Terror cannot be quantified

[Enol Dryad]

A thin, neglected-looking man in his late twenties shuffled wearily into the Bar and Grill. His clothes were damp with a sheen of sweat, and his arms were wrapped around himself, fingers clamped onto the backs of his arms, as he seemingly tried to desperately cling to himself. His lower lip trembled, as blood-shot eyes panned around to faceless strangers, all to the tune of his rapid, shallow breathing.

[Loki Ahmrah]

"Excuse me, sir." Came a quiet, polite voice. The man's attention was diverted and his eyes fell upon the face of a young boy of ten years. A smile complimented his warm face which met the man's height as Loki was sat on a stool alongside the bar.

"Loki Ahmrah, Jedi Padawan of the Jedi Order. Is there anything I can help you with?" The little boy asked softly, noticing there was something very wrong with the man who'd entered the establishment.

[Enol Dryad]

The man collapsed to the ground, scurrying back with frantic abandon until his back was flush against the wall, kicking chairs out of his way, he began to hyperventilate, turning his wide eyes away from making contact with Loki's inquisitive gaze.

"I...Isss!!! Ee daa wuun!!"

Through gasping, choking breaths, the man couldn't speak a single coherent word. He panted and heaved, avoiding looking in Loki's direction, as if the plague itself could be caught from the boy's eyes.

[Estelle Russard]

Estelle had seen the frightened young man enter the bar also and had approached behind Loki. She rested a familiar hand on his shoulder as he sat on the bar stool.

She didnt say anything, but smiled kindly at the newcomer, hoping she too could be of some help. Her smile changed to shock and alarm as the man fell writhing on the floor.

She dropped beside him, looking for Loki to help her.

[Loki Ahmrah]

Adhering to the advice of Jedi elders, the young padawan didn't allow himself to become oversensitive to the feelings of others as it can be a source of distraction and may hinder ones focus. However despite his caution, Loki found himself reeling from the emotion coming from the young man; it first hit him when he had thrown himself to the floor and the boy felt a cold chill shoot down his spine, as he crawled away a sickening feeling grew in the pit of the bewildered padawan's stomach. The sense of an absolute terror hit the boy in waves of nausea and his brow was already glistening.

"Estelle--" He gasped, his hazey eyes rolled upwards to find his surrogate sister, his face was ghostly white and drawn. Suddenly, his reeling body lost balance and he flopped head first from the stool falling towards the floor. The last thing he felt was the unbridled fear of the new arrival, then everything went dark.

[Estelle Russard]

Estelle gasped as she saw Loki teeter. She was too far away to physically stop the fall and so instead reached out with the force, allowing his small form to drift gently to the floor.

She understood in an instant what had happened. Loki was so sensitive in many ways, and the aura of distress and fear coming from the dishevelled stranger was overwhelming. Loki had somehow identified and linked to it via his force sensitivity.

Laying her hand lightly on the young mans cheek, he felt hot and fevered, slight beads of sweat were lining his brow. "Dont be afraid, we are here to help you." Her voice was calming, soothing to the young man. Wait here, I'll get you a drink of water."

She got up from where she was crouched and moved to Loki. It upset her to see him so vunerable. She took his hand in hers, "Loki, wake up. Its Estelle." She lifted him to sit upright.

[Valeska Vercingetorix]

A girl maybe the same size as Loki, perhaps a bit smaller, but several years older rushed over with concern. People in trouble were always her weakness, after all. She had been sitting with a glass of water in the corner, shyly avoiding everyone but intentely watching at the same time

"Is everything alright?" she asked in a quiet, whispery voice with a slight, but audible, Anlynian accent.

[Enol Dryad]

"Hee's fall'n....'sleep......."

The man's eyes turned with morbid curiosity to the now-unconcious padawan, as he muttered his trembling words in a sing-song style of a nursery rhyme, rocking back and forth to the tune lightly as he held his knees to his chest.

"Now th' whisperin's come!"

