Haunted Holodeck
"So what did you think of that holiday?" Janeway asked Seven curiously. Seven looked back at her and shrugged.
"It was interesting, though I believe it lacked a point."
Janeway smiled. "Most holidays do, Halloween among them. I thought it was fun letting the crew go trick or treating."
"An unusual practice, and somewhat wasteful."
"But good for moral," Janeway pointed out. She stood up off the log where they were sitting.
"Irrelevent."
"For you maybe. Come on, time to go. I think everyone's left."
"Alright, Captain."
They walked back through the dark landscape. The main portion of the Halloween celebrations had been held on Holodeck One--Hallowed Ick, as Paris had put it. Janeway and Seven had been chosen to sit and make sure everyone left before ship's curfew. The bedtime had been set only for Halloween night in hopes of lessening the inevitable pranks.
Their feet moved quietly on the dirt road that led away from the party area. There were few trees in the area, and those that were present had lost many of their leaves and looked ghostly in the moonlight. They came down from the rise of a hill, and Seven stopped.
"Seven, something wrong?" Janeway asked, half-smiling. "Did you see a ghost?"
"No, I do not believe so." Seven's voice was shaking somewhat.
"Then why'd you stop?"
"I do not remember there being a cemetery in this program upon my entering the holodeck."
Janeway stopped and looked to where Seven was pointing to. Sure enough, a short distance from the road was a small graveyard. It was surrounded by a wooden fence, with a gate completing it. A large oak tree, devoid of any leaves, stood near the gate of the cemetery.
"That's odd, I don't remember it being there either," she said. Beckoning Seven needlessly, they crossed over a barely existent trail and came up to the gate. They looked around, and Janeway shrugged stiffly.
"Just a graveyard, I guess."
There was a rustling overhead in the tree. Two large black birds swooped down and perched on the gate. They called shrilly. The women jerked in surprise, stepping away quickly.
"Ravens," Seven whispered.
"Ravens indeed," a rich voice said. "But much better." Janeway and Seven whirled at the voice. The Captain gasped softly.
"Q!"
"Yes, I go by that name, Aunty Kathy... mmm, but I believe Daddy wants you to call me something else."
"Captain, who is this?" Seven asked, frowning. The ravens, pure black, had continued cawing.
"This is the son of Q, if I'm correct," Janeway said evenly, her hands drifting to her hips. He smiled.
"Yes, very correct. But you may call me Bates."
"Bates?" Janeway repeated. The Q nodded, and she sighed. "Fine, have it your way. Now if you don't mind, we're leaving."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Bates replied. "You'll find the doors are locked. Your commbadges won't work either." He smiled, looking pleased with himself.
Janeway turned to Seven in exasperation. Seven was staring intently at the young-old? man in front of them. She couldn't really blame her, he was quite the sight. He looked a lot like Q, but was taller and somewhat better built. He had curly jet black hair that offset his pale complexion wonderfully, and his eyes were a dark shade of green. Bates was dressed very carefully in a tux, and Janeway idly wondered if his mother dressed him.
"Very funny," Bates said evenly, apparently catching her thought.
"What do you want with us?"
"Oh, nothing much. It's just Halloween, and so I thought I'd do a little haunting."
"How fortunate for us," Janeway said lowly. Seven moved a bit and watched the conversation with a strange fasination.
"I thought it would be fun to play a little game," Bates said, smiling. He gestured behind them. "Please meet the Deads."
"Deads?" Seven echoed.
"The Deads. Aditha and Epaige. Girls, present yourselves more properly." He snapped, and with a faint nod the ravens leapt off the gate. They transformed quickly into two women. Both were fairly tall--nearly as tall as Seven--and were wearing black catsuits that hugged their frighteningly muscular forms. One had red-brown hair, and the other had blonde. In fact, it could be noticed that one had the color hair of each of the other women present. As they blinked their eyes in unison, Janeway noticed that the balls filling the sockets were completely black. She shuddered involuntarily, and the red-brown haired woman smiled carefully.
