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crytill5am-blog · 8 years ago

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All That Remains of Lance McClain [Part 5]

Hey all, it’s been a while! I’ve finally finished off my internship and my internship report and now I have some extra free time to update a lot of my active stories before school begins again, so enjoy these!

[frantically digs out my notes on lance’s family tree while watching jacksepticeye’s playthrough of the game]

Part 4 or Start At The Beginning

Preview:

Alexa hoisted herself through the secret door, patting off her clothing before reaching down to pick up the camera once more. Taking a shaky breath, she turned inside the bare, wooden secret passage, capturing the dust covered area. She paused, camera facing the wall, and chuckled lightly, a sad smile pulling at her lips as she spoke, “Looks like Cameron was back here a long time before me,” she mused, staring at the painted black cat head with a bird clutched in its mouth, Cameron’s signature boldly written beneath it.

Alexa hummed lightly, turning away from the painting, the camera briefly lighting on the children’s push-cram before it turned fully back to the hallway, “I guess if you’re watching this, you probably think I have some kind of plan, huh, Lancey Lance?” the young woman murmured softly, passing by the beautiful stained glass window her great grandmother had made for this house, heading over to a small, sliding door at the end of the hallway. She lifted it up and slide through, careful of the camera as she did so, “I’ve got no idea what’s behind here, but it’s gotta be pretty important if my mum never wanted me to get here...”

Alexa trailed off, staring in wonder at the bright pink room. She shuffled around, walking through the room, the camera recording caught sight of the bed, princess like with four posters, tiny for a small girl of Patricia’s age. There were books and toys piled high, dusty and unused for generations, but Alexa ignored them in favor of the large cage she found on the desk beside the door. She wandered over to it, looking it over and finding it - obviously - empty of any living creature. Curious, she opened the desk drawers and laughed lightly in surprised joy, seeing the small bedroom like area with a tiny, miniature cage inside it, “Wow, Auntie Pat’s gerbil must’ve had a great time inside this cage, huh?” she giggled, feeling warm at the cute scene, shutting the drawer once she’d gone over it with the camera and standing up once more.

Alexa wandered through the room, passing by a shut door with an owl mask hanging off of it, several animal muzzle-like pieces dangling just below it, pausing behind the large armchair facing the window before wandering over to the small bed. She smiled as she saw the painting of a princess tower, covering up the empty space between hastily patched up bricks, turning her attention fully to the bed. Patricia’s name was carved on the headboard in elegant gold letters, the bed covered with several toys and big, fluffy dust covered pink blankets, “It’s weird being behind the door...” Alexa mused softly, running her hands over the home carved wooden bed posts longingly, “it kinda feels like... being in a painting.”

Shaking her head, Alexa turned around, heading over towards the bedroom dresser and smiling softly at the messy state it was in. She paused briefly, the camera jiggling in her hold as she reached out and brushed some dust off what looked to be a thick slab of wood. With the dust wiped off, it became astoundingly clear of what was painted on the slab. A young, blonde haired little girl, dressed in a puffy pink princess gown, little black cat eared headband popping out from her golden curls, stared into the camera brightly. Her eyes were light, the blue of the ocean that seemed to be a common trait within the McClain’s bloodline shining softly in the afternoon sun at the camera. Her smile was mischievous, as if she knew a secret that no one else did. The letters A. E. McClain were painted at the bottom, and Alexa felt her heart ache, “Grandma Alex must’ve spent a lot of time in here before mum closed the room off,” she whispered, fingers trailing gently over the words and image. A photograph placed beside the painted wood, showed off just how lifelike the image was, a bright little girl staring out of the black and white image into the camera.

Ignoring the sharp ache in her chest, the tan woman turned away from the painting, heading before the armchair, where the large, framed sea star caught her attention. Humming curiously, she wandered over to it, lifting it up with a smile, pausing as she spotted the small, pink coloured leather journal underneath. Alexa stood there for a moment, staring at it, before leaning over to pick it up, setting the camera down, facing out towards the lake, letting it continue filming. The camera caught, in the far distance, the irregular brightening and softening of a light, out towards the middle of the lake, something looking absurdly like a house showing itself darkly in the fading daylight. There was the soft sound of a surprised gasp, before the camera was picked up again, turned to face Alexa, who had gone pale as a sheet with a shaky smile. She held up the journal, shaking it lightly for the camera, “I’m gonna take this with me. Gonna leave it with the bag I plan to give you... maybe there’ll be more stuff hanging around here? If so, I’ll make sure to take it with me too!”

