Welcome to My Nightmare A _Space_Cases_ Halloween Special by The Thing Thanks to Eileen for the story suggestion! ---------------- Commander Seth Goddard had called for a meeting at the water fountain. Stuck on an alien world for an indeterminate amount of time, the crew of the Christa had decided to tap into a natural spring on the planet to keep from overtaxing their own ship's water supply. But, apparently, there was a problem. Commander Goddard looked at the assembled crew. There was Harlan Band, Suzee, Radu, Rosie Ianni, and Bova. Standing next to the Commander was TJ Davenport and Thelma. "So, what's up Commander," asked Harlan. "Well... We have a problem... It appears that the water supply has been contaminated." There was a general reaction of surprise and concern amongst the crew. Goddard let them chatter a bit, then got their attention. "People, people... Settle down... Thelma found the problem and it has been fixed... But it's possible that all of you have been infected." "All... all of 'us'," Radu was puzzled by Goddard's choice of words. "I've been working on the Christa a lot lately, Mr. Radu, and have been using the water supply aboard the ship." "Against my better judgment..." responded Davenport, looking rather perturbed at Goddard. Goddard sighed. "The point is, we have no idea who's been infected, and what will happen if that has happened... Rosie, I want you to examine everyone with the microscanner. And I think we should all take it easy the next couple of days- if you ha ve been infected, we have no idea what effect it's gonna have." "Ah, _great_," muttered Harlan. "So," said Suzee, "what was the problem?" "Would you believe a loose washer? Some micro-organism got into the water and reacted with it..." "And we've all been infected. Joy." Bova's tone suggested he was ready to start digging is grave right then and there. Goddard was distressed that someone as young as Bova could be so cynical. "Ah, don't worry..." said Harlan, "Who knows, maybe this thing'll just... turn is into monsters, or something..." "Monsters," said Suzee, raising a dark eyebrow. "Yeah, you know..." with that, Harlan let out a howl. Radu looked at his crewmate sideways... Harlan was acting strangely even for Harlan. "Are... Are you ok, Harlan?" "Sorry," said Harlan. "It's just that, well... With this being Halloween, and all..." "'Halloween'?". Suzee had clearly never heard of the holiday. "Good heavens," muttered Davenport, "is it Halloween already?" "What is 'Halloween'," asked Radu, who had also never heard of it. "It's the coolest holiday! You get to dress up and go around getting candy from people." "That sounds fun," said Rosie with a smile. "What do you dress like," Radu wanted to know. "Well, that's just it..." replied Harlan, "You can dress like anything! Not to toot my own horn-" "Why stop now," retorted Suzee with a smile. Harlan ignored her, and went on with what he was saying. "But I make a pretty good werewolf." "Why am I not surprised," quipped Bova. The others chuckled as Harlan just glared at the sardonic Uranian. "This is ridiculous..." said Suzee. "There's no such thing as 'monsters'... It's all just..." "Just what?" "Just... silly... I mean, I've heard about some of these 'monsters' you're talking about. People turning into animals, and coming back from the dead... It's ridiculous..." "Party pooper," said Harlan. "Besides, I'm not saying they're real. But it's kinda fun to imagine... It's... ya know... scary." "A-and that's... a good thing?" Radu looked skeptical. "Sure. I mean-" Davenport interrupted Harlan. "I hate to ruin your fun, but I'm far more 'scared' at the thought of being contaminated- don't you think we ought to check?" The kids sighed, and everyone headed for the Christa. "...And she turned to the corner- to find the vampire standing there waiting for her!" Rosie jumped her seat at the surprise ending to Harlan's story, moving a little closer to Radu, who was a bit unnerved himself... They'd been checked out at Medlab, and been given a clean bill of health. Still, some of them were still keyed-up, so Harlan offered to help the kids take their minds off their troubles by telling them a good old-fashioned ghost story. They'd gone to the conversation pit. It was a small room with a teardrop-shaped couch set into the floor that the kids sometimes used a s a hang-out area. "So, what did you think?" Radu was the first to speak up. "That was... was good." "But why call it a ghost story if there are no ghosts in it," Bova wanted to know. "That's just a name..." Harlan explained. Then he looked over at Rosie. "How 'bout you, Rosie? Hope it wasn't too scary for ya," said Harlan, as he noticed the young Mercurian huddled against Radu. "N-no... Not