A/N Due to a friend wanting to read the sequel to this, I decided that you could not have one without the other. Therefore I am re-uploading this story, and editing the chapters while I go. So Ferryman? This one is for you!

Please comment if you wish!

*I neither own nor want to own the characters in this story, they all belong to MGM and the Stargate Franchise. I merely torture and play with them..........*

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Chapter 1.

Darkness had fallen so quickly and completely that it was impossible for him to make out his surroundings any longer. He had no idea how long he had been here, but the ache in his shoulders and arms combined with the numbness in his legs told him it had been too long.

He was tied to the base of a tree stump, on his knees with his hands bound behind his back. The rough wood was ragged against his tender skin, his knees sore from the constant pressure of his weight and he could do nothing to alleviate his discomfort.
Coldness had seeped into his body from the chill air, making him tremble and shake in the freezing night. He could no longer even feel the pain from his chaffed and bleeding wrists, he had given up trying to free himself long before. His body screamed in constant agony against the position it was forced to be in, every nerve burning for some relief.
The combination of the complete darkness and strange silence kept his mind on such an edge as to constantly drain his energy. Energy he knew he could not afford to waste.

His head turned sharply to the left as a noise broke the silence. Though he could see nothing in the blackness, his eyes still blindly darted around in search of the origin of the noise. Too scared to call out, he tried to stop the shaking that the cold had started, forcing himself to keep still and quiet so as not to attract attention to his vulnerable self.

Something grunted beside him, hot fetid breath on his face causing him to squeeze his eyes shut in terror, breath catching in his throat.

A small whimper escaped his lips and he mentally shouted at himself to keep quiet. He tried to shy away from the creature but the binds held him fast. The beast shuffled around in front of him, sniffing and pawing at his leg before moving on.
McKay slumped against his bindings, relief washing over his pain wracked body.

He thought about the others. Teyla and Ronon were tied liked him, far enough apart from each other that they would have to shout to communicate. But he would not be shouting, not in this darkness with god knows what roaming around.

And Sheppard. Where was he? In the daylight he could just make out the others far in the distance, but Sheppard was not there.
He could not remember anything before waking tied to the stump. He had no recollection of any ambush or of any fight, only the memory of landing the Jumper, getting to this clearing and waking tied to the tree stump.

McKay's head dropped in exhaustion. He hung there in the darkness, his mind forever alert in fear. This was torture.

A shrill scream rang out, making him raise his head again quickly. Teyla? Another scream tore through the night, freezing his heart.

"TEYLA!" he shouted into the night. Nothing. There was no reply and no other sound met his ears. Panic once again rose within him, making his ears strain, his eyes bulge in an attempt to see something, anything.

His heart hammered in his chest as if it were trying to break free of his rib cage. The silence was deafening, suffocating almost. He could feel it bearing down on him like a heavy lead blanket. His breath came in quick short rasps and he thought he could see lights, until he realised he was hyperventilating. He tried to slow his frantic breathing and his thundering heart, tried to calm himself... but that's not easy to do when one is faced with whatever was lurking around in the darkness and a wild imagination generating images of what it could be.

Shuffling noises invaded his ears again, coming once more from his left. Again he struggled against his bindings, grunting at the pain it caused him, wide eyes searching for the monster that made its way towards him, but the darkness still prevailed.

"Oh God, oh God, oh God..." he muttered through gritted teeth as his panic gave way to complete and mindless terror. A pitiful cry of fear forced its way out of his tight mouth and he struggled harder. He muttered incoherently, now no longer mindful to keep quiet as his mind sought only escape. Spittle sprayed from his mouth as he grunted in his struggle, unable to brush the annoying feeling from his chin.

Had the rope slackened? He kept at it, pulling and fumbling, scratching and bruising his skin, the faint hope of release giving him something to work with.

A grunt in his ear and hot, heavy breath brought him back to stillness. He could smell the breath of the animal, he even thought he could detect the metallic tang of blood from its foulness. It poked around his head with its massive nose, sniffing and growling, rattling what wits he had left. A rough and hot tongue licked down the side of his head, teeth brushing gently against his skin as the head pulled slowly away from his face.
In his mind he could see the beast, see it licking its lips and opening its great maw for the attack that he was sure was coming.

If the darkness had not already been there, he would have noticed it around the edges of his vision as his mind shut down to protect itself.
McKay slumped forward on his restraints once more, oblivious to his doleful surroundings as his mind slept.

He did not hear the scream that pulled the beast away from him, nor did he catch the sound of its feet thudding away as it ran into the night.