Laur—Lauri… he thought brokenly. Where are you?

You agreed to this, said the monster happily, shooing off the tentacles that had bound him.

I—agreed? he thought.

Yes.

The monster placed his claws on Matt’s temples; the world was being sucked away before Matt’s eyes…he felt the world spin, then go black as his strength, his very lifeblood was sucked away. Stars shimmered before his eyes as the monster grew stronger and brighter with every passing second. Matt screamed with the excruciating pain of dying from the inside out.

Lauri…

Suddenly, the torture stopped. The monster’s claws were ripped away. Dazed, Matt saw a blurry figure.

“Lauri?” he whispered, like a small child.

The face, the eyes…it was all there, it was his Lauri! He began to swim, uncoordinated and meek, but swimming toward her all the same.

But then he saw the tail and fainted as the creature he thought was his beloved Lauri began to battle the monster.