Predatory [Labyrinth]

[Casey DeLaney]

"Wake up!" A voice roused him from sleep. Casey opened his eyes to the soft, warm light filtering in through the treehouse window. Strange, he thought, remembering snippets of a dream; the Keepers taking him in the middle of the night, being in the cold, white laboratory rooms, a glass chamber, being afraid. Casey dismissed the thoughts as just his occasional nightmares about the labs, but it was the clearest dream that he'd had in a long while. "It's the middle of the day and still you are sleeping." Casey rolled over in his bed, which felt oddly cold and hard this morning, to see Sascha already up and dressed for the day. He loomed over him expectantly as Casey rubbed at his sleepy eyes. "Someone's chipper this morning," he mumbled, finally sitting up. Normally it was Casey who was awake first and Sascha who lingered in bed, struggling against his nocturnal nature. Sascha smiled and laughed, a warm, musical sound that never failed to make Casey smile. "Of course I am happy! Ecaterina is finally here!" He stepped aside to reveal a woman in the treehouse, waiting behind him. Casey was stunned by her appearance; she towered over him, probably as tall as Sascha was. Her hair was long and silky-looking and glowed a warm honey color in the sunlight. Her modelesque form was complemented by her gentle yet beautiful face; she was straight out of a painting from a bygone era and it made Casey's heart drop in his chest. "E-Ecaterina? But I thought she was dead! You said.." Casey was cut off as Sascha swept the beautiful woman into his arms and spun around, the image of a couple on a movie poster. Ecaterina laughed, the pixie-like jingle echoing off of the walls and making Casey cringe. "No, silly! She is alive and she's finally here!" Ecaterina smiled and stroked Sascha's cheek as he finally set her down. "I have longed for this day for so long," She whispered. Casey's brows furrowed in confusion. Was he missing something here? Was he invisible, or was she just moving in on his man? His question was answered promptly enough as Sascha leaned in and kissed her. Ecaterina grinned into the kiss and for a moment, she glanced at Casey with a wicked gleam in her eyes. Casey's jaw dropped and he felt himself lost for words; it sorta felt like he'd been sucker-punched in the gut. What the hell was going on here? OOC://   -To be continued- Sascha - Casey - Ecaterina

[Edmund Conner]

A weird fog took over Edmund's mind and eyes for which felt like an eternity was now starting to fade. Past experiences came to the surface that he pushed way into the back of his mind right after joining the Fallen. An ex-wife he betrayed, his Father that he felt guilty over, and the burden of shame and disappointment he placed upon the rest of the family. Tears of sorrow trickled down his face while a bright florescent light started to become more prominent than the nightmares that shook the Fallen Scout to his core. Eyes now barely opened to protect them from the overwhelming brightness above him. Edmund attempted to figure out what was going on and where he was. Each passing second made it easier to proceed. Above him were bright lights and the hard uncomfortable floor beneath him gave him the chills. Slowly, he realized that he was not inside the Menagerie which meant the Keepers took him. Due to the difference between the harsh radiance above him and the icy feeling beneath his entire body head to toe the man covered in tattoos came to the conclusion out that he was laying down. Most people are quite aware of the fact they are laying down after sleeping. Sadly, dealing with Keepers that love to toy with you threw that common sense right out the window. Edmund had no idea how long he had been unconscious or when the Keepers kidnapped him. Using his elbows to sit up and then transferred the pressure to his hands when he was on a obtuse angle Edmund sat up facing a two way mirror that he could not see through. Sprawled out legs were uncomfortable so the Fallen Scout criss crossed his legs to get rid of the slight pain he felt. Edmund closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm the anxiety pounding into his chest. When he opened his eyes he all of a sudden became aware that he was not alone in the room that resembled a padded mental institution without the padding. To see color when the surrounded by a completely bland environment slightly relieved Edmund from feeling trapped. That emotion died immediately when a guy about three yards away from that was probably around his age seemed to be somewhere else mentally. It was a bit creepy to observe the stranger laying on his side while yelling nonsense at an invisible being. Edmund wanted to know his name since he did not want to yell 'Hey You!' at him since that seemed quite rude. "What's your name?" the Fallen Scout asked hoping that maybe through the delusional brunette was trapped in. After a ten seconds went by Edmund could tell that he was not going to get the response he desired. Something rectangular and white bounced up and down pinned to the unknown man's shirt when the man to commenced to reach over to grab thin air. Curiosity flowed through his blood more than the fear of being attacked. Turning his body over so he could Edmund position himself onto all fours he balanced himself with his knees and hands allowing him to stay in place without gravity toppling him over. Edmund turned his head sideways to get a better view of what he hoped to be a name badge. The Fallen Scout expected to see a name branded onto it instead of revealing his identity as 'Shifter 252.' Without hesitation an irritated look appeared onto his face and the famous eye roll with a 'so over it' attitude. "Figures," he muttered to himself. Tucking his legs under himself to be in a ninety degree angle Edmund patted his chest to detect a name badge of his own. Pushing up the pinned item upward to investigate the title given to him by the Keepers. "Shifter 643," he read out loud. Edmund prayed it was a random generated number instead of the count of how many Shifters were actually forced into the dome of the Menagerie. -------------------------------------------- OOC; I DID THE THING!!!

