Savage Island

by Bryony Pearce

  “You’re telling me that one of us…”

  “It’s the only reason we got into the lottery in the first place.” I closed my arms around my waist and looked at my brother. “Isn’t it, Will?”

  Lizzie put a shaking hand to her mouth. Then she faced Carmen. “Car, it’s you. You’re the one he’s after. You killed that guy.”

  “His name was Reece.” Carmen hung her head.

  Lizzie retreated further from her. “A psychopath doesn’t feel anything – isn’t that right?” Tears ran freely down her face. “It’s all empty charm and, what did Gold say – manipulation?” Lizzie sobbed. “Was our whole friendship a lie?”

  “No!” For a second Carmen looked as if she was going to get up and go to Lizzie, but then she slumped back down. “Dios. Maybe it is me. Would I know if it was me?” She looked at the giant, grinning face still frozen on the monitors.

  “You’d know.” I was still watching Will. I didn’t dare take my eyes from him. “Lizzie, it isn’t Carmen.”

  “It has to be,” Lizzie insisted.

  “It’s not.”

  “Ben,” Will said, warning in his voice.

  “They deserve to know.” I bit my thumb.

  “Know what?” Grady had been watching Lizzie and Carmen, now he turned to me. “What do you know that we don’t?”

  “Carmen doesn’t have a psychopathic personality. Of course, she doesn’t. She was just pushed to breaking. Any one of us could’ve done what she did.”

  “I don’t think—” Lizzie began.

  “Well, you’re just so perfect, chica,” Carmen spat.

  “It’s not Carmen,” I said again. “I know which of us passed Gold’s test.”

  It was Grady who first turned to face Will. “Will?”

  Will folded his arms. “Yes?”

  “You’re … a psycho?”

  “I prefer to think of it as emotionally advantaged, Grady.” Will gave his odd half-smile.

  “You can’t be serious.” Lizzie returned to my side and put her hand on my arm. “Will’s your brother, Ben! Why would you say that about him? I thought you looked after him.”

  I snorted bitterly. “I’m not only looking after Will. I’ve never been only looking after Will.” I put my head in my hands. “I’ve been looking out for everyone around him.”

  Lizzie froze. “I don’t get it.”

  I looked at Will. “I’m sorry.”

  “They deserve to know, I suppose.” Will spread his hands. “Ben’s my … cultural canary.” He flicked his hair out of his eyes. “I copy his behaviour to seem ‘normal’. With him around, I fit in.” He snorted. “I reckon I’ve learned all I need to now though, Ben. I don’t need you any more. And if Gold comes through, I won’t need you ever again.”

  “But you’re my friend,” Grady cried.

  “I’ll be honest, Grady.” Will exhaled. “I don’t think I feel any more for you than I do for the guy who runs the corner shop.”

  “Or me, or Mum.” I dropped my hands to my sides. “He likes having us around, I think. We’re convenient and useful.” I blinked. “I’ve never asked though, Will. Do you … love us at all?”

  Will shrugged.

  “When your dad left…” Lizzie took my hand. “Will’s the reason?”

  I blinked my eyes clear and nodded. “Dad wanted to get help for the family, but Mum wouldn’t even consider it. I think … maybe she’s the same as Will. She knew he’d get good at hiding who he is the older he got – after all, she did. Plus, if he saw a professional, how would it make her look? The woman who gave birth to the next Fred West.”

  “You exaggerate,” Will groaned theatrically. “I’ve never killed anybody or even tried to. Most psychopaths don’t go that far, you know.”

  I smiled at him, a weak twitch of my lips. “But you’ve thought about it,” I said. “How many times have you ended one of us in your head. Or Mum?”

  Lizzie wrapped her arms around me. “How could you have lived like that?”

  “He’s my brother. There’ve been a few … incidents, but mostly I’m pretty sure he’d rather manipulate me than hurt me.”

  “That’s true.” Will folded his arms. “Also, prison doesn’t have much appeal.”

  “A-and you aren’t planning on killing one of us now?” Lizzie clung on to me.

  Will wrinkled his nose. “I’m still thinking about it.”

