"The symbol is more about me, not about you, Princess." He bandaged the area. "Besides, my athame now holds your spirit."
I didn’t question him further. The pain was too much. After he finished, he still hadn’t given the order to release me. Instead, he sat down in front of me, producing a small lime from his pocket. With his athame, he made two small cuts in it. Then he held up a small piece of paper for me to see. My name was scribbled on it. He crumpled it up and stuffed it into the lime.
"Is it happy hour already?"
Shawn didn't a laugh. Without glancing up, he said, "I am souring your luck." He put the lime in a bowl and added salt and ashes. He placed the bowl in front of me, stood, and gave orders to have me moved back into the bed. As they lifted me off the table, I managed to kick over the bowl of lime and ashes.
I can make my own luck, I thought. Mother taught me how.
Once left alone in the bed, my thoughts drifted to my mother. Lilacs. She always smelled of lilacs - a clean, fresh floral aroma, sweet but not overpowering. Very persistent in the way it can permeate an entire room, or cling to you even after she was long gone.
In a way, she was very much like her lilacs, persistent in passing her knowledge of prayers and chants on to me, drilling me until I knew I could never forget them. One such chant came to mind. It was meant as a prayer to water, and you inserted your wishes into the prayer. That might just work. I slowly slid off the bed, holding my injured shoulder as still as possible. I sat down cross-legged in front of one of the water bowls. I held my hands, palms down over the bowl of water. I closed my eyes and tried to center myself, imagining pure personal energy flowing from my center and out of my hands into the water. Keeping my voice barely above a whisper, I chanted, "I pray to the Water and the Goddess Spirit that governs it. Send this to Susan, wielder of the power of water." I paused, rolled my eyes at how cheesy that sounded but continued anyway. "And to Micah, Ardwyad of Gaia, that they may find me. Blessed Be."
After the prayer you are supposed to pour the water into the earth, preferably at the base of a tree, or down a drain, carrying your prayer through the earth to all things. I didn’t dare try to step outside the circle of elements, but thought of another way to disperse the blessed water; by evaporation. I could sit there and let it evaporate on its own, but would the blessing wear off?
Taking the risk, I mustered the tiniest spark of energy and sent it carefully into the bowl. I could feel the bowl heat. I waited a few minutes, but Shawn never appeared. I repeated the chant and heating of the water a couple more times then slid back into bed, exhausted once again.
It would be necessary to exercise my powers as much as possible. I would need them to be at their strongest during my escape attempt. When it came, it would be all or nothing. I did not plan on coming back to this prison of a bed.
Keeping up my physical strength was just as important. I looked around. There wasn’t much I could do bedridden, but I had to try. I tightened my core muscles for ten seconds, then released, repeating the exercise three times before moving on to another set of muscles. By the time I had finished with every muscle group I could think of, I was sweating, and the sheets were soaked. Apparently I would be sleeping in a wet bed once again. It didn’t much matter, after the last of my exercises I had passed out within minutes, oblivious to physical discomforts.
Chapter 33
Field Trip
Several weeks had passed since I first awoke on La Isla Isabel. I had wakened that morning with tears staining my cheeks. It was becoming more and more difficult to function as an overwhelming sense of depression worked against me. I wiped my face dry, took a deep breath, and began my meditation exercises.
No matter what the exercises did for me, I had to appear weaker, both mentally and physically. Shawn expected the island to suck the life out of me, which it would, if I let it. My escape plan was still taking shape. It gave me purpose, a goal, and most of all something by which to maintain some sanity. Without it, I would have long since succumbed to Shawn's mind games.
Shawn would sometimes be present for several days, coaxing me into playing chess or cards. I always lost, maintaining my façade of weakness. During one evening of Scrabble, Shawn had me smiling, and almost laughing at his jokes. It was the first night I had fallen asleep feeling somewhat hopeful. Maybe I could survive this. That same night, I awoke to him brutally ripping the clothes off my body. I barely had time to blink the sleep from my eyes and comprehend what was happening before he penetrated me with a candlestick. It was thankfully thin but very long – and probably did more damage inside than what Shawn could have done himself. After it was all over he didn't say a word – just walked out, leaving me fearing further attacks the rest of the night. I would have thought I dreamed the entire incident if it weren't for the insistent aches in my lower abdomen over the next several days.
