Scattered Pieces
Part 2
“Oh god, oh god, oh god,” I kept muttering under my breath. The thought of me
being some shark’s breakfast didn’t appeal to me at all and I was scared
shitless not to mention the visions of having a big hunk of my body torn off
wasn’t helping matters.
“Lizz,” Brian half whispered, quietly yelled, “don’t move any further, any
movement will draw the shark towards you!”
“Let’s try to paddle the raft towards them,” Howie suggested in a whisper.
“AJ you just stay sitting,” Kevin advised as he caught AJ out the corner of his
eye, still cradling his hurt arm.
“Hold up guys, it’s okay,” I yelled out triumphantly.
By the looks I was getting from the raft and Lizz, I guess they thought I’d
pretty much lost it. The fin was only five feet away from me now and I got a
closer look at my attacker.
I started laughing looking at their shocked faces. “It’s a dolphin!”
The vision relieved me and I smiled in spite of myself. I remember when I was
about eleven or twelve, we were at a beach at Ana Marie Island and a bunch of
us kids were playing in the water when some parents started to scream and
holler at us to get out of the water. We ran out in a big hurry, sort of reminescent of the movie Jaws and I recall seeing about
four or five fins jutting out of the gulf water. Almost on cue, the fins leapt
into the air and there were dolphins out playing in the water. They have that
way about them where they can be mistaken for sharks.
As quickly as the dolphin appeared, it disappeared again, swimming off. Hanging
onto the prized green back pack, I swam towards the yellow raft, Lizz swimming
ahead of me. When we reached the raft, I heaved the backpack into the boat and
then helped to shove Lizz up into it with Brian and Kevin grabbing her by the
arms, pulling her in.
Me getting into the raft wasn’t as easy and AJ started off on a stream of curse
words as his side of the raft lifted up on his side. After three or four tries,
I managed to drag myself over the edge and laid on the bottom of the boat once
I was aboard.
“Nick can you take your meds without water?” Brian asked as he fumbled through
the bag.
“It doesn’t matter, he’s going to have to,” Kevin stated in a stern voice.
I shot a dirty look over at Kevin.
“Nick, we really don’t have the time or the facilities right now to take care
of your butt if you having a seizure, do we?”
“Okay, alright, I’ll take the damn thing without water, but if I choke, it’s
your ass buddy,” I sputtered.
“Good idea,” Brian replied as he popped one of his water medications into his
mouth. The irony struck me as being odd, him taking a “water pill” without
water. Brian needed to take that pill every day for the rest of his life.
Because of his heart condition, his body wasn’t able to get rid of fluids
effectively and without taking the pills he would swell up and the risk of his
lungs filling up with fluid was always hanging in the balance.
“Gimme mine,” I ordered as I held my open hand out towards Brian.
“Here you go,” Brian remarked cheerfully as he handed the backpack over towards
me. I dragged my body over towards the edge of the boat and propped my back
against the side. All was quiet for the time being, the only sounds were the
water lapping against the sides the raft.
Breaking the “ice” Howie started calling out in a British accent, “Is anyone
out there?..... Is anyone alive?”
Lizz playfully smacked Howie in the shoulder. “Watch Titanic much?”
~*~*~*~*~
Startled, I was awakened by AJ’s yelling.
“LAND GUYS! I SEE LAND!”
I narrowed my eyes towards the direction he was pointing. Sure enough, there
was a spot of green roughly a mile away from us.
“Yeah! We’re saved!” Lizz and Brian cried out.
“I hope there’s a McDonald’s there, cause I’m starving,” was the only
observation I could think of.
“You and your stomach Nick, honestly,” Kevin reprimanded.
Almost on cue, my stomach growled in reply. “Well, I am, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, but I try not think about it,” AJ snapped.
I glared at AJ and mouthed his words back at him with the ugliest look I could
put on my face. He raised his hand up to flip me off, momentarily forgetting
about his injured shoulder and quickly howled in pain when the movement caught
up to his brain.
“Ha ha.”
“You sonofabitch!” AJ growled.
“For christsake, would you two just knock it off for
a day!?” Kevin and Howie said in unison.
As we drifted closer towards the island, I couldn’t help but notice that it
didn’t look like there were any buildings or signs of life dotting the
landscape. It looked like it was covered in a dense forest. The aquamarine
colored water provided a nice backdrop to the sandy beach that outlined the
island.
By the time we reached the island, it was growing dusky, night would be setting
upon us soon. When we got close enough, Brian, Howie, Kevin and I jumped out of
the raft and towed Lizz and AJ towards the shore. I could tell by Lizz’s reaction she wanted to jump out of the boat and kiss
the sand.
“Guys, I have the weirdest feeling that this island is desserted,”
I observed.
Howie made light of the predicament we were in as he started singing the theme
song to Gilligan’s
“Howie! This is serious!” I reprimanded.
“Nick chill out, would ya? I’m sure they will be looking for us, I mean we
crashed a plane out in the freakin ocean,” he replied with a stupid grin on his
face.
“Nick, I think we should get some wood and build a fire,” Lizz quietly
suggested, taking ahold of my arm.
I looked at the shoreline briefly, listening to the squawking gulls overhead.
“Nick?”
I blinked when I realized that she was waving her hand in front of my face,
breaking me from my trance. “Oh, shit, yeah and I’m not going to have a seizure
either so get that thought out of your head!”
“I didn’t,” Lizz sighed. “Come on, let’s go get that wood.”
“I’ll help you,” Brian happily offered and joined us as we walked into the
woods.
~*~*~*~*~
It almost took my breath away. As green as
“Lizz, slow down
already!” Nick called out, a twinge of amusement showing through his voice.
