Killed By His Love

Well… this took a turn… Said a man, scared for what little was left of his life. To die so young at the teeth of the one he once loved, such a tragic end. His beloved slowly crawling towards him, closing the gap between the two while the man’s back was pressing against the stones.



I’m so very sorry my love. Please forgive me Ariane.



Those words echoed softly in the emptiness of the tunnel, but the following scream resonated much further; throughout the caverns and even out of the massive sinkhole. Who could have predicted such events when it all started with a simple beeping on a scanner? ‘’Nothing I can’t handle’’ said the exploring scientist as she saw the radar’s first readings. ‘’ Probably the wind or something. I’ll be back before you know it.’’ She added, but out there, on a newly discovered planet, overconfidence was bound to failure, or worst. A lesson the entire settlement would soon learn.



Evita was promising. A small planet the size of mars, coursing with water, gorgeous landscapes and even some forms of plant life. Truly a ‘’new’’ planet. It first was discovered at the right distance from its star to harvest life and interest from the big ball quickly grew. In only a century, the first settlements were starting to form on the surface. Another and the colonies of researchers, scientist, astronauts and militarized personals had doubled in size. Progress was not as fast as it was originally planned, but it was going forward non the less. A plethora of files were filled, plenty of discoveries were found, and new microscopic lifeforms were being analyzed. Evita was promising and mankind, for once, tried to keep their impact on the ecosystems to a minimum, wanting to see life evolve on the planet without being a part of it. Lifeforms on the rocky formation were primitive, but interesting and the first animals to either swim the oceans or crawl the land would happen within the millennia, a short time for a planet.



Ariane Dunkelberg was one of the researchers born on the planet. Like most natives, she did not fear her home world, even though she or anyone for that matter barely knew anything about it. The humans were barely scratching the surface of this new world and much was left to be found. Earth still held mysteries, so a brand new planet was sure to have a few tricks up its sleeves, but in two hundred years, aside from weather, nothing had proved itself to be a threat to humans… Enforcing this feeling of impenetrability for the natives. Invincibility in some cases. ‘’As long as you’re inside for the storms, nothing here can happen to you’’ some said. Ariane was also one of those who adventuring was a hobby. Walking for a few days, away from others with very little material if she was to be stranded in some desperate situation. Lucky for her, the planet was indeed mostly harmless… mostly. It was also no surprises to hear she had changed settlement for some days before coming back to her own.



On a fateful day, light began piercing the sky after a stormy night and a dot appeared on one of the city’s array’s screen. As usual after stormy weathers, detection poles were found lying on the ground, their fails due to incorrect fixations or extraordinary winds but this particular mishap was intriguing. The previous night’s storm had been rather gentle and maintenance had been done a week ago on the poles in the area. As curious as it was, there was a need for repairs, or at the very least, a verification was in order. Assuming everything would be fine, as it always was, Ariane proposed herself for the three days journey and, in the afternoon, departed for her work. Nobody expected it to be the last time they’d see her … in this state.



And so, happy to go hiking, the woman reached her settlement, suited up in the Airfect gear, providing her warmth and left, not without giving her husband a kiss on the lips. The first two days went by without any difficulties, but on the third one, just as she was approaching the location of the beeping on the radar, a storm suddenly rose and trapped Ariane with it. For seven days the wind blew, many poles were struck down and some homes were partially demolished. The worst week in recorded history on Evita, for short. Luckily, aside from two injured colonists, the storm had made no casualties, but contact with Adriane was lost and rescue would not be an option until the closets poles would be back in place as they were blocking the roads out, without mention the alarming amount of dots on the radar was annoying, to say the least. Three more days and finally a rescue operation was in order. A team of four was settled and they quickly departed to save the lovely native woman.



They, too, reached their destination after three days, despite their best efforts to shorten the time to a maximum, totaling to 16 the number of days the woman had been alone. The men approached the area in a hurry. An endless plain where wind constantly blew over thirty five miles per hour with only a small shack for protection against the elements. Ariane’s husband, Roldan, shoulder charged the door only to find the well maintained small office empty. There was no traces of Ariane but a clue of her position was found on the screen fixed to the back wall. In addition to the location of the rundown detection pole displayed with a red dot, an orange one could be seen a few inches under. The heroes quickly abandoned the survivalist shack and headed north, where the orange dot seemed to show.



