Author's Note: I got this idea...somehow. Oo; I had some help from Iap64. Thanks! ^^ In this story, I thought 'What would happen if Sloan had killed Eliza?' This is different from the first version I had in mind, but this one seems a bit better I think. Well, it's written anyway, so can't change it now. This story features a song in the end sung by Michelle Branch. It is entitled "Goodbye To You." I must think that song kinda fits this situation...roughly. Enjoy the read!
WARNING: This story is rated PG-13 for blood and character death.
SANGUINE TRAIL
Story by DarkHououmon
Eliza Thornberry felt scared. No, not just scared she felt. She felt terrified. She's never been so terrified in all her life! She also felt stupid. How could she not have seen this coming? How could she not have known not to trust strangers? 'I guess I picked the wrong time to trust my gut.' She thought as she held Tally close to her. She moved herself backwards, trying to get away from the man and woman in front of her. She wanted to say something, anything, but her mouth wouldn't move. Instead, she fixated a glare on the two, who didn't seem to care one bit what she did. She could see Bree reaching inside her pocket. Eliza winced, but realized that it was merely rope. 'Unless they plan on strangling me with that, I've nothing to worry about.' She thought, a bit relieved. But her heart started racing again as she heard Sloan speak. "Thanks for retrieving my knife." He said coldly, his very voice making Eliza shake. She took one look at that blade, and her glare softened to a frightened and frozen look. She cringed against the back of the wall, Tally held as close to her as possible.
"It was you..." She choked out. She shook with fear as Sloan took one step forward. "I'm glad to see you finally understand the picture." He said. He took his knife and stroked the metal blade. The end was beginning to look even sharper to Eliza. Sharper than it had when she first saw it. The end looked like a sickle. Sloan took another step forward, and Tally started to growl and snap. His fur stood on end, and his sharp claws extended outwards. Since he was still young, his claws weren't permanently stuck out yet. That won't happen until he's an adolescent. The little cheetah cub stood his ground in front of the little girl, and tried his best to protect her. Bree slowly shook her head, and grabbed the cub gently by the scruff. Tally responded by trying to scratch her face. She simply moved her head to the side, smiling almost darkly. "You won't eat." She stared at the cub, looking a bit disappointed. "How will you grow big enough to grow me a coat?" Those words made Eliza's blood run cold. Bree placed the cub on the ground. She and Sloan were now looking at Eliza and her two friends. She didn't like the looks on their faces.
Darwin shuddered, and his teeth chattered. Donnie seemed to understand the seriousness of the situation, and tried to run away, but his mind was too scared to tell him to move. His eyes locked on the poachers' eyes. Something in his mind was keeping him from running. Eliza knew she was in big trouble. She remembered the other times she tackled with poachers. They never did turn out well without help. 'For once I wish it was Kip and Biederman who were causing the problems.' Eliza wished that badly. She knew those two poachers well, and knew how to handle them. But these poachers were so new to her. She couldn't possibly comprehend the danger she was in, or what these two were capable of. They were also younger than Kip and Biederman, and thus are probably physically stronger. It wouldn't matter either way since Eliza was too weak to fight out of the grasp of an adult poacher. All she could do was stare in horror as the male poacher walked even closer. He lowered his head to her level. "Who told you?" His voice was dark like night.
Eliza blinked a few seconds. 'I can't tell him...I'll lose my power!' Her mind screamed to herself. She had to think up a lie. She would tell the name of someone, but that wouldn't work. What if they find out she lied? What would they do to her? She could see Sloan's angry face waiting for an answer. Her mind raced trying to find out a solution. She could only think of one response. "No one told me. I figured it out on my own." Yeah that's gonna work, not! She didn't expect the poachers to believe her. She was only 12, and no one was near the poachers. She knew that Sloan thought that someone else had been sneaking around for her. She couldn't tell him that she was told by animals. It was better to make them think she was snooping around rather than having them know that she could talk to animals. The poacher narrowed his eyes in disbelief. Eliza's heart sank. 'It didn't work...' "You expect me to believe you?" He swiftly grabbed her by the wrist. She screamed in pain. "Let me go!" She yelped as he brung the knife towards her neck. "I know you're lying. You better tell me....or you'll never see your family again!" His eyes were filled with rage, and Eliza gasped. Her eyes opened up in shock, and all she could do was whimper.
