Arg. I should do a better read-through before I post chapters. About five minutes after I posted chapter two I was checking out the live preview and saw two mistakes. Just me's review said it wasn't too bad, though, and that makes me happy. And thanks for my other anonymous reviews (since I can't thank you through e-mail)! I'll take that ellipsis as a good sign, Joucelin, lol.
Word of warning: I do plan on doing more regular updates, but as November is NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month – write 50,000 words in a month), and I still have a 15 page final paper to finish, along with a technical paper for a trebuchet I built for school, this may be hard. I want to update again after around a weeks time, but if I can't get the writing done in school, this may be the last update for this month.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Really. I'm only 17. I really own nothing, especially anything from Flight 29 Down.
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Nathan awoke to the fiercest headache he had ever had. As he struggled to a more aware consciousness he couldn't help but groan. "Nathan?" A soft voice burst through his mind. "Nathan?" It came again. The voice sounded familiar, but Nathan had no idea why. Where was he anyway? He groaned again. "Come on Nathan. I know you're there. Please open your eyes!" Melissa!
With a great amount of effort Nathan finally forced his eyes open. "Mel?" He could see her blurry form hovering above him. "What hit me?"
Melissa gave a small, nervous laugh. "We were kind of hoping you could tell us that. Do you remember what happened at all, Nathan?"
The boy grunted and pushed himself to a sitting position. His vision swayed but he stayed sitting. "Umm…lessee. Me and Taylor were looking for Lex, I believe."
"Lex? Why were you looking for Lex?" Nathan jumped a bit at Dailey's voice. He hadn't known she was there. But his eyes swiveled automatically a little to his left and, sure enough, there was Dailey, anxiously peering at him.
"Didn't Taylor tell you?"
"Umm…actually…" Melissa started, but couldn't finish. She looked up at Jackson, who was standing comfortably behind her. Her big, brown eyes pleaded him to finish. Nathan hadn't known he was there either.
"Taylor couldn't have told us. She's missing."
Nathan's eyebrows furrowed. "What?"
"Finish your story first," Jackson commanded.
Nathan's face was still confused, but he obeyed the command nonetheless. "So Taylor said that Lex and her heard a noise in the bush. Taylor fell and hit her head and Lex ran off. She came back to camp and I fixed up her head and then we went to find Lex. There was a noise in one of the bushes and I checked it out. Next thing I know I'm staring up at you, Mel. So, now, what happened to Taylor?"
Nathan stared expectantly at Jackson but it Eric who answered. "Lex found you and came screaming bloody murder back to us. We haven't seen Taylor since. Actually," Eric looked around in that conspiratorial way that only he could pull off, "we haven't seen Lex for a while either." Eric raised both his eyebrows, suggesting something none of the others quite got.
Dailey was about to stand up and stick up for her brother when she realized Eric was right. "Where is Lex?" Melissa shrugged while Nathan and Jackson shared an unreadable look.
"He's probably just off thinking about what happened, or something," Melissa offered, hopefully.
Nathan nodded his support in that, but Dailey wasn't to be calmed. She had quickly taken to Lex being her younger brother, and had been extremely over protective of him ever since they had landed on the island – not that anyone could blame her for that.
"I'm going to go look for him."
"Dailey, wait. I'll go with you. You shouldn't go alone."
"Don't be a hero, Nathan. You're most likely concussed. Stay here and I'll go with Dailey to find Taylor and Lex."
Nathan frowned, but realized the wisdom in Jackson's words. "Fine."
"Well then, it's settled. C'mon Jackson!" Dailey grabbed three full water bottles and set off in the direction they did their video diaries.
Jackson gave a helpless shrug and jogged to catch up with Dailey's retreating form. Eric groaned and plopped down on a log near the small fire. Melissa gave Nathan a worried look.
"Are you really okay?"
Nathan gave her his most charming smile. "I'm fine, Mel. Don't worry about me. It's not like this is the first time I've been hurt on this island."
"And that's exactly why I worry, Nathan," she replied with a weak smile.
He laughed at the same time Eric groaned. "How can you two be so…so…so…happy!? Lex and Taylor are missing and you, Nathan, have a concussion. And we don't know why. That does spell out to time joke. Not to me, at least."
Nathan and Melissa immediately sobered up. "If we can't joke, what can we do? Drown in our despair?" Melissa's voice had a bit of an odd edge to it. As soon as she finished she glared at Eric, and stalked away from the camp.
"What was that!?" Eric stared incredulously at Melissa's back. He had definitely not predicted that. Melissa was such a nice, calm girl, who usually under-reacted, if anything. Eric turned searchingly to Nathan. Instead of answers he was met with an angry stare.
