Unleash The Island

Chapter 1

The wind crashed against the steel sides of the ferry as it pushed through the Sound. The sounds echoed throughout the interior, with small droplets of water dripping onto the metal floor. Cars and trucks were cramped to the point of an almost rear end distance. Luckily, they were all put in park and just jostled around when the ferry crashed into a wave.

Families stood on the ramp and kept their eyes trained on the horizon, waiting for the island to appear.

"Can you take a photo of us?" somebody asked a stranger.

"Yeah! Of course." The family huddled together as the stranger grasped the phone as they passed another wave. "Alright, everybody." The finger lightly pressed the white button on the screen and a few photos were taken.

Kids were running around while their parents sighed. Two dogs barked at each other as their owners walked past each other. Sailors were standing with their arms crossed, waiting for the dock to be in sight. A teenager complained about how humid it was, wanting to go back into the car.

While all these events took place, there was a family sitting in their car, waiting patiently for their arrival. They did not bother to leave their items, considering how expensive some of the mother's dresses and father's watches were. They were always paranoid about somebody breaking into the car, or worse—a carjacking. Because of their anxiety, the parents signed their sons up for self defense by a retired Navy seal when they were young, but that was another story. They also put those weird tracker tags on the car and bikes. It was precautionary. One son thought it was badass, while the other would have rather played video games.

The once "badass" kid was on his phone waiting for some signal. His Tinder was frozen with a picture of a blonde girl that was a sophomore at Boston University. He gave up and looked at his own profile.

Leo, 18.

"lmk when ur free & want a piece of me"

He took pride in his minimalistic profile. There were three photos: him at the beach with a football in his hand, him sitting on a yacht with a cigar in his mouth, and, lastly, a mirror picture with his arms flexed. How proper, clean, and cut, literally. There was a purple banner with "New York University" on the side. His profile had already surpassed two hundred matches and Leo had gotten the app a week ago on his birthday, mainly because his older step brother told him to.

"Alright, boys," his step father, who was looking through the driver's mirror, started with to get their attention. "We're almost there."

His father's eyes bored into Leos' as he waited for some type of response. Leo nodded, giving his step father reassurance. Gavin, the older step brother, was asleep with his head conked on the head rest with his airpods blaring EDM music.

Wayne nodded, then turned his eyes to Lisa. She had a map of the island from the port held out in front of her, even though she knew it like the back of her hand. With one hand on his lap, he reached out and placed his other on her leg. Her eyes met his and he received a small smile.

This trip was important to their parents. They had not been to the island since Gavin graduated from high school, which was more than three years ago. From what Leo could recall, his mother told him he had been there since when he was barely one. Wayne and his mother had gotten married that year, a few months before his birthday.

The horn blew, meaning they were close to the dock and the island.