“Sorry!” I called back,
slowing my pace down. The forest was thick and yeah, a little intimidating, but
my mind was more focused on the beauty of it. The potential danger didn’t even
cross my mind.
“This sucks! Everything
is still damp. We’ll never get a fire started with damp wood.” Nick grumbled.
“Maybe underneath what is
on top will be dry?” Brian suggested, kicking at the fallen branches at the
ground.
“It was a pretty viscous
storm, but hey, at least it’s not cold or anything.” I remarked.
“Yeah, we are probably
going to have a hard time finding much that is going to be dry.” Brian agreed.
“What kind of animals do
you think live in here?” Nick asked, looking around.
“Not a clue, but I am
sure we will find out eventually.” Brian followed Nick’s gaze.
“Lions and tigers and
bears, oh my!” I called behind me in a song-song voice.
“Haha, Dorothy. Although,
we aren’t in
“It was
“No, Dorothy was from
Brian started laughing.
“Do you two ever give it a rest?”
“Nope.” Nick and I both
said in unison. I turned around to give him a mock glare, although he wasn’t
laughing anymore.
“Shhh...” He said softly.
“Don’t move.”
Brian, only a few feet
ahead of Nick, froze too. “What was that?”
Suddenly I felt the hair
on the back of my neck stand on end and I wished I hadn’t decided to walk ahead
of Nick and Brian. There it was again, a rustling not very far in the distance.
I threw a look back to them, fear building.
“Shit! It’s all around
us!” Nick hissed, his eyes frantically darting around.
The rustling grew louder
and I was felt like I was paralyzed. It was on all sides of us and my heart was
pounding like one of those huge drums that weighed more than I do. Suddenly
there was a whooshing noise and something flew in front of my face. I let out a
scream and jerked back. More came and I whipped around when Brian let out a
yelp. I gasped in horror when he grabbed at his arm. Sticking out of it looked
like a tiny arrow. Without thinking twice he grabbed it and pulled it out,
wincing sharply.
“Brian?!” Nick cried.
“It’s okay, it was small
and I don’t think it went that deep.” Brian gasped.
Suddenly several
silhouettes appeared from around the trees. My heart dropped as they all raised
spears at us. They kept appearing and within seconds we were completely
surrounded. My attention was torn away from them when I heard a gasp behind me.
“Oh god...” Brian
suddenly moaned, dropping to his knees.
“BRIAN!” Nick yelled,
vaulting forward to his best friend, catching him before he collapsed all the
way.
“Dizzy...everything’s
spinning...the arrow...” Brian gasped, already breaking out into a sweat.
“Poison.” I jumped at the
voice that appeared behind me. I turned slowly to see a man standing before me,
spear held to my heart. My eyes grew at his appearance. He was deeply tanned
and had what looked like some sort of an animal skin around his waste. That was
all he wore. What scared me the most was the feral look in his eyes. Well, that
and the spear.
Brian let out a soft
moan. Then Nick’s panicked voice, “Brian, no! Come on buddy! Stay with me, come
on!”
I looked up at the man.
“Please, you can’t let him die.” I whispered.
The native grunted and
thrust the spear closer to me. Nick gasped and I could almost feel the panic
grow.
“Poison. He dies.” He
stared back at me, no emotion in his face.
“Please, I’ll do
anything. You have to do something!” I was totally shaking now and I think the
native seemed amused by me fear.
The other natives moved
in closer, still holding their spears up at us. The man in front of me appeared
to consider what I said. Then he turned and pointed to the closest man next to
him.
“Lako
mai eke.” He barked in a sharp voice. The other
guy immediately moved towards the one in front of me.
I risked a glance behind
me. Nick and Brian were both on the ground, Nick’s arms protectively around
Brian. I looked at Brian and my heart skipped a beat when I saw that his eyes
were closed and his breathing labored. My eyes met Nick’s and he looked as
scared as I felt. I jumped again at the angry tone in one of the men’s voices.
The other one flicked his hand towards us and gestured deeper into the forest.
Then they both grew quiet and turned to look at me. Then their gaze shifted to
Brian and Nick.
Without warning the man
that I guessed to be the leader, the one that I had begged for Brian’s life
from, started to yell out to the other natives. Several of them moved to Nick
and Brian. One of them leaned down to take Brian away from Nick.
“NO!” Nick hollered.
Before he could resist further, two others grabbed him from behind. I started
to run to them, but I was grabbed too.
“Wait! What are you
doing?!” I cried, frantically. I struggled against the iron grip, but it was
pointless. The man had my arms twisted behind my back and was shoving me
forward. I whipped my head around to see two more pushing Nick in the same
direction. Another was carrying the now unconscious Brian. Seeing that we had
no choice and not wanting to anger them further, I stopped struggling. Nick
must have had the same thought because he ceased his struggles too.
After walking for a good
20 minutes the sky was almost completely dark. The men had let Nick and I go,
probably knowing we wouldn’t escape. Neither one of us would be going anywhere
without Brian. Not to mention, they were the only ones that could help him. The
natives were moving so fast and I had a hard time keeping up. I kept stumbling
on raised roots and just about anything else. Nick had to grab me to keep me
from falling more than once.
“Where are they taking
us?” I finally asked Nick in a hushed voice.
“I don’t know, their
village?” He suggested. “God, what if they won’t help Brian.”
“They have to.” I
whispered back, my voice choking up. The pain in his drove a stake through my
heart.
“What if it’s too late?”
Nick sounded choked too.
