Prey
A High School Musical Fanfiction
Disclaimer:See chapter 1
Previously in Prey...
Then, he looks back up the trail and stops to get a better look. "Oh my God, Sharpay, look at that!", he says excitedly as he points up the trail. "It's a park ranger! We're saved, Sharpay! We're saved!"
They both start running up the trail and calling to the ranger, but he's standing at the top of the hill and facing away from them and with the wind blowing fiercely into their faces, their voices are being blown right back at them too and he can't hear them.
Chapter 6: The Trap
Suddenly, Troy hears what sounds like a familiar voice and stops to listen.
A long time ago
In a land far away
Lived a
pineapple princess Tiki
She's as sweet as a peach
In a
pineapple way
But so sad that she hardly speaky
Troy looks puzzled and Sharpay's eyes grow wide with fear. They look up to see the park ranger reach into his pocket as he starts to turn in their direction.
Sharpay turns to Troy, and without a word, shoves him as hard as she can into the gully and then dives in after him. She lands on him with a soft umphf.
"Wha...", Troy starts in protest, but Sharpay covers his mouth with her hand to stifle his voice.
She lays her body flush against his and glances fearfully up the short hill. Troy angles his head back to follow her line of sight and feels his heart nearly leap out of his throat when he sees those familiar ostrich skinned boots stop on the trail above them. They can clearly hear his end of the telephone conversation from where they're hiding.
"... you're bored? Who the hell cares, son?! Don't you dare call me back again! No matter what. I'll call you when it's done, then you'll know to take care of them. ... Of course they're not going to win and even if they do, I'll still kill them. None of those damn teenagers is walking out of here alive. Got it? ... Good!"
The Hunter slams the iPhone back into his pocket and they hear him storm down the trail in the direction that Troy and Sharpay had just come from.
Sharpay gradually relaxes and moves her hand away from Troy's mouth.
"Sorry...", she mumbles in apology.
"How did you know?", Troy asks with awe in his voice.
"Humu humu nuku nuku apua'a", Sharpay explains.
Troy involuntarily winces when she says those words, still remembering that horrible evening at Lava Springs when she and Ryan sang it to him.
"That's my ringtone for Ryan", she continues. "The Hunter must have my phone and Jake has Ryan's."
Then, she shudders, realizing how close they came to getting caught. Troy reaches up and takes her shoulders in his hands and whispers, "You just saved my life. Thank you."
He pulls her closer to him and kisses her full on the lips. Troy nips gently on her lower lip and slips his tongue into her mouth. She opens up to him hungrily. They are both trembling against each other and neither of them is sure whether it's their emotions, their fear, or the bone-chilling cold that's seeping into their damp clothes. They kiss feverishly for a few minutes and then, Troy moves his lips up her face to kiss her cheeks, each closed eyelid, and finally, her forehead. She slowly opens her eyes and raises herself up to look at him.
"You're welcome. God... I can't believe you just did that. I mean I must look horrible", Sharpay says as she runs a hand through her limp hair. "I'm not wearing any makeup and my hair..."
"You look beautiful, Sharpay. Beautiful and strong and confident", he tells her sincerely as he looks deeply into her eyes.
"I ... I think I love you, Troy Bolton. And not for selfish reasons either. Not just because we'd look so good together, 'cause we would, of course, and I'd do wonders for you reputation..."
"Of course", he adds.
"But I love you for you."
"Me too", he murmurs.
"Really?"
"Yes, really. I love you, Sharpay and I've ... I've never told a girl that before."
"Really?", she asks again. Both of them know who she's thinking about.
"Really."
She lays her head down on his chest and they enjoy the short-lived peace.
After first insuring that The Hunter has indeed gone, they scamper back up onto the trail and look out downhill in the direction he went.
"You know things have changed now, right?", Troy asks her, solemnly.
"Yeah", she replies in the same serious tone.
"We should have known this all along. He's going to kill us even if we do win his silly game, so..."
She finishes his thought, "We need to change the rules of this game. It's time for The Hunter to become The Hunted."
"Yeah... but what match are we to a skilled hunter with a high powered rifle?"
"Are you kidding me? You're Troy Bolton, the youngest basketball captain ever of the championship East High Wildcats."
He grins at that. "And you're Sharpay Evans, the star of 17 school drama productions."
"Should have been 18", she mutters as she starts to pace up and down the trail.
"You're right", he concedes.
She raises her eyebrow at that comment. "Really?"
"Well... I've always thought your voice was stronger than Gabi's." But before, this conversation turns dark or gossipy, he changes the direction. "But hey... how'd you know that I was the youngest basketball captain?"
