27. The Island’s Unsettling Collection
The Island’s Unsettling Collection
Onyx
Havoc carried me out of the stream.
I left his arms, walked over to the leaf, and knelt down. “You found all of this today too?”
“I did, while I was searching for food.”
I reached out to touch the braid first, brushing my fingers over the soft, blonde strands.
He sighed and sat down a few feet from the leaf. Instead of remaining upright, he lay on his back and put his hands under his head, “What do you think of the island’s unsettling collection?”
My brow furrowed. “I don’t like it.”
“Me either.” He gazed up at the sky.
“Where did you find them? Was it all in one place?”
“It was scattered in different places.” He pointed towards the dense part of the woods. “I followed more of those boot prints, trying to track whoever’s on the island with us.”
“Hold on. You sound very clear about that. Like. . .you know for sure someone else is on the island.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He pointed to his nose. “I smelled someone else when we first hit the shore.”
“What the fuck?”
“But it was faint. Cigarettes, whiskey, onions. I knew it was a man, probably in his fifties. Not too healthy.”
“How can you tell all of that?”
“It’s just a guess. My nose and I play this game and through the years I’ve figured out how to be correct.”
My heart pounded. “So. . .there’s an older man on this island with us.”
“Yes and no.”
“What the fuck?”
“His scent also reeks of death.”
All hope left. “So. . .he could be dead?”
“I think so. When I try to figure out where his scent is, it only leads to the alarmingly potent scent of death as if. . .there are a lot of dead bodies around him.”
I swallowed hard, picked up the bullet, and rolled it between my fingers. “Discarded bullets from shooting a gun.”
“Yes.” Havoc closed his eyes.
I turned the bullet over, inspecting it closely. “ .50 caliber round. Heavy. Deadly.”
“And far from the ordinary gunfire.”
My breath caught in my throat. “The kind used in high-powered rifles.”
“The kind that can take down large game from a distance.” Havoc turned to me and opened his eyes. “Whoever shot those bullets wasn’t just out here plinking cans. This is serious firepower.”
I narrowed my eyes. “A hunter?”
“Not just any hunter.” He frowned. “A wealthy hunter. The kind who could fly to his remote island to track the sort of game that perhaps is illegal to hunt in the civilized world.”
I blinked. “What are you trying to say, Havoc.”
“I’m not saying anything. The island is saying it for me.”
Cold dread crept up my spine.
I put the bullet down and reached for the tooth next. “A human tooth.”
“A small human tooth.”
My stomach twisted. “A child’s tooth.”
I let the tooth drop back onto the leaf. “And the hair. It probably belonged to a little girl. . .”
Havoc put his view back on the sky.
I couldn’t look at the rest of the items that clearly belonged to other kids.
Jesus. Some sick fuck was out here, hunting kids?
Probably knowing that I had come to the same realization, Havoc sighed. “You should eat.”
“I don’t want to eat anymore. I have no appetite.”
“You need your strength for when we head back to our shelter.”
“The shelter?” I scowled. “We have to keep following the footprints.”
He stared at me like I was crazy. “Why?”
“Because there is a killer on the island.”
Havoc laughed. “Actually, three killers if you count us.”
“Havoc, this man is hunting kids—”
“It could be him, or he might just be the keeper of this place for other wealthy people to come and hunt.”
“What the fuck?”
Havoc sat up. “This is the sort of stuff that goes on at these remote islands. First, we should head back and—”
“I’m not heading back to the shelter—”
“Yes, you are—”
“You act like it is our home—”
“It is our home for now until we come up with a plan—”
“I said the plan.” I stood up and pointed north. “We follow the footprints—”
“And the death that rests there too?”
“Are you scared?”
“I am not at my strongest. I still need more food and rest—”
“We can beat him—”
“And what if there are others?” He pointed to the bullet. “And what if they have more weapons.”
“Can you smell them?”
“Unfortunately, I can smell a lot of shit on this damn island.”
“Then, see if you can smell more guns.”
“If I could separate every damn smell that suffocates me all the time, I would. I’ve spent my life ignoring 90% of smells daily, just to not lose my head and now you want me to lower those carefully placed walls to see if a maniac child killer has more than one gun?”
“Yes.”
He sneered. “I don’t have to do that. I guarantee you that he has more guns.”
I shrugged. “We could still beat him.”
“Due to our healthy diet of coconut water and berries?” He got off the ground and gestured to my breakfast. “You should eat. Then, perhaps you will have a more logical—”
“After I eat, I’m heading north, to see where those prints lead. Maybe it’ll give me answers—maybe even a way off this island.”