I shook my head in the
darkness. “We can’t think like that. We have to have faith. Brian’s strong, he
isn’t going to give up.” I believed what I was saying with everything that was
in me, but I was so scared. This was even worse than all that shit with Terri
and Marcus. Now we were on some island, no one knew where we were, and totally
helpless against these natives. There was just something about this situation
that made it seem more threatening.
“Lizz, look!” Nick
hissed, shaking me out of my thoughts.
The forest suddenly
opened up into a clearing. Huge torches were stuck in the ground all around the
clearing. My jaw dropped at the sheer size of it. It was almost like we were in
a completely different world. I couldn’t even see to the other side of the
where the forest began again. There were tons of small hut-type things
scattered all around. More natives were strolling around, gazing at us with
hard faces. My stomach clenched.
We were led to the left, toward
an area that seemed to be more brightly lit than anywhere else. The man
carrying Brian disappeared into one of the hut things.
“No! Where are you taking
him?!” Nick cried, rushing towards the hut.
“Shut up!” One of the
natives snarled at Nick, grabbing him roughly.
“Nick!” I cried, but
before I could move, another pair of arms yanked mine behind my back. I was
propelled forward. Torches lined a path up to a huge stone chair. Natives were
gathered on both sides, watching with those cold eyes. Seated in the chair was
a man dressed like everyone else except for an animal skin draped around his
shoulders. He held some sort of lance in his hand.
I gazed at him in awe,
power and intimidation seemed to flow from the man. I quickly surmised that he
was the leader. He had a strong jaw and several scars marred his dark face. A
stunning blow suddenly came down between my shoulder blade and I dropped to my
knees, gasping. Almost immediately afterward Nick dropped next to me in the
same fashion. I felt him wince next to me.
I started to look up, but
a rough hand shoved my head back down again. I moaned softly, shit that hurt! I
guess we weren’t supposed to look at him either.
“Do not anger the chief!”
A voice hissed in my ear and I flinched involuntarily.
I looked at Nick out of
the corner of my eye. Our eyes met and it gave me a little strength. I turned
my attention back at the ground, not wanting to get hit again. Just when I was
wondering what was going to happen next, the chief started to talk, his voice sending
shivers down my spine.
~*~*~*~*~
AJ angrily tossed a seashell across the beach towards the direction where Nick,
Lizz and Brian had headed, in search of wood for a fire.
“Really nice of them to just take off like that,” he sputtered angrily.
“AJ, calm down, they’re probably not having good luck finding wood, just chill
dude, stressing out over this won’t make the wood come any faster,” Howie
reasoned.
“Well, if Brian wasn’t with dumbass, I would seriously wonder about it,” AJ
added.
Kevin shook his head as he looked over at AJ, resting against a palm tree,
cradling his hurt shoulder. “Why don’t you just relax, take a nap and when they
come you’ll be feeling a little better.”
AJ nodded, his eyes focused on the green backpack laying across from Howie.
“Yeah, they shouldn’t be gone too much longer, they need to take their meds.”
“See, exactly, so just calm down and get some rest,” Howie reassured.
~*~*~*~*~*~
“We do not like preditors on our island!” The chief’s
voice boomed. I flinched when he started to talk. But when he continued I was
beginning to think that this was all a practical joke created by Brian or
Howie. “The posion was meant for you and the girl,
not the short one.”
I couldn’t stay on my knees like a sitting duck. I jumped to my feet only to be
knocked back down with a sharp blow to my stomach. Trying not to cough, I
failed as I tried to catch my breath, the blow knocking the wind out of my
lungs.
“Nick!” Lizz yelped.
I cast a quick look over at her and hoped she read my mind when I was trying to
convey that she needed to stay quiet.
“Why not him?” I managed between gasps for air.
“Our population is getting too closely bred and we need new breeders and he
looked like something we would be interested in,” the chief boomed.
My head whipped upwards as did Lizz’s.
“Breeders?” we asked in unison.
“Yes.”
“Whoa, man, not Brian, he’s not the type,” I corrected. AJ’s face popped into
my head and I quickly brushed the image away. “You’re crazy to think you could
get someone to do something like that.”
“Then I shall take you both in exchange for that man’s life,” the chief replied
with authoriety.
“You can take us to save Brian’s life but we’re no way in hell going to do
something like that!” I managed a sideways glance at Lizz and I could see her
face had grown pale. She was just as sickened as I was about the whole thing.
“You have decision to make, you either do as I ask or you will become slaves in
exchange for his life, working from sunrise to sunset as our workers.” After
the chief made his statement, he clapped his hands together, loudly. Four
natives rushed towards our side and put a tight grip around my arms, forcing me
to stand.
“What about Brian? He can’t die!” Lizz gasped.
“The light haired one will be taken care of, he will not be disposed. You must
have your decision by sunrise. I will expect one option or the other. He can
still be poisoned if we have to as well as you.” With a nod of his head, both
Lizz and I were ushered off, past the hut where Brian was and then shoved into
a small hut three places away.
I landed onto the packed dirt floor, hard, knocking the wind out of me.
Fun, twice in one day.
I looked over just as Lizz hit the ground, she cried out in pain and quickly
rolled over and sat up, blowing on her skinned knee.
“Shit, we are in a world of shit,” I stated as I looked around the hut we were
thrown into.
“You can say that again, what the hell are they thinking about breeding? Are we
animals or something?” Lizz snapped.
I nodded absently.
“Okay Nick, what are you thinking about?”
“The green backpack and our meds.” As I answered Lizz, I heard her gasp. “Yeah,
not a very good situation, is it?”
