Two new chapters in two days? I guess you can say I got a sudden hit of inspiration. I can't believe I started this story almost two years ago. Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed this story. Hopefully I'll get some reviews for this chapter. (Please!)

Happy New Year to everyone!

-JT

Chapter 10

"Grab my hand," A voice said softly. May looked up to see Thomas standing on the ridged rocks in front of the now settled boats, his arm was outstretched in an offer of help. The crew was busy securing the ropes tied to the front end of the life rafts to the pointed rocks, using secure knots that she had yet to learn in all the six weeks that it had taken to arrive at their destination. She really did need to get on that, she reminded herself casually.

May held out her hands and welcomed his help, lifting her foot slowly onto the dampened surface; in order to keep balanced. She knew that the water was most likely cold even in this more tropical area, and she didn't want to test it by falling in face first.

"Well, this is eerie," May sighed, taking in the gloomy surroundings. They had come to a sort of cave, the life rafts only taking them to the very entrance, where the water eventually became shallower and overall disappeared. The tunnel ahead was dark and soundless, only the constant dripping of water echoing through the narrow space.

The air was extremely thick and humid, quite different from anything she had ever experienced in the city. May removed her thick jacket, losing the feeling of slight suffocation that came to her within the tight woolen fabric, and threw it back into the boat behind her, assuming it would be safe and wouldn't bother her while she was taking photographing. She decided to keep Jimmy's scarf around her neck, regardless of how hot it may be, she felt safer with it on.

"C'mon, we're losing time," Denham said briefly, "Herb, May, have equipment ready just in case." And with that he began to lead the group up the narrow passage. All of them followed curiously, observing the scene warily, it was unlike anything they had ever seen before.

"You're right May, this place gives me the creeps," Ann said quietly, sticking close to Jack's side; an unconscious act that gave May a brief sense of envy. But she shook it off, focusing on the reason why she was here in the first place.

May followed after the two of them, with Thomas and one of the crew members following closely behind. For a moment the sound of water was all to be heard, but a sudden gasp caused the entire group to look back in surprise.

"Dear god," Ann breathed, tightening her grip on Jack's arm.

May followed her eyes to the ground and noticed what exactly it was that caused the alarm in her voice.

Skulls and bones littered the dimly lit floors of the cavern; human remains.

"What kind of place is this Denham?" Baxter asked skeptically as he raised an eyebrow, droplets of sweat beginning to form on his temple.

Preston noticed Denham's wordless response and cleared his throat uncomfortably, "Must be some kind of ancient burial ground," He attempted casually, although a slight waver could be heard in his voice.

May rolled her eyes, "Don't they have to be buried for it to burial ground," She muttered to no one in particular as they cautiously continued on their way.

When they finally made their way to the end of the cavern they came upon another problem, the area of land they were standing on could only access the rest of the land of the island if they crossed a thin rope bridge. Who knew how long it had been there for? The rope could have weakened with age.

"Do you think it's strong enough?" Jack asked thoughtfully, kicking a stone over the edge of the tall land. It was at least twelve feet off the ground, and the jagged rocks at the bottom didn't look very inviting.

"Good question!" Denham turned around swiftly and faced one of the older crew members, "Ralph, my dear friend, care to go first?" He moved to the side and stretched his arms out in an invitation for him to pass.

Ralph looked less than pleased, but must have remembered that he was being promised a large sum of money, "The things I do," He said gruffly, approaching the rope bridge, placing a hand over the rope and testing the strength, "Knot's like nothing I've ever seen," And with that he slowly made his way across the bridge, the rope never faltering for a moment. When he finally reached the other side he looked back and gave a thumbs up, "'tis a good strong knot, it won't be letting go anytime soon," He called.

One by one the rest of the film crew crossed the bridge, some taking a little longer than others. May glared at Baxter as he crossed the bridge an inch at a time. He may have played a hero in all of his movies, but when it came to the real thing he was about as courageous as a flea.

