Chapter 5: It's What You're Meant For
Ty and his group found themselves lost in the pitch-black cave beyond the island's emergency shelter. Darkness smothers you.'
Jake led the group hand-in-hand through the blackness. Ty tried to calm himself, focusing on the touch of the fingers laced with his. Jake's, rough and strong. Quinn's, soft and small.
"You still with us, Boy Scout?" Jake asked.
"I'm fine. Don't worry about me. I can handle it." They didn't have time to worry about him, they needed to get out of here.
"Who said I was worried?" Jake jokingly asked, as Ty got another point with him, bringing the pilot to like status.
"I'm the one who's worried. This is the part of the movie where the audience yells, 'WHat are you doing? Turn back! How are you guys so stupid?'" Diego told them all, getting a chuckle from Ty.
"Relax. Keep moving forward. The schematic said this is the only way out." Jake said.
Ty looked back over his shoulder, past where Quinn and the rest followed, linked hand-in-hand. But all he saw was more darkness. The light from the halls of the emergency shelter is long gone as he ventured deeper into the cave.
"Just hold on to each other's hands. I think we're about to-Yoww!" Jake yelled.
"What happened?! Is the pilot dead?!" Aleister asked, surprised.
"What? No! The stupid little fox thing ran over my foot. It just…spooked me a little, okay?" Jake explained. "...I'm gonna preemptively tell you all to shut up."
Ty could hear the sound of tiny paws on dirt as the fox scampered ahead.
"Mmrf!"
"Where's he going?" Lila asked.
"He's leaving us to die. Can't say I blame him." Yup Diego was stuck in doomsday mode. Great.
Meanwhile the fox seemed to be trying to get their attention, and was making very specific movements.
"Wait, Listen!" Ty told them.
"Rrff! Rrf!"
"I think he wants us to follow him. Maybe he can see in the dark." Ty suggested.
Tracking the fox's call, Jake led the line around a tight corner, towards an alcove glowing with strange greenish blue light.
"Uh, am I seeing things now, or is there something glowing in front of us?" Diego asked.
"Looks like some sort of crystal or gemstone. It's mounted in the wall of the cave somehow." Quinn said.
"Certainly not natural. Look, it's smoothly polished." Aleister pointed out.
"Why did the fox lead us here? To use this as a light source? I'm not sure it's bright enough." Lila noted.
"Better than nothing. Let's see if we can get it out of the wall." Ty pulled on the crystal orb, and it popped out of the socket into his hands. He examined it, finding a pair of handprints. "Are you guys seeing this? It's got a pair of handprints engraved in it."
"I dunno about you, but my hands don't exactly look like that." Lila commented, a bit of aversion to the crystal.
"Eh, catch me after not clipping my nails for a while. Then we'll see." Ty commented trying to bring some levity.
"Gotta be for a reason. Ty, put your hands in the markings." Jake said.
"I dunno, man. I've seen Indiana Jones. If you touch that and a boulder comes rolling through here, I am out." Diego said.
"I can't, anyway. Both the handprints are for right hands. It's for two people." Ty noted.
"I think two of us should try it and see what it does." Quinn suggested.
"Oh man, is someone getting Freaky Fridayed? Please tell me someone's getting Freaky Fridayed." Diego said, a little too excited for that prospect.
Without hesitation. "Quinn, could you place your hand on the other side for me?" Ty asked of her.
Quinn nodded. And in an instant her fingers touched the orb. Both were blinded by a sudden light.
"Aah!" Quinn screamed.
"I can't see a thing!" Ty shielded his face, and slowly his eyes adjusted. "Huh?"
The cavern was now lit with candles and torches along the walls. A mine cart track ran the course of the tunnel.
"Whoa! Hey guys, touching the orb must've turned on these lights somehow…" Ty waited for a response, but nothing. "...Uh, guys?"
Ty and Quinn looked around. Everyone else was gone. They were alone.
"Jake? Diego? Where'd they all go?" Ty questioned.
"That's so weird. Maybe they freaked out when the lights came on? If they ran ahead, we should follow them." Quinn answered.
"Yeah, and with these torches lit, we can find our way out."
Ty and Quinn marched forward, carrying the glowing crystal with them. Passing by a rickety mine cart, Quinn peered in.
"Wow! Ty, look at this!" She caught his attention. In the mine cart was gold.
"Is that gold? Quinn, I think this must be a gold mine!" His eyes widened.
"But if that's case, where are all the workers? This doesn't look abandoned. There's still plenty of gold in this cave. Look!" She grazed the walls of the tunnel with her hands, tracing thick veins of glittering gold. "It's amazing, isn't it? It's almost as if the earth itself is alive. Alive and crying."
