Page 46 of Blue Arrow Island
“Don’t do this,” I beg. “Please don’t do this.”
I loathe the emotional crack in my voice, but I can’t help it. I’m desperate. I’ll be completely defenseless down there, a broken-down mess when I’m let out just in time to fight Marcelle.
Kill her. Kill Virginia. She’s jealous of you. You aren’t weak, so push her in the hole and let her die in there.
I close my eyes, a distressed cry coming from my throat. I’m losing my mind, having thoughts that aren’t really mine, and that hole will be the final nail in my coffin.
“You can do this, Briar.” Pax’s stern voice brings me back to reality. “Be strong.”
My dad used to say that to me. He said it’s most important to be strong when you’re feeling your weakest. That’s now.
“Go,” Virginia says, impatient.
Shaking, I refuse to look at either of them as I position the ladder so it won’t tip, pushing the bottom of it to the opposite side of the hole from the top. The rickety ladder groans as I put my weight on it.
I think I might lose control of my bladder. Falling into such a deep hole could kill me or leave me too injured to get back out. My urge to attack Virginia is getting stronger.
Don’t be weak. Kill her. You know how to strike a fatal hit she won’t even see coming. It’s her or you.
“No.” I grit my teeth and fight the pull.
“Briar.” Pax sighs, exasperated.
“I’m going,” I grind out.
This isn’t the time to lash out. I have to be smart. As hard as it will be to willingly put myself in a deep hole in the ground, where I’ll be completely helpless, I have to. There are no other choices, with Virginia and Pax both just a few feet away.
I won’t give Virginia the satisfaction of seeing how scared I really am. I won’t beg.
Silently, I climb down the ladder, clinging to the rungs.
It’s dark, the smells of stagnant water and dead vegetation getting stronger as I descend. When I reach the bottom, I step from the ladder into a few inches of standing water.
As soon as I release my hold on the ladder, it’s pulled out of my reach, my lifeline gone.
Leaning my back against the smooth wall, I cross my arms and look down, using all my will to press my lips together as hard as I can. My heart hammers against my rib cage, frenzied.
I’m Ben Hollis’s daughter. I might die down here, but no matter what they do to me, I won’t break.
15
There are dozens of failures for every one breakthrough. But those moments of progress are the most exciting of my career. Of my life. I’m starting to believe we can do this.
- Excerpt from the journal of Dr. Randall McClain
Water leaks from the bamboo door to my earthen prison, a stream hitting my hair and rolling down my shoulder. It’s raining. I can feel the same rain the Rising Tiders can, which connects me to the real world.
I’m not completely alone. I hate that I have to keep reassuring myself of that. It’s ironic that I like to keep people at arm’s length, but I also fear being alone. Physically alone, that is. Inside, I’ve been alone for a long time, because it’s better that way. Safer.
“Roses. I haven’t done roses yet.” I return to one of the mental exercises I’ve been doing for the three days I’ve been stuck down here. “Kingdom: plantae. Phylum: magnoliophyte. Class: magnoliopsida. Order: rosales.”
Light from above silences me. I look up hopefully.
“Hey, are you okay?”
It’s Pax. The first day I spent down here, I was a ball of fury who wanted to tell both him and Virginia to go fuck themselves. But sitting alone in darkness for so long has mellowed me considerably.
“I’m okay.” I stand, droplets of water dripping from my clothes. “Can I get some water?”
