Disclaimer: I do not own either National Treasure movie or any of the characters. I only own my OC Arabella.
Chapter Fourteen: Teetering On The Edge, About to Fall
" Ow! That actually hurt you know!" Complained Ben, rubbing the back of his head. I smirked at him, rolling my eyes.
" Then don't make me think your hand had been chopped off my something horrible and it won't happen again." I muttered to him, walking back over to Riley, and hugged me tightly, grinning into my hair.
" God, I love you…" He whispered into my ear, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. I smiled and kissed the underside of his jaw briefly before turning my head to look over at Ben again. I bit my lip nervously, still waiting for something absolutely horrible to happen to him. He scrunched up his nose and pursed his lips as he reached further back into the rock.
" It, uh… it feels like a latch." He told us. A latch? I couldn't really feel surprised any more, seeing as just about everything was possible once you've found the supposedly mythological Templar Treasure and have been chased by bad guys and have had your life threatened. Ben let out a grunt as he pulled back, and something emitted a cracking sound. We all looked towards our right, spotting something on the side of the large rock to our right that we were separated from by some water. We all ran to the edge of the rock and saw that a passage way was being revealed in the middle of the rock as boulders fell away from it. I grinned.
" Lets get down there and find the City of Gold." I said. Apparently everyone had listened to me, and we all made our way off the rock and towards the newly revealed passage. As we quickly made our way over, Ben ushered us in before him saying,
" Alright, lets go!" He ushered Riley in, then Abigail, then me and as we entered the cave, we stared around in wonder. It was huge. The rocks were damp from the environment they'd been sitting solitary in, and there were massive rock carvings everywhere. The opening we'd stepped through was rounded and a large carved piece of stone sat beside it, looking ready to roll and act as a door. The walls were also carved intricately and a large carved boulder was being suspended by some fragile rope that was tied to creaky wooden structure.
" Oh!" Emily said in amazement as she shone a flashlight around. I pulled mine out and began to cast it around, staring at my surroundings some more. " Ben, look at this!" Emily was touching a large carving that looked like it could be the head of a dragon. " It's beautiful!" She was grinning and couldn't stop; who could blame her? It was amazing down here! Ben, Abigail, Riley and I walked towards the stone and I realized what it was. A counterweight for the door.
" Ben, Arabella, what is that?" Abigail asked as we heard the wood continue to creak dangerously.
" It's a counterweight. It's holding the door open for us." I said as I shone my flashlight up at the wood. Another loud groan resounded from the structure and Riley made a face, brow creasing as he stepped closer to it.
" What's that sound?" He asked before stretching a hand out to touch the rope coiled around the wood. At his extremely light touch, the rope snapped and the rock began to fall. Riley began shouting and threw himself to the floor as things began to collapse. The room shook as the constructed wooden piece of work began to fall around everywhere. Emily let out a surprised yell and another rope snapped, sending the counterweight swinging like a battering ram. It crashed into the wall right next to Ben and Abigail, and Ben was hugging her close, shielding her.
" Ben!" Patrick called out. I could faintly see Riley covering his head as wooden beams fell around him. I felt my foot slip as rock crumbled beneath me and the next thing I knew, I was falling. I landed on a few wooden beams, my ribs not taking the fall all that easily. Unfortunately for me, I also landed on my left hand, and as I stopped tumbling on the wreckage of the counterweight structure, I hissed in pain and groaned, hugging my sides I squeezed my eyes shut. Why is it that it seems like I'll always be falling from things? Last year it was the broken platform after Shaw fell to his death, and I bruised my ribs then too. I gripped my left wrist, a painful amount of stinging and tingling engulfing it. Oh shit… that cannot be good.
The room stopped shaking and there was a finalistic thud-like sound of stone hitting stone.
" Sorry!" Riley called out with labored breath, obviously still shocked at what had just happened.
I opened my eyes to see Mitch walk over to Riley.
" You okay?" Mitch asked Riley, who was lying on broken wood and fallen rocks. He held out a hand to help him up. Riley looked up at him and grasped his hand saying,
" No." Mitch helped pull him up and Riley let out a grunt of pain.