"That's kinda sad to think about. Do you not like gold?" Ty asked.
Quinn gave him a bright grin. "I was always more of a diamond girl."
"Really? You don't wear much jewelry." He made an observation. He tried to picture her with them.
"No, I like diamonds because they remind me how an eternity of pressure can result in something beautiful. Oh, I have an idea. You might think I'm a little crazy but…Why walk when we can take a little ride?" Quinn hopped in a nearby empty mine cart and beckoned him to join her. Oddly enough he had gotten another 2 points with her.
Yup, aside from Diego, Quinn was definitely his favorite.
"Ha ha, let's do it!" Ty climbed into the cart, squeezed in close quarters against Quinn.
"Ready?" She disengaged the brake lever. The cartcreaked as it began to roll down the slope, its rusty wheels picking up speed. "Woohoo!" There was another.
The flames of the candles and torches blur as they speed by.
"This was the best idea, Quinn!" Ty complimented.
"Maybe not the 'best'! Look out!" Quinn warned.
The cart barreled toward a wooden barricade.
"Quinn, get down!" He shielded Quinn with his body as the cart shattered the barricade and grinded to a stop. He fell on top of her in the cart, and was just barely able to hold on to the crystal orb. "Quinn, are you-" He opened his eyes to see her face inches from his. She smiled sweetly.
"Oh, hello there." She greeted.
There it was again, the feeling he got around her. The heat rose to his face. Even with all the craziness of today, and what had just occurred, he couldn't help but admire her beauty. The smile, that just made him melt. Before he knew it, he leaned in close, his lips meeting hers. She pulled him in closer to deepen the kiss. Then he pulled away.
"That's all I get?" Quinn asked teasingly.
"I just… I'm not sure what it is we're doing exactly." Ty answered.
There was another goddamn point, but Quinn gave her response.
"I don't know either, Ty. I just know it's what I feel like doing in the moment."
It wasn't an answer, or at least one that made sense of things. He'd have to accept for now. Whatever this thing was, he didn't hate it. No, instead he enjoyed it. It was a break from reality.
"...Me too." He gave a soft smile.
He helped Quinn out of the crashed cart and looked around. He paused, as down the pathway, a pale, white light illuminated a wall of the tunnel.
"Hey, Quinn, see that? Around that bend? Looks like-" Ty started.
"Daylight! You found a way out, Ty!" Quinn finished. She took his hand and pulled him along, jogging around the bend and running straight into a blackened human skull atop of a pike planted in the dirt. It was grinning at them.
"Aah!" Quinn screamed.
"Whoa!" Ty called out startled and dropped the crystal.
Instantly they were plunged back into the darkness.
"Ty! Where are you?! What happened?" Quinn tried to find him in the dark.
"I'm right here, Quinn. I just dropped the crystal and now I can't find it!" Ty looked around for the crystal.
"That skull… I can't find it either." Quinn looked to where the skull was before. "Ty, what is this place?"
"Ty! Quinn!" A voice called for them. Several pairs of footsteps ran up behind them.
"There you are! You can't just run off like that!" Jake yelled at them.
"What are you talking about? Where did you go? We just followed the torches down this path." Ty yelled back.
"What in the heavens are you talking about? What torches?" Aleister joined the fray.
"Guys, let's not fight. Something weird is happening and we don't know what. But what matters is we found a way out." Quinn interjected trying to break them up.
"Quinn's right. We saw daylight that way. Follow me." Ty told the group.
They linked hands again and trailed down the path.
"It was right here…" Ty said, coming to the point in the path where he and Quinn had seen the light.
"I know it's been a little while since I've been outside, but I remember 'day' being a little… brighter." Diego commented.
"I'm feeling my way along the wall, and it seems like this part of the tunnel collapsed." Lila told them.
"How? We just saw daylight coming from this way!" Ty said dejectedly.
"Let's just keep looking. We have to be close." Quinn tried to hold out hope.
Everyone linked hands again, venturing further into the darkness. Soon, they heard splashing underfoot.
"Are we… standing in water?" Ty asked.
"Damnit, Cave's flooded. Dead end." Jake cursed.
"Maybe not, see that." Quinn pointed to the water.
"It looks like…daylight, coming up through the water." Lila commented.
"I bet that's an underwater tunnel to outside. We can swim through." Ty was certain.
"Swim? You may leave me here, thank you very much. Let my family know I hated them." Aleister was against the idea.
"Come here, Malfoy, I'll drag you out myself!" Jake dived under with a splash, pulling Aleister with him.