[Casey DeLaney]

This wasn’t really happening. Casey got to his feet to confront the two, but quickly fell back down. He cried out as he hit the ground, his hands and knees making hard contact with the floor which sending a jolt of pain up his arms and legs. His limbs were strangely heavy and he didn’t have the energy to hold himself up. Casey stared at the wooden planks below him in confusion. They weren’t splintery or warm from the sunlight, but instead felt like cold concrete. Casey looked up again to see Sascha kneeling in front of him now, even though he hadn’t heard him move. A quick, panicked look around the room revealed that Ecaterina had vanished, leaving them alone again in the black void. Where was the treehouse? And how did Ecaterina vanish so quickly? Casey’s mind couldn’t waste the energy to try and figure out where she’d gone so quickly or where he was. All that seemed clear was that Sascha was there, looking concerned. He threw his arms around the man in front of him and pulled him into a tight hug. “Don’t…don’t leave me, please…” He begged, his voice quiet but strained with emotion. He could have sworn that he heard Ecaterina’s spiteful laugh echo around in the darkness. ooc// short post meep morp. Sorry for the awkward introduction, Edmund |D

[Edmund Conner]

Before Edmund had a chance to move out of the way from being launched at by the Rogue, the Fallen Scout, was trapped between Casey's arms. Edmund was just grateful that it was a very tight hug instead of getting tackled. Arms bounded by the brunette's grip he struggled to move his arms to return the hug. In the back of his mind the Fallen member knew he would use his electric abilities to save himself as a last resort. For awhile he has practiced on his own as well as with some people that were willing to help him focus and control it. He just hoped it would not come down to that since Casey was crying and begging for him not to leave him. A mixture between feeling incredibly uncomfortable by being hugged by a crying stranger and empathy toward someone that was afraid to be alone. With some force Edmund manage to push his own arms outward to pull away from Casey's strong grip. Even though he did not want to, Edmund, pushed Casey back softly when he was able to get his arms free enough. As quickly as possible Edmund pushed himself off the ground and stood up to walk backward away from the hysterical Rogue. Something began to tingle in his head that rapidly started to become something entirely different. Just the sight of what was happening triggered something within him. Memories that surfaced earlier from the chemical forced onto him early began to give him a headache when watching his temporary roommate. All the nightmares he endured as well as things that haunted him in his past seemed to jumble up all at once. Edmund used his right hand to softly squeeze his head and grimaced as the pain started to get a little overwhelming. Even his muscles all over his body ached softly as a result of diving too far down into his subconscious. Anxiety from earlier as well as the feeling of being caged engulfed his chest and lungs. The Fallen Scout desperately focused on his breathing to somehow break through to find some serenity. "What is happening to me," he managed to spit out through the distraught breathing technique. Edmund could not imagine how he could flip so dramatically from a normal healthy person to a person falling apart mentally and physically. "Please, be done. Please be done. Please be done," he recited over and over again as Edmund thought he was definitely going to die. ---------------------------- OOC - Gotta go fast~!