May finished the distance quickly, not looking down once, knowing she would definitely regret it.

The pathway from the bridge led to a leaning archway, wooden spears with skulls, as well as crudely made jewelry covering the top surface.

"Gentlemen," Denham looked back and raised an eyebrow to the women of the group, "and ladies, welcome to Skull Island."

They exited through the archway and all stood in awe at the scenery around them. It certainly was a lot to take in.

There were large forts and huts made of wide and obscenely long branches from trees, and everywhere they looked there were skeletons attached by some of the hundreds of spears, whether they were all human or some animal, they were not sure.

And then there was the wall. Made high, and protected by the thick pointed rocks and with large spikes sticking from the top.

A wall, built to keep it out.

But to protect them from what exactly?

"It's deserted." Preston stated rather obviously with a deep breath, pushing his glasses up from the bridge of his nose as he inspected the land around them.

"Of course it is Preston, use your eyes!" Denham said hastily, as he helped Herb place down the camera, "No one has lived here for hundreds of years." He began to take in shots of the ancient site, cranking the handle of his camera.

May shifted her feet nervously, not exactly confident on her decision to come along after all. As much as she would have liked to have believed Denham, the smell of decomposing fish told her otherwise.

Thomas nudged her arm and began unzipping the bag hanging from her shoulder, "Let's get started then, faster we're done the faster we can leave, right?" He laughed with a slight wink.

Despite her nervousness, May grinned back to her mentor and removed her camera from her bag.

"C'mon Ann, get in the shot," Denham said impatiently, pointing near one of the huts not far ahead.

Ann shrugged her arm off of Jacks and took cautious steps forward, and began to act for the camera the best she could. "Yeah, that's it! Look scared, terrified…" Denham continued filming, his three crew members standing nearby, and ready to help.

May on the other hand began to take photographs of the scenery around them.

"Shots of Ann and Baxter together as well May!" Carl shouted rhythmically with the movement of his hand spinning the film.

May directed her attention over to Ann and Baxter and took a few mediocre shots. But as much as she tried to convince herself she was wrong, she couldn't help but get the feeling that they were being watched.

Ann as well, it seemed was having trouble focusing, "I'm sorry Mr. Denham, it's just-it's just this place…"

"You can do this, just focus A-." He cut off mid-word, his eyes widening as he stopped filming instantly.

Everyone followed his eyes, and to their surprise, saw something incredibly out of the ordinary.

A child, although the gender was hard to decipher, was standing not ten feet away. With the darkest skin May had ever seen, and matted hair covering their unwashed head. Their clothes were made of bark and leaves; natural materials, and their eyes the most peculiar shade of gold, almost unnatural.

The child raised their hand and pointed towards the group, eyes wide open and unmoving.

"So much for deserted," May said slowly, trying to mask her fear with anger, but she was ignored once more.

Carl looked around uncomfortably, but not even Preston could help him this time.

"Now, now, I can take care of this," Denham said sternly, reaching into his pocket and retrieving a crackling aluminum paper. He folded down the paper and revealed a thick slab of chocolate, "You want some chocolate kid?" He said in a false kind tone, approaching the child steadily.

"Mr. Denham," Ann said in an unsure voice, "I think- I think we should go back."

Carl shook the bar in front of the child's face, but they continued to ignore him, perhaps he didn't speak English? Or at least that's what May assumed; for she didn't know single soul who didn't enjoy chocolate.

"Just take the goddamn chocolate," Denham said impatiently, trying to stuff the bar into the child's hand, who finally responded by resisting and fighting back.

"Leave the native alone Carl," Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose, bored by this new predicament; he truly just wanted to be back on that old rusty boat that he disliked so much, anywhere was better than here.

"She doesn't want the chocolate," Jack sighed, trying to coax Denham back over.

"Where are the rest of them?" May heard Mike mumble to himself, a thought that had also been occurring in her mind.