"Eric," Nathan sighed, and leaned back down on the sleeping bag someone must have put near the fire when they carried him back.
Eric stared, very confused, at his islandmate. Used to being blamed for things, he easily shook it off. "I think Dailey said once we got you awake you were supposed to stay awake for a while."
"Just because I'm lying down doesn't mean I'm going to sleep, Eric."
"Yeah, well…I'd just prefer it if you sat up. I'd hate for your fifteenth accident to be the one that takes you out," Eric joked, but bit his lip when he let it slip he thought one of them could die on this island.
Nathan picked up Eric's laugh, though. Groaning, he managed to sit up again. "Yeah, me to." They both awkwardly looked away, and stared into the fire. A tentative bond had started to form between the two ever since Eric had kept Nathan calm when his legs had become trapped under the plane, but that didn't mean they were good friends yet. A sober silence settled comfortably over the camp.
-----Melissa's Video Diary-----
"Urg. Our days on this island are wearing us all thin. Everybody's jumping on everybody else for little things that wouldn't have bothered us when we first crashed. When times get bad I either need to retreat into myself and hide from the world, or joke about it. And Nathan's great with that. He'll joke back with me, and not just because that's his reaction too.
"But all that doesn't matter. When an accident happens we can pull together – until the immediate danger is passed, that is. With only Dailey and Jackson looking for Taylor and Lex… I'm worried. We've been really lucky so far. Sure, there have been a few accidents, but," Melissa distractedly pushed a stray hair out of her eyes, "no one really got hurt.
"Now that Nathan has a concussion, and two of our friends are still missing… It just doesn't seem likely that our luck will run through the night." A scared and worried look was on Melissa's face as she turned the camera off.
-----End Video Diary-----
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While Dailey and Jackson were busy searching for Lex, he was succeeding in staying away from them. Safely tucked away in the glade where he currently had Taylor tied up, he was relatively sure they would not find him – or his captive.
Speaking of which…he stepped up to the tree Taylor was tied up to and slapped the girl with all his force. An angry red welt immediately sprung up on her cheek, accompanied with her low moan.
"Wakey, wakey, Taylor dear."
"Ermnagable. Whosit?"
"It's Lex. Now wake up!" He pounded in his last three words with three more slaps to Taylor's face. She gave a soft cry and forces her eyes open. They were milky and unfocused, wandering around with fever. "Good. Now I can have my last little bout of fun with you. I suppose you won't last long through the fever, anyway. Might as well have my fun while I can."
"Lexss? Whas wrong with you…?" The blonde asked, stumbling and slurring over her words.
"Wrong with me?" Lex sounded amused.
"Why 'id you do thisss to me?"
"Do what?" Lex asked, clearly having fun.
"Oh, jusss' kill me no'."
"Ordering me around now? Good try, but no. I can still have some fun with you yet." And with that he brought out the knife again. Taylor stiffened in fear, but all Lex did was slice through the makeshift ropes. She didn't even try to escape. She slumped against the tree, too weak to fight back – for now, anyway. He had removed her gag earlier, to hear her spoken reaction, but he replaced it now, and also used a part of the cut rope to lasso her arms behind her back.
Taylor's shoulder protested most fiercely at the action, and she groaned through the gag. Lex chuckled at her pain, and pulled the rope back a little tighter. Unbidden tears sprang into Taylor's eyes, and she choked into her gag. Lex just chuckled harder. "Now, now, be calm. You haven't felt anything yet." Taylor whimpered, unable to say anything.
"LEX!"
"TAYLOR!"
"Aw, crap!" Lex glared daggers at Taylor, as if this was somehow all her fault. She didn't seem to notice though, as her fever-glazed eyes were staring hopefully in the spot that Dailey and Jackson's voices had come from.
"LE-EX!"
"No noises," Lex whispered threateningly in Taylor's ear. He dragged her a short way into a big, nearby bush. The bush was thorny, but Lex paid the thorns no heed as he shoved Taylor down to the ground, completely hidden from view. He quickly stashed the knife in another bush, and then rushed towards the sounds of the too close voices.
"TAYLOR!"
Going as far away from the voices and Taylor as he dared he suddenly shouted, "DAY? JACKSON?"
"LEX?"
"DAY," Lex shouted, lacing his voice with as much excitement and relief as he could.
Two minutes later Dailey was crashing through the nearest bushes to reach Lex. She caught him up in her arms, and squeezed him in a tight embrace. "I was so worried about you! Where were you? Don't you ever do that to me again!"
Lex laughed. "One topic at a time, Day."