~*~*~*~*~
Lelani knelt quietly beside her charge in the
medicine hut. Her mother was a skilled medicine woman and Lelani
had learned all of her trades from her mother shortly before she died. She had
practiced on removing the poison from animals many times and was successful,
but working on a man proved to be a greater challenge for her. He was sweating
profusely, softly moaning.
“You must drink this,” Lelani stated in a soft voice
as she offered the man a drink made from banana tree bark. She placed the bowl
next to his lips and slowly tipped the bowl towards him.
As Brian tasted the mixture, his face scrunched up from the foul tasting
liquid. Some of it went down his throat causing him to start up in a coughing
jag.
Once Lelani was satisfied that the man had drank the
proper doseage she placed a cold compress on his
forehead and quietly left the hut to gather more ingredients for the next step
that she had been instructed to do on the man.
~*~*~*~*~
“Do you feel like we
walked on the set of a bad movie?” I muttered to Nick. We were both sitting
side by side against the wall of the hut.
“Ya think?” Nick managed
a half smile for my benefit.
“Ya know, this is the
kind of thing I would expect to find deep in the Amazon jungles or something.”
I thought outloud.
Nick gave me a funny
look. “Amazon jungles? Where you getting that?”
“Seriously, this kind of
stuff exists. They have these native Incan tribes out there that most people
never see. And the ones that do usually never make it back. Before this trip I
looked up all kinds of stuff about
“Probably, because normal
Fijians are supposed to be really nice and hospitable. Unlike these freaks.”
Nick rolled his eyes.
“Maybe they aren’t even
Fijians. Who knows?
“Lizz, you’re giving me a
migraine. Where do you get all this crap?” Nick said wearily.
“Books.”
Nick snorted. “You and
Kevin and your damned books. We are still up a shit creak with no paddle. The
guys are probably worried sick about us and we need our meds. And the natives
are going to come for us by sunrise for an answer.”
I sighed. “We don’t have
a choice. We can’t let Brian die.”
“I know.” Nick bowed his
head forward on his knees.
I rested my hand on his
back. “What?”
“They’ll make us slaves.
Maybe they will trade him for just me. Even though you got the lung transplant,
you still have to be careful. Working from sunrise to sunset will make you
sick.”
“And you don’t think
you’ll have problems with that? Especially without your meds. I don’t think they
will go for that anyway because he said the trade was for both of us. Besides,”
I added quietly, “I am not leaving you.”
“So what do we do?” Nick
lifted his head and looked at me.
I sat quietly for a
moment. “Okay, I got it. We make the trade, Brian gets healed, and do what they
say. Soon the rest of the guys will find us and rescue us. Then we get out of
here and get rescued by search planes.”
Nick shook his head. “You
got it all figured out, don’t ya? I don’t think it’s going to be that cut and
dried.”
“Have faith Nick.” I
smiled.
Again he shook his head,
but concern filled his eyes now. “You’re acting sort of funny. Like you should
be freaking out here and you aren’t.”
I shrugged. “I guess I
must be in shock or something. It doesn’t feel real to me.”
“It’s real, Lizz.” Nick
said somberly.
~*~*~*~*~
Lelani returned to the hut and back to
her charge. The man was asleep now, but it wasn’t a restful sleep. He tossed
and turned and moaned softly. Even sleep wasn’t an escape from the pain of the
poison. Lelani rested a hand on his forehead. A frown
appeared on her delicate features. She didn’t want this man to hurt and the
fever was still strong.
Whispers were rippling
through the village about these strangers. It was being said that her
light-haired charge was desired for mating. The two others, a darker-haired
taller man and a smaller blonde woman were with him. They objected to the
chief’s decision and were left with the choice of taking the light-haired man’s
place. Lelani secrectly
hoped that the other two would not accept. Even though she was quite a few
years younger than this man, she still hoped that she would get to be his mate.
The other two were younger than this one, but still older than her. It was a
possibility since her mother had been of the same blood as the chief.
Brian moaned again and
blinked at the cool hand on his forehead. When his eyes focused he saw a young
dark-skinned girl standing over him. “Where am I?” He whispered.
The girl’s face lit up.
“I will heal you. Do not worry, you are safe. What is your name?”
“Brian.”
“Brian.” She repeated
softly, liking the sound of it.
“My friends?”
Lelani dropped her smile. “I do not
know. It is up to my uncle.”
Brian shut his eyes
again, uneasy. He wasn’t sure what was going on and he was worried about Nick
and Lizz. Not to mention he felt like crap.
~*~*~*~*~
“This isn’t right.” Howie
observed.
“Yeah, the sun set hours
ago and they haven’t come back. What if they are lost? What if something is
wrong?” AJ added. He hadn’t moved from his spot against the palm tree. His arm
had settled to a dull throb and his anxiousness over the missing three was
making him even more irritable.
“They don’t even have a
flashlight or anything. Maybe we should look for them. Kevin?” Howie glanced up
at the eldest.
“I don’t know!” Kevin
exclaimed, exasperated. He had been pacing back and forth for the past half
hour it seemed. “If we go look for them, we could get just as lost. Dammit, why did I let them go off?!”
“Don’t blame yourself Kevin,
it isn’t your fault.” Howie said reasonably.
“Sure, how the hell do
they always manage to get into so much trouble?” Kevin grumbled.
AJ just sighed. Hadn’t he
already said that?
Suddenly Kevin froze in
his tracks. “Did you guys hear that?”
“What?” Howie and AJ
asked at the same time.
“A noise.” Kevin said,
his voice hushed.
He turned his head
towards where the trees started. AJ and Howie followed his gaze, holding their
breaths. Without warning something whooshed through the trees and flew overhead.
