Chapter 8

Present day

Jacen walked through the hot jungle toward the caves where the other survivors were staying. Veronica was behind him, her breathing heavy with the trek across the rough terrain. Jacen felt bad for her, knowing that she felt guilty for Claire's kidnapping. He remembered her telling him that Jack had asked her to keep an eye on her. Now, the pregnant girl was gone and taken by a guy that Veronica had already mistrusted. He felt bad cause he knew that she felt guilty, and guilt was something Jacen was familiar with.

"How much farther?" She asked behind him.

Jacen paused, turning to look at her, "Not much further. Maybe a half hour if we keep moving pretty quickly." Jacen said, and saw her trying to catch her breath, "Let's take a break a second."

"No... No, let's keep going." She said, and started walking.

Jacen grabbed her arm, "Look, we're no good if we're worn out and drained by the time we find her."

"She's gone, and we don't know where she is. Our only guess is that she went towards the fence, and even then, we're just guessing." She said, and tried to shrug her arm from his grip.

Jacen started to argue, but a soft rattle from the jungle drew his attention. He heart leaped into his throat, and he began to scan around them. The jungle was thick and the wind blowing through the trees made everything move and sway. He couldn't spot anything.

"We have to go...." Jacen muttered.

"Finally, you agree with me."

The roar came quickly, piercing through his ears and suffocating his brain in anguish. Jacen looked toward the trees where the sound came from, and Veronica screamed, covering her ears. This was clearly her fist time dealing with this thing up close. It snaked between two trees, and reared itself up into the air like a snake ready to strike. It stood probably ten feet in the air, and Jacen feared for their lives now. Why was thing always showing up at horrible times?!

"Run!" Jacen screamed, "Follow me!"

He bolted, legs churning again as he tore through the jungle without any regard to caution. He knew his direction though; he needed to reach that fence again. He churned across the jungle floor, slicing between large tree trunks and crashing through large tendrils of foliage. Chancing a glance behind him, Veronica was right behind him and so was Smokey.

They passed an opening in the jungle to their left, and Jacen thought he remembered going through one last time he was running from this thing. He was closer than he thought to the fence. He churned forward, minutes of frenzied running and lucky dodges of tree limbs or large vines threatening to entangle. He could still hear Veronica behind him, the pounding of her shoes against the soil. He could also hear the rattle of the creature behind them as it kept it's chase.

They broke into a clearing and ahead of Jacen, after so many tortured minutes of running; he saw the large concrete pylons he recognized. As he neared them, though, he heard the scream. Veronica was in trouble. He looked behind him, seeing her crumple to the ground and roll a little. She had fallen, and as she stumbled to her feet, the creature pounced on her. A thick strand of smoke tangled her feet, and suddenly she was off. The creature pulled her back, the opposite direction from the fence. Jacen quickly stopped, and tore back off after her. Fear was gone now, she needed him.

They melted back into the Jungle, poor Veronica being dragged across the ground and her fingers digging into earth as she tried desperately to grab something. The creature pulled her to the right, and Jacen followed. As the tail of the smoke began to disappear into a large hole in the earth next to a tree trunk, Veronica luckily snatched a tree root. She couldn't hold if forever as the creature pulled her until her grip was lost, but she bought Jacen enough time. He dove forward as it drug her into the hole, and he grabbed her arms before she was lost. Her lower half of her body already sunk into the hole. Jacen swung around, planting his feet against the tree roots and the tree trunk as braces for himself, and he held her arms tightly as he could.

"Hold on!" He screamed.

"Don't let go!" She screamed back, her nails digging into her forearms but he didn't feel it.

Behind her, he could see the creature engulfing her body. It snaked up around her shoulders, and coating her chest in it's smoky body. Her neck was encircled, and it slowly crept up her neck to her chin, and she screamed, "Pleeeeeaaase! No!"

The smoke slowly engulfed her face, and crept up her arms toward Jacen's. He wasn't winning this struggle. He held her tightly and screamed, "Noooo!"

The smoke slowly crept up past her mouth, then her nose, and all that was left was the fear in her eyes and the muffled scream from beneath the smoke. The tendrils of smoke crept up her arms, slowly encircling her there too. Jacen felt the coolness of the smoke as it touched his skin, creeping up her arms and now stretching across his.

Jacen screamed, "NO! Stop! You want somebody, take me! Leave her ALONE!" He pulled with all his strength, afraid for a moment that he was going to rip her arms from their sockets but somehow he gained ground. Her head pulled up from it's grip, and her face was there. She was crying, trying to scream but fighting the cries in her throat gurgling out.

"You want a victim, take me! She doesn't deserve this!" He continued to scream, trying to bargain with this creature as if it even understood him.

An appendage of the smoke appeared, like a long snake curling up in front of Jacen's face and threatening to bite. It came just before his face and waited, hovering right there as if wanting an answer or something from him. He struggled through his memory of this thing and what Christian had said to him.