"Oh, eh-heh. Sorry. Where were you?"
"I was just out thinking. Didn't mean to worry you," he blinked owlishly, doing his best to convince her of his innocent journey out in the woods.
"And you're okay? You've got scratches all over you!" Dailey gave him an appraising look, studying his body for more serious injuries.
"Oh," he gave a small, embarrassed laugh. "I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and I walked into a thorn bush." Behind Dailey Jackson gave a snort, and Dailey glared at him in return.
"But you're okay?"
"Yeah, Dailey. No need to worry. Really, I'm fine," he grinned.
"You're beginning to sound like Nathan," Jackson muttered, and even Dailey had to appreciate the humor there.
"C'mon, let's head back."
"We haven't found Taylor yet, though, Dailey. Lex is fine, if a little scraped up, but Taylor may not be."
Dailey sighed. She had never been fond of Taylor, even before they had become stranded on the island together. Her main goal when she had set out was to find Lex, and she had done that. It wasn't that she hated Taylor and wanted her to get hurt, she just didn't think that had happened. Taylor wasn't her sibling, and also wasn't a couple years younger than everyone else on the island. As much as Dailey complained about Taylor, she did have faith in the girl, and thought she could handle herself fine for a little while longer.
"I'll feel much better if we drop Lex back off at camp. Then we can come back out here to continue looking for Taylor."
A frown darkened Lex's young features. A frown that didn't escape Jackson, though he did misinterpret the meaning behind it. "It won't hurt Lex if he comes a little further with us." He gave a smile in Lex's way, thinking the young boy just didn't want the others to think he was weak or useless. That was insanity, of course, but it was better if Lex didn't think his only use to them was that of his brain.
"Of course, but…I'm tired. I could use a little rest. I'm sure that Taylor will be fine for a little while longer. She is a big girl, you know."
Giving a sympathetic smile in Lex's direction, Jackson held up his hands in defeat. There was a reason he had given up being a leader. He really didn't enjoy or appreciate all the teenage drama. Or any of the teenage angst, either. "I know. And so is Lex, if you don't know." And then he turned on his heel, and started to lead the way back to camp.
Lex's frown deepened. He really did not want to leave Taylor so quickly. He had so looked forward to torturing and killing her. It had been so long. They had been on the island so darn long that he was starting to get a little twitchy. Not that he had killed too many times before that, and never a person, but he had still grown fond of it.
He just had so much crap going on in his life. First there had been the bullies at school – he was very short for his age, and wasn't that strong – yet. Then there had been the whole drama with his parents. And then he had gained a new stepsister. Not that he didn't like Dailey – she just wasn't really his sister, and she had adopted the role rather quickly. A little too quickly for him. That was when he started killing animals. It felt so good to get out his anger and aggression on something weaker than he.
When he had gotten the chance of a lifetime in getting to go to Palau, and then had that dream viciously ripped away in a crash that could have cost him his life, that had been the big breaking point. There were no small animals that he could kill here. There weren't any big animals either. There were animals. Well, there were animals…he just couldn't catch them to kill them. But there were his islandmates. When they had first crashed he might have blanched at the idea of killing or torturing one of them. But all too soon their teenage angst had worn him thin.
He did appreciate their trust in his abilities, but they trusted him too much. He began to see how naive they really were, and he began to hate it. The notion of hurting one of them, making one of them bleed – to squeal under his touch – began to seem more and more appealing, until it was all he could do to not jump on them during any part of the day.
-----Eric's Video Diary-----
"God, it's like Nathan's just a…a…trouble magnet, or something! I always knew something really bad was bound to happen on this god-forsaken island. I just. I don't know. I guess I never thought it would happen so soon. With Taylor and Lex missing, and Nathan concussed…what's next to come? I'm almost afraid to answer." Eric fiddled with his hat for a second, his expression almost matching the one that had graced Melissa's features earlier, before he reached over to turn the camera off.
-----End Video Diary-----
Nathan was back at camp – alone. He had kept his word to Eric and stayed sitting, hoping that it would help him stay awake. The consensus had been that he should stay awake for at least twenty-four hours to be safe. But he was so tired. Oh, so tired. He knew it was just his head wound talking – the head wound he had no idea how he had gotten – but it didn't help his tiredness. He wished that twenty-four hours were up and he could go to sleep. Or that Eric was here to help him stay up. Or that he had never gotten hit on the head by whatever it was that had hit him. Or even that he and his islandmates had never crashed on this island. Yep, that last one was the one he wished the most. Not everything that had happened since they had crashed on the island was horrible, but they had all certainly had their share of bad events.
