THRIVE: Book One

Chapter 29- Sisterly Love

Things changed a lot for us over the next few weeks. Everyone finally settled into their own routines, and it felt comforting to have a sense of normality again. Every morning I would head down to the beach to watch the sunrise; this was usually followed by a morning hike through the jungle. Sometimes, I would sneak up on the guys and scare them while they were out tracking game. They seemed to enjoy hunting, and the wild boars living in the jungle never knew what hit them. While Brian was out with the guys, Amy spent a lot of time wandering alone. I could tell she was feeling lonely and out of place, but no matter what I tried, I couldn't seem to get her to join us. Victoria was keeping to herself, too; Chloe had shown everyone how to get to the temple's roof, and she spent a lot of time sitting up there staring out at the city. We made sure to give her her space, but she still had frequent breakdowns, so it was becoming difficult to honor her wishes. Carmen, Chloe, and I spent a lot of time studying and meditating on our visions, trying our best to find the pieces and learn more about the past. We hadn't had any major insights in weeks, but that wouldn't stop us from trying.

I wander down to the cave of relics and find that Carmen and Chloe are already there analyzing symbols on the wall. We had slowly been unlocking parts of the ancient texts, and Carmen seemed to be working at it ceaselessly. The more we discover, the more obsessed she becomes.

"What did I miss?" I ask as I wander in, taking a closer look at the section they're on.

"Not much," Chloe sighs exhaustedly. "Where have you been?"

"Upstairs talking to Amy," I sigh, "I asked her if she wanted to come down with us, and as usual, she said no and wandered outside," I explain worriedly. Carmen suddenly takes her eyes off the wall and sighs, heading toward the stairs.

"I'll go talk to her," she sighs as she heads out. Chloe and I exchange glances, feeling stressed about the twins.

"Are they gonna be okay?" Chloe asks nervously as she leans against the wall.

"Honestly, I don't know. I've never seen them this distant from each other." I sigh " Amy has always been the social butterfly, but now it's like they've switched places." I explain as I start to pace.

"You know, she seems like a nice person and all, but I don't think she likes me." Chloe sighs sadly. "She probably wouldn't be so mopey if she found something to do instead of wandering around all the time," she explains, and I just shrug as I shift my attention back to the wall.

"So, have we been able to find anything more about the ceremony?" I ask curiously, but Chloe shakes her head.

"I wish. We've been looking over everything, but nothing seems to even mention it." she sighs and begins to wander around the room. "I feel like there's so much more missing here," she explains when suddenly, it hit me.

"Maybe we're just looking in the wrong place." I say optimistically, "Think about it for a minute; doesn't it seem strange how easy it was to get down here? This is just a shrine; it would make more sense to hide the important stuff where no one could just stumble in, kind of like how they sealed off the upstairs." I explain. Chloe's eyes suddenly brighten up.

"I never thought about it that way." she states, "I mean, there have to be more secret rooms here that we haven't found yet. Problem is, I wouldn't even know where to start." she explains.

"Beats me; wanna go on a treasure hunt?" I ask excitedly. Quickly, we both run up the stairs as fast as we can, looking around the halls differently this time and analyzing any inconsistencies we can see.

"Where's a good place to start?" I asked. Chloe stopped and looked around for a moment.

"Well, let's start somewhere important, maybe near the entrance to the second level?" she suggests. As we head for the throne room, we can start to hear Amy and Carmen angrily screaming at each other.

"You don't have to believe me, but at least we're doing something!" Carmen yells, "What's the point of sitting around doing nothing?"

"It's not nothing! While all of you have been off playing survivor, I have been trying to figure out a way to get off this goddamn island!" Amy screams, and I can hear her tears. As we get closer, we hide around the corner, doing our best not to be noticed. This isn't our fight.

"What's the point?" Carmen shouts frustratedly, "There's no point in trying to get back, and we have everything we need here. So why the hell do you want to so badly?"

"Don't you get it? If we stay here, it's like everything we've ever done means nothing!" Amy cries, "Am I seriously the only one that thinks we don't belong on this god-forsaken island? Don't you miss mom and dad, or your friends, or just being in civilization in general?"

"No, I honestly don't," Carmen states flatly. "You don't get it. You had friends; I didn't. You were mom and dad's golden child while all they ever did was try to change and fix me just because I was different. All they ever did was compare me to you, and I hated every minute of it. You may have enjoyed being out in the world, but it was a nightmare for me. I liked going to school because of my classes, but the people there were insufferable. The only reason I kept going was to learn about history, and now, being here, it's like we have the opportunity to actually live it." Carmen explains defensively.

"I get that things may have been hard sometimes, but would you really throw it all away just to live in this ghost town for the rest of your life? This isn't a fucking vacation! I just want to go home!" Amy screams.

"Amy, that hell hole may have been your home, but it wasn't mine," Carmen states calmly "I couldn't keep living in your shadow for the rest of my life, and being trapped somewhere I didn't belong was killing me. You know me better than anyone, but even you couldn't see that I was drowning."

"You... can't be serious," Amy states, her voice starting to crack. "Carmen, I may have been outgoing, but you were never afraid of being yourself. Everyone I always talked to said that they were impressed by how strong-willed you were and that you didn't care what people thought of you." Amy explained calmly.

"Maybe if just one of them had said that to my face, I would have felt differently. But this is the reality, I was all alone out there, and now you feel like you're alone here." Carmen explains solemnly.

"How were they supposed to? You put up this wall and wouldn't let anyone else in." Amy sighs.

"I don't know," Carmen states, "But I guess it doesn't matter anymore. We can't go back, and as hard as it is, you need to start accepting that."

"I can't." Amy sighs as she starts to cry. "I'm not ready to leave my life behind."

"Amy," Carmen begins calmly, "Even if we all did want to go home, there's no way we could do it safely. We already lost Marcus out there, and I don't want to lose anyone else." At that moment, Chloe and I decided to come out of hiding.

"What the hell am I supposed to do now?" Amy cries.

"We all need to find the answer for ourselves," I state, and they suddenly notice Chloe and me across the room.

"How long have you been standing there?" Carmen asks worriedly.

"Long enough," Chloe sighs.

"Amy," I begin calmly, "Sometimes in life, you lose everything familiar, only to be forced to change and become someone new. You can mourn the loss of everything you knew, but in the end, it's better to accept and face it as your new reality. If you don't, you're just going to spend the rest of your life wondering what could have been instead of what it can be."

"Well said," Chloe says quietly as she nudges me.

"Val's right," Carmen states, taking her sister's hands. "Take however long you need to figure out how to cope with this, but remember, we're here for you." she smiles. Amy looks back at us hopefully, but I can tell she's trying not to cry again.

"Is everything going to be okay here?" Chloe asks nervously.

"Yea, I think it is." Amy smiles, pulling Carmen in for a hug. This is the first time I've seen them act sisterly since Marcus' funeral. Suddenly, Amy reaches out to me.

"C'mon, we need this." she states, and I go over and join in."You too." Amy says warmly as she waves Chloe over. Suddenly, Chloe's face lights up as she runs over to embrace us.

"We're going to help you through this," Chloe says sweetly, and Amy starts to cry as she squeezes us tighter.

"All we have is each other now, and you know what? I think it's enough."