Chapter 44
Machination- [mak-uh-ney-shuhn] A crafty scheme intended to accomplish some usually evil end.
Emmett collected his second fish victoriously and headed back to shore. He searched the sand for his original fish and found it covered in sand. Groaning, he leaned down and tried to brush away the sand that had half buried the fish. With his focus on the fish, Emmett didn't notice when a bear came barreling out of the forest. It immediately smelled the fish and charged towards the oblivious boy. Emmett felt like he'd just run into a wall when the weight of the bear caused him to fall hard to the ground and there was no way for him to get up, for the bear was standing above his body.
It took Emmett a moment to realize what was happening. He'd thought that one of his peers had come back and playfully tackled him. But the tackle was too rough and when his eyes focused on what was above him, he released an ear-shattering scream that only further startled the bear. When bears are scared, their fear turns to anger and soon the bear was taking his anger out on Emmett by gnashing it's sharp teeth against Emmett's torso, arms and even his face.
~S.O.S~
Rosalie, Alice, Jasper, Felix and Edward ran through the woods like they were on fire. Adrenaline coursed through their bodies, giving them almost inhuman speed. By the time they made it to the beach, the bear was already attacking Emmett.
"NO!" Rosalie screamed in pure terror. Her feet never stopped moving and she ran right into the bear, pushing it halfway off Emmett who was drenched with blood and looked much like Ben had looked, weeks ago when the Jaguar had attacked him.
The bear turned around to face its new threat and found itself surrounded by the teenagers. It growled menacingly but retreated slowly. They screamed at the bear and waved the sticks they never dropped from before. With one last snarl from the bear, it swiped at Rosalie, missing, before dashing away towards the woods.
"Emmett!" Rosalie dropped to her knees and fretted above the injured boy.
Emmett coughed, splattering more blood across his face and neck. He reminded Rosalie of all those horror movies she'd seen of mutilated bodies, only with this being her reality, it was even more grotesque.
Edward silently made his way to Emmett and inspected his injuries while Rosalie held her boyfriend's hand and cried silently. "Felix, Alice, Jasper…" Edward briefly glanced up at the three teens. "I need two of you to bring me a plant that looks like this," Edward reached into his pocket and pulled out a yellow flower. "It's a marigold. I read once that they had medicinal purposes. I'm hoping it can help. I know some grow on this island."
Alice exchanged glances with Jasper before giving Edward a curt nod. "We'll do it!"
"Okay! After you do that, had back to our camp. That's where we'll be waiting." Edward watched the pair dart off into the woods before turning his attention to Felix. "I need you to return to our camp and tell everyone who is free to come here and help us transport Emmett back to the camp. Also, bring some of the clothes so I can staunch the blood flow. And Felix,"
"Yeah?"
"Hurry!"
Felix did as he was told and began to race back to camp.
Rosalie wiped away her tears and continued to hold Emmett's hand. "Emmett, how do you feel?" she asked softly.
The boy in question glanced up at his girlfriend wearily. "I've had better days." He whispered and cracked a small smile.
Rosalie laughed hollowly and leaned down to kiss his bloody forehead. "Edward's going to take good care of you." She told him. "So don't worry about…about…" Rosalie chocked back some tears and briefly turned away from Emmett.
"Hey Rose, can you go down to the beach and find some seashells and bring them back filled with seawater?" Edward asked her.
"Okay." Rosalie barely murmured, before doing what Edward had had requested.
While Rosalie was away, Edward continued looking over Emmett. "You have multiple scratches across your face Em." Edward sighed. "I don't see any fatal wounds…but that's only if you were in a hospital. "It's possible you can die of infections like Eric did." Edward removed some of Emmett's torn shirt by ripping it further and exposing his chest. "Here seems to have received the most damage. I can see tissue which is never good. But from the looks of your injures, the bear, miraculously, didn't hit any arteries as from what I can tell. But if you survive, you'll have the scars to prove it."
Emmett tried to sit up but Edward pushed him back down, gently. "Don't even try. We need to keep you horizontal. After I flush out your wounds with the seawater, and as soon as Felix brings those clothes, we can slow that blood flow and get you back to camp. I think Quil brought back papaya which we can cover your wounds in as well. They also have medicinal purposes. Try not to move too much, you'll lose more blood and pass out."
