Star Wars Jedi: The Haunting

Chapter 13

Cal looked at Greez, desperately trying to think of a way to explain himself, but then he gave up. He was too deep in the hole to climb, so he had to dig further. It was the only option.

"I don't remember what happened. I... I... can someone please explain?"

"You activated your lightsaber and were about to... kill me with it," Merrin said, visibly shaking as she spoke.

Cal must have hallucinated her as Vader while he was dreaming. The thought disturbed him, and he felt his resolve grow even weaker. If there was any more weight put on it, he might snap. And he didn't want that. He had to act quickly.

"It's Tanalorr," he said, slowly.

"What's Tanalorr?" Greez asked, confused.

"Tanalorr. It's been... messing with me. Ever since we arrived, I felt a little strange. Recently, it's been giving me... hallucinations. Visions. And I can't make them stop."

"What? Tanalorr? But why?" asked Greez, confused.

"It's true, Greez," said Cal. "I hallucinated Merrin as... Darth Vader. While I was asleep." He felt relieved to be able to tell the truth for once.

"Oh God..." said Greez, trailing off. "That's bad. I still don't understand how Tanalorr has anything to do with it, though. I mean, sure it's a bit lonely, but it's normal other than that. Wouldn't you agree, Merrin?" Merrin nodded. "Sorry, Cal, I can't help you. Is the loneliness of Tanalorr bothering you?" Greez asked as he walked a little closer. Merrin took a couple of steps back.

"Greez, Tanalorr is haunted!" Cal shouted, unable to stop himself. Locker laughed. "Did you hear that? Did you hear that? Did you hear that?" Cal asked, hurriedly and quietly.

"Oh God... Oh God..." said Greez, again.

"Why did we ever come to this wretched planet? Why?" Cal shook his head.

"Cal..." said Greez, but Cal was barely listening at this point.

"I think we had better leave Tanalorr," said Cal. "It's not good for me to stay. If I stay on this godforsaken planet any longer, I might snap."

"Are you sure?" asked Greez.

"Greez, please. I. Want. To. Leave. Tanalorr. And I want to leave now!" Cal shouted, trying his hardest not to fall apart right there and then.

Greez looked wary – scared, even. Merrin was cowering in the corner, as far away from Cal as she could be. Kata had started crying quietly.

"I – I don't know what you're going through, Cal," Greez said. "But I hate to see you like this, so – we'll leave Tanalorr. For you. Anything to make you happy, Cal," Greez said affectionately. "I'll prepare the ship for departure. But tell me -where do you want to go if not Tanalorr?"

"Honestly? I don't really care too much. I just want to be away from that place," Cal said. And truthfully, he didn't really care, as long as he wasn't on Tanalorr. That place was creepy and strange. It messed with your head in some of the worst ways possible. No wonder Dagan went crazy. That planet had to be cursed.

"We have the compass, Greez," said Cal, fetching the compass and giving it to Greez. "Now let's get away from here."

"Hold on – just getting the ship ready..." Greez said, flinching at Cal's tone as he started the engines.

Cal walked away before he said or did anything that made the situation worse. He'd already scared everyone enough.

He ran back through the Mantis to his room and shut the door roughly behind him, locking it as he did so. He sat down in a chair and tried to make himself calm down, trying to get his beating heart under control.

It was a fresh start, he told himself. They were finally getting away from Tanalorr. It would do him some good. Allow him to start afresh, right?

Only he wasn't sure if a fresh start was even possible after all that he had done. He had wiped their memories several times. He had disabled Kata. He had attempted to strike Merrin down – even if he had hallucinated, he had still taken a swing at her. Was this too far? He hoped not. He still loved her, even after all this time. He didn't want her to leave. She couldn't leave.

Cal sat in his room for a few minutes, bored and scared, and was about to go to sleep when he heard a laugh. He looked around and then saw Locker standing there, smiling.

"Haven't you caused enough damage to my life? Don't you have anything better to do?" Cal voiced his thoughts before Locker had a chance to speak.

"Cal, you never learn, do you?" Locker said, shaking his head. "You're still the same person who threw up after 3 hits to the face. I hoped you would grow, or change in some way, but nope – you're still the same old Cal."

"Of course I'm still the same person. I don't have multiple personality disorder," Cal spat. "Retard," he muttered.

"I didn't mean that," Locker said. "You know what I mean, and I'm not going to spell it out for you. You may not be a good man but one thing's for sure - you are not stupid."

"I'm leaving Tanalorr, Locker," said Cal. "The planet was messing with me. You won't be able to haunt me anymore. Tanalorr was a problem, but that problem is gone now." He said it more to convince himself than anything else.

"Is Tanalorr the problem... or you?" Locker asked condescendingly.

Cal thought for a couple of seconds – and in those couple of seconds he was lost in thought, Locker had gone. Vanished. And Cal knew that this time was different. Locker wouldn't be coming back. He didn't know how he knew, but he knew. Somehow. It was freaky.

He should have been relieved, but he wasn't. Instead, he felt afraid. And lonely. At least Locker had been some company for him, if nothing else. And Cal hadn't realized it until now, but he had enjoyed the company in a way. Maybe because it kept him stimulated. Distracted him from the fact that his friends didn't want to keep him company anymore after all the things he did.

Now that Locker had gone, Cal badly wanted company. He wanted nothing more than to go and hug Merrin right now. But he knew that doing that would be a bad idea. He shook his head and looked at the wall of his bedroom, rocking his body back and forth as he considered his predicament.