really... Well... A little," she finally admitted. "Sorry 'bout that, kiddo." "Oh, I'll be all right..." she smiled. "What about you, Suzee?" Suzee shrugged. "It was... ok." Harlan just shook his head "Well, I liked it... a lot," said Radu. Harlan smiled. "Well, I dunno about the rest of you," said Bova, standing up, "But I'm hungry." "Yeah," replied Harlan, "I suppose we should be getting ready for dinner, huh?" With that, the kids got up and headed for the mess hall Davenport came past the conversation pit to see Radu sitting there reading a compu-pad. He seemed quite immersed in whatever it was he was reading. "Finishing your homework," she asked him hopefully. He looked up at her. "Actually, I'm done... I'm reading about... about monsters," he told her. "Ah. I take it Harlan's been telling you about Halloween?" "Yeah... It-it's really interesting. We really don't have anything like this on Andromeda." "Hmmm..." "I... I noticed there's a lot about vampires... More than a lot of the others..." It was clear from his expression that he was curious as to why that might be. "Well," said Davenport, "Vampires- for whatever reason- are very popular. There has been tons of literature and research about them." "I've noticed... Like... Like people think the belief came about because of this disease..." "Oh?" Davenport sat down across from Radu while he explained. "Apparently there's this- this disease Humans can get... Their gums recede, which is where they got the ideal that people had fangs... And- and their skin is really sensitive to light..." "Which is where they get the idea that vampire can't be out in the daylight!" "Yeah," said Radu with a smile. It was clear he was excited bout this particular topic. "And you know, Radu," said Davenport, trying not to sound too much like she was lecturing him, "there are some Terran animals which drink blood." "Really?" "Yes... I'm surprised you haven't run into that yet in your research," "Research? Oh, no, I'm just doing this for fun..." "And who says research can't be fun?" And with that, she smiled and left, leaving Radu thinking about what she'd just said. It was already quite late when Radu realized he should probably get ready for bed. He hadn't been able to stop reading about Terran "monsters"- the whole thing was so fascinating... And he couldn't help but think about what Harlan said. he'd been right- certain diseases _could_ you into monsters... Finally, though, he'd gone back to the boy's bunkroom and gotten ready for bed. He'd snuck around in the dark to keep from waking up Bova and Harlan. Putting up his compu-pad, he got into his night-clothes, slipped into bed, put on the earmuffs he wore to block out excessive sound from his super-sensitive ears, and curled up to go to sleep. Radu sat up slowly... He was feeling rather ill. His stomach hurt, and he was generally feeling lousy. Sitting up, he looked around him... His vision swam, and he was finding it hard to focus on anything besides the growing pain in his stomach. He got off his bunk, trying to keep his balance... He got to the door somehow... He decided he needed to go see Rosie- she was the closest thing they had to a medical officer, and was the only help he could think of right now... He moved slowly down the hall, trying to focus his eyes on the ever-tilting walls. He kept close to one of the walls, using it to support him. But even that wasn't entirely successful- his feet rebelled, and he found himself drifting away from the stable, comforting wall. And when he went back to the wall, he inevitably hit against it. Not that this hurt him, but it was rather disconcerting... Suddenly he found a break in the wall- a door? It seemed to open, so he went in... Maybe Rosie was in there... He came into the room to see... A girl... Well, she was hardly a GIRL, really... She was... beautiful... Her dark eyebrows, the streaks of purple, blue, and red in her otherwise brown hair... She wore a dress- for some reason that seemed out of place, yet it wasn't. The beautiful, long skirt rustled around her legs as she turned to see him. "Hi," she said, with a smile. He struggled for a name to match the face... Catalina? No, that wasn't quite right... He found himself staring at her. She was speaking to him, but he couldn't hear it... All he could hear a was beating... the beating of her heart. Not unusual for an Andromedan, really, to be able to hear a person's heartbeat while being this close to them... but it wasn't just that he was hearing it... it seemed to echo in his ears, and in his mind... and in his stomach... He mov ed closer to her, wanting to get closer to that heartbeat... She just smiled, then walked out of the room.... Radu watched her walk out, the sound of her