enchanted [toni shalifoe, the wilds]

day one

Falling was probably Ava's biggest fear. Falling down the stairs, falling over and scraping her knee... falling in love...falling straight into the ocean and plunging into the depths of her worst fears. Obviously she wasn't thrilled. That's sort of an understatement though.

She didn't really remember much before or straight after the plane crashed. She remembered having to talk to Nora and Jeanette on the plane- well, Jeanette talked at her whilst Nora stared at her twin for the five minutes. And then... the plane crashed? I mean, it was fucking terrifying but she didn't remember feeling that exact emotion in those final thirty seconds. Looking back, it was probably denial that it was even happening. That and she was at the bridge of her Taylor Swift song and somehow her brain decided that the music took priority.

But now, the music definitely did not take priority. Let fear prevail.

Ava raised her hand shakily, almost willing herself death right then and there as she realised the blood trickling down her hand wasn't fake like in the dumb horror films her little brother practically forced her to watch. This blood was real and it was bright and it hurt like a-

"Son of a bitch." she cursed, nursing the throbbing wound that was now gaping on her arm. She momentarily forgot that she wasn't the only one in this situation, but she was quickly dragged back to reality...

...Dragged back to reality by a stunning brunette who was staring at her right in her eyes. She was staring so intently that she would have freaked out and ran away if she wasn't totally entranced by them- well, that and the fact that her arm felt like death himself was clawing onto her arm.

"You gonna move or what? Your legs look fine, move!" the brunette practically barked at her, the desperation oozing out of her eyes in the form of delicate tears. She glanced back at an island that was registering in Ava's vision.

Wait, an island? Ava snapped her head round to the left where she saw seven other girls besides the brunette waving at her from a beach. She recognised Shelby, the obnoxious Jesus freak on the plane and Nora and the unforgettable Jeanette. The rest of them seemed familiar, but then again, making friends wasn't really high on her agenda when she was on the plane.

She still didn't want to make friends. She didn't trust any of these strangers, and why the fuck was this brunette going out of her way to save Ava. It infuriated her. She freed herself from the brunette's grasp and deftly got up from the ocean floor, her wet hair slicking back and dripping down her back, making her shiver. The mystery brunette slightly softened and nodded for her to wade back to the shore with her.

"I was in shock, don't get your knickers in a twist." Ava snapped, shaking her head like a dog in attempt to dry her hair. The other girl raised her eyebrows in slight shock.

"Wow, you're British. You're the annoying voice I heard on the plane then" she replied, smirking slightly at her accent.

"This is why I didn't want to come on this retreat." she sighed, tilting her head back slightly, half to help ease the pain of her wound, half to attempt to hide her face from the other girl.

"You couldn't have predicted the plane nosediving, or getting that nasty scrape on your arm." the girl shrugged, furrowing her eyebrow.

Ava shook her head, irritated. She didn't want to come across as this weak, whiney girl that couldn't handle any kind of pain. Even if the scrape on her arm really did hurt.

"I just don't want to explain British mannerisms to stupid Americans." Ava rolled her eyes, and jogged slowly over to the island, leaving the other girl behind metres away from the island.

The brunette was in fact Toni Shalifoe, who was for once utterly tongue-tied. She'd never really met anyone who had challenged her so much and seemed to match her energy. Fuck knows why she was being so defensive though...

As Ava arrived at the island, she vaguely recognised the other girls. There was Rachel and her twin sister Nora, though they were sat with an uncomfortable space between them. Martha, who she realised was the brunette's counterpart- though Ava was still racking her brain to remember her name. There was Fatin and Leah, who couldn't be more worlds apart. Literally, Fatin was dead to the world and Leah was so engrossed in her book that she seemed to have forgotten their situation. She noticed, Jeanette, who seemed more subdued than before on the plane. Finally, there was Dot and Shelby who looked like they were the most useful out of everyone. Shelby reached forward to greet her.

"Praise the Lord you're safe, I thought we lost one for a minute there!" She exclaimed in her Texan drawl, which kind of reminded Ava of a kids entertainer at a holiday resort. Ava shrugged her off and nodded back, walking further away to sit next to Nora. She figured that Nora would talk the least.

The brunette from before walked towards Shelby, "Don't be annoyed at her, she's in a really bitchy mood. Plus, she's British."

"I thought the stereotype was that British people are supposed to be all cheery and fancy." Shelby replied, staring back at Ava before shaking her head at the brunette.

Ava burrowed her head in her arms, laughing slightly at the other girls staring at her in curiosity. Before she could reply with a sarcastic comment, Rachel practically leapt to her feet, making Nora jump.

"Does anyone have a phone?" She snapped, her eyes darting from girl to girl in some foreign anticipation.

"Don't you think one of us would've said something if we did?" The brunette replied, smirking slightly. She'd sat down now, and was leaning her head against Martha. Ava didn't like how she felt when she saw them.

"I'm just trying to figure out our options here, okay?! They're coming for us but we gotta be smart. Check your fucking pockets again maybe?" Rachel ordered, pacing up and down as if they were literally going to be rescued within the next ten minutes.

"Okay there, maybe simmer down a minute and take a deep breath." Shelby butted in, receiving a disdainful look from both Rachel and the brunette. God knows what her name was still, it was driving Ava insane at this point.

Dot nodded in agreement, taking a break from surveying the immediate land. Nora also nodded quietly, putting a hand on Rachel's shoulder nervously.

"Don't fucking touch me Nora, stop treating me like a little kid!" she shouted at her twin, and Nora cowered away and leant back on a rock.

"Why would you talk to your sister like that?" Dot asked, raising her eyebrows. Everyone gave Nora a look of sympathy, even Leah and Fatin who were gradually coming back to reality. Everyone except Ava, who was starting to notice Jeanette looking a little pale.

"You don't get to have an opinion on how I talk to my sister, I don't see your twin sister walking around in matching cargo pants." Rachel shouted back, inciting a huge argument from the girls defending Nora. It was so alien to Ava, who didn't really feel enough compassion for the girl.

No, Ava's attention was on Jeanette who had slunk to the back of the group and was now wandering aimlessly along the beach. Ava followed her quickly, intrigued by their shared distaste for social interaction right now.

Jeanette turned round to face her, the light in her eyes slowly going out before they rolled back and she collapsed. She didn't make a sound, there wasn't a struggle. Her fight seemed to be over.

Ava breathed shakily, and leaned down to shut the girl's eyes. She didn't mean to, but she started sobbing. Maybe it was because she was envious that someone didn't have to live with the pain of being stranded on the island, or maybe it was just because she'd bottled her emotions up for the past hour.

"Guys..." she spoke quietly, but nobody heard her. She let out a deep breath, before turning to face the girls who were still pointlessly bickering with each other.

"She's dead." she announced firmly, and they all turned to look at her first and then at Jeanette's corpse. She locked eyes with the brunette, and suddenly it clicked. Her name was Toni. How could it possibly be anything other than Toni.

The momentary pain left her eyes, as her face snapped to face Dot, who had began lifting Jeanette into a discarded sheet material along with the other girls. Though, she knew Toni had already seen the mask slip. Toni already knew that there was more to her than this bitter, sarcastic girl that reminded her so much of herself.

They both knew that there was something between them. And whilst in that moment, a dead girl was that something between them, there was something much stronger brewing. Ava just wouldn't entertain this idea for a long time.