The Island

Part 8 - 4

Four:

About noon that day, Andie had finally loosened their the doorframe on the outside enough for it to snap in half. Their imprisonment was finally over. Despite the loud noise the cracking of wood, no one heard it; especially Jeanette. Unbeknown by most everyone in the cabin, she was busy outside. She had gathered large fallen tree branches from the woods and piled them in a big patch of dead grass. Sticking out of her small back pocket was a box of matches; she had found them in a kitchen drawer. She had been in a trace-like state since her encounter with Emma and Randy. She thought perhaps Adin's death had fully sunken into the logical and sensible parts of her brain. That's why she is gathering the big dry wood from the woods; what better way to get away from all of this than to be rescued? Jeanette went back to the woods one last time, with a burning passion to get the fire going. She disappeared for a good ten minutes in the woods. She returned to the lawn, carrying her final piece of wood. She walked past the windows of the downstairs bedrooms; from inside, Sara tucked in watching Jeanette's actions. Her heartbeat increased substantially; Sara hoped Jeanette hadn't seen her. Sara tried to blend in the entire time watching her build the wood pile by being completely. Aside from speaking to Andie a few times, she hadn't moved in almost forty-five minutes. "When she lights the fire, we make a break of it." Sara said, looking at Andie for once. He nodded. "Just give the signal and we'll go." He replied. Back outside, Jeanette was frozen in place. Even though she didn't move, she stuck out like a sore thumb in her pink tanktop and blue denim skinny jeans. Jeanette was just a few ten feet flanking the west end of the veranda. Suddenly snapping back into her clouded reality, she threw her massive stick onto the top of the woodpile. Now moving quicker, she reached into her back pocket; she located the box of matches. She drew two matches from the drawer and sealed it. With two attempted strokes on the first match, she lit it. The fire on the match glowed as she tucked in between a few pieces of wood at the bottom of the pile. Much didn't happen at first, but Jeanette was glad; she had time to light her second match, which she placed at the center toward the top of the pile. She let the matches burn with the big fire too, thinking that every last bit of wood means more rescue smoke. For safety precautions, Jeanette sought the boathouse for a bucket. She went down to the western dock, next to where the boat house was. This was not the same dock she had swam off of three days ago; this was the dock next to hers. She stepped onto the brown wooden dock, seeking a door that led into the small yet tall boathouse guarding the lawn. Jeanette tried the door, but it was locked. She went past the door and looked around the corner of the building to see if there was any sand pales or really anything that would retain water. Around the boathouse she went, traversing the lawn again and the sand on the other side. To her luck, she found a sand pale and castle-shaped molds for sand. She grabbed all of them and went to the shoreline. Being swift, she swiped some water and quickly back to the fire. Yellow and orange flames were visible from the wood stack. Jeanette set the pales next to the burning logs. From inside, Michael had a bottle of wine. He was sitting on the stairs, holding his head with his free arm. He sipped from the expensive wine sparingly. He stared at the floor, thinking about life; all that was on his mind nowadays was the life he have to face once he left this island. His entire life would be changed; in fact, everyone's would. They're instantly outcasts, murderers, psychopaths. Michael decided he'd have none of that. "You're being quiet." JT said from the lounge room. He had flipped a recliner in the room facing away from the stairs toward the stairs to face Michael. "Do you smell that?" Michael lifted his head. He set down his wine glass and stood up. He went across the foyer and to the same window the living occupants of the cabin had seen Brock through after Adin's murder. The sight before Michael's eyes shocked him. "Fire!" He yelled. "JT!" Michael slid to the door with incredible speed and threw open the door. Michael took giant strides out of the cabin and across the veranda. "Now!" A voice like Sara's sounded from her room. Suddenly, the entire cabin was in motion. People like Emma, Logan, and Wyatt who had been in their room the whole time had been drawn to their windows as well. Sara and Andie had both broken from their room prison and made a dash for the library. JT was slower than Michael to step outside, but he did in time for Sara and Andie to get across the foyer without being detected. On the lawn, Michael sprinted toward the seemingly calm Jeanette. She turned around in time to see Michael racing toward her. Michael first took Jeanette by the shoulders and shoved her aside. He went straight for the water pales, emptying one at the base of the fire. "No!" Jeanette screamed, seeing her fire was ruined. Before she could do anything else, Michael touched her again. except how he gripped Jeanette's arms and body. She let out an awful scream that echoed through the white walls of the cabin and the woods of the island. He picked her up off the ground, letting her feet dangle and thrash like an animal's. Michael took a few steps away from the fire, making sure to keep any part of her from touching the ground. He lowered her down, which turned into a violent release as Jeanette lurched toward the ground. She hit it hard, making her hair fly over her face. He stood over her for a moment, watching how horribly confused and helpless she was. Michael felt no remorse for her at all. Without thinking, Michael had a raised first, poised to strike Jeanette's head. But a soul from inside the cabin saw this. They abandoned what they were previously doing and rushed toward the door. Slipping past JT who guarded the door, Sara jumped off the veranda and ran to Jeanette. "Stop!" She yelled. Michael slowly turned in disgust and shock to Sara. "Get away, you wretch." Michael hissed. Sara stood there for a moment, letting Michael continue to stare at he. The tension between ran through the air like and angry hornet nest. Suddenly, Sara put all the force and momentum she had into one giant shove at his shoulders. Michael tripped over Jeanette's left leg and went tumbling backwards. Sara grabbed Jeanette's hand and helped her crawl away and behind Sara. Jeanette's assailant had fallen into some wet grass, staining his shirt. His glare on Sara was a death glare. Sara remained locked on him as well; her feet, Michael wiped his face from the mud he had collected from his fall and got to his feet. He gritted his teeth a bit and then attacked Sara. He grabber her by the collar of her shirt and shoved her back. Sara swung and punched Michael's chest, Still clutching her shirt, he shoved her again, making her susceptible to falling in the smoking fire behind her. "Sara!" A familiar voice cried from the veranda. It was Andie, who was being held back by JT. "Let me go, man!" Andie pushed his body against JT's shoulder. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that." JT monotonously replied. "Let me go-" Andie started to use his arms to shove JT out of the way, but he was not going to budge. At the fire, Michael's evil glare locked on Sara's desperate eyes. "Get back inside." Michael whispered. "Get back inside and never come back out." Michael's whisper turned into a yell. "Because if I see you again, you will not see the day to regret it!" Michael turned Sara away from the fire and shoved her toward the veranda. Sara kept her balance, but her danger radar was off the chain. She slowly stepped backwards, observing Michael watch her like he was plotting her untimely murder.