A man and woman were now walking towards the group of survivors, lured by the flickering shadow dance of the fire. They did not know who or what would be awaiting them – it was the powerful instinct to survive that told them to find out what was there.
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A.D. Skinner was the first to notice the arrival of the two fellow survivors.
'Hey! Someone's approaching! There's two of 'em!' he said, while he got up and pointed at the shadowy figures that were slowly walking towards them.
'Shouldn't we go and help them?' Mulder's squeaky voice sounded from behind Skinner. But before Skinner could turn around to shoot a murderous look at him, one of the strangers called out to them.
'Hey! It's us, Monica and Brad!' the woman yelled.
'What happened to you guys?' Mulder asked when they all sat down again.
'I guess we drifted off to the other side of the island' Brad began, 'Monica and I had been together ever since… the ehm, uhm, accident.'
He found it difficult to express what had happened, especially because it had been lightning-quick. One moment they were laughing over a stupid joke Monica had told and the other moment they were being hurled out of their seats and fell head-first into the ocean. Then came the water, surrounding them entirely. The fierce kicking and flailing, the mute screams that produced nothing but bubbles, the terrified feeling of claustrophia and the shock of seeing a dead body float by, sinking slowly to the bottom of the ocean.
'We swam and swam until we felt like we would lose our limbs' Monica continued, 'and just when we thought it was over we reached this place' – she pointed to the jungle and the beach – 'and I knew that our guardian angels had done an excellent job.'
'Wow' was all Scully could say in reply. She nodded her head and smiled and patted Monica on the shoulder.
'I'm so glad you two made it.' she whispered.
'So where's John?' Monica asked, looking around the beach. When the other began to shuffle uncomfortably and exchanged strange looks, a worm inside her belly reared its ugly head and began to take tiny bites of her guts.
Why are they looking at each other like that? Why won't they tell me what happened to him? Is he all right? Oh God, he's probably dead. Or seriously injured. What is going on?
Monica's head was churning out various scenario's and none of them had a happy end. She feared the worst and was preparing herself for the shock of hearing Scully or Skinner say that her partner was dead.
'He's gone out for a walk with his ex.. uhm ex-wife. You know, Barbara.' Skinner said.
'Barbara is here?' Monica blurted, a bit too loud. She began to blush and stared at her feet.
'Yeah, she is' Scully sighed.
She wanted to add 'and it's like they never got divorced' but decided to keep that part to herself. Mulder was in the neighbourhood – she didn't want him to do crazy stuff because of one slip of the tongue. Scully knew that Mulder had always been crazy about her. And there had been times when she felt ready to try and love him in return. But then Doggett arrived on the scene and she was smitten. Now she realized that it was not meant to be. Though Doggett was like a magnet, attracting women wherever he went, only one lucky individual by the name of Barbara could claim ownership of his heart.
'Well, if that isn't coincidence!' Monica said, sarcastically.
All of a sudden she felt incredibly jealous. She didn't know why - at first it seemed like Doggett had betrayed her even though they had never engaged in a relationship. But she did have a crush on him. Was it worth the distress, the anger? No, it wasn't. This was useless. She had to let go. Fortunately there's Brad. Today he had shown that some things never change. He had been so helpful, so caring. She turned her head to look at him. He smiled at her and she returned that friendly gesture.
How could I ever be so wrong? John never had feelings for me. I'm sure he liked me but that's because he's such a polite person. I should've never left Brad. I should've been smarter than that. Perhaps God is giving me a second chance. I have to take it or I'll regret if for the rest of my life. Which might not be long considering the mess we're in.
'What's up?' Brad's voice disturbed the flood of thoughts that kept her silent.
'Nothing. I was just.. thinking.'
Monica could slap herself for saying such silly things. She'd never acted that way around Brad. No matter how much she wanted to hide in the darkness of the jungle, his eyes would calm her down and allow her to be herself. He would not judge her because of this. He would understand. Because he felt the exact same feelings for her and he was eager to let it show.
'That's our Monica' Brad grinned. He put his hand on top of hers. Their hands locked and they began to giggle like a couple of teenagers.
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John and Barbara were walking hand in hand through the jungle. The undergrowth consisted of dead leaves and small sticks. The twigs snapped and crunched as they walked on. They had decided to stay close to the beach but soon they couldn't tell which direction would bring them back there and which direction would lead deeper into the heart of darkness.
'John, I do believe we're lost.' Barbara pulled his elbow and bit her lip. She then realized the absurdity and ambiguity of that phrase. Not only were they lost in the jungle (at night!), they were also stuck on an island – in the middle of nowhere, as it seemed.
'I'm afraid you're right.' Doggett replied as he scanned the area for any clues that might help them remember if they had already passed the place where they were now standing.
'And to tell you the truth, I'm scared.' Barbara added as she locked hands with Doggett.
'We'll get out of here, don't you worry. You'll see, we'll find a way out.' Doggett said, half to himself. He gave Barbara one of those heavenly smiles and gently kissed her forehead.
It was quiet in the jungle. Only the sound of the wind as it rushed through the leaves could be heard. In the distance they heard a faint beat, much like a slow heartbeat that reverberated through the ground whereon they stood. It passed through every substance, every leaf, every piece of fabric.
'John' Barbara almost mouthed his name. 'Something's out there. I think it's coming our way.'
'You're hallucinating, dear. There's nothing there. There's only us. And we need to get back to the others, we need to find the way back to the beach.'
Doggett tried to reassure her but she kept shaking her head and clenched her fists.
'This place is not okay. It's not safe out here.'
'Hey, don't blame it on me! It was your idea to go for a walk in the.., ehm woods' Doggett grinned.
'I'm not joking. I can feel something's wrong.'
'Jeez. And I thought you weren't interested in paranormal stuff and that. I mean, didn't you say you thought it was all crap and make-believe?'
Doggett was non-plussed by Barbara's sudden change of behaviour.
'Com'on. Let's keep on walking. That's definitely safer than just standing here, waiting for the monsters to come and eat us.' He paused. 'Oh sorry dear. I mean, not that I don't believe you but, well, I have this feeling that we are the only living creatures in this place. You can't even hear a single bird out here!'
And so they continued. The island knew they were coming. And it waited.
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A/N: I'd like to thank everyone who commented on the previous chapters – thank you for your support, I really appreciate it. Especially the person who pointed out how to enable anonymous comments: I finally figured it out , so thanks for your help.
Oh yeah, I deliberately added the phrase 'heart of darkness' because we discussed Joseph Conrad's novel during English Literary History II. I hope somebody went 'ah-ha!' whilst reading this chapter.
I know this was a quick update. Might take a while until I update again, though...