His voice was even shakier...as his dark eyes drifted fearfully up, scrutinizing every angle, every nook of the area around both he and Loki, as if demons lived in shadows that could claim the flesh of living. His hands began to wring nervously, the fingertips red and raw where the nails had been chewed off. Those hands now shakily slung the small backpack from Enol's back, as the fright-afflicted man reluctantly crawled toward Loki. Sweat glistened on his pale face, as he fumbled in the pack, eventually removing an age-worn jack in the box. With great reverence, he slowly sat it on the ground, sitting by Loki's side, cross-legged.

"Isabelle's asleep with you. When she wakes up, you will too."

There was no humor or laugh in this child-like rhyme, as the man slowly began to turn the crank...the familiar sound of "Pop Goes the Weasel" playing in eerie, metallic timbre.

[Valeska Vercingetorix]

Valeska's already wide eyes widened. Only someone very observive or who knew her very well would have noticed the subtle changes in her actions: the wide eyes, the fingers tangling together. Anyone else wouldn't have noticed.

"Excuse me," she said in her soft, polite voice, 'What is going on?"

[Enol Dryad]

"Come out - come out - oh - I...I - sabelle...

come out - come out - and - saave - usss...."

Dryad continued to slowly turn the jack in the box's crank, wide eyes shifting from Loki's unconcious body, to the ceiling, and to the walls, expecting some unknown phantasm to reach from the mundane medium and strike.

[Valeska Vercingetorix]

Val gulped, brushing back her hair.

"Excuse me," she repeated, "What is going on?"

[Enol Dryad]

"Shhhhhh!!!"

He looked at the girl, his eyes filled with a whirlwind of fear and anger. She was meddling in things that she shouldn't!! Then, he realized that in his interruption, he had stopped turning the handle. For a moment, he froze, eyes fixed....to a spot just behind the bar, seemingly unremarkable.

"Whisperwhisperwhisper...I'm not afraid of you, boogie man."

[Valeska Vercingetorix]

Valeska's eyes widened to nearly twice their usual size. She bit her lip and leaned back on her heels, sensing emotions from him she wasn't comfortable with. Right now she had enough fear on her own.

[Enol Dryad]

In a sudden twist, he whirled around, grabbing the girl's head with both hands, and holding her forehead against his. His eyes were wide with terror, as he shouted an eerie sound.

<font size=5>"YOU HAVE TO SEE!!! SEE HIM!!!"</font>

He turned her head in the direction of his terror, and in a way that he could not explain...conveyed that monstrosity within his mind's eye.

<center><img src=http://www.swforums.net/forum/attachment.php?s=&attachmentid=380></center>

"He's watching! Don't sleep!"

Dryad gently pulled her away from the direction of....it.

[Loki Ahmrah]

Gradually Loki began to stir, at first he mumble which soon turned into a fearful groan when his eyes suddenly creeped open at the sound of a distant, muted cry. He was now in the floor and Estelle was cradling his head so that he was sat upright. Without turning his head his eyes roamed about the bar and grill looking for something wearily, then regaining some strength he smiled and sighed.

"I had a nasty dream!" He said with relief.

In his dream, Loki had been wrapped up in the corner of a dark room and although he couldn't see them, he could feel a great many eyes staring at him, watching him all the time. There was a whispering then all went quiet as a distant, eerie rhyme could be heard. There was a cry and then he was awake and safe.

[Enol Dryad]

"Eyes open!"

Dryad seemed to smile, which was actually a desperate, strained contortion of his face. He stared defiantly at the wall for several seconds, and then, it seemed a great weight lifted from his shoulders as they relaxed. He seemed to deflate with a single, rattling exhalation, as he laid back on the ground, in the fetal position, clutching his jack in the box.

[Valeska Vercingetorix]

Val looked from the man to the boy, perplexed and a bit fearful. What had just happened?

"Are you alright?" Val asked the boy.

[Estelle Russard]

Estelle was so relieved to see Loki open his eyes and the color return again to his cheeks.

"Its ok Loki, you just gave us a scare. Do you think you can get up?" The young boy nodded and got to his feet, his attention focused on the harried stranger.

