The Island's Captives

Chapter Thirty: Uneasy Lies the Head that Wears the Crown

Peter Morris

Now that we were all back together again (at last), I was finally able to relax. Wilson was bedridden for the moment and Amy was almost constantly by his side. Izzy was with him a lot, too. It was a real shock to find out they were brother and sister, I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed it before. They looked a lot alike! The only difference (besides their genders obviously) was that while Wilson was strong and stocky and short, Izzy was tall(er) and thin and graceful.

Now that I was back, I had slowly taken back my role as leader. Alex was never really cut out to be one and I believed he was happy to not have that burden anymore. And it was a burden, especially right at that time. Rose was my main problem. Everyone who had given me their opinion of her being with me had said, basically, that we weren't good together. Or, rather, she wasn't good...period. No one liked her, especially after she had led Fawkes' gang to our place. No one believed her when she said she had planned on us capturing them, rather than them capturing us. Or that she had been forced to let them do as they want because they had a knife at her back. I wasn't even sure I believed her.

That left the matter of me and her. Not so long ago I had told her that I loved her. Loved her. And yet—yet somewhere along the way something changed. It must have had happened around the time Alex and them rescued me from Fawkes' Place. Yeah, that seemed about right. Despite this change, though, I still held some feelings for her. Maybe not as strong, but still.

Part of me wondered if I should just ask her what she thought of me, see if what she had to say matched what everyone else said. But even then I couldn't be sure she wouldn't lie. Not that I think she would. So, I was determined to ask her next time I talked to her. She had told me she wanted to talk about something, and I guessed that will be the best time to ask.

"Peter," Alex brought me out of my thoughts, "We need to talk." I smiled, though inwardly I sighed. What can it be now? He led me toward the cliff drop- off, which was where we usually talked.

"We need to do something about Rose," Alex started abruptly. This time, I sighed aloud.

"What?" Even though just moments earlier I had realized I didn't feel the same about her as I used to, I felt the urge to stand up for her. Or at least, to attempt to. "Why can't everyone just forget about that night? She made a mistake, that's all. And she hadn't meant for me to get captured, or for Ludwig and Menelik's house to get burnt down."

"Well, that's what happened. And that's not the only reason why everyone hates her," I grimaced at the strong word, "She's annoying. People can't stand her...they especially can't stand the fact that you like her."

"It's none of their business who I like or don't like!" I exclaimed. Alex put his hands up defensively.

"Hey, I'm just letting you know. I know you've always liked her, but I'm not kidding when I say, Get over her! You can do better than that double-crosser!" Alex was almost yelling, but I could hear the concern in his voice. He truly does care. I sighed, ruffled my fingers through my hair, and looked back at him. I decided to tell him my latest revelation.

"I told her I loved her the night I was kidnapped, when she woke me up to lead me to Fawkes," I said, "But now...now I don't know what I feel. I don't think I love her anymore. I'm not even sure I ever did. I don't even think I like her anymore." Alex gave an almost rueful smile.

"I guess my pep talk wasn't needed then huh?" He said. I laughed.

"Well, I appreciated it anyway," I replied.

"And, you know, just cause you shouldn't be with Rose doesn't mean you can't be with someone else," Alex said.

"Like who? Izzy? Amy? They're the only other girls here!"

"Well, I know Amy might be taken, but what about Izzy? She's cool," Alex said.

"She's also Wilson's sister. And Wilson, if you haven't noticed, doesn't like me. I'm not sure he would like me dating his sister," I thought for a moment before adding, "And besides, Izzy doesn't like me much either. We can be friends, but nothing more than that."

"Well...well I guess you don't have to like someone else...right now anyway," Alex decided, "But just never go back to Rose." Alex was about to say something else when he stopped, looking at someone behind me. I turned and, standing beside the Brown House, was Amy. She looked unsure of herself, and I wondered what she had overheard of our conversation.

"Hi, I'm sorry if I'm, um, interrupting," she said, quietly, her eyes mostly on our feet, "I was just, well, I know Wilson's gonna be sleeping with Izzy and- and that other...guy...so I was just wondering...where am I gonna be sleeping?" She finally looked up at us for more than a millisecond, waiting for our answer. I hadn't really even thought about that. Things were getting crowded, now that New York had been burnt down and we had two extra people. There were four bedrooms in the Brown House, where I, Alex, Rose, and Ronny sleep. The Boyz Apartment had two bedrooms, where Ludwig and Menelik slept. And Kenya was occupied by Enkidu and Izzy, who had to sleep on the small couch since Wilson was in her bed. That was all the room there was. Unless Amy slept in the living room, that was an idea. It was fairly large, certainly large enough for someone as little as her to sleep.

"You can sleep in the Brown House, you can have my room. I'll just sleep on the couch till we figure something else out." I hadn't planned on giving her my room, but at the last moment it just slipped out. And it was probably the nicest thing to do. She had, after all, saved me.

"Are you sure?" Amy asked, not really looking at me. "I can sleep on the couch—"

"Nah, it's okay," I smiled, and she finally looked up at me, and gave a very timid and shy smile back.

"Okay," Amy said, beginning to back away, "Thank you."

"No problem," I replied, and she walked off. I stared at her for a moment, and when I looked back to Alex I saw he was grinning mischievously at me.

"What?" I asked, though I already knew.

"Being nice to the new girl huh? Ain't that sweet of you." I elbowed him and laughed. The conversation about Rose over (thank you!), we left the drop-off and went back to where everyone else was. Or had been.

"Where did everyone go?" Alex asked aloud. I shrugged and looked around. Then I saw Ludwig running toward us. It looked as though he had been down the hill.

"Ludwig? What is it?" I asked. He had a shocked look on his face.

"One of Fawkes' men is here," Ludwig said.