All three gasped and then
AJ started laughing. “It was a bat! Holy shit are we paranoid or what? It was a
damned bat!”
They all laughed
nervously at their jumpiness. That is until a ring of light quickly surrounded
them. Lights that eventually became torches. Torches that were held by people.
People that didn’t look very friendly.
~*~*~*~*~
I didn’t know I had
started to doze off until Nick shifted and I jolted awake. I was leaning
against his shoulder, but now I sat up quick.
“What?”
“Listen.” Nick whispered.
I fell silent and
strained to hear what he was talking about. Sure enough, in the distance there
was a faint commotion. It was steadily growing louder and I jumped up. I
started to peel back the heavy cloth that served as a door to the hut, but Nick
pulled me back. He peeked his head through.
“Shit! Fuck!” He hissed.
He turned around to face me. “Well, here comes our rescuers.”
I pushed around him and
looked towards a bunch of moving torches. Sure enough, in the center of a group
of natives was Howie, Kevin and AJ. Two of them were walking with Kevin, one
had ahold of each arm. “Shit. What’s their deal with
Kevin?”
“I don’t know. They
probably have their eye on him too. Maybe they can tell he is related to
Brian.” Nick suggested grimly.
The natives marched the
guys right past our hut and over to the same place in front of the same stone
throne where the chief sat before. I squinted in the darkness and recognized
the chief as he approached his throne. Kevin started to yell and all three guys
were pushed down to their knees like Nick and I were. Kevin kept yelling and
one of them struck him, causing my stomach to wince with him. The arguing
continued, but I couldn’t make out any words. Suddenly several heads shot in
Nick and I’s direction.
“Oh, that can’t be good.”
I muttered, backing away from the flap. Nick stood upright too and backed up
with me. I started to get beside him, but he pushed me behind him again.
“Lizz stay behind me.”
Nick ordered.
Normally I would have
argued, but a wave of fear washed over me as I heard the angry voices grow
closer. Suddenly it didn’t seem so fake anymore and I started to shake. That
sole factor alone unnerved me even more. I never shook, ever. Unless of course
it had to do with that bond Nick and I shared. I remembered talking about it
with Brian one day and I sort of discovered that I never ever shook. I could be
on the brink of total hysteria and I still didn’t shake. Except now, when it
had to do with Nick, I shook. I had a death grip on the back of his shirt now,
backing up and pulling him with me. Like that was going to do any good. Right,
Lizz, keep dreaming.
The natives burst
through, grabbing ahold of Nick and prying me away. I
screamed and threw a fist out, panicking. It connected somewhere and one of
them started yelling, probably swearing in Fijian. There was just enough light
to barely see the fist coming and I tried to dart away. The blow landed just
below my collar bone and I dropped like a fly. Rough hands picked me up and
hauled me out of the tent. I heard Nick struggling against them too and we were
dragged before the chief. Both of us were thrown to the ground, again. Did they
enjoy that? I was almost beyond the pain from fear now as I stared up at the
angry face of the chief.
“YOU DECIDE NOW!”
~*~*~*~*~
updated:
As I was being dragged towards the chief, my eyes scanned the surroundings
quickly. The group of people that stood holding torches, were comprised of men,
the women appeared to be resigned to a section of the meeting grounds, further
back. I quickly decided that the men were held in higher esteem. I decided I
would use this to my advantage.
“I WANT YOUR DECIDION! NOW!” The chief’s voice boomed.
“GO TO HELL,” AJ shouted. His reprimand was a swift blow to his stomach,
causing him to collapse onto the onto the ground in a coughing fit.
“YOU SPEAK ONLY WHEN SPOKEN TO!”
“I’ve made my decision,” I hoped that my voice didn’t sound as shaky and
unconvinced as I felt at the moment. I was sort of afraid to meet the chief’s
gaze but I was guessing at this point I really had nothing more to lose. “It’s
a deal I want to make with you, but I would prefer to talk to you in private.”
“Nick!.... don’t!” Lizz warned quietly.
Two men grabbed me by the arms and I was ushered over towards the chief’s
quarters. I could hear the rumbling of the crowd as they were trying to decide
what I was going to do. I managed a glance back towards my four friends,
kneeling before the stone altar. Kevin threw me a wary look and I quickly
looked away for fear I would lose my nerve to do what was necessary.
Once inside the chief’s quarters, I was again forced to kneel onto the straw
mat that covered the packed dirt floor. One of the men pushed my head forward
so that I wouldn’t be able to make any eye contact with their head leader. I
swallowed nervously when I heard the rustling of the seed necklaces that the
chief wore around his neck.
“Your decision?”
The calmness in his voice took me by surprise, I was prepared to hear the
shouting. I decided to sound submissive, thinking that this would be the way to
get him to agree with just about anything I wanted to propose. I quickly licked
my lips. “Permission to look up?”
“DENIED.”
Shit, that was all I needed to hear. I wanted to make eye contact to get my
point through to him. I decided to plunge into my proposal. “I want to save my
friends and I want to make a deal with you. I am willing to be not only a
breeder for your group, I’m willing to become a slave if this will ensure their
lives.”
It was too quiet for me. I was beginning to worry if this man would be
impossible to reach. Suddenly, he spoke some words that were complete jibberish to me, but the quick movements of the men that
escorted me into the chief’s quarters led me to believe otherwise. Before a
verbal answer was given, I got a physical answer when shackles were clamped
onto my wrists and then my ankles.
“I accept you offer but your friends will remain kept here until I have seen
your williness to be an acceptable slave or breeder,”
the chief stated in an unusually quiet voice.
