“Strange, isn’t it?” said a voice from behind. Alex jumped to his feet and spun around. His hand shot up to his back toward the grip of his sword instantly. He found that the one who had spoken was a tall shadowy figure of a man, standing completely obscured in shadow.
“Oh, it’s just you,” Alex sighed, realizing it was Jack.
“Don’t sound so disappointed,” replied Jack. “Listen carefully to these instructions I am about to give you. I do not have much time. When you continue to walk, I don’t want you to rest during the night. You need to keep going and be on high alert. I want you to stop when you come to a clearing, and a little to the west of that clearing will be a rocky cliff. I want you to stop there and camp there for a number of nights. Each night, I want you to take turns keeping watch. Then, we’ll discuss when I am to be introduced to the others and show my face to you. I feel it is time to become involved in this all the way.”
Alex stared at Jack for a moment. “Why so sudden?” But before he could answer, Alex heard a rustle from behind. Jack quickly disappeared, and Alex turned around. The tent started to rustle and move until Brooke and Nicole jumped out, followed by Mark. They all landed in the dirt, immediately jumping up and running around, wildly screaming, “snake!” Once they had calmed down, Alex asked, “What in the world are you doing? You look ridiculous!”
“Shush!” whispered Nicole. They all stared at the tent, waiting until David emerged. He was holding his arm out in front of him and a snake that was mainly brown with black specks all over it was clinging to his arm like it was a branch. David was gawking at the snake and smiling broadly while giggling.
“David. Why is the snake clinging to you?” asked Brooke cautiously.
“Look at it! Isn’t it awesome? I’ve always loved snakes, I read about them a lot, but I’ve never been up so close to one before! Haha! This is so cool!” David blabbed excitedly. He continued to walk toward the group, but they stepped back. “What’s wrong? Is something behind me?” David spun around in a full circle, surveying his surroundings.
“Nope, perfectly fine. Just, please, keep that snake away from us,” Nicole answered in a hushed voice.
“Why? Are you scared?” asked David in a taunting voice. He stepped closer, his mouth twisting into a wicked grin. He was only a few steps away from Nicole. Nicole began to twitch as David stepped closer with the snake outstretched toward her. The snake hissed, and as it did saliva dripped out of its mouth and it slowly opened, revealing long sharp fangs. Nicole turned and ran toward a tree and hid behind it.
“Come on, David! Please put the snake down! I’m terrified of them!” shouted Nicole.
“All right! Fine.” David walked over to the opposite side of the tree from Nicole and slowly squatted down to let the snake slither off his arm and into the forest.
“Guys, listen. New plan,” Alex said once they had all regrouped. “When night comes around again, we aren’t going to stop and make camp. I went into a tree and I saw some sort of clearing that we could probably get to in a few days or so, I’m not quite sure. It looks close. Now that we know we have some oil lamps, traveling at night won’t be as hard,” Alex explained, trying his best not to sound as though he was bossing them around.
“It makes sense, but why are you bringing this up all of a sudden and why through the whole night?” Nicole asked.
“We could get there sooner, and it could be a good place to spend some time re-grouping,” Alex replied, shrugging.
No one objected terribly after that, so they all packed up the tents and headed off. As they marched, Alex felt an unusual gust of wind fly past him. Each time he felt a gust, he looked up at the trees or down at the ground, to see if any of the leaves or dust moved because of the strong wind. The only thing that moved was his hair, which had grown a bit long, and he was constantly brushing it out of his eyes. When night finally fell, they pulled out the lamp and continued southward.
TWENTY-THREE
During the evening of the second day, Alex could barely make out the clearing through the trees that Jack had spoken of. He broke into a sprint and ran up to the clearing to find it much bigger than he had imagined. He envisioned it as several acres wide. Instead, the clearing was a sprawling circular field of grass, encompassing the size of several athletic fields. Surrounding the field was the forest, circling it on all sides except for the west side, where a tall, rocky cliff jutted out high into the horizon.
