Desolation, J. B. Everett [reading a book txt] 📗

turns around, facing the waterfall. Once I make sure that he is completely turned around and Tristan is not nearby, I pull off my tank top so that I am standing in my bra. After double-checking that Ian is still completely turned around, I quickly unzip and pull down my jeans. Now, I am standing in only my bra and underwear.

I quickly wade my way into the lake until the water is up to my chest, covering my bra. The water is very warm, and the lake is much deeper than I thought it would be.

"Okay, you can turn around now" I say to Ian.

He immediately turns around, facing me again.

"Nice, isn't it?" he says, smiling slightly.

I nod, smiling back. This is really nice. In this moment, I almost forget that I am captured on a remote island.

He continues to watch me as I slowly wade my way towards him, his dark brown eyes focused on mine. As if on cue, my heart rate begins to quicken.

Suddenly, I am splashed with water. When I open my eyes, I am looking right at Ian's mischievous grin.

"Hey!" I exclaim.

I then splash him back. He returns by splashing me back even harder. When I try to splash him back again, he ducks under water, disappearing. I look around, trying to see where he is swimming. Suddenly, water sprays my back and I whip around to see Ian behind me, the same mischievous grin plastered on his face.

After splashing around a bit more, I am breathless. We then float around the lake. I look up at the canopy of the trees, high above us, that is keeping us in the shade. After a few moments of silence, I finally ask,

"So why didn't you want the others to know about the camera that we found?"

Ian is quiet for a moment. He then says,

"Because"

What an informative answer.

"Because what?" I ask, looking at him.

"Because I didn't want everyone to start panicking and looking for all of the other cameras that may be on this island. I thought it was something just the two of us could know"

I nod.

"Fair enough" I say, smiling.

"Just like how I was the only one that you told about the dream you had last night" Ian adds.

True. I didn't tell Tristan about the dream.

"I've been thinking about why we are here. And I'm really getting the feeling that we've been kidnapped or something" Ian says.

"Yeah, but who kidnaps teenagers and puts them on a remote island in the middle of the ocean? It's a strange place to hold people captive" I say.

Ian shrugs.

Suddenly, I feel my foot step on something on the bottom of the lake. And it's not a rock.

"I think I just stepped on something" I say, stopping.

"What?" Ian asks.

"I just stepped on something weird. It feels like a glass object" I say.

I move my foot around the floor of the lake until my foot finds it again. It's definitely some sort of rounded glass object.

Ian walks closer towards me, interest on his face.

"Let me grab it" I say.

I duck my head under and reach my hands out around the grimy floor until one of my hands closes around it. I resurface, lifting the object out of the water with me. It is a glass bottle.

"Hey, what's that inside of it?" Ian asks, pointing at the bottle.

I look at the bottle, and notice that there is a piece of paper rolled up tightly inside of it. A message in a bottle.

I quickly uncork the bottle and slide the rolled up piece of paper into my hands. I then carefully unroll it, trying not to get it soaked, until it is completely unrolled.

It is a list of names, scrawled in black pen. It takes me a few moments to read all of the names, and when I am done, my heart skips a beat. These aren't just any names. These are the names of the twelve of us who are on this island.

"Holy shit. That's us" Ian murmurs.

But that's not the strangest part.

Out of the twelve names, one of them is circled.

It's my name. Chapter Nine

My heart skips a beat.

It can't be.

Why is my name the only name that is circled on this list?

"Oh my god" I whisper, still staring at the paper.

Ian glances at me, then back at the paper.

"A list of the twelve of our names? This is fucking weird" he murmurs.

"They know who we are" I whisper.

Suddenly, I get the chilling feeling that someone is watching us. I look around at the trees, spinning around in a slow circle.

"What's wrong?" Ian asks, watching me.

"Nothing...I just have the feeling that..."

My words trail off.

"The feeling that what?" He asks

"The feeling that we're being watched. But it's gone now" I say.

He looks around too, but of course, there is no one there.

"Creepy" Ian says.

"Yeah, tell me about it" I say, laughing slightly.

Suddenly, I jump when I hear the snap of a twig. Whipping around, I see that it is just Tristan, standing at the edge of the lake. He stares at the two of us for a moment, then says,

"I started a signal fire. It's not a big one, but hopefully some of the others will see the smoke eventually"

I nod. Tristan stands there awkwardly for a moment, his hands in his pockets, looking at us.

"Well if you guys are done, we can keep going for a little more. The sun's starting to go down, so we will have to camp out for the night somewhere"

"Okay" I say.

He then looks down at my hands, which are holding the piece of paper.

