Chapter Fourteen

Answers in the clouds

"Oh man.. not again"

Nate stood yet again in the fog and mist of what he had begun to refer to in his mind as "limbo"

The in-between.

He couldn't quite describe how exactly he had pieced together the connection between this place and reality, but he somehow knew on a deeper level, that this was where he went when someone else took hold of his body.

He swallowed nervously.

Or something else....

The fear edged into Nate's skull, pressing against his consciousness, practically begging him to take hold of it and to force him to confront the questions he did not want to address. He eventually gave up and let the feeling creep into his thoughts.

Who is with Elena right now? A creature in my body?

He took a deep breath, and rested his hands loosely on his waist. Again, he was somehow dressed in a royal blue waistcoat with gold tassels falling from the pocket and buttons. And the tights..

Nate winced. I don't like the tights he thought, taking a moment to very unpleasantly adjust himself.

He glanced down at his feet, pivoting on the spot, watching as his black buckled shoes sunk a little in to the sand. He closed his eyes for a moment and let a small breeze drift through his hair, causing him to shiver slightly.

Limbo, it seems, always seemed to take place on the beach front. He concluded that he was definitely conscious, he could feel pain (discovered after accidentally pinching himself adjusting his tights) and knew that he was indeed still on the island.

He could not see anything ahead, as yet again a thick blanket of fog obstructed everything in sight.

There was no sound save for his breath, there were no smells.

In fact, it was almost as if his senses had been turned down, slightly muted with a volume knob.

"Chloe?!!" He called.

No answer.

His voice reverbed slightly as if it were bouncing off walls. Nate hadn't noticed it did that earlier.

Continuing to walk, he could make out a faint outline of a figure in the distance. He jogged a few paces, approaching it cautiously until he realized it was a figure he had encountered before.

The first shadows he had seen, on his first trip to limbo, apparently not shadows anymore.

They were fully corporealized figures of the marine soldiers. Standing around, gazing into the distance, looking confused.

Nate turned on the spot and realized there were at least 60 surrounding him. Their bodies inhabited by the creatures, they were stuck in the in between with him and Chloe.

Chloe...

A small yell in the distance broke his thoughts. It was her, there was no doubt.

Nate headed towards the source of the voice, eying a solider as he passed. The solider gave no indication of seeing Nate. His silhouette flickered slightly and Nate assumed that perhaps the process still wasn't fully complete and that they were unable to see him or communicate with him.

The voice called again, and now there was no mistaking the sound. Squinting into the distance, Nate could just barely make out the outline of her figure, standing in the mist. Nate ran towards her his arms outstretched, relieved to have found her. He felt disoriented by the mist, not being able to see in front of him.

Her face soon came into focus, it was slightly red and shiny, perhaps from crying, but Chloe's facial features gave no indication of this. In fact, as she saw Nate approaching, her face widened into a cheeky grin.

"Nice to see you Nate" she said, shaking his hand.

The last time Nate had seen Chloe, (well, the real Chloe), she had been visibly distraught. Curled in the fetal position, wearing clothes that were too big for her and sobbing like a lost child. Looking at her grinning face now, Nate wondered if he imagined the whole thing before shaking his head. Typical Chloe he thought. Never wanting to show any weaknesses.

In fact, that had been the whole problem with their relationship in the first place. Although Nate used the term "relationship" very loosely in regards to Chloe as it had been more of a casual thing, she had always been on guard. Never quite letting Nathan in. Never letting him see any emotional response, never hinting of what was going on under that cool exterior.

He approached her cautiously, slightly off put from her smile. It looked strained from the effort. The corners of her mouth twitched as though they were forced into a position they had never done before.

Regardless, Nate embraced her tightly, longing for her comfort. He ran her fingers through her dark hair, pulling her in closer. She was stiff in his arms and pulled away too early. She looked embarrassed. He looked at her concerned.

"I'm fine Nate" She said off his look. She gestured for him to sit down

"It's ok to be scared sometimes Chloe" Nate said gently. He curled his legs into a cross position and held her shoulder. She shrugged him off casually.