Alex dropped his backpack where he stood and dashed up to the edge of the cliff. A strong wind hit him in the face, tossing his hair back and brushing against his face. Alex took in a deep breath and sucked in the clean and refreshing air. Beyond the cliff lay a beautiful, vast ocean stretching out into the beyond. The setting sun sat perfectly on the water, lighting up the sky with various shades of orange, yellow, pink, and purple, reflecting onto the ocean, causing it to look like the ocean was part of the sky itself. His friends joined him soon after, and by then he was sitting on the edge, staring at the ocean.
“Whoa! Now that’s a sight!” David exclaimed.
“The colors are wonderful!” Brooke shouted. Her voice carried along the wind. David walked over to sit down, but his foot slipped and he fell on his behind on to the ledge. Rocks tumbled down beneath his feet and splashed into the water. Moments passed before they realized Alex had caught David from falling by throwing his arm across his torso mom-style. His eyes hadn’t moved from where they were fixed on the horizon.
“Careful. That’s a 160-foot drop, and at the bottom are multiple large and very sharp rocks with strong tides slamming against them. That would rip you apart,” Alex explained. Once David caught his breath, the others sat down beside them and took in the view. “We are going to have to camp out here for a while. Maybe a week?”
“What? Why? What’s with all of the sudden plans?” asked Brooke.
“Well, there’s someone I want you to meet that’s going to rendezvous with us here,” Alex replied.
“How could a person possibly get here? We are trapped on this island. If people could get here, then we wouldn’t still be here! We’d be at home in our cozy warm beds drinking hot chocolate and cookies, not sleeping on the ground and drinking water from whatever stream we can find or eating birds Alex slices down or fruit from trees!” Brooke yelled. She turned back around toward the ocean and clutched the rock’s edge beneath them, breathing deeply and stiffening her shoulders.
“Somebody’s not happy,” David whispered to Mark and Alex. Alex ignored him.
He explained, “Turns out he’s actually from here. He’s not from the mainland. He might even help us off this island if we’re lucky.”
“Sorry.” Brooke relaxed her shoulders and brought her arms to her side with a sigh. “When’s this person supposed to show up?” she asked.
“Don’t know.” Alex leaned back.
“Seriously? You don’t know? So we’re just supposed to wait here? How do we know this person’s even gonna show up?” asked Brooke.
“He’ll show,” Alex said. “At night we’ll take turns keeping watch.”
“Why are we just going to start keeping watch all of a sudden?” asked Nicole. “We didn’t before.”
“He doesn’t trust the island,” Alex replied.
“Who’s he?” asked David.
“You’ll see,” Alex said simply. Alex stood up and walked back to where he left his backpack. He picked up the backpack and yelled to the others. “Hurry up! Where do you want to set up camp?” he called. They all stood up and jogged over to where Alex stood.
“How about the middle of this field? Facing the cliff, so we can look out and see the ocean.” suggested Brooke. None of them disagreed, so they set to work. When it was finally time for everyone to sleep, Alex decided to take first watch. He paced back and forth in front of the newly made fire pit waiting for Jack. It wasn’t until a full thirty minutes passed before
he finally showed up.
“I apologize for being so late. I had to make sure they were all fully asleep before I could show myself,” Jack explained from his Shadow.
“It’s fine, I’m not impatient,” Alex replied sitting down on a nearby rock. “So? What now?”
“I think it’s about time your friends know who I am. But first I think you should see who I am before I reveal myself to them. How are they supposed to trust someone who they’ve never seen?” asked Jack.
“I trusted you. I still do,” Alex pointed out. “Anyway, when are we going to introduce you to the others?”
“In two days. You are getting deeper into the island every step you take. The farther you go into the island the more of them there are.” Alex was about to ask what he was talking about for the second time when Mark walked out of the tent.