Havoc crossed his arms over his chest. “You clearly enjoyed my hunting you down.”
I blushed. “What?”
“You loved it.”
“I. . .I am talking about getting out of here—”
“But, you want me to chase you down too—”
“No, Havoc, because you’re coming with me. There will be no need to run.”
“Is that what you think?”
“You’re going to come with me.”
“And why would I do that?”
“Because. . .I want you to. . .” I pursed my lips.
He studied me. “Don’t do that.”
“What am I doing?”
“Enticing me with your body while making your face innocent.”
“You’re the one that took my bra and panties off—”
“Then, perhaps you need to put them back on.”
“Come with me, Havoc.” I stepped forward. “Please.”
He sneered again. “The weather’s changing. I can smell rain on the horizon, and it’s going to be a heavy one.”
“And. . .if it rains, it will wash away the last evidence we have of those prints. We might lose our only lead!”
“We need to be smart about this. If the storm hits and we’re out there, we could get caught in it. We should head back south to the shelter and wait the storm out. Then, we can explore tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow might be too late. This could be our only chance to figure out what’s going on. Don’t you want to know who’s been here? What they want? If they know a way off this island?”
Havoc’s expression softened. “I already told you. . .I could stay on this island for the rest of my life as long as it is with you.”
My heart swelled, making it difficult to gather my thoughts.
He continued, “This island. . .it’s dangerous, but it’s also ours, in a way. We’ve made it through so much already. If we have to stay here, if this is where our story ends, then I’d rather face it together, on our terms.”
His words hit me like a wave, almost washing over my resolve but for sure leaving me momentarily speechless.
I wanted to argue, to push back, but there was a truth in his words that I couldn’t deny.
“Eat your food, Onyx. . .please.”
I let out a long breath. “But what if there’s more?”
“More?”
“What if this isn’t where our story ends? What if there’s a way off this island, a way to go back to the world we left behind?”
Havoc chuckled. “I left behind a bounty where deadly assassins were trying to kill me every day. I’m happy to say goodbye.”
“Well. . .I have my brother and. . .while I barely see or talk to him. . .I don’t want him to think that I am dead and now he is walking this Earth alone.”
Havoc turned his gaze to the ground.
“I know that. . .you don’t think it is important, but—”
“I didn’t say that, Onyx.”
“I’m just saying. . .I know you think that fucking and surviving wouldn’t be a bad life.” I smirked. “But, there’s more to life than fucking and surviving.”
He looked up at me. “Okay. You return to civilization, see your brother, and then what?”
I widened my eyes.
“What else is there, Onyx? Out there, in that world we left behind, what’s so much better than this island?”
“Everything.” I held my hands out. “The world out there is full of experiences, of life beyond just survival. There are cities, full of people with their own stories, their own lives. There are places we’ve never been, things we’ve never seen. . .together.”
He looked away and whispered, “Together.”
“Imagine us sharing those things together—traveling, learning, growing in ways we never could if we stayed here on this island.”
He shook his head. “All that comes with complications, with rules, expectations. Out there, we’d have to conform to their ways, their norms. Here, it’s just us. We make our own rules. We’re safe from bounties.”
“I know, but that freedom, it comes at a cost. We’re isolated here, Havoc. Cut off from everything. Sure, it’s beautiful, and there’s a simplicity to it that’s hard to find in the world, but it’s also… lonely.”
“We will have each other.”
“It’s just you and me, and while I know I will love being with you, I can’t help but think about everything we’re missing too. And this is my life. I don’t want to miss too many things.”
He closed the distance between us.
I tensed and looked up at him.
“Fine.” Havoc’s expression softened as he reached out and brushed a stray loc from my face. “I just need you to understand one thing.”
“And what is that?”
“Whether we leave this island or go back to the godforsaken civilization of other humans. . .you are mine.”
I smirked. “You made that fact known last night.”
“Damn right I did.” He yanked me forward, and our bodies melded together like two puzzle pieces finally finding their match as his lips devoured mine, igniting a fire within me.
When he pulled away, I whimpered.
He sneered at me. “You’re going to get us killed.”
“Does that mean we are going north?”
Sighing, he let go of me. “I hope you enjoy rain.”
“Maybe, we can get to the man before the rain.”
“Let’s hope.” He pointed to the berries. “Eat. You’ll need your strength.”
“Yes. Yes. I will eat.”