"I know.. I just...' she hesitated. "I woke up here all alone, and I had no idea where I was"

Nate nodded. "Me too I guess"

She played idly with a large group of chains that hung from her neck. Nate recognized them immediately as belonging to Eddy, as well as his dirty orange t shirt and baggy pants. They were too big for Chloe, and in them she gave the impression of being fragile and weak.

"Are we dead Nate?" she asked softly.

Nate's eyes widened. "No!! No Chloe we're not dead"

"Then why can't I leave?" she asked, her voice cracking. Her eyes were filling with tears again.

Nate put his arms around her, and she buried her face against his chest. For a moment, they were lost in each others embrace.

Chloe suddenly chuckled softy. She pulled back, wiping the tears off her cheek.

"I've never let anyone see me like that before" she admitted.

"Like what?" Nate asked

"Like.. you know, when you were here before" she raised an eyebrow. When he didn't respond, she threw her hands in the air.

"I dunno like.. the real me. The emotional side, what goes on up here" she tapped the side of her head.

Nate smiled. "Why not?"

Chloe shrugged, looking thoughtfully out into the fog. "I guess... It's always been my biggest fear. To allow people to see inside my head. To see... my soul"

Nate frowned slightly at her choice of words. They made the scar on his chest tingle slightly. He rubbed it absentmindly.

Sometime later, they were sprawled out on the sand gazing up at the blank sky. Nate had filled her in on his theory, what had happened to her, and the last thing he remembered. She had quietly listened, interrupting only to gasp or to throw in a curse word here and there.. They both stared into the mist surrounding them in silence.

"So.. I'm possessed by this dude Eddy Raja. This Hawkins fellow is possessed by some guy named Navarro and the entire marine corp could possibly now be ravenous monsters?" Chloe asked skeptically.

Nate nodded.

"What about you?" she asked curiously.

Nate shrugged. "Judging by the feat of strength I apparently pulled off to Davidson, I'd say a Spaniard as well" he said, trying to appear nonchalant as if this information didn't bother him. "These clothes look like they were from around that era anyway" he pulled at a thread on his coat.

Chloe smiled and shook her head. "I don't think so Nate"

Nate frowned at her "What do you mean?"

"Nate, you may know your history..." she said her eyes twinkling. "But I know my fashion"

Nate furrowed his brow. He patted down his pockets trying to find anything, a clue that could confirm Chloe's theory when....

He pulled out the journal.

"What's that?" Chloe leaned in closer.

"It's Sir Francis Drakes" he said with a gasp.

Chloe whistled. "Wow Nate" she said, she patted him on the back. "Looks like you got the jackpot mate"

Nate was too shocked to speak. His voice seemed stuck in his throat somehow, his chest filling with an overwhelming feeling of emotion....

"Why did I get the bad guy?" Chloe grumbled.

Nate shook his head out of his daze. "Eddy wasn't a bad guy" he told her. "He just got mixed up with the wrong crowd"

"How did this happen? Why did this happen?" she griped.

Nate shrugged and sighed, exasperated by his lack of answers for her.

"Well, ok then. We'll figure this out" she said confidently. "I just want to know what is going to happen to my soul" she added after a thought.

It was like a light bulb had gone off in his head. A revelation. Nate's mouth slowly stretched into a smile, his eyes darting back and forth. Chloe could practically hear the gears in his head turning.

"Thats it! Its a Soul Aletor"

Chloe frowned. "A soul what...?"

"An Aletor!" He said excitedly. "Its a spell!"

When she didn't react to his degree of enthusiasm he threw his hands up in the air.

"OK, whenever a great powerful object was worshiped by a tribe, it was always protected by a number of spells and curses"

"Exactly. Like the idol. It was cursed" Chloe said.

"Yes. Well, the El Dorado idol was so important to the South American tribe who worshiped it that they also made it into a Soul Aletor" he continued. She gave him a look of utter confusion.

