Chapter Text
Chapter 1
The rain was coming down thicker and faster than ever. It had been raining all week, but had never gotten this bad. Now, when they could have used decent weather the most, it was almost torrential.
His trainers squelched as they pounded against the pavement. One of his shoelaces had come unfastened and was flopping about dangerously as he ran, slapping against his jeans with each movement.
The sky, already dark with storm clouds, was darkening by the second and he knew their visibility would be seriously limited soon.
“Anything?” he gasped. He skidded around the corner, almost colliding with a set of dustbins that stood at the back of a takeaway.
There was silence before a voice replied, “You’re heading in the right direction. You should be there in a few minutes.”
He didn’t sever the link between them. It was too dangerous; he was out on his own, chasing an alien none of them knew for sure how to kill. Severing ties with his other team members would be foolish and, more than likely, fatal.
“Any suggestions about what I do when I get there?” he asked, pulling out his gun as he approached the building, his pace never slowing.
The voice answered almost immediately this time, “Subdue it until we get there. We’re about ten minutes away.”
“Can’t I just wait for you?” he panted, coming to a stop and gasping for breath.
A new voice sounded in his ear, accompanied by an amused chuckle. “Everything okay, old man?”
He scowled and glared at nothing in particular, wishing he could actually glare at the other person. “Who are you calling old? You’re not that much younger than me.”
“But I’m still younger.”
“Can we focus, please?” the first voice interrupted them, sounding more than a little pissed off.
“Sorry,” he muttered, not sounding nor meaning the word. “I’m going in.”
The second voice began to speak before hesitating. A “Be careful,” was eventually murmured in his ear.
He smirked to himself and placed his hand on the door handle. “You know me.”
“That’s a not a comforting thought, right now.”
The door was unlocked and opened rather easily. He wasn’t sure if that was a good thing, or not. On one hand it made his job easier, but on the other it meant he was expected. Or, at least, something was expected.
He looked around the room, taking in the lack of decoration. It was almost as if no one had lived there since it had been built. “Are you sure this is the right loc…”
He didn’t get chance to finish his sentence before something hard hit his back. He groaned and fell to the floor, his gun flying from his hand.
Cursing, he rolled over, away from his attacker, and got to his feet. His opponent didn’t look anything like most of the aliens he had encountered. With most it was obvious they weren’t human, but this one could easily have blended in with the population of the city: if it wasn’t for the black eyes.
They circled each other, neither one taking their eyes off their prey. He could hear voices in his ear, demanding to know what was wrong: shortly followed by the first telling someone to drive faster. He couldn’t reply; his attention was completely focused on the alien.
The creature leapt at him, using momentum and the element of surprise to throw them both to the ground. It lashed out at him, trying to sink its fanged teeth into his throat.
With effort, he managed to get his leg between their bodies, placing his foot on the creature’s torso. He grunted and tightened the muscles of his thigh, straightening his leg and pushing the alien to the floor.
“Bastard,” he snarled, pressing two fingers to his lower lip and wincing. He had sunk his front teeth into the skin with the effort, breaking the skin and making it bleed.
The creature darted for him, trying to get to his neck once more. This time he was ready, he landed a punch in its jaw, sending it reeling backwards once more.
A loud bang signalled the door opening and he hoped with all his might that it was the rest of the team. Of course, life wasn’t that kind and the newcomers turned out to be more of the creature’s species.
He was surrounded; there was no way he was going to get out of the building alive. He was barely a match for one of these things; he knew he wouldn’t fare well against a dozen.
The gun was lying at his feet and he quickly stooped down, picking it up. The original creature spotted his movement and lunged for him once more.
Immediately he pulled the trigger, sending a bullet into the alien’s abdomen.
“Okay,” he muttered, noticing the others advance even quicker now he had wounded one of their own. “Probably not the best idea.”
He raised his arm, training his gun on one of the aliens, before moving it to another. “Guys, some help would be useful right now,” he called, trying not to sound hysterical, even though he was definitely panicking.
“We’re almost there. Five more minutes,” the first voice assured him. “Just stall them.”
“I won’t be here in ‘five more minutes’!” he practically screamed.
There was silence on the other end of the line before the second voice asked urgently, “Are you wearing the necklace I gave you last year?”
“What has that got to do with anything?” he snapped.
“Answer me.”
The creatures were getting closer now, apparently in no rush. They seemed to want to savour this kill and his fear for as long as possible.
“Yes, I’m wearing it. You know I don’t take the damn thing off.”
There was an audible sigh of relief on the other end of the line. “Turn the lower part of the pendant a hundred and eighty degrees clockwise. It’ll activate it.”
“What?” the first voice cried. “You can’t do that. We don’t know where it’ll send him.”
“It’s better than him staying where he is and getting killed. Do it.”
He considered his options; on one hand he could stay where he was and wait for the cavalry to arrive – probably too late. But on the other, he could use the necklace and end up in a place – and time – far away from where he was.
“I don’t have a choice,” he whispered. “You’ve gotta find me, though. I don’t care how you do it; just find me. I’m not staying in a time I don’t belong.”
With one last look at the aliens he pulled the necklace out from underneath his shirt, giving the bottom of it one twist as instructed.
“I’m sorry.”
Almost immediately a portal behind him opened, and he felt himself being pulled backwards. The original creature, seeing what was happening leapt towards him, despite the wound. Together they fell backwards, both of them falling back through the crack in time and space.
TBC