Desperately, Bala reaches for him. Straining... even as she reaches out, her eyes and ears strain for something. Anything. The gentle sounds her jewelry made muffled the oppressive silene, but only a bit.

Without their walking, without his words and the sounds of her outfit, other noises were beginning to filter in. Before, the muffled noises could be shoved aside, ignored or lost in the others.

The screams of the room she was in... the cries of fear though were melting away, replaced by ecstatic moans and groans. Sounds of sex were heavily muffled... she could only imagine the horrors...

Those horrors, and something else. A noise? A thump? Maybe it was just a trick of her mind. But her nerves could not hold out. Not against this, not in this nightmare. She ran.

Everything was lost again in the blur of movement and the tinkling of noise. She was being pursued, she had to be, but she could not hear anything beyond her own noise of panic, her own commotion. The pounding of her heart was oppressive enough, her mind spinning forth the sure signs of pursuit until she came to a crashing halt!


With herself regathered, her body shivering... Bala steps back out into the dark hall. Her body still ached with the tumble... but the cold was too much. Struggling for warmth, the beautiful Hindi forges ahead, walking into the uncertain darkness...

A darkness that seemed to gather around her, swallowing her in its endless depths. Caressing her just short of sensation, a hidden tension across her body as if she could feel a presence gathered all around her. Every breath brought it closer, tighter, an oppressive weight that threatened to drag her down to her knees without her ever being touched...

A faint noise. Another crash? A heavy thump. Was it a monster, moving in the hall? Or a nubile body bumping against a wall as a student was braced and steadied by one of the horrid beasts that captured her? There it was again, on the inner wal, another faint thump. Was it closer? It must be.

And then... just as her nerves begin to drive her mad, and just as she would run again, her body impacts against someone! Hands go around her, supporting her in what must be now a chill, pitch dark hallway... She could feel him through his shirt... he was warm, and strong. But he didn't say a word...

Bala screams as she bumps into something. The arms wrapping around her were, at first, no comfort. Then she feels the softness of familiar cloth, the hilt of his sword, the warmth and strength of his arms. This was her Captain, her savior.

"Jefferson! I thought I had lost you. Don't ever leave me. Please." She presses against him in a desperate hug. Face and breasts buried in his chest. She trembles uncontrollably in his arms. Despite finding her captain again, Bala still is quite obviously terrified.