The jeep
was still where Sam had left it, parked in the garage with the other
three. Sam got his first good look at
the jeep. It was a police vehicle, with
two flashing blue lights and a siren on the top. The side door read 'Kaw Police Detp.'
"Give me the keys," Jackie said, heading for the driver's side door, "I'll take the proper road, this time!" Sam dug into his pocket, and tossed the keys to Jackie. She easily caught them, and opening her side door, started up the engine.
"Wait for me," Sam said, climbing into the passenger's side door. The moment he did, Jackie popped the jeep into reverse, and shot backwards, spinning the wheel, so that they faced the garage exit.
"The sooner we get of this island," Jackie said, waiting for him to buckle himself in, "the sooner we can wait for you to buckle up." Not giving him another moment to do so, she slammed the gear stick into first, and pealed out of the garage, and into the stormy night.
Jackie?" Sam asked nervously, as they roared down the step gravel hill, "don't you think you're going a little too…" She didn't slow down; instead, she put her foot to the floor, as they approached the bottom. "JACKIE!!" He cried out, covering his eyes.
As they reached the bottom, Jackie slammed on the brakes, and pulled hard on the wheel, taking the corner with much skill. The jeep still slid, but not like when Sam nearly crashed into the wall. Then, she put her foot on the accelerator, and took off down the road.
She turned and grinned at him. "You should have more faith in a woman driver, Gibb," she said with a hint of sarcasm.
"Where did you learn to drive like that?" Sam asked, his hart beat slowly down. She started to say something, but Sam had to ask her to shout, to here her above the noise of the rain. It was deafening inside with the sound of the rain hitting the jeep.
"My uncles estate," she shouted with little indifference. "He has all these racing cars."
"Sam!" Sam didn't here Al the first time, but when he leaned over, and practically shouted, Sam heard him then.
"Whoa!" He cried out, spinning around to see Al behind him.
"Hey, relax, will ya," Jackie cried, not bothering to look over at him, "My driving isn't that bad."
"Sam," Al said in his ear, "Climb over into the back, and pretend you're looking for something." Sam nodded, and turned to Jackie.
"I think there's some more ammunition for the shotgun in the back, I'll just go take a look."
"Fine," Jackie called out, as she never took her eyes away from the win screen, "But I'm not slowing down." Sam manoeuvred his way into the back area, and pretended to look around.
"What did you find out, Al," Sam said, talking normally. Al leaned in closer, so that the two were just inches apart, so that could talk.
"Well, I called up the mainland police station, in our present time, and got in contact with the sheriff. I persuaded him to spill the beans on what he knew."
"And?" Sam asked.
"He said that those giant wolves we've… you've been seeing, are in fact, werewolves."
"Werewolves?" Sam didn't believe him, "And you actually bought that?" He shook his head. "I should've known."
"Alright then," Al said, "Then how do you explain them?"
"Hang on back there!" Jackie shouted back, and Sam braced himself as the Jeep made a hard left turn.
"Okay," Sam said, accepting Al's challenge, "it's obvious that these wolves were part of some ship that must have crashed here, and these wolves managed to swim ashore."
"Do you know how lame that sounds?" Al said, "Why won't you accept the truth?"
"Because the truth sounds ridiculous, Al! Come on, werewolves?"
"Then how do you explain what's been going on here? The disappearance of the guests, who's been cutting the power, and destroying all communications."
"First of all, we don't know if all the guests are dead, Al," Sam said, "did you ever stop to think that maybe it could be a terrorist group holding these people for ransom, using the werewolf bit as a cover?"
"Then how come the police on the mainland complained about werewolves, huh?" Al said. "The sheriff I spoke with said that he lost three men to them, and that he saw them change, before his eyes."
"Maybe he was exaggerating, maybe they're trained wolves, trained to kill, but I'm not buying the werewolf theory, Al. Not until I see some substantial proof."
"Brace your self!" Jackie shouted. Sam held on, as the Jeep made another hard left. Sam look up, and out of the windscreen. The rain poured down, and overhanging leaves and branches slapped and scraped at the windows. The further they travelled, the more the jungle became close and fetid around them.
"We're nearly there," Jackie said, turning back to face Sam, "The right turn is coming up, but I still don't know how you man..." Both Sam and Al spotted the large black object rushing up to meet the jeep.
"Sam, what's tha…?" Al started, when Sam's eyes widened, and he pointed towards it.
