again, he feared what was going to happen to Chowley, and he wanted nothing more than to help him. Helplessly he watched the Doctor, his colleague suffer the same fate of Major Benson.

It had only taken one minute for Chowley to be consumed by the shadows, and in that one minute Daniel had been abandoned in this dark world. Daniel stared at the empty space in front of him where once two of his team members lied. A sick realization began to come to the forefront of his mind. Would, he fall to the same fate as them? Consumed by the shadows?

He let out a shiver, and decided it would be best for his sanity to be anywhere but there, in that spot, the place he had been abandoned. Finally breaking his gaze on the ground before him, Daniel had a goal now he had a purpose. Get the hell away from here.