"What's that?" He asks, pointing at me.

"It's a list of all of our names. We found it in a bottle at the bottom of the lake" Ian says.

Tristan raises his eyebrows.

"Is there anything else on it?" He asks.

"Well, there is one really strange part about it. One of the names is circled" Ian says.

"Whose?" Tristan asks.

"Mine" I say abruptly.

Tristan eyes widen. He opens his a mouth for a moment, then shuts it.

"Hey, let's not worry about it okay? It could mean absolutely nothing for all we know" Ian says, breaking the silence.

I highly doubt that my name is circled for no reason. But Ian is right, there's no reason to waste time worrying. We have to move on.

Ian and I wade over towards to edge of the lake. It suddenly hits me that I am in my bra and underwear and my clothes are in a heap on the shore of the lake.

Ian gets out first, quickly putting on his t-shirt and jeans.

"Why aren't you getting out?" He asks me, shaking his wet hair out.

I stare at him, my cheeks burning bright red. I then point to my clothes on the side of the shore.

"Oh right. You don't have your clothes on. C'mon, we won't look. Right Tristan?" Ian asks, grinning at Tristan.

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Tristan nods.

"If it makes you more comfortable, we'll turn around" he says.

"Okay" I say.

When I see that both Tristan and Ian are turned around, I quickly run out of the lake to my clothes. Standing behind a bush, I throw my clothes back on to my wet body and try my best to squeeze the water out from my hair. Just when I am about to leave, I notice something something strange. There is a red light glowing from inside the bush. I quickly push aside the leaves and gasp. There, carefully mounted inside the bush is another surveillance camera. Pointed directly at me.

"Guys, come and look at this" I say, my voice shaky.

They both immediately rush over to me.

"What is it?" Tristan asks.

I point into the bush at the camera.

"Is...is that a surveillance camera?" Tristan asks.

I nod.

"They're watching us" I whisper breathlessly.

"Well not anymore" Ian says.

He reaches out his hand, yanking the camera out of the bush. He then turns around and hurls it at a rock, smashing it into a million pieces.

I gasp.

"Let's go" Ian says abruptly.

We continue our trek through the jungle. I feel much better now that I am cooled down and refreshed, but the empty pit in my stomach feels deeper than ever.

The sun is beginning to set, turning the sky a magnificent mixture deep orange, pink, and purple. If I weren't being held captive on this island, I think I would actually appreciate its beauty.

As we keep walking, the sun sinks lower and lower into the sky. I cannot stop yawning; I am completely exhausted. Finally, to my relief, Tristan calls it a day.

I collapse onto the jungle floor. The sun has almost completely set, and Tristan goes off to look for some wood to start a fire, leaving Ian and I alone.

I sit across from him, my eyes drooping with exhaustion. I cannot imagine how awful I must look right now. And somehow, both Ian and Tristan still are managing to look good. Very good actually.

I feel Ian's eyes on me, so I look up into his face. He gives me a weak smile.

"How are you feeling?" He asks me.

"Like absolute shit. I don't think I've ever been this hungry before. I think I might have to eat tree bark soon" I say, smiling weakly back at him.

He laughs, a true laugh. Not one of his usual smirks.

"Same here. Or maybe some leaves. We could roast them over the fire you know, to give them some flavor" he says.

I laugh, shaking my head.

"I still can't wrap my mind around everything that has happened. " I say a few moments later.

"I know, me too. I just wish that we had some answers" he says.

Just then, Tristan returns, carrying pieces of wood and bark in his hands. He kneels down, arranging them on the ground and covering them with leaves. He then takes two sticks together and begins rubbing them back and forth rapidly. For a while, nothing happens, and I hear Ian snicker under his breath. But finally, a small fire starts.

"We should all get some sleep. We need it" Tristan says, laying down by the fire.

No problem. That's all that I want to do right now.

I lay down on my side. The jungle floor is extremely hard, much more uncomfortable than the beach. I shift back and forth a few times, trying to get more comfortable, but all my efforts are futile. I finally accept that there is no way to make the ground cozy.

Laying on my back, I stare up at the starry night sky through the trees. The jungle is alive with the sound of crickets chirping. Everything just feels so strange and out of place. I don't want to be here anymore. I am so lost and confused. All I want is to be home, even though I can't remember where home is.

Suddenly, tears well up in my eyes, blurring the starry sky. I try my hardest not to cry and wake up Tristan and Ian. Besides, Ian already saw me cry once. I don't want him to see me crying again.

I draw a shaky breath in, trying to make as little noise as possible, but my breath hitches in my throat and a small sob escapes. I quickly