The Island

Part 9 - 5

Five:

"Shush! You're going to wake everyone up!" Jeanette whispered from behind her door. On the outside, Carmen had her foot against the wall and her fingered wrapped around the doorframe. Carmen thought about stupid JT and how his barricade across Jeanette's door was incredibly strong. While still managing to get a good grip and free the doorframe, Carmen struggled with remaining silent. After all, if Wyatt or Logan saw Carmen doing this, they might rat her out to Michael. So Carmen remained on a seemingly forever-lasting tug on the door frame. She was making progress, but Carmen knew she'd probably have to break the door frame more to free the handle of the door. "Are you close?" Jeanette whispered. "Kind of. But shush! Our voices might give us away!" Carmen hissed through a whispered reply. She adjusted her grip, putting one hand under the wood frame and one hand gripped on top. Now taking her foot from the wall and into the door itself, she pulled again. She began grunting to herself, destined on freeing Jeanette. She needed to just get out in general. Being surrounded by Adin's things, both the things on the wall to the beds, she was going insane. Carmen planned on hiding Jeanette in her own bedroom when daylight came so she didn't have to go back in her prison. "Pull!" Jeanette could tell Carmen was coming close to breaking the frame. First, the wood started creaking, and then cracking. Right where her right hand palm was, the wood began to split. Using that split to get advantage, she put both hands side by side and both feet on the door. Pulling with all her weight, the wood slowly cracked until it gave way. Carmen fell backwards, but not much. The wood she tugged on came completely loose and struck a framed picture hanging on the hall's wall behind her. The sound was tumultuous, but no one was immediately awoken. Jeanette's door opened for the first time in two days with great haste. Out came a girl that looked similar to Jeanette, but it wasn't the real her. Her makeup was ran all across her face, clearly showing she has been sobbing for days. Her blonde hair was poofy and messy, making her look crazed. Her nails had been chewed thoroughly, revealing skin on her fingers that didn't look right. Even in the darkness of night, Jeanette glowed like the moon. Carmen still was on the ground, observing this Jeanette she had never seen before. "Are you okay?" Jeanette asked Carmen. Seeing her mouth move was memorizing. "Yeah." Carmen sat up. Her back was a bit sore. "Um, don't take this the wrong way, but have you seen yourself in the past few days?" "Duh, no. I don't have a mirror in my room." Jeanette replied. "We should go to the bathroom and get cleaned up." Carmen suggested. She got to her feet and took Jeanette's hand. "Now, we gotta be quiet." Carmen whispered. "We don't want to wake anyone-" "Carmen, quit speaking to me like I'm Boo Radley. It's only been two days." Carmen turned back to her. "Sorry-" Jeanette jerked her hand away from Carmen. "Let's just go." Jeanette led the way through the hall, passing by Logan and Wyatt's room, the stairs and outlook over the foyer, and to the door of the bathroom. She opened it quietly and let Carmen in. Then she shut the door again. "Let me turn on the light." Jeanette felt the wall closest to the door and found the fan switch. It kicked on, producing an obnoxious noise. "Turn it off-" "I am, sheesh." Jeanette flipped the fan off and found the appropriate light switch. The bathroom light up, blinding them both temporarily. "I didn't expect that to be this bright." Jeanette blinked. She regained her vision and went to the mirror. She gasped at the sight of herself. What Carmen saw was what Jeanette saw - a different person. Carmen went to the toilet and flipped the seat down. She sat and pulled a nail filer from her pocket. She began on her nails when Jeanette splashed her face with water. All around the cabin, all that could be heard was faint sounds from the upstairs bathroom, snoring, and an unnoticed sawing noise coming from outside. Her running makeup ran further. Carmen looked over and saw her wet face. "There's makeup remover pads in the drawer." Carmen pointed to a drawer to Jeanette's left. She opened the drawer and found the pads. She began to wipe her face. In the mirror, she saw her face returning to its normal look. "Has anything happened that I should know about?" Jeanette asked. "Yeah. Randy disappeared Friday. He came back though in the middle of the night. He really hasn't said why to all of us, but Taylor told me that he said he was just taking a walk." Carmen replied. "Well, that's not suspicious." Jeanette said sarcastically. "Yeah!" Carmen shifted her legs toward Jeanette and continued speaking. "And here's what I don't get. He didn't vote for Michael, even though they're in the same clique. He sided with you and Sara during the argument, and now he's disappearing without a word." "What do you think he's doing?" Jeanette threw away her used makeup remover and found a brush in the same drawer. "I don't know. I really don't want to keep thinking about Adin, but with his strange actions, it's kind of hard not to question him." "Yeah..." Jeanette sighed. She had wetted her big brush and began going down locks of her hair. "Sorry, I don't mean to speak about Adin-" "It's okay. I kind of have to accept it. I have to except the fact that we underestimated the power of someone here. The will and the capability of a murderer. I have my suspicions, but I try not to ponder them constantly. Anyone who keeps hypothesizing on which one of us twelve is a killer puts yourself in danger. And plus because it was my boyfriend after all, thinking of who it is isn't good for my health." Jeanette's tone captivated Carmen. "I would have smashed the window and already escaped if I didn't feel a constant sense of danger. No one seems to understand all our lives are at risk. We all face the chances of being murdered every day at the hands of this ruthless killer. I'm blessed that I will live to see dawn tomorrow, and that I will leave this place free. I am also blessed to say tomorrow I leave, and tomorrow I am myself again." Jeanette's speech left Carmen speechless. "Jeanette, I don't know what to say." Carmen stood up. She put a hand to her face and wiped her eye. "Hey, don't cry. It'll all be over soon." The sawing noise became noticeable to Jeanette's and Carmen's ears. "What is that-" Just as Jeanette said that, the sawing noise stopped. From outside the cabin, a saw was thrown across the yard. Someone took a look back at the cabin, watching the oak before Sara and Andie's room. Suddenly, the tree crashed against the entire cabin. The sound was earth-shattering. The roof over Michael's and Sara's room collapsed at the impact of the tree. The wall between their rooms was decimated. The tree took out the entire west hallway, including the laundry nook and downstairs bathroom. The top of the tree even smashed some of the rooms upstairs, including the bathroom and corner of JT's room. Luckily for Jeanette, the tip of the tree barely missed her petrified body. Screams and cries ripped all through the cabin. Someone smiled to themselves from the lawn and disappeared into the night. The Big Bang had been done.