[Neil & Danny - Second island]

[plantfood]

The small pack on his back has water, food and sunscreen, enough of the first two to sustain him for a full week if necessary. It won't be, Mathias knows this, but even with all the work he's done on going into the jungle, he can't completely shake the fear that something terrible will happen. Something will keep him there, even if Neil and Danny get to leave and it's entirely irrational, but the extra food and water make him feel better. They calm the heavy pound of his heart.

Lucy knows where they're going and how long they'll be gone for, something else he's learned the hard way. In Mexico, no one had known where they were, but he's made sure that's covered here, and he's not worried about that. If they don't return by this evening, someone will come for them.

There's no reason to think they won't return. It's a simple trip to the second island. The restlessness that has been growing in Mathias for weeks has been almost overwhelming since Veronica's disappearance. Without her, he feels less grounded, scattered, like there's nothing to keep him from disappearing himself, though he knows that isn't true. He has Sam to look after, and it's because of her that he hasn't gone sooner.

Now, though, he's standing on the west beach with Danny and Neil, early morning sunlight turning the waves pink. There are two canoes in the sand, ready for them to push off and he doesn't feel good. There's not even the smallest part of him that feels close to good, but he doesn't feel terrible either. And that's something.

"Who wants to row on their own?" he asks with a small smile, gesturing at the two canoes.

Comments

[little_moons]

"I dunno," I say, squinting out into the distance at a grouping of rocks, and from here, it doesn't look like something natural.

It looks like something built.

"Wanna check it out?" I ask, looking between both of them curiously.

[haolehothead]

"Did I canoe over here just to have a picnic?" Danny asks, but he prays that they all know he's being rhetorical because if they sit down and have picnic food, Danny's just gonna scream -- but just a little. "Yeah, of course, come on. Adventures away."

[plantfood]

Mathias wants to say no -- he's convinced, even, that he is saying it -- but then Danny is saying yes and he finds himself nodding along. It's what he's come here for. An adventure, a time to deal quietly with the loss of Veronica in the way he deals with all loss. It's best to keep distracted.

"Alright," he agrees, although a part of him is still saying no, and he starts around the lagoon. Now that they've decided, he's fairly single minded about it, moving easily through the sand. "What do you thin it is?" he asks. "It doesn't look natural."

[little_moons]

"I dunno," I shrug, sounding relatively careless about it. Not uninterested, necessarily, but it's not like I know anything about any of this shit.

"Some kinda shelter, I guess." But it doesn't really look like a house. From here, it looks a little bit like those jungle temples you see in movies, like in that second Indiana Jones movie or whatever.

[haolehothead]

"See, and here I'm starting to think we should have brought a map," Danny says, but it's not really an upset smile he shares as he starts off in that direction, hoisting his bag a little higher. "But what's the fun in going somewhere if you can't get lost, am I right?"

[plantfood]

The smile Mathias offers is both nervous and distracted as he stares at the area they're approaching. As they get closer, the rocks become more and more defined, shaping into something both vaguely familiar and yet completely unfamiliar at the same time. It looks enough like the hill that he can feel his heart quickening, but there are obvious differences.

No flowers, for one. And no men with arrows and guns.

"It looks a bit like ruins," he says finally.

[little_moons]

"Yeah, I think I remember hearin' somebody mention 'em," I shrug, glancing sideways at Mathias. He's hard as hell to read, damn near impossible, but I get the feeling he's nervous.

"Doesn't look like anything I've ever seen on the main island."

[haolehothead]

Danny's a little wary at the mention of ruins, not really because of the actual thing, but because with what Mathias has told him (and because of some of the books he's run into), he has a bad feeling. Still, it's just a feeling and he puts it aside. "Up to you, Mattie," he offers, a bit quieter.

[plantfood]

"We'll go," Mathias answers, forcing another smile and pushing himself forward. The closer they get, the more he realizes they really don't look like anything like the hill. There are things here and there that push a memory forward, little similarities, but the hill isn't nearly as steep and when he reaches the top, there isn't a tent or a windlass.

