Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 132491 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 662(@200wpm)___ 530(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132491 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 662(@200wpm)___ 530(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
She has no trouble with the ladder’s weight, but she needs help maneuvering the long ladder into the hole. Pax sighs and takes one end.
I’m going to die in a dark hole in the ground. Alone. Starving. I’d rather throw myself from a cliff and be done with it.
“Don’t do this,” I beg. “Please don’t do this.”
I loathe the emotional crack in my voice, but I can’t help it. I’m desperate. I’ll be completely defenseless down there, a broken-down mess when I’m let out just in time to fight Marcelle.
Kill her. Kill Virginia. She’s jealous of you. You aren’t weak, so push her in the hole and let her die in there.
I close my eyes, a distressed cry coming from my throat. I’m losing my mind, having thoughts that aren’t really mine, and that hole will be the final nail in my coffin.
“You can do this, Briar.” Pax’s stern voice brings me back to reality. “Be strong.”
My dad used to say that to me. He said it’s most important to be strong when you’re feeling your weakest. That’s now.
“Go,” Virginia says, impatient.
Shaking, I refuse to look at either of them as I position the ladder so it won’t tip, pushing the bottom of it to the opposite side of the hole from the top. The rickety ladder groans as I put my weight on it.
I think I might lose control of my bladder. Falling into such a deep hole could kill me or leave me too injured to get back out. My urge to attack Virginia is getting stronger.
Don’t be weak. Kill her. You know how to strike a fatal hit she won’t even see coming. It’s her or you.
“No.” I grit my teeth and fight the pull.
“Briar.” Pax sighs, exasperated.
“I’m going,” I grind out.
This isn’t the time to lash out. I have to be smart. As hard as it will be to willingly put myself in a deep hole in the ground, where I’ll be completely helpless, I have to. There are no other choices, with Virginia and Pax both just a few feet away.
I won’t give Virginia the satisfaction of seeing how scared I really am. I won’t beg.
Silently, I climb down the ladder, clinging to the rungs.
It’s dark, the smells of stagnant water and dead vegetation getting stronger as I descend. When I reach the bottom, I step from the ladder into a few inches of standing water.
As soon as I release my hold on the ladder, it’s pulled out of my reach, my lifeline gone.
Leaning my back against the smooth wall, I cross my arms and look down, using all my will to press my lips together as hard as I can. My heart hammers against my rib cage, frenzied.
I’m Ben Hollis’s daughter. I might die down here, but no matter what they do to me, I won’t break.
15
There are dozens of failures for every one breakthrough. But those moments of progress are the most exciting of my career. Of my life. I’m starting to believe we can do this.
- Excerpt from the journal of Dr. Randall McClain
Water leaks from the bamboo door to my earthen prison, a stream hitting my hair and rolling down my shoulder. It’s raining. I can feel the same rain the Rising Tiders can, which connects me to the real world.
I’m not completely alone. I hate that I have to keep reassuring myself of that. It’s ironic that I like to keep people at arm’s length, but I also fear being alone. Physically alone, that is. Inside, I’ve been alone for a long time, because it’s better that way. Safer.
“Roses. I haven’t done roses yet.” I return to one of the mental exercises I’ve been doing for the three days I’ve been stuck down here. “Kingdom: plantae. Phylum: magnoliophyte. Class: magnoliopsida. Order: rosales.”
Light from above silences me. I look up hopefully.
“Hey, are you okay?”
It’s Pax. The first day I spent down here, I was a ball of fury who wanted to tell both him and Virginia to go fuck themselves. But sitting alone in darkness for so long has mellowed me considerably.
“I’m okay.” I stand, droplets of water dripping from my clothes. “Can I get some water?”
“I’m sending the buckets down. I’m sorry it took me so long to get back.”
At least he’s here. He comes once or twice a day, bringing me a bucket of water to drink and a bucket to pee in.
I’m exhausted. I only sleep for short stretches down here. The water at the bottom of the hole has finally receded into the ground, so I’m not sitting in water anymore. I’m still soaking wet, though, the humidity not allowing any part of me to get completely dry.
Marcelle occupies my thoughts. I run through how I can attack her in the circle. If my mind stays intact, I can beat her. That’s a big if, though. The longer I’m down here, the more thoughts of killing Virginia and fucking Pax flood my head. I don’t want power, and I don’t want to be on this island, but I’ve started fantasizing about killing her and taking over as Pax’s co-commander.