  Lizzie spun back to Gold. “We’re not stupid, you know.” She wiped her tears from her cheeks. “Say Will does kill one of us – you’re not going to let the rest of the team go. You’ve been monologuing like a Bond villain. We know what that means.” She choked on a sob. “You’re not going to let any of us go home.” She turned to Will. “Ben’s been helping you all these years. You owe him.”

  “I’m not sure what you’re getting at.” Will’s grey eyes pinned her.

  Lizzie was almost hysterical. “We have to work together to get out of here, not kill each other for his amusement.” She gestured wildly at the monitors. “Even if Gold’s offer is real, there’ll only be one survivor – whatever you choose, whoever you pick on, Ben dies. Isn’t that right, Mr Gold?” She panted, drained.

  Gold’s eyes crinkled. “That seems obvious.”

  “Win or die…” Grady murmured.

  I caught Will’s eye. “I was wrong before. There has to be another way out of here – a way for the winner to leave safely without going past the other teams.”

  “Another way out.” Will nodded. “Yes. But how does that help us?”

  “There’s still the plane,” I whispered. “The radio. If we can find a way out of here, I can—”

  Gold laughed. “You saw that, did you, Torben? Did you like my stage setting?”

  “Stage setting?” Lizzie stepped back into the circle of my arms. She was cold against my chest.

  “Yes, of course. Once I have my winner, the rest of you will be gassed, your deaths staged. I’m already taking out the team at the jetty. Losers. Any-hoo, your plane crashed on its way off the island. It’s very tragic. Tell you what, I’ll even donate money to a charity in your names. What do you think?” He leaned closer to the camera on his end and his nostrils loomed. “You seem like a Cancer Research kind of girl.”

  “You can’t do this,” Grady pleaded. “There has to be another way – some sort of deal we could make. What if we all come and work for you? OK, we’re not all psychos, but surely you need more employees, good ones.”

  Gold sighed, as if he was genuinely sad. “Grady, Grady, Grady. I’m sorry – but what guarantee would I have that one of you wouldn’t talk?”

  “Who’d believe us?” Grady was animated now. “I mean, you’ve got the money and power to cover this up, right? We’d just be more conspiracy nuts.”

  “I’m sorry.” Gold shook his head. “It doesn’t seem financially viable and the risk–reward ratio doesn’t work for me.”

  “Pay us off! We’ll sign anything.”

  “Not going to work, I’m afraid.” Gold sighed.

  I sensed Will drawing nearer and I tightened my arms around Lizzie.

  “She brought us here.” Will pointed. “This is Lizzie’s fault.”

  “What are you saying?” I tried to straighten; I felt like one enormous bruise.

  “Give her to me.”

  Lizzie tensed as I flinched. “No. I don’t think so.”

  “Ben.” Will was at my side now. “Without her, we wouldn’t be here. Carmen would have her hand, so it’s her responsibility to get us out, don’t you agree?”

  “I don’t—”

  “You know all about responsibility, Ben. This is hers. Just let go.”

  Lizzie squirmed, but I held her close.

  Will lowered his voice to a whisper. “Once I’ve won, I’ll tell Gold I won’t work without you – that I need you and Carmen to function. We’ll get out of here, all three of us.”

  “Hey!” Grady snapped.

  Will didn’t even look at him. “What do you sa
y, Ben? Brother?” He was smiling now, charming. Disarming. Leaning close. “You have to protect me. It’s how Mother brought you up.”

  “You said you didn’t need me any more,” I rasped.

  “I was wrong. I need you to do this one small thing. That’s all.”

  “Small?” Lizzie struggled, but my hands had locked around her and she couldn’t escape.

  “I love her,” I said in a small voice.

  “And me?” I was mesmerized by Will’s eyes. “I’m your brother. I’m more important.”

  Will was right. It didn’t matter that I loved Lizzie, he was more important. I’d been trained to think so since the day he was born. Mum’s voice filled my ears.

  Watch the baby.

  Take care of your brother.

  Look after Will.

  Bring him back safely.

  It’ll be your fault if something happens.

  I was so tired and it was so hard to think, to argue. If Will said this was our only way out, then it was.

