Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. No copyright infringement of publicly recognizable characters, products or services is intended.
A/N: This story takes place in the weeks following the events depicted in "Heeeeere's Lassie," where Lassiter is exposed to amyl nitrates. Chapter 1 will follow shortly. Feedback is appreciated. Thanks.
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PROLOGUE:
It was all too real.
Nothing scared him. Ever.
But this?
This was too real. Too, too real.
He could still see the scarlet strands of hair on his hands, could still feel the surge of adrenaline coursing through his veins. A cadence in his head chanted, "Hudson, Hudson, Hudson," as if played from a recording stuck on a loop.
Images blurred of darkness, breathing and screaming. There was the chill of mountain air, the dampness of a rainy night. Foliage was everywhere; branches, trees.
He heard the dirt shifting beneath his feet; twigs snapping under his weight. Above his footfalls, a rhythm beat in his chest and played along with the familiar cadence of "Hudson, Hudson, Hudson."
In a flash, he saw the clearest of the images; a woman, lying lifelessly at his feet, her red hair in a messy, bloody clump of fatality. Her eyes were a faded glass, forever fixed on the sky. Breathlessly, he knelt beside her and brushed a locket of hair away from her pale and bruised neck, revealing a golden necklace with the letters "S" and "K" embroidered on a small unique, charm.
Without warning, the woman stirred under his touch and grabbed his wrist with such force he thought he would scream.
"Save her," she cried, her voice lending to the chill of the crisp mountain air.
The voice startled him awake, leaving him gasping and shaking in a pool of his own sweat.
He could still see the woman's lifeless form. He could still sense her cold, deathly grip. And prevalent in his heart and mind was the persistent cadence of, "Hudson, Hudson, Hudson."