" Get up." Mitch grunted as he helped Riley. I would have tried to sit up, but I did just fall rather harshly onto piles of rocks and splintering wood, and my body was screaming at me just to lie still, and I continued to hold my wrist. I closed my eyes again, sighing.
" Arabella?" I heard Riley call out, probably earning everyone a bit of a panic. I moved my right arm underneath me to help push myself up, resting my other hand in my lap, and I groaned at how sore I felt.
" Over here…" I called, spotting him a few feet from my right, but I had fallen down a hill of rock and wood, making me hard to see from where he was. Riley scrambled over, slipping on loose rocks and falling to his knees once before quickly standing again. When he came over, I noticed Mitch wasn't too far behind, and Ben was standing and making his way over, a worried look on his face. Riley held out a hand for me and I grabbed it with my right and attempted to pull myself up, but only succeeded in lifting myself a few inches before falling back on my butt again. Mitch then wrapped an arm around my shoulders and the two men helped me up.
" Are you okay?" Riley asked with a concerned look marring his face as he grabbed my shoulders and looked me over. He brushed dirt off my face and seemed to restrain the urge to frantically brush his hands over me to make sure I was all in once piece. In response, I began to nod and decided to try and flex my left wrist, thinking I had probably just sprained it badly. As I began to try and move it, red-hot pain shot through my entire arm, burning and searing beneath my skin, mostly around my wrist. It felt like someone poured magma underneath my skin just to see what pure agony it would inflict.
" Oh…!" I shouted, biting my lip and squeezing my eyes shut, restraining the urge to shout a few profanities at the pain. I grunted and held my wrist to my stomach, shaking my head. " No." I said, voice cracking. " No, I am most definitely not okay!"
" What's wrong?!" Riley asked in a panic, and by that moment, Ben had jumped down and come over as I said,
" It's my wrist…" I managed to stutter out, sucking in a pained breath. Ben held out a hand. I carefully placed my left wrist in his palm, and his skin felt rather cold against mine. Ben carefully looked at it and then let out a sigh.
" It's broken." He informed. " You should have it set and wrapped till we can get out…"
" I'll do that, go see if you can get the door open again." Mitch told Ben, who looked him over a few times as if gauging whether he could trust Mitch or not. After looking back at me I gave a small shrug and Ben nodded, quickly making his way over to the door. " You have anything I can wrap it with?" Mitch asked.
" First aid kit." Riley muttered, tossing his bag off to pull out the first aid kit. I knew it would come in handy, it always does. Mitch gently took my hand and I winced as he touched it, the pain now pure throbbing agony. He looked it over as Riley pulled out an ace bandage and handed it to him. Taking it he looked up at me.
" This is gonna hurt." He said. I nodded and Riley took my hand. I grit my teeth and shut my eyes, squeezing Riley's hand tightly. I felt Mitch's other hand touch mine and I scrunched up my face as I felt something in my wrist begin to move that shouldn't. I'd never broken a bone before, therefore, I've never had to get one re-set. And, may I just say, that as Mitch tried to set it, I was resisting the urge to scream bloody murder. I felt Riley step closer and I pressed my face into his shoulder, biting my lip, sure that soon enough, my teeth would end up drawing blood.
What felt like hours of pain as Mitch set my wrist was actually probably a minute or two in reality. When I finally opened my eyes, I was surprised that I hadn't cried; I'm usually a baby when it came to pain.
" I'm gonna wrap it now, but it'll still hurt. If you've got painkillers you should take them." He looked over at Riley, who handed me two painkillers, obviously having had them ready since he got the ace bandage out. " You should go help with the door too." He said. Riley looked at me for a long moment before nodding slightly, kissing my cheek and giving my hand a squeeze before heading over to Ben, Patrick, Abigail and Emily, who was currently saying,
" Patrick, what have you done?" Patrick shot her a look over his shoulder as everyone tried to push the stone wheel that now covered the entrance.
" Some kind of a bolt! I didn't do it!" Patrick said as Ben and Abigail tried to see if there was any possible way to reopen the door. I swallowed the pills dry, the feeling rather unpleasant. I saw that Mitch had finished wrapping my wrist securely, the bandage also crossing over my palm and knuckles to keep my wrist from moving too much. And, as he mentioned before, it still hurt like hell.
