‘So molesting minors is okay where you come from?’
‘That’s a matter of opinion,’ Sebastian said wryly.
‘It’s a matter of the law.’
Sebastian sighed, his head still hanging limply. ‘You’re just another one of them. You rant on about the law and the rights of others, but you don’t see what’s going on in my head, the torture I deal with every day. Do you permanently pine for something you morally can’t have, huh? Have you ever considered suicide more times than you can count because nobody understands you? I’m guessing not.’
‘So make me,’ James implored. ‘Make me understand.’
Hocking a gob of phlegm to one side, the South African finally looked up. ‘In Johannesburg…I was in a maximum-security facility. I was a prisoner to the state. I’m sick, okay. I’m sick because society says I’m sick. I can’t help what I am, I was born this way. Adults repulse me. And so they lock me up. I can never be around children. But they have me all wrong, I never meant to hurt those girls, I meant only to love them. Nobody ever bothered to learn that. Instead they threw me into a rat-infested cell and left me to rot. Understand yet?’
‘Don’t confuse understanding with empathy, Sebastian. The girls you molested didn’t have a choice. They didn’t know of such things as sex or the kind of relationship you sought. All they knew was innocence, and you stole that from them with your perverted ideas of love.’
Sebastian sneered. ‘Preach to somebody who gives a shit.’
Realising he’d become sidetracked, James said, ‘None of this explains why you were on the plane.’
‘I’ve been in prison for thirteen years. I expected to die in there. I just considered myself lucky I wasn’t castrated.’
‘How did you escape custody?’
‘I didn’t. I was being transferred to New Zealand for my father’s funeral. I would’ve been back in my cell within a week. When the plane started down, the marshal removed my handcuffs so I could assume the crash position. It saved my life. Un-fortunately it didn’t save his.’
Rising to full height, James scanned the lagoon resignedly. This was getting him nowhere.
‘So tell me,’ he said, ‘where’s Elaine’s body? It has to be here somewhere.’
The South African frowned. ‘I told you, I had nothing to do with Elaine’s or anybody’s death.’
He slapped Sebastian hard across the cheek, flat palmed. He watched the man’s head snap to the side like a jack-in-a-box, watched his eyes swim. ‘Tell me the truth!’ he demanded. ‘Where have you hidden them?’
‘I don’t know what you want –’
James slapped him again. And again, this time leaving an angry red mark. Sebastian began to cry. ‘Please, I don’t know what you want me to say!’
‘Who have you killed, Sebastian?’
‘I haven’t killed any –’
‘Who have you killed?’
James was screaming his questions now, Sebastian cowering from the torrent of slaps, the crack of each one reverberating across the lagoon.
Crack.
Crack.
Crack.
‘Okay!’ he cried. ‘There was one girl. I couldn’t help it! Please!’
James rose to his feet unsteadily. ‘What…one girl?’
‘Just one!’
‘Where? Where was this?’
‘In Johannesburg! There was one girl who tried to run away. I chased her and she…she fell down some stairs. I’m sorry…’ he began to sob freely now. ‘…I never meant for it to happen. It was an accident, I swear.’
James took a step back, his coercion extracting unwanted information. Sebastian was a coward, a control freak, but it was obvious he wasn’t their man. He was a bully only of minors. He wouldn’t dare tackle someone his own size.
In the ghostly calm of the morning a resonance swam atop the still lagoon, pricking James’s ears – a brittle snap, as if somebody had stepped on a dry twig. He scanned the trees beyond the trio of waterfalls, the image of the light two nights ago driven to his mind’s forefront. Oli and Anthony were still out there, Eric and Sol too. Whoever stalked through the mist wasn’t far away.
‘Did you hear that?’ said James quietly.
‘I heard something.’
‘I should probably check it out.’
‘You don’t have to be the big shot all the time,’ Sebastian advised. ‘It’s probably nothing.’
Another brittle snap. This time it was no accident. Somebody was baiting them.
‘I don’t like this, Sebastian.’
‘So untie me, I’ll go with you.’