I didn't see him for a full week after that, but that doesn't mean I had a reprieve. I was scared, only managing to get a few hours of sleep once I keeled over from pure exhaustion. A few days later, the men took turns dumping a bucket of cold water on my head every hour – or what I judged to be every hour, for an entire day and night. By dawn, I was soaked through, shivering, and sleep deprived. The only satisfaction I had was the sheer terror on each man's face when they approached with the bucket. No one wanted to come close to me; I had apparently worked up a reputation as a witch. If they only knew – the worst I could probably do was blubber uncontrollably on their shoulder.
Food came sporadically. Days went by without an ounce of food and very little water. Just as I thought I would surely die of starvation, a full plate of delicious smelling meats and breads was set down outside my room for the penguin to feast on, and for me to watch. Shawn wasn't there, but everything had to be happening on his orders. Even the men looked at the bird with jealousy.
"You are not making any friends here, pal," I said to the penguin.
He just squawked at me.
When Shawn finally did return to the room, he was sporting new clothes and an impressive collection of cigars. "You look haggard." He immediately had me laid out and proceeded to massage me. He puffed away on one of his new purchases, and for the first few minutes, my entire body tensed, expecting an incident similar to the candlestick, but with a lit cigar. His hands, however, were insistent, and they kneaded at my muscles, working out the kinks and forcing me to relax. The sweet smelling tobacco, and the gentle, methodical rubbing, combined with a need for physical compassion tricked my body into arousal. This was the last thing I needed.
Naked old people. Naked old people. Naked old people.
A cold shower wasn't possible; I had to come up with something to deter the inevitable.
I was too late, Shawn already knew. "Is it cold in here, or are you just happy to see me?"
I looked down to see my nipples had gone as hard as rocks, and were jutting through my thin t-shirt.
Crap. Dead kittens. Dead kittens. Dead kittens.
It wasn't working. His methodical rubbing moved down my torso and in between my legs, his soft hands gliding over me with a practiced touch.
Dirty toilets. Moldy bananas. Anything!
Waves of pleasure mounting inside my body overcame the sickening feeling in my gut. The disdain I felt for letting myself want more, or worse, want him, slowly dissipated.
I felt myself climaxing and just as I was about to peak, he stopped and leaned into me. "I control you. I say when you come, I say when you bleed, and I say when you die. Just remember that, Princess. Don't ever forget it."
I watched him walk away, bursting with desire to call him back and hating myself all the more for it. I was breathless, almost in pain from the need to finish. He disappeared into the thick forest. It took several minutes to gain some semblance of control over my traitorous body. I spent the rest of the night red with embarrassment and shame.
In the days after, I attempted to focus on the one small pleasure I was still afforded; my baths. I insi
sted on taking one every day and thankfully, Shawn obliged. No matter how much I bathed, the dirty feeling could not be scrubbed away. However, when completely submerged in the imported water, I could practice my mental exercises to the full extent of my power, work out details of my escape plan and perform my chanting rituals without Shawn detecting any of it. After blessing the entire trough of water, I was returned to my bed but I always watched the men dump the water in the forest. I figured something had to make its way to Susan and Micah. It just might take some time.
I focused on filling my body with elements that worked with me, not against me. The water helped but it wasn’t enough. I increased the amount of candle leaves I ingested. It was a fine line to walk. After picking out leaf bits, I had to mold the candles back together with small flickers of heat. I was frantically attempting this one day, knowing Shawn to be due back soon. I finished reforming the last candle, examining it with a critical eye. It wasn’t nearly as pretty as the rest, but it would pass as long as I kept it in an inconspicuous spot. I cleaned up my mess and got back in bed just before Shawn arrived back at the camp.