The child continued to flail their arms around, screaming wickedly before finally getting a firm grasp on Carl's wrist. They reached over a bit down hard on the flesh of his arm.

Carl let go instantly, letting the chocolate bar fall to the ground, already long forgotten. He yelped in pain, "It bit me!" He said in disbelief, as though it was the worse he had seen committed. His face reddened with anger and he began to chase after the kid, only to stop short, his hand raised in defense.

Natives suddenly appeared from all angles, sharing similar resemblances to the child in front of them. Only these ones were elder; hair grey instead of black and eyes speckled with white from occurring blindness. All the others appeared crippled or injured in some way; defenseless.

"Alright," Carl said strangely, trying to reassure the rest of the crew, "Just a bunch of women and old folks, they're harmless."

The clouds in the sky had thickened considerably, unnoticed by the crew, a low rumble alerting them of the oncoming rain.

A necklace fell to the ground, aligned with small skulls and painted carved beads.

Rain began to fall lightly from overhead.

A sickening noise filled the empty silence. Bones crunching and splitting, flesh punctured.

Ann Darrow's screams filled the air.

Jimmy sat quietly against the wall of the ship, his borrowed copy of Heart Of Darkness clutched carefully in his hands; an attempt to distract himself from the current situation.

Suddenly, he stopped reading, closing the book slowly. His eyes were full of confusion, his expression emotionless as he spoke, "Why does Marlow keep going up the river, why doesn't he turn back?"

Mr. Hayes did not look back down to meet Jimmy's curious gaze, "There's a part of him that wants to, Jimmy. A part deep inside himself that sounds a warning, but there's another part, that needs to know, that needs to defeat the thing which makes him afraid."

Hayes turned his head upwards, his eyes drawn up to the menacing face carved crudely into the rock towering above the ship.

"We could not understand, because we were too far," He continued, "And could not remember, because we were too far…and could not remember, because we were travelling in the night of First Ages…"

His gaze shifted to the island looming in the distance.

"Of those ages that are gone, leaving hardly a sign, and no memory."

Mr. Hayes gripped the iron railing lightly, "We are custom to look upon the shackled wall of a conquered monster. But there you could look at the thing monstrous and free."

Jimmy stuffed the book back into his pocket, "It's not an adventure story, is it Mr. Hayes?"

"No Jimmy," He turned back to his young friend, "It's not."

Jimmy looked to the island momentarily, pausing only to ponder what his exact words would be. But when he opened his mouth to speak, Hayes interrupted him.

"You love her don't you?" He could hear the smirk on his face, although his face was clearly out of view.

Jimmy looked wide eyed at Mr. Hayes, who remained facing the other way, "It's a bit early for that don't you think?" He stammered, blushing slightly as he spoke those words.

"You don't live forever Jimmy," Hayes said momentarily, finally turning to face his young friend, "It's never too early."

Jimmy didn't respond with emotions, his mind was still heavy with worry.

A sudden and high scream suddenly echoed through the narrow passage of rocks.

Jimmy stood up in a matter of seconds. It was a girl's voice, he could tell, it was much too high to be male.

"Oh god, oh god." Jimmy muttered harshly, raising a trembling hand to his forehead and through his hair.

Hayes was already gone, rushing to meet the Englehorn outside of his cabin.

"Captain!" Hayes said in a rushed voice, after climbing the ladder quickly.

"I heard it Mr. Hayes," The Captain said quietly, as if he was expecting the sudden alarm all along, "Ready ten of the men, we are going over and bringing them back, then we are getting out of here."

"Yes Captain!" He responded, rushing back down the stairs.

Englehorn when back to his room and to the corner of the room where there sat a large wooden bench, with a red cushioned cover. He lifted the top to reveal a small black case. He removed the pistol from its place and placed it hurriedly in his back pocket, silently hoping he wouldn't have to waste the precious bullets.

"We are getting out of this damned place."

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