The Spark

The Chase

I found myself on the floor of the cave, the ceiling and walls looming ominously above me. There was sand in my hair, dirt on my face, blood and dirt under my nails, my shirt was unbuttoned and my skirt pulled loosely around my waist.

Reddening with shame, I tried to sit up, but a searing pain shot through my head and I lay back down, aching all over. For some reason I was crying, my face wet with tears and my body racking with sobs. My arms and chest stung with cuts and colored my shirt in blood, there was an awful pain between my legs, my throat was all sore and scratchy, and my head felt like a ten-pound bowling ball.

Or a giant boulder.

I thought back and back, trying to remember what had happened and why I was crying, but I couldn't dredge up a single memory. It was like I had blinked and woken up a few minutes-or hours, time was such a vague concept on the island-later, everything completely wiped. The only thing I could feel was an awful, looming sense of terror that something horrible had just happened. It clenched at my stomach and throat with an iron fist, making it hard to think straight.

I realized I was alone in the cave-a blessing. In the distance, the sun had just begun to set, the sky streaked with orangey-pink clouds.

Buttoning my shirt, I stood up (and almost fell back down again, for the pain in my head was too great) and figured it was a good time to leave before things got even worse.

Wiping my eyes, I slowly made my way to the entrance of the cave and hoped Jack hadn't returned, or that nobody would come in to check on me. Only Maurice, Samneric, and Roger were there, but their backs were to me. In the distance, I could hear the bloodthirsty chant of Jack and his hunters coming closer and closer.

Quietly, I crept out of the cave and tiptoed my way down to the beach, trying not to make any noise. To my delight, one of the hunters had left their spear lying on the ground, so I picked it up and crept closer to the beach. Once I got there, I was going to find Ralph and then...what?

"Hey, she's getting away!" came Bill's cry. "Look, Jack, she's getting away!"

Adrenaline pumping through my veins, I charged down the mountain and into the forest, clutching my spear. Whether or not Jack had let me go, it didn't stop the fear of getting caught from prickling underneath my skin.

From behind, I could hear the stampede of Jack's tribe following me.

Great, I thought dryly. Jack never gave them the memo.

My lungs burned and my legs ached, but there was no time to think about that. If I ever tried to live in Jack's tribe, who knew how long it would be before I lost control of everything I knew about myself and became nothing more than a mere animal?

My foot slid on a leaf and I tripped, rolling to the ground and ripping open the wound on my arm that I thought had healed all the way through. Shivers of pain rippled up my arm and into my head, biting the corners of my eyes and nearly making me scream.

I bit my lip to keep myself from screaming and trudged on, the blood dripping down my arm and leaving a nice, easy trail for people to find me.

Damn it. I couldn't keep going like this.

I clutched my arm and tried to stop the bleeding. I didn't have the luxury of using my tie as a bandage, as I had left it back at Castle Rock and had no intention of going back. What I needed to do was find Ralph. The only way that both of us would be able to make it out of this nightmare alive was if we stuck together. And if we didn't, well...at least we wouldn't have to worry about dying alone.

I ducked into a nearby bush, still clutching my arm. Maybe I'd be able to use my brassiere as a bandage of some sort. I blushed at the thought of running around with nothing underneath my shirt. I took my hand away, which was wet with blood, and assessed the damage. In the dim light, beads of blood glowed on my arm, thin webs of skin holding the wound together. If I tried to strain my arm, I'd risk tearing more of my arm open.