The fire popped and sparks flew up, surprising Nathan so much that he actually jumped. His head throbbed at the sharp movement and he winced. He pulled the sleeping bag tighter around his shoulders and fought against a shiver.
"Yes, I'm okay. I'm very, very, very sure that I'm fine. Stop pestering me, Day. Really, I was just sorting out my thoughts. No need to worry. I'm perfectly fine."
The annoyed sound of Lex's voice carried over to camp, causing Nathan to straighten up, and try to look less pathetic. Dailey's worried voice came next, and Nathan couldn't help but smile at their brother/sister relationship. A few minutes later Jackson's frustrated voice came to Nathan's ears. His voice carried under the bickering voices of the stepsiblings, obviously being ignored by them both.
Nathan was straightened up, just sitting on the sleeping bag, nothing wrapped around him, when the others came in. "Hey, Nathan. How are you feeling?" Jackson sat down next to the concussed teenager, his normal, mostly unemotional, expression plastered on.
"Fine."
"That's what you always say."
"That's because I'm always fine," Nathan smiled at the other boy. "Where'd you find Lex?"
Jackson rolled his eyes at the obvious topic change, but went along with it anyway. "Came out of some bushes, quite far from the shower. He didn't know about Taylor, and Dailey wanted to get him back. I don't feel right, with Taylor still out there, but I doubt I'm going to get Dailey back out there. I know Eric's not going to want to go, and you can't go."
"Yes I can!" Nathan frowned, denial streaked in his face. "Really, I wouldn't lie. I am fine."
"Yeah, resting. But once you're up and about I doubt you'd feel quite so well."
"Jackson, you only have a couple choices. You could drag Dailey or Eric around with you – neither of which would be a pleasant experience. You could take Lex – but I doubt Dailey is going to let that happen. You could search by yourself – but that's really not a good idea. For reasons I don't feel I need to state. Or – and this is your best option – you could let me come with you. If I start to feel too bad I'll let you know, and we can head back. Even if we don't find Taylor we would have at least tried some more. And by tomorrow Dailey will probably be willing to look again, and I can rest some more – even though I don't really need it."
Jackson sighed and rubbed his temples. "I hate to say it, but you're right." Jackson quickly stood, and stepped in, to quickly break up Dailey and Lex. "Nathan and I are going to look for Taylor. We won't be long, but we're going to look in a few more places." Lex looked like he was about to argue but Dailey nodded, turned back to Lex, and started their bickering anew. By this time Nathan had been able to force his way to his feet, and was already headed in the general direction the other three had just come from.
Jackson quickly caught up. Nathan was moving slower than usual because of the throbbing in his head, but he passed it off as just waiting for Jackson to catch up. Once Jackson had caught up their pace didn't speed up by much, though. Nathan was already doing more than he should have, any more may have caused disastrous results. Jackson could easily see this, but it was Nathan's life, and he was worried about Taylor.
"TAYLOR!"
Nathan winced, wishing he had been given warning, but didn't complain. Instead, he joined in, also worried about Taylor. If whatever had knocked him out and given him a concussion had gotten a hold of Taylor…who knew what condition she could be in? "TAYLOR!"
Jackson turned back and gave Nathan an unreadable look, but didn't tell him to stop. Nathan smiled under the study, though he was a bit unnerved by Nathan's unflinching gaze. He quickly turned back, though, and focused his energy on Taylor. "TAYLOR!"
His head pounding, Nathan shouted again. "TAYLOR!"
Jackson and Nathan walked by a big bush, stumbling over a tree root, eyes adjusting as well as they could in the oncoming darkness. The bush shook. Nathan turned back to it, his wide eyes betraying his fear. Jackson also turned; staring down the bush like it could feel his anger at being surprised.
The low, muffled moan that came from the bush next had them staring at each other. Had a bush just moaned? Putting on a brave face Nathan turned away from Jackson and parted the bush. Jackson was hovering over Nathan then, sticking his hands further in, and parting the bush farther, revealing something that looked mysteriously close to blonde hair.
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Ha! Not extremely long, but longer than my usual chapters! I'm proud. Though I'm nervous about grammar. I don't feel as well about grammar as the last chapter, though I did fix a few mistakes in my read-through. But now…I'm not where I should be on NaNoWriMo, and I desperately need to work on it (hey – if you're also doing NaNoWriMo give me your url and I'll give you mine and we can be writing buddies). I have so many other things I need to do that once I post this chapter, it will most likely be the last for November. I do hope to then keep up steady updates – now that I know how good it feels, I'd rather keep it up. So wish me luck for NaNoWriMo, and see you guys in December!