heartbeat slowly fading as she moved further way from him... He was feeling terribly dizzy, and the pain in his stomach was getting worse... Radu found himself on the floor. How on Andromeda he'd gotten there, he had no clue. He was still feeling weak, and dizzy, but the pain in his stomach... Well, it was worse than when he'd woke up, but not as bad as it had been a moment ago. Rosie ... He HAD to get to Rosie... With that thought in mind, he got up, and headed for the door, hoping he could find his way to Medlab before the pain became unbearable... The door opened, and Radu all but fell into the room. But then he saw someone... A small, pink figure looking at him mournfully. He smiled a bit as he recognized Rosie standing there, looking at him with great concern. "Radu?" "Rosie!" He moved forward, but collapsed to the floor instead. He felt so weak, and so... Hungry. Yes, that was it. He was starving. For what? "Rosie... Help me!" "Oh, Radu!" Rosie came over to him, reaching for his hand to help him up... Their hands met, and hers slipped right through his as though he wasn't there! Or perhaps it was her... They looked at each other, their mouths dropping in unison. "Rosie... What's wrong?" "I don't know... But you... You look... different..." She indicated his mouth. He reached up to him mouth, and stabbed himself on a long, curved tooth. Was that his? But... "Andromedans... Andromedans don't have... f-fangs?" Rosie gnawed her lower lip as Radu investigated further and found that he did, indeed, have two long, sharp fangs... "Rosie... what's happening to me...?" "I... I don't know..." She looked very concerned. Suddenly Radu became distracted... He could hear voices; two of them, one male, one female... They were coming closer. "I think he's this way..." the male said. "Don't worry, we shall find him!..." the woman said. Radu managed to find his way to the door, walking out into the corridor to find the source of the voices... He turned just in time to see Rosie coming out of the room they'd been in- she came straight through the wall! He stared for a few seconds- what WAS she...? Radu had never seen a Mercurian go through a wall before... Was it some talent she'd never shared with them? No, that made no sense... The voices were getting louder... They were talking about hunting someone- that the thing had to die... Rosie turned towards the voices. A concerned look settled on her face, and she turned back to Radu. "Run," she told him, making a shooing motion to accentuate her heart-felt plea. "Huh?" Radu was confused... Those voices sounded familiar- and friendly- why she he run...? But Rosie was insistent. "RUN!" And so he ran... Radu didn't get very far before he found himself nearly collapsing on the floor. Why was he running? Who were those people? He leaned against the wall for support- and found that he was actually leaning against a door, which proceeded to open... He came into a room, and found that the floor was a lot closer than he'd thought- no, wait... He'd fallen again... What was happening to him? Radu looked up to find himself lying in fromt of a young Uranian in a long, bright green lab coat. He knew this guy... didn't he...? He looked past the boy to see a large room filled with all sorts of scientific stuff- beakers full of bubbling fluids, bits of humming machinery. And an operating table... with a figure on it! The body was covered with a white cloth... What was under there? "Greetings, stranger. I am Dr. Bova- welcome to my lab!" Radu was puzzled. "I... I know you... Don't I?" The response was calm yet cryptic. "Does anyone _really_ know anyone else... Even themselves?" "Well..." was all Radu was able to get out. Then the boy moved over to the operating table. "Wait..." Radu managed to get out. "I need help... Th- there's something wrong with me... I- I think..." "Well, I'd _like_ to help you... But I'm in the middle of something right now... My GREATEST CREATION!" The words echoed throughout the room, causing Radu to cover his ears to block out some of the noise. "Would you care to stay and watch?" "Well..." "Sure you would! Sit down, my good man, and I'll show you what I've been working on!" As much as Radu admired the boy's enthusiasm, he wasn't in the mood to sit around... He was too concerned about... He heard the voices again... the man and the woman... "I think he went this way," said the woman. The man replied, as the voices got ever closer, "We must stop that blood-sucking fiend before it's too late!" Radu knew- somehow he _knew_ they were talking about him... And that he had to get out... He looked around, trying to find some sort of alternate exit amongst the jumble and confusion of the lab, made all the more confusing by his still-swimming vision. