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A scream interrupted a peaceful night in Arizona.

Lights flickered on down the hallway in a quaint suburban home. Out of the room emerged a woman in a cotton nightgown. Her hurried steps carried her down the hall. Her arms reached for the handle to a white door with a purple [color=E5D0FF]E[/color] painted on it. With just a turn of the knob and a pull, she found herself in a room with purple walls. It was dimly lit, illuminated only by a star lamp that stood in the corner. It's light cast constellations against the ceiling, bookcases, stuffed animals, and a crude blanket fort made by placing a blanket over a desk. Her eyes turned immediately towards the bed, where she found the huddled form of a young girl right under the constellation of Orion. 

[color=BC8F8F]"Eli? Honey, what's wrong?"[/color] Her voice, although slurred by drowsiness, was as smooth as silk.

The little girl's head rose from her knee and her arms hugged her knees tighter. A small river of tears flowed down her cheeks and her eyes were wide with fear as she saw her mother in the doorway. [color=E5D0FF]"I had the dinosaur nightmare again,"[/color] she whispered. [color=E5D0FF]"But this time when I woke up, it was in the closet."[/color] Her hand rose from her legs to point at the dark, open closet on the other side of the room. She took a stuttering breath, staring at the dark space as if the creature would reappear.

While something like this may have frightened a little child, it did nothing to scare the strong woman that stood in the doorway. Her mother strode straight towards the closet, and to Eli's surprise, reached straight into the abyss. The light within clicked on with a simple pull of a string. Eli immediately hid her face into her knees again.

[color=BC8F8F]"Eli... Look, honey. There's nothing in your closet. See?"[/color] Her voice was soft, and soothing.

Eli slowly lifted her head, whimpering as if she'd see the beast again before she felt relief pass through her when she opened her eyes. There really was nothing in the closet. Nothing but clothes and a toy box. She sniffled again and rubbed her puffy eyes with the back of her hand. [color=E5D0FF]"But it looked so real, mommy."[/color]

Her mother gently made her way towards Eli's bed now. She crawled under the covers with the girl and Eli climbed into her embrace as she sat back against the headboard. Eli gratefully hid in the crook of her neck. She was warm, and the little girl could smell her lotion wafting from her skin. Vanilla. Her mother always smelt of Vanilla. She held on tightly, still recovering from the frightening nightmare. Her mother's presence was slowly easing her back to sleep.

She felt her mother kiss her forehead, and then her fingers running through her hair. With a sigh, she finally felt her racing heart slow to a calm pace. The room was quiet for a few moments. She listened to the distant nighthawks chirping in the Arizona desert, until her mother's voice filled the room. She sung softly, some lullaby that her own mother sung to her years before. By the time she reached the second chorus, Eli was already peacefully asleep.

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[color=E5D0FF][i]"Archie, please."[/i][/color]

As brave as she was to continue projecting illusions into Archie's mind... as strong as her will was to continue to stay focused amidst her terror, Eli's resolve shattered the moment the beasts arm crashed into the wall beside her.

The impact was deafening. A terrified cry escaped from her throat. Eli felt her entire body shake as ripples of energy passed through the wall, and she shrunk into nothing but a small form against it's base. The pain that flared in her calf was nothing compared to the panic that took control. Her hands came up to cover her head, as if to they could hide her from what was about to happen next. [i]This is it.[/i] Tears flowed freely from her eyes as they stared down at the blood spattered ground. The memory of the beast lurking in her closet came to mind, and she felt just as scared as she had when she awoke from the dream. The kind of fear that made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up and left a tight, painful feeling right in the middle of your back and your shoulders This was the first time Eli yearned for her mother's embrace in years.

But the monster never emerged from the closet. The light came on, and the hot breath of the monster above her never came an inch closer to her. Slowly, like a mouse trapped in a small crevice, Eli turned her shaking body to look up at the beast's mangled face. This close to him, Eli could see every scute and scale on his body. A droplet of blood dripped down a broken tooth and fell to land on Eli's hand. She flinched and felt it's heat as it dissipated against her skin. She couldn't look away from him. She wasn't sure why he hadn't killed her yet. Why did he throw his arms up like that? As if it was meant to stop him from crashing into her.

