"Wha..." Her head shot up and she frantically looked around her at the muddied walls of the narrow pit. No... no... She squeezed her eyes shut as she clenched her fists, ignoring the sound of the rain, the feel of it on her face and shoulders. It couldn't be what it appeared. She couldn't be awake yet. Yes, that was it. They were back at the hotel and she was probably just taking a nap before dinner. It was only a nightmare. Smiling, she slowly raised her lids, but the gloomy scene had not changed. The grin faded quickly as she noted that she was still in the murky, rancid water of the marae's pit.

Why did she hear someone crying? Glancing around in a daze, she wondered why she was sitting in the deep well. What time was it? They had to get back. It would be dark soon and they didn't have time to waste. "Derek..." Her voice was soft, plaintive. "You have to help me out of here." Her head sank in despair as tears escaped from her closed lids. "We have to get back to the hotel for dinner..."

"Derek!" She screamed his name, trying to hold back the tears and the truth in her increasing misery. Shivering for a reason far different than the chill of the water against her skin, she looked up in the hope that his face would appear in answer to her call. Please... Yet several minutes passed as she attempted to avoid the reality that waited for her. Where was Derek? He should have heard her shout... He said he'd get her out of this place... Yet the marae remained quiet except for the rain now falling more heavily than before.

He wasn't dead, he couldn't be... It wasn't possible that they could go on a hike on a beautiful tropical island and run into evil. But she heard the shot... Jeroen even bragged about it. Well, the shot could have missed him, couldn't it? Yes, but... wouldn't she hear his moans, hear him trying to move, trying to stand? She brushed water from her face. She would crawl to reach him if she had to. Wouldn't he do the same for her? Then why wasn't he coming to help her? He would try to reach her, she was certain of that. But he wasn't coming, and that could only mean...

A crushing grief slammed into her, breaking down the tenuous walls she had erected. She cried out in agony and pain as she beat on the grimy walls of the well. No... He couldn't be... Not here... She wept aloud, as her spirits sank even lower than the pit she was in.

She eventually fell to her knees as the fight went out of her, and she closed her eyes as tears slid down her face. "Derek..." she sobbed softly. How could he survive fighting at the portal only to die at the hands of a nobody like Jeroen? Killed to protect artifacts he was stealing? No... It wasn't possible...

Her precept had planned to die to ensure that the portal was sealed that night and the demons of Hell remained where they were. Instead, he had lived, only to die in a tropical paradise by the hands of a greedy human bastard. But how could he die here? Why? She slammed her hands down, sending the murky, black water splashing onto her face. Dammit, he was only on this wretched mountain because she wanted to tell him her dark, sordid tale away from the others and any interruptions. Why couldn't she have done it as they walked on the beach, or where he had told them what happened at the portal?

Her hands continued slamming into the water. How could she have been so stupid? Why didn't she tell him on the beach back at the hotel? Why in heaven's name did she have to insist that they take this fucking hike? Just so she could tell Derek about Charlie and her sad, pitiful life prior to meeting him? Look what it had cost her so long ago... and look what it had cost her today...

Her anguish threatened to overwhelm her and she couldn't allow that. She shoved a fist to her mouth. *Concentrate... pull yourself together.* She tried to center herself, calm herself in an attempt to sense him on the land above her, but her fear for him was too paramount in her thoughts. Was there any chance that he could still be up there needing her help? Was she simply giving up on him too soon? She needed to be with him. As if to taunt her, the rain increased, sending torrents of water cascading down the sides of the pit.

"Dammit! I will not die here!" An icy quiver ran down her spine as it echoed in the stillness around her. Rage rapidly grew within her. No one was going to stop her from getting out of here. She glanced around, determined to locate something that would help her. How could she get out? She had to find a way if she wasn't going to drown with all of the water pouring in. But the walls had to be fifteen feet high at least. They were dirt, but currently muddied with the rain. She looked up and saw several stones sticking out. Could she use them to climb out? More important, was there anything in the mud to grab onto? There had better be something or she would die here, either by drowning in the filthy water or suffocating if the walls collapsed on top of her.

The water was up to her waist as she sat there, and several... things were floating in it. To think that when they had first arrived in Tahiti she had wanted to see one of the ruins of the ancient Polynesian civilization. Now here she was, stuck in one with the remains of their ancestors. Would she soon join them? Could she possibly bide her time and float to the top? The thought of treading in the disgusting liquid for any amount of time made her stomach lurch...

