A/N: My sweet goodness beautiful sunflowers! It has been so gosh darn long I just have no words to say how incredibly sorry I am for not updating in almost 6 months! I mean there are no excuses, well except for school and all the bs that goes along with it. But now I am finally on my winter break for a whole month! So expect a few more updates coming up very shortly!
I cannot reiterate enough how much I truly enjoy all your reviews! You all have made this one of the most memorable fanfiction stories I have written! I love all you sweet sweet sunflower seeds! You are all just the greatest! I am so happy to write this story and share it with all of you incredible beings!
I want to apologize for the shortness of the chapter, but I wanted to leave you all with this little cliffhanger. I will update next week so the chapter will be much longer with more events happening! I promise my dear angels! Much love again to you all!
Disclaimer: I do not own Tarzan, any of the characters part of the Tarzan world, nor do I profit from any of the stories I post. All the characters and the Tarzan world are owned by Disney and Disney only. I am simply writing for fun, not profit.
Jane shifted in the bed, her arms reaching underneath the pillow to stretch her body, a low moan escaping her mouth. She slowly peered beside her and sighed in disappointment. Tarzan was gone. She sluggishly lifted her body, sitting on the bed gripping the sheets to her skin as she examined the room and still no Tarzan. She wanted to wake up next to him, see him sleep beside her and gently trace her fingers down his skin. Then again, she should know Tarzan would not stay.
Tarzan is still a mystery to her even after all this time with him, even after last night. She cannot wrap her head around these feelings, a mixture of longing and frustration swept through her. Jane shook the feelings off, wallowing will not change anything.
She struggled to get out of bed, wanting to just stay and wait for Tarzan again, hoping he will come and be with her one more time. She has never shared a night with anyone like she has with Tarzan. Remembering his touch made her tense with pleasure, remembering his lips sent chills down her spine, and recalling his eyes on her inadvertently made her bite her lower lip. Wrapping her arms around herself, she dropped her head on the blanket between her knees; her body slumped over in sorrow.
She knew Tarzan could not go with her. Everything they talked about last night was only a dream, an illusion that let Jane believe that she could stay by his side, have him with her. Jane did not want to admit her growing affection for him, for she might have to say goodbye and that will be more painful. She buried her head between her knees further, wrapping her arms around her legs as she felt overcome with gloom.
She heard a shifting outside and Jane nearly leapt out of bed. She threw her clothes on and ran outside, hoping to see Tarzan. Instead she was shocked at the sight before her. The camp felt empty, almost deserted. There were no cars around, no one in sight, and the doors of many of the huts were wide open. She walked towards the middle of the site, turning her body in all directions, questioning what had happened. She could not have slept through them packing and leaving could she?
What if they left her? That was ludicrous. They would not be so unorganized as to leave a student behind.
As Jane inspected the site further, she saw someone coming out of the bushes.
"Vivian!" Relief was plastered on Jane's face as she made her way to Vivien.
"Jane, what are you doing here? Everyone is heading towards the coast," Vivian questioned Jane. At first Jane was flabbergasted. Everyone left? So they did leave her behind.
"Why would everyone leave so early? How could they-" She paused briefly before a thought came to mind.
"Why are you still here Vivian?"
"Uh-I forgot something from my hut. Silly old me right? I asked one of the drivers to wait for me just past the bushes," Vivian tapped Jane on the shoulder before proceeding to her hut. That was a stroke of luck for Jane. For a moment she believed she was left behind. As she waited for Vivian she heard a rattling coming from the hall. It was faint but nonetheless it was persistent. She glanced at the hut Vivian went in to and saw she was still searching inside, so she quickly darted towards the hall to inspect.
As she entered the hall the noise became more prominent, a banging noise, maybe something was thrashing against metal? Her curiosity got the better of her as she kept walking around. First she entered the room where the projector was, but the noise seemed muffled in there, so she went in to the dining area and the noise seemed to increase in volume. The dining area had a small kitchen at the end where the food was stored and prepared. Walking through the doors to the kitchen she heard the sounds of something hitting metal, an almost low growl emanated after every collision with the metal.
The only problem was there was no other room past the kitchen, no doors that led to anywhere. Where was the noise coming from? Jane walked around the counters, clearly hearing the noise vibrating around her, almost as if it was….
Underneath her…
Jane glanced at the floor feeling a slight vibration from the clashes, more perplexed by the situation. What is that?
