The Island

Chapter 9

Erika's POV

I get to the house before Cam can catch up to me. I can hear him yelling my name behind me and catching up fast. I rush to my room but before I can open the door Cam's hand lands on my shoulder and turns me around, the contact making sparks run through my body from where he touched. I look up at him and notice a shocked expression on his face as he looks at his hand.

"Did you feel that?" he asks in wonder, obviously not expecting an answer. I stay silent, surprised as this is the first time he hasn't yelled or glared at me. He reaches out and touches my shoulder where the skin isn't covered by my tank top. When skin meets skin the sparks ignite, leaving a warm tingly sensation that makes goose bumps appear on my skin. What is this? Why is this happening?

"It's the first time I've touched your skin." He says more to himself then to me. He brings his hand back to eye level and looks at it in shock. Suddenly his expression turns hard and he turns down the hall and walks away from me, leaving me puzzled over our encounter.

What the hell was that? People touch me all the time and that feeling or spark has never happened before. I shake my head, knowing I'll probably never have the answer. Staring down the hallway where Cam left, I still don't think I will ever understand that man and his mood swings.

"Why are you standing in the hallway?" Sophie asks from behind me. I turn around to face her and notice she's wearing pajamas. Her expression made me feel like I've just come straight out of the loonie bin.

"I was talking with Cam." I reply.

"I know." She pauses. "He's been gone for a while now, but you're still standing in the hallway." A smile spreads across her face, a smile that says she knows something.

I could feel my cheeks heating up and prayed that it wasn't noticeable. I made an O face and then shut my mouth, rocking back on the heels of my feet. This isn't awkward at all.

"What have you been doing all week Sophie?" I pause, trying to change the subject. "I haven't seen you since the pirates showed up." I wanted to know if there is a reason she doesn't go near them.

"I'm just sitting in my room, trying to be invisible while they're here." She says turning back to her room. "Come, I'll show you."

I walk down the hall and enter her room and find that it's bigger than mine. Her walls are pink along with her bed. The floor is white hard wood and the curtains hanging on the window are also white. A large TV hangs on the wall in front of her bed.

Sophie climbed onto the bed. "Want to watch TV with me?" she asks and I have a feeling she's pretty bored being trapped in her room.

"Sure." I respond and crawl on her bed. She starts a random movie about an ice queen and her sister. I listen to her sing the songs that play in the movie and wonder how many times she's watched it.

As the credits move up the screen, I ask Sophie about coming outside with me. "Please Sophie, the captain ordered all the pirates back to the ship." I try to persuade her, knowing that the pirate didn't do it.

Sophie sighs heavily, "Fine, I guess I'll go but if I see a pirate I'm not staying."

"Okay, I thought we'd go for a walk in the forest anyway." I tell her, wanting to find out more about the island. I knew I wasn't going to be able to do that trapped in this house.

Sophie freezes. "Are you sure you want to do that?" she asks. "It's not exactly the safest place out there."

"Why, what's out there?" I wonder.

"I'll tell you, as long as you don't tell them it was me who said."

"I'll just blame it on the pirate." I say and Sophie looks at me with a strange look. "What? He's been giving me information as it is." I shrug.

"Damn pirate." Sophie mutters under her breath but not low enough to go unheard.

I stand there in shock looking at her.

"What? Everyone says it." She defends and I laugh.

"So, are you going to tell me why going for a walk in the forest is a bad idea?" I question.

"Do you know that the people of the village aren't native to Pandora?" she asks and I nod. "We call the people in the village Pandorians. I am a Pandorain. But there are people who have lived on this island longer than Pandorains and we call them various names from Natives, Indians, Indigenous, the Red Paint-"

"Red Paint?" I question. I get the impression she's talking about the old days where they run around with cloths over their privates and paint plastered on their skin.

"They wear red paint on their faces and bodies. I've been told they are cannibal's." She says.

Cannibal's? I suddenly don't think the red it paint any longer. "Are they the only reason you don't like going into the forest?" I ask, wondering if there is more.

"No, there's more! Strange things happen in that forest Erika. Stranger people make it their home. I can't say more. Just know that these people don't like outsiders."

"I think we'll be fine. We'll just stick to this side of the river." I tell her.

"How do you know about the river?" she asks, shocked.

"I had a dream. Now Come on, I know where to go." I wave my hand for her to move, but she doesn't.

"This is a bad idea." She sits on her bed shaking her head.

"Just get changed so we can go." I order, pointing to the closet.

"Fine." she says and pulls out a pair of white shorts and a pink shirt. She closes the closet door and a minute later comes out of the closet.

"Perfect, let's go."

We head down the hallway. "Can we go out the side door to avoid any pirates?" Sophie asks.

"What side door?" I question and look back at her.

She smiles. "Come, I'll show you."

She leads me towards the side of the stairs. She knocks on the wall three times and a hidden passage appears. "This is the way Cam usually leaves and enters. It's his secret escape. I use it from time to time. When you open the door at the end of the tunnel, the forest is just on the other side." She says and walks through the entrance of the secret passage way.

"Does anyone else know of this passage?" I wonder.

"No. Cam thinks he keeps everything a secret. He's not the only one with sneaking skills." She says ahead of me and I know there's a smile on her face and a glint in her eyes.

We walk out and close the door behind us. Taking a few more steps and we're walking in the forest. I notice that the sun is still high in the sky, but that doesn't mean the tree's let any light through. I stumble over twigs and branches here and there. It doesn't take long for us to reach the river. The steady sound of water running is out navigator. When we reach the river, I can see tree's lining the edge and rocks beneath the clear water. I stand there looking at the water and how it flows over the rocks when I hear Sophie gasp.

"Erika, look! Across the river." Sophie squeaks from beside me.

I look up and standing on the other side of the river is a cloaked figure, the figure looks like the ones from my dream. The blue cloaked figure. I can tell that whoever the figure is, is tall and slim. The figure turns away and walks into the trees on the other side of the river.

"Erika, we should go." I hear Sophie beside me say in a quiet voice.

"Who was that?" I ask.

"I don't know." She says and I get the feeling she's lying but I ignore it, getting the feeling that we should leave too.

"Okay, let's go." I say and turn around. When I turn around there's a sword pointed at my face.

"Not so fast, we want to play a little game." Someone says on the other end of the sword.

"P-pirates." Sophie stutters from beside me.

"Aye, Pirates." He says to Sophie and then looks at me. "You can call me John." He says and turns around to face the rest of the pirates with him. "Tie 'em up boys."