I can hear them approaching and I am no longer worried. They are too late, but I hope they will find solace by finding my body. It was so hard not finding Summerlee, and constantly worrying if he was alive, suffering, or dead. I'm glad they won't have to worry about that with me. At least some good will come out of all this.
They had been walking for hours, and the heat was beginning to take its toll on the trio. Marguerite had used up almost all of her water. She refused to talk, focusing all her concentration on battling the plateau's many bugs and mosquitoes. She regretted coming on the journey almost the minute she left the treehouse, but she knew she couldn't leave Rithos and Challenger alone.
She had no idea how good Rithos was at tracking and hunting, but she was positive once Challenger started thinking about science he was oblivious to things around him, and someone needed to protect his back. She desperately wanted to say something, but didn't want to be the first to complain.
Luckily for her, Challenger had no such qualms. "Rithos, we've been walking around this jungle for hours. Are you sure we are going in the right direction?"
"Of course I am, of course I am." Rithos said not turning to glance at the two behind him. He didn't want anyone to see the grin on his face or gleam in his eye." I am bringing you right where I want you. Don't you worry about a thing."
From the corner of his eye he saw what he had been searching for all morning. "Aha! There it is Challenger!" He turned around and smiled brightly. "I knew we were getting close!"
"Finally!" Marguerite exclaimed. "Now lets get some meat and get out of here!" She passed Rithos who was standing still on the side of the path. Her heart began to beat faster as she walked over to the traps. With adrenaline pumping, she pulled out her knife in preparation for cutting the animals 'free.' The sooner they took what meat they needed they could go home, and the heiress knew a bath was waiting for her. However, the closer she got to the area Rithos pointed out to her, her heart beat began to fall.
"Rithos?" She asked, "I don't see anything, are you sure your traps are here?"
"Of course they are, just look closer," Rithos said in a tone of voice Challenger couldn't quite place. Although the scientist wanted to alert Marguerite and tell her to be cautious, he didn't want to raise suspicion. He walked over to where Marguerite was, slowly removing the gun from his holster.
"I'm sure they are here somewhere, Marguerite. Lets just look a little harder," he said in an overly loud voice. Then, for only Marguerite to hear, he whispered, "Something doesn't sound right. Be on your guard. Stay close to me." Hearing footsteps behind him, he walked further into the jungle.
Marguerite turned to Rithos, and placed a smile on her face, "If you led us all the way out here for nothing, you will definitely regret it!"
"No, Marguerite, I doubt that," Rithos said aiming his gun at Marguerite. "Why don't you join your friend over there in the trees. And don't do anything foolish -- drop that knife on the ground."
"All right, all right," Marguerite said trying to make light of the situation. "All of this for a few missing traps? Maybe Challenger found them; Challenger!" She yelled the rest of her sentence in a hope to alarm the scientist.
"Yes, Marguerite?" Challenger following the sound of her voice, cocking his gun. He walked faster as he saw the gun Rithos held in his hand.
"Lower that gun!" Challenger yelled as he felt the floor fall out from beneath him. He thought he was going to topple backwards, but instead of hitting the hard ground he felt himself suspended in air. The shock of the pull jarred his hand, causing the gun to discharge. He felt a sharp pain in his leg and then blissful numbness as he closed his eyes around him.
"See, I told you I had traps here. Challenger just found one," Rithos said to the speechless Marguerite. She tried to scream but realized no sound came when she opened her mouth.
"Let me go, you bastard," Marguerite said fear mixing with concern over Challenger. "Untie him, and let me go. I don't know what perversion you have to think this is fun, but it isn't."
"Perversion? This is much more than that. Keep walking," he said pushing her forward with his gun. "It's time to find the next trap."
"Why are you doing this?" Marguerite said as she stumbled further. "What did we ever do to you?"
"Oh, you'll have plenty of time to think about that, don't you worry. You are a smart girl I'm sure you can figure it out." He grabbed Marguerite and threw her against a nearby tree.
With shock she realized the tree had begun to grow around her. With a bit of renewed energy she attempted to kick and claw her way out. "Let me go!" She screamed.
"Oh no, Marguerite. That would have made all of this for nothing, now wouldn't it? Well, it's been fun," he said tipping his hat towards the beauty. "I hate to rush, but I really should go. There are a couple of other people I need to…talk to. See you later, Marguerite." He said laughing and turning away from her.
"Don't hurt them! If you hurt anyone I'll kill you. I swear I will. I'm going to get out of here, and I will hunt you down and kill you if you don't let me go now!" Marguerite yelled to his retreating form.
Realizing he wasn't coming back she screamed in frustration. She was tempted to collapse against the tree and wait for someone to come back for her, but she realized that was an invitation for death. The others wouldn't worry until nightfall, and by then it might be too late. She needed to cut Challenger down and see the damage done to his leg; if the wound didn't kill him the scent of blood would definitely draw every raptor around them. She took a deep breath and relaxed against the tree, it was time to think, she thought to herself, she could panic later.
With disgust Veronica threw the book she was reading against the wall. She knew she was acting like a child, but she didn't care. She couldn't believe it, but she was actually bored. Although she was used to be alone as a child, living with five other people for the past three years made her unused to silence. At first she cherished it, but now she couldn't wait for their return. She was even looking forward to fighting with Marguerite.
"Hmm." Veronica said limping towards the board game Rithos left on the nearby table. She deftly picked it up in one hand and hopped onto the tabletop. "Maybe if I practice enough, I can finally win a game!"
She smiled as she set the pieces in order. As she dropped the stones in the varying holes, she thought about a comment Marguerite had made the last time they played.
"A children's game. Children. Hmm. How many tribes have games just for children?" She ran a hand through her blonde hair and leaned against the wall.
She felt something poking the inside of her leg and she shifted to remove whatever it was that she was sitting on. With a smile she felt the leather strap Rithos had made, picked it up and studied it carefully. "Flowers. Children. Flowers. Children." She looked from the game to the strap as something clicked in her head.
"No," she said shaking her head as if she could shake the thought from her head. "But what was it he said about helping people that didn't want to be helped?" A familiar sound broke her concentration; the elevator was coming to life.
Veronica glanced towards the sky and saw that sun had barely begun to set. Who was coming home so early? And why hadn't she put on the electric fence? She hopped off the table and made her way to the balcony. There was something not right with the situation, and her intuition told her she needed to leave immediately. If Rithos was who she thought he was, she and the others were in serious danger, and she needed to warn them if it wasn't too late. She swung a leg over the balcony and looked for a vine to climb down.