"Aditha," she said. Her voice resonating strangely--it seemed to come from everywhere while being very centrally located inside Janeway's brain.
"Epaige," the blonde woman echoed, her voice equally eery. "That's much better," Bates smiled in satisfaction. "Now, I suppose you'd like to know more about the game?"
Janeway blocked a sigh, "If we must."
"Well, would you rather just have it start without you knowing the rules?" Bates arched a brow at her.
"Let's hear them."
"I knew you'd see it my way. Now.. first things first.. this game is called Hollowed Hunting."
"I do not believe that I've heard that name before," Seven commented. Bates smirked.
"That's because I just made it up. The object of the game is to kill or be killed."
"I don't like the sound of this."
"You never like the really dangerous games," Bates sneered slightly. "Rule #1, no whining. Rule #2, if you are killed, you lose."
"How quaint," Janeway said, "what else?"
"Rule #3, no actual weapons may be used. If you come across an object and wish to use it as a weapon, you may. Rule #4, I may at any time add new rules. I'm acting as the referee. Rule #5, if a player is injured, she must stay in the game. You'll all be playing against eachother, so the last one standing wins."
"I hardly see that as fair," Seven's voice had a slight edge.
"That's only because the Deads here can probably rip your head off before you'd get a running start."
"How assuring."
"Now, shall we begin?" Bates pressed his hands together with glee.
"Wait until your mother hears about this," Janeway growled softly. Bates smiled.
"She's who suggested this game."
"I should have guessed as much."
"Yes, I suppose you should have. Now, since you're of.. lesser qualities, I will give you and Seven a head start." He produced a whistle from the air. "When I blow the whistle, you may begin. When I blow it a second time, Aditha and Epaige may begin." He raised the whistle to his lips. Seven cast an uncertain glance at Janeway, who gave a shrug in response.
Bates blew the whistle.
Not knowing what else to do, Janeway started off in the direction from which they had came. She heard Seven following her, but wasn't surprised. They came over the hill, and the now-empty house where the party had been held earler came into view.
"Captain, what are we doing?" Seven asked with a trembling voice.
"We're going to have to find a way out of here," Janeway said. "I'm fairly sure that the safties have been turned off aswell." Seven nodded.
"I don't want to kill you, Captain," she said softly. Janeway forced a smile.
"That's good to know."
The second blowing of the whistle could be heard from over the hill. Janeway tugged Seven's arm.
"Come on, time to run. I think those Deads are serious about killing us."
"Where are we going?" Seven called as she quickly followed.
"The only place there is to go, the empty house." They passed their seating area from earlier, where Bates was now sitting. He twirled the whistle on its chain, and then gestured wordlessly behind him. Aditha and Epaige had just appeared at the top of the hill, and weren't stopping. They'd taken new forms--wolves.
Janeway and Seven ran to the house. It was more of a mansion, surrounded by an old white picket fence. Janeway got to the gate of the fence and pulled it open. Seven followed after her, tugging the gate shut as she passed through it. Growling and barking loudly, the wolves shot past Bates. They got to the fence and paused for a moment. Janeway and Seven ran inside.
"We should split up," Seven said. "It'll better our chances..." Janeway nodded in agreement. She moved to the stairs, while Seven remained on the first floor.
The steps didn't seem as steady as Janeway had remembered them, but that was probably part of Bate's doing. She reached the top of the stairs and considered her options. There weren't many, and they all included hiding or finding something to use as a weapon. Hiding probably wouldn't work, the Deads were minions of Q after all...
She went to the nearest room. It was completely bare, except for a matress and a small table. Janeway went to the window and looked out. The wolves were leaping over the fence. She swallowed nervously, crouching to avoid being seen. The first wolf made it over and changed her shape back into that of a woman. It was Epaige. Aditha followed suit a moment later. They carried out a brief conversation, and then started for the house.