The details about me backing out on the breeding thing would happen when the
time came, I had that part of the deal figured out. My primary worry was over
Brian at the moment.
“Before you lead me away, can I see my friend that was shot with the poison
arrow?”
“That request is usually denied, but I don’t see any harm in it. Take him to
the hut to take a look at his friend and then to the worker stables.”
The chains clanked nosily as the men helped me up to my feet. There wasn’t any
way I was going to make eye contact with my friends at this point knowing full
well that they wouldn’t agree to the arrangements I had just made. We made our
way out of the chief’s hut towards where Brian was being held. I kept my eyes
focused in front of me but I know I distinctly heard AJ mutter ‘what the fuck’
as I was led by them and Lizz’s cries asking what I
had done to deserve that type of punishment.
The hut that I was led into was very different from the chief’s hut. This one
had lit candles lining two shelves, incense burning and a small bed covered in
dark blue down-filled blankets. Although the bed was small, Brian’s body looked
dwarfed by the down blankets. His face was glistening in sweat, a soft moan
escaped his lips breaking the deafening silence in the hut.
As I reached a hand up to gesture my desire to go over towards Brian, the
chains clanked loudly and Brian’s eyes quickly opened. His eyes shifted back
and forth until they finally focused and rested on my face.
“Nick?”
updated:
Brian blinked, sure that
he was hallucinating. “Nick?” He asked again.
“Yeah, it’s me.” Nick
said softly, a lump forming in his throat. Brian still didn’t look very good,
but Nick had to trust that the natives would keep their word and pull Brian
through this. “How are ya feeling buddy?”
Brian managed a small
smile for Nick’s benefit. “I’ve been better. What’s going on?”
Nick hesitated. He knew
full well that Brian wouldn’t like the decision that he made, but he wanted to
be the one to tell him, not some native.
Brian immediately picked
up on Nick’s hesitation. “Nick, what did you do??”
Nick sighed. “I, uh...”
He stopped and took a deep breath. “I traded myself for everyone else. I’m
going to be their breeder or slave in exchange for your lives.”
Brian opened his eyes
wider and tried to sit up. “Nick you didn’t!”
Nick gently pushed Brian
back down onto the blanket. “There was no other choice. Don’t worry, I’m
working on figuring something out.”
Lelani watched as the two men talked
quietly, their words no longer audible. She was absolutely seething at the new
change in plan. She wanted so bad to be the one that would get to mate with
Brian. And now this other man had ruined it! The more she thought about it, the
more her blood boiled. She would have to make him pay for taking her Brian
away. Lelani thought furiously for ideas. This “Nick”
obviously didn’t care that much about himself since he just sacrificed himself.
Causing him physical pain wouldn’t be the most effective, although satisfying.
His weakness appeared to be his friends. He cared too much and was willing to
destroy his life over them. Something that could easily be exploited. Lelani noticed immediately that he was very close to her
Brian. Of course she would never hurt her Brian just to get top Nick. Then her
eyes lit up as she remembered the young woman that was with Nick. He was quite
protective over her. In fact, this other girl was supposed to have been part of
the deal and somehow Nick had managed to save her. Lelani
smiled. This was a weakness of his that could be exploited much more easily
than causing harm to her Brian.
Nick jumped when a young
girl appeared out of the shadows of the tent. She gave him a hard look before
turning to the natives that were accompanying Nick. She said something to them
in a rather harsh tone. Nick observed, with mild shock, that they immediately
obeyed her words. She must hold an important role in the tribe. Before Nick
could resist, they grabbed him and started to pull him out of the tent.
“NO! Wait, I wasn’t ready
yet!” He struggled against them. Brian also voiced his protests from inside the
tent.
The girl stepped out of
the tent and stopped in front of Nick, glaring at him coldly. Nick stopped his
struggles and looked at her expectantly.
“Know your place slave.
You will pay for your decision.” She told him, her voice low.
Her words chilled Nick
even though he didn’t what she meant. Although, he figured he would find out
soon enough. The men that were restraining him began to drag him away and just
before they rounded a corner, he saw her head towards the chief and where the
rest of his friends were. It gave him a sinking feeling in his stomach. Not even
ten seconds later he heard Lizz scream for him, followed by more yelling. He
tried to turn around, but the natives increased their grip, forcing Nick
further away.
~*~*~*~*~
I quieted somewhat when I
realized that they were taking Nick to see Brian. But my fears were renewed
when the chief returned from his quarters and regally sat down on his throne.
There was no noise at all among the people around us, even the guys were silent
now. I kept my head down, but tried to watch him at the same time. He didn’t speak,
only shifted his gaze from us to the tent where Brian and Nick were. Only a
moment later several natives emerged with a struggling Nick. A girl that looked
to be maybe 17 or so, stepped out of the tent. She said something to Nick and
then the natives started to drag him off. She started her way over towards us,
looking a cross between angry and smug. A streak of panic jolted through me and
I jumped up.
“WHERE ARE YOU TAKING
HIM?!” I screamed. Without any warning, I broke out into a run towards where he
was taken. I made it about 10 feet before I was grabbed from behind.
Panic-fueled adrenaline was pushing me now and I lashed back at the man,
kicking him fiercely in the groin. He immediately let go with a howl and I kept
running. I was certain they were taking Nick away to kill him. Just the thought
of it took my breath away and I tried to push the panic down. I had to get to
him. Another arm grabbed at me and I jerked back when a force yanked against my
shirt. Before I could struggle, something was slammed into me and I crashed
hard into the ground. My head connected painfully and stars spread in front of
my face. A man had completely flattened me to the ground, making it hard to
catch my breath. A flickering shadow from the torches loomed over me and I
craned my head up. My heart skipped a beat when I saw that it was the chief. He
looked pissed.
“THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!”
He boomed. The native that had me pinned jumped up, not wanting to be near the
angry chief. I curled up in a ball, still gasping.
“Where did you take
Nick?” I whispered, my voice shaking.
“He traded his life for
you and your friends. He is a slave now.” The chief started, glaring down at
me. I heard the gasps of the rest of the guys behind me. I wanted to cry.
Partly from relief that they didn’t kill him, but also despair.
“Although, things have
changed now. We have found another specimen that has captured our interest.” He
pointed and I turned my head in the direction of his finger.
I gasped and Kevin looked
alarmed. I whipped my head back around to the chief, wincing at how the action
made it throb even more. “You can’t! Let me take his place then!” I yelled,
thinking fast.
The chief laughed, a loud
mocking laugh. Then his face turned hard. “Unfortunately you are not in the
position to bargain. You have angered me and your actions have determined your
fate.”
I felt the color drain
from my face. That girl was standing several feet behind him, a smug smile on
her face. What the hell was going on here??
The chief shook his head.
“You should have just let the dark-haired one spare you. Now, your life is
mine!” He clapped his hands like he had before and two men picked me up. I
didn’t struggle this time, too shocked at what had just happened. The guys’
protests in the background barely registered and I felt the world slipping
away.
~*~*~*~*~
Lelani smiled as she watched the young
woman get dragged away. Things couldn’t have gone more perfectly. The girl had
dug her own grave already by angering the chief as bad as she had done. The
chief was not one to forget his anger quickly, much to the disadvantage for
that blonde little fighter. Lelani was almost
impressed that anyone would act so boldly in the chief’s presence, but decided
it was just recklessness. A recklessness that would get her killed. Lelani smiled wider when she thought of how her Brian’s
friend, Nick, would react. He had tried to save his friends, tried to save his
little fighter. And failed.
~*~*~*~*~
“Get
off of me!” I yelled as I struggled against the native that pushed my body
against the wall of the dark cave.
“You like trouble, you get trouble,” the man spat as he shoved me in the back,
causing me to literally fly head first into the cave. I quickly turned myself
around and watched in despair as the men placed some type of crude bars across
the front and rolled a large boulder in front of it.
The bantering and the laughter of the two men as they left me in the damp cave
served only as a fuel for the anger I was feeling about the situation we all
were in. When I stood up and looked around the dark cave, I rubbed my arms as
the dampness crept in. Searching the cave walls, I was half expecting to see
tracings of buffaloes being followed by stick figures with spears. The only
thing I saw was were jagged edges of the cave covered in a light, dewy mist.
I trained my ear towards the distinct sound of dripping water. I was surprised
to see what looked like a tunnel in the darkest corner of the cave.
As I walked over to inspect the tunnel, I was torn away by the commotion that
was going on outside the barred entrance. My heart lept
into my throat as I saw Kevin being roughly escorted by three muscular men.
After hitting the ground hard, Kevin started coughing as he gasped for air. I
glared at the men when I knelt down beside my older brother. “Kev, are you
alright?”
It took him a few moments to get his bearings and he finally managed a slight
nod. He looked around the cave, the bewilderment mixed with anger showing in
his eyes.
“How come you’re in here, I made arrangements with---”
“Well your plan didn’t go like you wanted to Nick,” Kevin interrupted.
“What happened?”
“They told us about the slave deal, but I guess you weren’t enough to suit
their needs and their chief wanted me thrown in as part of the package.”
“That’s not what I specified ----”
“Ask for a fricken refund then Nick. We’re dealing
with natives on some damned island in god knows where, I think they have their
own rules.”
I narrowed my eyes at Kevin. “I heard Lizz screaming, what did they do to her?”
Kevin sighed. “She kinda lost it when she saw you being dragged out of Brian’s
hut and tried to run after you. She got stopped and stopped hard. The chief got
pissed at the way she was carrying on and Lizz tried to take my place when he
picked me as another one of his slaves. He said that her life belonged to him
now.”
I stared at Kevin, stunned. All my laid out plans were coming unraveled. This
wasn’t suppose to happen. I was to be their slave and the rest of them were
supposed to be taken someplace like a quarentined
area or something. I tried to protect my friends and I wound up making a bigger
mess.
*~*~*~*~*~
Howie, AJ and Lizz were led to a secluded area that had a large hut with two
natives that were keeping guard of them. Howie and Lizz sat on the straw mat,
and rested their backs against the wall as they watched AJ pacing the floor.
“Okay, I can see where Nick would have done that sacrifice thing to save
Brian’s ass, but for the life of me I don’t understand why the hell they would
pick Kevin for another breeder. KEVIN? They shouldof
taken me. God, I just don’t understand this whole set up,” AJ rasped as he
paced.
“I guess they just don’t view the package and appreciate it like your fans do,”
Howie teasingly suggested.
“I know, they aren’t very smart people, that’s for sure,” AJ replied, not
taking Howie’s comment as a joke but rather the truth.
Lizz and Howie cast sideways glances at each other.
“AJ, I think we should worry about more important things at hand here,” Lizz
suggested.
AJ stopped and turned to look down at Lizz. “Such as?”
“Such as helping Brian, Nick and Kevin you moron,” Howie snapped.
“Oh yeah, shit,” AJ replied.
“Shit is right,” Lizz added in agreement.
Just as AJ sat down to discuss plans, one of the natives appeared in the
entryway of the hut. He pointed a finger at Lizz.
