Gabriel closed his eyes and stood still for a moment. He thought of Scott trapped in the temporal displacement field, and that if anything removes him from it, he will perish. He reminded himself that it doesn't matter if it's the demon or an alien, or even power failure. His brain activity has been reduced to zero, so that the temporal field can do what it needs to, and his heart has stopped.

As Gabriel stood in the absolute isolation of his situation, he felt the ground beneath him quake. Far in the distance, a thud and a bang pierced the silence. He opened his eyes and gazed at the doorway.

It's coming.

For Scott.

Gabriel examined the room and surveyed for the control panel.

At the opposite end of where he was stood a panel of controls, and upon seeing them, he knew what must be done. Gabriel drew from the well of knowledge that had been given to him, and searched for a return control that would reanimate Scott's organs. Once his organs had been restored, he could then stop the virtual simulation and awaken him.

The bangs became louder as a subtle groan filled the halls beyond the doorway. As the demon approached, it shrieked, and a sulfurous odor permeated the temporal chamber. Gabriel rushed to the control panel and studied each button and lever. He thanked god for blessing him with this knowledge, and pressed the button to activate Scott's organs.

The lights which surrounded the temporal field changed from blue to red as Scott's liver came to life, and then so did his lungs, kidneys, and heart. Everything resumed their normal function, and Scott took a deep breath in. As Gabriel stood, searching for the button to awaken Scott, Scott remained trapped in his dream.

Scott saw the honey sky above golden fields of wheat. He smelled the scent of flowers in bloom and marveled at the fireflies which had come out early for the night. As his organs began to resume their function, Scott recognized he was in a dream.

The illusion had been shattered, and he remembered the reality which awaited him. He clung to the moment and stared from the chicken coop. He held onto his mother and father as a loud bang punctured his perfect world.

The demon had entered the temporal chamber, and his perfect honey sky split to the bottom of the horizon. Tucked within the gash of his split sky was a black void made of nothingness. Splinters spread across the sky like spiderwebs, and the void which stared back at him grew.

Scott glanced at his mother, who didn't notice the sky above splitting and cracking. She collected the eggs, and suddenly, he felt it.

Dirt kicked into the air as the ground beneath him quaked. The sound of Gabriel's screams rang in his ears, but Scott held on. He refused to wake up. Gabriel pleaded with Scott to stop resisting, but he couldn't.

As the black valleys in the split sky spread farther apart, tiny tendrils fingered across anything that wasn't the void. They pulled and scratched. The sound of their nails reminded him of nails across a chalk board, but even still, Scott refused to wake up.

He knelt beside his mother and picked up an egg. A second quake knocked the egg out of his hand. It cracked and a black void of empty space spilled across the ground. Gabriel screamed, pleaded, and begged for Scott to wake up, but not yet. Scott knows that when he wakes up, he will never be able to have this moment again. He stood up, and pressed his hands against his pants, and looked at his dad.

Keith stood tall, as a silhouette against the backdrop of the shattered sky. His eyes and teeth had become consumed by the void.

Keith said, "how you doing, champ?" Scott stepped away from his father and glanced around. The void was spreading, consuming everything. He knew this was it. Another bang, followed by a sudden jolt. Scott felt a terrible pain in his right hip, and the world around him shattered entirely.

Gabriel held Scott in his arms, and there he lay, limp and nearly lifeless. He had leapt through the air and crashed into Scott only seconds earlier. Gabriel ran out of the temporal chamber while carrying Scott, and the demon followed, hurling what it could grab. The bangs became deafening as they raced through halls. As Scott's head flopped around, he awoke to see Gabriel struggling to breathe while sprinting.

Scott felt as though he were in a drunken haze. The ceiling above him passed by and nothing made sense. He was taken too soon, and because of that, his brain has not fully awoken yet. For a moment, he didn't know he was in danger, or that they were being pursued. Only that he was being carried, and heard the sound of Gabriel's feet pounding against the metal grating, and the bangs of the demon in pursuit.

As Gabriel struggled to carry Scott through the halls, the distance between him and the demon shrank. The foul odor became unbearable, and the shadows stretched past him farther and faster than he could run. Gabriel thought about abandoning all hope but knew this was the right decision. He had to press on, if only for this boy.

Gabriel took a few sharp turns, and the shadows stretched five feet ahead of him, then ten, then fifteen. The demon's breath curled the hair on his neck, and now he could hear its tongue lapping against its teeth. Gabriel summoned a greater amount of strength than he thought he could and sprinted hard into a hangar bay. Once there, he turned around a corner and waited for the demon to enter the hangar. It did so, and stretched itself outwards, resembling a bat in mid-flight. Keith's skin had become so torn and shredded, that by now, he was nothing more than a sack of meat attached to a skull.

The father Scott wanted to return will never return. Not like this. Gabriel concealed Scott's breathing and slunk back against the door. The demon scanned the hangar and listened for footsteps. It heard nothing. It scanned the ships and saw nothing.

Gabriel took off his shoes and threw them around the side of the door. He closed his eyes and bit his bottom lip as he hoped the demon would not see them as it passed them. The demon heard the shoes clatter against the wall, and it assumed they had fled. It roared and raced down the hall in search of its prey. Gabriel opened his eyes and located the control panel for the escape pods. He knew the demon would recognize his deception in less than twenty seconds, but that's all he needed. 

https://youtu.be/ZoltmTANsk4