Not Who You Say You Are

Chapter Seventeen

We all watch on in horror as the alligator rolls Emerald around in the water. Her agonising cries for help rebound in the brisk night air fitfully as her head goes in and out of the water. Ruby matches her scream as she observes, unable to help. The jaw of an alligator is strong and impossible for a human to combat, so jumping into the water to save her would only result in two deaths. The jaw of an alligator is so strong in fact, that I can hear the sound of Emerald's bones snapping and the clamp of the alligator's teeth meeting each other in the middle of her flesh. Even in the night sky and the dark water, I can make out the blood covering Emerald's body and quickly engulfing the water around her.

"We have to do something!", Ruby screams. 

I don't know what she wants us to do. The area around the dock is a steep rocky incline. There is no way to get closer to Emerald to pull her out. And even if there was, we physically wouldn't be able to free her from the beast's clasp. And that's only with one. Soon, two other alligators join in feasting on Emerald's body. It feels reminiscent of Maggie. All of us watching and not doing anything to stop it. Except this time there is positively no way to help. Emerald shrieks and gurgles as the water begins to fill her lungs until eventually, she stops. But the animals don't. They continue to thrash around her body in the water, ripping her apart. They tear her limb from limb as the grotesque sounds of splitting flesh travel along the water and directly into my eardrums. Then, they swim away and vanish beneath the surface, taking pieces of her body with them. Leaving nothing but Emerald's right arm floating towards us, close enough to grab. Like a cruel joke.

I hear a commotion behind me and I turn to see Miles pushing past everybody to get to the top of the steps, then he runs to the lawn and throws up. A lot. If I hadn't already done that upstairs, I'd be right up there with him. As the disembodied arm reaches the dock, Ivy gags and stumbles backwards, up the stairs and takes Miles' lead. Now the only person on the dock is Ruby. She kneels at the edge of the water, lamenting for her deceased daughter. Like the only thing she had left to remember Reggie was a torso, now all that's left of Emerald is one arm. Ruby has lost so much tonight. She's lost so much her whole life. Reggie, her mother and father, John, Emerald, and her sister. Who's not dead, but she might as well be to her. I gently approach Ruby, still wailing, and gently pull her away from the water.

"You can't be that close to the water", I tell her, fearing another alligator may not be satisfied. "It's not safe".

She moves with me reluctantly, still sobbing, up the stairs and everybody follows. We get halfway to the front door when Ruby collapses again, her calamitous grief being too much to bear. She can't walk, she can't stand, she can't talk, she can't think. All she can do is cry. There's no other way for her to express her loss other than to scream and sob into the void. Ivy and Miles have stopped their vomiting and join the rest of the family on the path, still looking queasy. It takes a long time for Ruby to be able to regain her balance but we don't rush her. However, every few seconds I check over my shoulder to make sure a sniper isn't being pointed at us.

Thankfully, there isn't. I have no idea where the man went. The last place I knew he was was in the foyer, nailing John to the wall. After that, he could have gone anywhere. He might even still be in the house which means we're safer out here. Outside with the alligators. By the water. Near the boat.

The boat.

I quickly feel my pockets and to my delight, Peter's keys are still there. I take them out and show them to the family. This is our chance. Our chance to take the boat and get off the island. To alert people of what's going on here. I'd only be able to take one other person, maybe two, as the boat is small. But the only person I want to take right now is Miles. I want to get him off this island and far away from this nightmare. None of us deserve this, but especially him. He's not a Quinn. He has nothing to offer these people. All he wanted was a family that would accept him and we couldn't even offer him that. Now he's had to sit back and watch as they're killed one by one. My Dad sees the keys in my hand and he nods at me. Telling me to go.