[Casey DeLaney]

“No, no, no..” Casey tried to complain as Sascha pushed him away. It was a gentle shove, but he let go and allowed himself to fall to the ground again. He reached for where Sascha had been, but found nothing there. Distraught, he curled into himself and wrapped his arms around his body, in some instinctive attempt to comfort himself. Casey lay there on the ground seeing nothing but darkness for what felt like an eternity. A numbness swept over him and he soon wondered what he had been so upset about. Realizing that he couldn’t remember, Casey tried even harder to do so. He was in his treehouse… and there was some man. Or had he been alone? A distant, pained cry suddenly snapped him out of his solitude. Casey sat up again and turned around to see he was back in the Fulsi. The dark night sky glowed orange with the fires that blazed around him. People were running and screaming and Casey’s heart was racing. “No, no, not again!” Casey jumped to his feet, careful of the bodies that littered the floor. Why did the Carna always have to bring them to war? How many times would they burn his friends and home around him? Casey had always been spared, and part of him hated and regretted that. In front of him, he saw a tattooed man that he didn’t recognize. For a moment Casey thought that he didn’t smell Fulsi at all, but vaguely Fallen, but he wrote it off as the smoke affecting his senses. The man seemed to be in agony, so Casey rushed to his side. “Hey, hey…Here, sit down,” he ordered, helping the man to sit again. “My name is Casey,” he spoke, kneeling in front of him and looking him over for wounds. “You’re gonna be alright, just let me help you.” Casey couldn’t find any signs of injury, but it was obvious something was wrong with his Ringmate. He looked around for a medic or anyone else he might know, but he didn’t recognize any of the fleeing people. It was up to him. Casey took a deep breath and put one hand on either side of the injured man’s face. “This might feel a little weird,” he warned, letting the healing energy flow from his hands into his patient.

[Edmund Conner]

From his head to his toes everything began to heat up. Little did Edmund know that it was not something he began imagining. In reality his body temperature continued to rise rapidly due to the negative effects of a chemical he never heard of. Tears began to roll down his face as part of him recognized what was soon going to happen in at least ten minutes. There was a loud ringing in his his ears while his vision faded off into tunnel vision. Standing started to become an issue as his knees were buckling under his weight. Cold hands touched Edmund's skin which felt much better than the scorching tundra invading his body. Without resistance Edmund slowly sat down as Casey guided him to the floor. Through the chaos running around his mind the Fallen Scout was able to hear some of Casey's words. The most he could hear was that the man's name was Casey. "Casey... Much better than 252..." Somehow Casey's voice was soothing enough to treat some of the panic that was possessing him. Even if the Rogue in front of him could not save him, Edmund, was just pleased to know he would not have to die alone. With Casey's hands on his face Edmund wanted to pull back since in the past that was a sign of danger. The Fallen Scout did not have the energy to push himself out of Casey's grip even if he tried. Previous hands that felt cold now felt warm and tingly. Instead of feeling pain from the warmth it was something completely different in his own. No words could really describe how it truly touched on someone's skin. Edmund closed his eyes as he surrendered himself entirely to the healing process. After about thirty seconds went by Edmund could feel his body temperature dropping at a good rate. The throbbing migraine that was hammering away into his skull faded off into nothingness. All the anxiety that he had magically drifted off somewhere else. Taking a deep breath Edmund opened his eyes to look at Casey. "Thank you," he vocalized as best as possible. When the healing process finished and Casey let go of his face Edmund returned the hug he owed to the man that just saved his life. A part of him did not want to let go in fear that maybe the last experience before death was relief. Edmund also wanted to feel somebody else's touch to remind him that this was reality instead of a hallucination that he thought ended. A slight smile came back to him as he imagined being able to hug Ethan like he was with Casey. "Thank you..." he said again. --------------------------------- OOC - We're on a roll!

[Casey DeLaney]

Casey felt a flutter of panic as the man began to rapidly decline before his eyes. His expression had gone blank and he was quickly losing strength. Whatever was wrong with him, Casey realized now that it would kill him if he wasn’t strong enough to heal it. It was a tense few moments as he did all he could to heal his fellow Fulsi. Just when he thought the man was beyond his reach, his burning hot skin began to cool under his touch. He breathed out a small sigh of relief; he didn’t know what he would have done if the man had died right there in his hands. Casey finally pulled his hands away as the man opened his eyes and took a sharp breath; that was a good sign. “It’s what any ringmate would do,” he offered with a smile. And then suddenly he was being hugged; Casey was taken aback for a moment and held his hands out to either side of Edmund. He wasn’t usually one for hugging strangers, but considering that he’d just pulled this guy back from the brink of death, he made an exception and returned the hug. The warmth of the stranger holding him tight was oddly comforting; Casey felt a pang of loneliness that he couldn’t place. Maybe it was just from the horrors around them; Raids often brought people closer together in the aftermath. “I’m glad you’re okay,” Casey replied. “If we can’t count on each other, then who can we count on, right?” He smiled, knowing Damian would be proud of him. Damian! Casey pulled away from the hug and looked around to see all the people that had been running around were gone now. Even the bodies had vanished. It was just he and his ringmate in the deserted, ruined street. Casey stood up slowly, now able to recognize the strange inconsistencies. “What… what’s happening? We.. We have to get back to the Gospel Complex. You’ll be safe with me and Damian,” He offered shakily. “Something is wrong out here...I ..I just want to get back.”