Janeway left that room quickly, and went to the next. This room was full compared to the previous, but there was still nothing she could use. She went to the next. There was something that might be useful--a croquet mallet. Janeway picked it up carefully. Below her she heard the front door opening. One set of footsteps went underneath her, and another went up the stairs. Janeway froze, her breath catching in her throat. Her grip tightened around the handle of the mallet.
A figure passed by the door of the room she was in. A faint glint of moonlight off of golden hair told her that it was Epaige. The woman traced the path that Janeway had taken. And then she was standing there in the door way, looking around. Janeway remained frozen, totally unable to move. Epaige finally looked at her. The smile that formed on her face was carnal. Janeway exhaled slowly as Epaige stepped forward.
"Rock a bye borg, in her cocoon,
She has lived thus far, but will be dead soon.
You dressed her up pretty, treated her nice,
Desired her affection, but will now pay the price," Epaige's hollow voice rhymed.
Janeway shook her head slowly.
Epaige moved forward again, and came within an arm's reach of Janeway. The Captain swung out with the mallet. She caught the Dead hard on the left arm. There was the slightest crunching noise, and Epaige cried out in pain. Janeway reeled for a moment before regaining balance. Epaige grabbed at the croquet mallet and tried to throw it at her, but missed somehow and sent it sailing through the window. She snarled at Janeway, who was now trying to get to the door.
"You will not be the winner," Epaige said evenly. She started moving again, but instead of attacking Janeway, she simply walked out the door. Janeway paused in confusion. Where was the Dead going? Something had to be wrong. Moments passed as she stood there, frozen, waiting for something.
Then she heard a scream.
==>+<==
Seven stood in the abandoned kitchen, near the doorway. She heard the front door creak open, and the heavy footsteps of the Deads entering. One of them went upstairs, in the direction that Janeway had went. Seven frowned slightly. Her frown deepened as she heard a second pair of steps coming towards her part of the house. She quickly scanned the kitchen. Nothing.
There were sounds from upstairs. Doors opening and closing, footsteps. Then sounds of a struggle, and breaking glass. Seven jerked in surprise as she heard a thunk on the ground outside the kitchen window, but when she looked there was nothing there. Seven breahted deeply, trying to calm the anxiety that was clenching her chest. She heard moment again, coming down the stairs. The kitchen door creaked a bit, and Seven turned quickly.
"Hello, blondie," Epaige said with an evil smile. Seven swallowed and quickly looked around the room. No route for escape. The Dead stepped into the room, her dark eyes focused on Seven. "Your time in this game is over now."
"No," Seven said softly. Her eyes widened as Epaige reached into a previously invisible pocket on her pantleg. She pulled out a long thin blade, the metal tempered pure black. It glinted in the faint light. Seven swallowed again, backing up. She ran into the counter. The terrible smile appeared on Epaige's face again. She gestured slightly with the blade.
"Don't make it hard on yourself, little borg," the Dead's said hollowly. Seven bit her lip, studying the distance between Epaige and the door.
"I plan to make it as difficult as possible for you," she said evenly. Epaige arched a brow, and moved a step forward. Seven tensed. The Dead made a noise of derusion, and then lunged forward. Seven almost managed to avoid the attack, getting a gash on her right arm as Epaige's stabs missed their target. She pushed Epaige into the counter, and bounded to the exit.
Outside Seven ran, clearing the porch quickly and making it to the gate with incredible haste. Once there Seven stopped, gasping for breath, and turned around to check for a pursuer. She had thought that she heard someone behind her, but now no one was there. Relieved, Seven exhaled loudly. She touched the wound on her arm gingerly. It wasn't too deep, but would still need a look at from the Doctor. Seven turned to open the gate.
