Chapter Six

Hayley awoke to find that it was still dark outside. Bewildered, she peered out of the tent and stared up at the sky. The moon was still there, but it seemed to be growing closer. It was large and white against the starless, navy blue sky. She didn't know what to make of it, so she went inside her tent to start gathering things. She knew the way back to camp now, so she didn't have to carry too much. She just had to find Zack, kill him, find the others, bring them back to camp, and wait for the plane to arrive.

She pulled out the largest bag she could find and stuffed with with all sorts of things. Knives meant for cooking, medical kits, canteens filled with water, and food. She also packed several flashlights and an assortment of other helpful gadgets.

“This should do it,” she said to herself. “Now, just continue to remember that the river flows towards the camp.”

She stiffly walked out towards the jungle, her limbs aching. As she reached the trees, she felt as though something was watching her. She narrowed her eyes and pulled one of the knives out of her bag.

Hayley held it in front of her and looked around, turning every so often to watch behind her. So far, no one was sneaking up on her, and she hadn't come across any of the missing adventurers. She still kept the knife with her, though. She'd already witnessed the death of Terrence at the claws of some vicious type of animal.

She brushed past a bush and ducked under a cluster of dangling vines. She held up her flashlight and clicked it on and off, hoping it would signal someone else to do the same. Or perhaps she'd attract the attention of Zack, so that she could finish him off and get revenge for what he did to everyone.

It was still dark outside, but she blamed this on some sort of rare astronomical happening. Or perhaps it was like the long thirty days of night that they had in Alaska. That was plausible, at least, or so she figured.

She paused, hearing footsteps crunching nearby. She narrowed her eyes and looked around, shining her light in the direction it had come from. There was a flash of white that went by, but as soon as she tried to focus on it, it was gone.

“Come out, whoever you are!” she commanded in a forceful and powerful tone of voice. “Come out, or I'll come after you.”

Nothing came. She sneered and walked on, still flashing her light on and off.

“Hello!” she called. “Is anyone out here?”

There was no reply.

“Lottie!”

No answer.

“Daran!”

Again, no answer.

“Daisy!”

Still there was no reply.

“Zack?”

“Present,” came a dark voice.

Hayley whirled around to see Zack brandishing a knife and waving it around in front of him. She backed up, also showing the knife she had with her.

“Mine's bigger,” he growled to her, showing off the knife, letting it glint in the light of the moon. “Put your weapon down, Hayley, and I won't hurt you.”

“Fat chance!” Hayley snarled. “You know, I should have left you a long time ago.”

He smirked. “Shame you just couldn't bring yourself to run away. Maybe if you'd had a little courage you wouldn't be here right now, fighting for your life in this godforsaken jungle.”

“Well, looks like it's time for a break up, then,” she spat viciously as she crouched, ready to leap at him. “A messy break up.”

She lunged, aiming her blow at his chest. He ducked to the side, managing to only be grazed by Hayley's blade. He jumped up and grabbed at her throat, but she dropped and flattened herself down on the ground and with a swift kick knocked his feet out from under him.

He gasped as the wind was knocked out of his body, and he coughed several times. Hayley pounced on him while he was down, and stabbed at him with the knife. He pushed her off, though he'd received a couple of blows to the shoulder. It was non-lethal, however, but it was still enough to make him cry out in pain.

Furious, Zack jabbed upwards at her. He missed, but she fell to the side trying to dodge his attack. He took advantage of this by jumping on top of her and stabbing her with the knife. She screamed and reached around, digging her nails into his arm. He only stabbed again, sending a splash of blood to the ground.

Hayley suddenly bucked backwards, knocking him flat onto his back. She whirled around, stabbing him in the abdomen and yelling like she was possessed. Zack yelped in pain and pressed his hand over the wound, drawing it back to see it was covered in blood.

“You – you,” he stammered, “you stabbed me, you worthless whore.”