Ty released a small chuckle. He was about to follow when he felt something floating in the water bump against him. He reached down and picked it up,
"Why hello? Hey, I found something floating here." Ty held up whatever it was. Hard to see without light.
"Can't tell what it is in the dark. Might be important." Diego said. "If you wanna find out, make sure you hold onto it as you swim through!" He dived beneath the surface, swimming toward the light. Ty took a deep breath and followed him.
The refracting sunlight gave vague shape to the underwater cavern. Ty swam forward, holding on to the strange item he found. Ahead of him, Diego's form took shape out of the darkness. Just before he ran out of air, he cleared the underwater tunnel and kicked his way to the surface.
"Whew! Did it!" Ty found himself in the mouth of an ocean cave, he swam back to the beach, here the others were drying off.
On the beach, Jake shook the water out of his hair. Watching him, the little blue fox shook his fur.
"Hhrrmp!"
"Copycat. Er, fox. Whatever." Jake said.
"So, Ty? What's you find?" Diego asked.
Ty held it up, finding it to be a gas mask. "Looks like some sort of gas mask."
"Old, too. That looks like it's from around the First World War." Diego observed.
"What would something like that be doing in that cavern? And how long has it been there?" Lila questioned.
Ty then noticed something weird. Counting off the group to check if everyone was there, his blood ran cold. Finding them sans one red head.
"GUYS! Where's Quinn?" Ty was quickly growing worried.
"She didn't come up? She was right behind me!" Lila said.
Eyes wide, he scanned the placid surface of the water, hoping to spot any sign of Quinn.
"I don't see her!" Ty kept looking, eyes darting to and fro.
"If she got trapped or lost down there, someone needs to go get her, now." Diego said.
Once again with no hesitation. "I'll get her!" Ty sprinted back into the ocean, the waves crashing against his legs.
"Hurry!" Lila told him. Not that it was needed.
He dived under, plunging beneath the surface, and opened his eyes against the stinging salt of the seawater. All he could hear was the swirling currents in his ears, and the thundering heart in his chest. He swam deeper still. His breath began to burn in his lungs. He fought the instinct to swim up for air. Then he saw her. A still form framed against the sunlight piercing the water. He clawed his way through the water toward her and pulled her slack body into his arms.
Her eyes met his, and he almost saw a smile brighten her face as she fades from consciousness. He ignored the point as her eyes fluttered closed, and bubbles escaped her lips. Fuck! No. He kicked and pulled her up, but she did not budge.
What the?
He saw it, long green vines of a dark green seaweed are coiled around her ankles, snaring her. He reached down to slip them off. But at his touch, they coiled even more tightly on reflex.
Great another weird thing, couldn't anything on this island be normal.
The vines begin to retract, pulling Quinn farther down. He was not having that. He swam down quickly to the ocean bed. Feeling around in the dark, a sharp rock cut his hand. A trickle of blood seeped out, staining the water. Please don't let there be sharks around.
Gritting his teeth, he picked up the rock by the dull side and swam back to Quinn. Using it he sawed through a vine, cutting it easily. He moved onto the next vine, when a sudden darkness passed over him. Squinting against the water, he saw a massive, shapeless shadow eclipsing the sunlight.
Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!
The blood from the small cut in his hand drifted in the water, he needed to hurry. He slashed through the last vine, freeing Quinn. She slumped into his arms. He still had no time to worry about the other point he got.
The vines thrash wildly, and he heard a distant noise somewhere in the water, almost like a scream. He kicked hard, holding Quinn tight to his chest and propelling himself up. Breaking through the surface, a wave instantly battered him.
"There they are!" Aleister called from the beach.
Quinn's head rested on Ty's shoulder, her long hair matted against him. Her eyes still closed. He paddled his way back to the beach with one arm. The others rushed into the tide to help.
"She's not breathing, Ty!" Diego pointed out.
Ty laid her down on the dry sand. She was lip and still.
"You've gotta give her C.P.R. Remember, the steps are compression, airway, breathing!' Jake advised.
Ironic that he was the one that had toadmister the C.P.R to her, instead of her, him like they originally thought.
"I've got it." Ty positioned himself at Quinn's side. "Alright, first Compression." He laced 1 hand around the other and pushed down on Quinn's chest in a quick rhythm. "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6…" He counted off to 30. "Done, next airway." He tilt back Quinn's head gently, letting her mouth open.
"That's it, Ty." Jake offered support.
Ty quickly listened for breathing and watched her chest. "No chest movement… Alright Breathing." He pinched Quinn's nose closed and pressed his mouth to hers.
"It's not working, Ty! You are failing at-" He could do without Aleister getting on his case right now.
