Light of the Moon
Chapter 3….25 Days Later
Drawing in a shaking breath Nathan Drake contemplated how he'd gotten himself into his current situation. He was tired, and he was weak. He had no qualms in admitting it. He'd lost track of the days he'd been held captive, much less how long it had been since he'd been checked on. It seemed to have been several. No food, no water. He was just left in this small cell. He could hear water dripping somewhere in the distance, tormenting him because he couldn't stop it, or drink it. He was lying on his side, having given up trying to break out quite a long time before. He didn't have the energy to get up, or call out. Nate felt a tear trickle down his cheek as he thought about Elena and Sully. It was getting hard to keep his eyes open again. With a rasping sigh, he closed his eyes, praying for rescue, or a release from this Hell.
OooO…OooO…OooO…OooO
"He's been missing for how long, and you didn't tell me?" Elena stomped through the rubble trying to find any signs of her wayward explorer.
"When we started getting threats warning us to stay away, we, and I do say, we, decided it would be best not to bring you in on this."
Sully paused a moment to take a draw off his cigar. Reaching in his pocket he pulled out the signet ring he and Nate had discovered a month ago.
"Would you slow down a minute? I'm not as young as I used to be."
Elena came to a dead stop in the middle of the corridor, crossing her arms over her chest.
Sullivan approached her cautiously, she was still fuming. Reaching out to take her hand, he placed the ring in it.
"This is why we wanted to bring you here in the beginning."
Elena looked down into her hand, she wanted to stay angry, but her curiosity was peaked. Turning the ring over and over in her hand, she stared at it in disbelief. She paled remembering a conversation she'd had with her father.
"Oh god.." Elena gasped bringing her hand to her lips. "This isn't good Sully, this isn't good at all."
It was his turn to be confused. "You know about this?"
"When I was younger, I found a hidden compartment in the attic of the house I grew up in." Elena leaned against a wall as she continued. "I thought it was so cool that we had such a mystery in our own home. It's what lead me to be an Investigative Reporter. I didn't tell anyone, I wanted it to be a surprise when I'd researched it and presented it to my folks. The surprise was mine though."
Elena sighed looking at the pattern on the ring.
"My father came in my room to check on me, because I'd apparently been immersed for hours in books from the library. He saw a ring just like this and a piece of parchment on my desk. I'd never seen him look so scared. He grabbed my arms and hauled me out of my chair, demanding to know where I got these things from. When I told him he seemed relieved."
Sitting down cross legged on the ground, she felt a tear slip out and wiped it furiously.
"That's when he told me about this part of my family. They were charged to protect some ancient mystery surrounding Greece and Egypt."
Elena took in a breath and sighed heavily, "These people are ruthless Sully. If they've got Nate.."
Sully seemed a little shaken by what he just learned. Placing a hand on her shoulder he said, "We're going to find him. I've got this."
Sully was waving a thermal imager in front of her.
Elena just laughed, "What are you a member of T.A.P.S?" She laughed harder when Sully asked, "Who?"
"I guess you don't follow my career very much." Elena smiled at him. "I was a guest star on Ghost Hunters International a few years back."
"Yeh, I don't know what that is, but if you're already familiar with the equipment, you can use this," Sullivan said as he handed her the imager, "And I'll use this."
Elena stood up, "Is that what I think it is?" she asked as she walked closer to him.
"Yep, as long as his heart is beating, and his watch is on I can find him within 2-3 miles."
Wrapping Sully in a forceful hug she exclaimed, "Sully, you beautiful, beautiful man!"
"Well, how did you think I always manage to show up in just the right spot, at just the right time?"
OooO…OooO…OooO…OooO
"Oh no," Sully said as he fiddled with the tracking device.
"What is it?"
Elena was doing short sweeps through every room they passed looking for any heat signatures to pop up.
"I think we need to hurry, the signal is getting closer, but weaker too. I don't think Nate's doing so good."
"What do you mean, Sully?"
"Well, I thought that it was just a glitch at first, maybe the batteries were low. I changed them. It isn't. We need to step it up a notch."
