Chapter Four Voices in the Night

"Troy… no…"

"Let me go, please…"

"Not Troy… please…"

Troy jolted awake to pitch darkness and lay still for a long moment. The hauntingly familiar voice was still ringing in his ears though he assured himself it was just a dream. The voice he recognized easily was Sharpay's. But it was the desperate tone of it rather than the owner of the voice that bothered him. He found himself thinking about her. Ever since last summer in Lava Springs, Troy felt a big change about her. She was a lot nicer to people and she appeared to really make an effort to make it up to Gabriella. Eventually his circle of friends came to accept her as one of their own and that was why she had extended this invitation. Still, he couldn't help but wonder if Gabriella was right about her. Was she really setting another one of her schemes to get him?

He finally sat up in bed and listened outside. The rain was no longer pouring as heavily. However, the wind appeared to be howling still. He flicked on the lamp beside his bed but it didn't turn on. He got up and tried the wall switch, but it also didn't work. He realized that there must have been a power failure sometime in the night. He checked his watch and saw that it was a quarter to five in the morning. His roommates were still snoozing audibly in their own beds and he had no intention of going to sleep or interrupting someone else's.

He carefully made his way across the room, using his watch's luminance as a guide. When he opened the door to the hall, the light from an emergency lamp cast a dim glow from somewhere downstairs. He followed it until he came upon the living room where he found Gabriella and Ryan talking by the light of the lamp.

"I don't like it, Ryan," he heard Gabriella whisper. "I know she's your sister but…"

"I understand," he said as he took her hand in his. Troy felt a pang of jealousy came upon him. He knew Ryan was Gabriella's friend, but he still couldn't help but feel jealous at their new found closeness. "Look, if it bothers you that much, then I'm not going to take this against you. Go ask Troy later and I'll make the arrangements—"

"Go ask me what?" Troy interrupted and for a moment he was fearful of what the answer might be.

Gabriella and Ryan startled and Ryan dropped her hand. She looked up at him rather guiltily and he feared the worst.

"Troy, you're up," she said.

"Sorry there's no electricity," said Ryan. He didn't appear fazed at all. "I tried asking for a generator but the one we have is busted and we're still waiting for the back up from the staff quarters across the field…"

Troy ignored him and faced his girlfriend. "You were going to ask me what?"

"I think I should leave you two alone," Ryan excused himself and was gone in a moment. Troy braced himself.

"Troy, let's go home later today," Gabriella began. "This afternoon at the earliest."

That was the very last thing he expected to hear. "What?"

"I told Ryan I'm feeling uncomfortable with Sharpay and he agrees with me that his sister may be planning something again to get at you. He completely understands if we want to leave early. He can make the arrangements later today and he'll agree with any excuse we can make up for Sharpay."

Troy was surprised at how paranoid Gabriella seemed to be at this situation. He didn't think she would want to call off their vacation here just that easily over a possible threat of Sharpay trying to steal him without any proof. "B-but Gabriella, we just got here yesterday. You mean you want to fly all the way back after barely twenty-four hours?"

"Yes," she said firmly. "It's no expense. Ryan agreed to arrange for travel. Troy, I really don't feel like staying here any longer when Sharpay—"

"She's done nothing to you," he protested. It was a ridiculous idea that she was cutting short this trip when they could just be spending it together on this island and having the perfect vacation he had dreamed off with her.

"Nothing yet," she said. "But she will and I won't wait for that to happen. She'll tempt you again. She already tried this afternoon in that lake."

"I already told you, she just showed me a cave. What is wrong with that? And it wasn't just me she offered to show that to. She offered to everyone, even to you. But you didn't want to go."

Gabriella stubbornly huffed at him. "Well you lapped it all up, didn't you? What else did she offer to show you anyway? A diamond mine?"

Troy couldn't believe what he was hearing. Didn't she have enough faith in him? Didn't she trust him enough that he won't give in to luxuries over her? Did she think he was that weak that she had to whisk him off to safety like some child that needed protecting? It hurt that Gabriella thought so little of him.

"No, she didn't offer me anything. And I think you're jumping to conclusions here," he said.

"Oh so you won't go home with me!" her voice rose. "You choose her then!"

"That's not what I meant," Troy tried to explain.

"But that's what you implied," she said. "If you stay, then you choose her."

Troy heaved a sigh. Why was she being so irrational about this? But he cared about her and he didn't want to throw away their relationship like this by being stubborn.

"Alright fine. We'll go home later. I'll pack my bags as soon as there's light enough or when the generator comes."

Gabriella finally smiled and hugged him. "I knew you'd see it my way. She was about to kiss him when heavy footsteps alerted them to someone that stepped into the room. Troy stepped away and turned around to find Mama Liat hobbling about with a flashlight in her hand. Her clothes were all dripping wet, despite the raincoat she had on.

"My dear boy, I need your help, quick!"

"What is it?" asked Troy fearfully. The old woman rather unnerved him and she was even more frightening in this dark.

"My little Tiki has not returned to the house all night. She is out there in the storm! We need to find her."

Troy felt suddenly worried but Gabriella merely shot him a warning look.

"Well, isn't she in her room?" asked Troy.

The old woman shook her head. "I have checked her room and searched the house. She is not here. She has not been here all night."

"Well, I'm sure in the staff building—" Gabriella began but the old woman shook her head.

"I came from there. She is not there."

Ryan appeared into the room and asked what was going on. Mama Liat told him about Sharpay and implored him to look for her outside. But Ryan too appeared to be as nonchalant to the situation as Gabriella was.

