*Updated 18-05-2018*
Chapter 60 - Darkness
"Vaas, it's no fucking use, we're never gonna find her in the dark." Jane sighed.
Vaas punched a nearby tree in frustration.
Vaas, Raul and Jane and most of the pirates had been out looking for Rosa all day as well as into the night and they couldn't find her. There had been some gaps in the bushes near the compound from where Liza must have cut through but they stopped after a while, leaving them with no trail. Vaas was beginning to grow worried; whenever he was worried he would rub the back of his neck, which he was doing plenty of.
Everyone was sweating, sticky from the heat and it was a mosquito feeding ground; men were swatting their bodies every 5 seconds. When they reached a certain area, Vaas told them to spread out and search but nobody came back with anything. They wanted their pirate queen back as much as Vaas did.
Vaas' mind began to churn again, trying to think of a way he could magic Rosa from thin air. What if Liza had killed her? What if Rose was pregnant?
Vaas rubbed the back of his head manically, as if he had fleas before turning to Raul.
"Hermano, please. You're good at this. Think. Where the fuck could she be?" Vaas asked.
Raul had solved where Rosa and Vaas had been before; surely he could solve it again. There must be something he could think of.
"Raul, I know you can figure it out, baby. Just go through it step by step." Jane encouraged, touching his hand. Raul squinted and then spoke.
"Well, I don't think that Liza would take Rosa too far away from the compound, that's not her style from what we know. If I was Rosa, I would go somewhere that I would vaguely know on the island and then wait there for us to come. Is there anywhere like that, Vaas?"
Vaas began to pace up and down. Many of the pirates sitting on the jeeps or lying on the grass, exhausted. Vaas tried to put something together in his mind but nothing came. Perhaps Jane was right. Maybe they should wait until daylight.
No, thought Vaas, Rosa wouldn't give up on you that easily, so you can't give up on her.
"Vaas, come on, work it out. If you were Rosa and you were stuck in the jungle, what would you try and do? Where would you try and go?" Jane asked.
"I don't FUCKING KNOW, OKAY?" Vaas yelled, making the pirates jump.
The silence fell deadly over the forest and the only noise to be heard was the chirping of crickets and a few rustling of leaves.
"Chill out, Vaas - think about Rosa. Did she have a favourite place in the jungle or something like that?" Jane asked again, speaking slowly and calmly to Vaas so she didn't anger him further.
"The only place really is that cenote that we went to when I proposed, hermano. But how could she find her way there?" Vaas said, stumbling into his own answer. Raul smiled and clapped his hands.
"That's it! Think about it, Hoyt raised Rosa, yes? He would have taught her all about navigating and shit so she would know how to get back somewhere. You can use the rocks to help you; Rosa would definitely know that. If she knows that, then she knows how to get to the cenote." Raul explained.
Vaas shrugged.
"It's worth a shot. What if she's not there?" Vaas said, heavy heartedly.
"It's the best fucking idea we've had, boss. What do we have to lose?"
"Hm, I don't know ... my fucking wife?!" Vaas snapped.
Raul raised his hands in apology.
"Raul, I can't lose her. I just can't. You know what happened last time."
Raul shuddered at the thought of seeing Vaas stood on the cliff edge, about to jump. He had just managed to run and stop him in time, to tell him that Rosa was coming round from Caddo's stab wound. Vaas thanked Raul ever since that day; both had promised not to tell Rosa.
Vaas knew that Raul was thinking about it and he patted him on the shoulder.
"You saved me man. I thank you everyday. But if we find her and she's dead, I promise you I'm jumpin'." Vaas stated, "I just want my princesa back here with me."
Raul pinched in between his eyes before looking up at Vaas.
"It's no good talking like that Vaas, okay? We're gonna find her. Come on, before we're lost too."
Raul, Jane and Vaas got into the jeep; Vaas was driving, Raul was in the passenger seat and Jane squashed to the side of him, holding on for dear life. Raul had his arms around her waist, supporting her as she moved into him. Vaas started the jeep, the headlights illuminating the area, clearing the road ahead.
"Follow me, you cocksuckers!" Vaas called to the pirates in the jeeps behind him.
Raul chuckled a little before Vaas pressed hard on the accelerator, forcing everyone in the jeep backwards.
"What if she's not there?" Vaas said.
"She's a smart girl, don't worry. She found her way from Citra's temple, she can find her way from anything."
