Finding Lily

5- Alex

The water was warm. Way warmer than I expected, even though I was off the coast of Florida so I shouldn't be surprised. It was nice though. After jumping in, I floated a little bit content. It reminded me of a bath. When was the last time I had one of those?

Pulling myself back together, I looked ahead. The island was closer now, the hill in the center of it recognizable and proof that I was at the right place. With help from the full moon, I could make out individual trees lining the shore but nothing behind it. If someone had seen my boat, or heard me jump off, I didn't know.

I stared at the spaces between the trees as I swam quietly to shore. I knew what this island was. I knew who was on it. I was looking for the monsters of the night, coming to get me, to take me back to their leir and punish me for the intrusion. Maybe not literal monsters, with horns and sharp teeth, but monsters all the same.

Ones with guns and zero remorse.

Ones that I had to admit I might be afraid of.

I got to the breaking waves without issue. No bullets whizzing by. No shouts for help. Just silence. I stepped onto the sand and remained alert, but there was nothing. Just the sound of the waves, the feel of the cool wind, and the occasional rustle of dead leaves small animals ran by.

I used the forest for cover as I changed out of my clothes and into something identical. Black as night, the best color for a covert mission. Getting to the island undetected was hard, sure. But getting around was going to be even harder.

Tonight, I would rest. Climbing up a tree with my bag still on my back, I picked a thick branch, tied myself to it, and slept.

***

I didn't need an alarm this time, either. Apparently, my body was already in the habit of waking up at six a.m.

Or maybe it was the birds chirping on the branch next to me that did it. How did such a little animal make such a loud noise?

With a grumble, I untied the rope from my waist and stretched my arms. Despite getting my body used to sleeping in uncomfortable positions, I had a pretty restless night. There was too much on my mind. Too much anxiety. Everything I'd done had led me to this moment.

After determining that no one was around, I jumped down from my tree and opened my pack. Digging under the damp clothes that I had stuffed inside last night, I found a water bottle and drank half of it. Then I ate a granola bar and closed it back up.

I landed on the south side of the island, right in the middle. The mountain was in front of me, towering up maybe 1000 feet, the peak closer to the north side. I walked in that direction, where I knew there would be caves at the base. I got there without issue, maybe everyone was still asleep, and stuffed my backpack inside. Then I walked east.

The island isn't very big. You could run from the western edge to the east in about an hour, and north to south in about thirty minutes. On the south side of the mountains, there was a more gradual decline that led to sandy beaches. The north was full of rocky cliffs that stood maybe 30 feet high. The internet didn't have much to say about this place besides geographical data. There was no theory that someone lived on it, that it was being used to traffic goods, nothing.

I knew better.

I had made it about five minutes from my hiding spot when I heard a branch snap ahead of me. It was twenty feet away at least. Big. Maybe human.

It happened again. And again. It didn't take me long to realize it was definitely human. And he was running right towards me.

The caves were behind me. I sprinted back to them, as quiet as possible, ducking behind the shadow of the rocks and peering out. It wasn't long before he came into view. It was a man. Young, brunette, lean, black shorts, white shirt. That's all I could pick out before he was out of sight again.