"Okay, I'm broken! I don't know what's wrong, but something's broken! I admit it! I'm not a good person, I'm evil and I've done horrible things! I deserve this, not her!" He yelled at it, pulling on her and feeling her slowly coming back up toward him, "Take me! Kill me!"

Suddenly, Veronica flew at Jacen and they fell backwards away from the hole in the ground and rolled to a stop. From inside the hole in the ground, the 'head' of the smoke peered out and at Jacen. It gave a softer roar, almost mournful or meaningful. Then, it slithered away and down the hole. He held tightly to Veronica, who could do nothing but cry. She held tightly to him, her arms folded into his chest. He cradled her in his arms, trying anything to soothe her suffering and pain. He had no idea what happened, but he was thankful for once.

Three years prior to the crash...

The wreckage of the vans scattered across the road around Jacen, and glass shards glittered off the asphalt like diamonds. The world was still spinning for Jacen as he dropped from the car door and his feet hit the asphalt. He stumbled forward, pulling the pistol from his belt loop. Out of the passenger side of the two vans, another man was coming out. Jacen raised his pistol and fired; one round and the man dropped to his knees then flipped over onto his back. Jacen was still, scanning the scene of the wreckage for the other man. Jacen had watched him jump out of the way as his van collided. The night was calm, everything was still and the only sounds were the idling of the vans.

From behind him, he heard her feet hit the ground and then her muffled cry of pain. She stumbled forward to Jacen, her hand falling his back to help keep her stabile and upright. She moaned, "Come on, we have to leave...."

Jacen stepped forward, ignoring the protests from his 'accomplice' and continued his search for the man. Jacen neared the rear of the van, and as he turned the corner, the soldier jumped from his spot. He pushed Jacen's gun hand into the air as Jacen pulled the trigger, and pushed him backward until Jacen stumbled and fell. The man came down hard, his free arm pushing against Jacen's throat as they hit the ground. As the man reached up to hit Jacen again with his free arm, the bank teller reacted and grabbed him from behind. Her nails ripped across his face, tearing flesh and opening wounds across his face. He cried in pain, enough time for Jacen to react and roll the two of them over.

The bank teller fell, and tumbled to the side. Jacen had the upper hand now though. Still struggling with his pistol hand in the man's grip, Jacen moved his free arm down and smashed his own forearm into the man's throat. He threw his weight into it, despite being smaller than this man. He had the upper hand, and as long as kept it, they were fine.

"I'm.... I'm... with Wid... Widmore...." The man struggled to say, coughing and gasping against Jacen's grip. Jacen pressed into him harder. Even if he was telling the truth, the man's first reaction was to shoot. Jacen wasn't a forgiving man.

Jacen kept his grip down, but the man had a hold of his arm. Desperate for breath and life, he started to outmuscle Jacen's weight on him and pressed Jacen back enough to suck in a few breaths of air. The Bank Teller jumped onto Jacen from behind, pressing her tiny amount of weight on top of Jacen's shoulders and giving him the edge he needed. Jacen's grip smashed back down into the man's throat, and didn't loosen.

Still struggling to loosen Jacen's grip, the man began to pummel Jacen's side with his fist to get a reaction but Jacen kept his focus until the punches became taps, then touches, and finally the man lay limp on the asphalt. The girl jumped off of Jacen, and stood up. Both of them stared at the man, waiting nervously for him to take a breath and start fighting again, expecting him to just jump up and be ready to fight.

"Thanks for the help..." Jacen said, standing up finally and holding his side.

He looked back down the street, no more than a few miles from his own home. His blood and prints were all over the accident and the men. While it may have been self-defense in Jacen's eyes, some may not have agreed. He started to think of how to erase the evidence. His mind wasn't working fast enough though, and at the moment, he still had work to do.

He turned to the girl, "Alright, your problem is solved. Now, I need what you have."

"What?" She asked.

"I need Widmore's property. You give it to me, and I can make this go away." Jacen said.

"I have to give the money back to Moriarty, or he'll still be after me too." She said.

"Do you know where to find him?" He asked.

She thought, then shook her head, "He said that he'd find me, but that was before these two came along."

"Then just take the money and leave, run away." Jacen said, still holding his side with his left arm. His right hand held the pistol in his grip still, but the man had done more damage than Jacen had thought. His chest was really starting to hurt.

"He'll find me. I have to..." She replied, and Jacen realized her plan.

"You were using me to get these two of your back?" Jacen asked, pointing at the unconscious man with his pistol, "You're not running! You're giving that book back!"

She looked at him oddly, hesitated at first then asked, "How do you know what it is?"

"Widmore told me what it was, he wants it back and he made a deal with me to make sure he gets it back." Jacen said, then pulled the pistol up and leveled it at her head, "Now, give me the book."

"You... You! You've been with Widmore all along!!" She said, and then cursed, "I never should have gotten involved...."

"I don't know Widmore, and I don't know why he wants the book. But, I have to take it back to him... Now, give me the book...." Jacen growled at her.