James rose to his feet. ‘Sit tight, I’ll see what’s going on.’
‘Don’t be stupid, James! You don’t know who’s out there.’
‘Shhh.’
‘James!’ Sebastian growled as he skulked away. ‘James!’
Approaching the far side of the lagoon, James tried to penetrate the thick wall of mist. Somebody was in there, he was certain. Tempted to call Oli’s name, he resisted. That’s what they did in the movies right before taking an axe to the head.
He pushed through the dense barrier, his arms outstretched. The cave at his back, he was the only thing standing between Abbey and Danielle and whoever was baiting him.
Groping blindly, he searched the mist until he found what had clearly been left for him. Sitting atop a splintered tree stump was the bloody organ Teri was desperately missing.
He approached cautiously, idle footsteps claiming reluctant ground. There was little fluid, only the savaged heart, maimed and shredded from the amateur removal. And then it came, the gory item doing its distracting job. Off to his right somebody broke from the mist, an ethereal shape charging him silently, covertly.
He had no time to react, no time to defend. Propelled backwards he caught the blunt force of something to the side of the head. He was tumbling to the ground as if in slow motion. He thought of Danielle, he thought of Abbey, her perfect lips touching his own, her soft breath against his mouth. In seconds he would be out cold. He knew it was coming, and he was helpless to prevent it. Whose hands was he in now, whose mercy?
God help him.
*
Drifting into consciousness it took a moment for Abbey to remember where she was. A curious fusty odour filtered through the cave, disturbed particles dancing above the dead fire. She and Danielle were alone.
Gently she prized herself away from the sleeping girl and lay her head down on a rolled-up sweater. Gripped by curiosity she left the tired Danielle to sleep and checked the other chambers – all vacant.
Outside she found Sebastian tied to a tree, sleeping head sagging forwards. The dense mist surprised her, the cooling vapour of a trillion raindrops. It hung levelly over the lagoon, conquering her visibility beyond the tree line. No birds were singing.
She was unsure why James had tied Sebastian up out here, and the rising sun was failing to provide answers. Growing anxious she rounded the lagoon and stared into the thick veil of impenetrable mist, the nearest tree branches seemingly powdered with soot, the leaves with charcoal.
Tentatively she toed the threshold of the vapour, probed it with an outstretched arm. She took another step forwards, the mist swallowing her whole. The deathly quiet began to seem unnatural, as if the fog had flattened her senses and shifted her into a two-dimensional universe. Where were the birds’ morning songs? Where was the voice of the jungle, hidden animals scurrying in the undergrowth? One more step. Her probing hands found another tree. ‘James?’ she whispered audibly. ‘Where are you?’
From somewhere off to her left, a movement caught her eye. ‘James? Is that you?’
Emerging from the fog, a hand gripped her wrist, the scream catching in her throat. She stumbled backwards onto her rump, the agonized face of James staring down at her.
‘James! Thank God, you scared the shit out of me.’
Clutching his head, he held out his free hand and helped her up.
‘What happened?’
/>
James shuffled her back to the lagoon and took a seat on one of the climbing boulders. His head was bleeding. ‘Got KO’d,’ he explained.
She knelt above him and examined the wound. It looked superficial. ‘Who by?’
‘Couldn’t tell you. I was checking out some strange sounds and suddenly I was hitting the deck.’
‘You didn’t see anything?’
‘Nothing,’ he said resignedly. ‘There are a bunch of people wandering around out there, it could’ve been any of them.’
‘Same thing happened to Anthony, remember? He was knocked out before I was abandoned in the chasm.’
James climbed to his feet. ‘Why didn't he kill me? I was out cold.’
Abbey stood perplexed. ‘Perhaps whoever it was heard me coming?’
James checked his watch. ‘I’ve been out for over half an hour. How long does it take to stick a knife in somebody’s chest? I don’t get it, Abbey, I was at his mercy. Why go to the trouble of taking me out and then…’
‘What is it?’
‘Oh no,’ he murmured. ‘It wasn’t me he was after!’