Jane walked around the kitchen once more, inspecting the floor for anything. She was not certain what she was looking for but she kept her gaze on the floor…until she saw it. From the edge of the counter bottom there was a slight difference in the floor tiles, as if it did not match the existing tiles. The counters were on wheels thankfully, so with all the strength she could muster, Jane pushed against the counter, moving it completely out of the way, revealing an enormous trap door. The handle was a rusted circular metal ring, but Jane saw some rust had been taken off, hinting that it was touched previously.
Jane reached for the ring, pulling the heavy steel door up and pushing it to the side revealing a stone stair case, and the sound blasted towards Jane. It was almost a guttural growl; the metal seemed to precede the howl. As much as Jane should have been very skeptical to even investigate the noise, she could not help but feel she knows that sound. Jane needed to know what that was, even at the risk of her life. What if it was an animal trapped down there?
Jane gasped at that last thought. She quickly scavenged the kitchen, finding a flashlight and hurriedly made her way down the stone staircase, her flashlight illuminating the space. She moved it around trying to locate the loud thrashing until she found the metal object, a 12 foot cage, and in it, Tarzan.
"Oh my god! Tarzan!" Jane gasped in complete horror, running to the cage, Tarzan immediately ceasing his onslaught of bellows as he pressed his body against the cage rods, Jane pushing her arms through to grip on to Tarzan's arms.
"Tarzan, what happened? Who did this to you?" Jane was panicked. Her breathing eradicate as she felt terrified, not for herself, but for Tarzan. This was wrong. How did this happen?
"Tarzan, are you alright? Are you hurt? What-what happened?"
"Jane, is Jane alright?" Tarzan spoke softly, his hand cupping her cheek, peering in to her eyes with worry.
"Yes, yes Tarzan I am alright. But are you? Who did this?"
"I do not know Jane." Tarzan spoke keeping his hand against Jane's cheek, needing to have her body flush against him.
"Are you alright? Are you hurt?"
"No, I am not hurt." Tarzan smiled at Jane, wanting to erase the gaze from her eyes. Her stare emanated helplessness and fear, as her breath hitched, a few stray tears rolled down from her eyes. Tarzan brushed his thumb against her skin, catching the tears.
"Tarzan…" Jane uttered his name, unable to control herself until something snapped her out of her wallowing.
"Tarzan, I'll go find something to get you out. I'll be right back." Jane released her hands from his arms running up the stone stairs, rummaging through the kitchen before Tarzan saw her coming back down to him, a handful of strange objects in her hand.
"Jane?"
"Tarzan, just move away from this side. I'll try to break the lock." Jane began to strike the lock with a pan she found in the kitchen, the noise vibrated throughout the space, but it was having no effect on the integrity of the lock. Jane threw the pan with malice behind her, reaching for the meat tenderizer mallet, the force from the steel mallet was having an effect on the lock, and Jane could see it. She continued her assault on the lock, before she saw Tarzan shift to her in a haste, gripping her arms.
"Jane run!" Tarzan attempted to push her towards the other side of the cage to not be in line of sight with the shadow behind her but Tarzan could not get the right trajectory on Jane as she was pulled from his grasp, Jane flailing her legs around, the figure gripping her stomach with one thick arm as a hand muffled her screams with a cloth smothered against her mouth. She continued to attempt to move her body underneath the grasp of the arms, her elbows made contact with the person's stomach but it did nothing to aid in her release.
Jane began to feel lightheaded, her muscles weakened immediately as her eye lids began to grow heavy with each additional second the cloth was against her mouth. Before she could try and escape the clutches she was trapped in, her body fell limp against the torso of the figure.
"Jane! JANE!" Tarzan grasped the cage rods with his hands, pulling at them in any attempt to escape, growling with every pull against the metal, seeing the shadow ascended the stone stairs with Jane, her body lifeless in its grasp.
The anger welled in Tarzan; his entire body trembled with a fury as he released his hold on the bars, stepping back towards the other end of the cage.
The image of Jane struggling against the shadow was overwhelming, and Tarzan could not do anything to save her, to protect Jane, the one person he vowed to himself he would protect, be near her, always by her side. With a sudden jump he grasped the bars on the top of the cage, his feet swung forward, striking the cage with all the might he had, but the cage rods did not budge, yet the actual cage itself did shift from its position slightly forward.
Tarzan continued his assault on the cage, until the momentum send the cage falling forward, Tarzan with it as he crashed with the cage to the ground, the bars breaking slightly from each other. Tarzan struck the loose bars with his shoulder a few times before the bonds between the bars snapped, releasing the connection, Tarzan seeing his escape.
The only thought that prevailed in his mind was to find Jane.
A/N2: I would love to hear any comments, critiques, or just plain old what the effs... Again you are all just amazing and you will hear from me soon again! If not by Christmas then everyone enjoy the holidays!