Teenage Castaways

Chapter Eighteen || Lexie

I woke up to the sound of muffled munching. Was Mateo eating a sort of before-bed snack? Brushing down my now-short hair, I tapped Elijah on the shoulder.

"What?" he asked, slightly annoyed.

"Do you hear that?" I asked.

Turning to me, Elijah's eyes gleamed in the last rays of sunlight. "Sounds like someone's eating. What about it?"

"I don't know."

"Then don't worry about it."

I couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Standing up, I went to investigate Mateo's shelter.

Oh.

My.

Gosh.

Ruby was inside, chewing up Mateo's leg. WHAT THE HELL? Her long hair covered her bloody face as she ate. Tears welled in my eyes and I felt bile rise in the back of my throat.

"I'm starving," she pleaded when she noticed me, her eyes filled with fear. "I found him dead- I didn't- Lexie!"

Rushing away, I screamed for Elijah, who was already getting ready for the night. When he came out, he found Ruby at the doorway of Mateo's old shelter.

"You animal! You absolute fiend!" he cried. Quickly, he went and threw a punch to knock her out. With a light thud, Ruby fell to the ground.

Everything was happening too fast. I couldn't breathe.

"You get the people at Pierre's Camp," Elijah ordered.

He didn't need to tell me twice. Quickly, I raced through the thicket to arrive at Pierre's Camp. Fumbling over my words, I begged them to come to our camp. Everyone, omitting Little Joey, came.

Killian was waiting for us back at camp. Ruby, now conscious, was being held by him.

"Elijah went to get Jovie and Chad," Killian said. "Ruby, bloody creature, woke up again."

"What did she do?" Pierre asked, fear filling her voice.

"She killed Mateo," Killian cringed. "And ate him."

"Ruby?" Adeline asked, keeping her voice relatively flat. "I can't believe you-"

"I DIDN'T DO THAT!" Ruby sobbed. "I found him dead!"

"You still ate his leg!" Killian barked, twisting her arm to avoid her getting loose. "You'll pay for it!"

Tears streamed down Ruby's face, mixing in with Mateo's blood.

There were moments of silence where the only sound was my heartbeat and the occasional whimper. We had transformed into statues waiting for freedom.

Don't think about Ruby. Don't think about Mateo.

Killian was strong. I couldn't help but notice he had somehow built muscle in his time away. His hair had also grown out wildly.

I wondered if he noticed changes about me too. Like my short hair?

Finally, Elijah arrived back at camp with Jovie and Chad.

"What happened?" Chad asked, breathless.

"It's Ruby," Emma sobbed. I hadn't realized she was crying before. "She's killed Mateo!"

"It wasn't me! IT WASN'T ME!" Ruby shrieked, her voice shrill. "Let me go! Let me go!" She thrashed around and Elijah rushed to slam her face back down in the sand.

Ruby was unconscious again.

Keeping his gaze set, Killian stood up.

"What are we going to do?" Pierre asked, eyes clouded with worry.

"We're having a meeting," Killian said. "We need to figure out how to punish her."

"Kick her off the island or something," Adeline said. "She's obviously gone insane."

What? I would have thought Adeline would have vouched for Ruby. From what Elijah told me, and from what I've seen, they were friends.

"Well, I was thinking more along the lines of we just kill her," Killian suggested, anger biting his words.

Everyone went silent.

"What caused her to do this?" Pierre murmured after a while.

I found myself speaking up. "She was starving and alone. We always knew she had a heart of ice. I just don't know why she chose Mateo."

"When will you ask me for my side of the story?" Ruby said, lifting her head from the dirt. She kept her hands behind her back in surrender. "He was dead when I found him, as I've tried to tell you idiots."

"Why were you in his shelter in the first place?" Chad asked.

"He was nice to me. I would swing by his shelter sometimes for fish, since you two never shared," Ruby sneered.

"We would've been happy to share!" Jovie said.

"And we did whenever you actually showed up to meals," Chad added dully. I could tell he was holding in an eye roll or scoff.

Poor Ruby, I almost felt bad for her. But she chose to eat him, even if she didn't kill him. She deserved her fate. It was her fault.

"I'll set up a trial tomorrow," Killian said. "There will be four ways to vote, based on your reactions: forgive and forget, servitude, exile, or death."

To exile her would be to kill her with extra steps. And servitude? I guess Killian would explain the next day.

"I'll watch over her tonight," Elijah said. "I stay up all night anyway."

Killian nodded and Ruby made a grunting sound.

"I'll stay with you," I offered.

Elijah nodded and the conversation ended there. Everyone went back to their camps to sleep, except Ruby.

We would be keeping eyes on her tonight.

‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

I voted for her to die. And, deep down, I regret it.

‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

"Ruby," Killian said. "You have been voted for removal."

"No," she hissed. "You can't do this! You can't! I'll kill you all." In a thrash, she lifted her glasses and smashed them onto a rock. Using the tip, she lunged for Killian's throat.

"Ruby!" Adeline screamed with an emotion I couldn't place.

Elijah made quick work of Ruby.

"This is for a healthy, happy community," Killian said. "Her anger won't harm us anymore."

"I feel sick," Emma murmured.

Elijah retracted his knife from Ruby's back before slipping away to the ocean to wipe it off. The group soon dissolved.

‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

"It's time to unite the camps so nothing else like this ever happens," Killian said. It was dinner. An uncomfortable one.

"Will you be the king?" Little Joey asked. "Can I be the prince?"

Pierre took a bit of food and slowly rubbed it around her cracked plate. "I think the system is fine. Not that Killian wouldn't make a good leader..."

"The situation with Ruby demands change," Killian claimed.

"You demand change," I muttered.

Elijah snorted.