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. He went over to Dr. Bova, who was huddled over his "greatest creation", and tapped him on the shoulder. "E-excuse me... Do- do you know if there's... There's a- a back exit, or something?" The boy looked up at him, slightly annoyed, then pointed to a hole in the wall. Of course! The... the... jumptubes! That was it... They could take him anywhere... Moving over to it, he climbed into it, and off he went. Radu decided he was NEVER going to use the jumptubes again... His rough trip through them left him feeling worse then ever, and now he was lying in a heap on the floor, trying to make sense of the scant information he had received so far... He tried to be scientific and logical about it. He knew that he had somehow grown fangs. And when the man had referred to a "blood-sucking fiend", he had known they meant him... And he was... hungry... Suddenly, the realization hit him like a hammer... He was a vampire. Radu sat curled up in a ball in a ball in the corner of... whatever room he was in... He was stunned... How was this happening? WHY was this happening...? He struggled to think... But he was so hungry... He HAD to eat... To... feed. The real ization of what that meant hit him... Blood? Would he really drink... blood? No... he wouldn't... he COULDN'T... "NO!" His defiant shout rang in his ears, and he struggled against another intense hunger pang. What was he supposed to do now? Suddenly, there was a *whooshing* noise... The jumptubes! He looked up to see his pursuers coming through the jumptubes. He ran to the door, but the lead hunter- the man- jumped in front of him. "I am Seth Goddard, Vampire Hunter- and I intend to put an end to your reign of terror, monster!" "Goddard..." Radu knew that name... It was the commander- as a vampire hunter? This made no sense... Goddard held out a small object, thrusting it at Radu. It was a stylized star, with a rainbow across the top. It seemed familiar for some reason... Yet Radu found that it was almost painful to look at, and he hid his face behind his cape. Cape... where did he get that? Sure enough, he was wearing one, over his jumpsuit... The man walked towards him calmly, and he realized he was being backed up towards the woman... Was it Thelma? But she looked... Human... She glared at him, brandishing a s take... A STAKE!! They were going to kill him! Despite the pain and confusion of the last several minutes, he still had a survival instinct, and had no desire to let these two do him in. There were only two ways out of the room- the door and the jump tube. Goddard was in front of the door, Thelma was blocking the jumptube. Suddenly, there was a scream- the loud, ear-piercing scream of a terrified woman. It hurt his ears, yet it also distracted his would-be-killers. Radu took the opportunity this presented. He ran to the closest exit- the jumptube. He knocked the wo man down, wrenching the stake out of her hand in the process. He took a breath and prepared for the rough trip ahead... Radu landed with a loud *thud* at the other end- back in the lab, and immediately got up. Not so much thinking as simply acting, he moved quickly over to the jumptube controls, ripping them out, and thus preventing the pair of fearless vampire hunte rs from following him that way. "Do you MIND," came the irritated voice of the junior scientist who's lab he'd just re-entered, "I'm TRYING to experiment here..." "Sorry..." Radu managed, as he headed for the door. "Oh, yeah, fine..." Dr. Bova muttered as Radu was heading out the door, "People just _walk_ into my lab, don't even _bother_ to say 'hi', then just leave... No one wants to..." Radu continued down the corridor, heading for... Where was he headed? Rosie couldn't help him, there were two people who wanted to hurt him... And where had that scream come from? No sooner had that thought crossed his mind then he heard another one... And it was close... Shaking the cobwebs out of his head- and, as always, fighting the Hunger- he took off in the direction of the scream... He heard another one as he ran up to a door... It was here, all right. The door took a few seconds to open, but it felt like fo rever to Radu. He could hear blood rushing in his ears... Was that his, or someone else's? Perhaps both? He ran into the rooms to see a horrifying sight. The girl he'd seen earlier was crawling across the floor, trying to get away from some monstrous thing- it looked like... What had Harlan called them? A werewolf! That was it! Then it hit Radu- that WAS Harlan! The beast still retained some of Harlan's physical features, including some of the Eather's facial structure, and the dreadlocks Harlan now sported. And he wore the