Anti-Christ's Birth; The Solomon Island Mystery, Jesus Villalobos [book recommendations for young adults TXT] 📗

of scream. Is that agreeable to you?”
“Sure, come back tomorrow, but be ready to listen. Don’t talk to me like a child. I am a man as sane as you are. I just have a fantastic unbelievable yet horrifying story I have to tell to whoever will listen. If you can just let go of your pre-conceived ideas about your government, you just might have a chance at learning the truth about them. In the mean time, try to tell yourself that I just might not be making this stuff up.”
As she got up to leave, Carl came and unlocked the cell. I knew that he had only allowed her to come into my cell because he knew by experience that I was not really violent. He knew I could get angry, and yet not get physical. They had long since removed the straight jacket. They knew I was not going to harm them or myself. I had been without the jacket for two years. They knew I would not hurt Jennifer. I had however, frightened her a little with my outburst of anger.
But now, for the first time in over six years, I had something to look forward too. I had a real reason to look forward to tomorrow. It would be a joy to wake up tomorrow. It would be spring for the first time in a very, very, long time.
The day droned on. I paced the floor and listened to the patients make their noises at each other. I tried not thinking about Jennifer. I tried not to think of how she had affected me. The more I tried not to think of her, the more I realized that it was useless. What else did I have to think about? I could think about how miserable I was. That was not an option. I could think about the misery of the others in this place. That was not a very positive option either. I could think about the trip. That only served to aggravate me.
I sat there thinking of Jennifer for hours. She was the only good thing I could think of to think about. I thought about her black hair. I thought about her beautiful teeth. I thought about how I had blown my chance at befriending her. I thought about how I wished I could have met her under different circumstances. I hadn’t seen any ring on her finger. That was the second thing I noticed about her. The first of course was how beautiful, how perfect she was made.
Why was I doing this to myself? What possible chance did I think I had with a woman of her caliber? Especially now, being here in this place. Still, I could not help but entertain the thoughts. She was a dream come true for any man. She was water to a thirsty soul. She was going to need my help in the worst of ways when we made the journey back to that cursed island. She would need me just to survive, let alone keep her sanity. I felt strangely satisfied that she would be eating her own words. She would in fact be begging for my help.
I seized my own thoughts before they got out of control. What was I thinking? I had to convince her not to go on this expedition. I had to make her understand at all costs! She did not deserve that hell hole. She was an innocent child trying to save humanity, one soul at a time.
A new goal came to mind. I would keep her from going on this trip I had too, for her own good. This would be my new mindset. This would be my goal. I began to work on a plan to either stop this mission of madness, or stop her from going. Whichever of the two was more plausible.
“All lights out,” bellowed the nightly cry.
It was going to be another sleepless night. I lay all night thinking up my plan. I fell asleep with no more of a plan than I had gone to bed with. No matter which way I twisted this story, I saw her insisting on going. No, I knew in my gut that she would be going on this mission of supposed mercy, come hell or high water. It was my last thought before drifting off to sleep.


CHAPTER TWO


SEEING THROUGH JENNIFER’S EYES

“Good morning.”
Hearing the exact same words I heard her speak the previous day, I almost believed, that I had slipped once again into another dream state. It took me a minute to realize that she was really there again. Just as before, I shot up at attention.
“We’ve got to stop meeting like this.” I saw a smile cross her gorgeous lips. “That
will be entirely up to you Mr. Johnston.”
“Please, call me Steven.”
“If that’s what you want.”
I noticed her tone was different. I heard no condescending tone in it this time. I wondered if it was because I had frightened her yesterday.
“I wanted to apologize for yesterday. I should have kept my cool. I was wrong to attack you the way I did. I know you are only doing what you consider to be your job. It’s just that I have been in here over six years and have had to tell my story to so many people…”
“I understand.”
“I don’t think you do. Every time I have to relive that nightmare, I feel the sheer terror I felt back then on that island. I have to contend with the fact that I am labeled as a lunatic just because I have no physical proof of what I saw. We are going to go back to something that neither you nor anyone else should be forced to deal with.”
“No one is forcing me to go.”
“I know that, but I am very concerned for your safety.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“I’m sure you can under normal circumstances, but normal is not what you will encounter on that island. I want you to understand that if you go on this trip, and I am sure you are going, that you may pay with your life. I am not interested in keeping you from going just to keep you out of my hair; I am actually concerned for your very life.”
“Why don’t you let me decide, if I want to take that chance.”
“That’s fair enough. I just know better than you what is on that island, I was there.”
“You mean as a prisoner?”
“No, I was there taking pictures of the topography.”
“Funny, your file mentions nothing about you being a photographer.”
“Of course not, the army does not want you to dig any deeper into this than necessary. My old boss Mr. Finchley must think I’m dead by now. I was supposed to be gone for no more than a couple of years.
“They were sending me checks to fund my photography of the Solomon Islands. They were going to do a whole issue based on my pictures. They were going to call it; ‘Living like a King on the Solomon Islands.’ I had shots of me on the beach sipping makeshift margaritas. I don’t actually drink, but it’s the image that sells it.”
“So what you are telling me is that no one here has checked out your story?”
“It’s either that, or they have gotten to my editor with scare tactics or worse.”
“So if I wanted to check out your story, where would I begin looking for Mr. Finchley?”
“They brought me here to Colorado. I worked in New York. I lived in Manhattan to be exact. I have told them this stuff a thousand times over.”
“I’ll tell you what, if you promise not to condemn me to hell again, I’ll check this out personally.” A smile crossed her lips again. I wondered if she was actually going to be the first person I had met in this place that was actually going to give me the benefit of the doubt, at least for now.
“Is there anything else you want to tell me before I make this trip to check out your story? Do you have any family? Maybe they could corroborate your story.”
“Unfortunately, I don’t have any family, I lost my parents when I was eighteen.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. I‘ve gotten used, to making it on my own, but there is someone who may be able to help, if you can’t find Mr. Finchley or he is not willing to corroborate my story.”
“And who would that be?”
“He is the captain of the small boat I took to get to the island in the first place. His name is Charlie Brooks. He is the last person I had contact with before I was left on one of the inhabited islands. I could hardly believe they even had a way for me to receive my money; the island was not that well developed. They were hoping my being there was going to generate more tourism.”
“So if I can’t find your Mr. Finchley, I should try to locate this Charlie Brooks.”
“That is correct.”
“Where would I begin to look for him?”
“He frequents a small restaurant called ‘Sailor’s delight’ in Manhattan, usually around 6:00 P.M. Of course, it has been over six years. They say old habits die hard, let’s just hope the saying holds true in this case.”
“I’ll check it out. I’m not making any promises mind you.”
“I understand, I know it’s a long shot anyway. I found out the hard way, our government does not like to leave loose ends.”
“I’ll get back with you in a couple of days. It won’t be any longer than that, ‘cause that’s when we leave for the island.”
“Don’t remind me.”
“Sorry, it’s my job.”
I watched her leave as Carl came back to let her out. I was gaining a new admiration for this woman whom I hardly knew. For someone to come into a place like this and actually bother to check out what might end up being a wild goose chase of a story, said more about her character than I could have imagined. It was like I was seeing things through a fresh set of eyes. I was seeing things not from my own point of view; I was seeing things looking through Jennifer’s eyes. She was even more woman than I could see with my own eyes.
Time seemed to stand still. I realized she was my best shot at freedom. I realized that she was giving me more than I could ever have hoped for from the staff here at this place. I also realized that she could lose her job if they found out that she was investigating