The Clone Wars: One-Shots

in the shadow it waits

A/N: Something a little different this time! 
Warnings: paranoia, nightmares, voices, horror, insomnia

There was something there.

Ahsoka didn't turn around, her muscles tensing as she heard something creak. The wind howled through her open window, the cold winter air breezing into the room and making her shiver under her blanket. It was the middle of the night, with the Padawan attempting to fall asleep. After their latest mission, it was surely going to lead her into exhaustion, but she wasn't feeling tired right now.

No, she was wide awake. Wide awake because she was scared.

Scared of what, she didn't know. She had some fears when she was younger, having explored the holonet to find the most confusing and terrifying content there. She was a fifteen-year-old now and some fears from her childhood had evolved and were sticking to her now.

Monsters. Curses. Rumors. Things she couldn't give words to. Things that didn't exist. She knew they weren't real, but a small part of her was still cautious, wary. The war gave many scarring moments, and there was always the fear of failure and letting everyone down, but this?

This was a different category altogether. This thing hiding in the shadows—it didn't belong with the rest of them.

She wasn't scared of the dark, no. This phobia was nothing like that.

She was scared of what hid in the dark.

Every time Ahsoka was alone, her montrals would pick up quiet footsteps and a gush of cold air, as if someone was following her.

She'd turn to find nothing, her eyes skipping over corners of the wall and the vents above her.

(Because if someone was there, if someone was actually watching her, its face would imprint her memory and haunt her the rest of her life.)

She knew something was watching her from the dark, waiting to take her into its clutches. It took on many forms in her dreams and imagination, this creature. But each one was more horrifying than the next and would make her wake her up in cold sweat with a cry of terror formed on the tip of her tongue, unreleased and deaf to the world around her.

Sometimes the figure had coarse black hair and wide soulless eyes that never blinked. It was the monster jumping out of nowhere towards her that led her screaming awake in fear one night, with no one to hear her. It followed the togruta that day, where her mind played tricks on her with the creature of her imagination appearing at the corner of her eye. Each time she had turned around, there was nothing there, only her Master and the clone troopers sending her confused worried glances.

It wasn't any better when she was captured and taken to Wasskah to be hunted like prey. In the wild, the nightmares were much worse. The Trandoshan hunters warped to the nameless monster in her dreams, chasing her down and killing those she had sworn to protect.

She still didn't know how it came to her imagination, only that it was evil. Something that she was curious about, in the worst way possible.

Ahsoka didn't sleep for days after that, bags appearing under her eyes each time she had put off rest. Ahsoka's mind was a dark place, and even she wished she didn't have access to it.

Her eyes scanned the wall in front of her, her muscles rigid. If she turned around, what would happen?

The Force felt dim, far away. Her lightsaber was a few inches away on her bedside table, but she couldn't move, paralyzed with worry.

It was one of those nights. This time, the creature of her nightmares didn't take on a form. It was just sound. A voice that sent chills down her spine and a blood-curdling screech that sent goosebumps running along her skin. A low-pitched whine, as if someone was being tortured, with a taunted cackle fabricated into the mix. The whole calling of whatever abomination was taken from her head sent her heart into a rapid pump, her attempt to control her breathing proving to be in vain.

The togruta had gone to Kix in hopes to find something that would help her, but even as she used a sleeping pill, they would always find a way back to her.

The only peaceful sleep she had was when she was taking naps at noon, for what reason, she wasn't sure. Anything in pure daylight seemed to give her a break from the phobias.

(But the monsters were still there. Just waiting. Waiting for the moon to rise and for shadows to form so they could begin their slow torture once again.)

Kix had asked several days later if she was sleeping well at night. She had found a way to catch sleep, though her sleeping schedule was now messed up. Even if it meant sacrificing her nightly rest, at least she could sometimes catch a snooze. Those pills sometimes came in handy and worked well when she was totally knocked out for a battle, but the war didn't give many options for a nap. Even though she wasn't quite alright, she had put on a smile, thanking him for his help.

(She didn't want to hurt her vod's feelings, after all, he was the medic. He had a talent in the field, and she realized this problem couldn't be fixed with medication. It was better to move on so he could take care of the others who needed him more; this wasn't a big deal anyway.)

She could, of course, have company to sleep with so she felt safe. But, she had grown out of that habit. The clone barracks were fast asleep, and she didn't want to disturb her vode. She didn't sleep with Anakin because he was usually out most days anyway, and she could assume he was in Padmé's apartment. He deserved it from what he had to go through, and the last time they had slept on the same bed felt like a long time ago.

She was the only one awake. And she didn't want to be.

A small part of Ahsoka reminded that she could deal with this herself. It was just her imagination, there was no one there. The shadow of a figure from her door laid out over her blankets didn't seem to assure her.

She wanted to turn around. She really did. But she was scared of what she was going to see. Was it just going to be empty air? Or the confirmation of what she hoped wasn't true?

Something shifted in the Force, and all of a sudden she could feel something move.

She immediately threw the blanket over her head, pulling her feet in and shuffling under it until there was no more exposed skin.

Ahsoka held her breath, her eyes wide open as she stared at the shadow still imprinted on her cover.

Sweat dripped down the back of her neck, heat spreading through her body, but she didn't move an inch. Her heart pounded in her chest, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't keep calm.

After the heat became unbearable, she threw her blankets off, relishing in the cool air that breezed over her face until she froze again.

There was someone there, she knew it. She shouldn't have done that. She wasn't safe. She was never safe.

How did she know?

Because she could feel something breathing on her even when she had closed the door shut. 

Because the monster was standing right above her and she could see it in her periphery.

Because in mere seconds, it made its way to her front.

Because it was staring straight at her.

A/N: This WIP came out of nowhere when I decided to project myself at 11PM; took inspiration from past things I've seen a̶n̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶R̶i̶n̶g̶u̶ ̶m̶o̶v̶i̶e̶s̶ ̶I̶ ̶w̶a̶t̶c̶h̶e̶d̶ ̶y̶e̶s̶t̶e̶r̶d̶a̶y̶ ̶(̶1̶3̶/̶1̶0̶ ̶d̶o̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶r̶e̶c̶o̶m̶m̶e̶n̶d̶ ̶u̶n̶l̶e̶s̶s̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶w̶a̶n̶t̶ ̶i̶n̶s̶o̶m̶n̶i̶a̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶p̶a̶r̶a̶n̶o̶i̶a̶;̶ ̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶w̶i̶s̶e̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶a̶ ̶g̶o̶o̶d̶ ̶f̶i̶l̶m̶)̶