Epaige was standing there. Seven yelped in surprise, backpedaling rapidly, until she ran into something else. The something was cool and relatively smooth. And breathing. Seven turned, and saw Aditha standing there. Seven screamed as she saw the black blade in the brunette woman's hand.
==>+<==
The scream was coming from out on the lawn. Janeway ran to the window and looked out. It was Seven. She had been cornered by the two tall women that Bates so affectionately called the Deads. Seven screamed again, and to Janeway it was a scary sound. She turned and ran from the room. She went down the stairs, taking them two at a time, before finally bursting through the front door.
She was stopped, at this point, by Bates. He offered her a leering smile, and blocked her path with his deceptively handsome form.
"Where are you in such a rush to get to?" Bates asked her lightly.
"You know damn well where I'm going," Janeway answered angrily.
"Straight to hell if I have anything to do with it," Bate said simply. He smiled. "That is, unless you'd like to partake in a little exchange." He leaned forward some.
"Don't try to bait me, Bates," Janeway snapped, ignoring the absurdity of what she had just said. Bates snorted, but then continued smiling.
"Oh, it would be a nice little exchange. I let you live and.. you thank me appropriately."
"Please, I wouldn't with your father, what makes you think that I would with you?"
"That was a different situation," Bates said. "And besides, I'm much better looking."
"That's beyond the point."
"It may be, but I don't really care," Bates said. "So, what will it be?" He leaned even closer, his nose nearly touching her own. Janeway moved back a little.
"No thank you." She stepped back and turned away. Bates grabbed her arm.
"Where do you think you're going?" he repeated himself.
"Whether or not you try to stop me, I have to save Seven from your little playmates," Janeway hissed. She heard something from out in the yard, but couldn't tell what it was. Bates snorted again.
"I'm not going to help you," he said.
"Well at least let me play your game in fair fashion," she snapped. Bates seemed to consider this.
"Fine, Captain Janeway, have it your way." With a snap he vanished. Janeway cursed, and then bolted out onto the porch. She looked around, moving down to ground level. The gate was open, swinging slowly. It creaked an ominous creak. Seven and the Deads had disappeared. Janeway crossed the lawn and went to the gate. Nothing.
Looking around frantically, Janeway noticed something laying on the ground. She stooped cautiously and picked it up. It was one of the Dead's knives. The handle was sticky with blood, and as she inspected it Janeway noticed an inscription on the blade.
"The death of she is the death of thee. Lives entwined are lost in time. The first thread to be cut is the third to unravel. Patience be a virtue of thee, and the game is thine own." Janeway looked at it in puzzlement. The blood--was it Seven's? Or one of the Deads?
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of running footsteps. A single pair, by the sound of it. Janeway looked around her, trying to locate the source. She was struck, suddenly, from behind, and tumbled to the ground.
"Captain!" came Seven's cry. Janeway heard a growl. She rolled over, eyeing the wolf that was standing close-by. She quickly got to her feet.
"Seven?" Janeway called, her eyes never leaving the wolf.
"Captain, help me please," Seven's voice sounded again. It sounded distant. The sound of running came nearer.
"Hold on Seven." Janeway looked at the wolf, who growled again. She wondered why it didn't attack. And then she noticed the paws of the animal.
It didn't have any claws.
Janeway smiled suddenly and held up the knife. "Looking for this?" The wolf barked visciouslly, and she swallowed. "Then have it." She jumped forward and stabbed the blade between the wolf's shoulder blades. It howled loudly in pain, and wrenched itself free. The wolf staggered for a few feet, and then fell heavily to the ground. Janeway regained her footing, panting.
Silence eventually returned, and she noticed that the sounds of running had stopped. Janeway made her way down the fence-line.
"Seven? Where are you?"
She heard a groan, and stopped. She peered over the side of the fence. A gasp freed itself from her throat.
"Seven," she whispered in terror. Seven was laying next to the fence, her eyes half open. The edge of her clothing was shredded, and both her ankles twisted oddly. Blood trickled at the edge of her mouth.