"Jackie, what out!" Sam shrieked.
"Huh?!" Jackie cried out, spinning around to face the front. The jeep burst through the line of palm trees along the road and came out into a narrow dark road, leading towards a fallen tree, cleverly blocking their path. "Bloody Hell!" Jackie screamed.
She pumped on the brakes, and pulled hard on the wheel. The manoeuvre would have worked, had the jeep's front left tire not clipped the roots sticking out. The jeep's speed, catapulted it into the air, spinning it around in, so that when it back down to earth, it landed on it's top.
When the jeep hit the tree, Sam stuck out all his limbs, as if the walls were caving in. Had he not managed to buckle himself in, in the split second that followed, he surly would have been killed when the jeep came back down.
All the rain, and turned the dirt road to mud, which is probably what prevented the roof from caving in, when it hit. The end result was that the jeep, rolled over on it's right side, and slid a few meters down the road, before slamming head first into a palm tree on the side of the road.
In the seconds that followed, Sam just lay there, his face pressed against a cracked window. Glass lay all about him, and the rain from outside was dripping down upon him.
"Sam?!" Sam recognised Al's voice. "Sam, answer me!? Are you alright!?"
"Oohhhhhhh!" He moaned.
"I'll take that for a yes, is anything broken?" Slowly, Sam moved all his limbs. His left leg nagged him.
"No," he mumbled. He reached up, and unbuckled himself. His body fell down to greet him. He groaned, as he stood up. "J..Jackie? Is she…?"
"I don't know, Sam." Sam looked into the front seat. She lay there, some blood trickling down the right side of her face. Panicking, he reached over, and put two fingers against her neck. A pulse. Sam smiled.
"She's okay," Sam said, reaching over, to unbuckle her. Then reaching in with his other arm, he pulled her into the back with him. Then, checking for broken glass, he kicked open the left side door, and pushed her out, into the pouring rain.
The raindrops were still heavy, as Sam lifted himself out onto the side of the jeep. Then, he pulled himself out, and dropped down onto the muddy road, his shoes sinking deep as he landed. He then reached back up, and pulled Jackie down, then, hoisting her over his shoulder, he carried her just to the edge of the jungle, and lay her down against a palm tree, sheltering her somewhat from the heavy rain.
Relieved, Sam then checked himself out. His parker was torn on the left arm, and here and there, were tell tale cuts on his trousers.
"I'm glad you're okay, Sam." Al cried out, over the storm. Sam spun and nearly fell over in the mud. Al did have this habit of scaring a few years of his life. He should be an old man by now.
"Al," Sam said, panting, "What the hell was that?!" He shouted, pointing over at the fallen tree. They both looked over at the tree, then at the jeep.
It wasn't going anywhere fast. Its front left tire had been torn off, and the front end of the jeep was crumpled, with engine parts hanging out the sides of the bonnet. There was a long muddy trench leading from the tree to the crash site, with broken glass littering the trail.
"Sam!" Al called out, "Take a look at this!" Sam walked over to were Al was standing. The place was the tree had been up rooted. All around, there were marks of digging. This could have only been done with shovels. Someone had deliberately pulled this tree down. Who ever it was, didn't want anyone reaching the boathouse.
Sam turned back to Al. "Al, go back, and talk to David, find out everything you know, and I do mean everything!" Al nodded, pressing a few buttons, opening the image chamber door, then stepping through it, it closed behind him.
Sam then turned back to Jackie. She was beginning to stir. "D…David?" She called out weakly. "Are… are you…"
"Shhhh," Sam hushed her, "I'm here." He checked her head. She wasn't bleeding much, and the scratch didn't look that nasty. "Come one," he said, putting one arm around her, and putting her other arm around his, "can you stand?"
She wobbled to her feet, and took a few fuzzy steps. "I – I should be alright soon," she said, placing a hand to her for-head, "Let's keep moving, we can't stop, not out here!" Sam helped her along, and lent her against the destroyed jeep.
"Just wait here," he said, before half disappearing into the jeep. He remerged with the shotgun, and the car keys, and put his arm around Jackie once more. "Come on," he whispered to her. "I'm here for you." Even with the storm thundering around them, Sam was pretty sure she heard him.
"I hope the police don't mind that we trashed their jeep." Jackie said, forcing a chuckle.
Sam smiled. "They can bill me," he replied.