Roldan and the others quickly discovered the reason behind the woman’s loss of contact and possibly the reason behind the pole faction, as an entire section of land had collapsed. A sinkhole of immeasurable size, shaped in a near perfect circle but deep of only a few hundred feet. The team quickly began searching for a way to reach the bottom and, at the end of the day, once the light of the nearest sun was about to set, soon to be followed by the light of the second star to reach the planet in a red tinted aura, a dangerously looking path was found. The kind of path where going down was difficult and up, most likely near impossible, but the quadruplet was out of options and so they charged ahead. As expected, the descent was rude, something to be proud of, worth mentioning to friends once they’d get back. Once all the way down though, the landscape turned out to be breathtaking. The walls of the cavern glowing with green and blue stones, a loud waterfall could be heard from afar and many man-sized holes could be seen everywhere. On the walls, on the ground, some round, some stretched, some seemed to be originating from air pockets, others from other mysterious means. As wonderful as it was, the men had a very serious task ahead of them and, without hesitation, they split up to cover a larger area all at once while still remaining in each other’s sight.



Down in the pit, their vision was dim. The only light they could rely on was the reflection from the stones surrounding them. Eventually, many hours after the beginning of their wide spread search, the men halted for a much needed lunch. They formed a circle and sat straight down on dirt and rocks, devouring their dry supply packs. The break was short lived though, as a screech echoed to their ears, sending chills down their spines. What could it be? Rocks sliding and grinding against each other’s? If so, a sort of.. bang should be heard when one would hit the bottom, wouldn’t it? Could it be the wind? No.. no that was nearly impossible. Maybe it was Adriane signaling for help the best she could? If such was the case, they had to hurry. The food could wait, a life was at risk. Roldan perked right up, and frowned, hoping to hear the same sound again. He moved slowly, silently, for several minutes. The others did the same, all focused on every little sound they could hear and trying to get the best of them until another screech pierced through, much louder than the first. Whatever was causing it was moving closer to them and judging by the loudness, it had gotten pretty close, but through the greenish blue mist of the cavern, nothing suspicious could be seen.



Alert and stressed, the men talked to each other’s, softly, to calm themselves while searching as far as their eyes could see for the origins of the terrifying sound when suddenly, one of them was attacked. It took a short instant for the soldier to see what had hit him, a rock. A pebble to be exact. Someone or something must have thrown it, which would have been a remarkable mystery if he wasn’t so angry about it. Though his anger was cut short once a second, much larger stone, was thrown at him, knocking him unconscious as it hit the back of his head. The trio ran for help but and other received the same treatment and before other rocks could be thrown, a dark form blinked before their eyes. It was gone as soon as they could see it, but it didn’t leave without screeching again. This time it sounded much like a.. bat, maybe a bird of sort. Could this docile planet host dangerous animals? If so, those men were not prepared and just like that, one screamed for his life, though it was too late. Roldan turned over to face his friend dealing with a set of particularly long teeth planted in his shoulder and a pair of unusual green piercing eyes looking at him. On the shock of the moment, it didn’t come to him, but as he began running for his life, Adriane’s face came to his mind. He eyed over his shoulder to get a second look of the nightmare fueling creature but it was already gone, leaving his now dead friend on the ground.



Of course, Roland wasn’t the only one running tail between his leg. His colleague, the only other still alive, had a few steps ahead. Both were running back where they came from, though they knew all too well they would never make it in time. Then came a genius idea to hide in one of the small tunnels and pray not to be found. The two agreed on the plan and ran for the walls of the hole they were into. Quickly, both of them squeezed into different tunnels and crawled as far as they could from the entrance, only then thinking maybe those holes were home to nastier creatures then the one chasing them. Phobia was kicking in for Roland’s companion and soon he could no longer keep his position. He hurried out and rolled over himself, facing a mental breakdown while his doomed approached, fast. He died in silence as his neck broke right up when the predator jumped on him.



Next was Roland himself. The last one alive… The soldier was possibly still alive, though his fate would most likely end once he’d wake up. What had happened? What was truly happening? Was it a single creature or many? How were they left unseen for so long? So many questions and more were rushing in the man’s head as he waited for the inevitable, alone in his dark, cramped hole. Coming from every directions he could hear scratching at the walls, against the stones. The creature was moving fast, searching for him, eager to bite into its last prey maybe. In a matter of seconds, there it was, peeking from the entrance and into the dead end’s tunnel. Only then could Roland have a clear vision of the creature set to end his days, proving what he thought. Adriane. For whatever reason, the sweet loving woman he once knew had turned into some sort of hell form, bat-monstrosity. Her clothes were torn, her skin was pale and her face was hard to recognized, but the deep green of her eyes couldn’t lie, though they looked more primal than ever. What had happened to her to mutate into this in such a short time? Was it a fate all of them would suffer? Could she control herself? Did she lose track of what she was, who she was?



Well… this took a turn… Said the man, scared for what little was left of his life. To die so young at the teeth of the one he once loved, such a tragic end in such a desolate place. His beloved Adriane crawling towards him, slowly, bragging her new set of teeth while closing the gap.



I’m so very sorry my love. Please forgive me Ariane. I wish, oh I wish I could have saved you.