Divergent High: Fire v Ice

Chapter 81: Cannibals in Paradise

"Uncle Rico are the stories true?" Uriah turns to his uncle as we hike up the large mountain.
"What stories?" Marlene questions.
"Old fairy tales that Uncle Rico used to tell us so we wouldn't wander too far off the trail," Zeke butts in before his uncle can say anything.
"They're not all fairytales," Uncle Rico responds.

"What stories?" I️ repeat Marlene's question and the three men glance at each other before Uncle Rico smirks mischievously.
"A few years back some tourists went missing, we thought that they just got lost in the woods or something. That is, until more disappeared within a few weeks," Uncle Rico's voice darkens as we all stare at him. The sudden realization that we're alone in the middle of the jungle with nothing to defend ourselves settles in the air around us.

"What happened to them?" Zane questions, filling in the silence.
"Cannibals," Uncle Rico responds and the birds stop singing and the humid air around us grows cold.
"Their bodies were found torn up into thin pieces, not by an animal, no by humans. Later on one of the tourists appeared again, she was barely alive but when she recovered her story was morbid," he stops after that and continues hiking up the trail.

"Wait! What was her story?" Shauna shouts as we all round the corner to follow Uncle Rico. He stands by a large opening in the mountain, a cave of some sorts.
"She was missing six fingers, and eight toes," he continues while shinning his flashlight into the dark cave, "once she finally came to, she described red colored men, their whole bodies painted the color of blood, whether or not it was actually blood is still unknown."

"How did she escape?" Lynn questions as we go deeper into the damp cave, everyone following closely behind the other.
"She managed to loosen the bonds on her wrists, then drove a stick straight through the heart of her captor and ran," Uncle Rico lights a match before lowering the small flame onto a much larger torch I️ hadn't seen before. Of course Uncle Rico carries around a torch for extra effect, Pedrads have always had a flare for the dramatics. The torch lights up, showing a large wall covered in handprints, dark red hand prints.

"Are there more? Or was it just one man?" Four stares at the wall as he asks this.
"No one knows, once in a while someone would go missing, but no more than before the stories of the Cannibals," Uncle Rico sighs.
"Exactly," Zeke points out, "Stories, they're only created to attract tourists. I'm sure the girl was an actress anyway."
"An actress missing six fingers?" Uncle Rico glances at his nephew before turning the flashlight back on and putting the torch out.

He leads us out of the large and haunted cave, all of us scurrying close behind him. I️ glance up at Tobias to see he's already looking down at me.
"Who would've thought Cannibals existed in paradise?" he muses making me smile a bit. Maybe Uncle Rico's right, maybe there are human eating creatures wandering around here, and maybe Zeke is right as well. All I️ know is that we're going to find out.
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"Take me to your best friends house! I️ loved you then and I'll love you now oh yeah!" Uriah sings at the top of his lungs as we hike up the mountain even further.
"Is there a shuffle button on this thing?" Marlene looks Uriah up and down.
"You wanna check?" he extends his arms with a sly smirk.

"Ew stop!" Lynn exclaims at the two of them.
"You guys are already dating do you have to constantly flirt?" Uncle Rico turns to his nephew with a questioning look.
"The best way not to lose them is to always win them over," Uriah states poetically.

"Yeah that's a load of crap," Uncle Rico rolls his eyes.
"Says a man who's twice divorced," Zeke grins and his uncle's jaw drops.
"Excuse me I'm not twice divorced I'm once divorced and currently separated, not divorced," Uncle Rico defends.
"Soon to be twice divorced," Uriah mutters.
"How much does your mother tell you guys!?" Uncle Rico gapes.
"Enough to know that your player days are over," Zeke pats him on the back.