“What were you expecting? A hug and a kiss?” Hayley breathed, still holding the knife that was dripping with Zack's blood.

He sat up, looking actually rather pleased with her.“I just can not believe you actually had the courage to do that to me,” he said with a smirk. He then picked himself up off the ground and winced, his hand pressed against his wound. “Good show, Hayley.”

Zack then turned around and walked off into the woods without so much as another word. Hayley slumped down on the ground, breathing heavily. So she hadn't been able to finish him off. Perhaps he'd just die from the wound she'd inflicted on him. He couldn't live very long with a hole in his gut.

She breathed out, and turned her attention to her own stab wound. It wasn't deep, and it didn't seem as though it had hit anything important. She was concerned by the amount of blood that was leaking from it, however. She pulled out bandages from one of the medical kits she'd brought with her, and wrapped it around the wound to stop it from bleeding any more.

“If I see him alive again, I'm going to kill him,” she promised herself. “And I can only hope that I do see him alive again.”

Wheezing from the stress of the fight, she stood up and turned on her flashlight. Once she found the other she could take them back to camp so that they'd all be safe from Zack and the wild animals that lurked on the island until the entire thing was over.

–

Daran was almost tired of hearing about ancient books, sacrifices, and curses. It was all Lottie, Daisy, and Skye would talk about now. Sure, he wondered about all of it, and he was just as fascinated with it as they were, but he'd like to hear something different for a change. Perhaps something that involved them getting off of the island. They could always discuss the ancient secrets back in America, after all.

“Are you guys going to talk about anything else anytime soon?” he asked, vocalizing his thoughts. “I mean, this is really neat and cool, and all, but I want to get back to America so that I can see a doctor and not die.”

“Hush, Daran, we're busy!” they said to him. “This is one of the biggest discoveries of all time, and we're this close to figuring thing out.”

“When did you all become archeologists or whatever,” Daran sniffed. “Is it archeologists?”

“Hey, I deal with this sort of thing all the time,” said Daisy. “I'm a paranormal investigator, remember?”

“Oh, right. Ghost hunter or something like that,” muttered Daran. “And people bring you ancient books and stuff to look at, then?”

Daisy set the book down. “Well... no, not really. Mostly they come to me about objects moving by themselves and hearing voices and stuff like that. It's never huge scale paranormal activities like this.” She then picked it back up and continued to read.

“Hey, Daran,” Skye piped up suddenly. “You know what your name reminds me of?”

Daran blinked. “What?”

“Duran Duran. They're totally awesome, I listen to their songs all the time. They've been at the top of the charts recently –” He suddenly paused with a look of sadness. “Wait, never mind, it's apparently not 1983 anymore. What am I thinking?” He laughed half-hardheartedly and turned away.

“Aw, look at that,” said Lottie sympathetically. “It's alright, Skye. I know you're a little confused about everything, but it'll be alright. Once we all get off this island, though, I can imagine you're going to be a little puzzled with your new surroundings.”

“You mean if we get off of this island,” Skye corrected. “Because while I have just a couple doubts that you guys are going to make it off, I'm almost fairly certain I'm not going to get out of here. I have no idea what happened to me, but I think I'm dead or something. What good will it do for me to get off the island if I'm sort of – dead-ish.”

Daisy shook her head. “You know, we're not quite sure about that. For all you know, you've just been stuck in some sort of weird place where the time has slowed down, and you never really did die.”

“One can hope,” Skye said with a sigh. “But nothing will be the same when I do get off here, if I do.”

“Don't worry, Skye, we'll help you with everything,” Lottie promised. “I mean, you pretty much saved our lives, so we sort of owe you one.”

Skye suddenly grabbed the book away from Daisy. “Of course, there's always a chance there's some way I can reverse this and send myself back to a normal life in 1983, right?” he announced suddenly.

“No – no, that would be a bad idea,” cautioned Lottie. “Put the book down and don't you dare try to reverse time and space or whatever it is you're thinking of doing.”