"Oh, I keep up, Bolton."
"Yeah... are you a big fan?", he can't help but break into a grin.
"More like ... know thy enemy."
"Well, then with an unstoppable force like us, he doesn't stand a chance."
"All we need is a plan."
With a knowing look, Troy says, "Well, I actually have an idea."
:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:
Things finally quieten down in the tent and Jake repeats the laborious task of moving them back out into the open.
"I must say ... ", Jake starts, "for a couple of kids from 'burbs, you two, certainly have lots of stamina. 'Cept I thought you were with the other guy." He finishes with his eyes boring into Gabriella.
She blushes brightly and has the decency to look guilty, but doesn't reply.
"Anyway, breakfast is up. Hope you're in the mood for Wheatabits. They're my favorite."
Ryan is propped up against a tree with Gabriella sitting next to him and they gratefully accept the dry cereal he gives them and the two bottles of water.
Just as Jake is about to settle down with his cereal, the cell phone starts talking to him.
Oh, Duckie?
It's Mommy.
Pick up the phone, dear.
Oh, Duckie?
It's Mommy.
Pick up the phone, dear.
Jake lifts a brow and glares at the phone which he left laying on a log.
"What the hell is that?", he growls.
"Oh! That's my mom", Ryan explains hurriedly. "That's her ringtone."
"Then... you'd better answer it, shouldn't you?"
Jake pulls out an evil looking hunting knife from his belt and walks towards Ryan with the phone in one hand and the knife in the other. He tosses the phone to Ryan and harshly grabs Gabriella from behind and presses the knife to her throat.
"And you'd better make it good."
:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:
Troy takes charge of their "plan" as they both remove their shoe laces.
"You're sure this is going to work?", Sharpay asks. She hands over her own laces and he ties all four of them together.
Troy and Sharpay have moved down the trail in the direction The Hunter went and they're now sitting at a 90 degree bent in the trail. They've reasoned out that The Hunter will follow the trail back to the cabin and then, realize that he must have missed them and then, he'll more than likely head back in their direction, but at a much faster pace, since he'll be pissed that he missed them.
He takes in a deep breath before replying. "I think we have an honest shot at it..."
"Don't use the word shot, please."
"Sorry, but ... we'll only have one chance. If we blow it..."
"Right, then let's not blow it, but... I think we need to change the lead roles around."
"What?", he asks incredulously. "No! It's too dangerous."
"We don't have a lot of time to argue about this."
"Then, let's not."
"Listen to me, you ... you ... jock! Do you really think you can convince this guy that you're injured? I mean, let's be honest with ourselves, here. You're a great singer, but as an actor..."
"So what do you want to do?", Troy asks, sounding a little deflated as he silently accepts her assessment of his acting skills.
"I'll be the bait", and then, seeing that he's about to interrupt her, she says, "Wait a minute. Let me explain. I'll be the poor injured girl who's fallen down on the trail. He'll see me as an easy target and he won't even think about walking right up to me."
"What if he doesn't? What if he decides to just shoot from fifty yards away?"
"He won't. He's already missed us by trying that. No. I think this time he'll want to take his time and do it right. Then, he'll be so intent on getting to me that he won't notice your tripwire", she points to their conjoined shoelaces which Troy has tied across the trail about four inches off the ground.
Sharpay continues, "Once he's sprawled on the ground. You come out of hiding and tackle him like you do in basketball."
"That's football, Sharpay. We don't tackle people in basketball."
"Well then, slam duck him or something."
Troy rubs a tired hand over his face. "It's dunk, not duck."
"What.ever!" She's starting to get irritated at him. "I'm telling you, Troy, this will work."
"I just hope you're right."
:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:
"H...hi, Mom", Ryan is trying to sound cheerful.
"Duckie! We haven't heard from you, and your father and I were starting to get worried. Is everything going well?"
"Oh yeah, Mom. Everything's fine."
"Good, good. Now, aren't you glad we did all that camping? Have you had a chance to show them all the yoga positions we usually do?"
"Uh no, we haven't had time. They've kept us pretty tied up, actually."
Gabriella squeaks when Jake presses harder against her throat with the knife. He gives Ryan a warning glare.
"I...I mean we're busy, Mom. Very busy."
"Good, dear. Well, Mommy loves you, Ryan, and tell Sharpay I love her too. You know, this is an excellent opportunity to get to know more down-to-earth people. You shouldn't surround yourself with so many from that country club set."
"Oh, don't worry, Mom. These people are very different from anyone I've ever met."
"Good, dear. Your father and I have a tee-off at noon, so I'd better get going."