Elena stood for a moment just staring at Sully, the man who was like a father to her husband, who tried to make everything out to be nothing. He was now saying that Nate was running out of time. No candy coating of any kind, no optimism. He met her eyes and she saw an eternal sadness in them. Tears wanted to be there, but he choked them down. His tight lipped stare into her eyes was all she needed to get moving. She wasn't losing Nate, not now, not ever if she could help it.
After about another hour of searching, Elena caught a dull blip on the thermal imager.
"Sully!" she shouted. Looking down at the door she noticed that there was a key in the lock. She turned it and opened the door. It took her a moment to collect herself before she ran to Nate.
OooO…OooO…OooO…OooO
Nate barely registered being shaken and slapped across the face. He opened his eyes only a slit and found his vision to be bleary and distorted at best. Someone was in here with him, that's all his mind would comprehend.
He tried to speak, but only let out a frail dry cough. The same person that was in here with him put their fingers to his lips to silence him. He was being shifted to a sitting position. He released a loud groan and a grimace as hands touched his shoulder. The hands were gentile, but probing. He felt something wet touch his lips and immediately licked them. They were severely chapped and dry. He didn't know who this was that was helping him, but he accepted it gratefully.
Blessed water, he felt it slide down his throat, but his body seemed to have forgotten how to swallow properly. He gagged and coughed and tried to draw in several deep breaths as he leaned heavily on the person supporting him.
OooO…OooO…OooO…OooO
Elena wanted to cry, to scream. She was expecting anything but what she saw in front of her. They really just locked him in the room and left him there. God only knows how much longer Nate would have survived in state he was in. His skin was sickly pale, his face gaunt, eyes dark and sunken. There was something embedded in his shoulder, it looked like an arrow. An arrow, really?
"Oh god." Elena said as she ran to Nate. "Sully!"
Sully came running in behind her. "Shit."
Elena was hovering over Nate, slapping him, and he wasn't coming to. She started shaking him, and slapping him again. Finally, a low moan came from Nate and his eyes slid open slightly.
"Sully….." came the whispered question. "Elena.." Nate's voice weak as it was cracked on her name.
"Sssh, I'm here baby, it's going to be okay, you're going to be okay." She said as she put her fingers to his lips.
"Sully, help me sit him up."
Elena moved behind Nate to give him some support. Nate winced and drew in a sharp breath through his teeth as Sully looked at his shoulder, then checked elsewhere for further injuries.
"It looks like this is the only external injury. Besides being starved half to death and this damned arrow, it's a wonder his isn't dead already. It's infected, badly. We gotta get him outta here."
"What about the arrow? Are we just going to leave it there?"
"It's been there for a while already. I think he's got blood poisoning. If we can get him lucid enough, get some water and food in him.."
Sully took the lid off his canteen and poured some water in it. He tipped the lid slightly against Nate's lips so just a trickle of water came out. Sully smiled, reflexively, Nate had licked his lips.
"Come on kid, we gotta get your strength back up, little by little. Damn.."
Sully pulled back when Nate started to cough out the water and inhale frantically. On the upside, it seemed to be just enough to get Nate out of his hazed state. Squinting his eyes, Nate finally saw Sully, his eyes opened wider.
"Sully," he croaked out as he tried to reach for his hand. He then noticed the arms that had been encircling him. "Elena?"
"Don't you start that! You can't spare the water right now!" Sully said as he grabbed Nate's hand.
Elena hugged him tighter, "I can't leave you alone for a minute can I?"
"Can you stand? Or walk?"
"I dunno… I'm doing good just to have my eyes open right now."
"Well, I know one thing for certain," Elena said as she started to get up, "We aren't staying here any longer."
Nate coughed harshly.
"Let's try this again." Sully said as he brought the canteen to Nate, "Think you can manage to drink it this time instead of bathing me with it?"
OooO…OooO…OooO…OooO
Author Notes:
Well, this chapter was hard to write… Too many ideas.. and I loved them all, but they wouldn't all work together… meh… But here it is, chapter 3 in all its glory! There will most definitely be a flashback chapter coming soon so you can see how poor Nate ended up in this sticky situation! Stay tuned! :D
Jenn