"Shut the hell up!" Jake shut him up. He'd have to thank the man later.
Ty took another deep breath and put his lips against Quinn's once more. He pulled back as Quinn choked up water. Her eyes flew open.
"Quinn!" Diego cheered.
"Oh thank god!" Lila released a breath she didn't realize she was holding.
Quinn blinked, and her eyes focused on Ty, still leaning over her. "Ty…" She reached up and grazed his cheek with her hand. "You saved me…again."
He gave her a soft smirk, "I know you told me not to risk myself for you, that you're not worth it. But you are to me."
She held his gaze for a long moment. "Thank you."
"What happened down there, Quinn?" Diego asked.
"Something… I felt something take me." Quinn answered.
"It was these vines. Like kelp or seaweed, but stranger. They were wrapped around her ankles." Ty explained.
"And Quinn got stuck?" Lila asked.
"Not exactly. They… they grabbed her and pulled her down. Like they had a mind of their own." He helped Quinn shakily get to her feet. "Quinn, maybe you should rest."
"I'm okay. We have to keep going if we want to get off this island. The others are meeting us at the airstrip, remember? We can't leave them waiting around there. Not with that sabertooth on the loose." Quinn marched forward across the sand, to the edge of the rainforest. "Come on. The airstrip should be this way."
He was worried for her, but for now he would listen. Though one question did plague him. At what point through all that did he get another 2 points and move up to friends status with her.
Later Ty led the group through the jungle, making their way toward the airstrip.
"Keep it down. That sabertooth could be anywhere." Jake warned.
Ty pushed through a dense mess of foliage when he saw the ferns stir, and a pair of eyes suddenly appeared in front of him. He whipped his fist forward, colliding hard with…
"Owww!" Craig stumbled back.
"Whoops! Thought you were a sabertooth!" Ty apologized.
The rest of Ty's classmates from the resort came up behind Craig.
"Aaahaha! That was amazing. Again, again!" Michelle seemed brighter from that. Good. And he got a point.
"Bro! What the hell? You just punched me!" Craig was angry, and there went 2 of the points Ty had with him. "I mean, damn, hell of a punch dude. Ow, but also wow. Mad props but also mad." Or maybe not mad, Ty got back a point.
"Thanks?" Ty was confused on what to do.
"At least you two didn't start screaming and attract every predator in the rainforest." Estela said,
"The airstrip's just up ahead. What are we all waiting for? To become cat food?" Zahra wanted to get out of here. Fast.
Reunited, the group continued along the trail. Ty found himself walking beside Estela.
"Good we're all here. I was beginning to worry we wouldn't be able to convince everyone to leave the island-" Ty spoke to her.
"I'm not leaving." Estela cut him off before he could finish that thought.
"Wait, what? Why?" Ty asked, surprised.
"...Unfinished business." Was all she said.
He thought back to what he saw earlier on the cameras. She had a mission, and she was trying to accomplish it alone. This island was filled with who knew what else. He wouldn;t be able to live with himself, should something happen to her.
"Listen, Estela, whatever you're doing here, I want to help." Ty told her
Estela looked at him, sizing him up, as if trying to pinpoint how he was deceiving her.
"You mean that, don't you?" Estela seemed to be finally realizing he was on her side, and he had gotten another point, bringing them up to like.
"Of course." Ty put his hands behind his head.
"Man, you're stupid." Okay not the response he expected. "Trust me, you don't want to get yourself involved. Once you're in, there's no way out." Estela tried to ward him against this decision. "So for your own good, go back to your nice college bubble, live your dreams, and be happy. It's what you're meant for."
"I think I'll decide what I'm meant for." Ty told her. It was his decision on what he did with his life. Plus he was originally for staying anyway.
"If only that were true. Now keep your voice down. There's a sabertooth after us, remember?" Estela told him.
"You don't seem surprised at all about that." Ty commented.
"Nothing surprises me anymore." Estela responded.
Ty smirked, "Not even me?"
Estela just rolled her eyes, but couldn't suppress a smile. There was that other point. It was actually becoming a fun game to see what got him points and what lost him points.
Jake held aside a large fern so the group could pass through onto the airstrip. "Looks like we made it safe and sound. Now let's get the… Oh no…"
At the far side of the airstrip, noxious black smoke billowed out of the windows of the shuttered hangar.
"My plane!" Jake yelled.
"Come on, we have to put that fire out!" Ty told them.
The group sprinted the length of the airstrip, reaching the closed hangar doors. Already, Ty could feel the heat emanating from within.
"Sean! Help me get these doors open!" Jake commanded.
