by R.H. Proenza
Chapter 5
We were taken completely by surprise. They came from everywhere, swarming over us within seconds – the natives! The savages grabbed and threw us both to the ground, menacing us with their sharp spears and heavy clubs. Melissa screamed and reached for me, but they forced us apart.
I jumped up and grabbed the knife from my sheath lunging at the closest one. The sharp blade penetrated flesh and went into his chest to the hilt. I heard his scream right before a club struck my head. I fell back dazed while more clubs struck my body. I lay still on the ground for some minutes. Something warm trickled from the back of my head as I listened to them chatter to one another in an unintelligible language.
Through blurry eyes, I saw how Melissa’s beauty caught their interest. They began clustering around her as I felt myself about to pass out before shaking my head to clear it.
I became lucid enough not only to notice their interest in her but how unaffected they were over the knifing I had just done. It seemed they were just letting one of their own lie there with a knife protruding from his chest; just watching him die a slow death. Perhaps they were distracted by the capture of their two unusual prey – namely, US!
There was much laughter and back slapping as they pointed to us. Melissa kept receiving the most attention. I feared the worst… that the girl was their real prize! She curled up into a ball and whimpered.
“Lay still, Lissa,” I said through clenched teeth, my mind starting to clear. “Let’s see what they intend to do with us. Try to be brave.”
“Oh, Rik, what are we going to do?” she sobbed, still terrified. I inched my way on the sand until we touched again. This seemed to give her some courage, and she began to regain her composure.
The savages were having an animated discussion about us and then started pointing to me. Soon they settled their debate and they picked me up roughly and dragged me down to the shoreline. I was able to free a leg and kick one of them in the jaw, but they held me tighter. The tide was low so they had plenty of beach in which to run around. They lay me down and drove four stakes into the sand.
Their plan had now become obvious to me. They were going to tie me down spread-eagle, one limb to each stake. The tide would come back in and wash over me. In a short while I would drown, one mouthful of sea water at a time. Melissa finally realized what they were going to do and burst out yelling.
“NO! NO! You bastards… you filthy bastards!… YOU MINDLESS ANIMALS! LET HIM GO!... HE DIDN’T DO ANYTHING TO YOU!” Her frantic screams fell on deaf ears as she fought against the grasp of the two natives who held her arms. My ankles and wrists were tied down. I struggled with all my strength but was completely pinned.
“Lissa… Lissa,” I called out to her. She stopped sobbing to listen to me. “Be… brave… darling. I will always love you, my dearest.” The sounds of her sobs were unbearable to me. My heart was breaking. How could this be happening to us? Were we being punished? For what? The sobs became more and more distant as they carried my beautiful angel away. My God, what are they going to do to her? She’s so young. What are they going to do to her? She’s so innocent, she… then the worst occurred to me. "NOOOOOO,” I screamed as these thoughts ran through my mind. I screamed out yet again the name of my Lissa to an uncaring night sky. I cried out, not for my own life which would end in a few hours, but for the innocence of my beloved Lissa in the hands of those animals without souls.
Two or three hours must have passed while I lay in a stupor, awaiting my death, thinking only of my beautiful Lissa. It was into night and the tide was coming in. The waves had begun reaching my chest, the salt burning where the ropes had cut into my ankles.
Then something inside of me snapped. The futility of the situation started to vanish. I felt my despair being pushed aside by something else. A rush of emotion began welling up within me; a powerful anger of a magnitude I had never known before. I felt blood rush to my head as if powered by burning sulfur, making my neck veins bulge. I tugged at the ropes with all my strength, growling like a trapped wild animal.
The vine ropes that held me began to give way under the force of the hate that was now coursing through my veins. As the waves landed higher hitting my face and bent on my ultimate demise, one leg came loose, then the other, then a hand. In a matter of another minute, I was untying the last wrist.
My one and only driving thought had been Lissa – I had to save my lovely Lissa! My bride-to-be! Or was it too late? NO! Never! The thought of her dazzling glowing smile gave me strength, the sustenance I needed to keep going. Several hours had passed since her kidnapping, but I didn’t want to think of that. Oh God, I prayed… let it not be too late!
I ran as fast as I could in the direction the savages had taken. The bright moonlight helped me spot their tracks down the path. After several miles, I came upon what appeared to have been a temporary campsite. There was plenty of fruit debris thrown about; they had returned here to eat. The fire pit was still warm. My heart stopped when I found a torn piece of Lissa’s loin garment. I took it tenderly and walked around, hoping to find no more of it.
Then, on a large flat rock that was near the fire pit, I beheld what I had prayed I would never see. The rock was completely covered with dark blood looking black in the moonlight. There were large remnants of bone and muscle and human flesh scattered around. A barbaric slaughter had taken place here! My dear God, I had feared them ravaging my beloved goddess, but I had never entertained the thought they would… would… cannibalize her!
My mind could not accept it. I could no longer look at the site but stood frozen, helpless to turn away. At once I bellowed a scream into the night. It was one last burst of hateful venom that echoed between the trees and left me drained. The repulsion of it was too much to bear. I vomited convulsively as if venting the hatred that raged within that would surely kill me from inside. I staggered away, my mind and body numb.
I have a vague recollection of wandering the island for several days as if sleepwalking. I hardly ate, not caring. Then I decided to burn our dwellings and belongings; perhaps as a gesture to burn away the memory… the pain, and sit in the sand, waiting to die.
