The Island

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

~Kirklyn~

Tillie still had blood dripping down her forehead when John held her, staining his shirt. We've been here for one week, and she's just waking up now, which brought up plenty of questions, mostly concerning who else had to wake up. When we finally got to the back of the jeep, I helped her sit on the edge of the trunk. Digging around in the front seat for the first-aid, I found bandages, gauze, wet cloth, and disinfectant, She was staring up at the trees when I got back, tears flooding her eyes.

"Do you think our parents really agreed to this," She said, a silent tear running down her face

"You still worried about Zoie?" I responded, jumping up onto the ledge with her and pulling out the wet cloths and wiping away the blood, she flinched when I used the disinfectant, and for the first time, I thought about all the times I was unnecessary mean to her, and instantly regretted it. She was staring at me while I wrapped her head, her brown eyes, which I had only seen harsh and cold beforehand, were soft and welcoming. I looked away, I felt like she was reading my mind.

"She means everything to me. I was going to give her a promise ring in a year, the spring after graduation, and now this happens and i can't find her,"

I worked on her cut while she talked,she told me about Zoie, what the woman had said to her, and about her family.

"The best part about being on an island where the oldest people are eighteen, no one gets to tell you what not to do, or in our case, drink," I said, reaching into my bag to grab a flask of rum.

She grabbed the flask, sniffed it, smirked, and took a drink. She passed it back to me, wiping her lips with her arm. "Thanks, that was definitely needed," she said, jumping off the ledge. Tillie looked at me, smirked, and turned while waving her hand at me, "you might want to wash your face, it looks like a three-year old wiped your face with red paint."

Yeah, I need to apologize to her.

By the time we had packed up the camp, put out the fire, and got into the jeep, the sun was below the horizon, Tillie fell asleep a while ago, and John threw a blanket on her when she started to doze off. She started to shuffle a little, how someone could sleep through the mass amounts of bumps we drove over, I'll never know. We were five minutes away when she started crying and breathing heavy.

John looked over his shoulder at her,

"Wake her up," he said, trying to focus on the road "she gets night terrors, she'll hurt herself if she isn't awake"

I got out of my seat to get to her, and her nails were already buried in her arms. Her face was crumpled and tears were already falling down her face.

"Tillie, you need to wake up." I said calmly, gently shaking her, when that didn't work, I gripped her shoulders and shook her harder, "Tillie! Wake up."

Her eyes fluttered open, and she let go of her arms, and I just noticed small, crescent shaped scars lining her shoulders.

"Tillie, are you ok?" John said, taking gently as her glanced back at her,

"I'll be fine, I just haven't had my terrors since after the attack,"

I had almost forgotten about the attack on Tillie and the LGBTQ students, the attack I could've stopped. I was about to apologize, but she leaned into me, and I my arms instinctively wrapped around her as tears streamed down her face. "We're almost there," John said from the front. We crawled up to sit beside him. the front seat was just one long bench, so Tillie stayed with me. The farms outside the city limits came into view, followed by the wall protecting the city. The gate was slowly being opened. "Despite what the wall might suggest, we do let people in if they can make it to us," Said John "over half of our houses are empty, since people move in with people they know."

We drove down the main road. The people who were still up waved, some of them noticing Tillie. She sunk into the front seat, hiding from some of them. When we drove over the bridge to the main building, the War Palace, the scouts helped us unpack the trunk, and Tina and Hannah were jogging up to the jeep. They saw Tillie and squealed.

Squealed!

Tillie laughed and ran up to them. John and I carried the bags into the Palace. When we entered the main hall, Tillie's jaw dropped, it was full metal, but a section of wall was taped off to make room for the murals lining the wall. There were several, most of them were half finished, but two were completed, one was an artistic list of all the schools represented in the city, the other had several hands gripping each other's wrists. Each was beautiful, and the artist responsible was a very secretive person. They randomly came in to paint, never showing their face. You go to sleep and wake up to one of their masterpieces coming together.

"Zain!" Tina and Hanna called together, calling on their older brother. "Tillie's here!" footsteps ran down the stairs, Zain nearly fell into her arms, I felt a surge of jealousy when she laughed, Even more so when she ruffled his curly black hair. He was paler than the twins, and resemble their father with his beige skin, blue eyes, and tall figure. His hair and laugh though, that was from his mother.

"Smooth, Zain," Tina said, smirking,

Zain was older than the twins by a year, and had to stay back a year when he got sick.

"Shut up," He responded, glaring at Tina, finally getting off of Tillie " Are you ok?" he asked Tillie, looking truly concerned, his eyes darting back and forth to the bandage on her head, to her shoulders, to her eyes, which were still red from crying.

"I'm fine." She said coldly, shaking her head as Zain gave her a skeptical look "Honestly, it's nothing. Just tripped and landed on a rock. Kirklyn cleaned it up."

That, apparently, was the wrong thing to say, the glare I got from Zain made tensions rise. So that's how it's going to go, fine, let him be jealous.

"All right ladies, you're both pretty," Tina said, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes. Always the more serious between her and her sister "Just tell her Zain. Tell her you're Gifted."

"What!" Tillie said "Which one. If it's fire or ice great, but if you're a Wraith, well," she shook her head, clearly worried

John came up behind her. "He's an Ice Phoenix."

"But what about your wings?"

"They only show up when i want them to," Zain said, making jagged spikes spring out of his back until wings formed, making the whole room cold.

"No sign of the other two from our school though" John said, placing his hand on her shoulder as she shivered from the cold. Everyone knew their relationship was more like siblings than anything, especially after Tillie came out. John was the first person she told. "I'll lead you to your room. It's late, and I'm surprised to see these two" He jerked his head at Tina and Hanna, who smiled innocently "up so late."