The Lost Ones

Chapter 2

She was breathing, which was good. It meant that she was alive.

Kit stared down at the sleeping girl, who lay on the cold cave floor in front of him beside the small fire he managed to make. Her shoulder-length, jet black hair was covered in sand, concealing her face. He could hear her soft, quiet breath as her chest steadily moved up and down, her body curled in a fetal-like position. She looks cold, he realized. The only thing she was wearing was her bathing suit. He remembered that he was wearing a shirt under his hoodie and, after making sure it was dry enough, he pulled it off and gently placed it over the girl's body. It feels strange, being this close to a girl. Out of habit, Kit shifted his gaze away and stared into the fire.

His head began to hurt as he thought about how long they would be stuck on the island before they were rescued. What if no one was looking for them? What happened to the others that were on the cruise? Were Alessandro, Chris, and Rin still alive? The last thing Kit wanted was for his friends to get hurt because of him. They were on that cruise because of him. If only he hadn't...

The girl under the hoodie began to stir. She appeared to be waking up. Unsure of what to do, Kit quickly stood up and continued to watch from a slight distance. Her hand began brushing over the sweater that lay on top of her and immediately, she paused and abruptly sat up. Her solemn charcoal eyes, which presented a stark contrast to his own sapphire eyes, narrowed on him.

"Who the hell are you!" the girl snapped, startling Kit. Her voice was dry, but firm.

She rapidly scanned the cave. Then her gaze moved to the grey hoodie in her hands, then to her own body, and then finally her eyes narrowed on Kit. Her white complexion reddened.

"What the fuck did you do to me?" she hissed.

Kit, still vexed by her unexpected response, felt his face become utterly hot. Had she not known there was an accident? If she did, why would she assume...?

"Geez, boys are such animals!" The girl struggled to pull herself up, ignoring Kit's offer to help. She threw the hoodie at his feet with an immense amount of force.

"What are you talking about!" Kit could hear his own voice shaking, but he tried to remain calm. He picked up the hoodie and held it towards her. "Here. You'll catch a cold with just that bathing suit on."

"What's the point?" the scornful girl retorted. "I probably already caught an STD from you, you bastard!"

It was like a slap in the face, each time she cursed. Unable to restrain the hurt and anger, Kit raised his voice. "Would you calm down!" he exclaimed. "I didn't do anything but save your life! We're stranded on an island!"

Still breathing heavily with uneasiness, the girl took another look around. Kit waited for her to figure out where she was and if she could remember what happened. It didn't take long.

"Fuck..." she angrily muttered, now realizing she had specks of sand all over her hands and legs.

So this is who I saved... A deep sigh of annoyance escaped Kit's mouth. Even if he was stuck with an impolite, ill-mannered fiend, he had to find a way they could be rescued.

"Why don't you stay here and rest? I'm going to search the island," he explained.

But the girl spoke before he could turn away. "Why do I have to stay? It's because I'm a girl, right? Bullshit. You're the one that's injured, so why don't you stay here and I'll find a way to rescue us?"

Kit glanced at his ankle, almost forgetting he was injured. He had been too focused on saving the girl to remember he was hurt.

"Fine. We can both go," he replied.

The skies were becoming clear, but the sea remained rough and unrelenting. Fortunately, the island was not completely barren. There were trees filled with all kinds of fruit in different colors and several edible plants growing around. If they weren't stranded, Kit would have thought it was the cruise's destination. Maybe it was, he joked. But the fact that his friends most likely did not make it off the cruise alive sobered him back to despair.

"We have to try to find survivors," Kit said, casting his eyes towards the vast sea. I wonder how the cruise ended up all the way here. And where exactly is here?

The obnoxious girl, who dragged behind him, responded with a disdainful tone. "Why would you want to do that? The people on that boat were bastards."

Kit winced at her swearing. My friends were on that boat! He kept quiet.

"Especially the one driving it," the girl added bitterly. "The captain's the one responsible for all of this."

It's not like they did it on purpose. Kit continued walking. It was barely a moment of silence before the girl started speaking again.

"What's your name anyway?" she asked. She sure knew how to make conversation.

"Kit. What's yours?"

"Kit?" There was a hint of mockery in the girl's voice that he had expected. "What kind of parents name their son Kit?"

What kind of person asked that kind of question? "Well, my real name is Kitaro. But I go by Kit. What's wrong with it?"

After an obvious hesitation, the girl casually replied, "Nothing. So how come you were on the cruise?"

This time Kit paused. He continued to walk again, looking in all sorts of directions to make himself appear busy. "The same reason everyone goes on a cruise, I guess," he responded.

A low scoff vibrated in Skye's throat. "I doubt it's the same reason as mine," she uttered. It sounded like she wanted Kit to ask her about it. Too bad he wasn't going to.

When he casually glanced at her, she tersely replied, "The name's Skye, by the way."

After what felt like hours and hours of searching, neither Kit nor Skye could find any sign of anyone else from the cruise. It was just the two of them—and Kit wasn't sure which one of them was most dissatisfied by that.

"They're all dead. Let's just accept that," said Skye. She seemed too relaxed.

Kit, who was starting to get tired of her negativity after listening to her talk the entire time, stopped walking. "You know, if you don't want to help me look, then maybe you should go back to the cave."

"It's useless. They're gone and you know it, too. Do you usually waste your time doing futile things?"

"My friends aren't a waste of time." Kit gave her a grim look. "I have to make sure they're okay. I have to make sure that—" A clank beneath his foot directed his gaze to the shiny, gold object buried in the sand. He reached for it, swiping away the wet mud that clung to its surface.

"A watch," Skye pointed out. "Great. Now we'll be able to tell what time we're going to die."

Kit recognized the lavishing adornments on the object immediately. "This is Chris' watch!" The one I was supposed to bring to him. Because he didn't trust the housekeepers. Chris was always the crazy one, but his friends claimed Kit was crazier. After all, they were the only ones that knew him best. And now they were gone.

Skye gasped. "Kit, your ankle!" she exclaimed. They lowered their eyes and saw that his ankle was now swollen. "It's because you keep walking and putting pressure on it. Come on, let's just go back."