Wish You Were Here

43

I winced. "Hold on-"

Grant came closer to me. "Just hear me out."

I shook my head furiously and put my hands over my ears. "No no no no no..."

He sighed and folded his arms across his chest. I squeezed my eyes shut tightly, but when I opened them again, he was still standing there like that.

"You've lost your mind!" I shouted, pointing at him.

A tiny smirk grew on his face, as though he wanted to laugh, but was forcing himself not to. I grunted in frustration and turned my back to him.

He walked to my side, but I spun so my back faced him still.

"Ryleigh," he pleaded as he tugged at my shirt. "Please, just listen to me."

I removed my hands from my ears and placed
them angrily on my hips. "Fine! Go ahead and say whatever it is you want to say. But, just so you know, I think you're insane."

He inhaled deeply before speaking. "I don't know about you, but for me? I've hit my limit. I'm done! Yes, I want off this island. But I know I'll never rest easy unless I know what the heck is really going on here. I'll obsess over it; I know I will. I need to know why they brought me here; why they brought you here. All of us here! It can't be for nothing. I can't go through all of this without knowing the reason why."

Darn it! I knew that deep down, I felt the same way. I wanted to get off that island and return home more than anything. But as I pictured myself back in my room, back with my family and my friends, back at school, back to normal, I knew that I'd have no real chance of feeling normal again unless I knew the reason for all of this. Leaving it a mystery would never be enough. Why did Dean and Gina kidnap me on this island? Why me? And what was going on there? I had seen people get hurt and some had even died. I had been hurt and almost killed. And for what?

Could I really go home without knowing?

"I've thought of being back home about a million times," I said. "I've never thought about anything after that though. I just imagine myself back at my house, in my bed in my room, and that's where my little fantasy ends every time."

He waited patiently as I blinked tears away.

"And thinking past that moment now? I'm terrified. I'll never sleep well again unless I have some type of...closure. I want to know why they took me. Why me? Why any of us? What's it all for? Are Dean and Gina just two nut cases or is there a real reason they're doing this? Did they kidnap everyone that's here or just our group? I need to try to find an answer," I rambled.

His face had grown serious. "Let's give it a shot. But safely! We won't put ourselves in any danger- well, any more than we're already in. Anything sketchy happens? We leave and go back to trying to escape this island."

As much as I felt myself leaning toward agreeing, I purposely exaggerated my irritation. He saw right through me, of course, and tried not to laugh again. A short chuckle escaped his lips and he masked it with a cough.

I narrowed my eyes and scowled at him. "Well, when you're done being amused, I'd suggest we start coming up with a plan."

He coughed once more, loudly. "Agreed."

I rolled my eyes. Grant cleared his throat and started to walk away. "Come on, let's find a better spot and see what we can come up with."

He spun and kept walking before I could protest. I groaned and followed him, stomping behind him on purpose.

Grant wanted to walk with minimal breaks until close to sundown. Then we'd look for a place to spend the night while plotting our attack. As we walked, we would take quick breaks or slow down a bit before picking up the pace again. During those times, since we weren't gasping for breath, we'd throw ideas back-and-forth at each other.