Vaas grunted at the sound of his sister's name and pressed his foot in the accelerator more.
Before his eyes, a form of black shadow ran across the road as Vaas swerved down a small hill to stop them from hitting it, the jeep skidding.
"WHAT THE FUCK, MAN?" Raul shouted.
The pirates in the back groaned from the force.
"Jesus, Vaas!" Jane exclaimed, pulling herself back up properly onto the jeep.
"I saw ... I saw ..."
Vaas couldn't get his words out. He thought he had seen a woman who had brown, wild hair and American looking clothes. The light had reflected in her eyes and Vaas was sure it was Liza. No, it couldn't be.
"Sorry, I thought it was a bear." Vaas lied.
Raul scoffed.
"A bear? Get driving Vaas, before you kill us all." Raul replied before Vaas sped off again.
Pulling up the road to the cenote, Vaas was treading carefully in the car, moving at slowly.
Killing the engine, the trio got out of the jeep and walked further up to the cenote, the pirates standing watch. No one said anything as they came closer, the shack and the drop cf the cenote coming into view. Turning in a little, Vaas spotted the shack door open and ran up to it, only to find it ransacked and empty.
"Damn it." he muttered before turning to face the open space.
The darkness meant that the bottom couldn't be seen as Vaas squinted in the shadows.
"I can't see anything. Fuck." Raul said.
Vaas stepped back, partially admitting defeat. Rosa wasn't there. A crunch under foot almost threw Vaas off balance as he cursed before bending down to pick up the offending object. He couldn't work it out in the dark and tapped Raul.
"Hey Raul, shine that little torch you got on ya." he commanded.
Raul dug into his trouser for a little pocket torch. Twisting the top, the small light now shining, Raul faced it to Vaas' hand. The three were gathered around Vaas, looking.
In his hand was what looked like a black, long rock. Vaas moved it around in his hand and examined it, before it hit him.
"What is it?" Raul asked.
Vaas rubbed the back of his neck once more.
"It's the heel from Rosa's shoe ..." Vaas said.
He moved around as if he was tracing steps, mumbling to himself
"... And that means that from here, to here to here, meant that she would have ended up ..."
Vaas looked down at the cenote and grimaced.
"Down there."
Jane ran to the jeep and pulled it forward, stopping before it was to fall in the cenote. She turned on the headlights.
"Can you see anything?" she called and Vaas shook his head.
"FUCK! Nothing. Has any of those fuckers got a light in the back of their truck?" Vaas asked.
Jane ran from the jeep to the group of pirates. Vaas gulped when looking down at the cenote and prayed, whatever God that would listen, that Rosa wasn't down there.
"All they had was this flare gun." Jane panted. S
he passed Vaas the gun and Vaas sighed.
"We're gonna find her Vaas, I swear." Raul said, trying to relax the man slightly even though it probably wasn't working.
"If only I had brought some drugs with me. To numb all of this. I love her man ... I didn't even tell her before she got taken."
"Oh stop it. Rosa knew you loved her with everything you have in you, you dick. Now stop moaning 'cause we're wasting time." Jane said, her voice resembling that of a strict school teacher.
Raul chuckled and Vaas glared at him which caused him to stop.
"Here goes nothing." he stated.
Vaas pointed the flare gun in the air and shot it.
The light illuminated the sky as it began to fall down, lighting the jungle below. With the falling embers, the three bent down to look into the cenote. No one could say a word. The flare began to fade out, the orange just enough to illuminate the dark cenote below for a split moment.
Vaas held his breath and tried not to yell out in shock.
There, floating face down in the water, was a shock of blonde hair and a female pirate's outfit.
Wow, chapter 60! It still means so much to me that you guys review, favourite and follow and I feel like I can't thank you enough but I'm saying it again! THANK YOU! This chapter ended on a bit of a dramatic twist, dun dun dunnnn, so let me know what you think! Speak to you soon, my little cherubs and happy reading :)
Guest: Thank you so so so much for your lovely review, it made me feel all warm and fuzzy when I read it :D You're comments were so kind and I was extremely happy to read them, so thank you again :D :D
Commando64: Thank you for your comment and don't stress yourself out to think of something, I'm sure it'll come to you (you make the most layered characters ever, and don't worry, your previous suggestion WILL be included in the story, I pinky promise). I feel like we're Far Cry 3 friends, it's really cool :D