" Thanks…" I murmured, gently lowering my hand. He nodded.
" You did well." He informed me, shinning his flashlight around, looking for another way out. " You didn't cry. Most people do."
" Well, when you've already almost fallen to your death once, you learn how to deal with it." I said, carefully climbing over some rocks. For being kind of evil towards us, I had to say, Mitch was actually fairly generous.
" Only one way out of here now." Mitch told us all, turning to face us, standing in front of a dark passage. " Forward." Ben gave him a look, clearly saying that even though he'd helped me, and even though he was cooperating, he still didn't trust him all that much. Ben gave a curt nod.
" Right. Let's go." He said, stepping down and giving me a pat on the back. I gave him a smile as Patrick and Emily made sure I was okay. As Abigail passed I looked down at my beaten up jacket, and gave a sardonic smile.
" How bad do I actually look?" I asked. Abigail bit her lower lip for a second as she looked me over.
" Like you've been through a rock slide and came out fairly well; you have a few cuts and bruises, but you look fine. I hope your wrist feels better. Don't strain yourself." Abigail told me as we began walking, following Riley who was now holding an electronic lantern.
" Thanks, I won't, and I'll have bruised ribs again, that's for sure." I joked as we continued down the cavernous and cobweb infested passage. I grabbed my flashlight and shone it around. The walls had ancient carvings marked into them, all looking completely new, just covered in dust and roots like no one had cleaned it for hundreds of years… which was true. Emily, needless to say, was breathless. She was looking around in awe, gasping every so often.
" I've never seen so many relics! And so beautifully preserved!" She said as she looked at carvings of the heads of creatures unrecognizable to us. I saw the end of the passage had been blocked by fallen stones, and Mitch had stepped up to examine them. He sighed and turned to look at us again.
" Looks like we'll be moving some rocks, people. There's a tunnel back through here." He told us, turning back to the aforementioned rocks and began to try and figure out where to start. I let out a sigh and stepped back, immediately opting out of the task. No way was I going to be doing that with my one good hand and with my bad one, which was still throbbing dully, the painkillers just beginning to kick in.
" Well, at least this time we've gotten this far and no one's been taken hostage, right, Riley?" I asked, turning to look at him, only to find no one beside me. " Riley?" I asked, turning to see he was holding up his lantern, walking towards a wall opposite us, down a short corridor, his pacing slow. I quickly followed him, squinting to try and see what he was look at. " What is it?" I asked as he stopped walking.
" Guys, look at this!" Riley called out, a smile pulling at his lips. I heard everyone turn and I spotted where the light from his lantern was hitting. A small golden idol-like statue sitting on a small shelf on the wall. Well, that must be a good sign, right? A golden man and we're trying to find the City of Gold?
" It's a little golden man…" Riley stage whispered, staring at it intently, the half smile still on his face, bright blue eyes glinting. I fought the urge to laugh and give him a loving kiss. Abigail stepped up beside me and the three of us stepped forward to get a better look. " Look… It's got like a tiny little torso… look at that… and it looks like…"
Riley would never get to finish that sentence. The floor beneath our feel dropped down, setting itself at an angle that caused us to fall, rolling downwards. Ben, Mitch, Abigail, Riley and I all let out yells as we dropped, rolling painfully on the rough stone. I felt myself roll over my injured wrist a few times and knew that the pain would now be extremely hard to get rid of now. I ran into someone, I don't know who, but my guess it was either Riley or Abigail, who had been beside me, and then I felt nothing beneath me before landing on something rough and hard. I groaned as I handing on my stomach, my face pressed against whatever we'd landed on. I faintly heard Patrick and Emily calling for Ben before they were cut off and whatever we landed on tilted dramatically downwards again, sending me rolling once more. I flung my hands out and gripped into the platform, my fingers digging into what I now realized as intricate carvings.
I tried to stand and when I did such, I saw Ben dangling over the edge of the platform.
" Move back! Move back!" He called out to us, face sweaty. " All of you! The other side!" He called. Abigail and Riley (who was on his hands and knees) scrambled backwards and I finally managed to wobbly stand, my backpack throwing me off balance. " Back up! Back up!" Ben finally hauled himself up again and then stood. " Riley! Riley, move forward!" Riley stepped forward a bit to far, causing the platform to tilt. " No! Back up, back up!" Riley did as told and I tried to brace my feet apart to hold my balance. Then, he was too far back and he began to slide as it tilted downwards towards him. He looked like he was about to fall.