Sean and Jake tugged at the colossal doors. Everyone else joined in, and slowly the doors parted. A wall of acrid smoke the color of death plumed from the open doors, rising into the sky like a storm cloud. Coughing, Ty waved the smoke away from his face and squinted through to see Jake's plane sat where he'd left it, engulfed in flames. The raging fire consumed it, through and through.
"Jake. Your plane, it's.." Ty began to say.
"It's gone." Jake finished.
"There goes our ride." Zahra said.
Through the oppressive smoke, Ty spotted a round piece of gleaming metal on the floor just inside the hangar.
"Do you see that? What is it?" Ty asked.
"Ty, careful! You won't be able to breathe in there!" Sean warned.
"I think I can reach it!" Ty said, shielding his eyes against the thick smoke, he fought his way forward and picked up the small metal disk. Instantly, he knew what he was looking at.
Just then, the world around him glowed brighter. As if in slow-motion, he turned to see a trail of flame racing toward the plane as the gasoline line caught fire.
"Ty!" Estela dived for him, tackling him out of the way, just as the flame reached the plane's gas tank It detonated in a hail of steel.
"Whoa!" Ty was mesmerized.
"Holy mother of…" Raj said, eyes wide.
Everyone was blown back onto the dirt. Estela shielded him with her body until it was over. When it passed, she tilted her head up, and her eyes met his.
"Are you okay?" Estela asked.
His mind took awhile to process everything, then the point he just got. He calmed a blush that tried to make itself known on his cheeks. Then he realized what she had just done.
"You could've gotten yourself killed. Why'd you save me?" Ty asked, surprised.
"I…I honestly don't know." Estela said, just as confused as he was.
Jake looked wistfully at the smoldering plane. He gave a long whistle of resignation, but Ty could see the heartbreak in his eyes.
"How could this happen? I don't understand…" Jake said.
"I did find this." Ty showed Jake the small metal device he picked up in the hangar.
"The padlock to the hangar doors?" Jake asked.
"Yeah. You locked up the hangar before you left, remember? And this padlock is unbroken. Jake…someone unlocked the hangar." Ty told him.
"But who? There's no one on this damn island except…Except us." Jake grew angry.
Everyone eyed each other, suddenly suspicious and uneasy. Great the blame game would start soon, and everyone will be out to prove their innocence.
"Well, don't look at me! I didn't do anything! It was probably Aleister! He looks creepy!" Michelle was first.
"Back off, Michelle! He didn't do this!" Grace came to the defense of Aleister. Interesting.
"Whoa, guys, we are not doing this just now! We can handle this back at the resort!" Sean played peacemaker of course. "All that matters now is that everyone is in one piece."
"Yeah and, uh… that might not be for long." Diego said.
"Hm?" Ty followed Diego's gaze across the airstrip to the edge of the jungle. The ferns part and a powerful, lithe creature of muscle and sinew slinked out. Its fangs glinting in the sun.
And the kitty cat was back.
"Hrrrrrrr…"
"Aw, you've gotta be kidding me!" Craig yelled.
The sabertooth prowled closer cornering Ty and rest against the blazing furnace of the hangar. Him and Quinn shared a look, and they both knew this time there was no escape.
"Rrrrgh…" The sabertooth coiled to strike, when something small and blue darts out in front of it.
"Mmrrrawr!" The little fox stood in its way.
"Run, little guy! This is a bit of a mismatch!" Jake warned the fox.
But the fox doesn't stand down, yapping at the tiger. The sabertooth drew itself to full height, dwarfing the fox, even seeming to laugh at its tiny opposition. Ty began to run for the fox, reacting out fear for the foxes safety.
"Hrrf!" It swung back a paw to slash at the fox… when the fox took a deep breath and blew.,
"Mrawr!" Snow crystals materialized and flit through the air at the tiger, instantly freezing its paw in ice. Ty slowed his sprint to a halt.
"Rrrrrk!"
"Did you just see that?" Grace asked.
"No… way…" Jake said in shock.
The sabertooth yelped in surprise, and jumped back. Another breath from the fox froze its back foot to the ground. The tiger panicked and thrashed, breaking free from the ice and galloping off into the rainforest. The little fox turned to the group and looked pleased with itself.
"Mrrrmrm!"
Ty ran up and scooped the fox up. "Oh man, that was amazing, are you okay?"
"Nnh…" Michelle fainted, barely being caught by Raj.
Everyone looked around, dumbstruck from the charred, broken plane; to the ice-breathing fox, to the fleeing sabertoothed tiger.
"Guys…where on earth are we?" Ty asked, absentmindedly patting the fox.