‘I don’t under –’
‘I was just an obstacle.’
‘What’re you –’
She watched James sprint to the edge of the lagoon. Sebastian was still there tied to the tree. Insidiously, comprehension dawned. Sebastian had not been sleeping when she passed.
James reached for the bound man’s shoulder, uttered his name. Then he tumbled backwards, a pathetic groan spilling from his lips.
‘What is it?’ Abbey muttered.
He met her eyes. Then he turned his attention back to the South African and pressed a hand to his forehead. Abbey recoiled.
Sebastian’s throat had been slashed from ear to ear.
*
‘What the hell is this, man?’
In the time it had taken for Abbey to throw up, and James to cut Sebastian’s corpse free, Oli approached from the direction of the beach looking storm swept. He was alone, and if his gait was anything to go by, he was carrying neither supplies nor good news.
‘Is that…Sebastian? …Oh my God.’
Nobody answered, and Oli seemed to physically diminish as James marched to him, face carved out of granite. ‘You have three seconds to tell me where you’ve been…’ he demanded.
‘What do you –’
‘Two seconds!’
‘I’ve been searching for the others,’ Oli squirmed. ‘Honestly! Where do you think I’ve been?’
‘Don’t lie to me, Oli!’ He gripped the student by the jacket and slammed him against the rocks. ‘I’m sick of all the deception. Somebody around here is going to tell me what’s going on!’
Abbey watched as the tears splashed down Oli’s cheeks. ‘James…’ she began.
‘Stay out of it, Abbey! This little bastard is going to tell me exactly where he was half an hour ago.’ Then to Oli, ‘You hear that, kid? Speak up!’
The student shrank back as far as the rocks would allow. ‘James, please, I don’t know what you’re talking about! I’ve been back to the camp, I’ve…I’ve…gone through the clearing, I’ve been all the way to the north of the island, that’s it.’
‘I left the cave fifty minutes ago! Ten minutes later I was attacked, knocked unconscious, and Sebastian’s had his throat cut. You were unaccounted for. So, try again!’
Oli’s tears were free-flowing now, his afro matted and straggled, his skin still pallid from illness. He tried to force out some words but nothing came. In the end, James dropped him to the floor and backed away.
‘It wasn’t me,’ Oli sobbed. ‘I couldn’t…I couldn’t do something like this…’
As if understanding the student’s pain, the birds had finally broken into song. Atop the lagoon Danielle had appeared at the cave’s entrance, Anthony standing by her side, his hand resting on her shoulder. True to their quiet natures, neither the birth-marked man nor girl uttered a word.
‘Don’t bring Danielle down here,’ James called out.
Anthony floated gracefully down the boulders leaving Danielle at the cave’s entrance. Unlike Oli, he didn’t look like he’d been wandering around in a storm all night.
James eyed his marked face curiously. ‘When’d you get back?’
Anthony nodded at Sebastian. ‘What happened to him?’
James turned to see Abbey flinch. ‘Maybe you can tell us,’ James suggested. ‘Because I have to say, you don’t look the least bit sorry.’
‘Why would I be sorry?’ Anthony questioned steadily. ‘The man was a child molester. I don’t lose sleep over dead child molesters.’
Another glance to Abbey. ‘You knew he was a paedophile?’
Anthony massaged the bridge of his nose. ‘There’s always somebody watching,’ he muttered cryptically.
‘I don’t understand,’ Abbey said. ‘Why haven’t you said anything?’
Anthony shrugged.
Following a moment of apprehensive quiet, Oli croaked out a seemingly unanswerable question. He wanted to know what they were supposed to do next. James didn’t have the faintest idea, and his tenuous grip of leadership seemed to be sliding further. Expectant faces looked to him for a response. After all, he was the fall guy, wasn’t he, the one who people leaned on when it suited them? ‘Why are you all looking at me, huh? Does nobody else here have a fucking brain? You people only turn to me when things blow up in your faces. You’ve been content to shun my advice since the plane went down, and now, once again, you’re looking to me for answers.’