" No, Riley!" I yelled out just as he called,
" What do you want me to do!?" To Ben.
" Stop! Stop!" Ben ordered, holding out a hand. Riley froze in a wide-legged squat, arms spread out. He had one side to himself. I began to realize how to balance it. " We have to balance our weight to even things out!" Ben told us, and I immediately stood in the center, seeing as I was the fifth person in the equation, and we were standing on a square platform. We all wobbled as we tried to get it to stop moving so dramatically. I looked up to the ceiling, where we'd dropped from.
" Damn trapped doors…" I muttered as I saw that what we were standing on was, in fact wood.
" You can say that again…" Ben muttered. Mitch peered over the edge, pointing his flashlight downward.
" There's nothing. Just a big black hole." Said Mitch as he looked back over at us.
" Wonderful, just like last time and look at what happened to Shaw on the rickety wooden stairs!" I practically shouted in frustration.
" Ben, look! There's a ladder!" Abigail suddenly said, interrupting me before I could begin to rant. I followed her flashlight's bean and saw a short wooden ladder hanging a few feet above the corner between Mitch and Ben. " I mean… what's left of a ladder…" I sighed in relief but then muttered,
" How are we gonna get to it, jump?" God, I was being pretty grumpy… but, who could blame me, I do ask? I was definitely gonna need some coffee when we got out of here…
" Toss me a light." Ben asked, catching Abigail's flashlight as we all continued to try and not shift our weight. " Riley, move slowly to that corner." Riley began to craw towards it. " No, wait! As I move to this corner." Ben said, looking across at Riley, pointing to his right.
" Okay." Riley said breathlessly, standing up a bit more.
" One step at a time, good…" The two began to move very slowly and the wood groaned loudly. Soon enough, Riley stood on the corner of the platform. " If we can raise this corner, I think I'll reach it…" Ben told us all, looking up at it. Mitch took a few steps towards Ben, causing it to tilt again.
" HEY! HEY, HEY!" Riley shouted angrily, trying not to fall. I fell to one knee, glaring at the man.
" Are you crazy!?" I yelled.
" Hey!" Abigail cried as she fell.
" STOP! RED LIGHT!" Riley screamed, jabbing an angry and accusatory finger at Mitch.
" You're not helping!" Abigail added and I shakily stood, resisting the urge to hurl something at him. He glared at Ben.
" I can get up there just as easy as you." He informed Ben darkly. Ben took a step or two towards him.
" Oh, no, no, no! Ben!" I called out, feeling the weight shifting in all directions, seeing as I was at the center.
" Guys!" Abigail called, trying to catch her breath.
" It's four against one here… I ain't goin' last, and if I ain't goin' last, I'm goin' first." Mitch told all of us, probably not trusting us at all for the moment.
" Look!" Ben began to reason, now standing only feet away from him.
" What's it gonna be?" He asked quietly, eyes trained intently on Ben. There was a tense pause as the platform creaked menacingly. Ben suddenly lashed his hands out and gripped Mitch by his sweater and coat. Ben glanced over the edge, as did Mitch. I watched, wide eyed. Ben wasn't seriously thinking of throwing him off was he? He's not that kind of person, and I'll be damned it he becomes like that! The pause dragged on.
" We'll do this your way." Ben decided and I let out a relieved sigh. He turned so he was swapping places with Mitch, each step careful and measured. Then, he released his jacket and gave a nod. Mitch began to slowly make his way towards the corner that was lined up with the ladder and Ben said, " Now, the rest of us, on the count of three, move together. One step at a time. One, two, three." I took a step or two backwards, and we all watched as Mitch's corner lifted. We took another step and I was in-line with the other three, between Riley and Ben. With our last step, we all came together and wrapped our arms around each others backs, watching as Mitch tossed his flashlight up into a darkened passage just above the ladder. He grabbed onto the lowest rung.
" Ready?" He called back to us. We all looked at Ben.