"Okay, Mom. Oh and Mom? You have been feeding my cat, right? I wouldn't want him to feel neglected."
"Of course, Duckie. We'd never forget the cat. Bye now."
"Bye, Mom."
He hands the phone back to Jake and Jake releases Gabriella who quickly cuddles up to Ryan.
"Good job. You had me worried for second, but you did good. Now, finish your breakfast", Jake orders with a satisfied smirk.
"I didn't know you had a cat", Gabriella says in a low tone after Jake walks away.
"I don't."
:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:
Mrs. Evans clicks off her cellphone and looks over at her husband.
"Alert the police, dear. It's happened again", she says calmly.
"He gave you the signal?", at her nod, Mr. Evans picks up the desk telephone and starts the call. "I'm worried. We haven't received a ransom request yet. And they must not be very intelligent kidnappers to still have those phones on. I mean, doesn't everyone know that cellphones have GPS transmitters in them?"
"Yes, that thought had occurred to me, as well", Mrs. Evans notes as a deep crease appears in her brow.
:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:
Sharpay is standing in the middle of the trail and Troy is hidden in the woods. The trap is laid. All they need is the fly.
"Brr ... brr", Sharpay vibrates her lips in a motorboat sound and quickly runs her splayed hands up and down in front of her face.
"Mak ... mak ... mak", she claws out into the air.
"Eeee ... eeee ... eeee", she repeats the hand movements.
"Energy", she says slowly as she again repeats the hand movements, but much more slowly now and accompanied with deep breathing. She sits down on the trail and casts a worried look at Troy who gives her a hardy thumbs up and a smile that doesn't quite meet his eyes.
Now, she's ready. She's just waiting for her cue to start the most important performance of her life.
:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:
Damn! How could he have missed them?
The Hunter is storming down the path back towards Table Rock where, surely, those two teenagers must be by now. Not that it matters in the long run. He'll still kill them. It's just that it would have been sweeter to have won fair and square.
He comes around the bend and sees, to his delight, the blond girl sitting in the middle of the trail.
"My! My! What do we have here? Where's your boyfriend hiding, little girl?"
He obviously startles the girl because she jumps to her feet in surprise. She is like a deer catch in the headlights and she seems frozen to the spot.
"He ... he didn't make it out of the river. He drowned", she sobs as tears cut trails down her dirty cheeks.
"Hell, that's no fun at all. And this isn't either. Go on, girl. At least put up a little fight", he urges her.
With a convulsive cry, she turns and starts to hobble off up the path, limping heavily on her right leg. He slows down, wanting to savor the victory. It isn't what he'd hoped for ... killing a wounded animal isn't as challenging as a long, thrilling hunt, but like his dead mama used to say, "Beggars can't be choosers."
The Hunter picks up his pace a little when she rounds a bend in the trail and temporarily disappears from his view. However, as he nears the turn, his instincts tell him to be careful. Something's not right. As he comes around the corner, a smile creeps onto his face. The little blond is lying sprawled in the middle of the path, obviously having fallen down.
Obviously.
His heart is telling him to hurry up and get this finished, but his mind is screaming that something is not right.
:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:
Sharpay looks up at him with stark raving terror in her eyes. Actually, she really is frightened, so it's only about half acting and half reality.
He's almost at the trip wire.
Don't look at it, she orders herself. And don't look at Troy.
She had easily jumped over the line tied across the path when she came around the corner and then, pretended to fall down to insure that he'd come straight to her.
What's taking him so long? It looks like he's slowing down.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk", The Hunter says as he stops directly in front of the shoestring trap. Then, he takes his knife out of his belt and reaches down and cuts the string. "Now, little darling, you didn't really think that would fool me, did you?"
TBC
YET ANOTHER CLIFFHANGER!!!
Thank you to all those who've taken the time to leave a review. I really means the world.
Please R & R.
To: Umm
While I do appreciate your honesty and I do remember reading something from someone who said I wasn't responding to their reviews anymore, I can't find that review and you've got to believe me, I don't not like you anymore. I'm just forgetful. Give me another chance. Sign your next review and I'll respond.
And please forgive me if I find humor in odd situations. I wasn't really striving for realism here. If you want that, go read The Most Dangerous Game. But be warned... there's no romance in that story.
And finally, sorry this isn't as good as you'd like and yes, I have read When Dreams Defer and it's brilliant, guess I'm not.
Oh AND another thing... I review stories all the time. Currently, my favorite story is The Music In Me. And yet despite all the brilliant observations I've made in the my reviews, that author has yet to respond to one of my reviews. Oh my... you think she doesn't like? (that's sarcasm)