jumpsuits all the crew wore on their planetary sojourn. Despite these sim ilarities, this was clearly NOT the same Harlan whom he'd come to know... The girl had gotten to her feet, and looked at the newcomer with a bit of shock. Her hesitation cost her dearly, as the werewolf sprang at her, knocking her down and grabbing her by the throat. Radu decided it was time to join the fray. He ran over, grabbing the werewolf's arms, pulling them away from the throat of the struggling girl (why couldn't he remember her name?). She crawled out from under the beast as it tried to throw Radu off- but Radu wasn't budging. As soon as the young woman was out from under "Harlan", and safely away, Radu lifted the beast to his feet, turning him around so that they were face-to-face. The monster lashed out, but Radu grabbed the flailing arm. But the other arm lashed out, and the werewolf's sharp claws raked across Radu's chest, drawing blood. Radu let out a howl, and grabbing the creature's other arm and snarled at it, baring his fangs. Andromedans had been bred as warrior-slaves by the Spung, so the fighting instinct was very strong in even as gentle an Andromedan as Radu... He could feel that instinct coming to the surface- the desire to fight, to kill the enemy... But there was something else, too... A baseness, an evil that Radu had never experienced... Was this the vampire rising within him? He t ried to focus, to calm himself down... But then he found himself... distracted. He could hear the blood rushing in his ears again.. and he could smell it... The smell of blood... it was driving him crazy. And he was so hungry... The werewolf snappe d out at him with his jaws, and Radu found himself unable to contain his anger. Grabbing the werewolf by the front of its jumpsuit, he threw it like a rag doll across the room. The beast lay still, and Radu bent over, resting his hands on his knees to t ry and relax. He heard a noise and looked up to see the girl coming towards him, her face a mixture of relief over being rescued and concern for her obviously weary rescuer. She walked up him, helping him stand upright, then giving him a hug. "Thanks," she said, close enough to his ear that her enthusiastic shout was physically painful, and he winced away. "What is it?" "I... I..." he looked at her. SUZEE! THAT was her name! Why hadn't he figured that out till now? He smiled at her, then started to speak... But before he could speak, he noticed her arm was injured, and bleeding... He could smell the blood, an d found himself drawn to it, drawn to her... He moved closer, and she looked a little concerned... "Hello?" He barely heard he, though... Like their earlier encounter, he found himself focusing on other things... the flowing blood, the beating of her heart... He had to feed... He pulled away from Suzee, suddenly realizing that he had to save her... From himself. "Get out..." he snarled, turning away from her, trying to fight the current of blood rushing past his ears... "What?" "GET OUT! Run! GO!" With that, Radu turned to her, baring his fangs and snarling at her. Her eyes popped, and she let out a cry, clearly stunned by what she was seeing. Then she turned to run, as Radu fell to the floor and began sobbing. Radu managed to get a hold of himself. He got to his feet, leaving the room, and heading... Well, as usual, he really had no idea where to go... He found himself headed back to the lab... Perhaps with a little persuasion, the Uranian scientist co uld help him. Radu realized he had a problem (well, ANOTHER problem): How was he supposed to get Dr. Bova to listen to him? The boy was so wrapped in his little creation... Then it hit him- perhaps if he acted interested in the experiment, too, he could win the Dr. Bova over. He walked along slowly, still troubled by the intense Hunger, and keeping his ears open for any sign of the vampire hunters. Suddenly he saw a figure in front of him. He smiled- it was Rosie. She smiled as well, running toward him, and giving him the closest thing to a hug that she could. "Are you ok, Radu?" "Y-yeah... I... I'm ok..." he lied. He didn't want to worry her, knowing that she already felt guilty about not being able to help him. He didn't want to make it worse for her. "Where are you headed," she asked him, following along. "I'm going to go... go see Dr. Bova... He might be able to help me." "I hope so..." said Rosie sadly. They walked into Dr. Bova's lab to see him still working on his "creation". He looked up at them. "Oh, _you_ again," he muttered, clearly not happy about this intrusion. Radu had his response ready, though. "We... my friend and I... came to see your work," he said, with a smile. "What _are_ you working on?" "LIFE!" Radu jumped at the