“Who are you talking to?” asked Mark, rubbing his eyes.
“No one. Just me. What’s up?” Alex asked.
“You’ve been out here for a while. I thought you might want to sleep,” Mark replied. “I can take over.” Alex looked back where Jack was and saw that he already left. Why was he not surprised?
“Yeah, sure.” Alex walked back to the tent where David was sleeping. He lay on top of his sleeping bag and stared up at the roof of the tent watching as shadows of the trees danced around in the wind until he fell asleep.
Alex woke up to light shining through a crack in the door of the tent and non-stop laughter outside. He sat up to see that David and Mark were no longer in the tent. Alex walked outside and shielded his eyes from the bright sunlight.
“Good morning, sleepy-head!” greeted Brooke.
“You were out cold last night!” said Mark.
“G’morning.” Alex ignored Mark. “What are you all doing?”
“Just talking,” answered Nicole.
“When did you all wake up?” Alex asked.
“About two hours ago, I think,” said David. “It would help if I had a way of telling time. Too bad my watch wasn’t waterproof.”
“I didn’t wake you up because I didn’t want to bother you,” Mark told Alex.
“Thanks. Did you eat breakfast?” Alex yawned.
“Oh yeah, well, about that. We ran out,” Nicole scratched her head.
“I guess it’s about time. It’s been a while since we gathered food. I can go look for some.” Alex walked off toward the woods and waved back to the others.
“Hey! Wait! I’m coming with you!” Alex turned around to see David running after him. “It’s probably best if I come with you! You know, just in case you get lost?”
“I. Don’t. Get. Lost,” Alex declared with mock anger. Alex and David stared at each other for what seemed like forever until Alex finally said, “Fine. You can come.”
“Yeah!” David shouted while jumping in the air and pumping his fists.
“If you’re coming, though, you really need to calm down. I’m too tired to deal with your excitement right now.”
David immediately stopped jumping and brought his arms to his side.
“I completely understand!” David raised one of his hands and saluted.
“Uh huh.” Alex nodded accusingly. When they got to the edge where the woods and the grassy field met David, turned and waved to the others.
“Come on,” Alex urged, waving his hand and gesturing towards the woods. David sprinted into the woods, slowly cracking a smile.
“Don’t act like you got away with anything,” Alex showed his annoyance.
“Why did you want to go alone, anyway?” asked David. Alex ignored him and sped up. “Hello? Why are you so annoyed?” David desperately struggled to catch up. Alex stopped and turned to face David. His face was red from trying to keep up and he was gasping for air. Alex sighed.
“I just like my alone time. And silence,” Alex turned forward and started walking again.
“Oh, I see. You could’ve just said that.” David was still struggling to keep up with Alex and by now was jogging. “How are you so calm?”
“What do you mean?” Alex asked.
“Well… when we first met and I almost fell down the stairs, you caught me without even a flinch. And when I almost slipped off the cliff, you didn’t show any sign of emotion. And when the monster thingy attacked, you weren’t frozen in place by fear like the rest of us.” David had started to run by now. Alex stopped again and this time turned only his head to look at him.
“Your point is?”
“My point is you are extremely calm in situations that normal people would be scared to death in!” David thrust his hands into the air waving at nothing.
“What do you mean by ‘normal people’? Aren’t I normal?” Alex asked a little too loudly. He began to walk again, but this time quickened his pace.
“No, it’s just that…well…” David paused. “I think it’s awesome!” Alex stopped dead in his tracks. This surprised David, causing him to trip over a rock and fall. Alex reached out and grabbed the back of his shirt, suspending him with his arms hanging and with a surprised look on his face.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Alex asked, cocking his head to the side, otherwise expressionless. David shook his head snapping him out of his silence.
“See? This is exactly what I mean!” he shouted. Alex let go of David and let him stumble into a tree. Once he regained balance, he walked back over to him and grabbed onto Alex’s sleeve before he could start walking.
