"Severed" · A Prologue....stay tuned!
~ Jaclyn (musicnotej@aol.com; http://www.geocities.com/tlwmr)
Rated: PG-13
Pairing: M/R
Disclaimer: I don't own The Lost World; I believe New Line does. I'm not making any money off this....I just think it's fun :-)
"GO!" Marguerite shouted fiercely.
"I'm not leaving you here!" Roxton shouted back, rivulets of sweat streaming down his face like tears as he tried to pry the rocks apart with his bare hands.
"John-"
He could see her face in his head. She was using the voice she always used when she was in pain but didn't want to admit it. And she thought no one had figured it out, but he had - long ago. Barely noticeable lines would appear around her mouth, and the corners of her eyes would claim a tiny squint. Chin held high, Marguerite would speak in her usual way - or so it would appear, to anyone but him. He could detect every waver, every crack, every silently rasping breath.
Roxton could feel her grimace now, could feel her tensed muscles tightening around his heart in a way that more literal than any scientist would have believed possible.
The roar exploded from deep within his being. "I won't let you die!" A new rumbling shook the earth, but Roxton didn't fall. "I love you!"
The cave shuddered again. Challenger and Veronica locked gazes, a silent agreement.
Marguerite could feel the tears gathering with astounding rapidity under her grimy eyelids, not so much because of the jagged rocks that had torn into her, but because she had been hoping and waiting for those words for so long....and now she knew she couldn't say them back, because then Roxton would let himself die for her....
"GO!" Marguerite shrieked, taking the pain that filled her broken body and converting it into energy by sheer force of unbreakable will. It felt like her lung was punctured, which worried her more than all her obviously broken bones combined. Even while she was breathing, she felt suffocated. The world was already blurring. The edges of her vision were swirling inward, black fingers that crept steadily toward her, that didn't care about the fact that she didn't deserve to die or her feelings for Roxton or how much she secretly longed for-
Roxton opened his mouth to protest Marguerite's firm demand, but the sound of yet another avalanche behind the rock wall left him with his breath caught in his throat.
There was the wretched sound of a terrified, pained shriek being abruptly, ominously cut off. A horrified expression on his face, John Roxton hurled himself the boulders again, his torn fingers scrabbling uselessly as the rough surface. "NO!" he howled, over and over, inconsolable. "Marguerite!" His grimy face was streaked with the footsteps of rapid tears. "We have to save her!" he wailed, pounding on the wall. "Marguerite!"
"She couldn't have survived that, John," Challenger said softly, not bothering to control his own weeping. "I'm so sorry."
"Marguerite," Veronica choked out, a moaning goodbye to the woman who had become like a sister to her. She bit down hard onto the hand that was clamped tightly over her trembling mouth. "Oh god…no…"
Roxton spun violently around. "Liars, both of you!" he shouted manically. "She's still alive! I can feel her breathing! I can feel it!"
Challenger placed a steadying hand on Roxton's shoulder. "There are some things even today's modern science can't save. A body mangled under that," Challenger angled his jaw, "is one of them."
"She-"
Silently, solemnly, Challenger's fist shot out to knock Roxton swiftly unconscious. The middle-aged man sagged under the burden of a rather tall adult, but the weight of a dead Marguerite pressed even more heavily on his chest. Challenger looked down at Roxton. "I'm sorry, old friend," he said, his voice brittle and tired. "For all of us. But mostly for you."
Veronica stumbled over, her stifled crying emerging as strange, hiccup-like gasps. Challenger stared bleakly at her.
"You did the right thing, Challenger."
"You shouldn't bite down so hard, Veronica. You've made yourself bleed."
"It doesn't matter. I don't feel it anyway."
Their voices echoed in the semi-darkness. Conversation sounded disjointed, wrong. Each felt very, very alone.
"We need to get out of here before the whole thing collapses on us, too."
"Roxton won't like it. He'll want to die with her." Veronica couldn't tear her eyes from him. Even in oblivion, the hunter's face was twisted in pain.
"I won't be responsible for his death as well."
"This isn't your fault, Challenger."
"I found this cave!"
"Stop it! We can't talk about it now! I'll grab his legs; on the count of three we'll run."
"I can't believe Marguerite survived all these treacherous years only to die on the brink of-"
The ground beneath them was vibrating increasingly harder now. "One…two…three!"
Roxton woke a few minutes later to the intense sunlight cutting his face. He scrambled to his feet, pushing the comforting arms of his friends away. Whirling around, he drew a horrified breath at what confronted him. The cave had collapsed entirely. What used to be the entranceway was now a mound of rubble, no higher than his waist.
Lord John Roxton fell to his knees and sobbed.
To Be Continued....
Feedback is craved and appreciated....especially since this is my first TLW fic!! I just discovered the show, and now I'm newly obsessed because of the incredible interaction between Marguerite and Roxton! *melts*
~ Jaclyn (musicnotej@aol.com; http://www.geocities.com/tlwmr)