[Edmund Conner]

Just as Edmund thought to himself that he was glad to see Casey coming to his senses Casey decided to prove him wrong. It seemed strange to the Fallen Scout that Casey thought they were ring mates. Everyone in the Fallen territory practically met each other at least once. Edmund tried to convince himself that Casey was alright again until the green eyed brunette started to look around frantically. Something about the Gospel Complex that he had never heard of and some guy named Damian. None of that added up to the current situation taking place by being trapped in a colorless room. "What are you talking about? No Gospel Complex is near here and getting back to what's his face is not possible right now." With a slight bite to his lip Edmund knew what he had to do. From observation it seemed likely that Casey was slowly getting out of the nightmare that engulfed him into another reality. In the past Edmund heard that pain was a great way to wake people up. Quickly standing up Edmund gazed upon his roommate hesitating on the action he was about to do. After helping him out so much Edmund did not want to hurt the poor guy. Sadly, the Fallen Scout knew it was one of those 'do what you have to do moments.' Grabbing Casey by the shoulders to face him Edmund had a fake smile on so he would not panic Casey any more than he already was. "I truly am sorry for this, Casey. Please, don't take this offensively. There would be no reason for me to do this if it wasn't for a reason," he said calmly and stern to try his best to avoid any sudden movements. Removing his hands from Casey's shoulders he allowed his left arm to rest and raised his right hand. "Hope this works," he mumbled to himself as he slapped Casey across the face so hard that it actually had an echo in the room. -------------------------- OOC - Ouch. D:

[Casey DeLaney]

The sound of the slap echoed around the room, only rivaled by Casey’s surprised cry of pain. His hands flew to his cheek and he stumbled back a step, his face throbbing. His eyes were clenched shut as he hissed through his teeth, trying desperately to keep his composure. “What.. what the hell was that for?!” He screamed. Casey had literally just saved this guy’s life, only to receive a literal slap to the face? Casey finally opened his eyes, ready to rip his ringmate a new one for turning on him, but he was instantly blinded by the fluorescent white light reflecting off of the pristine white and glass walls of their confinement. It took ages for his eyes to adjust, so he shielded his eyes with his hand, as if blocking out the sun. “What… where…?” He turned around, observing their scientific prison in awe. “Have we been here the entire time?” All Casey could do was stare at his feet, lost in his thoughts. He tried to pick apart when this had all began and what exactly had been a dream. Or hallucinations, actually… that seemed the more likely cause considering that he’d been conscious the whole time. The other man wouldn’t have slapped him otherwise, right? He supposed it had all started with his weird lab dream, which now seemed like his last concrete memory. Casey sighed and glanced down at his shirt, reading his label ‘Shifter 252’. It figured they were just numbers; more lab rats to try out their formulas and weapons before they were handed over to people whose lives actually mattered. It made him so angry that his eyes stung and watered with frustration. To think that everything he worked for, everyone he met or loved, they didn’t matter to the world as a whole. He tried not to think about how some nameless scientists could take any of it away whenever they pleased. “So uh…Keepers, huh? Did I actually save you from something, or was I just being weird and feeling you up?” Casey grimaced at the idea of hallucinating in front of some poor stranger. He desperately hoped he hadn’t done anything more embarrassing than he could remember. “Sorry…if I felt you up, that is.”

[Edmund Conner]