As they stumbled off from the crash site, neither one of them, nor the hologram, had seen the many pairs of glowing eyes, watching from the darkness of the jungle.
***
Al stormed into the waiting room; his eyebrows were down, casting shadows across his face, his cigar long gone, and his hand link down by his side. David was eating some dinner provided to him by the facility. He looked up from a mouthful of potatoes as Al thundered over to him.
"What is it this time?" David asked.
"What happened to you, out there?" Al asked through his teeth.
"Out where?"
"Before Doctor Beckett leapt into your body! What were you doing?"
"I was driving to the boat house." It took all of Al's will power not to punch him.
"Doctor Beckett just crashed into a tree deliberately place across the road," Al snapped, "he and your companion, Ms. Phelps were nearly killed."
"Is Jackie okay?" David asked, suddenly realising what'd happened.
"She's still alive, but I left before finding out any serious injuries." David was silent, hanging his head.
"It all started when Jackie found a information pamphlet about the many activities you could do on the island. One of them was a boat ride of the island river. You could go in a small group, or with a guide. According to what other information we could find, the boat was stored in a small boathouse in near the east end of the island. I told her to barricade herself inside the security vault, until I got back. If it was there, I would take it back with me, go get her, and take it down to the ocean, and get back to the mainland that way."
"You ended up near a storm drain." Al said. "I doubt you took a wrong turn."
"As I was on my way, I saw the road block. Like you, I figured out it's been done by hand. I got out of the jeep to investigate, when I was attacked by the wolves." He shivered, visibly as he remembered the encounter. "I was only out of the jeep for only a few seconds, when they attacked. It was organised, and well planed. They attacked from the front and behind. I had the side door still open, and used it to shield the front attack, while shooting at the wolf behind me."
"What happened next?"
"I didn't get it, the moment I started raising my gun, it changed direction fast, too fast, and was gone back into the jungle. The other one hit the side door, but high-tailed it back into the jungle before I could even swing my gun around. I think there were three of them, rushing out of the jungle, only to rush back in on the other side. I fired two more shoots, before I realised I was just wasting ammo. That's what they wanted me to do. I then decided to high tail it outta there. But it was too easy. They didn't try to strike me, rather herd me away. I wasn't thinking properly at the time, I just jumped in, and took off, not caring which road I took."
Al nodded in agreement. After all, he was in Vietnam and like they used to say, 'When you're up to your ass in alligators, it's difficult to remember that your initial objective was to drain the swamp.'
"It sounded obvious when you told me about what happened with Doctor Beckett, that he ended up by the storm drain that they intended to lead me into an ambush. Still, I have no idea why they didn't just kill him."
"You should have told us this earlier," Al said, "You're lack of cooperation might have put them all in grave danger."
"Where are they now?" David asked.
"On their way to the boathouse, by foot." David grabbed Al's jacket with both hands.
"On foot? Out in the jungle? At night?! Is your Doctor Beckett mad?!!"
"Relax," Al said, pulling David of him, "Those wolves didn't attack him, yet, or when I was there."
"But for how long?" David asked.
***
By the time they reached the boathouse, Jackie had regained her balance, and was helping Sam limp along.
"Well," Jackie said, easing her arm of Sam, "according to the map… this is it." Their flashlights illuminated a metal barrier with black and yellow stripes on it. The lighting light up the night sky, and Sam saw the darkened shape of a low wooden building, with a corrugated iron roof. Beyond that, lay the jet-black swirling currents of island-river.
They both made a dash across to the building, as best as Sam's leg could let him, with the heavy rain pelting them. Sam reached the door first, and pulled out the car keys. One of them was for the boathouse, he knew that mentally, but he paused.
"What is it?" Jackie called out over the wind.
"See for your self!" Sam shouted back, as he stood aside. The lock for the boathouse was still there, but it was broken. The latch was the only thing keeping the door closed. "The lock's been cut!"
"Who do you suppose did this? The wolves?" Sam shrugged.
"I don't think so," he cried out, picking up the lock, "This lock looks as if it's been cut by bolt cutters. That would require thumbs!" He wiggled his own to emphasise his point.
"Then we're not alone on this island?" She shouted back. Sam just shrugged.
"Let's just get out of this rain, first!" She nodded in agreement, and Sam through open the door, and they both rushed inside.
If they had trouble hearing each other outside, it was worse inside. The tropical rain fell in drenching sheets, hammering the roof of the boathouse, roaring down the metal gutters, splashing on the ground in a torrent. The roof of the building was made of corrugated iron, and the pelting rain echoed loudly inside.
