Hey guys! So I was saving this to be posted on Saturday morning, but I promised that I would post it early if I reached 100 followers. And you guys delivered! I'm now at 100 FOLLOWERS!!!!! Thank you guys so much and I hope you enjoy the story. Stay awesome! 😉

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Lloyd's P.O.V.:

I was walking through Hiroshi's Labyrinth. I was responding to a call from some explorers about a disturbance that they encountered. They sounded pretty serious over the phone.

All of the other ninja were on their own missions. They had offered to help, but I was sure I could handle this one on my own. Plus while I was here, I was hoping I would get time to visit my friend Kira and they always tease me that she's my girlfriend, which she isn't.

Kira and I had met during one of my other missions and I knew she had a treehouse around here somewhere. I was hoping to squeeze in a visit, but she traveled a lot so there was a chance she was at another one of her bases set up around Ninjago.

I approached the location I was heading towards and started looking around. I saw some of the explorers' gear laying around the area. All of their food had been eaten and their stuff had been ransacked. On a nearby tree I saw some deep claw marks and I had wondered what had made them.

As I was continuing my investigation, I heard some rustling in the trees and the growling of some large animal. I kept looking for it but I didn't find anything. I only caught a glimpse of it before it jumped on top of me.

It had me pinned down, I couldn't move. I felt it's sharp talons digging into my skin and I felt it's sharp teeth sink into my neck. I screamed as the blood surrounded me. I was in so much pain I passed out...

***

"Lloyd." I heard a voice say. "Lloyd?"

I opened my eyes to reveal Kira in front of me. I looked around and I was in her treehouse. Her tired blue eyes and sweaty brown hair told me she was exhausted. She had blood on her hands and all over her green sweater, but I assumed that was mine. Kira was the master of healing and sometimes she would get tired after using her powers too much. I assumed that's what happened because I was still hurting in some places, but I was in a lot less pain than before.

"Kira?" I set up and held my head. I realized I was extremely lightheaded after losing that much blood.

"Easy now. I did what I could but my powers could only do so much." Kira caught her breath and was leaning on the edge of the cot for balance.

"What happened? How did you find me? Are you ok?"

"I-I heard a man screaming and I went to investigate. I found you in a pool of your own blood." She huffed. "Your scratches were so deep and if I had been even a few minutes later, you wouldn't have made it. I'm surprised you were still alive when I got there."

"That must've taken a lot out of you." I realized.

"What matters to me is that you're ok." Kira weakly smiled.

"Well then, thanks. I'm glad you were here when you were." I said.

"Me too." Kira smiled and took my hand.

In a moment of weakness, we both leaned into each other. Our lips were about to touch when we heard a small flying vehicle pulling up to the treehouse. We both pulled back because we were surprised.

"Who is that?" I asked.

"Oh, you were really hurt so I called your friends to come pick you up." Kira explained.

"Oh that was nice of you." I said. "Thanks."

"You stay here, I'll go let them in." Kira said.

She went over to the door to greet my friends. All of a sudden I felt extremely dizzy and the whole room went dark.

"Kira?" I looked around but she wasn't there. "Kira what's going on? What's happening?"

"Those who are bitten always die, yet for some reason you survive. You will be a tough one to catch, just wait and see what happens next."

That voice. Where was it coming from? What did it mean? Was it after me? What happens next?

"Lloyd? Lloyd snap out of it!"

I shook my head until I could see clearly again. I saw a relived looking Kai and Zane standing in front of me. Kai immediately leaned over and gave me a hug.

"Thank goodness you're alive." He screamed. "Don't ever scare me like that again."

As he hugged me I felt an extreme pain in my sides and chest. That was where the creature's claws were digging into me the most. If the wound had been any closer to my heart I would have died instantly.

"Ow ow ow! Kai stop that hurts!" I yelled as he let go.

"Oh sorry buddy, I'm just so happy you're alive." He said.

"I tried to heal his injuries but I could only do so much." Kira frowned.

"You saved his life, that's more than enough." Zane smiled.

"What the heck happened to you?" Kai asked.

"It appears he was experiencing a hallucination of sorts." Zane scanned me. "It appears he has been mauled and bitten by a creature that displays... unnatural attributes."

"It was so fast I didn't even know what hit me, it just attacked me and left me for dead." I said.

"Is there a way to figure out who did this to him?" Kai asked Zane.

"It is possible but I'd need a DNA sample to get an accurate result." Zane said.

"Let's get you back to the bounty." Kai said as he offered to help me out of the cot.

"Wait." I looked at Kira. "That creature is still out there and I don't think it's a good idea for you to be out here all alone."

"Lloyd I can handle myself." Kira said.

"Kira you saw what it did to me." I frowned. "I'm only alive because you were able to save me, and if that happened to you I don't know what I would do with myself."

"Alright, but I'm only going so I can take care of you." She agreed.

"That works too." I laughed.

Kai and Zane helped me up and took me outside and into Zane's helicopter. Kira followed us from behind. Walking was proving difficult for me. I had scratches all over my legs and sides from whatever that creature did to me. Given they were smaller and weren't bleeding anymore thanks to Kira, they still hurt a lot.

I was still worried about what had happened back there. What was that voice I heard? Was I just hallucinating or was it all real?

We arrived back at the bounty where Nya, Jay, Cole and Wu were there to greet me. They knew I was exhausted and honestly a bit traumatized by the situation, so they refrained from asking me about the incident and kept asking if I was ok instead, in which I lied and said I was.

"Come on Lloyd, you need some rest." Kira insisted.