"The flowers will help too?"
Edward nodded. "Yes."
At that time, Rosalie returned with three seashells filled with ocean water. Edward took two and poured it over Emmett's open wounds. The boy winced as the saltwater burned his flesh.
"Close your eyes." Edward told Emmett before pouring the third seashell over Emmett's face. "I know it hurts, but it helps.
"I hope so." Emmett gritted out after some of the burn sensation had diminished.
~S.O.S~
Jacob returned to the campsite to find it almost completely barren. The only person he could actually see was Angela who was sitting near the campfire that she was trying to light.
"Angela, where is everyone?" Jacob asked, walking over to where she sat and taking a seat beside her, giving her a hand.
"Where have you been?" she asked confused. "Everyone is trying to help Emmett!"
"What happened to Emmett?"
"The bear. First it came here but we scared it off. Emmett was still on the beach so it attacked him. Felix told us that Alice and Jasper are searching for some flower herbs while Quil went off to gather some more papaya. Everyone else is trying to bring him back here."
"Maybe I should go help them!" Jacob jumped to his feet when Angela's hand reached out and grabbed his leg.
"Wait!"
"What?" he asked bewildered.
"Do you know where Leah and Embry are?"
Jacob paused for a moment. "Aren't they helping Emmett?"
Angela shook her head. "I haven't seen them since early this morning. Being stuck here, I try to keep tabs on everyone but I've lost track of them. Emmett has all the help he needs right now. Do you think you could search for them?"
Jacob seemed conflicted for a moment before deciding to search for his friends. Angela had a point, nearly everyone who was able was helping Emmett. Hopefully he'd be just fine. But this new news on Leah and Embry had him concerned. "Alright. What direction did they head in this morning?"
Angela pointed to a direction on the other side of the waterfall. "Somewhere over there."
"Okay! I'll try to be back before dark." Jacob trotted off in that direction in the hopes of finding his friends.
~S.O.S~
Edward wrapped the last shirt around Emmett's arm before looking at the teens hovering over him. "Okay, Bella, you grab his left arm, Rosalie, you grab his right arm. Felix you get his left leg and Alec, you get his right. I'll stabilize the middle. He shouldn't be too heavy with five of us carrying him, we just need to hurry back to the camp. I really hope Alice and Jasper are back by that time. Alright gang, let's move out!"
~S.O.S~
Leah winced as Embry pulled the sharp pieces of wood out of Leah's arm. They had been gathering fruit, when Embry had pulled Leah aside to talk to her. She didn't want to listen to him so she stormed off and ended up falling on what looked to be a trap. Lining the ground were thirty or so wooden stakes that ranged from as skinny as finger to as thick as an arm. Embry didn't know who laid the trap, but it could've proved fatal to the girl. She ended up falling on the smaller stakes but many went through her arm and a couple along the side of her body. Embry had helped her as best he could, but there were still ten stakes left.
"Ow! Be careful!" Leah griped when a particularly thick stick was ripped from her arm. "Who even put this here?"
Embry shrugged while yanking out another stick. "Leah, may I ask you a question?" he asked slowly.
Leah suppressed another scream. "What?" she asked through clenched teeth.
"I was wondering—Paul?"
In the middle of his question, he spotted Paul dashing through the woods and towards himself.
"Wow! I didn't know you were still alive! This great!"
Paul continued running and when he reached Embry, he pulled back his fist and smashed it into Embry's face causing the boy to fall back into Leah, knocking her down. Leah screamed from the pain and Embry lifted up his arm to block the next few blows Paul delivered.
"Paul! Stop! It's me! Embry! You're hurting us!"
Paul ignored Embry's words and continued to pummel the boy below him until he was barely conscious. Leah had finally broken down and began sobbing horrendously while Paul went to town on Embry.
After what seemed like an hour, but was probably only a couple minutes, Paul stopped beating down on the know bloody and bruised Embry. He pulled the weak boy off of Leah and tied a rope to his wrists. After he'd tied up Embry, he used the same rope to tie up Leah .
"Now we're going to go for a walk. If you don't walk, I will drag your lifeless body through this jungle. So move it!"