Sam stumbled around in the gloomy recesses of the building. He pushed past five-gallon container of motor-oil; spare tires for a jeep, a table of old tools, rolls of wire cable, and a few empty beer bottles.
"I don't see a boat." Sam called, shining the torch into a cobwebbed corner.
"A raft, it's called a raft, Gibb," Jackie shouted back, "It should be here, it has to bee here!" Sam stumbled over some bags of fertilizer, and shone the torch on a far wall. And empty tool rack…. And two plastic oars hung on clips on the concrete wall.
"Okay," he called out, indicating with the torch to Jackie, "But where's the raft?"
"It must be here somewhere!" Jackie cried back.
"Maybe who ever cut the lock of the door, already took it!" Sam shouted. "Maybe somebody trying to leave the island when we arrived. That would explain how the lock was cut."
"But it must be here!" Jackie cried out. She was beginning to panic. "Have you tried over there?" Sam shone the torch over on a metal cabinet on the wall. He walked over to it, and opened the door. A rolled up ice of paper fell out, and landed at Sam's feet.
Picking it up, and examined it. It was a set of plans, all speckled with mould from the humidity. He cleared aside some junk on the wooden table, and rolled out the plans. He used some pain cans as paper wights, and shone the torch on the plans.
"What is it?" Jackie asked, peering over his shoulder. They were detailed topographical charts for the main area of the island they were in. He flipped through a few pages. According to the charts, the river ran right through the island. Follow it, any way, and you come out to the ocean. No wonder they wanted to get to the river. Get a raft, take the river, and you're home free.
Flipping over another page, Sam found a blue print for the building they were in. Shining the torch around the room, everything was were it should be, except for a pile of old empty paint cans. Sam looked back on the plans. The paint cans should be over the other side of the room, and where they were….
There was a picture of a boat.
Bingo. Sam rushed over to the old paint cans. "What is it, Gibb?" Jackie asked, Sam ignored her, as he kicked the pile of the paint cans over, and they crashed all over the floor. He then shifted through the destroyed pile with his foot, and came across what he was looking for.
A large metal box, cemented into the ground, and clearly stencilled across it was 'RAFT STORAGE.'
"You found it!" She shouted out, as her flashlight shone across the box. Sam quickly flipped it open, and pulled out a few orange life vests, and a rubber rectangular box. Beneath that, was an air pump.
"Help me inflate this," Sam called out, as he pulled out the air pump. Jackie undid the straps, and unfolded the raft. Sam found the nozzle, and started pumping. Slowly, very slowly, the raft began to fill with air, and take shape.
"Okay, shut it off!" Sam yelled, as he pulled the pump hose from the nozzle, and Jackie quickly sealed the rubber nozzle, trapping the air inside the raft. Sam poked the sides of the raft, testing it.
"Think it'll hold?" Jackie asked.
"I hope so," Sam answered back. He picked up the raft, it was surprisingly heavy, and turned to Jackie. "I'll take the raft down to the river, you go get the oars!" Sam dragged the raft over to the door, kicking it open, wincing as he used his bad leg. He pulled the raft out into the pouring rain, and through the bushes, down towards the river.
The wind howled, threatening to tear the raft away from Sam's hands, as he heaved the thing down the muddy embankment, and landed with a splash in the river. He then pulled half of it, back onto the shore, so it wouldn't float away on them.
Sam stumbled back up the embankment, as best as his leg would allow him. "Jackie?" He called out, "Come on, let's go!" As he pushed through the bushes, out into the open ground before the boathouse, he froze.
Jackie was slowly backing up, towards him, white as a ghost, while out of the darkness, stalked eight or ten wolves. They had their ears forward; their tails low, and formed a cordon around Jackie.
"Oh boy," Sam whispered.
At that moment, the wolves attention switched to him. Now, they started growling, their ears flattened against their heads, and they paused.
"Jackie," Sam cried out to her, so that she heard him over the storm, "Come over to me, slowly." She eased her way over to him, keeping her eyes on the wolves, clutching the oars to her chest like a shield. Sam put his arm around her, the moment she got over to him, and together, they eased backwards into the bushes, and down towards the embankment.
Just then, out of the corner of his eye, Sam saw the glowing eyes. Of to his far right, he saw the wolf. It was like the rest, only this one, was trying to flank him.