"No, don't think of that. Find something to use." Luckily the rain has eased a bit, so she stood and looked up to the opening again. There was maybe an hour's worth of daylight left. Her eyes saw something else. Vines... Was there a way that she could reach them and get out?

Her fingers dug at the closest stone in the wall. Maybe she could use her arms and press them against the restricted side walls as she climbed up the front one. The width and length appeared to be just about five by five feet. Could she do it side to side?

"Alex, where is your sense of adventure..." she heard a beautiful Dutch lilt echo in her memory. She fiercely wiped at her eyes. And where had her sense of adventure gotten both of them? The man she loved might be dead, and she was stuck in a hole in the ground, to possibly drown and never see her friends again. And it was her fault...

"I'm so sorry, Derek. I'm so sorry..." Her sobs became louder and deeper, until she took several large cleansing breaths a short time later. No, she had to stop. There was no time for this; no time to waste. If she didn't plan on spending the night in this hole in the fading light, then she'd damn well better get her ass moving. Besides, she had an important job to do -- to find Jeroen and make him pay for what he did to Derek. If she had to, she would quit the Legacy and make finding him her life's work.

"Bet he doesn't even think I'll survive this. And calling me a kutwijf! How dare he call me that! He'll pay for that too," Alex promised, her furious tone using the Dutch slur. "I will survive this and I will stick a knife in Jeroen's heart, so help me, God," she vowed as she angrily brushed the tears aside.

But first, she had to get out. She gingerly probed to expose a rock that was extending out of the east wall. How could she know if it would support her weight? She couldn't really. All she could do was try, and hope that it would work. At least she was wearing a good quality pair of sneakers which should hopefully help in traction. Repeating the process on the other side, she found one more stone a little farther up than the previous one.

She stared up at the distance to climb and shook her head. Maybe it was best if she didn't do that. *Just keep your focus and concentration as you make each step.* She closed her eyes. "You can do this. Come on." She stretched out her arms and raised her foot into the foothold she had made, then did the same with her other foot, lifting herself off the ground. "One small step," she muttered.

Another one followed, then another as she slowly made progress, and her heart grew lighter as each step brought her closer to the top and nearer to the vines. She just might do... "No!" she uttered as she slipped. Her hands dug into the sides of the wall, and she was able to place her foot on a securer spot. Dropping her head for a moment, she inhaled sharply and continued. She was almost there.

"Yes!" she yelled as she grabbed onto several vines. They were as dirty and as grubby as she was, but they took the load off her legs for a minute. Tears came to her eyes at the relief it brought. "Almost there," she whispered, stretching her other arm to grab hold of another vine. "Almost there."

A cold wind unexpectedly whipped around her and she struggled to cling to the trailing plant. "What's hap..."

"Avenge me..." An icy brush of air against her face startled her into losing her hold of one hand, and she hung by the other over the hole. An additional cold blast blew up from below accompanied by an eerie whimpering sound. Her eyes dropped to gaze down into the well as she fought to maintain her grip. She gasped, stunned to see a figure below.

A woman's body lay twisted at the pit's bottom, her eyes wide with pain. She was on her back, and her leg bent to an impossible angle. A man's laughter abruptly rang out around her as the face loomed closer. It floated nearer, and she bit off the scream that rose to her throat. Her own face stared back at her...

"Avenge me..." Alex cried out as the shock caused her to fall back into the pit. She plunged into the rising water before her feet touched solid ground, and she grimaced as she pushed upward. Her right ankle throbbed as her head and upper body broke the surface of the dark water and something bobbed up beside her. Oh God...

Her arms reached out against her conscious will to gingerly touch the skull. "Avenge me..." the mouth moved. The skull glowed and she gave a strangled scream before she was drawn into a vision...

A young woman ran through the thicket and entered the large, rectangular marae. She had tried to hide from the white man who had come to take her from her island by escaping into the mountains, trying to make it to the temple to make an offering to her god. He would rid the island of these white men with their strange accents and strange ways who treated her people as if they were things to be taken or their own benefit.

She quickly moved to the altar, searching for an offering. What could she sacrifice? Wild flowers were growing beyond the stones that marked the end of the sacred ground. They would have to do. She could burn them and offer a prayer to rid her home of the soldiers and the holy men who had come. The cave beyond the other side of the temple would then be a good hiding place for her until they left.

