The BLTS Archive - One Moonlit Night
by Jaxonii (imzadiofborg@gmail.com)
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This is something I sorta threw together this morning...  I remembered
a time when my family used to put together a haunted house on
Halloween, and couldn't resist.  It was one of those things that
started out as a family get-together type thing, but eventually turned
into something that attracted 100+ visitors!  (At that time, having so
many people out this far from the city limits was quite surprising, to
say the least!)

Enjoy, and I hope everyone has a safe Halloween!

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The horse drawn wagon moved slowly through the woods.  It was several
hours past sunset and the sky was clear, if one could see the sky
between the thick branches overhead.  There was a slight nip to the
air, and the occasional breeze rustled the drying leaves on the trees
and the ground.  The full moon was bright, and gave just enough
light to play with one's imagination.

This whole experience, so far, was strange.  Deanna wasn't one to be
afraid of the dark, but the silence was quite disconcerting.  She had
been riding on this cart for what seemed like hours, and the only
sounds heard was the creaking of the wagon wheels and an occasional
snort from the horses.  The driver made no attempt to speak, and the
few times she tried to strike up a conversation with him, he merely
nodded to her.

Where is Will?? she thought, pulling the edges of her cloak close
around her, as if to ward off the cool air and the worry that was
beginning to soak into her bones.  Riker had told Deanna he was going
to join her on this particular adventure, but when the cart and its
mysterious driver showed up, she left without him.  What she wouldn't
give right now to have him sitting next to her, to help calm her mind
from the odd feeling that permeated the wood.

The wagon jerked to a stop, and Deanna looked to see what was going
on.  The horses were stomping and acting very nervous.  The driver was
working the reins, trying to get the alarmed creatures to continue
down the dark path.

"What's going on?" she asked, hoping to get some kind of response from
him.

To her surprise, he answered, "Nothin' that should worry ya, Miss.
Dark nights like this tend to shake 'em up a bit easy.  We'll be on
our way again shortly."

"Okay."  Deanna watched as he continued working with the horses and
spoke to them in a peaceful voice.  In a few moments, they calmed
enough to continue on.

Then, an unfamiliar sound reverberated through the silence. The horses
reared in fright, and the driver barely kept them from bolting.  It
was all Deanna could do to keep from screaming, "What was that??"

"That's something you should worry about. . .  keep down, and I'll do
what I can to get us out of here."

She ducked down as he suggested as the sound echoed again, this time
a lot closer and it was joined by several others.  Deanna covered her
head in hopes to drown out at least some of the awful howling and
screeching coming from all directions.

Curiosity finally got the better of her.  Troi peeked out just in time
to see a dark, shadowy form burst out of some nearby bushes.  There
was nothing the driver could do to keep the terrified the horses from
bolting.  The wagon bounced and clamored after the frightened animals.

It wasn't long before the horses broke loose from the cart and ran off
into the darkness.  Deanna peeked out again as the wagon dragged to a
stop.  They were still in the middle of the woods, and whatever
frightened the horses seemed to have moved on.

She looked up to the spot where the driver had been, but he was
nowhere to be seen.  A shock of fear went down her spine and became a
lead ball in her stomach.

She was alone and in an unknown place.  For a moment, she almost
envisioned Will coming out of the bushes, laughing and telling her it
was all a joke.

When that didn't happen, Deanna stood, taking a deep breath to calm
her fast-beating heart.  She didn't know what was going on, but it
couldn't be good.  The best plan would be to get as far away from the
broken cart as possible.

Pulling her cloak around her again, she began a quick pace down the
dimly lit path.  The chill of fear had intensified her hearing
ten-fold, making her aware of every tiny sound in the quiet forest.
She was nearly overpowered by the sense of being watched or stalked,
but did her best to ignore it, believing it to only be the
unpleasantness of the forest playing with her imagination.

Suddenly, she froze in her tracks. She detected some movement out of
the corner of her eye, followed by the distinct sound of a stick
breaking.  Deanna didn't know what to do -- she felt as if the beating
of her heart could be heard in the stillness.  Her eyes were wide as
she slowly scanned the area around, hoping her senses were only
playing tricks.  Nothing was there.

Deanna was able to distinguish a small thicket not far from the path.
Perhaps, if she hid in there, she could wait until the light of day to
leave this forest.  It took all that was left of her to push back the
temptation to run, as she walked slowly and quietly as she could to
the hiding place.

It remained silent for what seemed like hours while Troi remained
hidden in the thicket.  She had actually calmed down enough to start
drifting off to sleep.  just as sleep began to pull her from the
conscious world, she heard the crunching of dead leaves as something
walked on them, the sound gradually getting closer.

Immediately, she was again awake, her eyes wide in fear.

"Deanna?  Imzadi?  Are you here?"

The voice belonged to Will, and as much as Deanna wanted to respond,
she was unsure.  What if her mind was playing tricks again?  She was
very tired. . .  maybe this was a waking dream.  She remained still
and quiet.

"Deanna!  It's me, Will. . .  I found the wagon. . .  are you here?
Are you okay?"

She stayed where she was, deciding what to do.  Finally, she called
out, "I'm here, in the thicket."

The sound of him running toward her hiding place seemed terribly loud
as she stepped out to meet him.  Deanna leaned against his chest.
"I'm so happy you're here!" she said.

He kissed the top of her head, and wrapped his arms comfortably around
her.  "I'm sorry I missed you earlier. . .  I got sidetracked on a few
things... it kept me occupied longer than I anticipated."

The cool wind blew, and a flurry of leaves fell from the limbs above.
She snuggled against him.  "It's okay, just take me home.  I don't
think I can take much more of this forest."

Sounds of something walking up to them caused Deanna to pull away from
Will to see what was approaching.  To her surprise, she saw several
dark forms moving about in the shadows.

She looked up to Will, who was smiling in such a way that sent chills
down her spine.  "By all means, I'll take you home."

The eerie howling she'd heard before resounded from one of the shadowy
forms.  Deanna struggled, trying to loosen the grip Riker had on her.
One by one, the howling began again, this time, with Will lending his
own voice to the terrifying sound.

The sound dissipated and Riker lifted Deanna's chin with a clawed
finger, "Come with me, and all will be fine, my Imzadi," he said with
an evil lilt in his voice.  His eyes glowed yellow as he laid her over
his shoulder and ran off into the forest....

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The End