Beware The Kiss Part 17

"She wants me alive." Ana's eyes moved anxiously around the cave. "She's hoping I'll learn to love her -someday."

In the lantern light, Tayler could see Ana's plea for help in her eyes.

The cave shook again.

Ana looked at the entrance. "We should leave."

"Ana, wait." Tayler caught Ana by the arm. "Why am I the one who must destroy Raven?"

"You're the only one who has the skills to beat her," Ana called over the increasing noise. Thunder sounded beyond the cave.

"I don't have any skills," Tayler protested.

"You have always possessed the skills, Tayler, but you must learn how to use them."

The sound of cras.h.i.+ng rocks could be heard somewhere behind the cavern.

"Come, we must go," Ana grabbed Tayler's arm as the cave floor began to buckle.

Tayler reached out to the wall for support, but the dust was so heavy she couldn't tell if they were moving toward or away from the opening. Pieces of ancient rock broke loose from the walls and ceiling, obstructing their way out. The sound in the cave became so deafening that Tayler's voice couldn't be heard above the thunderous clamor. She tried to call out to Ana, but the chaos of moving earth made it impossible. A small rock hit Tayler in the head and she stumbled. Ana reached for her and helped her up. She said something, but Tayler couldn't hear her. The whole cave appeared to be cras.h.i.+ng down around them.

Tayler's arms and head ached and her ears hurt from the noise. The dust swirling around made it difficult to breathe. She coughed and tried to wipe the dirt from her eyes. When she opened them she caught a glimpse of light at the opening. Only five feet from the entrance, the cave was again thrown into total darkness.

"Ana, where are you?" Tayler screamed. "Ana!" she screamed again.

As a large boulder fell, a hand came out of the blackness and grabbed Tayler's arm. The force of the boulder knocked Tayler off her feet. Still unable to see, Tayler blindly stood and began to search for Ana. The earth heaved, smas.h.i.+ng Tayler against the rock. As she lost consciousness, Tayler heard Ana scream.

"They should have been back hours ago, Ev," Erica paced back and forth, clenching and unclenching her fists. The storm had pa.s.sed, but brilliant flashes of lightning still pierced the sky.

"My guess is Tayler wanted to see the cave where the curse began. They could have waited out the storm there." Ev got up from her chair and put her arms around Erica.

Erica shuddered. "Look, I can't wait here any longer. I'm going to get the keys for the Jeep. Do you two want to come with me?"

"We're right behind you." Ev and Beth stood.

Erica rushed down the open corridor.

"Tayler," the voice was weak and barely audible.

Dazed, Tayler sat up feeling dizzy and nauseous. She wasn't sure if she was alive or in the midst of a bad nightmare, but the pain in her shoulder told her the earthquake at least had been real.

"Tayler," the voice called out again.

Tayler knew from the weak, desperate tone that Ana was hurt. She reached out to find the wall. The quiet seemed eerie. "Ana, where are you?"

"Over here," came the weak reply.

"It's so dark in here. Keep talking while I try to find you."

Ana coughed. "I'll try," she said with a voice heavily laced with pain. "I'm right here."

It took a few seconds for Tayler to gain her bearings, but when she did she quickly located Ana. She knelt down and oriented herself to Ana's body by running her hands around Ana. She was laying on her back, a large boulder pinned her legs to the ground. Her breathing was sporadic.

"My legs are broken," Ana groaned.

"Oh G.o.d, Ana, I wish I could see you," Tayler cried.

"Tayler-"

Tayler felt Ana's fingers. They were ice cold and shook violently. "What is it?"

"I think...the lantern is...behind me. I dropped it...when I fell," Ana's body convulsed with coughing.

"Okay," Tayler said crawling along the floor cluttered with rocks and clumps of dirt. "Ana, I found it." She made her way back to Ana. "But I don't have matches to light it."

"You don't need a match."

"But, Ana, how am I suppose to light the lantern?" Panic spilled over into Tayler's voice.

"Use your mind, Tayler," Ana coughed again. "Hold the lantern in front of you and visualize the flame."

Tayler shook her head.

"Try and relax. Slow down your breathing," Ana wheezed. "Concentrate.. .visualize the wick.. .imagine what the flame looks like -blue in the center and orange, yellow and red surrounding the blue. Feel the heat building."

