Author's Note: Wow, all the reviews . . . I came back from the holidays and got a bag load of them! Thank you all very, very much. I can't tell you how much they made my day today! I got new readers, old readers, and awesome reviews. All of your replies mean a lot to me and I feel that you've even been too good to me. I got to say, fellowfigment, that your review actually almost brought a tear to my eyes. Now, I don't want anyone else to feel left out, because I've come close, on more than one occasion, of shedding tears because of y'alls reviews. You're all too good to me and I'm glad I might have swayed you to read more skater fics, Austin B :) Cheers to everyone! passes out Lost dolls to everyone

Chapter Five

Kate wiped the rain from her eyes.

'It's you . . . I was looking-'

'What do you want?' the guy demanded.

Kate looked up at him stupidly.

'W-What? I was looking for you,' she said.

'Why?' he demanded.

Kate stared at him again.

'You were running in here during a storm!' Kate said, wincing as her side flared up with pain.

'And?'

'And what? I don't want you to get lost with the monster around,' Kate said.

'You shouldn't have followed me. I can look after myself.'

Kate groaned. 'Listen, I don't know what your problem is, but I could really use some help. There's guy in the hole right behind me,' Kate said.

'I told him to be careful. It's your fault he's even down there,' the guy said.

Kate was taken aback. 'Excuse me?'

'Yeah, I saw you two running from the "monster",' the guy said.

'You were watching us?'

The guy didn't answer her.

Sawyer stood in the knee-deep water, waiting for Kate to send down something. He highly doubted that a small fry like herself could pull him out of an eight-foot hole. He thought he heard two people talking but he wasn't sure. The rain was coming down in torrents again and he could barely see or hear anything. He waited for another minute, his clothes sticking to him.

'Hey, freckles! Any time now!' he finally shouted as loud as he could.

A few minutes later a tree limb came down his way. He looked up, trying to see anyone. Lightning flashed, but he couldn't see anyone through the rain. He took hold of the limb and gave it a good tug. It came down an inch or two but didn't fall.

She's tougher than I thought, Sawyer thought as he grabbed the limb with both hands, grimacing as the muscles in his right arm tensed painfully. With the limb he tried climbing his way out. His shoes got stuck in the muddy wall more than once and he almost went down several times. Just when his arm began shaking uncontrollably and he thought he was going to let go; his head appeared above the hole. He crawled out and clutched his shaking arm. He went to stand up, but the tree limb came down sharply on his shoulder.

'Ow! Goddam freckles! What the hell was that-' Sawyer began, looking up.

'Stay down where you are or I'll put this stick through her,' the guy said.

A flash of lightning revealed to Sawyer Kate's form on the ground behind the guy.

'What the hell-' Sawyer mumbled.

'She's only knocked out. That'll change soon enough if you don't get back down,' the guy said sternly.

Sawyer looked up at the guy as another flash of lightning lit up the sky. It was the same guy he had talked to on the beach.

'Told you to be careful,' the guy said, pointing the stick in Sawyer's face.

Sawyer kept looking at him, even when the lightning subsided. His shoulder burned like hell as he weighed his chances. He knew if his arm wasn't hurt he could take on the guy any day. His arm threw everything out of whack now though. His cocky, hotheaded side said he could take the guy right now. His sensible side that hardly won any arguments said he might not. If he didn't knock the guy out or worse, then the guy would kill Kate. As much as he scoffed at the idea, Sawyer knew he felt something for her. Something more than just lust. He hadn't felt like this for a girl in a long time. Maybe that's why he was fighting so hard not to admit it. He felt his knees hit the muddy ground before he even realized what he had done. He had sunk back down to the ground.

Well, what do you know? There's something in here beside the devil, he thought, a smile almost escaping his lips.

'Let me see your hands,' the guy demanded, brandishing a flashlight.

Sawyer put his hands out in front of the guy.

The guy set the limb down beside him and put the flashlight in his mouth. He then got out a long, thick, green vine from his pocket. He moved closer to Sawyer, about to bind his hands. Sawyer saw the limb on the ground as lightning flashed again. It had landed only a foot or two away from him. He looked back at the guy. He was about to reach his hands. In a split second Sawyer came up with a Plan B. He spit at the guy, hoping to hit him in the eyes. He did and the guy cried out in anger. Sawyer felt around and grabbed a hand full of mud, slinging it at the guy, hitting him in the eyes with that too. The guy dropped the vine and flashlight. Sawyer scrambled around for the limb. By the time the guy had wiped his eyes and had the flashlight again, Sawyer had already swung at him. He hit him in the side, making the guy fall over backwards. Sawyer took in sharp breaths, feeling the pain in his arm intensify. He followed the glow of the flashlight and started swinging again. He thought he hit the guy's leg, but couldn't be sure. The guy rolled around, trying to get behind him. He went to swing again, but the guy hit him in the back of the leg. Sawyer felt his knee buckle and he fell to the ground. The guy wrestled with him, trying to get the limb. Sawyer fought, but was no match when the guy punched him in the arm. Sawyer cried out in pain and let go of the limb. The guy stood up shakily and kicked Sawyer in the side. Sawyer withered in a ball and the guy kicked him again. Sawyer moved a few feet and ended up on his back. His breathing came in ragged gasps as he looked up. The guy now stood right above him with the limb in hand. He had the flashlight in his mouth again and it was pointing down towards Sawyer. Sawyer squinted his eyes against the glare and saw the guy raise the limb. Sawyer tried to get up, but nothing seemed to work anymore. The next thing Sawyer felt was an incredible sharp explosion in his left temple and then all was black . . .