~*~
"What did you see?" Geoff asked the confused pair. His words barely left his mouth before the screen went black. All of the equipment flickered off then back on.
Geoff froze.
He was glad he had told Lindsey to leave earlier. He had asked Ray to leave as well, but he insisted he'd stay. He was now sitting by Gavin, gripping to his hand. Ray was really attached to the brit. All he wanted was the Vav to his X-Ray to be safe and sound.
"What was that, Geoff?" Ray asked nervously. There were only a few of the here; Ryan, Geoff, and Jack. He trusted all of them. He was told it was completely safe.
They wouldn't lie, would they?
"Power flicker. Fall-Back takes a lot of energy."
Geoff's voice was matter-of-fact, but in reality, he had no clue what had happened and what was going on inside that game.
~*~
Four times.
They'd had fallen asleep and woken up four times now.
Where was Geoff?
Michael got up and paced the small house over and over. He was getting antsy. Something was wrong. Really wrong.
Gavin woke to Michael's shoes padding against the floor. With a yawn, he broke his striding silence.
"Micool, what are you doing?"
"Thinking."
"Can't you think sitting down?"
"Can't you be less of an idiot?"
"No need to be cheeky."
Gavin got up to go stretch his legs. Though when he reached the door, Michael gives him a small glare.
"Check before you go outside, genius. Don't want to get shot, do you?"
"Relax, Micool. It's daytime." With that, he flung open the door only to be shot with an arrow before he even stepped outside, enforcing Michael's warning. A skeleton had been harboring under a nearby oak tree, waiting for them to come out in the shade.
Michael slammed the door shut, growling at Gavin. He had taken an arrow in his arm, and he was whimpering in pain. Michael huffed before he was sickened to see how deep it was into his flesh. There was fresh crimson blood pouring from the wound, the crudely made arrow stained with it.
"I told you to check, god damn it."
Gavin nodded in response, his body trembling in fear.
"I-It hurts, Micool."
Michael returned the nod, grabbing the end of the arrow gingerly.
"Okay.. Just-.. Just relax."
Gavin attempted to calm himself, but found he couldn't.
"Now.. On three, I'm going to pull it out, okay?"
"Wh-what?! No!"
"If we don't get it out, it's going to get infected! Now hold still."
Gavin shut his eyes tightly and turned his head away. Michael swallowed down some of the bile building in his throat before starting his count.
"One."
Gavin tensed in anticipation.
"Two."
Michael's grip tightened.
"Three!"
He pulled on the arrow. It slipped out easily while Gavin howled in pain. The bleeding had worsened, but the wound wasn't as bad as he'd thought.