“Yeah, that's just selfish!” agreed Daisy.

“Not listening,” said Skye as he turned the pages of the book in a desperate attempt to find a way to go back in time.

Lottie sighed. “I didn't want to have to do this but – Mags!”

Skye slumped over onto the floor, dropping the book.

“What was that all about?” asked Daisy. “Why'd he just fall over there when you shouted 'Mags'?”

“Because that's his real name and saying it somehow brings about flash-backs or something to him, and it knocks him out for a little while,” explained Lottie. “Now, if you don't mind, please pick up the book, Daisy, and let's get back to reading it.”

“Yeah, it was just getting really interesting,” Daisy agreed. “He should have asked for the book, anyway, and not just snatched it away from me like that. He could have damaged it, and I'm sure it's worth a fortune and a half!”

“I don't think we'll be selling the book to anyone,” Lottie said. “I mean, imagine if another person with bad intentions got their hands on it. The cycle of greedy people using the book for greedy purposes may never end.”

“Amen to that!” Daran agreed heartily. “Now, about getting off the island...”

“The only thing we can do is wait,” sighed Lottie.

“But how will we know when the plane gets here?” asked Daran. “We'd be better off waiting at the camp, wherever that is.”

Daisy tilted her head. “Maybe Skye could take us to the camp when he wakes up.”

“Yeah, if he's not trying to time travel again,” Daran snorted. “Perhaps he knows where camp is, and maybe he could carry each one of us back there.”

“Do you think he's strong enough to do that?” Lottie asked.

“Well, none of us really weigh too much,” said Daisy. “I'm only one-hundred-and-forty pounds, and I'm guessing Lottie is about one-hundred-twenty-five.”

“That's about right,” Lottie agreed.

“Well, I weigh about one-hundred-sixty,” Daran said. “I'm not quite sure if Skye will be able to lift me. He really doesn't look all that strong.”

“I was able to lift you for a while when I was on the run from Zack,” Lottie mentioned. “But that was probably adrenaline.”

Skye woke up, groaning and muttering. “Who did that?” he asked. “Who called me by my actual name? Whoever it was, I'm upset with you. That was unkind.”

“It was me,” admitted Lottie. “I only did it because you were acting cuckoo, though. I didn't mean to hurt you.”

He glared at her. “Well, you did.”

“Skye, hey, we wanted to ask you something,” started Daran. “Do you mind taking us back to our camp? It's in the center of this piece of flat land over somewhere near here. We'd really appreciate being safely there so that we can wait for the plane and all.”

Skye rubbed his head and winced. “Gah, stupid headache,” he grunted. “Fine, sure, I'll take you back to your stupid camp. But I'm going to have to locate it first.” He stood up and dizzily walked towards the slope. “I'll be back before you know it, don't miss me too much, and all that jazz.”

He once again left them alone, climbing up the slope and slipping away into the darkness.

“Well, that didn't take too much convincing,” said Daran.

“But should we really let him move us? We are hurt pretty badly,” cautioned Lottie. “I don't want anything to be made worse.”

Daisy stood up and stretched her limbs. “I'm not hurt at all!” she announced, proudly. “Aren't I lucky?”

“Well, you do have a few scratches here and there, but you're certainly luckier than Daran and I,” Lottie said with a nod. “Gee, I really hope Skye can find our camp.”

Daran shifted around. “If he's been living here for ages, I'm sure he knows every inch of this island – and hey, have you guys checked that dumb book for a map of this place?”

Lottie's eyes widened. “Daran, that's an excellent idea! Quick, Daisy, look for a map inside the book!”

“See? I'm handy to have around, aren't I?” Daran bragged, a look of pride on his face.

“You sure are!” Lottie said, smiling.

“Hey, I did find a map!” Daisy said excitedly. “It's right here towards the back of the book. Let's see... camp is over down where the river ends, and we're somewhere – here – next to the really big X on the map.”