As she went to gather the flowers, she wondered why these men were considered holy when they had broken the sacred stones and destroyed other temples. The men of her island had fought them but were defeated, and she had run into the forest to escape capture. But one yellow-haired soldier had seen her flee and tried to follow. She had lost him so she had come to make an offering in thanks...

A voice came from behind her. No, he had found her... She ran to the hallowed ground where she hoped her god would protect her. She turned to see the man drawing nearer to her. He was smiling and his words were soft as he held out his hand, but his bright blue eyes revealed that his heart was not pure.

She turned to flee again but his arm grabbed hers. She resisted as his arms tightened around her, and he laughed at her struggle. Rage exploded within her and she used every part of her body to release herself as she fought his hold. He cursed as she hit his lower body, and she ran from him. Despair enveloped her in its dark arms. There was only one thing to do, for she was a chief's daughter and she knew what became of the women that the soldiers took.

She jumped into the pit which contained the sacred relics of their ancestors. The fall did not kill her as she had wanted, for she had landed on her back. An excruciating shooting pain tore through her body and she gasped at its power. She tried to move but her body would not obey. The yellow-haired soldier looked down at her and said brief, evil words before he made a spitting noise. The last thing she heard was his laughter as he walked away...

Alex moaned as she came out of the vision. Tears were falling down her face as she felt the woman's hopelessness, knowing that no one knew where she was, that no one was coming for her. For a moment the Legacy member shared with her the fear and terror of being in this pit. But she had a better chance of getting out, and she would get the man who desecrated this holy place.

The dark woman shivered. The native woman's blond soldier bore a striking resemblance to another blond, evil Dutchman. Could it be possible that the other man was an ancestor of Jeroen's? She knew that members of the Dutch East India Company had once been on the island. She shook her head. The incalculable damage such enterprises had caused.

"Avenge me," the soft female voice said before only the falling rain was heard.

"I... I'm sorry but I can't get that man for you," Alex replied quietly. "However, I can get another who is just as evil and violent, but I need to get out of here to find him. So I'm going to try and reach the top once more." She hoped the spirit would get the message and allow her to fight her way back up the walls of the pit without interference.

She began her way up yet again, focusing on what she had to do rather than on the pain in her ankle. It took much longer to reach the top than before, and she almost slipped several times, but she eventually managed to grab hold of the vines hanging over the top of the pit. Holding on to them and her slipping control, she finally managed to pull herself out. Unable now to do anything else, she lay on the ground and sobbed in relief.

Time, her mind prodded. Time was running out with the dimming light. She had to find Derek before the remaining daylight was gone. Rising to her feet, she knew he hadn't been at the lower section of the marae, so she started where she had last seen him, then worked her way to the corner. Nothing, no sign of him. Where was he? Her eyes went wide. Had he... had he somehow survived and was resting close by? "Derek! Derek, where are you?"

Maybe he was on the other side. She tried to keep calm, to be organized and not madly run around the area looking for him. The rain was becoming heavier and the wind was getting stronger. Dammit, they needed to be in some sort of shelter. But where was Derek?

She clenched her fists, striving to keep her emotions under control. Did she check over here? Maybe he had stumbled outside the marae. She prayed that he hadn't gone very far as she stepped over a temple stone and continued into the overgrowth beyond. It would be more difficult to find him in the thicket growing here and she ran the danger of becoming lost. How would she find him when... "Shit!" She tripped over something and put her hands out to break her fall.

Dear heaven... Alex fought the bile that rose in her throat. The body of a young woman, her dark hair revealing her gender, extended partially out of the shallow grave in which she was buried. The smell of the decaying corpse filled her nostrils, and the dark woman reeled back. In her shock she fell to the side and her hand touched a fragment of clothing. "No..." Alex whispered as the vision took her...

The woman pushed back her long brown hair and laughed as she took the hand of the young man. The handsome blond promised to show her the hidden treasures of the island, and she enjoyed being with the charming man with the deep blue eyes and adorable accent. She hated the thought of returning home and leaving this beautiful place. He said something and she giggled. Wait... What was... He suddenly wrapped his hands around her neck. She struggled to escape, to breathe... It was no use and she slumped to the ground. He dragged her outside the marae and placed her in the grave. After putting the last shovelful of dirt on her, he quickly glanced around to make sure that no one had seen him before he grinned and walked away...

"Avenge me..." Alex groaned as the vision faded, and she closed her eyes, stunned at the face she had seen. Dear God, this couldn't be happening.

Jeroen... Jeroen van Dissen had murdered the woman...

End part 28