“You.... you come with me, medicine woman needs you,” the dark haired man
commanded.
Lizz obediently stood up and walked with the man that had a firm grip on her
arm. AJ tried to follow her but was stopped short when another man stepped
between AJ and the exit.
As they neared the hut where Nick had been led from earlier, Lizz’s heart skipped a beat. She knew immediately that this
was the hut where Brian was. The only thing that was slowing her down was the
native’s grip on her arm. She wanted to run into the hut and wrap her arms
protectively around Brian.
The man stopped outside of the drape that covered the entrance to the hut. The
man spoke the language quickly and waited until the girl inside the hut replied
before he drew the drape back and pulled at her arm to indicate his desire for
her to go inside.
Lizz could feel her heart beating in her throat as she slowly entered the hut.
Her eyes immediately focused on Brian. Fear tugged at her heart when she looked
at him. His pale face was drenched in sweat, his lips were tinged light blue.
His body was wracked with a coughing fit when she entered the room.
“Oh my god, he’s dying! You’re supposed to save him! What have you done!?” Lizz
cried out as she ran towards Brian.
“I’m doing all that I can,” Lelani snapped.
“He has a heart condition, he needs meds, you’re
killing him! His body is going to drown in it’s own fluids.”
At first the look on the girl’s face was one of authority, but once Lizz’s words flew out of her mouth her look took on a
different expression. updated:
The young native girl’s expression went from anger and defiance to one of shock
and distraught. I’m sure I had to have read that last one wrong. Distraught?!
“I- I don’t know how to
fix that...” The girl stammered.
“He needs his medicine.
It’s in a green backpack, probably still laying wherever you people kidnapped
the other guys from. If he doesn’t get those meds soon, he is going to
die.” I spoke quickly and harshly. I turned back to Brian. His eyes were shut
now and breathing labored.
“Then you better go find
it.” The girl ordered.
I glanced towards the
flap of the hut. “What?! I don’t have a freakin clue where the hell we are or
what direction our raft washed up! Not to mention it’s dark. You need to
send some of your native friends that knows this jungle. Brian doesn’t have
time for me to get lost going in circles out there.” I yelled, pointing a
finger at her. I was so angry and so scared for Brian. I don’t think he even
looked this bad back when Terri and her whacked up family kidnapped us.
The girl glared back at
me before turning around and going out the flap doors. I heard quiet words
being exchanged, but of course I had no idea what they meant. I focused my
attention back to Brian.
“Hang on, hun. We’re
getting your meds so you can’t give up okay?” I rested a hand on his forehead,
almost gasping at the heat that radiated from his skin. There was a bowl with
what looked like water sitting on a small shelf. Next to it was a piece of
cloth. I folded it like a washcloth, dipped it in the water, and laid it over
his forehead. I slipped my other hand through one of his and squeezed it
gently. “God, I wish Nick were here.” I said softly.
“Well he’s not and you
aren’t going to stay either.” The girl reappeared back in the hut.
I whipped around. “I
can’t leave him! He needs to know that someone is here with him!”
“I’m not going to be
going anywhere.” The girl stated flatly.
I snorted. “Somehow I
don’t think your presence is going to bring him any comfort.”
She bristled. “How dare
you speak to me in that manner. You have yet to learn your place Fighter. You
no longer are allowed to speak so freely. You have angered and defied the
chief, why he has let you live, I do not understand. But mark my words,
Fighter, the chief owns you now.”
I swallowed. “And what
exactly does that mean?”
The girl laughed. “You
will find out. Maybe you will learn to wish that he would have just killed you.
You and your dark-haired friend, Nick, right? He tried to take Brian’s place?
His plan failed didn’t it? The tall one is a slave now and you...” She broke
off into a laugh.
“Why do I get the feeling
that you had something to do with what’s happened to me?” I narrowed my eyes at
the younger girl. The angry look that had flashed in her eyes when she
mentioned Nick’s name caught my attention. Why would she be so angry towards
Nick especially?
The girl stopped
laughing, a dangerous glint appearing in her eyes. “Watch your mouth Fighter.
You will be leaving now.”
I tightened my hold on
Brian’s hand. “I need to stay with him.”
The girl shook her head
disapprovingly. “You need a lesson on what your place is and how you are to
talk. Triaz!” She called towards the entrance of the
hut. One of the natives appeared a moment later.
“Lelani?”
He nodded, respectfully.
Lelani spoke to him in their native
tongue and gestured to me. The native started towards me, smiling. Another
followed directly behind him.
I shrank back, suddenly
afraid.
“Lizz?”
I looked down to see
Brian awake and looking at me. I could tell he was disoriented, but read the
fear in my eyes, plain as day. “It’s going to be ok, Bri. They’re finding your
meds and you are going to be fine. Hang on for us okay? Do it for Nick, he’s
counting on you.” I tried to keep my voice as calm as I could as to not upset
him, but it wasn’t doing a whole lot of good.
“Wh-what’s...going on?
Where-?” He was cut off by another fit of coughing. I tried to go to him, but
the native pulled me away. Lelani stepped between
Brian and I.
“You will learn.” She
said smugly. Then she looked at both natives and spoke in English. “After you
are done, take her to see her friend and the tall one. Palo knows where they
are being kept. Then they will learn too.”
“Wait!” Brian called out,
the weakness in his voice making me wince.
“It’s going to be okay.
You just worry about getting better.” I called out, frustrated at how my voice
betrayed me. It was shaking. The native shook me and barked something in his
language. I understood it to mean “shut up” so I did just that, my stomach
clenching up for whatever they had in store for me.
***