"It's like a big powerful magnet" he said, miming with his hands.

"A magnet?" Chloe wrinkled her nose.

"Yeah. Like..." he clicked his fingers, trying to search for the right word. "Like.. a soul magnet. The idol becomes a soul magnet--"

'--Whenever someone dies who is near the idol, their soul is drawn to the magnet and stays there, stuck"

"I don't get it. What's the point of putting a Soul Aletor on the idol?" she asked confused.

"Well" he said dramatically. "Imagine your tribe is protecting the idol and then suddenly all get sick and die. Or you all die in battle. Or a massive flood, tornado, anything.."

"No one would be around to protect the idol" Chloe finished with a grin,

"Exactly. The Soul Aletor is designed to capture the people's souls to use them to continue protecting the idol. So their duties extend to the afterlife"

"Tough gig" remarked Chloe and Nathan laughed.

"Yeah they should get paid overtime" he joked back.

"How could a soul protect something though?" Chloe wondered.

Nate put up his finger, pointedly "If someone were to come and try to steal the idol for example, the souls could possess the thief. Take over the human vessel, and use it to continue their duty"

Chloe shook her head. "Wow" she said, flabbergasted "I think you've got it Nate" she said, impressed.

Nate flexed his fingers over his head, cracking a few knuckles.

"All in a days work" he said with a smile.

He touched the burn mark on his chest which was tingling again a little more intensely. A sharp stabbing pain made him wince slightly.

"You OK?" Chloe asked concerned.

He nodded. "I'm fine" he swallowed hard.

"Anyway. That explains our possession" he continued. "Now, the marines. The creatures were once men. Germans and Spaniards that inhabited the island, trying to steal the idol but fell to a different curse placed on the statue. One that distorted their bodies, their minds, turned them into monsters. Made them immortal"

"Why didn't they get possessed?"

Nate shrugged. "There must be something that triggers the possession. Makes it possible. I haven't quite figured out what it is yet"

"When we got here, we found all the monsters dead. Their souls got trapped with the Aletor, and are now being distributed among the marines" he clapped his hands together.

"Somethings not right with that" Chloe muttered.

"What do you mean?"

"Well.." she paused. "I mean, we found all their dead bodies hidden all over the place. How did they die? You said it yourself, they became practically immortal from the curse. Why are they dead and in weird places like up trees?"

Nate frowned. "That I'm not so sure of"

"And why didn't the soul Aletor work the last time you guys were here?" she pressed. "Why didn't you or Elena, or Eddy or any of you guys get possessed last time you were here?"

Nate sighed. "I don't know. Again, it just needed the right trigger I guess"

He suddenly clutched at his jacket again in pain, crying out, despite himself.

"Nate?! Are you sure you're OK?"

"Yeah.. I..." he started. His eyes clamped shut as another wave of pain escalated down his front.

"Nate?"

The scar on his chest suddenly escalated into fire which seemed to be traveling up his throat. He screamed trying to free his hand so he could clutch at his skin, but something held his hands tight, something was holding his body into place. Everything was turning a dim black and he watched helplessly as Chloe's worried face swam in and out of focus. He tried to reach for her, but his arm stopped mid air, frozen in place.

All he could see was darkness. The fire in his chest still burned but was gradually dying out. He began to feel an odd sensation on his fingers. A light, silky, familiar feeling.

He could feel something on his lips, something soft, wet and warm.

Slowly, Nate felt like he was regaining control of his body. Like he was slipping back into a comfy chair. The fire burnt out, and was replaced by the sudden intake of oxygen by his lungs, cooling his throat. His eyelids fluttered open and dimly he could see his fingers were running through soft blonde hair, and his lips were moving gently against someone elses....

"Elena?" he muttered confused. He moved his head back slowly.

"Nate?!"

Elena pulled back horrified.

"Nate is that you??!" she peered into his eyes, her hand over her mouth

"Elena?!!! Were you just making out with Sir Francis Drake?!!!"