The video paused as Pidge suddenly sat up with a surprised gasp, scrambling up from her lazy seating position to the middle of the room, ruffling through the contents of the bag she’d been checking out before pulling out a faded pink journal triumphantly. She turned back to the others, who stared at her in bemusement as she waved the journal at them.

“I remember looking through this before we saw the tape! There was some pretty normal stuff, but the last entry in the journal was really, really weird...” she trailed off, flipping through the journal pages as the others shuffled around, trying to look into the journal, “I didn’t really have time to read it before we started watching the film, but it stuck with me because it was so bizarrely started, unlike all the other entries and-”

Pidge’s voice cut out as suddenly there was an explosion of light and colour from the journal, filling up the room for a few moments before condensing into the area around the paladins. A multitude of shapes, colours and sounds amalgamated around them as they yelped in fear, scrambling to try and get away from the sudden light show. Keith tried to reach for his sword while Shiro stood protectively before the princess and Coran, Hunk and Pidge a little ways besides them as they stared up fearfully at the strange... cloud? Vision? Whatever it was.

Suddenly it stopped moving, frozen in time for a handful of seconds as the paladins watched the floating thing before them. Suddenly, a bright, cheerful voice spoke, filling the room and confusing the paladins even more. They stared at the cloud as it slowly started shifting once again, reading out the last journal entry.

December 13th, 1947

Dear Diary,

I’ll be gone soon, but I wanted to tell somebody about what’s gonna happen.

It started when mama sent me to bed without any dinner.

Before the paladins, the vision brightened and grew, fading into the by then familiar room of Patricia McClain. Slowly, it grew on them that what they were seeing was very real, and that the voice speaking sounded very chillingly like that of a young child. They watched in a growing horror and intrigue as the image shifted, assuming that this was the last thing Patricia remembered before she - disappeared? Died? Went missing?

I woke up and I was starving, so I looked around for something to eat. The gerbil food was dry but I didn’t mind it.

The image shifted as Patricia went to stand out of bed, glancing around before she toddled over to her open gerbil cage, reaching in for what looked to be a carrot and some pellets, hearing the crunch of the food as the little girl ate it. She turned away once it was finished, walking over to a pumpkin pot on a shelf hanging on the wall and reaching into it, only to find it empty.

My Halloween candy was all gone...

They watched as she wandered over to her bedroom door, jiggling the handle before calling out loudly, “Mama? Can I come out now?” There was a brief moment of silence before a heavily Irish voice called back, muffled through the door, “Sweetheart, it’s late! Please go back to bed.” Patricia seemed to pause, before she walked away from the door, her stomach growling and grumbling loudly in the quiet of the darkened room. Suddenly, her attention turned towards something glinting in the moonlight. A fishbowl sat atop the pink dressing table, and they saw the little girl hopping over to it, reaching in to pick up the goldfish swimming around lazily inside it. A certain sense of unease clutched their stomachs as they watched and heard the fish squirm around in the little girl’s hands.

I thought about eating Christopher, but I held back.

The team let out a little breath, seeing the goldfish placed gently back into its fishbowl home, before the girl wandered off, opening the door they’d seen was shut in the video. She wandered into a pink bathroom, reaching up by the sink to grab the almost full bottle of toothpaste on top. They heard the sound of squeezing, and swallowing, feeling nauseous, as she then wandered to her window and picked off the red berries that hung tantalizingly from a sprig of what looked to be Holly by the sill.

I kept eating and eating, but it wasn’t enough... I ate a lot of things that night.

There was a brief pause, before the soft fluttering and chirping of a bird could be heard back outside the window back in the bedroom.

Then, I heard chirping outside my windows!

She wandered back towards it, and saw the little bird perched outside the window on the branch by the big tree. A shiver worked its way down the team’s spines as she let out a delighted little gasp.

It was a barn swallow, heading back to her nest! I reached out for her-

The windows opened, a small chain keeping them mostly together as the chilly night air blew into the room. The mist outside left soft lavender smoke whisping around the tree. They heard an irritated grunt, before their perception changed and little black paws with tiny sharp claws latched onto the tree outside-

-and suddenly... I was a cat!