"ELIZA! ELIZA!" Debbie screamed at the top of her lungs. Frustration overcame her. This wasn't the first time Eliza wandered off and got lost. Well, she didn't know if her sister was lost this time, but she's been out all night, so she supposed she was lost. Debbie walked alongside her new native friend, Boko. The blackman rode in the sidecar attached to the motorcycle. She smiled at him, and turned to the front. She couldn't think of where her little sister could have gotten to. 'When I get my hands on her.....' She growled mentally. She did not realize that Eliza's very life was in danger. She thrusted her hands forward to release more energy and make the bike to faster. She could barely see the trail of footprints leading up towards the river. She decided to look over there. She knew that that was her best bet.
Donnie chattered angrily as Bree tied him up and placed him next to the now tied up Darwin. Darwin already tried breaking free of his binds, but it was useless. There was no way he could break through. He sighed sadly, and looked up at the poachers. He knew this wasn't good. He saw that Bree was now tying up Eliza. The girl never bothered to struggle. What was the point? She didn't want to risk getting killed, so she decided to let Bree tie her up. Sloan walked up in front of her. He held his hands behind his back, just how Eliza's hands were tied, and asked again, "So my little trouble maker, who told you?" Eliza gulped. She could risk losing her power. But she knew that Sloan wouldn't buy her lies again. She had no choice. "I told you, there's no one." She said simply, and turned her head away from him. She could see out of the corner of her eyes that the man's face was turning red. Bree noticed, too, and started to back away. Eliza frighteningly moved her head back towards the other poacher. It was back to normal now, but his face still bore the look of anger. Eliza cringed again. "That isn't going to work on me, girl. No one saw us build that fence, and no one saw us shoot that rhino." He pointed to her. "There's no way a mere child could have found all these out, so who is your source of information?" His hand formed into a fist when the girl made no reply.
"ANSWER ME!!" He screamed, startling everyone including Bree. The cheetah cub, Tally, moved uneasily around the room. The poachers paid him no mind. What was a small cub going to do? If he were an adult it would be a different story. But a cub that young couldn't possibly do any damage, or so they believed. Eliza closed her eyes tightly, and slowly reopened them. "I can't tell you." She whispered under her breath. Sloan turned to his cameras, and smiled evilly. He turned back to her. She looked up at him in fear and dread. She dreaded what he was going to do to her next. She could only think of the worst things. The poacher had something else in mind. Something that would probably scare her more that she is now. "Eliza, would your father know the answer to this question? How many volts of electricity does it take to kill a thousand elephants?" He hissed. The child grew as scared as a mouse caught by a cat. This was their plan...plan to kill the elephants. All of them. 'He wouldn't!' But he would...she knew that very well now. Sloan was capable of doing mass harm. She looked at Tally, then back at Sloan's evil grin. She could only stare in fear.
Bree looked up at the monitor. Something was moving towards them. "Sloan?" She kept looking at the screen. Her husband walked over. "What is it?" "We've an intruder." She pointed up at the monitor. Eliza tried to get a better look, but the monitor was too small for her to see. She gave up before the poachers knew she was staring. Sloan growled, "We'll see what this intruder wants." He and Bree went outside and closed the door, leaving Eliza, Tally, Darwin, and Donnie in the dark. "Eliza, I'm scared!" Darwin cried out. He was too terrified to chatter while the poachers were inside the room. Tally walked behind Eliza. "Don't worry. I'll cut these things loose." He then grabbed a loose part of the rope and began gnawing at it. Eliza encouraged him. "That's it, Tally!" She fixated her attention to the frightened chimp. He continued, "I don't like the way they look at is." He shook in fright. Eliza held her head to the ground. She could feel a tear of shameness coming forth. This was her fault. "It's all my fault...I thought they were like me...." She whispered hoarsely. Tally continued to gnaw at the rope, and was able to bust it loose. She moved her arms forward now that they were free. Darwin narrowed his eyes. "Eliza, when will you learn that NO ONE is just like you?" Anger filled Eliza's mind. But before she could say anyting to him she heard Bree's voice.
"Yes, may we help you?" She quickly turned her gaze towards the cameras. She could see the monitor better. She saw a person walk up towards the camera. She squinted her eyes for a bit, then recognized who it was. "I'm looking for my sister, Eliza Thornberry." 'Debbie!' Eliza's mind screamed. Eliza frantically started to untie the rope that bound her legs. She couldn't walk or move fast enough while it was there. Outside, Boko stood next to Debbie. Sloan thought for a split second, and knew that this was an opportunity to force the information out from Eliza. He moved at lightning speed behind Debbie, and swiftly and roughly grabbed her arm with one hand and the other arm swung around her neck to restrain her. If he squeezed tight enough he could sufficate her. 'Perfect.' He thought. "What are you doing?!" Debbie gasped. Eliza looked back up at the monitor was horrified what was happening. "Debbie....Debbie...." She whispered in fright as she continued to untie her ropes. "DEBBIE!" Boko shouted and climbed onto Sloan's back to try and lure him away. His plan backfired when Bree roughly grabbed him and threw him to the ground. Debbie continued to struggle against Sloan's grasp, but it was useless.