Lines of sadness formed around Abbey’s eyes. ‘James, we only –’
‘You only did what suited you! All of you, and look at us now…’
‘That’s an interesting thesis, James,’ Anthony said clearly. ‘At what stage did you appoint yourself saviour?’
‘You’re missing the point.’
‘I don’t think I am.’
‘So break it down, Anthony. You seem to know what’s going on around here.’
‘Death follows you around, boy. I don’t have any allegiance to you. You’re a jinx, a goddamn curse, but most of all, you are superfluous.’ Hoisting the bag back onto his shoulder, he added calmly, ‘You think I’d stay with you now?’ and began towards the trees.
Speechless, James reeled from the savage attack. Gibson Sommerfield’s assurances seeped into his head in slow rhythmic drips, every fallacy that had ever left the pilot’s mouth. He watched Anthony leave, stalking his black persona into the mist, as if it left a trail of tar in its wake.
He took a seat shakily on the nearest boulder and examined his hands. Anthony was right. He had failed, and his palms were stained with blood.
55
‘Don’t listen to him, James,’ Abbey said. ‘He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.’
Following Anthony’s desertion, Oli climbed the rocks and led the confused Danielle back into the cave to collect her belongings. Only Abbey and James remained by the lagoon, emotions raw. Crouching into James’s view, she watched his forlorn gaze lying fixatedly upon the palms of his hands. His absent expression left a broken frigidity in the pit of her stomach, though she dared not turn away.
‘James?’
No reply.
‘James, please,’ she urged. ‘I can’t do this alone. Don’t abandon me now.’
‘What’s the point?’ he said quietly, hands still in focus. ‘Anthony’s right. I don’t know what I’m doing. How naive was I to think we could wait this out?’
‘Anthony wasn’t right, James! There are still three people here who need you to get them through this.’
‘Get them through what? Don’t you get it, nobody’s coming for us. They would’ve been here by now. I kept telling myself help was on the horizon, that if we could just ride out the storms and find food, it would just be a matter of time. Now people are dead, others are missing. I’m out of my depth here, Abbey. How am I supposed to make this right?’
‘Wow,’ she uttered. ‘Si
nce when did this become about you?’
‘What?’
‘Look at you. Pitiful and washed up, balancing on the words of a man who’s played no part in keeping us going…’ she paused to lift his chin. ‘Where’s my guardian angel, huh? Where’s the guy who’s kept me safe for weeks without me even knowing it? Where’s the guy who braved the currents to pull Teri from the sinking wreckage, the guy who’s…who’s out snorkelling for drugs for a dying survivor? He’s the man we need, not this…this apparition.’
James went back to his hands. ‘You thought of me as your guardian angel?’
Abbey pursed her lips. ‘The question is, are you going to continue in your post, or are you sticking with this new pussy persona?’
He smiled.
‘Better,’ she grinned. ‘So get your arse in gear, we have work to do.’
‘Anthony’s going to get himself killed out there alone,’ he said reluctantly.
‘I know, and that’s why I have to chase him down. He’s frightened, James. Frightened and confused, and you were in his sights when he felt like letting it out. If I can find him I can talk to him, bring him back.’
‘No, Abbey.’ He reached out and touched her face. ‘I can’t let you become the next missing person.’
‘We don’t have a choice,' she murmured. 'In every second that passes, Anthony puts more and more distance between us. Get the others back to the beach. I’ll see you at the camp before the sun sets.’
‘Take this.’ He handed her a small penknife. ‘It’s not much, but I’ll feel better knowing you have it.’
She palmed the knife and held his gaze as he brushed the hair from her face.
‘I can’t lose you, Abbey. Not now.’
‘You won’t,’ she uttered. ‘I’m coming back.’
He leaned forwards and kissed her forehead, his lips pressing against the taut skin longingly. Then she stood and turned, the barrier of mist looming over her indestructible resolve. Before she vanished, she glanced over her shoulder and caught a fleeting movement in James’s lips, his silent words unquestionable.
Hunting Abigail: Fight or Flight? For Abigail, it's both! Page 31