announcement. Dr. Bova went on. "I have found the secret of death- and intend to defeat it." "Y-you can't..." Radu started "Ah, a skeptic, eh? Well, I'll prove it to you! Just yesterday, this-" he indicated the body under the drape- "was a lifeless corpse. But today- it lives AGAIN!" With that, he pulled a switch, and the figure sat up. She pulled off the drape- it was Miss Davenport! Her hair was standing up, with white streaks along the temples. "YES! I've done it! She's alive!! SHE'S ALIVE!!!" "It's... Very nice..." "It's a MIRACLE! I call her- the Bride of Davenport! What do you think?" "N-n-nice name..." "She's cool," said Rosie. Dr. Bova jumped. "AGH! What's that?" "She's my friend. You know Rosie, don't you?" He seemed terrified. Davenport let out a little howl, covering her face. "Sorry- I didn't mean to scare you..." said Rosie looking concerned. "T-that's quite all right..." "Look," said Radu, deciding now might be good time to ask for help, "I, um... I was wondering-" Suddenly the door opened, and into the room came the vampire hunters! "A-HA! We have you now, evil one!" "Wait..." Radu protested. But they came towards him before he could finish. Suddenly Rosie jumped forward, letting out an odd, loud howling sound. Goddard let out a cry, dropping his amulet, and Thelma seemed frozen in fright. Radu took off, Rosie following behind him. Radu found himself outside the building... No, it was... a ship? It was dark... But then, vampires lived at night.... He turned to see Rosie standing inside. "Come on, Rosie," he urged. She was really the only friend had right now... "I... I can't leave the ship... I think I'm trapped in here..." "Oh... O-ok..." He turned to go back to the ship. Then he heard a noise... And began to smell blood... Moving toward the smell, he saw Suzee walking through the heavy foliage. Though she had bandaged her wound, he could still smell the blood... He felt himself losing control, as he had when he'd encounter her earlier. He moved towards her... She looked in his direction, and saw him. Turning she ran the other direction. He ran after her... She was doing well, really... Until.. He heard her let out a cry, somewhere up ahead... Following the sound, he turned the corner to find her caught up in a tangle of strangler vines. They had her around the arms and torso, and one was wrapped around her neck. She was fighting them, but that seemed to just make the problem worse. Grabbing the vines, Radu, ripped them apart, freeing her. Suzee fell to the ground, gasping for air. Radu lifted her to her feet... He looked at the artery on her neck... The sound of her heartbeat was intense- it was racing, and that made it all the more seductive... He found himself unable to fight the Hunger any longer... Taking her by the chin, he tilted her head back, leaned over, and drove his fangs into the artery. When he was done, he let go of her. She fell to the ground, dead. Radu stared at her lifeless body... He couldn't believe what he'd just done... Falling to his knees, he let out a howl: "Nooooo!" "Nooooo!" Radu sat up- in bed... He was in bed? Looking down, he saw that he was still in his night-clothes. Reaching up, he felt the muffs on his ears. He ran his fingers over his teeth, to find that they were perfectly normal! A nightmare... It had all just been a dream. Radu didn't have many dreams, but when he did have them, they were very intense. And this one certainly had been. But it was over, and everything was back to normal. He let out a sigh of relief. Suddenly something hit him- a pillow. He looked over to see Harlan looking at him. He took off his mufflers to hear Harlan. "Do you _mind_? SOME of us are trying to sleep." "Sorry..." said Radu. Harlan turned over to go back to sleep. Radu got out of his bunk and headed to the mess hall to get a drink. He walked into the room to see Suzee sitting at the table... with blood on her neck! "Suzee!" "What," she said, furrowing her brows as she used a napkin to clean off her neck. "Look, I _know_ I shouldn't be up this late... I just got up to get a glass of juice-" she indicated the red liquid in her tumbler- "and I spilled some... Nothing big... Are you ok?" "Y-y-yeah... I... I just..." She looked at him skeptically. "I just came to get a drink..." he said at last, going over to one of the carafes of water on the table. "Oookay..." muttered Suzee as she shook her head. Radu got his drink and went back to bed, hoping that the rest of his sleep would be restful. The End The characters in this story are copyrighted by Nickelodeon, Peter David, Billy Mumy, and CINAR productions. They are used without permission. This story is intended only for the enjoyment of my readers, and no copyright infringement is intended.