'Finally I got it.' Eliza's mind thought as the last knot of the rope was untied. The rope fell down loosely to the ground. Tally began working on untying Darwin and Donnie as Eliza bolted out of the trailer. Sloan and the others turned their attention to the swung open door. Eliza ran out of it. "Eliza?" Debbie whispered. "Let her go!" Eliza screamed angrily as she tried to charge Sloan. Her fear was gone. She screamed a little when she felt Bree tightly grasp her hands, both of them. She tried to run further, but the woman poacher held her back. The girl instead shouted, "Let my sister go!" Sloan smiled evilly, and tightened his grip on the teenager. "Only if you tell me your source of information, child." He moved back a few steps. The younger girl shook her head frantically, trying to convince the poacher that she had found out herself. "There's no one! I guessed all that stuff...the fence and the explosives...and...." Uh oh...she knew had made a big mistake. Sloan cried, "I never mentioned explosives!" His grip was so tight that Debbie gasped for breath. At this rate she would die from lack of air if Sloan gripped her any tighter. She once again tried to pry loose of his grip, but it was no use. She just wasn't strong enough. The man was too strong for her.
"She doesn't know anything of this...please just let her go." The girl could feel tears coming down her face. She didn't care who saw her. She didn't want her sister to die! It just wasn't fair. Why should she get dragged into this? Debbie was sometimes a pain, but Eliza still loved her as much as her father and mother. "Just let her go." She asked again. This display didn't move Sloan much at all. He dragged Debbie towards the edge. Her eyes opened wide, and Debbie stared in shock. She glanced down at what could be her deathbed. "Tell me, or she goes over the edge!" He then stood so close to the edge that all he had to do was lightly push the teenager and she would plummet to her death. Eliza couldn't let this happen. Her heart raced faster like a freight train, and she continued to struggle. 'What am I going to do? I can't let her die...I just can't....' She stared in horror as Debbie drew dangerously closer to the cliff's edge. All she could think about at the time was how to lure Sloan away from her big sister. She could only think of one thing to do, but it was so risky she could lose her life. 'I have to do it.' She opened her mouth to talk, and Sloan listened intently. "You are a coward, Sloan!" His eyes widened in anger, and Bree stared at the child with surprise etched on her face. Eliza didn't stop there. "You are a coward because you have to use someone else as bait to get information. Why don't you stop being afraid and get the information from the person you want it from?!" She panted, and realized her fatal error too late. "Coward?" Sloan whispered darkly. He dropped Debbie to the ground. "Eliza, no!" She yelped and tried to get up. Her neck hurt too much at the moment, and she collapsed to the ground again. Boko knelt beside her, and helped her up.
Bree let Eliza go. She did not want to be around for what was going to happen. She turned and walked away. She entered their trailer and closed the door. 'She's always been like that.' Sloan thought as he slowly approached the small child. The girl moved backwards, and fell on her back. She couldn't run away. Her mind wouldn't let her. She was too scared to move. Her eyes glanced at the man's knife, and then back at his eyes. He grabbed Eliza by the back of the shirt and lifted her up into the air. Debbie watched, horrified, as the man reached down into his sheeth and pull out the golden handled knife. He brung the serrated blade up to the girl's neck. Eliza whimpered in fear, anticipating the worse. "Am I a coward?" He asked cruelly. The girl made no response but a whine. Sloan narrowed his eyes in frustration. "Are you going to tell me now or will I have to take extreme measures?" He moved the knife close to her neck. Debbie tried to bolt up, but Boko held her back. He didn't want to risk both of them getting hurt. The teenager could only watch helplessly as the knife was placed against her little sister's neck. Eliza still didn't answer Sloan. She just moved her head away, and stared into the horizon, and ignored him. This didn't take too well with the poacher. "Fine. If you won't tell me, guess there's no more use for you!!" With those words, Sloan suddenly thrusted the knife upwards and out. It slashed Eliza's throat open.