“I don't recall seeing a big X anywhere nearby,” Daran said sarcastically.

Lottie only beamed. “This is great! Now even if Skye can't find the camp on his own, we have a way of getting back there. This is a wonderful discovery we've made... I wonder why Skye didn't mention that before.”

“He forgot? Or maybe he just didn't know to begin with,” Daisy suggested.

“That could very well be the case,” Lottie said. “He's a bit of an oddball.”

Daran let out an impatient breath. “I hope he gets back soon. I can't wait to get back to camp.”

They all murmured in agreement.

–

Skye wandered through the woods, without a light to guide him or a hint of the direction he was supposed to be going in. He stared up at the moon in the sky, feeling a certain nostalgia deep inside of his chest. It was a pang; a certain longing for something. It was a bitter feeling that he hated so much. He took a deep breath and let it out, trying to make it go away.

It was just like the first night he had come to the island. He had such high hopes and aspirations, and he was with the woman that he loved more than his own life. Things would finally going to be good for once, but it didn't turn out the way he'd planned at all.

He'd done everything to get a chance at having his life go his way for once. He'd stolen, he'd lied – he'd even killed, but just once or twice, and they'd deserved it. Hadn't they? They were far more greedy and terrible than he had been.

But Rosa somehow managed to top everyone else. What had happened to her anyway? Had she actually succeeded in achieving the ultimate form, and gone on to the second world? Or maybe she had done something wrong and paid for it with her life. Or perhaps she turned coward, and gone back home, never to think about any of it again. Never to think about him again. Not even caring about what she'd done to him.

And that was by far the worst thought he'd ever had in his lifetime.

“Rosa, why did you do this to me?” he murmured. “I was always loyal to you. I was always there for you, by your side. I was with you all the time, I did everything you asked me to do for you.”

He narrowed his icy blue eyes.

“I said I'd give my life for you...”

Skye looked up at the glowing moon.

“... but I didn't mean it like this. Who sacrifices their best friend, anyway? No one does that!”

He gritted his teeth together. “Not even I'd do that! Sheesh!”

Skye folded his arms over his chest and grunted in discontent. He then began to walk again, his footsteps crushing leaves. He was being completely ignored by the things that lurked in the shadows, however. In fact, they could hardly tell he was there. Just another sacrifice gone awry. Nothing for them to worry about.

He looked around, a little bothered by the fact that there were no Necryptos out to stop him from getting anywhere. He'd spoken with them before, they knew he was around, and that he hadn't left the island – so why weren't they trying to destroy him or at least trying to hinder him on his way to the camp?

“Is everyone ignoring me today?” he muttered. “Why are you all ignoring me? Is my mission not important enough for you to stop. Are you all really only the pathetic guardians of the island's secrets and nothing more? You're not going to kill me? You're not going to growl at me and warn me to turn back? Lame guardians, aren't you?”

He stopped in his tracks. “Or maybe my mission just isn't important enough for you to stop, huh? I'm just doing a favor for some poor unlucky folks, nothing that the 'great and mighty' Necryptos should bother with, oh no, heaven forbid they waste their time on me.”

With that, he continued to trample further into the jungle, this time far angrier and more aggressive than before.

And they still didn't care.

–

Zack coughed, changing his bandages again. He had fixed both the wound on his leg, and was working to at least stop the bleeding on the wound he had in his stomach area. He was growing dizzy and tired, and he wanted to rest. At least he'd managed to get away from Hayley with his life. She was truly out for revenge in the highest degree.

But why hadn't she been accepted as a sacrifice? He'd done everything right, or at least he thought he had. How many sacrifices did he need to make again? He could hardly remember any of the information he'd learned from speaking with the other people interested in the island – the people of a certain secret society he happened to belong to.

“Three sacrifices, was it?” he grunted. “Well, I still have three other people lurking around there somewhere. I hope they're not dead, that wouldn't be very good for me.”

