Once again I apologize for
the delay in getting the 3rd scene up and going. I suppose I said that I wasn't
going to adhere to any sort of schedule, but this is a little ridiculous. Here
it is. I used a couple suggestions for this episode, shown at the bottom.
Thomas slumped down on the
bench that could just as easily been in a locker room as this armory.
Exhaustion rolled over him as the events of the previous night reminded him of
the events those many years ago.
"Come with me,"
asked Benjamin, with a gentle tone in his voice. "You're exhausted, and as
long as you're here, we can keep you safe. We have a room where you can get
cleaned up and rest. You don't have to decide anything tonight."
Benjamin led Thomas back
down the way they had come to another side room. This one had 4 single beds and
a bathroom attached. There was a t-shirt and jeans laid out on one of the beds.
"These were the best we could come up with on short notice, they should
fit you. Feel free to shower and rest, we'll talk in the morning." With
that, Benjamin left Thomas alone with his thoughts.
Thomas sat on the edge of
one of the mattresses, simply staring into his hands for a long time. He
gradually became aware of a sickly sweet smell of garbage in the room, and
realized it was coming from his clothes. Deciding that moving was better than
thinking, he turned on the shower, kicked of his shoes and stepped in,
fully-clothed. Why? Why is this happening again? Didn't I pay my price
when I lost Emily?
After the water rinsed
some of the stench out of his clothes, he stripped them off and let the hot
water run over him. Who are these people really? How did they know who I am,
and what happened to Emily. Can I trust them?
Thomas's mind continued to
race as he went through the motions of washing and climbing into bed,
exhausted. How can I expect to sleep after everything that's happ....
Thomas awoke with a
start. He looked around, but couldn't figure out what had caused him to wake
up. Well, I'm up now, Thomas
thought to himself, might as well get a glass of water and try to calm
down. Thomas climb out of bed, and slid his feet into his fuzzy slippers. He
knew that the little kitty slippers looked ridiculous, but they were a gift
from Emily. He shuffled down the hall to the bathroom to get a glass of water,
half awake. He stepped into the bathroom and reach towards the light switch. He
gave it a flick, and the light bulb over the sink, exploded with a flash.
"Jesus!" Thomas shouted as he almost
jumped backward into the bathtub. I'll fix it in the morning, he
grumbled to himself, fumbling around in the deep gloom for the glass he kept on
the counter. He filled and brought it to his lips, the cool water soothing his
nerves. Get a grip man, he thought to himself. You're getting to be
as bad as Emily, jumping at your own shadow. As he was putting down his
glass, he felt a cold chill pass over him. He looked up, and could have sworn he
saw a shadow behind him in the mirror, but when he turned to look - terrified -
there was nothing there. Guess, I'm sleeping with the lights on tonight, he
sighed.
Headed back down the
hallway to his room, Thomas decided to pop his head into Emily's room. He
wasn't quite sure why, he just wanted to make sure she was okay. As he approached
the door - slightly ajar like usual - that chill began to turn into a cold
feeling of dread, inching its way along his spine. He slowly opened the door
and walked into the room. It took everything he had not to turn and run. If it
wasn't his daughter's room, he probably would have. It was the dead of night,
and it was cloudy to boot, so there wasn't enough light to see anything. Still,
something was wrong. He could feel it, down to his bones.
He slowly made his way
over to the small My Little Pony lamp that Emily had on her dresser, and
reached to turn it on. He hesitated. He told himself that it was just because
he didn't want to wake her up, but deep down, he knew it was because he didn't
want to see. Gritting his teeth, he turned the knob, bathing the room in a soft
pinkish orange glow. Nothing happened, nothing jumped out to grab him. There
was nothing there. There was NOTHING there! Where was Emily? He rushed over to
the bed, but it was obvious there was no one in it. "Emily!?" he shouted. He rushed out of
the room, yelling through the house, turning on all the lights as he went. She
was nowhere to be found. He even ran into the backyard, searching frantically.
He froze as he looked off into the woods behind his property. There looked like
a pair of eyes, large and ghostly white, staring back at him. He could feel his
heart begin to slow and his skin get cold and clammy as he was held by that
gaze. They blinked, and just like that, they were gone.
- Here is the first big reveal, Emily turns out to be his daughter, who vanished. Turns out the monsters under her bed were real.
For next time:
- We will be introduced to Ben's team, so who are they? What is their goal, how did they know about Thomas?
- Ben had mentioned that a "shaper" was responsible for what happened to Emily. What does that mean, what is a shaper? What can they do?
Looking forward to hearing what everyone comes up with, and I will endeavor to make the next post within as many weeks as this one took me months!