Estelle smiled at the little girl who had joined them and sensed a kind spirit about her. "Hello, do you think you could help us with him?"

They moved towards Enol, Estelle taking with her a glass of water.

The fear and torment emanating from the stranger as he lay curled on the floor was palpable. Fear was of the darkside and it held this young man tightly in its grip. She was glad Loki was here. He seemed to have an affinity or something with the man, and Estelle felt that this would somehow be of great healing value to him.

[Enol Dryad]

He cowered, clutching his jack in the box, as if it were a necessity to life. His brow knit with concentration and concern...as he pointed a shaky finger toward Loki?

"Y-you.....s-s-s....saw? Saw it?"

[Loki Ahmrah]

As he was helped to his feet, Loki reassured the two ladies with a friendly nod. "Yeah, I'll be fine, don't know what came over--" He broke of and shuddered a little, a chilling cold rushing down his back. He paused dead in his tracks, not daring to move.

"Y-you.....s-s-s....saw?"

Slowly, his head turned and the colour in his face began to fade ponce more. To the boy's horror he met those same wild, darting eyes and heard that awful fumbling voice. It was him. He was real.

"Saw it?" He asked, a long, bony finger reached out for him.

"--AH!" He jumped back with fright, dropping to the floor to get away from the nearing finger. "Go away!" He yelped, scurrying away until he was curled up under a table in one of the booths. It was pretty dark under there and in that darkness, wide, frightened eyes were fixed on Enol.

[Enol Dryad]

"You saw!!!"

Enol's voice suddenly changed in timbre, in his fit of deepest fright. The table Loki was under, the chairs around, and the padawan himself slid towards Enol by a few feet in a jerk. A glass fell to the ground and broke, as several sets of silverware clattered on the tile. Enol leaned forward from where he sat, his hand outstretched to Loki...as if he needed him to see!

[Loki Ahmrah]

The boy cried out when he, the table and chairs suddenly lurched forward, closer to that madman. He was now much more visible, no longer in the shadows of the booth; his face was white, his cheeks sunken and his bottom lip trembled. It seemed to be an instant transformation. Then the man leaned towards him.

"Go away!" He cried, his voice grabbing the attention of every bar patron now, the fingers edged nearer and his wide eyes filled with terror. "Leave me alone!" He cried out feably once more but his words seemed to fall upon deaf ears. They closed in on him.

"Help! Someone help!" He screamed out, now writhing with fear, terrified he tried to escaped but the chairs were in his way. He knocked one over and was about to push the table over to escape but the hand was too close. His fumbling hands stopped pushing at the table and instead, he lashed out with his feet hysterically. "Estelle!!"

[AmazonBabe]

:: AB, who's booth Loki had hiden under, knocking her knees into the seat, now stood, having had enough of what was going on. She grabbed Loki by the upper arms, avoiding the wildy kicking feet, and hauled him up into a standing position. She shook him a bit, holding him firmly in her grasp, resisting the urge to slap him and maybe knock some coherent sense into him. ::

LOKI! Snap out of it, boy! What's the matter?

[Loki Ahmrah]

"It was real, Master Rie!" He yelped, his head turning about frantically trying to catch a glimpse of Enol behind him, praying he wasn't coming any nearer. She shook him again.

"Everything I saw and heard was real and it's all because of him!" He cried out, ripping himself from her grasp he leapt away from his reach and backed away cautiously. With eyes fixed upon Enol he made his way towards the exit.

This type of behaviour was completely out of character for the little boy but being in the same room as that man he was becoming intoxicated with an overwhelming fear, the light from the doorway in which he now stood caused his forehead to glisten with sweat.

[Enol Dryad]

"No! NO!! You can't leave herrre...."

Enol was torn between a sob and a whimper as he crouched on the ground, shaking. His nose ran, but he dared not move to alleviate it. His eyes clung to Loki, but he couldn't dislodge himself from his sanctuary.

"The Whisperings 'll find you...we all sleep!"

With cautious hands, he reached forward, pulling the jack in the box towards him. With shaky breath, he pressed his fear-heated face against its cool metallic contours.