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Chapter 10: Hold Me Down

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so i guess i must have just been dreaming, when i thought i heard myself say no, and anyway it looks like no one heard me, so here i go.../cuz when youre in the company of strangers, or with the strangers you call friends, you know before you start just how its gonna end --Gin Blossoms, 'Hold Me Down'

'What?' Rita said, turning to Jason. 'You want me to do what?'

'C'mon..I'm bored...' Jason said, returning the glance.

'No, Jason...I don't want to...' Rita said, backing away towards the water.

'But...hey! Watch out!' Jason lunged to grab Rita's hand, but missed. Rita fell from the rock overlooking the ocean into the water, snagging her shirt on a sharp edge. Wholly embarassed, Rita stayed in the water. Jason jumped in right after her, landing a few feet away, making a small splash. He continued to come on to Rita, eventually pulling the both of them underwater. Michelle came by with a flashlight, searching for the underwater pair. She saw Rita surface, gasping for air. Jason surfaced and pulled both back under. Michelle let out a quiet scream, and ran back to camp.

When she arrived, crying, David pulled her over and asked what happened. Michelle explained, and both were suddenly filled with an inane amount of rage. They packed their things up and left. They figured it'd be best to let the two back at the beach work to their own devices...and work things out on their own. They put out the fire, and relied on the moonlight to take them to their next destination, an outpost they had visited called Darawa (on the other side of a large mountain range).

They hadn't made it far by morninglight, the mountain was near non- navigable until daytime -- outcrops cast long shadows, preventing anybody from scaling the mountain. Rita passed a moment after sunrise, telling the two where she was going, and how she had left Jason on the beach. She had stolen his shirt and shorts, and ran all that way on her own. She had a pale, unnerving expression, one of utter fear. She ran into the sunlight, after leaving tears where she had stood...it seemed to David that things didn't go right...

David and Michelle noticed that the sun was directly overhead when Jason arrived, wearing part of his sleeping bag, but still carrying his sword. David was skeptical about Jason's condition, while Michelle was reaching into her travel bag, searching for something.

Jason had a small bump on his forehead from where he hit his head on the beach, and amnesia was noted as a possible occurrence by David. Michelle still had murderous intentions. She had found her sword and already had made a motion as if to kill Jason. David was unhappy with this, as he felt that would be 'pushing the envelope too far' and that justice could be served in fairer ways. Michelle had already began to raise her sword in a 'deathblow' position, and as she brought it down, she struck David, who jumped to protect his friend. David died later, but only after stabbing Michelle with his Mercury Staff. She shrugged off the wound, and continued to hold Jason on the edge of death.

Leading him up the mountain as her hostage, Michelle brought Jason to a special part of Darawa...a part where the influence from Tolbi was strong. Strong in the sense that pwerful leaders gathered here to plot more wanton acts of destruction...and more evil would be inflicted on the world. Pain and suffering seemed to be their motto, but Jason couldn't say anything...he was gagged, and brought to a secret chamber under the main trading post. There, he saw Rita...but in chains, shackled to a chair, and behind glass. Michelle laughed smugly as she shackled Jason to a chair, blindfolded him, and yelled for the gas to be turned on...but slowly.

She walked into a control room, with panels lining the walls. She spoke into a microphone, asking Jason whether or not it'd be him that they would gas. The ultimate sacrifice...

'You have five minutes to make up your mind, or we'll gas the both of you. Think it over...' Michelle said, and broke into a fit of sinister laughter.

She sat back in a chair, and waited...

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