~S.O.S~
Edward could just barely fit Emmett into his small cave since Lauren was taking up nearly half of the space. But he let Emmett rest near the entrance as he worked on his injuries. Alice and Jasper had returned with the flowers and he laid them over the numerous wounds. After he'd completed that task, he, Rosalie and Bella set about the task of putting pieces of papaya over the flowers.
"What's this supposed to do again?" Felix asked while watching the three work meticulously.
Edward glanced up briefly at Felix. "The flowers are to help clean out the wounds and hopefully stop any inflammation that happens. The papaya flesh is to help heal the actual cut. It's actually used in many medicines."
"Oh." Felix sighed. "We just can't catch a break here." He walked away to be with Angela who was helping with cooking the fish.
"It's getting late." Quil noted. He'd returned with more papaya and handed them to Edward. "Will Emmett survive the night?"
Rosalie glared at Quil but shot a hesitant glance at Edward.
"Only time will tell, but I'm thinking yes."
"Thank goodness." Rosalie smiled down at Emmett who had fallen asleep.
~S.O.S~
Jacob crept low behind a bush and couldn't believe his eyes. He'd heard sobbing and ran towards the noise. Only to find Paul tying Leah and Embry to a tree. What made the whole situation worse was that Embry looked beaten and battered, while Leah looked half covered in blood.
"Why are you doing this to us?" Leah screamed at Paul who was working to start a fire. "Why are we tied up? What do you plan to do to us?"
"I'm hungry!" Paul snapped. "Unlike you idiots, I can't eat the fruits and crap you find on this dumb island!" Paul threw down the sticks he'd been holding in frustration. "The only thing I can eat is meat!"
Leah snorted. "What does that have to do with you tying us to a tree and beating up Embry?"
Paul laughed darkly. "What meat do you think I'm eating?"
Jacob was happy Leah gasped so loudly, because he had done the same and didn't want to blow his cover.
"YOU CAN'T EAT HUMANS! THAT'S CANNIBALISM YOU DISGUSTING PIG!" Leah made her opinions apparent while Paul returned to building a fire.
"Sure I can. I've already eaten Mr. Banner, Katie and part of Lauren. But since Lauren managed to escape," Paul paused in annoyance. "I will have to use you two as backups. Only this time, I won't let you escaped. I made sure to tie you extra tight to that tree. Tomorrow morning, one of you will be losing a limb. Maybe when Embry wakes up, you both can decide who wants to go first."
Leah spat at Paul in anger. "Get us out of these ropes, or so help me I will—
"What?" Paul cut her off and walked over to where she was tied up. He leaned close to her face and smirked. "What will you do?" he prodded her in her forehead roughly. "Because from where I'm standing, you're defenseless!"
Leah head-butted him with all the strength she could muster and caused Paul to fall backwards. "Oops. My head slipped." She laughed innocently.
"Just you wait Leah Clearwater. You won't be laughing when I'm eating you and your friend!"
While Paul ranted, it got darker and soon he gave up on lighting a fire and fell asleep in his tent. Jacob looked at the state Leah and Embry were in and knew he had to do something. But Paul was armed and he didn't want to end up captured like Leah and Embry.
Quietly, Jacob crawled over to where Leah was tied to a tree. Making sure to keep his voice low, he spoke to Leah. "It's me, Jacob. Be very quiet."
Leah was startled by Jacob's voice, but didn't speak loudly like she normally would. "Jacob? What are you doing here?" she asked him.
"I was searching for you and Embry." Jacob replied softly. "I heard everything Paul said. I can't believe he eats people." Jacob paused and tried to untie Leah from the tree but was having a hard time with his shaky hands.
"He's clearly lost it." Leah sagged into the tree. "Jacob, you have to get help. Paul has a knife and is definitely not afraid to use it. Even if you untie us, we're in no shape to walk all the way back. At this point, Embry probably has a concussion and I feel like someone just took a cheese grater to h half of my body. Get help. We'll try to stay alive."
Jacob looked at Leah in the near pitch black darkness and nodded. It was the hardest thing he had to do, leave them behind. But he knew he must. So trying his best to find his back to the campsite, he hurried through the woods, leaving Leah and Embry behind.
A/N: Next update will be out MUCH sooner than this one! Only got a couple more chapters, and an epilogue left! I hope everyone enjoys what's to come.