"Harmless," he says, mostly to himself, glad that he's made the decision. "I had no idea this was even here."

[little_moons]

It doesn't take long to get to the top, and when we do, I wander a little ways away from them, looking down over the far edge, to see if I can see anything else interesting. But it's not that high, and all there is are trees.

"Yeah, I know, right? It's fuckin' weird.

[haolehothead]

Danny's busy taking a look around at all the trees and he shakes his head. "I swear to god, if any of you tell Steve that this place has nature and I end up coming here every weekend, you are both dead to me. Dead," he clarifies with both hands in the air.

[plantfood]

It's ridiculous, but his heart is hammering hard in his chest and Mathias has to force himself to breathe, relieved when both Neil and Danny speak and sound completely normal. It's a good reminder that there's nothing out to get him, nothing at all to fear.

He turns, crossing over to where Danny is standing and he's about to say something to Neil when, from under his feet there's a cracking sound. It doesn't occur to Mathias until he's falling -- and Danny's falling with him -- that he should move. That he's standing on an old, rotted board and it's given way into a mine shaft and he needs to move, but the thought doesn't come soon enough and he hits the ground below hard. In his leg, something else cracks.

[little_moons]

I've got my back to them, squinting against the sun and looking out over the trees, and it's nice. Quiet. Fuckin' peaceful, until I hear an ominous creak, a dry snap, and by the time I turn toward them, they've already disappeared from view.

"Fuck," I hiss, running toward the jagged hole in the ground, a haphazardly covered passageway leading down to fuck knows where. Skidding to a stop at the edge, just as dirt and rock gives way to rotting wood, I lean over, peering down into the darkness and shouting, "Mathias!" and wincing at how my voice seems to echo down, down, down forever.

[haolehothead]

Danny's gone down with Mathias and while he thinks he's in decent shape, he does the check. Couple of cuts and bruises and a definitely nice gash in his arm, but it's sluggish and bleeds slow. Nothing but mild things that a good band-aid will fix up. He tries to see through the dust and crawls over to Mathias' side, wincing slightly.

"Hey," he says hoarsely. "Hey, Mathias, I want you to lie still, okay? I need to check and see if you hurt your neck."

[plantfood]

From somewhere above, somewhere far, far too high, he can hear Neil calling his name. Much closer, he can hear Danny, but he can't make sense of any of the words. In the dark, somewhere down a tunnel, he can hear the whispers starting already. The flowers are there, they have to be. They're there, he's convinced, vibrating with noise, murmuring to him in German and Mathias twists on the ground, trying to get his feet under him.

There's a sharp pain in his left leg and he cries out hoarsely, swatting at vines that are touching his neck, caressing his skin because they know he's back. This time, he's here to stay. They're saying his name in the dark, saying the names of the others who died on that hill and he can suddenly hear the creak of a windlass, though there's nothing above them.

Without thinking, his mind filled with fear and memories, Mathias draws in a deep breath to shout for Neil, to ask him for help, but all that comes out is a terrified cry.

[little_moons]

It's... I can't remember the last time I heard somebody sound so fuckin' terrified. Dean, maybe, in that dream last Halloween, listening to him get torn to pieces and not being able to do a damn thing to help him. It makes my stomach churn, and I'm kneeling in the dirt on the edge of that cavernous mouth stretching out below me before I know it, sand and tiny pebbles sliding over the edge and disappearing into nothingness.

"Danny? Come on, somebody tell me what the fuck's goin' on!" I call, my voice cracking with panic that I can't seem to get a handle on.

[haolehothead]

Danny grimaces as he tries to figure out how to calm down Mathias. "Hey!" he shouts up at the top of his lungs, which is pretty fucking loud when you get down to it. "Hey, we're both breathing, but Mathias is freaking out a little bit and I think he's hurt something. We're gonna need help," he admits, turning his attention back to Mathias. "Mathias!" he booms out. "It's Danny Williams, I need you to talk to me. Tell me your name, tell me what hurts."