To hear Casey screaming at him after being slapped so hard was not surprising. Even though Edmund expected that reaction he still grimaced with sympathy and guilt to the pain he inflicted upon his cellmate. The entire side of Casey's face appeared to be quite red as well as painful to look at. "I'm sorry. I swear. I'm really really sorry," he tried to express with a sign of remorse. Edmund prayed that his violent action would go to good use to snap Casey out of his hysteria before the nightmare evolved into something much darker than previous hallucinations. A similar expression came into view that Edmund remembered doing when first waking up from his slumber. That was definitely a good sign to see the progress of escaping back into reality. There were a few things that bothered Edmund about the whole thing. 'Why did the Keepers give us this drug? What were the reasons for Casey and I to be put in the same room? How many Shifters did they do this to and how many of us died from the side effects that almost ended me,' he contemplated in thought. As best as possible he tried to just push those questions out of his head since he knew he would never receive the answers he desired. "Yes, we have been here the whole time that I know of. I woke up here after my nightmares wore off, but I may have been in this room when they began. I'm just as lost as you are," he responded to try to answer some of Casey's inquiries. When Casey looked down to see his name badge Edmund grinned as he could tell exactly what he was thinking. Might be a weird thing to relate on, but the Fallen Scout was just glad he at least had something in common with someone else. "Don't worry. It's not as bad as 643. Hopefully, they keep the our numbers in a document or a chip or something instead of tattooing it on us." One thing Edmund was terrible at ever since he got to the Menagerie was making friends. Definitely an unusual way to start a connection with someone that Edmund was completely aware of. All he could do was hope for the best after slapping a person he only knew for a short period of time. Laughter filled the room when Edmund heard Casey apologizing about feeling him up. "Yes, you did save me even through your blindness of your surroundings. No, you did not feel me up," he managed to say while trying to calm his own laughing fit. After calming down he took a moment to look at Casey entirely. When Edmund sized up Casey a bit he stood with both hands on his hips. Took awhile for him to notice that he found Casey to actually be very attractive when not acting crazy. There was nothing wrong to the Fallen Scout to be interested in someone else romantically while appreciating someone else physically. "If you wanted to feel me up all you had to do was ask," he voiced with a cute grin and a quick wink. It dawned on Edmund that he forgot to do something very important. Extending out his right arm with his hand ready to give a handshake Edmund realized he needed to introduce himself. "By the way, I'm Edmund. It's a pleasure to meet you." ------------------------------- OOC - Flirty McFlirt over here.

[Casey DeLaney]

Casey sighed and leaned against a transparent glass wall, relieved that he hadn’t completely embarrassed himself. “Well, I’ll let you know,” he said with a chuckle, nodding his head at Edmund. He had to admit that the tattooed man was attractive; sort of in a dangerous-looking way that reminded him of someone from his now-distant past. But at the moment, all Casey could think about were Sascha and Fletcher and getting back to them. It was hopeless, really, to think about things like that. They would get out of here when the keepers decided to put them back. Or perhaps they were in for another round of tests. There was really no knowing with the Keepers. Every time Casey was taken in, he frequently found himself wondering if the next test would be his last. Plenty of people were taken into testing and never returned, most likely perishing from experiments gone wrong. That was just what they were there for. For a grim moment, Casey wondered what would happen to his family if he never returned from the labs. Would they look for him? Would they never find out what happened? The thought was enough to make his eyes water involuntarily. He looked back to Edmund and quickly wiped at his eyes, trying to conceal the sudden rush of emotion. “So uh Edmund, you said you had nightmares too?” He asked, desperate to change his train of thought. ‘No use worrying about things you can’t control,’ Casey reminded himself. ‘Just try to talk and forget about it.’ “Mine were kinda weird… all over the place, really. What can you remember about yours?” Casey slid down the wall and took a seat again, pulling his knees up to his chest and resting his head and arms on them. He figured he might as well get comfortable; they could be here for a while.

[Edmund Conner]