He threw new clothes and two pairs of handcuffs at me. "Get dressed. We are going on a field trip."
As I put one pair on my hands and the other on my ankles, I grumbled about having to bear the extra weight. It was hard enough to drag my own ass anywhere on this island; even clothes seemed to weigh ten times what they should. What I needed was one of Micah's miraculous apples.
A cough from the doorway drew our attention.
"Oh, good. You remember Juan, don't you, Princess?" Shawn asked.
It was my buddy, the wrist holder, from my surgery. I saluted him and he flinched at whatever bad mojo he thought I was sending his way. Shawn and I both laughed. I felt somewhat sorry for the guy; he was already breaking out in a nervous sweat.
"Juan, I think you and I are going to be great friends," I said.
He shook his head, indicating he didn't understand.
I spoke louder, annunciating each word. "Muchachos. Me. And. You." When I pointed to him he dodged my 'magic' once again.
I gave up. "Boo!" I shouted.
He actually ducked. I sighed.
No friends for Kaitlyn today.
"Ok. Let's go. I'll explain on the way." Shawn picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. "Don't move anything, for both our sakes. It is about a three mile hike and you won't have any elemental protection."
"What about the wildlife?" The penguin was right at Shawn's heels squawking at me as we walked away.
Shawn produced a pistol. "Got it covered."
"My hero."
He bounced, hard, sending his shoulder square into my gut.
I shut up. As we walked I peered through strands of hair hanging over my eyes. We were headed in the opposite direction of the surf. I hadn't realized before how comforted I was hearing it. The sound reminded me of Susan, like she was close by, helping me through this.
Juan walked behind us, but kept his distance. He was still sweating bullets. The guy was going to dehydrate soon if he didn't cut it out.
"Why is Juan here?" I asked.
"He’s another Nerina – has powers with the water, though not nearly as strong as Susan's. In fact, his strength is almost non-existent compared to hers."
"So, why bother bringing him?"
"His ability is what I need. His strength doesn't matter – not as long as I have you."
"What do you mean?" I already knew. He was going to funnel energy straight from me into Juan, to give Juan the power to do whatever Shawn wanted.
"Come on, Kaitlyn. We all know how this works."
"I bet Juan doesn't."
"He'll find out soon enough."
Poor Juan.
But there wasn't anything I could do, short of enticing the island to react to me, killing us all. That was plan B.
A couple of hours and several bruised ribs later, I began to hear another, more gentle surf. Reaching the beach, Shawn dumped me unceremoniously in the sand.
I sat still, willing my blood to return to my body after being upside down for so long. I looked around, only moving my eyes. "Where are we exactly?"
"On the flank of Vulcan Ecuador. The only non-active volcano on the island. I'm trying to play it safe."
An ant crawling around my hand, tickled me. Flicking it away, I focused on the water. It felt different. Not Susan-like at all. It almost felt tainted. "What is wrong with the water?"
"Part of the volcano collapsed into the ocean here," he said. "Now down to business. This is a popular tourist spot. We can’t risk being seen." He began issuing orders to Juan in Spanish. Juan grimaced more and more after every sentence, but didn't say a word. I took the opportunity to look around, hoping to spot a boatload of tourists at sea, or even a group hiking toward us. The hills behind us were barren. I turned back to my partners in crime and saw that at Shawn's encouragement, Juan had made his way knee-deep into the tide.
Once satisfied with Juan's position, Shawn came and knelt directly behind me. "Let's begin."
"Begin what?" I asked.
"We are going to simulate El Niño. Then, once nature starts to take its own course, we are going to stop it, so we know how to do so in the future."
"El Niño is a natural occurrence," I said. "Why would you want to stop it?"
"Because every five to seven years it costs some clients of mine a lot of money."
"This can't be a good idea."
He shrugged. "They pay the bills. Not my money, not my call."
"But it is your powers – and therefore your responsibility."