  But … I didn’t want to lose Lizzie. My fists clenched and she whimpered; her voice sounded very far away.

  “It’s genetic, Ben,” Will whispered. “If it’s in Mother and me, it has to be in you, too.” He was so close now that his breath touched my ear, warm against my skin. “It’s easy. It’ll be like she’s falling asleep. She’s tired. Don’t you think she’s had enough of fighting?” His hands were across me now, reaching for Lizzie’s throat. “Just don’t think about what’s happening. It’s my turn to look after you.”

  His biceps tensed as he touched her neck. I stood still, frozen by indecision. Should I stop him? Could I stop him?

  Lizzie had started to fight. She was kicking my shins and shouting my name. I hardly felt her, barely heard her. I kept my eyes on Will’s.

  “Remember how good it felt up there, Ben?” He squeezed, and Lizzie started to make choking noises. “Remember how good it felt to fight together?”

  This wasn’t real. I was dreaming, floating.

  “B-Ben.” Lizzie’s voice was reedy, gasping. I didn’t look at her, couldn’t think about what Will was doing. What we were doing.

  “Too late!” There was a crowing screech from behind us. “You thought you could cut me out, but it’s too late!”

  Will spun round, his eyes released mine and I gasped. His hands fell from Lizzie’s neck.

  Suddenly the world rushed back. Lizzie punched me and struggled free, her face pale, her blue eyes unfocused. Her knees folded and she fell to the floor, her hands around her throat.

  “Oh no, Lizzie, I didn’t mean…” What had I done? She would never forgive me. I’d never forgive myself.

  I reached for her, but she looked past me and screamed.

  I turned as if I was in treacle, the whole world slow and thick and strange.

  Will was already on the floor, his arms around Carmen; her head was lolling back and she was staring at the ceiling. Like a broken doll, she didn’t blink.

  “What happened to Car?” My voice was a little boy’s.

  “You were too slow,” Grady crowed. “I’m the winner, right, Mr Gold? You have to give the prize to me. I’ll be in your Illuminati organization. I’ll be the one with all the answers. Those guys are the losers – right?”

  “What have you done?” Will howled. His tears were falling on to Carmen’s hair. It was almost more shocking than anything else I’d seen.

  “She was done for, anyway.” Grady retreated to the back of the room, the bloody penknife dropping from his hand. “What was her life going to be like after this? And she was a killer anyway. She deserved it.”

  “How could you?” Lizzie lurched after him, swinging.

  I swayed in the centre of the room and addressed the monitors. “But … you didn’t want Grady,” I whispered. “You wanted Will.”

  “Oh really, Ben.” Gold’s smile was as wide as his face. “You didn’t think there was just one psychopath in each team, did you?”

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Will’s wail shivered through the room. I’d never heard him make a sound like it. Lizzie stopped hitting Grady and tried to get to Carmen, but Will blocked her with an outstretched arm and shoved her sprawling.

  He raised his face to the monitors. “You must have a medical team on standby – send them in. Fix her!”

  Gold ignored him.

  My mind kept flicking back over the past three days, trying to understand. How was Grady anything like Will? Slowly, scenes gained clarity. No, I realized, Grady wasn’t like Will. He was better. Somehow, he’d got me to carry his rucksack for him. He was the one who stayed safely with Carmen while Will and I took the risks. He’d got out of every fight, avoided every difficulty. We hadn’t known Grady in Primary – he’d learned how to act long before he met us. Now he bumbled his way along, faking ineptitude, handing around those bags of sweets. All he cared about were his precious conspiracies.

  Conspiracies… I kept staring at Carmen. I couldn’t see any blood. Where was she hurt? I blinked. This didn’t feel real. I caught my breath and took care to hide my face from the monitors. Of course – this wasn’t real! Will was faking his grief.

  We’d fooled the door with the fake body parts, now Grady had fooled Gold with a fake murder. Will must have seen it instantly. Grady had come up with a solution. All we had to do was wait until someone came to take the winner to safety and we could rush them.

  Will cried out again and pulled Carmen’s right hand to his cheek. When he released her fingers, it dropped to the floor with a thud.