As he turned to face it, the other wolves acted. They rushed at Sam. Sam spun around, he already had the shotgun raised, and the movement of the wolves was incredible. With no time to think, or even aim, Sam fired from the hip.
The shotgun roared over the noise of the storm. The wolves all suddenly changed direction. The one closest to Sam, leapt into the air, and off to the left, as the ground beneath it exploded in a shower of mud. Jackie cried out, and immediately, the sound of crashing through the bushes, erupted of to his right. Sam swung the gun around, and this time he raised it to his eye level, and took aim.
The end muzzle of the gun exploded with a bright flash, and the crashing sound retreated of to the left.
"Get to the boat!" Sam roared. Jackie practically fell down the embankment, towards the boat. Sam turned back to face the front, as he stumbled backwards. He'd fired both barrels, meaning he needed to reload. If the wolves chose to attack him now, he was defenceless.
He popped open the chamber, wrenched out the spent shells, slammed in new ones, snapped it shut, and pulled back both hammers in a record three seconds. Three seconds too long. Sam's eyes flickered all around him, trying to spot the wolves. The damn winds was shaking the leaves about, it was hard to tell weather they were coming at him from all directions.
"David, hurry!" Jackie shouted out, as she jumped into the boat. Sam said a prey, and lunched himself down the embankment, rolling through the bushes, and landing with a splash in the water. "DAVID!!!" She screamed.
Sam looked back up, to see two wolves slowly crawling down toward him. Without thinking, Sam swung the gun around, and fired from the hip. The gun muzzle roared, and a large overhanding jungle leaf, a few meters of the left suddenly vanished. The wolves didn't bother looking over at it.
Just then, powerful hands griped his shoulders, and he was yanked out of the water, and into the raft with such force, that he nearly lost the shotgun. Sam lost all sense of direction for a split second, and when he looked back at the wolves, they were slowly drifting away. He turned around, and saw Jackie rowing furiously in the opposite direction of the shoreline.
"Give me an oar!" Sam cried out. Jackie handed him one, while shifting her position to the front of the raft, while Sam seated himself at the rear, they started rowing like a canoe.
The rain tore at their drenched bodies, chilling them to the bone. The wind that howled around them, helped to push their raft along, as they rowed --- not sure in which direction --- away from the shoreline and the wolves.
"They're still following us!" Sam looked up at the top of the embankment, and sure enough, he could see the glowing eyes, bobbing along, as they followed the raft down the river.
"What the hell do they want?!" Sam snarled, as he began to row even harder.
"Wait!" Sam stopped rowing, to look at Jackie. She was looking from left, to right, and back again.
"What is it!" Sam asked her, leaning close to be heard over the wind.
"They're not attacking us, they're just watching us." Sam looked at the riverbanks, on both sides. He could see eyes, glowing in the jungle,
but doing nothing more, just watching them.
"I don't think they can get at us."
She was right. The wolves were doing nothing more, than watching them. Just then, Sam saw something.
"What is it?" Jackie asked. Sam hugged her close to him, with his right arm, as he pointed with his left.
"Look," he said, "They're leaving." One by one, the glowing eyes began to vanish. They would blink a few times, and then fade into the jungle darkness.
"By good, you're right!" Jackie cried out in joy, as the last set of eyes vanished all together.
"Thank God," Sam muttered, as he leaned back.
"Why did you stop rowing?" Jackie asked.
"I'm tired, and I need to rest." Jackie nodded in agreement.
"Good idea." She pulled her oar in, and leaned back. She looked down at the water, then ahead, and back to Sam. "Were still moving." Sam sat up. She was right. The raft drifted steadily east, following the river.
"There must be a current." The current was carrying them east, towards the ocean --- and freedom.
"This should take us to the ocean," Jackie said, smiling, "Then we can row to the mainland!" Sam nodded back to her. It was the first time he'd seen her smile.
He shivered. Now that the danger had passed, he was finally feeling the effects of the storm. He wrapped both his arms around himself, trying to trap some warmth.
"You're cold!" Jackie said, "Here, let me warm you up!" She crawled over to him, and took of her raincoat. She then snuggled up close to Sam, and draped it over them, like a bed sheet. Sam stopped shivering.
"Thankyou," he said, "that's much better." She smiled at him. Sam sighed. "I don't think we should be doing this," he muttered, looking down at the river.
"Doing?" Jackie looked confused. "Doing what?"