They stared in amazement and confusion, hearing the now-cat purring loudly as she scrambled up the tree. The bird flew off. The cat hesitated, clambering higher, leaping to another branch. She was stalking, getting closer, little bell jingling cheerfully. She could hear the rustling feathers, felt the cool wind stroke her sleek back. She mewed, reaching the bird’s latest perch. It cirped and flew off again, towards the house. Hunger gnawing in her belly, she followed, leaping to the roof. Allura turned to the team with some confusion, “I thought humans could not change form?”

“We can’t,” Pidge said softly, flinching as the cat leapt onto a nearby ladder before hopping over to the roof, “I think... I think maybe this is just some really weird fever dream or something?” She went quiet, staring at the vision as it continued.

I tried to be quiet, but the bird was really scared.

Swiftly, she followed. The chase was on, the barn swallow always a little out of reach, and her hunger was growing. They stared in horror, shivering every time she missed, silent as she hunted. She wandered over the roof, slunk through the branches of the tree, hopped to and fro, never losing sight of her prey. She paused briefly, looking into the window of a large, cosy room, two figures asleep on the bed inside.

Mama and papa didn’t even look at me.

It sounded sad, and there was a moment of hesitation, before the chirping caught her attention and the hunger returned. She followed the bird once again. Her bell jingled with every hop, and she could see the swallow tiring staying a little bit too long on each new spot. She was getting closer.

I jumped and I almost got her. I could tell she was getting really tired.

The cat growled irritably, from tree to tree she leaped, getting ever closer. She hopped onto a brightly decorated table, her claws tip-tapping over the polished wood. Suddenly, she climbed higher and higher, fear pushed to the back of her mind as the team watched with bated breath.

I was on the big tree now. I promised papa I wouldn’t try to climb it anymore, but all I cared about was eating that mama bird.

She leapt, and finally her claws sunk into soft, feathered flesh. She slipped, but her hunger overwhelmed her, quickly swallowing down her prey. Shiro sucked in a sharp, terrified breath, the others gagging quietly before freezing as they watched the ground closing in, coming closer and closer. Fear seetled deeply into the image, a darkness enveloping the vision before it... cleared up once again. They could hear wind flowing softly, the rattling of silky feathers.

The suddenly, I was an owl!

She flew, the wind rushing past her, elegant and soft. The moon lit upon her and she looked down, admiration and exhilaration curled up in she feathered chest.

First, all I could hear was the wind. Then, I heard little teeth nibbling in the grass!

The team could only watch in silent awe as she flew, Pidge briefly muttering about being ‘hongry’, before silencing herself to watch the vision. The snowy ground beneath the owl passed by at dizzying speeds, and they could hear the soft sounds of a wandering little rodent. She dove suddenly, the lavender mist swirling around her and the body of a softly furred animal came into view, large long ears perked up into the air as it ate cautiously in the night. Something viciously hungry and demanding curled within the owl, a delighted “Rabbits!” coming from the vision as she rose up and dove once again, swiftly catching one between her sharp talons as she flew off. The warm blood dripped from her fresh kill, the scent gnawing at her as she flew, soon finding a place to perch. She consumed her meal swiftly, not wanting to risk any other predators smelling the kill and stealing it from her.

I imagined his face looking up and seeing mine, through my talons. I swallowed him up, and I didn’t chew one bit! Then I flew off to find something bigger.

The owl hooted gently, lifting off the branch and flying off. Hunk looked a little green, glancing at the others briefly, “This little girls is seriously kinda fucked up,” he mumbled, hearing noises of agreements from the others. They quieted down once again, continuing to watch the vision, memory, dream, whatever it was. They all flinched as she swooped down again, a fatter rabbit soon dangling from her claws.

A mama rabbit! She was almost too big to carry. I started choking, but I couldn’t stop eating!

Her heartbeat rang loudly through the vision, thumping wildly. They could hear her struggling to swallowed, and the acid burning feeling of bile rose up in Keith’s mouth. They stared incredulously as suddenly, the image shifted again, and a dark grey snout of a sark filled the edge of the vision.

