Island of the Unnatural [Book 2 of Obsidian]

Island of the Unnatural: Ch. 26-28

Yes, this is Ch. 26-28. Obviously. So. Enjoy... and don't scare yourself with what will happen ;)

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The Attack

{The per¢eption of Keely|

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During the second day, Becky took us to the water source and we filled the water bottle up, plus an empty one I had. She told us about who she killed yesterday in the middle of the night as well. As we walked more in the maze, we heard Mary Johanna's death, and later, when it was dark, Stavros Troen.

I hope we're close to the exit of the maze because we're running out of food and soon we won't have anything to survive on. Our water bottles are almost empty, too. We are about to set up camp for the night when we hear someone running not too far away. We look at each other and then decide to bolt for a corner. We hide in it, watching the person pass by. I recognize him almost immediately. Ryan, from the Unnatural group. But why is Kacey chasing him? I thought they were helping each other out.

The sight before us is almost unbearable. Kacey gains on him and he falls to the ground. His forehead already has a cut on it from something earlier and what Kacey does scares me more. She takes a knife and stabs him near his wrist. I gasp, but Shawn and Becky clamp a hand over my mouth to shut me up so we aren't caught. Blood pours out of Ryan's wound, and I'm surprised he's still alive. Kacey kicks him and smiles. "I'm sorry, Ryan," she says. "But you were no help to us anymore. We had to leave you. Now you can lay here and die!" With that, she runs off. I notice a mace is in his hand. So why didn't he use it? And it confuses me that Kacey didn't make sure he was dead. I guess she likes slow and painful deaths on her opponents.

He forces himself to stand up, gritting his teeth with the pain in his arm. He walks slowly, dragging the mace on the ground. I know he must be trying hard to win and I feel so bad for him. I want to help him, but it would be too much trouble for all of us. I let him move on, grasping his wound.

We decide we can set up camp in this corner. This time, I take the first watch. Nothing interesting tonight. I switch off with Shawn next and sleep until Becky wakes me up in the morning. We eat the rest of our food and drink the rest of the water, hoping we can escape the maze of torture today.

I'm surprised at how many turns we make today, and soon, Becky is pointing at an opening. It's so good to be true, I think it's a mirage, but as we approach it, it's real. We come out into a forest, like the one we were in before. But there's animals, plenty of them. Shawn kills enough for all of us with her spear. Soon, we come to the place where we started the Blood Games. We go the left way, the best way, and there's only more and more forest. It's silent, like nobody's here, but they must be farther away.

We take a break in a cluster of trees and Becky sets up the tent. Even though it's made for one person, we can fit an extra person (barely), so one person can watch the front. In my backpack, I have a flashlight for night, but it would be pretty easy to see. We didn't really need it in the maze. So I guess it's useless now. We'll have to use the moon as light.

It's still bright outside, so we don't need to sleep yet. People will be out looking for victims. "We should find our own people to kill," Becky says. "Bring the number down a bit more. There's still eleven people out there. Well, minus you, me, and Shawn, eight threats."

"I don't think we should," Shawn says. "A lot of them are people that know us and hate us. Kacey, Kaiti, Shannon. Nyala doesn't hate us and I don't know if Ryan does, but we can't kill them. Plus, we may never come across them."

"Kaiti might even be hunting Nyala now," I add.

"That's true," Becky replies.

"I don't want Nyala dead..." I sniff, playing with the mat I sit on.