At this point, he really did hope he was getting everything right. Set out the sacrifices for the Necryptos, leave them tied to trees and carve the symbols into their arms. Simple enough, it seemed, but why hadn't it worked on Hayley? Was she immune to being sacrificed or something? Could one even be immune to being sacrificed?

In any case, Zack was going to do his best to avoid her.

–

Hayley leaned up against a tree, catching her breath again. She'd been all over the jungle and there was still no sign of the missing adventurers. She was about to give up all hope of finding them, but she felt some sort of tug on her heart. She had to keep them safe, lest Zack attempt to kill them as well.

“I don't know why I feel sorry for those morons,” she sighed. “But I guess I have to do something to make up for Zack luring them out here. I hope he wasn't trying to kill them, too. Geez, what would he have said to the pilots? That we just went missing or something?”

She sighed. “He really didn't think this out very well, I should think. Stupid serial killer Zack.”

She continued through the woods, still shining her light for the people. She felt the ground start to slope beneath her and she looked down. She could hear people talking down inside of what appeared to be a large hole. Had she finally found the missing adventurers?

“Hello, down there, is everyone alright?”

–

“Hello, down there, is everyone alright?”

Lottie looked towards the sound of the voice, her eyes wide. It sounded like Hayley, but hadn't she gone missing. Lottie had figured that Zack had killed her, but apparently that wasn't the case.

“Yes, we're down here and we're – well, we're less than alright, but at least you've found us! Thank goodness, Hayley!” she exclaimed. “Just don't lose your footing, we wouldn't want another person to get injured.”

Hayley slid down the slope towards them and shined the light at them. She counted them and nodded. “So, you guys managed to make it. How did you get all bandaged up if you were injured. Did Daisy help you, she doesn't look hurt...?”

“No, it was this guy named Skye!” said Daisy. “He rescued me, too. He has pretty blue eyes.”

“Agreed on that one,” said Daran.

“But his name isn't really Skye, it's Mags, but don't call him that because it makes him fall over,” said Lottie. “He isn't here right now, though, he went to look for the camp so that he could bring us there so that we could wait for the plane.”

Hayley stared at them. “Who in the name of all things is Skye – or Mags – and what is he doing here on the island? I don't remember him coming with us.”

Lottie tilted her head, hating to have to explain it all over again. “Well, that's because he was here on the island before we were. He's been stuck here since 1983, or so he claims, but he doesn't look a day over thirty.”

“That... makes no conceivable sense to me in the slightest,” Hayley said. “Well, here, let me help you get back to camp, then.”

“But wait, we were thinking we should wait for Skye, because he's strong enough to help lift us back there. Daran and I can't walk by ourselves,” Lottie explained.

“Yeah, it's best if we all wait for him to get back,” Daran agreed. “He's been helpful so far, and I think he's willing to help us get back to camp as well.”

Daisy also nodded in agreement.

“Alright then, well it looks like I'm just going to have to stay here with you nut-jobs until this weird Mags – or Skye – fellow gets back here,” Hayley said, sitting down and making herself comfortable. “Do you think he's going to take long? And what's he like?”

“He's a tad cuckoo, I suppose,” said Lottie. “He's got orange-red hair that I'm sure is dyed that way, and these bright blue eyes that Daran and Daisy love so much. Personally, I don't think it's such a special trait.”

Hayley nodded and yawned. “Here, is anyone hungry? I went back to the camp and I brought some food.”

“Hungry? Boy are we ever!” they shouted at her.

Hayley was worried that she was about to get her hands bitten off by the rabid adventurers. She handed them all food and watched as they scarfed it down. She took a little for herself and bit into it, chewing thoughtfully. They were nice enough people. And she was interested in this Skye fellow that they were talking about. What was his story, anyway?

She leaned against the wall and shut her eyes.

What a long day.