<strong>The Forest</strong><br/><br/>Samuel wasn't an overly religious person, but he was silently praying now. The knife at his throat was sharp. He was sure that one twitch on his part would cause it to slice his neck open. In Dr. Enzo's voice he called out, "She says that all of my friends need to stand down, or she'll kill me." They hadn't gone over this scenario. In fact, he realized, Dr. Enzo hadn't really prepared him at all for what was happening.<br/><br/>An echo of the voice he'd just used came out of the darkness. "Well, that's all for that, then. Slaves, bring her down." Three huge shadows separated from the darkness of the woods and entered the clearing, resolving into the hugely muscled foot soldiers that the Xantelli's often used. These were naked and unarmed, but no less imposing. Samuel only saw one of them clearly; he didn't dare try to turn his head to see more.<br/><br/>He knew what the Xantelli's could do. He'd seen hundreds of examples during his time here on the island. Dr. Enzo was out there. He could transform Samuel, help him escape from this woman and her knife in a hundred different ways. But--nothing. No deliverance was coming, it seemed. Samuel closed his eyes and waited for the end to come.<br/><br/><br/><br/>Enzo was disappointed. He'd hoped to learn more, to toy with her further. Never send a boy to do a man's job, it seemed. At least the combat should prove distracting. And he'd learn a great deal from whether she carried out her threat on the doppleganger's life.<br/>