" Go." We all rushed forward to the middle, lowering the platform so Mitch now hung there. It wobbled as we tried to reorganize our weight again. I had to admit though, focusing on not falling was taking my mind off my wrist, which no longer seemed to be hurting. Mitch grunted as he hauled himself up the rungs, and yelled out as one snapped. I covered my mouth, waiting for him to fall, but thank God, he didn't. He managed to get his feet up as well and climb into the passage, disappearing from our sight.
" Mitch! What do you see?" Riley called out. There was no response as we stared at where he disappeared. " Is there a way out? What's up there, Mitch? Mitch! Come on!" Still no response. I felt my shoulders slump as I sighed.
" Great… he's left us here to die, hasn't he?" I asked, subconsciously realizing I was channeling my inner Riley. It seemed very likely he just moved on without us.
" I've been doing the math here… and…" Abigail began, looking at us. " We'll have to leave one person behind…" I shook my head grimly, as if refusing to let that happen, which I wouldn't.
" Just promise you'll come back for me…" Riley muttered, staring at his feet. I looked over at him in shock. " I can do the math too…" I shook my head, grabbing onto his arm.
" That makes you next." Ben said to Abigail. He looked at me. " Then you."
" I'll go last." Riley said. I slapped his arm and he looked at me.
" No! We aren't leaving you!" I told him.
" Glad to know you don't want to leave me…" He looked at Ben and Abigail, who were staring at each other. " 'No, we'll figure something else out, Riley.'" He said imitating Ben. " 'Yeah, we need you up there, please, Riley!'" He said upping his voice an octave to imitate Abigail, who smacked his arm. " At least I don't have to do Arabella, who actually voiced she didn't want me to stay." We all gave him a small smile. " I'm just kidding. Go." He said to Abigail. She began to step forward, and with each step she took, we took a step backwards. She threw her lantern up and then glanced back at us. We gave her a nod and she stepped onto the very corner and grabbed onto the ladder.
" One… two… three!" She said shakily.
" Go!" We ran forward as much as we could run, and the platform leveled, leaving Abigail dangling. She began to pull herself up, eventually managing to haul herself into the passage. The wood creaked in a way that sounded ominous and deadly.
" Arabella, your turn." Riley said. I looked over at them and quickly yanked the two into a hug. This was even worse than last time… and that's saying something.
Taking a deep breath, I turned and began to slowly walk to the corner. I felt the platform lift underneath me and when I was able to reach the ladder; I grabbed it with my right hand and then slung my left arm through it, knowing I couldn't hold onto it with that hand.
" Okay… ready?" I asked pausing for my own benefit, squeezing my eyes shut. " One… two… three!" I felt the platform disappear beneath me and I groaned as I felt the strain on my hand and arm. I reached for the passageway floor, but I heard a snap. Oh no… not good…
" What are you doing?" I heard Riley ask.
" Nothing!" Came Ben's reply. I began to realize as I grabbed for Abigail's now outstretched hand, that this would be exceedingly difficult with a broken wrist.
" Come on! You can do it!" Abigail assured me as I gripped her hand with my right, but then felt my left arm begin to slip. Just as I was sure I was going to fall, I felt another hand grab my left arm and I looked up to see Mitch, arm outstretched, helping pull me up. I lay on the dusty floor a moment and I looked at the two.
" Thanks." I told them before standing, looking at the breaking platform. Apparently Ben told Riley to go first because he was scrambling for the ladder, and then jumped for it, yelling out. He grabbed on and the ladder began to swing.
" Riley! Hang on!" Abigail called down to him. Ben was now trapped and alone on the teetering platform, no way to get off.
" Okay, how do we get Ben off, because I am not leaving him down there!" I said. She and I looked around.
" Okay, Arabella, Mitch, the idol!" She said, pointing to a large gold idol. " Okay, Ben!"
" We found a gold idol up here! We'll roll it off so it can off set your weight to get you up here!" I called out as Mitch put it onto its side.
" Then roll it!" He called back.