“I’m glad we’re friends, Alex,” David said, his face now serious. Alex ignored him, and he continued walking, except this time he slowed his pace to a speed that David could handle. They walked in silence for a while until finally Alex said, “I guess… I am, too.”
“Woah! Hey, look! Jackpot!” David pointed up toward the canopy, and Alex followed his finger to see what he was pointing at. The canopy was full of bright ripe fruit that shone brightly against the bits of sunlight seeping through the trees.
“Let’s go get some food!” David ran to the nearest tree and started to climb. Alex watched as he climbed the tree until he saw the fruit. There was a broken branch just a few feet away from David, and if he were to step on it it would snap. Then his foot was on it. He couldn’t pull up or go any farther or he would fall.
“David!” Alex ran up and jumped from branch to branch when David started to fall. Alex grabbed him by the arm and yanked him up into the tree before David could fall out of his reach.
“Seriously?” Alex asked.
“Heh… Thanks. That was scary. We should probably get going.” David started to climb again and Alex sighed.
“Careful,” Alex said. They both filled up their empty backpacks they brought along up to the brim then closed them up.
“So, how are we gonna get down? Just drop the bags, then climb down?” David held his bag of fruit out in front of him as if getting ready to drop it.
“No. That might ruin the fruit. Just sling it on your back and climb down. Don’t fall this time,” Alex scolded. David laughed the whole way down.
“Are you done laughing now? It wasn’t even that funny.”
“Sorry, It’s really embarrassing. I tend to laugh when I do something stupid to hide my embarrassment. Lets just head back now.” David started to walk back to the camp, and that’s when Alex thought back to what he said earlier. He was...glad? To be friends….with me? Alex thought. Not something I’ve heard in awhile. Alex followed David, keeping a distance away from him so he wouldn’t be tempted to talk to him. When they finally arrived, the others cheered.
“Yay! Our heroes!” Nicole shouted sarcastically. “I’m starving!”
David and Alex walked over, pretending they didn’t hear her and dropped the bags of fruit down. Alex picked up an apple and walked over to the edge of the cliff, sat down, and stared off into the distance. He was still pondering what Da
vid had said when a memory flooded back to him.
TWENTY-FOUR
"Friends? You want to make friends!” shouted Alex’s father. “You don’t need friends! What you need is to stay here and do your chores!”
“But can’t I ever have friends?” Alex asked. “I’m so bored! All I’m doing with my life is reading and doing chores for you! Can’t I have a little freedom?”
Alex watched his father pull back his hand ready to strike. Alex didn’t bother trying to dodge. If he did, he knew that whatever was coming would be ten times worse if he resisted. He put his arms over his head and braced for impact. Alex could see his mother and sister standing behind his father, smiling. They were more than pleased at the events occurring that moment.
The blow was painful and strong. Alex was flung back into the wall with nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. His sword was in his room, so there was no weapon in his reach to defend himself with. Alex’s father pulled out his belt and snapped it. Alex knew what was to happen next. Once, twice, three times, four. The incessant beating of his father’s belt penetrated his skin, causing it to ache to the touch. Alex bit his bottom lip to keep from crying out in pain, causing him to taste blood.
Then his father yelled, “Don’t ever talk back to me again! And I don’t want to hear another word about FRIENDS!” The final blow hit him on the side of the head, then darkness. Later Alex would wake up on the floor in his room covered in blood.
Alex cringed at the memory, shaking himself back to reality, realizing that he had fallen onto his side and that he was shaking and sweating. Alex immediately sat up, wiped the sweat off his forehead, and turned toward his friends. They were all talking cheerfully and eating the newly picked fruit. They hadn’t noticed a thing. Alex turned back to the ocean and watched as fish jumped out of the water only to be eaten by odd-shaped seagulls. Alex bit into the apple he was holding, then threw the core into the ocean.
The Abnormals: Book One Page 15