And suddenly, I was a shark!

She rolled, falling from the ground as the team suddenly cracked up laughing, a little hysterical as they watched the big shark roll down a forest hill, trees and rocks passing by them at a blur.

I rolled off a cliff, and into the ocean! Now... I was hungrier than ever!

They quieted down as the shark started swimming, watching with a little more skepticism as the vision waded through seaweed. She sped through the water, the trail of bubbles before her clearing up, the spotted hide of a seal becoming clearer in the murky waters. She rushed towards it, a need for something filling overtaking her rational thoughts.

I wanted fat, juicy seals.

They watched, uncomfortably, as she managed to grab the seal’s tail with her big, powerful jaws, the poor thing struggling to get itself loose, bellowing in fear. Blood drifted in tendrils into the water, her mind becoming clouded with red.

I tore off her flipper and it tasted really good.

She chased the bloody trail of her prey, swiftly catching up and biting down into it once again, more of that delicious taste filling her mouth. Coran glanced away, uncomfortable, but Allura’s gaze remained steadily on the vision.

I grabbed on tight, but I was so hungry, I jumped out of the water. When I opened my eyes, everything changed!

The image blackened and changed once again, the girl suddenly on a ship. Something wet squelched loudly within the vision, a deep, hungry growling settling into the room as whatever was on the screen moved. Stretching out before them, a long, slender arm with suckers squirmed about, suddenly clamping down on the wood and dragging something heavy over it. She moved through the ship, something - or rather, someone - catching her attention. A deep, rusty voice sang out through the wooden halls, echoing back towards her.

Now I was a monster, and I smelled people everywhere!

The team could do nothing but watch as what used to be the little girl slide itself loudly over the wooden deck. It was hunting someone, its hunger curling around itself. Something unsettling filtered through the vision, heavy, deep breaths and the sting of sharp, loud growling. It silenced itself as it got closer, squeezing under machinery and between pipes. Its attention was caught suddenly, a figure standing to the side of the ship. It turned itself towards the man, something gleeful and hungry echoing through it.

I was big, but I moved real quietly.

It slunk closer, silent, its tendril reaching forward and wrapping around the man’s leg. It tugged, the man yelped in fear, but it was too quick, too hungry, swallowing the man down easily. It turned towards the stairs, heading up, its stomach still empty, gnawing at its thoughts. The paladins stared, wide eyed, as it searched for more prey. The panicked voice of little Patricia filtered from far away, reaching them just barely.

I wanted to stop, but at the same time I... didn’t.

She sounded guilty, a fear in her voice as the creature continued to slither up the stairs, opening the double doors leading to the steering wheel. A voice suddenly sang through, deep and rusty, and it crawled towards the man standing at the helm.

“What should we do with a drunken sailor, What should we do with a drunken sailor, What should we do with a drunken sailor, Early in the morning?”

“Shave his belly with a rusty razor, Shave his belly with a rusty razor, Shave his belly with a rusty razor -”

The voice was cut off, a scream passing through him but was quickly silenced as the monster pulled him close and swallowed him. Everything stilled for a moment, silent and deafening. Suddenly, it turned, a scent so tantalizing, so new and delicious, reached it from out in the ship. Its hunger returned. It started moving.

After the last passenger, I was still hungry. Across the water, I smelled something new. Something I had to have.

Patricia’s voice trembled. Something uncomfortable settled within the paladins, but they couldn’t stop, couldn’t turn of the vision like they could the video recording of Lance’s mum.

So I swam towards it...

The creature was on the beach, a grate barely blocking it from a pipe heading deep underground. It slid in, crawling through.

I slithered onto the sand and the good smell went into an old pipe.

It crawled, much faster than it had been on the ship, its ever present hunger vibrating through it with a need for sustenance. They watch, a sense of dread welling up inside them, as the creature pulled itself up the pipe and out of a toilet. The bathroom was pink, familiar to them. It slid towards the bathroom door, creaking it open into an equally pink room.

I slid closer, and closer...

There was a light coming out from beneath a very familiar bed. The creature slid closer, excitement coursing through it. It crawled under the bed.

All my stomachs started growling... and suddenly, I was me again.

