Dying Embers

Chapter Nineteen

           Carlene giggled and poked my cheek.

     "You growing a beard," she giggled. I touched my face and realized she was right. I was growing a beard. Ugh. I can't wait till we get off this island so I can shave. That is the least of my problems though. I looked at Carlene as she fed the fire with small sticks and leaves. I smiled at her as she worked. If we did get off this island I would have to explain to Astrid that..I am in love with Carlene. Surely my uncle would have sent a plane. I looked at the smoke rising to the sky. Hopefully they'll see the signal. I was so into thought that I didn't even notice that Carlene was gone. 

        "Carlene?" I said looking around. Where did she go?  

    "Carlene?" I said again but louder. I shrugged. Maybe she went to go get more wood. I turned around when I heard a very faint noise in the distance. What the..? I turned around and saw a small dot ahead. It was really small. It looked like a....a helicopter! Carlene! I need to look for her. I stood up and ran down the bank. 

        "CARLENE!" I screamed. I heard no answer. Only the loud pounding of my heart. 

   "CARLENE!" I screamed again. I heard no answer. I made it to the cave and heard a screech from the other side of the river. Carlene. 

     I saw Carlene run through the branches and vines. 

  "RIVER! THEY'RE HUNGRY!" She screamed. My eyes widen. Oh no. I guess they snapped. Carlene jumped rock to rock very fast. I saw Bridget running into the water with the craziest look in her eyes. 

       "Carlene JUMP FASTER!" I screamed. Carlene jumped on the last rock and then into my arms. 

    "What should we do?" Carlene asked out of breath. I looked back at the struggling Bridget. 

  "For now. Run like hell," I said. We turned around and ran as fast as we could. Of course it wasn't long before my leg started hurting. Why now? Dammit! I looked in the corner of my eye and saw Carlene look back. 

     "Don't look back," I said out of breath. Carlene nodded and I heard Bridget scream behind me. She was really close behind us. I ran harder taking longer strids. 

        "River! Wait!" Carlene screamed. She ran harder to try and keep up with me. We made it to the waterfall and stopped at the edge. I turned around and saw Bridget running after us. I looked down and saw a good sized stick. I got it ready and waited for Bridget to come. I looked into her brown eyes. They were so empty and hungry. She was like a zombie. Behind her I saw Lucifer. Where was Larry and those three little kids? Did...Did they eat them? I shuddered. I swung the stick and stick Bridget on the side of her face when she was close to me. The stick snapped and broke in half. 

        "Shit," I muttered. I saw Lucifer running after me with his knife in his hand. 

    "RIVER!" I heard Larry scream. I turned around and saw him behind me. I gasped when I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder. 

      "NO!" Carlene screamed. I felt my shoulder. I could feel a tip of a blade sticking out. I fell in my knees. I wish I had my shirt. Larry walked up slowly towards me. I looked up at him. Blood seeped through my fingers. I heard Carlene screaming behind me. Larry knelt down in front of me and placed his hand on my other shoulder. He smiled. 

        "Well River. This is what you deserve for not getting us food," Larry said. I looked at him confused. He sighed and stood up and walked behind me. I felt him grip the hilt of the knife and twist it slowly. 

        "AH!" I grunted in pain and my jaws clenched together hard. Why was he doing this? I opened my mouth to speak but all that came out was a cry of pain. Larry yanked the knife out. I cried out loudly.

         "FUCK!" I screamed. I gripped my shoulder tightly. 

   "LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Carlene screamed. I heard her cry out in pain. I turned around and saw Lucifer pulling her hair with one hand and choking her with the other. Larry put me in a headlock. 

      "Lucifer you know what to do," Larry said nodded. Lucifer grinned and yanked Carlene's pants down. 

       "NO!" Carlene screamed. 

   "YOU TOUCH HER I'LL KILL YOU!" I screamed. I gripped Larry's arm and tried pulling out of his lock. Lucifer laughed and pulled his pants down. Anger. I couldn't take it anymore. I bit down on Larry's arm drawing blood. I grimanced at the taste of it. I heard him howl in pain and I pushed him away from me. I ran after Lucifer and knocked him off of Carlene. She sighed in relief and pulled up her pants fast. I helped her up and looked at Larry and Lucifer. Behind them the helicopter was almost here. 

      "You killed an innocent man River," Larry said smiling. I frowned. Lucifer nodded and smiled. 

 "What?" I said looking at Larry. 

  "Tell you what. You guess who raped and killed your precious Jessie then we'll let you live," Larry said. 

      "I may not let the guilty one live," I said coldly. Lucifer shifted uncomfortably not liking the sinister look on my face. I was a murderer. I killed once and I'll kill again and this time the guilty one. I looked at Lucifer and then Larry. Lucifer was afraid of me. I looked at Larry. He was not. 

        "You did it," I said pointing Larry. There was a silence and then Larry slow clapped. 

       "Good job. You got it right. I raped and killed that little girl and you wanna know what? I loved it. I laughed when she screamed. I laughed when she cried and I'm gonna laugh when I get my hands on that bitch of yours," Larry said motioning towards Carlene. I roared and ran after Larry tackling him to the ground. I punched him right on the noes. 

       "River! Please don't do this!" Carlene screamed. I froze and looked down at Larry. The scar on his cheek. It looked like someone scratched him. I climbed off of Larry slowly. No. He wasn't worth it. He was filthy. I thought it was Bill. Obviously I was wrong. 

        "RIVER WATCH OUT!" Carlene screamed. I turned around and saw Carlene jumped in front of me and Lucifer was coming after us. I thought he had his knife but he suddenly stopped in front of Carlene gasping for air. When he backed away he was holding his stomach and his fingers were covered in blood. Carlene cried and dropped Lucifer's knife. Lucifer fell to the ground and his chest stopped moving. Carlene killed Lucifer.