Eliza Thornberry screamed loudly as the blade cut into her throat. Soon she could not scream anymore. The blade severed some of her vocal cords, and made it impossible for her to make loud noises anymore. The large gash was nothing she could bear. Sloan threw her to the ground, and placed the now bloodied knife into his sheeth again, and ran back into the trailer. Eliza hit the ground on her side, and yelped in pain. Blood stained the grass and herself. Debbie came to her senses and rushed to her sister's side. She didn't even care when the vehicle drove off. Her eyes were glued on her sister, who had been mortally wounded. Eliza coughed up blood. The teenager knelt down next to her sister. Boko waited a bit away. He may not understand english, but he knew when someone wanted to be alone. He let the sisters be. The 12 year old looked up at her teenaged sister with pain in her eyes. "Eliza..." She whispered as she slowly took her sister into her arms. "Debbie..." Eliza tried to say, but the blood in her throat made it hard to speak well. Debbie held her sister closer. "Shhh...kiddo. You'll be all right." She tried to soothe her sister, but she knew that there was probably nothing that could be done for her. Tears shed from both their eyes for different reasons. Eliza could feel her breathing slow down. The blade cut also slashed her windpipe, so air wasn't going all the way in. Her body was already weakening from lack of oxygen. She slowly raised her hand and placed it on Debbie's face. Debbie took it off and held the girl's hand in her own hand. Her other arm was wrapped behind her sister's shoulder, supporting her head off the ground.
Eliza said, "I don't think I'll...make it..." "No...don't talk like that..." Debbie choked out sadly. Eliza smiled weakly, and weakly grasped her sister's hand. She whispered, "It's okay..Deb...I need to tell you something that I...never told a-a-anyone b-before." She had to say it fast. She was losing strength quickly. Her vision was dimming. Debbie was a bit surprised when her sister's eyes stared to glaze over. She knew she didn't have much time left. She looked at her sister expectantly. Eliza continued in a weak and hoarse voice, "I can talk to.....anim-animals...." Debbie's eyes widened in shock. She didn't have time to swallow this new bit of surprising information. Her sister's eyes rolled back in her head, and the eyelids closed. Debbie shook her head in disbelief. Eliza's breathing stopped altogether, and she convulsed a few times. Finally there was one last convulsion, and then nothing. Eliza's body just stood still in Debbie's arms. The blood stopped flowing from her neck. The teenager shook the deceased child's shoulders, hoping that there was still some life left in her. "Come on, Eliza! Wake up!" There was no response. Debbie was on the verge of sobbing now. "Please....please wake up...." She whispered, and no response came. 'This can't be happening...' She stopped shaking her sister and pulled her into a tight hug. "No..." She whispered, and started to sob like she never sobbed before.
Darwin was the first one out. He and the other two managed to jump out before the trailer went off. Donnie and Tally were going in the direction of the Thornberry campsite. The chimp decided to go help Eliza. 'I wonder what happened.' He heard crying noises. He knew that it was Debbie. He recognized his family member's voices right away. He made his way towards them, but froze when he saw what had happened. He saw Debbie holding Eliza's dead body in her arms. Eliza wasn't moving or breathing. Darwin was in a state of shock. His mind was blocked out from reality. 'Eliza...' He couldn't think of anything to do but panic. He felt tears coming out of his chimp eyes and dampened the ground. "I....I can't believe it....." He just stood there, and watched Debbie cry loudly....and he, too, mourned the loss of Eliza. Darwin's eyes registered with hatred. He glared back at the area where the trailer used to be. "I'll get him..." He snarled dangerously.
Of all the things I believe in
I just want to get it over with
Tears from behind my eyes
But I do not cry
Counting the days that passed me by
I've been searching deep down in my soul
Words that I'm hearing are starting to get old
Looks like I'm starting all over again
The last three years were just pretend and I say
Goodbye to you
Goodbye to everything I thought I knew
You were the one I loved
The one thing that I tried to hold onto
I still get lost in your eyes
And it seems like I can't live a day without you
Closing my eyes till you chase my thoughts away
To a place where I am blinded by the light but it's not right
Goodbye to you
Goodbye to everything I thought I knew
You were the one I loved
The one thing that I tried to hold onto
Ohhh yeah
It hurts to want everything & nothing at the same time
I want whats yours and I want what's mine
I want you but I'm not giving in this time
Goodbye to you
Goodbye to everything I thought I knew
You were the one I loved
The one thing that I tried to hold onto
The one thing that I tried to hold onto
Goodbye to you
Goodbye to everything I thought I knew
You were the one I loved
The one thing that I tried to hold onto
We the stars fall and I lie awake
You're my shooting star
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well that's it. For this chapter anyway. This either might be just one chap, or more than one chapter. Multiple, I call it. This was one of my original ideas. I didn't write it 'cause I was busy with other things. Yeah I'm a biggie on alternate dimensions. I don't always write them or think about them, but I do like the idea of it. Too bad not many shows I've seen actually show alternate dimensions. I know there was....I don't remember any right now. ^^; Well I hope ya'll enjoyed this chapter. I seem to be the only one here writing Thornberry-friendly fanfics on this site. There might be another one, but I don't know. :\