  Her acting was amazing. Maybe Carmen couldn’t be a vet any more, but she could get on TV. Will was laying it on a bit thick though. Gold wouldn’t believe this outpouring of emotion any more than I did.

  I limped over to Will and put my hand on his shoulder, but Will shrugged it off violently.

  “Ease off a bit,” I whispered, hoping the microphones in the room weren’t too sensitive. “He won’t buy it if you go over the top.”

  Slowly Will lifted his eyes to mine, confusion in his expression. “Buy what?”

  “This.” I gestured at Carmen and put my lips to his ear. “You’re hamming it up too much.” I pulled back and gave Will a tug. “Come on, bro, leave her be.”

  Will said nothing. Instead he lifted his left hand and showed me the palm. It was covered in blood.

  I frowned. “Where’s that coming from?”

  I looked down and saw where he had been pressing on her chest. I jerked backwards as if I’d been stung. There was blood on her shirt – fresh blood. Without Will’s hand applying pressure, it was spreading, like an oil stain, over her chest and stomach.

  “C-Car?” I started to tremble.

  Lizzie glared poison at Grady. “You killed Carmen.”

  “She deserved it.”

  “You’ve killed us,” Lizzie choked.

  “Yeah, well, it’s not like you ever did anything for me. Ben and Will were going to leave me out of their plan. They were trying to kill you a minute ago!”

  “I wouldn’t have…” My hands were on Carmen’s chest now, helping Will as he tried to staunch the blood. I couldn’t feel a heartbeat. She was already gone, but neither of us could stop.

  “Yes, you would,” Grady snapped. “You were.”

  “What about me?” Lizzie clutched her elbows. “I was your friend.”

  “Not one of you was my friend,” Grady yelled. “You only let me join you for Duke of Edinburgh because my dad made you. You laugh at me.” He calmed suddenly, as if a switch had been flicked and he was the same old Grady. “You never thought anything of me. Stupid conspiracy theorist. You never thought I’d be the winner.” He shrugged. “Well, here I am. I’m going to be rich and powerful and I’ll know everything.”

  Lizzie closed her eyes. “I liked you, Grady. We all did.”

  “Liar.” Grady’s voice was mild.

  Finally, Will abandoned his efforts to save Carmen and got to his feet.

  “I had plans f
or Carmen,” he said. And for the second time I heard true emotion in his voice – cold fury. “She was mine. You don’t mess with what’s mine. She was in my future.”

  “Well, now you don’t have a future.” Grady looked at the monitors. “Mr Gold, I’ve done what you asked.” Sweat burst on to his upper lip. “Aren’t you going to come and get me?”

  The monitor remained quiet.

  “He’s still letting this play out,” Will said. “Aren’t you, Mr Gold? After all, there’s more than one psychopath in the room.” He offered his odd half-smile. Then he looked at me and Lizzie. “I’ve thought of a way we can get out of here.”

  “What?” Grady held up his hands. “Now listen – I did what you asked.” He was still appealing to the monitors. “You offered a deal and I took it.”

  Will was looking at the two of us. “Right now, Gold has Grady. But if he doesn’t have him…”

  “Then we’ll be back where we were a minute ago,” Lizzie croaked. “Your hands around my neck. Don’t think I’ve forgotten!”

  Will shook his head firmly. “No. If we all kill Grady together, then we all win. He has to take the three of us.”

  “I’m not sure he has to do anything,” I muttered. I was exhausted.

  Will focused on Lizzie. “If anyone deserves to die, it’s Grady. You know what he is now. See what he did to my Carmen? He’s just standing there, waiting for Gold to take him away and kill the rest of us. Are you OK with that?”

  Grady was backing away now, edging to the corner of the room. “Mr Gold!”

  “You think there’s an afterlife, Grady? You think you’ll find the answers you want there?” Will stalked him, kicking the bloody penknife into the far corner as he passed it.

  Lizzie dragged herself to her feet, her hands curled into claws. “Do you still feel like a winner?”

  I stared at my own bloody hands. If I didn’t join in, didn’t help them kill Grady, I’d be next. Will was right, there was only one way out. I looked at Carmen. She lay facing the wall, her back to the rest of us, as if in death, she chose not to see us.