[plantfood]

Dein Bruder ist gestorben.

Abruptly, Mathias stops shouting, turning to where he thinks he's heard the sound. In the dark of the mine shaft, he can smell shit and urine, and even though he can move, even as his fingers clench convulsively at the dirt, he thinks he's broken his back. Just like Pablo, just like all the others, he's going to die down here in the dark with the vines and the flowers whispering his fate.

"My leg. My leg hurts, we need to get out of here,," he begs, falling into German. He twists, looking up toward Neil, his fingers continue to flex and relax, clutching at dirt and rock. "Neil! We need to get out, we have to get out, they are down here, I can feel them. I can hear them, can't you hear them?"

[little_moons]

Jesus Christ, speak fucking English.

"They? Who the fuck are they?" I ask, but I can already tell he's freaking the fuck out, probably doesn't know what he's even saying, and I swallow past the lump in my throat, looking around frantically like a goddamn ladder or pulley or army of rescuers might appear out of fucking nowhere. And I listen, waiting for whatever noise I'm supposed to be hearing, voices or something else, but there's nothing. Just the familiar sounds of the jungle and Mathias's panicked voice, muffled and too fucking far away.

"Danny, what the fuck's he talking about?"

[haolehothead]

Danny shakes his head, feeling like he's back in one of the worse hostage situations he's dealt with in his life. "I have no fucking idea," Danny shouts back up. "Look, it's just the two of us here, there are stones and plants and a lot of dirt, but it's just us! I'll try and calm him down!"

He turns back to Mathias and reaches out to grab hard at his shoulders. "Mathias, it's Danny Williams. It's just you and me down here and I need you to listen to me. You are safe. You are not back home. You are safe. Repeat that to me."

[plantfood]

Neil's voice is distant, but Mathias can hear the panic and for a moment it feeds his own. A vine snakes down the back of his shirt, leaving a burning trail, but when he swats at it, there's nothing there. There is just Danny's hands on his shoulders, fingers pressing into skin. That pain is real, the pain in his leg is real, but the vine isn't there.

"I'm safe," he repeats, his voice shaky and he doesn't truly believe it. Danny and Neil are here and he's brought them into this, just like he brought Veronica and Webster before. Like Stacy and the others before them. It's his fault again and they're not safe.

"We have to get out," he calls, trying to control the tremor in his voice. "How can we get out?"

[little_moons]

"Danny?" I call, sitting back on my haunches, both hands scrubbing down across my face as I heave out a calming breath.

"I think I'm gonna have to go get somebody. How bad's he hurt?" I need to know what to tell them when I get there, but there's no way I'm getting down there. Even if I could, I don't see how the two of us'd get Mathias out without ropes or somethin'.

[haolehothead]

"He's definitely broken something," Danny says, glancing at his own arm and wincing. "I cut my arm somewhere, but I'm in okay shape, nothing is broken! If we get some help, maybe we can lift him out of here!" He turns back to Mathias, still gripping onto his shoulders. "Deep breaths. You're here with me and I'm not gonna let anything hurt you. I'm a cop, Mattie-boy, it's what I do."

[plantfood]

At that, Mathias laughs, unable to stop himself, because it doesn't matter who or what someone might be. The vines certainly didn't care before and they won't care now. They'll only use it against Danny, and Mathias waits, listening for the sound of them mocking him.

He wants to ask Neil not to go, but there's no logic in that, so he forces himself to stay quiet, focusing on breathing, like Danny has said. His leg hurts less with each passing moment, but he notices he's shaking and wonders if he's going into some kind of shock. "I need to get out," he mutters finally, his hands touching his legs, looking for vines that may have looped around them.

[little_moons]

"You got your packs, right?" I call out, already getting to my feet and shifting the weight of my own pack on my shoulders. I can hear them murmuring to each other, but I can't make out what they're saying. Anyway, I'm already figuring how long it'll take me to get back, how long it'll take me to get help, and how long it'll take us to get back here.

I gotta get movin'.