Post by JRK Archiver on Feb 13, 2008 15:47:23 GMT -5
~Woods~
Jess prided herself on her physical fitness, her stamina, but even she was ready to scream when Hawk finally called a halt to their mad dash. Bending over she rested her hands on her knees and tried to catch her breath. Her consolation came with the knowledge that Hawk was breathing just as hard as she was.
“How did you know?” Jess finally gasped out.
How could he explain it to her? His worldly boss didn’t really believe in evil and every time he started talking about the mysticism his Grand Mere had believed in her response had been to change the topic. She hadn’t been raised on the Bayou she didn’t know there were things that existed in the world that could never be explained away and evil was one of those things.
“Hawk?”
“He was downwind I caught a whiff,” he offered a line from a movie he’d once seen and saw her expression turn doubtful.
“I’m amazed you could smell anything given the lovely aroma you’re emanating.”
“Your not so fresh yourself boss,” he snapped.
Before she could respond their attention was caught by a flash in the darkened sky above them. “We better find someplace to hold up for the night. Things are going to get wet around here.”
Hawk studied the sky for a minute then shifted his attention to her, catching her expression he couldn’t resist a remark. “I’m ready for a wet T-shirt contest, how about you?”
“Juvenile,” she hissed and began moving.
Letting out a long wolf-whistle Hawk trailed her. “I have to admit you have me beat when it comes to the T-shirt contest. But I don’t mind.”
~Trail~
Jason crashed hard into the guard. The sight of an unmoving Elizabeth on the ground made him snap. The abuse he unloaded on the guard was brutal, punch after punch until the guard stopped moving and still he swung. When he was convinced the man wasn’t going to move anytime soon, he left the guard and crawled to Elizabeth’s side.
“Elizabeth?” His voice was soft and his hand shook when he reached out to touch her face. Brushing back her hair his eyes narrowed at the faint trickle of blood coming from beneath her hairline at the corner of her head. She’d been hurt again, and once again he hadn’t been able to stop it. Angry all over again he wanted to pound on the guard but knew he had to get her out of there.
Moving quickly he retrieved the man’s gun and radio. Next he carefully removed the binds from Elizabeth’s wrists and took great pleasure in tying the guard up with the rope as tightly as possible. Finally he checked the guard’s pockets for anything else that could come in handy, and discovered a lighter and a package of crackers. Pulling the backpack free he tucked them inside it and put it back on before heading back for Elizabeth and picking her up as gently as he could. Gentle or not her head still lolled backwards over his arm, infuriating him, he turned back to the guard and kicked him several times, moving him from the trail into the brush.
He began walking away only to come to a stop after a few steps. The guard would be discovered eventually and when he was they would try to track who had beaten him. Realizing that, he paused and awkwardly pulled a small bushy branch from a tree and began brushing at his prints, obliterating them. Backing carefully from the path he made sure he left no trace of Elizabeth and his passage.
~New York City~
Sonny poured a liberal dose of scotch in his glass and studied the night skyline. How was he supposed to tell Jason that Elizabeth was dead? How was he supposed to tell his best friend that he had let him down and a woman he cared for had paid the price?
He wasn’t blind to Jason’s feelings for Elizabeth, he even believed he’d picked up on her feelings for him. All Jason had ever asked of him was to keep his family safe and help them if they asked for his help. He’d already let Emily down and she’d been hurt because of it. Jason had managed to forgive him for that, but forgiveness wouldn’t happen this time. Although Jason hadn’t said the words the last time he’d left, Sonny knew that Elizabeth was as important as Emily to Jason, in a different way.
Now he was faced with having to tell Jason that she was dead. Logically he knew that it wasn’t his fault. The bounty had been on Jason and Elizabeth had followed in an attempt to help him. He couldn’t control what had happened. But the fact that Elizabeth had been in his care at the time of her death meant that it was his fault.
Draining his glass in one long gulp he deliberately set his glass down. Almost immediately he turned the glass over barring the path of more dark amber liquid. He couldn’t afford to bury the pain in alcohol, he couldn’t afford to crawl into the darkness in his mind. He still had so much left to do, he needed to be able to move to do it. Things like telling Nikolas that Elizabeth was dead.
~Plane~
“We’ll take you back to the island and you can take a plane back to Port Charles,” Nikolas informed her when her tears finally stopped. "Max turn the plane around."
Sitting back against the seat Emily shook her head. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Emily this could be dangerous,” Nikolas hesitated not wanting to tell her about his father, a concept he could barely grasp himself. “You need to leave.”
“Either my brother or my best friend is dead,” she pointed out. “I’m not leaving until I know who. After I find out I’m going to need to help the survivor deal with the knowledge that the other is dead.”
“You’ve barely recovered from your injury. You’ll just slow us down,” he pointed out viciously. “Max, turn the plane around.”
“Don’t do it Max,” Emily warned him. “I’m staying with you until I know what happened.”
“Turn the plane around,” ignoring her he ordered the Mountain as sharply as he could.
“I’ll just follow you,” Emily warned them both. “You better keep me with you Max.”