"Mama Liat, there's nothing to worry about," assured Ryan. "Sharpay knows her way around the island and she's probably in one of the station houses somewhere. She'll come back later when the weather's subsided."

But the old woman shook her head. "But we must find her. She is in trouble, I know!" she insisted. "I have asked the staff to help but they refused to get up from bed." She turned from Ryan to Troy. "Please, help me find my little Tiki."

It was Sharpay's haunting voice that invaded his dreams that bothered him. Troy was not a superstitious person, but somehow, he couldn't help but feel that his dream had served as a warning that something wasn't right with Sharpay. He nodded to the woman. "Alright, let me go change into something else first."

"Troy!" protested Gabriella while Ryan merely shook his head.

"Look, she may be in real trouble," he reasoned.

Gabriella just grabbed his arm and took him aside with Ryan in tow. "That's what she wants you to believe. What if this is all part of Sharpay's plan?"

"In a storm?" said Troy incredulously. "I don't think Sharpay's capable of conjuring up a storm Gabriella."

"Yeah, you're right, that is pretty far-fetched," said Ryan. "And I don't think my sister's going to try anything tonight in this weather." Troy was grateful that Ryan agreed with him but his hopes melted with what he said next. "But I don't think you should go out there right now. I think Mama Liat is just being paranoid. Sharpay's going to be fine. She knows this place like the back of her hand and she's knows all about storms. She's not the kind to stay outside and wait for it. She'll seek shelter somewhere. The worst that can happen is she's stuck in some shed without any electricity and a comfortable bathroom—which I think she deserves to experience once in while," he added sarcastically.

Troy was used to Ryan saying things like this about Sharpay. Ever since last summer, Ryan had grown more and more detached from his sister. He was no longer afraid of being cynical of her. It was like he was getting back at her for all those years she treated him like a doormat. Still, he felt Ryan was taking this a little too far.

"But she could have had an accident," Troy reasoned. "Come on this is your sister here. Aren't you worried?"

Ryan just rolled his eyes. "Nope. I trust her enough. She can take care of herself. She's always been independent when she's around here. And she's not stupid enough to go staying out here when there's a storm."

"Well at least send some of your staff to help find her," Troy suggested. "You have dozens."

Ryan just huffed at him lazily. "It's five o' clock in the morning Troy. The phone lines are down along with the power. Cell phones as you know, don't work here. I'm not going to go out in that rain to the staff house to order my staff out of bed to find my sister who's probably snuggling comfortably in one of the station houses, just because you believe a paranoid senile old woman."

Troy gritted his teeth at Ryan. He was about to give the male Evans a piece of his mind when Mama Liat called from across the room.

"Son, are you coming?" Mama Liat called. "Please, we are wasting time. She's already been missing the whole night!"

Gabriella and Ryan shrugged at him, telling him this was just a wild goose chase. Troy figured perhaps they were right. But he simply couldn't shake of the feeling that something was very wrong.

"I'm coming," he said. He took the flashlight she offered him and he and raced upstairs to change into closed shoes, shorts and grab a jacket.

When he came down, Gabriella and Ryan looked at him with disapproval.

"Well it's your funeral," Ryan said. Gabriella just shook her head. Her expression was enough to convey that she was disappointed in him.

"Look, I'll go home with you later," he said to assure her that he was all out for her. Then he turned to Ryan and said harshly. "If you refuse to send your staff to go with her, I'm not letting an old woman go out there alone."

He took off without looking back. He didn't want to hear another word or see another look from Gabriella and Ryan. He couldn't understand how they could just take this so lightly. There was still a big possibility that Sharpay was lying in a ditch filled with floodwaters somewhere yet they weren't going to lift a finger to help.

Outside the house, beyond the cemented walkway it was muddy. He was grateful that the rain had finally tempered. Still lightning and thunder dominated the sky every few minutes while the wind continued to blow wildly from all directions.

"You are a good boy, my son," Mama Liat said as they made their way past the plantation rows. "You are a fitting man for my Tiki."

Troy couldn't decide whether the old woman was just senile and or conniving with Sharpay. Either way, he didn't want to give any wrong impression. So he just replied gently but firmly: "Sharpay's just my friend, Mama Liat. I'm going out with Gabriella. In fact I'm going home with Gabriella later this afternoon."

"Ahhh, so you will just leave my Tiki?" she asked evenly.

Troy couldn't decide what to make of the question. Was she hinting something sinister? So he settled with an equally even: "Yes."

The old woman was silent for awhile and they continued to tread the path that led downwards towards the beach. Finally Troy suggested they go check the station houses where Sharpay might have taken refuge. There were several in the plantation and there was one at end of the beach.

She didn't reply and Troy thought she didn't hear him.

"Mama Liat, I said we should check—"

"There is one thing you should know, my son," her cutting voice startled him. He tried to peer in her face but it was pitch dark and he could see nothing but the beam of her flashlight. Yet he could hear her voice clear enough. "Until you realize who she is to you… "

A flash of lightning lit the sky and illuminated her face for a second and he could see that she was standing directly behind Mt. Fufu. At the same time she uttered the words that chilled him to the bone more than the cold rain or the icy wind:

"The mountain will never let you leave."

A/N: As promised, I updated. It's quite short but I think I'll leave it there for a while and give you a bit of mystery to ponder on. I'm really getting good ideas for this one but I have to iron out a few kinks on the plot to make sure they flow smoothly and logically. I think mystery stories are one of the hardest to write, but they're also the most fun. Next chapter, the real trouble unfolds for poor Troy and Sharpay.