Scotophobia

Jade was still shivering from the icy cold of the time vortex that the troupe had emerged through. Frost crystals were melting into her hair as everyone was instantly on edge in the dark basement, the candlelight flickered and deepened the shadows to ominous twisting nightmares. Jade gulped down a fearful panicked noise and fumbled in her bag with clammy hands for the torch in there. It clicked into being as Cass began to decloak.

Jade watched as Cass shimmered into existence, decloaking from toes to top. Jade's eyebrows inadvertently shot up at the figure hugging suit, leaving very little to the imagination at all. She hadn't noticed those curves before.

<Snip>
“Damn right!” Cass smiled at him as she hauled her rebreather mask off over her head “You’re a sight for sore eyes!”
“I... Jeez...” Jay whispered, momentarily forgetting himself and allowing his eyes to drink in the contours of her body
The crash of breaking glass, somewhere in the house above made everyone jump
“We’ve got company” Cass warned, unslinging her pulse rifle “Things are going to get real nasty, real fast”
</Snip>

Jade's attention tore away from Cass as the glass smashed above, she clamped a hand over her own mouth to prevent the squeal of terror. She closed her eyes and focused on calming down, her heat rate slowly dropping from near fatal to manageable terror.

<Snip>
Cass muttered, "Wow Jaxx some things never change." Katrina asked harshly, “So what now? You plan on roasting us alive?” Eve yelled, “Hey don’t pick on……..” Skutter Jaxx interrupted with his monotone voice, “I see an abandoned tunnel behind that shelf. It looks it was made by a person.” Artemis used his scanner and spoke up, “He’s right it looks like an old coal mine.” Jay replied, “Well it looks our only way out, but at least they can’t follow us through the fire.”
</Snip>

The fire ripped into the wooden floor boards towards the loaded shelves of alcohol and fine wines.

"Come on, we have to move." Someone shoved at Jade, pushing her towards the entrance of the dark coal mine.

"No." She said, her voice quavering. "There... There has to be another way out." She looked around for help, trying to keep the fear out of her eyes.

"Don't flake out on me now." Cass said, something like frustration on her face. She put one hand in the small of Jade's back and gave her a gentle shove after the others who were heading down the tunnel.

"I.. I..." She gripped the torch in one had and Cass's hand in the other. "Fine." She closed her eyes and let herself be dragged into the darkness.

There was a cracking, creaking noise as some of the shelving gave way in the basement. The contents shattered across the floor, the liquids inside spilling in a heady toxic pool that was greedily eaten up by the advancing wall of flame. The sudden fuel to the fire heated up the room and a giant ball of fire exploded, funnelled both into the house above and the mines below.

"Get down!" Jay barked, as Dwarfers hit the deck. Cass pulled Jade to the ground, there was a glassy smash as the torch bulb fractured and popped at the sudden impact with the ground. Jade yelped as her lifeline went out and the inferno raged harmlessly overhead before receding back. She curled up into a ball in the pitch darkness and shook with fear.

"He's going to get me. He's going to find me." She gasped breaths of air in raspy gasps, the darkness pressing in around her like a heavy smothering blanket.

"I think she's got one of those parasites." Jaxx86 mused.

"Then we Should leave her here. We can't risk compromise this early on." Eve said, a hand resting on Jaxx86's head. There was a cracking noise, and a sloppy wet shaking. The tunnel became illuminated by a small florescent tube. Everyone turned to look, Alex shrugged, he had his backpack with him. Unknown to most, they had been from his planned trip back to Fernando's. He sighed, he was going to have to restock.

"What?" He grumped at the others, bending down and placing a hand on Jade's shoulder. "We ain't leavin' her."

Jade flinched away from the touch, with a small whimper. The light filtered through the gaps in her protective ball and she snaked a hand out and gripped the glowing stick in a vice like grip.

"Come on, what's up Doc?" Jay said, inadvertently sniggering at his own joke. Katrina elbowed him sharply in the ribs and also bent down to look at the Doctor.

"She doesn't look like she has a brain spider." Kat said, looking over the back of Jade's neck, assuming that's how the critters got in. Alex shivered at the thought of a spider in his brain.

"I can pick her up on the Psi-Scanner." Artie said, brandishing the device wildly. "Although if she is infected it would give me a prime opportunity to..."

"Not now Artie." Jay said, "Besides, I'd rather you didn't do anything rash in a coal mine that is about to catch fire." Jay said, massaging his temples. The whole plan was already going wrong.

"Hmm, true. I owe it to the woman to observe best practice after all. Perhaps once we are outside?" He mused, looking through his own kit and trying to devise something that would extract a tennis ball sized chunk of brain without killing the host. Jade was only vaguely aware of the conversation, fixated as she was on the small yellow-green light of the glow stick.

"Come on." Alex urged, looping an arm under hers and lifting her to her feet.

"Yeah... Outside. If you want Artie..." She kept her grip on the glow stick, refusing to let Alex take it off her. Her focus on the light, her mind a little... over stressed... by the whole pitch black tunnel thing.

"Anyone else want to have an attack of the crazies?" Cass growled, "No? Good. Lets go." She gestured onwards to the group and stalked off onwards.

*****

She came to slowly. Her bunk was itchy and reminded her of sleeping out in the barn that one camping trip with Abbie. She rolled over, her arm draping over her girlfriend and made a soft comforted noise.

Then it all came flooding back in a wave.

She jerked upright, her arm snatching back against herself.

"What?" What?!" Cass said, producing a handgun from somewhere inventive and close by.

"Ah?" Jade said dumbly, blushing slightly.

"What!" Cass asked again, looking around for the thing that needed killing.

"How... Why?" Jade gestured uselessly, keeping a degree of sheet between her and Cass.

"Oh, we found an Inn and decided to stop and re-group." Cass said, flicking the safety on and hiding the gun again.

"Yeah... but..." Jade gestured again and blushed a bit deeper.

"Oh! They only had enough rooms for everyone to share. I didn't think it was a big deal." Cass shrugged and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Jade thought she would die of embarrassment as Cass yawned, stretched and proceeded to dress into the skin tight suit, pulling on the heavy skirts and tops of the era over the top.

<Tag!>