“Max,” Nikolas all but yelled when he realized the Mountain had yet to turn the plane. “Turn the plane now.”
“Don’t do it Max,” Emily warned.
“I couldn’t if I wanted to.” Max finally interrupted their argument. “We have a problem.”
“What sort of a problem?” Nikolas demanded then got his answer when the engine sputtered once, twice, then cut off completely.
~Trail~
“What’s wrong?” Manny asked when Francis came to an abrupt halt.
“The tracks,” Francis murmured, using the flashlight he’d brought with him he began searching the ground.
“What about them?” Manny took a step away and cautiously touched his ribs trying to figure out if any were broken.
“The tracks end.”
Surprised Manny took a step in his direction then went flying as he tripped over something. “What the hell?”
The light turned in his direction and they both took in the beaten, bloody, unconscious man. Scrambling to his knees he checked for a pulse. “It’s weak but he’s still alive. It looks like he ran into a truck.”
“You ever been around Jason when he lost his temper?” Francis wanted to know.
“I can’t say I have,” Manny admitted.
“It’s ugly.” Francis scanned the ground trying to find the direction Jason had went and was soon distracted by the sound of Manny’s stomach growling.
“Sorry,” Manny’s sheepish expression came through the dark night. “It’s been awhile since lunch. “You find his trail?”
“Its to dark to find anything.” Francis finally admitted. “We better find a safe place to hold up for the night. We can get a fresh start in the morning. We need to find someplace high,” he muttered under his breath hoping Manny didn’t hear him.
“High?” Manny latched onto that one word. “Why high?”
Francis didn’t want to answer, he really didn’t want to answer Manny but knew he had to. “The woods come alive at night.”
“Alive?” Manny was puzzled until a beautiful idea came to him. “Do you mean alive with animals?”
Francis didn’t even bother to stop his groan.
“Cool!” Manny took the groan as a sign of assent. “What kind of animals?”
Francis turned his light on his watch he had the time to kick Manny’s ass now, he wasn't trying to keep a schedule any longer, nothing was holding him back.
"Are there any cats here?" An oblivious Manny wanted to know. "Or maybe bears."
~Unique~
Opening the door slightly she made sure the hallway was empty before leaving the copy room and heading for the office at the end of the hall. The file clutched in her hand was the original the copy hiding in the bag on her shoulder. All she had to do now was return the original before anyone knew it was gone.
Reaching the door she knocked softly and waited a few seconds before opening the door. Moving quickly she headed for the file cabinet and replaced the file. Repeating her earlier procedure she carefully checked the hall before exiting the office. She’d only taken a few steps away from the door when Meg appeared at the end of the hall.
“Were you looking for me?” Meg asked.
“I just wanted to know if you’d decided on how to deal with Sonny Corinthos.”
“I told you that’s up to the boss.”
“Right. I’ll see you tomorrow.” With that she turned and headed for the lobby unaware that Meg was watching her every step.
~Cave~
Jason found the cave quite by accident. Night had fallen on them quickly making it difficult for him to see where he was going. He was being doubly cautious because Elizabeth was still unconscious in his arms, yet he was determined to put as much distance between them and the beaten guard as he could. Tiring sooner than he liked to admit he had leaned against what he thought was a boulder covered by vines. When he pitched forward collapsing to his knees he realized the vines had been a fake front shielding the entrance to a cave.
Setting Elizabeth down carefully he reached for the lighter and clicked it on. The lighter didn’t illuminate much of the cave but what he saw seemed to be dry. The sky had been rumbling ominously and he knew the storm was about to break. Moving cautiously he headed deeper in the cave to see if it was empty. He’d traveled about 20 yards before giving up, the cave was too large for him to search with such a dim light. Letting the lighter go out he blew on his fingertips to cool them before turning back.
The dim light coming from the entrance guided him without the need to use the lighter and for that he was grateful. He paused beside Elizabeth long enough to settle her more comfortably and reassure himself by checking her pulse again. His sigh was one of relief when he felt the steady beat of her heart. Getting to his feet he headed outside. If they were going to stay in the cave they would need to shield it better.
Carefully he rearranged the vines until they totally hid the entrance to the cave. He hoped that would keep out the casual observer. The rain had just begun to fall when he made his way carefully back through the vines to Elizabeth. There was still a faint light coming through the vines but that light didn’t go far. The darkness appeared to loom up directly behind where Elizabeth lay.
Settling himself against the wall near the entrance he pulled the Bowie knife from his boot and laid it next to his hip within easy reach. Next he pulled the canteen from his backpack and took a brief sip. Finally his focus turned to Elizabeth. Moving her carefully, cautiously, he settled her head on his lap. He had just begun to dab the cut on her forehead with the edge of his shirt when he was distracted by a noise.
To be more specific he was distracted by two noises. The one coming from outside the cave had him tensing, his hand picking up the knife. Someone was moving closer to the entrance of the cave. They were taking their time trying to mask the sounds of their approach and that concerned him. But the sound that really worried him came from his left, from somewhere back in the darkness of the cave. His eyes moved from left to right not knowing for certain which way held the most danger. But he finally knew one thing for certain. They weren’t alone in the cave.