" Here it comes!" Abigail shouted over the splintering and cracking wood, as the three of us rolled it to the edge of the opening. It fell through the air, landed on the wood and began to roll. Ben leapt over it, and ran towards the edge. Riley, who was still clinging to the ladder called,
" Come on, Ben!" He jumped again and grabbed onto the bottom rung of the ladder just as the wooden platform finally broke and began to fall. " Here!" Riley held out a hand to him. " Give me your hand!" When Ben grasped it, he was able to get a better grip to haul himself up.
" Thanks, Riley!" He said with a strained voice as he climbed up more. Both caught their breath for a second and I held out a hand for Riley. He looked up at me.
" Did you see that?" He asked breathlessly.
" Yeah, of course I did!" I told him as he reached up and grasped my hand.
" Oh, good. I've always wanted a girl to be able to see me doing something like that." He admitted, causing me to laugh as I helped him off the ladder. I gave him a tight hug, happily feeling him wrap his arms around my waist as well.
" You're okay! You're okay! You're okay!" I heard Abigail say as she looked over Ben, brushing dirt and dust from his clothes. I smiled into Riley's chest and then looked up at him.
" Well, looks like you finally got what you wanted." I teased. He smiled back and leaned down and gave me a quick kiss, brushing hair from my face.
" So… forward." Mitch said. We all looked at him, still attempting to catch our breaths. I shot him a look as he began to walk again. I looked over to Ben.
" You sure you're okay?" I asked. He nodded.
" Yeah, I am. How about your wrist?" He asked. I winced and looked down, feeling the pain return.
" Not too good, but I'll handle it." I said as we all began to follow Mitch, who called out to us.
" Stop chattering! Remember, we have to move forward!"
Afterword: Okay! So there's chap. Fourteen! WOO! =D Hope you liked it! I've been working on it for a few days now. So, let me know what you think! And I know, I know, Arabella broke her wrist! But, I've noticed how in these movies the heroes don't usually get seriously injured, when in reality, it probably would happen, sooooo yeah, I've been planning on her breaking her wrist since I think… chapter eight XD
REVIEW REPLIES AND THANKING TIME! =D
will zona: Thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying it!
fantasyluver714: Yes, actually I do love it when people get smacked upside the head! XD I think it's funny. I do it to my friends all the time, and they don't mind it. I hope you liked the chapter! Thanks for reviewing!
: I'm glad you like the story thus far! I'm a big National Treasure fan too (but I'm guessing you probably knew that XD) and someone came up with Ribella as a couple name for them in the fist story for me, I've been trying to come up with other ones also, but none have come to mind XD Thanks for reviewing!
grapejuice101: Glad you liked the chapter and I hope you enjoyed this one! Again, thanks so much for being a loyal reviewer! Also, the next chapter for my Phantom fic should be the next one to go up! Thanks again!
imafangirl: I love the part with Riley acting like a bird too! I think it's the funniest scene in this movie along with the 'it's a little golden man!', which is like the equivalent of the " It's a big… bluish-green man… with a strange looking goatee… I'm guessing that's significant!" scene from the first, which is my favorite scene! And I'm super glad you think I'm awesome! Thanks for reviewing!
Olivia Marie 20: I'll continue to write this story till I run out of ideas or tons of people begin to hate it! I'm glad you're enjoying the story and I hope you liked the chapter! Thanks for reviewing!
MidoriPoet: Ahaahha! I thought it seemed like something Arabella would do! Especially since they've known each other since they were kids, I pictured her doing that a lot when they were in high school. I also love the whole 'Riley pretends to be a bird scene' it makes me laugh every time! Hope you liked the chapter! Thanks again!
Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967: Glad you've been enjoying it! Hope you liked the chapter and be sure to let me know what you think! Thanks again!
And thank you to all who have added this to story alert or their favorites! Means a lot to me! =D
WOW, that's a lot of review responses! XD I've begun to answer them in the author's note because otherwise I feel like I'm neglecting you all, and I hate that feeling!
I have to say, if I could draw better, I would draw Arabella and Riley together when she has her face pressed into her shoulder when she's getting her wrist set because I think it's cute how he's always there for her XD Unfortunately, I can't draw all that well. But, if anyone else wants to try and draw them or something, feel free and let me know if you do.
Okay, so that's all till the next chapter! Thanks again to all of you, my wonderful reviewers and readers! Please review to let me know what you think! Thanks again!
~Mary