“You got yourself into this mess. And us! Pity yourself all you want, but you won’t get any from me.”
After a tense pause, the dust settled. “What can you tell us about Bruce?” asked Erin.
“He’s been helpful with everything. He supported my plans. I mean… yeah, I filled him in on a lot of the details so he knew what to expect. So he could even play a small role if needed. I left that up to him.”
Erin looked to Trevor. “Fairly convincing in his cabin.”
“No shit,” Trevor replied. “I think we have our answer. Question is what does he want with us?”
“I have no ties to the man. Maybe he just wants his peace and quiet? Chases out new owners anyway he can find it? This is one of those ways?” Stefan was panicky. No one answered. The walls creaked. “Maybe he gets off on this? The old man is loony tunes out here and likes to polish his fuckin’ rifle and freak people out.”
“Do you have any guns?” Erin could hardly believe the words that escaped her mouth. The guys were especially surprised.
“Yeah, I got one at my place.”
“It doesn’t appear that he’s provided us with any other clues here. Let’s sidestep the bullshit and go ask him some questions then.”
She walked up to Stefan, ripped the axe out of his hands, and trudged out the door. Walking back to the boat, she looked back toward the cabin to find both guys had stopped. She flashed the light on them. Their jaws were practically unhinged. She moved the light to the wall of the cabin. Something was drawn on it. Was it there before? They stepped aside so that Erin could see the word “STAY” written in red, leaking down to the base of the cabin. Trevor called out, “It’s blood.”
All at once, they ran for the boat. Erin expected the old motor to be dead, but it started with one turn of the key, and they were back out into the water. The narrow channel was shallow, rocks visible along the edges, vines and other tropical vegetation thick and touching the water. Cobwebs were dense in one spot, but there were no spiders. The motor rumbled and Erin could smell the gasoline. There were no words to be said. There was only a gun to collect.
They flanked left through the trees, keeping their distance from Bruce’s cabin so that they could approach Stefan’s from the rear, out of plain view. Trevor mentioned the rifle that he had seen Bruce lugging around when he was in the woods taking a piss the night before. Erin had a tight grip around her hatchet as she waited for something else to happen.
There was activity in the trees. Not a person, but birds, critters, who knows. The night was suddenly very alive, and she was very aware.
Trevor and Stefan jockeyed for position of lead. Trevor backed off and placed her in the middle, covering her backside.
“You’re concerned about me now?”
“What?”
“Screw you.”
“Whoa, hang on. Erin, tell me what’s going on. Why are you mad at me?”
She wanted to turn around and clock him. “Not now.”
The trees were more abundant. Erin could hear a heavy wind swirling. Was it wind? It pushed at her from all directions simultaneously. Fist clenched and sweaty around the rope grip of the axe, she felt hot breath on her neck, sending a tingle that nestled somewhere in the center of her skull. She couldn’t tell if she had stopped dead in her tracks or if she had burst into a full sprint. A thought came. It was like it was in song. Stay a while. It grabbed hold. The wind accelerated.
When she turned around, Trevor was not there. They were almost out of sight up ahead, fading into the trees and the black. Before she could move her legs to run, a gunshot sounded off causing her to flinch and drop the axe to the ground. She bent over to pick it up. The gunfire was thunderous. Lifting her eyes from the ground, trapped in an awkward crouched position, she heard a scream like no other. It didn’t even sound human. In med school, she had spent time shadowing doctors and nurses as they tended to some fairly damaged patients, injuries generating all kinds of agonized moans and screams. Once she had come across a man with scissors penetrated through his midsection, the tips of his intestines poking out in one spot, the putrid smell of exposed flesh mixing with ammonia. Before succumbing to his own consciousness, the man was snarling like a wild animal, followed by a high-pitched howl that would have best resembled the sound of someone begging for death to come.
She sprinted up ahead and darted right into a small opening before coming to an abrupt stop. There they were, both lying on the ground, blood everywhere. She could hear wet-mouthed ragged breathing. Grabbing Stefan’s flashlight, she lit it up to find that the blood belonged to him. He was even whiter than he was before, bordering on gray. “No,” he growled.
“Are you shot?”
“Some animal trap,” Trevor said.
Erin moved the light to the left, showing bloodied steel teeth with chains throughout.
Before she could tend to Stefan’s wound, Erin was brought to her knees with the fierce sting of those same familiar words. Stay a while. With all the leftover control she had, she lifted her head to look at the others, who were both experiencing similar agony.
“Make it stop!” howled Stefan.
The last thing she remembered was leaning over to hurl. The burning taste of bile erupted out as the words persisted with great force in her mind, forcing her face into her own vomit and sand.
Erin woke up in a bed with a wet towel in her hand. She could hear grunting and wincing sounds next to her, and finally her vision returned with some form of clarity. Battling through a groan was Stefan’s voice. “You okay?” She looked across the bed to see blood everywhere. She shot up and stared at his ghastly face. “I’m okay, really,” he said.
“You don’t look okay. Let me check it.”
“You’re too late, doc. Already numbed, stitched, and gauzed. Trevor went to get me more gauze and bandages though.”
“Shit, I should have checked it. It could get infected.”
“I’m pretty thorough. You might not know this, but I have some experience in the field. Grandfather on my mother’s side. Military physician. Caught some action in World War II. Most old folks don’t like to talk about their time served. Too much trauma. My grandpa, he wouldn’t shut up about it.”
“Did you get a good look at the wound? Those spikes could have hit an artery.”
“It’s all good there. I can’t speak for the calf muscle though.” His blinked hard and a tear pushed out.
“You’re in so much pain,” she said.
“Yeah, the cure is upstairs. If you’re able to help me up, that is.”
She checked their surroundings. They were in Stefan’s room in the basement. The towel in her hand seemed clean, and then she remembered the vomit.
“Don’t worry. You weren’t the only one who heard it,” he said.
“We need to get off this island.”
He looked down at his leg, then back up to her eyes. “Yes, we do.”
Chapter Eighteen - Trevor
Stefan had sworn he was okay, but there was a lot of blood. If they weren’t able to get away soon, that leg could get infected, and he could die, leaving the rest of them stranded. They could have taken the small fishing boat to safety and sent help back for Ashton and Skye, but he couldn’t leave them. It wouldn’t have been right. Send Erin with Stefan to mainland? Can I trust him? No… No, of course I can’t.
As he neared the duplex, he could see a woman up ahead, and she let herself in stealthily, head swiveling to scan behind her as she entered.
Wishing he had a weapon, he twisted the doorknob and inched his way into the entrance, avoiding the first set of lights as he crept forward. He couldn’t hear anyone’s breathing, nor could he hear any movement. He flipped on the light, bracing himself for a surprise. The place was empty.