She shook her head, trying to say she didn't want to but her words weren't coming out. Jacen leveled his stare at her, and took a step to her. She started to cry again, a single tear running down her cheek. Jacen felt bad, but she had no idea what she had done or what was at stake for him. Widmore wanted that book, and he made sure that Jacen understood by any means.

Jacen shook his head, seeing lights in houses starting to flick on. People had heard the commotion, cops were on their way. Time was up.

"You shouldn't have taken the book..." Jacen said, "I'm sorry."

"Please..." She cried, holding her hands up.

"At least you know you're not going to face the same judgment I will...." Jacen said, and pulled the trigger.

The night was still eerily quiet after her body hit the asphalt and lay there. Birds were silent, dogs had stopped barking. It was as if life itself let a moment go in silence for the loss of an innocent. The silence didn't bother Jacen, he'd seen death before. The moment out of all of this that would haunt him for the rest of his life was the look in her eyes. It wasn't her words or anything else; it was the look of fear and horror in her eyes as if she was staring at a monster. But then, maybe she was. To her, Jacen was a monster.

A few minutes of searching her, and he found nothing. He put the pistol in his belt, her pistol he'd taken from her still in his belt as well. He opened the van door and began searching. He found it finally, the object at the center of this tornado of conflict. He pulled it from under the passenger seat, wrapped inside of a towel. He unwrapped the towel and looked at it a moment, curiosity leading him to wonder about the contents and it's value. People had died for the contents of this book so far. Why?

It was leather; the smooth brown exterior was cool to the touch. On it's spine, it only read one word, "LEDGER." He wanted to read it, at least try to understand why it was so valuable to so many people. Yet, time was not Jacen's friend. Cops would be coming soon, and even now, in the distance he could see the red and blue flashes of light. Jacen tucked the small book into his belt and held the pistol in his hand. He jumped from the van and ran across the street into someone's yard. Before hopping the fence, Jacen looked back at the man on the ground, wondering if he should kill him since he'd seen his face. But the big guy was still out cold, and the cops were nearing. Jacen figured it was too late now. Jacen hopped the fence and disappeared into the night.

Three hours later...

Jacen stepped out of the elevator and into the waiting area of the office. A woman with dark hair and a severe face sat behind a desk, and looked at him coldly, "Mr. Darke?"

"Yeah." Jacen answered, and stepped out of the elevator and into the empty waiting area. It was decorated with lavish, over-the-top items that were bought and displayed for the sole purpose of boasting wealth to anybody visiting. Jacen felt uneasy, especially making this trade on Widmore's premises and on his terms.

The secretary tapped a button on her phone, and a few moments later, two men opened the door behind the secretary's desk and stepped out, letting it close behind them. One was a tall, African-American man with dark skin and very thin frame, carrying a metal briefcase at his side. His face, and especially his eyes, set him apart from everyone else he had met so far, hinting a depth of character and understanding that others lacked. The second man that came with him was very familiar to Jacen; he was the man Jacen had left lying on the asphalt a few hours ago. His nose was bandaged, and his cuts and scrapes were cleaned, but he knew that face.

Jacen started to reach behind him for his pistol, but the tall man said, "Easy, Mr. Darke. There's no need for violence right now."

"A few hours ago, that man tried to kill me.." Jacen growled, keeping his hand ready to grab his pistol.

"Mr. Keamy meant you no harm, Jacen. His orders were to procure that book as well if you should fail. Seeing you with that woman, Mr. Keamy assumed that your promise of returning that book was broken. He took action." The man said, "But if you're here to deliver that book, then there's no need for that."

"Then why bring him out here?" Jacen asked.

"He's..... Security." The man answered enigmatically.

"And who are you? Where's Widmore?" Jacen asked.

"Mr. Widmore, understandably, is busy at the moment and so, I've been sent to retrieve his item for him." The man said, and stepped toward Jacen. Standing in front of him, he offered his hand to Jacen and said, "My name is Matthew Abaddon. I'm a friend, you can trust me."

Jacen ignored his hand, and instead unfolded the towel in his hands to reveal the book. Abaddon smiled at Jacen, pulling the book from the towel and into his hands. He nodded his head, "Well done, Mr. Darke. Charles did not underestimate you after all."

"What about his end of the deal?" Jacen asked.

Abaddon nodded, and then said, "What if I offered you something else? Mr. Widmore has many uses for people such as-"

"No, I want the money." Jacen said, shaking his head.

Abaddon nodded, "Very well," He hoisted the briefcase in his grip and extended it to Jacen, "2 million dollars, as promised."

Jacen took the case, peering inside. The contents looked real enough to him. He clicked it shut, then nodded to them both and tapped the button for the elevator. As it slid open, he said, "Tell Widmore it was nice doing business with him," Jacen said, and then stepped backward into the elevator after the doors opened. As they began to shut again, he said, "But, I hope I never hear from him again...."