Earth – Universe 999, December 2, 2157
The fucking armored suit just stood there. She’d barely remembered how to get out of the damn thing, and she’d started to wonder how they had one that seemed a little too large for her, but seemed snug and fitted when she put it on. Until she paid attention and realized that it was freaking moving after she stepped into it in the bathroom.
Something just wasn’t right. This house……she didn’t care who’s house it had been, it needed to be….burned to the ground. She stared into the mirror, the helmet of the suit sitting on the toilet.
“Stay away…..It’s your fault, it’s your fault that he’s dead. If you’d been here…….”
The words felt shouted, but she could barely hear them over the shrieking. She closed 
her eyes, rubbing them, and squawked in surprise at the image looking out of the mirror, black haired woman with crazed eyes, dressed in black……
Why are YOU here? He’s mine…..He’ll bring him back. Get out of this house……He’s mine……mine…..mine…..where are you….
Help me find him. Where is he? Help me…….
Brett…….
She closed her eyes, reaching blindly out to the sink to turn the faucet on. With the water running, she splashed some on her face, and when she opened her eyes, the image was gone.
I was dreaming, dreaming, dreaming
That I had seen a Ghost.
He tried to take me,
When I had seen a Ghost
Do you feel how i feel?
Do you see what i see?
Do you even feel at all?
She stood there the water running cold….and the pain began to close in again, the agony of loss of all that she had fought for, all those she had loved……..even Clarence in his weird way had fought to protect them, fought beside her. And for what? For her to be by herself, in some weird future? To change the history of a world no longer theirs? What was the fucking point?
He’s all around me
I’m losing hope
I’m all alone
And I have seen a Ghost.
I was feeling, I was seeing
That I had seen myself,
Myself, myself, myself.
That I had seen myself.
Do you feel how i feel?
Do you see what i see?
Do you even feel at all?
She didn’t remember taking the Glock out of its holster, but it felt comforting in her hand. A reminder of Brett…….a reminder of Jacob. Ex – military, both of them. Trained in combat, veteran warriors…….both dead and gone, gone and dead.
“Shawna……” She could feel his touch………..would it be so bad?
“SHAWNA!” She opened here eyes and he stared at her from the mirror. His small smile, he didn’t seem to have aged.
“Shawna, put the bloody ‘roo suit on. Ya have ta get out of here, now!”
“SHAWNA!!!” He bellowed. “Now, get the fuckin’ suit on. I can’t hold them long.” As she watched blood, black and red splashed the “inside of the mirror” gashes appearing across Brett’s face. He grimaced in pain, “Shawna, get the fuckin’ suit on an’ the helmet. Get the others an’ get the fuck out of here. Ya have ta protect them, an then you have ta find him an’ bring him back. Save the babies…..then find him. Find him! Find our son!” Finally, he turned, the facade of the human face shifting to his serpentine face and she saw him hissssss in rage…….she’d only seen it once before. She scrambled to get into the suit, grabbing the helment and slammed the door open, running, sort of, down the hall, and on the stairs she nearly barreled over the colonel, “We’ve got to go! Now! They’re coming.”
The colonel didn’t hesitate, not even asking who she was talking about, pulling out a communications device, “Captain, Perimeter Breach! Time for the retrieval team?”
“Two Minutes, Colonel.”
As she drew her sidearm, she said, “Gleam Shimmer, put the helmet on please and then move down the stairs directly to the front door. Wait for me there. I’m right behind you.”
As Shawna pulled the helmet over her head, she heard the whine of a weapon discharging, and then a horrible screeching wail, and an even more stupefying stench of….stench of evil was the only way she could describe it, and she wanted to vomit, but she swallowed it down, pulling the helmet on.
As she swallowed, she heard the Colonel, she heard Henri, “First target acquired and……dispatched. Physical incarnation, class three. Semi-Resistant. Origination Point, second floor hall bathroom. Coming to you Captain.”
Shawna walked down the stairs, drawing her pistol. She had no idea what they were facing but she wasn’t going to do it with empty hands. Adrenaline spiked, sweat poured down her back inside the suit, but the gun never wavered as she crept down the stairs. She had no idea what the fuck a class three physical incarnation was, but she was going to shoot anything that looked weird, but nothing popped out at her before she reached the door, so she turned, scanning what she could as the colonel followed down the stairs backwards, with her weird little gun pointed back up the stairs.
“Time Shadow,” Shawna heard the captain’s voice over her helmet, “black level incursion scanners indicate presence growing in the second level. Retreival team is thirty seconds out. Recommend immediate departure Anderson homestead by foot pending team. Supression cannon is armed.”
“Acknowledged. Outbound in five.”
Turning to Shawna, the colonel said. “Out the door. Whitley is outside the fence, past her to the middle of the street, then turn right and move as quickly as you can. Watch for shadows that move.”
Shawna opened the door and ran……Somewhere in the back of her mind she could here Spyder making jokes about how she ran……then and now. But she ran nonetheless, and Bryce could fuck himself.
Last Dreams 