"It looks like you could too." Nya said to Kira. Those two were like best friends.

"Is she staying the night?" Cole asked.

"She better." I winked at Kira.

"I'm staying in case I need to heal Lloyd again." Kira said.

"Kira I'm alright." I told her. "I'm more worried about you staying in Hiroshi's Labyrinth with whatever that creature was."

"I get it. You want to protect me." Kira giggled and rolled her eyes.

"Are you guys hungry? Nya made dinner." Jay said.

"That sounds amazing, but if you don't mind I think I need to freshen up a bit." Kira looked down at her bloody hands and sweater.

"I'm sorry about that." I frowned.

"Don't worry, I can replace my sweater, I can't replace you." She smiled, it made me smile too.

"Go ahead, the bathroom is right through there." Nya pointed to it.

"Thank you Nya." Kira said.

She gave me a quick smile before going to clean herself up. Afterwards she joined us for dinner.

Nya had made my favorite, rice and dumplings, but it was kind of hard on my stomach, so I had to settle for soup instead. Luckily my friends were nice enough to save me some so I could eat it when I felt better. However, I was able to eat the delicious banana split they had for dessert. Chocolate and bananas were always my favorite. I was lucky to have friends like them.

After dinner, Kira helped me walk to my room and got me to my bed.

"Do you need anything before you fall asleep?" She asked.

"No thanks, you've done more than enough already." I told her.

"Do you want me to stay with you until you fall asleep?"

I did want her to stay, but she still looked exhausted from healing me earlier. She really needed her rest and I didn't want to keep her from that.

"No no, I'll be fine." I told her.

"Are you sure nothing else hurts?" She asked.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be ok." I assured her.

"Alright. Call me if you need anything and I'll be back first thing in the morning." She started to walk out the door. "Good night."

"Good night." I smiled as she turned off the light and closed the door.

I tried my best to get some sleep, but the minute I laid down my head started spinning again. I could see nothing but darkness, but my eyes were still open.

"She's the reason you still have breath? If not for her you'd meet your death. As long as you live you will suffer, the pain will only get rougher."

"Who are you? What are you doing to me? Make it stop. Make it stop!"

"You'll soon have your heart's desire, but consequences will be dyer. For as soon as you have the girl, I will tare apart your whole world."

"No! Please! Get out of my head! This isn't real. This can't be real!"

"Lloyd! Lloyd listen to me."

I felt someone shaking my shoulders trying to get me to snap out of it. I snapped back to reality and saw Kira right in front of me. My chest hurt from when she was shaking me.

"Kira?" I questioned. "What happened?"

"I think you were hallucinating again." Kira said. "I heard you screaming and ran to check on you."

"But... but it felt so real." I held my head and my chest. "Was it real? I'm so confused."

"I need you to explain to me exactly what you saw."

"It's like all of a sudden I was sucked into a world of complete darkness. My eyes were open, at least I think so." I explained. "I keep hearing a woman's voice, a haunting voice."

"What did she say to you?"

"Just a bunch of poems and riddles." I said, not getting too specific. "It's probably nothing."

"How often does it happen?"

"I think it happens whenever I'm alone." I said.

"Then I better stay with you tonight so you'll be safe." I said.

"You... you want to... um..." I blushed.

"What? No, I meant me sleeping on the floor." Kira specified.

"Oh yes, of course, that's what I meant too."

"What did you think I meant?"

"Oh look at the time. We better get some sleep." I changed the subject.

"Ok." She agreed, but then she noticed me holding my chest. "Are you ok?"

"My chest hurts, but I'm sure I'll be fine." I didn't want to use her powers since she was already that tired.

"Here, let me see." She insisted.

I sighed and took off my shirt, revealing the wound on my chest. Now it looked like a large scar, but the wound underneath it was almost the same as before. Kira used her powers a little before she got tired and I told her to stop. She then grabbed a first aid kit that she had taken with her and wrapped some bandages around my chest. It honestly felt a lot better.

"How's that?" She asked out of breath.

"A lot better now. Thank you Kira." I smiled. "What about you?"

"I'm fine, don't worry." She assured me.

I went with her to get an air mattress out of the storage room so that I wouldn't be left alone. She inflated it and placed it next to my bed on the floor. She curled up with a pillow and blanket and she was so tired she went right to sleep.

I laid awake, thinking about what that voice was warning me about. Wait, was it a warning, or was it a threat? Did this put my friends in danger? What did the voice want with Kira?

Instead of sleeping, I grabbed a note pad, a pencil and a flashlight and brainstormed the whole night about what the voice was trying to tell me. I remembered vividly every word the voice had said as if it was etched into my brain.

Once I had it all written down, I thought about what it said. It was obviously a warning, but it could've also been a threat from the voice. If that's the case, then Kira was in danger.

Voice obviously didn't like the fact that I had survived her attack. It seemed like I was the only victim to do so, and she wasn't happy about it. Whoever Voice was, she was after Kira, and in order to protect her, I had to find out more.

I didn't get a good look at the creature when she attacked me, but I vividly remember her appearance. I turned the page and mindlessly sketched a picture of her.

When I was done I looked at the sketch. I had somehow copied every single detail from the crinkles and rips in her bat-like wings to the redness of her other victims on her claws. As I looked into the eyes that I had drawn on the picture, I was hit with instant fear, it was almost paralyzing. Luckily, I had enough composure left to close the note pad before it overtook me.

Finally I was so tired I had to go to sleep. I kept the flashlight on because it made me feel safer. I just hope by morning I would wake up and this would all some kind of nightmare.