"No more running," Seven said softly. Janeway climbed over the fence and crouched next to the younger woman.
"Seven, what happened?"
"I.. don't know..." Seven replied breathily. Her eyes darted around for a moment.
"Was it Aditha?" Seven nodded wordlessly, her eyes closing briefly as she winced in pain. "Hold on.. I'll try to get us out of her." "Llll.." Seven's mouth opened and her eyes widened. Her left hand jerked a little.
"What? What's wro-" Janeway grunted in surprise as something dropped out of the sky above. She felt something in her knee go awry, but managed to shove the downcomer off of her. Aditha snarled and lashed out. Janeway felt the surge of blood on her thigh as she staggered to her feet.
"You will not win," Aditha hissed. She wiped the blade off quickly and then looked down at Seven. After a moment she looked back up. "You have killed the Dead Epaige. She will be avenged." Aditha's eyes narrowed, and the hand holding the blade twitched.
Janeway swayed a bit, the pain in each leg cancelling itself out. "You'll do no such thing."
"You cannot stop me."
"I'll do anything that I have to," Janeway growled. Aditha's eyes narrowed, and she looked from Seven to Janeway.
"You are weak and pitiful, and you will die," she said lowly. Janeway swallowed.
"I won't be killed by your or anyone else," she said. Aditha sniffed a laugh.
"You cannot stop me," she repeated. At that, Aditha lashed out with her empty hand, catching Janeway hard in the chin. She went sprawling on the ground, both legs refusing to cooperate.
While her competition was down, Aditha turned to Seven. With a quick, uncaring movement, the Dead swooped down and plunged the blade in the middle of Seven's chest--right between the shoulder blades. A slight gasp came from Seven, and then silence. Janeway looked on in horror, unable to move. Aditha watched Seven go still, and then looked at Janeway.
"Now it's your turn of the game," Aditha said evenly. She moved forward, but then froze. Her eyes went wide in pain, and a terrible scream emerged from her throat. She howled in agony, and then collapsed to the ground. Confused, Janeway looked around. She noted a shape around the Dead's foot. It was a snake, slowly uncoiling itself from its grip. The asp slithered away, and eventually disappeared.
Janeway remained on the ground, now trembling. The pain in her legs had returned, and she was suddenly cold inside. She looked around, tears of both pain and misery welling in her eyes.
"I hope you're happy, Bates."
No direct reply came, but a sharp wind cut suddenly acros't her face. She winced. "I'll take that as a 'no'," her voice echoed. Janeway laid back on the ground.
After a little while, a light began to appear far in the distance. At first Janeway thought that perhaps dawn had finally come to the holdeck. But the light grew larger and seemed to approach. She observed it for a moment and realized that it was coming closer. The light came directly overhead, nearly blinding Janeway with its intensity. It hovered there for a moment, and then disappeared. The darkness was equally blinding, until Janeway's eyes readjusted.
And when they did, she was mystified. Leaning over her was a face with a vague, uncertain smile on it. Janeway returned the smile, and accepted the helping pull to sit up. She studied the form of Seven now crouched next to her. The blood and wounds remained, but the knife was gone, and... and Seven was alive. Breathing and almost looking ready to smile, Seven was alive. She nodded at Janeway's look of inquiry, and then titlted her face up at the now-redarkened sky. Janeway clasped Seven's hand tightly, assuring herself that everything was real and alright.
Janeway followed Seven's look up at the sky eventually. Stars had appeared, similar to the pattern currently running through the Astrometrics database. She bit her lip at a particular star, which seemed to wink at her, assuring her that everything was alright now. The threat had been stopped, and they were--for the time being--safe.
"Thank you, Q," Janeway whispered to the night sky. A breeze caressed her cheek, and the star winked again. Janeway closed her eyes tiredly, and leaned against Seven.
"You're welcome," the wind whispered in return.