"Please, spare me the Spiderman speech." He put his hand on my shoulder and gripped it tightly.
I looked around wildly for some help, something, anything to distract him. Nothing. I silently cursed the Galapagos tourism industry.
A jolt of tainted energy filled my body. Shawn poured himself into me, leaving no space unexplored. I froze with dread. Once he was satisfied he had a grasp on every inch of me, I felt him retract, taking my energy with him. He was draining my power and I could almost see the stream when Shawn sent it out to Juan. The energy took Juan by surprise. Unprepared to receive it, he was pushed forward and immediately taken under by a large wave.
"Whoops." Shawn laughed. "Maybe a little too much to start." Shawn reversed the flow and I felt some of it being returned to my body. Juan recovered his footing. The flow was reversed and once again, I felt power leaving me, only a little slower this time. Feeling sea-sick, I slumped over. Shawn lowered me the rest of the way to the sand. "Good. That is good, Princess. All you need to do is lie there."
Shawn alternately encouraged my obedience with soothing words and barked terse orders at Juan, his commands laced with Spanish profanity. My senses were slowly leaving. I tried moving my head from side to side in order to regain some semblance of control. I felt tickling on my hand again. I looked down; there must have been more than a dozen ants on it now. I twitched my arm. Some ants flew off but they were almost immediately replaced by more.
"Shawn – "
"Shh, shh, shh."
The sounds of the world were slowly turning themselves off. I could no longer detect the surf and barely heard the wind picking up. The clouds in the sky moved in and grew much darker. Rain pelted my face, but I couldn’t be concerned. Not even the thunder that shook my body caused a reaction. It was all so far away from me – much too far to matter. Soon there would be nothing left anyway, just a shell of a human to rot and feed the surrounding vegetation. Maybe the ants could finish me off.
The ants. My legs now buzzed with their presence. They were quickly gaining ground as I felt the first tickles on my stomach and my neck.
"Shawn – ants!" Forming the two words had to have been the most difficult thing I have ever done in my life.
"What?" Shawn glanced down at me. His eyes widened in shock. "Holy shit." He took out his pistol and aimed it at the sand next to me, where the insects were emerging from se
veral holes in the beach.
What was he going to do? Shoot all of them? They were starting to bite. Tickles were replaced by small stinging sensations all over my body.
They were also swarming Shawn now. He pulled the trigger, aiming at the sand around his feet. A few ants went flying, but the cleared space on the sand created by the bullet quickly filled in with tiny, scurrying black bodies.
I watched Shawn looming over me, his shirt whipping off his back. What was that look on his face? Uncertainty? Yes. No. Fear! I felt the water, several degrees warmer than it should have been, lapping at my feet and enveloping the beach.
Shawn spun, called out to Juan, waving him in frantically. I doubt Juan could hear him.
Wind gusts blew in so hard Shawn was having trouble keeping his footing. He looked down at me as I tried to keep my mouth closed tight against the ants. I could see the wheels turning as he tried to calculate my fate. He looked out at sea. His eyes hopped around frantically. They did not stop to focus on where Juan should have been. Juan was gone. Shawn turned to me again and for a split second, I saw the grimace as he decided to leave me.
He turned to go just as an especially strong gust of wind nearly picked him up off the ground.
"Damn it!" The words formed on his lips though I didn’t hear them. He bent down to throw me over his shoulder – purely a tactical move. My extra weight would anchor him.
Silly Shawn. Can't finish what he started. His experiment was a wash. One man MIA. Ants in pursuit. Storm gone amuck and I was in the middle of it all. I didn't care.
Chapter 34
Triumph
I had a vague awareness of floating. Scenes from the island came to me in flashes. The beach retreating in the distance, then ants dropping off my twitching arm. There was a short fall. My body hit the ground but was picked up again. The next thing I knew, I was floating into camp amidst hostile stares of the natives. Three left, two returned. One of their own missing. Who to blame? Not the boss. Blame the witch.
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