Page 32 of The Eighth Isle

The Paradise hadn’t changedone bit, just like Mama Si. The scent in the air was that of roses, but my sense of smell must have improved dramatically because I almost threw up at the intensity alone. It was too much,waytoo much.

But then I saw the people, the pools, heard the music and their laughter. The Paradise, alive and awake, just as seductive as ever. The sight of the massive yard with the many pools and the women and theguestshaving the time of their lives could so easily trick you into thinking you needed nothing else in your life but to be here. Justbe here,in the Paradise—that’s all you ever needed.

Such a beautiful illusion.

Such a beautiful lie she painted for people here, and the girls helped.

My stomach twisted a million times when I noticed them. Seven of the girls I used to hang out with every single day—including Amber—stood by the heart-shaped pool half hidden away from the rest of the yard by trees. Their mouths were wide open as they watched us approaching. As they watchedme.

God, they’d looked soglamorousto me once. They’d looked like everything I’d never dared to even dream of, and all I’d wanted was to be like them. Tobe them.

And I had.

Now, as I went closer and closer and saw their faces—Mia and Peanut and Eva and Melahni—I realized they weren’t half of what I’d made them to be when I didn’t know any different. They were living the life of puppets under Mama Si’s shade. They weredolls—literally. And I pitied them with all my heart.

“Do you see how far you’ve come?” Mama Si whispered to me as we passed them by, and none of them said a single thing. They all just watched me, stunned out of words, like I’d changedthatmuch. Like they were shocked to see that I’d made it out alive.

“I see how utterly unimpressive you and this place really are,” I said just to spite her, but Mama Si laughed.

She laughed as she took me toward one of the half open rooms of her Paradise, and the people still watched. Not just the dolls, but the guests and the other girls who were in the bigger pool half covered in pink foam. They still partied here like they used to, even more now that the weather was warmer. They still had no care in the world, and for a moment, a part of me envied them. Part of me still wanted to live a life so simple.

But that part of me faded away as soon as we walked through the doors and into the Paradise, and nobody was watching me anymore—except for Mike and Marissa, of course.

“Tell me, Fall Doll, have you eaten? Would you like some of your favorite foods?” said Mama Si as we went down the hallway toward the stairs.

“No, thanks. I’m full.”

“Oh, I insist! It’s your birthday and?—”

“I just ate with Reeva Lorein. I’m full,” I repeated, and that made her clamp her mouth shut instantly.

“Oh. I see.” Her smile faded away as we climbed the stairs. “So, I wasn’t your first choice.”

“No, you were not.”

She had the audacity to look disappointed. “Very well. You’re apparently still angry at me, and it’s fine, even if I don’t understand it.”

I turned to her, my jaw touching the floor. “Youtrickedme. You manipulated me. You took me to the Whispering Woods against my will.” And she didn’tunderstandwhy I was angry?!

“Oh, get over it already,” she said with a wave of her hand. “What would you have rather become—the dolls? Is that it? Was that all you wanted out of life—that?” And she pointed her thumb behind her shoulder. “Orthis?” Then waved that same hand toward me.

God, I despised her even more in moments like this.

Because she was absolutely right.

“I would have rather not been lied to,” I said, and she rolled her eyes.

“Well, you were. So, stop complaining. You turned out better than I could have ever dreamed, Fall Doll,” she said, and Assa stepped forward to open the doors to Mama Si’s office.

The same place they brought me when I decided to come work with her that morning.

God, it felt like a lifetime ago, but I didn’t let myself dwell on it too much. I just walked in with my head up and sat with Mama Si at her desk.

Assa, Mike and Marissa were right behind me, standing near the wall still as statues, watching us.

I raised my brows at Mama Si. “Why are they here—toguardyou?”

She didn’t even try to deny it, as absurd as it seemed to me. If I’d wanted to attack her in any way, I wouldn’t have come all the way into her office.

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