Ana's words seeped into Tayler's being. She saw the wick and the flame. The heat grew stronger.

"Breathe deeply. Feel the flame - "

When Tayler slowly opened her eyes she saw the glow of the lantern. For a moment she was astonished by what she had done, but her accomplishment was lost when she saw the rock n Ana's legs. Dark liquid stained the fine dirt on the ground near her.

"Oh G.o.d, Ana." Tayler knew it was impossible for her to move the rock on her own. Ana was very pale. "What can I do?"

Ana feebly raised her hand to Tayler. "I need to rest. Don't panic. Remember.. .you have the power.. .to get us out of here."

Tayler sat next to Ana and took her hand. She watched helplessly as Ana slipped into oblivion.

The curse had now destroyed Ana's freedom-just as it had Erica's. Tayler clenched her fist as anger turned to rage. "I'll get us out of here, Ana," she whispered. Without really thinking, she removed the crystal from around her neck and placed it between her hands. She breathed deeply. "Erica - "

As she pulled the keys to the Jeep off the hook Erica saw two horses come charging past the hacienda, heading for the stables. "Marina!" she yelled.

Marina, out of breath, quickly appeared in the hacienda.

"Marina, look, two horses have gotten out of the stable. It must have happened during the tremor - "

"No!" Marina screeched. "Those were the horses Ana and Tayler took. "

"What?" The new information registered and Erica stopped. "Marina, get the ranch hands. I'll have Ev bring her bag. We'll meet you at the cave where Ana was hurt. Do you remember where it is?"

"Si." Marina grabbed the phone. "I'll call Luis and ask him to get as much help as he can."

Erica ran to the Jeep, jumped in and started the engine. In the rearview mirror she saw Ev and Beth climb in. "Did you bring your bag?" But Erica saw it before Ev could answer. She floored the gas pedal and they drove off in the direction of the ocean.

'Tayler.'

Startled by the low, weak voice, Tayler opened her eyes. She knelt beside Ana. "I am so sorry, Ana. This is all my fault. We should've left when you warned me the first time."

Ana said nothing.

Tayler's eyes searched her face. "You knew this was going to happen?"

"Si."

"Why didn't you tell me? We didn't have to stay."

"I misjudged Raven's power," the flame in the lantern flickered.

Tayler watched it closely. In the small s.p.a.ce they were trapped in, she knew they didn't have much time or oxygen left. "What do you mean?"

"Raven combined two elements of the curse in this attempt."

"Earth," Tayler let dirt fall through her fingers and then gestured toward the lantern. "And air -or should I say the lack of." She shook her head. "You weren't convinced the other episode in the cave was a real attempt."

"No," Ana groaned.

Tayler watched the flame flicker.

Ana looked at Tayler and tried to smile. "You have special skills."

"No," Tayler shook her head. "Survival training taught me about caves and air -it has nothing to do with special powers."

"Aren't they the same thing, amiga?"

Tayler crawled to the wall searching for the opening. She looked at Ana refusing to answer her question. A moment pa.s.sed. "You have more faith in me, Ana, than I do in myself. Teach me -show me how to get us out of here."

"We're almost there," Erica yelled, driving the Jeep at high speed along the beach.

Ev and Beth hung on tightly knowing that their requests for a slower speed would be futile.

"We're going to need all the help we can get. I only hope we can get to them in time," Erica pushed the pedal farther into the floor.

Moments later, Erica slammed on the brakes and the Jeep came to an abrupt halt at the entrance of the cave - or what formerly was an entrance. Several pick-ups arrived with a dozen ranch hands. "If you've got shovels, bring them with you." Erica yelled. Someone handed her a shovel and she ran toward the cave.

"Tayler, Ana, can you hear me?" Erica yelled. She waited for a reply. "Tayler, Ana can you hear me?" Erica pounded her shovel on the rock and waited. Only silence answered.

Marina and Luis appeared at Erica's side.

Luis shook his head. "The whole village is coming out here to help Ana."

"Great. Let's divide into two groups and remove the rubble. Marina, your team's responsible for getting the larger rocks cleared, okay?"

Marina nodded.

"Luis come with me. Ana and Tayler may need to hear a calm voice to get them through. Everybody, work as quickly as you can. They've got to be running out of air in there."