"This!" Sam looked back at her, "I mean, I'm fifty years old. I'm way to old for you." She smiled and shook her head.
"David, I'm only 43." Sam looked surprised.
"Really?" He said. "I thought you were 36." She laughed.
"Nope. Aren't you sweet," she said, "So, what were you saying about being to old?" Sam just shook his head.
"Nothing." He muttered, "nothing." She nodded, moving closer to Sam, and closing her eyes.
As they travelled along with the current, the river became narrower. The banks closed in on both sides, until the trees and the foliage overhanding the banks met high above to block out most of the rain. Drops still trickled down, but it was not annoying. Sam still heard the sounds of the raging storm, but also of other animals, of birds.
Almost musical.
This area of the island seemed very quite. Almost peaceful, as if the recent events of what had happened to them, were nothing more than bad dreams. They drifted among the isolated drops of rain. If anything, they seemed to be drifting faster than before. Glancing over at Jackie, he saw she'd drifted to sleep.
Sam looked down at the river. It was getting to narrow for his liking. It was getting to the point were the raft was wider than the river. The rubber gunwales often scraped on the mud as the swift current pulled the boat along. If the wolves caught up with them, there was nothing they could do.
As they continued along, the foliage got closer and closer, until Sam could reach the leaves by just sitting up, and stretching out his arm. It was like being in a tunnel. No rain got in now.
Thump!
Sam froze. The raft had stopped moving. They were aground, against the riverbank. For that split second, Sam couldn't breath. He concentrated on all the sounds around him. The rain slapping on leaves, the thunder rumbling, the wet leaves slapping together as the wind howled.
Suddenly, there was a long slow scraping sound of the raft against the mud. Then, the raft was moving again, floating down the river once more. Sam breathed a sigh of relief. Though he couldn't help but wonder. What happened to Al?
***
"What do you mean, you can't send me back?!" Al practically shouted.
Gooshie just shook his head, not looking up from the control panel. "I'm sorry, Al, but the storm is really starting to interfere with our equipment. Even if we did manage to send you back, you wouldn't be able to properly communicate with Sam."
Al just rolled his eyes.
"That's just fantastic."
***
The river was now very narrow, and flowing swiftly. The raft was going faster all the time. It was starting to feel like an amusement park ride. Amazingly enough, Jackie was still asleep.
Sam squinted, looking forward. The river was still narrow and dark, but farther ahead he could see the trees ending, and they were suddenly pelted by the full fury of the storm. That woke Jackie up.
"Aww, Christ," she complained, sitting up, "I was having the nicest dream…" Her voice was drowned out by the howling wind, doubled over with a distant roaring sound. Through the pouring rain, Sam saw that the river seemed to end abruptly in a peculiar flat line.
The raft was going still faster, rushing forward.
Sam's eyes widened, and grabbed his oar, and started paddling like a mad man.
"What is it?!" Jackie cried out over the roar. Sam shouted out something, but she couldn't here it. "What?!" She yelled.
"WATERFALL!!!" Sam bellowed. Jackie froze, unable to move for a split second, before she grabbed her oar. The raft raced forward on, in the swift current toward the lip of the waterfall. The roar was loud in their ears. They both paddled as strongly as they could, trying to pull the raft towards the shore, but only succeeded in spinning the boat in circles. It continued inexorably toward the lip.
Suddenly, he felt something shoved into his lap. Looking down, he saw the orange life preserver, and looked over to see Jackie belting on hers fast.
"CAN YOU SWIM!??!" Jackie shouted! Sam buckled his on with lighting speed, just as they reached the edge. The noise of the waterfall combined with the storm, made it impossible to be heard anymore, so Sam only nodded.
Sam then grabbed his oar, and jammed it deep into the water, felt it catch hold, right at the lip; the rubber raft shuddered in the current, but they did not go over. Sam strained against the oar and, looking over the edge, saw the sheer drop of fifty feet down to the surging pool below….
…And waiting for them, at the edge of the pool, waiting for them, were about twenty or so wolves, all looking up at the both of them.
Jackie screamed. Sam heard her, even over the roar of the fall, even over the howling of the wind, even with the rain pelting him in the face, he heard her. Then, the boat spun, and the rear end dropped away, spilling them out into the air and roaring water, and they fell sickeningly.
Sam flailed his arms in the air, and the world went suddenly silent, and slow.
***
TO BE CONCLUDED