Did her illusions work? Had she broken through to him? She was utterly shocked, and yet still completely terrified. What would he do now that the illusions were gone? Would the rage return? Out of fear, she remained frozen in place, cowering beneath him as if any sudden movement would draw attention to her once more. She felt like a little girl again, and she desperately wished that she could crawl under the covers and be safe from this nightmare.

Then another explosion rocked the room. This time it came from beside the beast. She returned to a fetal position against the wall once more. Surely the beast would come crashing down onto her now. Only, he didn't. She looked out from behind her blood-matted hair to see that one of his arms had clawed it's way down the wall and onto the ground. A moment of relief replaced her terror when she saw the huddled form of Keaton on the closer side of it's massive foot. Keaton had been there the entire time. Why hadn't she seen her before? She saw shrapnel sticking out of the beast's arm and, for a second, she was almost convinced that he'd done it to protect her. That couldn't be true... right? Her eyes grazed over Keaton. She was unharmed... besides the blood that stained her denim jacket.

[color=E5D0FF][b]"Keaton!"[/b][/color]

Fueled by the hope that spread through her, Eli began to crawl towards her friend. They had to get out of there, somehow. They had to get as far away from Archie as they could. Maybe in this moment of clarity, the beast would let them go.

The ray of hope was gone in an instant when the beast's body jerked once more. She cowered again, feeling as if she'd provoked him by moving, before she realized what had happened. His massive shadow was gone. Somehow, he'd been pulled away from them, and when she looked to see why, she saw Natalie gripping his leg. So, Natalie had super strength... and Archie could turn into [i]this.[/i] The girl appeared behind the beast for a moment before it turned it's attention towards her. Natalie saved them from whatever was about to happen next, but now she was alone against Archie. Eli looked away as his foot descended upon Nat's chest with a grimace.

[color=E5D0FF]"K-Keaton... We have to go,"[/color] she managed, her eyes desperately pleading Keaton to jump into action. She couldn't make it on her own. She [i]wouldn't[/i] leave her friend behind. [i]What are the chances we survive, Keaton? What's your head telling you now?[/i] She just about reached her when she heard Natalie's voice. Her head whipped around, and she stopped in place when she saw that the monster hadn't crushed Nat.

Even though Natalie's words were touching, Eli wasn't sure if they would get through to him. Even if the illusions had stopped him before, it seemed like every sudden sound or movement would set him off again. They had no idea what would trigger him next. Would it be Keaton and Eli as they tried to escape? Would it be The Promise's staff, finally arrived, and aiming rifles at Archie's enormous form? Were there still gunmen in the cafeteria? So many possibilities. So many ways to die. Eli felt like her head was spinning. Or was it the bloodloss? Would she even make it far enough before collapsing?

No, there was no escaping this. She had to face it head on, like she'd done the gunmen earlier. She swallowed. Disorienting Archie wouldn't help. It would only send him into a deeper state of rage. If she took away his sight or smell, he could easily thrash his body until it found something solid to hit. [i]They made a promise?[/i] It seemed that the two were closer than she expected. She'd relish in the thought that her advice worked for Archie later. Now, she could only hope that their bond was strong enough to bring the [i]real[/i] Archie back.

[b]If there was a difference between the two.[/b]

[color=E5D0FF]"I have to t... try something, Keaton,"[/color] she murmured, reluctantly closing her eyes to the scene before her. She thought long and hard about Natalie. She'd only ever been in the same space as her a few times. They hadn't even spoken to each other that much. She could only rely on the image of her, and the words Nat spoke to Archie just now. She remembered how Natalie looked at the bonfire. With her pretty dress, sleek black hair, and perfectly done makeup. She'd looked amazing. [i]Like a dark angel...[/i]

It was the image she chose to show Archie now, and Natalie's words about their promise drifted throughout the illusion. Even if doing this took the last of her energy, used the last of her blood left in her body, Eli knew that it was the right choice. They'd all be okay if Archie came back. He [i]needed[/i] to come back. She couldn't stand feeling this way about him. This [i]fear[/i]. While she could never look at him the same, she thought that if they could get him back to the way he was, she could stand to be around him again.

[color=E5D0FF]"Come on, Archie..."[/color]