For a little while Edmund had actually forgotten about the nightmares as he distracted himself by looking at Casey. When he almost diedfrom the side effects of the chemical given to him all the nightmares flashed into his brain and became clear memory. Every little thing that happened while trapped into his own mind was so surreal that Edmund was a bit doubtful on whether it was truly a memory of the past or the nightmare. "Yes, I had nightmares too," he answered. Part of him did not want to speak about what happened since reliving it was not something he really wanted to do. Since the cute green eyed brunette did save his life Edmund was willing to put his pride behind him and do as requested. "Looks like we have some time so I'll tell you." Taking cue to sit to tell his story Edmund sat down a few feet away from Casey. The Fallen Scout sat with his left leg crossed and his right leg toward his chest so he could lean his arm onto it. ---------------------------------------------------- "My nightmares were... hard to deal with. It seemed less imaginary from seeing a horror movie and more like a 'what if' situation. The entire time I was outside of the Menagerie and did not know anything about shifters or even knew about the dome. Back at home we had quite a famous family name due to our wealth. Everywhere I went people kept giving me dirty looks or did not want to look at me. My family did not want me to be seen in public since I started getting tattoos. Outside I actually had a wife and in my nightmare I betrayed her by kissing someone else while drunk. When I looked at her she had a gun in her hand when I thought she was going to shoot me she took the gun to the side of her head... There was just so much blood. When I knelt over her body I held her close to me and cried my eyes out. After I managed to settle down from hysterically crying my ex-wife was gone and replaced with my father. My father's voice was so loud and boomed in my ear while yelling at me. Called me ugly, disgraceful, and told me that I'd be better off dead. To hear that set me off into a rage I don't think I have ever reached. Instead of holding him I was now on top of him beating the living hell out of him. Once again, there was just so much blood. Realizing what I had done I quickly ran away into a hallway that I've never seen before. Without realizing how close I was to the window at the end of the hall I crashed through it. It was like being in a swirling vortex. I was just spinning into oblivion and felt myself hit the ground. After that, I woke up here..." ----------------------------------------------------- Edmund felt his face flush a bit with embarrassment from telling everything that happened in his imaginary world. Deep down it was nice to just say it out loud instead of keeping something so silly locked away. Being judged for his nightmare originated the fear of revealing such a thing. To admit everything to a stranger felt a lot more comfortable to Edmund rather than saying it to someone he knew in the Fallen or anyone else he has known for awhile in the Menagerie. "I have to ask. I got to see part of what was going on with you in your delusional state. Care to explain what happened to you?" Since Edmund decided to spill his guts out he hoped that Casey would be willing to do the same. "If you don't want to talk about it I understand. Trust me, I do."

[Casey DeLaney]

Casey listened to Edmund’s story quietly, not completely sure what to say, or if he should say anything at all. “That’s… really horrible,” was all he could manage. For a moment he was relived that his hallucinations hadn’t been so gruesome; parts of them had been, like the bodies littering the floor, conjuring up memories of the horrific raids he’d witnessed, but at least he hadn’t been as directly responsible for any of it in his own nightmare. He had to imagine that it made the experience all the more chilling. When Edmund asked for his story, Casey was almost embarrassed that he had been frightened at all; after all, he hadn’t killed anyone or seen anyone die. “Er, well, it was nothing like what you saw,” he explained. “At first I didn’t even know I was dreaming. I was in my bed and it all seemed so real. My uh…partner I suppose,“ Casey paused, a bit confused about how to refer to Sascha. It made him realize how isolated they were, that he never had to introduce him to anyone. “Anyways, he was there, but his ex-fiancee was there too. It wouldn’t have been that strange, except that he’d told me that she died years ago. I was so scared of losing him, that she would take him away.” Casey paused then, trying to remember where the hallucinations had gone next. “I was looking for him, but everything was dark. It was dark for a long time. And then I was in the Fulsi again, but it wasn’t now.” It was only then that he realized that he’d been totally moved through time by the dreams. “It was back when I was still in a Ring, and I didn’t even know my partner existed…That anything that I care about now existed. All I knew was that there were Carna everywhere, and so many people were dead… “ He shuddered at the memories and pulled his knees closer to his chest. “It was like it took my life but warped it and made it horrible. It played on my fears and made them real. I could definitely go the rest of my life without another dose of whatever the hell that was.”

[Edmund Conner]

Every word that Casey spoke Edmund felt hooked on from the beginning to the end. It fascinated him how the chemical took both their experiences and went in completely different directions. Nightmares did play out differently for various people to start with so Edmund assumed it made sense that their experiences would be unique. Looking at how saddened his new acquaintance appeared the Fallen Scout tried to say something that might cheer him up a little. "Luckily, you have your... partner waiting for you back out there, right? Even if they give us another dose he's still waiting for you to return home." Edmund wondered if he never came back out alive if Ethan would be worried about him. They have only met up secretly for a short time, but Ethan was his ray of sunshine he wanted to hold onto. One thing that dawned on Edmund was even after the chemical wore off the Keepers did not drag them away yet. There was an eerie silence in the room yet it was also comforting to know that there was no immediate danger approaching. "So, looks like we have some free time on our hands. Why don't we take the time to get to know each other better?" Time felt as though it was standing still as Edmund and Casey talked on and on and on. From swapping stories of their time before the Menagerie and during the Menagerie it seemed like their tales were never ending. Edmund wanted time to continue standing still as long as possible if it meant staying out of the harsh desert. Sadly, all good things must come to an end...

[Edmund Conner]

END THREAD!