"Ana, hang on," Tayler said in the darkness. The lantern had gone out. She wasn't sure whether it ran out of fuel, air or both.

While the lantern was still lit, and she could see, Tayler had used the leather strap she found as a tourniquet on one of Ana's legs. The other leg was completely buried under the rock.

It was becoming more and more difficult to breathe. Ana coughed frequently. From the sound, Tayler guessed that Ana's lungs were filling up with fluid. She cried out, but her words were engulfed in a fit of coughing.

Tayler could feel the earth moving, but it wasn't shaking like it had been. Her lungs hurt from gasping for air as she clawed at the dirt searching for the fresh, ocean air just beyond the cave. Her fingers suddenly hit something. She felt the object and realized it was the necklace Ana had given her. When did I drop it? Tayler asked herself. She grabbed it and felt a strong surge of energy flow through her body. Without thinking, Tayler found Ana's limp hand and wrapped the necklace and pendant around Ana's fingers.

"I won't let you die - " Tayler vowed, feeling herself grow suddenly weak.

The frantic pounding of pick axes, shovels and gunning truck engines sounded like the construction sites Erica worked at. One large boulder impeded their progress.

"Okay, try it Marina," Erica yelled as Marina pressed the pedal and the pick-up truck dug its tires into the sand.

The boulder moved only a few inches before Marina let up on the gas and it settled back into its previous s.p.a.ce. "We need another truck to help pull. I'll burn this engine out if we don't," she called to Luis.

Luis spoke quickly to one of the ranch hands. Another pickup truck appeared and more ropes were attached to the boulder. When they were secured on the second truck, Luis gave the signal to the drivers. The combined engines roared, edging the boulder from the front of the opening.

"I see saddles," Erica yelled, running toward the gap in the rocks. There they are, Ev," Erica called out over the noise of the shovels. Erica pointed to two lifeless forms on the ground. Ev knelt down and placed her hand on Tayler's and then Ana's neck.

"They're alive, Erica, but we've got to get them out."

Erica saw Ev's confused expression in the light. "What's wrong?"

"Ana's legs are pinned under the rock, but her pulse is strong. Tayler, on the other hand, has superficial wounds to her head and face, but her pulse is dangerously weak. I don't know what happened in here, but we've got to get them out."

A stretcher was brought in and Tayler was carefully lifted out of the cave while the others went in to help Ana. It surprised the villagers to find Ana so alert and calm. They moved rapidly trying to remove Ana's leg from underneath the rock. Several ranchers pushed against the rock while Erica, Marina and Ev carefully freed Ana's mangled leg. Ana groaned, but did not scream. Her bones were splintered and her skin was torn and bloodied. They carried Ana out on another stretcher and placed it next to Tayler.

The late afternoon was hot and humid. The ocean waves sluggishly slapped against the rocks. The scent of seaweed and dead fish permeated the air. The women and men from the town and the hacienda gathered around the two injured women. With Beth at her side, Ev administered what medical attention she could to Tayler and Ana. Tayler's face was deathly pale. Ev summoned Erica. She lowered her voice so that only Beth and Erica could hear.

"We need to fly Ana to Oaxaca. She needs surgery right away."

"And Tayler?" Erica's eyes searched Ev's face.

"Erica, her breathing is shallow, her lips are blue and her pulse is almost too weak to feel. I don't know if she's going to make it." Ev took Erica's hand.

Erica ran over to Tayler and knelt down beside her. She took Tayler's cold, limp hand in hers. Her chest barely rose from each shallow breath. The scar on Tayler's neck caught Erica's attention. It was a dark red hue against her pale skin. Exhaustion and relief from finding the two twisted into absolute rage. She seethed with bitterness at Raven's curse and Ana's betrayal of their love. Tayler's life was now ebbing with the evening tide. Tears flooded and stung her eyes. She wiped them away and looked at Ana.

"Ana," Erica tried to control her breathing. "Ana, do you have the necklace?"

Ana opened her hand.

Erica reached down and took the necklace from Ana. The sudden surge of power rocked her body. She leaned over and placed the necklace around Tayler's neck. She stood, peered into the sky, breathed in the ocean air and whispered, "Tayler, you saved Ana's life -now you must save your own." Erica closed her eyes.