The vision blurred and darkened. Bleary eyes opened up and someone, Patricia, the team realised belatedly, sat up in the pink bed quickly. She looked down at her hands, turning them over and over, trembling as she heard something growling deep beneath her bed. She froze for a moment, before quickly pulling a familiar pink journal out from under her pillow, opening to a fresh page and starting to write. The growling stopped. Silence.

I held my breath for a long time, but I couldn’t hear anything!

The whispered voice was fearful, as she looked over to the side of the bed. She continued writing quickly, swallowing heavily.

I think it’s waiting for me to fall asleep. But it’s not going to wait much longer! It needs to feed and we both know that I...

will be...

delicious.

There was a moment of silence as the last word hung in the air, a deep growling ringing through the vision. The cloud went dark, flickering with snippets to sound and colour. Big yellow eyes. Sharp, shark-like teeth. A short cry. It collapsed into itself, the vision growing larger, roaring as it filled the room, growing and growing and growing, enveloping the area with darkness. The paladins yelled for each other, grabbing whoever was closest as a violent wind rushed through and passed them, whipping their hair in their faces. Hunk held onto Pidge and Allura, Coran keeping a tight grip of his jacket as Shiro and Keith held on as tightly as they could to the orange haired man’s waist.

Everything froze for a moment, before the miasma was suddenly sucked back into the faded pink journal, a deep, angry snarling ringing through the room before it was silenced with a crisp, sharp snap of the pages closing upon it.

There was a terrifying moment where team Voltron kept holding onto one another, afraid that if they let go, they’d be sucked up and out of the castle as well. When nothing else happened, the let go of one another with a heavy sigh.

Keith ripped away from them and started pacing, his eyes wide and wild with fear and anger, “What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck!” he yelled, teeth gritting as he kept moving, the others checking each other over and turning towards him. Keith stopped pacing, facing the others and gestured towards the journal with a panicked look on his face, “What the actual fuck was that?!”

“That-I don’t know-that didn’t happen the first time I was going through it, oh my God-!” Pidge said, taking several deep breaths to try and remain calm, her hands shaking violently from what had previously occurred.

“Guys, we need to stay calm-” Shiro began, voice shaky and unsure.

Keith cut him off with an incredulous laugh, staring at their leader, “Are you kidding me, how the hell can we remain calm, our team mate has been hiding some fucked up magic bullshit from us all this time that tried to eat us-”

“I th-think it was trying to-to-to suck us into the journal,” Hunk stuttered, eyeing the harmless looking pink book warily as he used the tips of his toes to shove it back with the pile of other things that they’d found in Blue’s hidden compartment.

“What the actual fuck,” Keith breathed, flopping on one of the couches and holding his head in his hands.

Hunk cleared his throat, looking worriedly at the rest of his team as they all tried to come to terms with what they’d just seen, “Maybe we should... take a break? We’re all still pretty strung out from the last fight, so maybe now isn’t the best time to go looking through this maybe-but-most-likely-magical stuff.” Pidge nodded, leaning against Hunk, legs shaking slightly as she stood there.

Shiro looked torn, turning to Allura who seemed to hesitate, glancing over at the books and other things that were still in a messy pile beside the holo-projector they’d been using to watch the video. The two seemed to communicate silently for a bit before Allura nodded and turned to the others, “We should all take some time to rest up before we continue watching and looking through all... this.”

Shiro nodded lightly and turned to his team, looking over them all worriedly before clearing his throat, “Let’s all take the rest of the day, er, night off. Go wash up, grab something to eat, use the training room if you need to, to cool down from everything. We’ll meet back up here tomorrow to continue looking through everything.”

Everyone stood there for a moment longer before they all started heading off. Pidge was the first to leave, muttering something about checking out the data they’d gotten from their last prison run for information about her dad and Matt, before hurrying from the room. Keith left next, followed by Shiro and Allura, leaving Hunk and Coran in the living quarters. Coran left next, saying something about preparing some food for the team, without any protests from Hunk, who was still staring at the frozen image of Lance’s mum, pale and fearful in the video.

Turning on his heel, he swiftly made his way over to the med-bay, hurrying over to the healing pod where Lance was. He stared up at his friend for a few minutes, cycling through the day in his mind before sighing and leaning his head against the front of the pod, sliding down to sprawl next to the pod.

“What the hell have you been hiding from us, buddy?”

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