Paradise Island: Complete Edition (43 page)

“What?” I was shocked. I was nothing but polite to the woman.

“I would have kicked you out, too, and that’s saying something. You were acting very weird, and you had a British accent the whole time. Are you honestly telling me you don’t remember anything?” Jack looked at me, questions in his eyes. He seemed genuine enough, so I knew he was telling me the truth.

British accent. Lucy. Then I remembered that she wanted me to drink the water from the stream, the one that contained her reflection. Was it possible...? But that kind of stuff wasn’t real, was it? I was just having a psychotic episode, right?

“Shit,” I said as all the pieces came together. “Jack, you need to tell me exactly what happened since this morning.”

Jack looked at me strangely but he didn’t object. He seemed like he was remembering all the stuff that had happened. “First, you came home from your walk and you had a British accent. Then we spent the whole day in bed, no condom at your command. The sex was amazing.” I gave him a horrified look. “Sorry,” he said and then continued. “The whole house heard us, by the way, mainly thanks to you. We had dinner with my family, you were rude and obnoxious, my mother told us to leave. Oh, and Aidan and Hunter told me you hit on them both. They rejected you, of course. Even Hunter.”

“Holy shit! I’ve been possessed! I know it sounds crazy, Jack, and I know you won’t believe me, but Lucy took over my body!” I had it all figured out. All the puzzle pieces came into place. Ghosts were real, and they were tricky little bastards it seemed who loved sex. Condomless sex at that. I reached down and touched my tummy. “God, if I get pregnant, Jack...”

He put his hands on either of my arms. “Would that be such a bad thing?”

“If I was possessed at the time and had no choice in the matter, hell yeah it would. God, Jack, you do believe me don’t you?”

Jack looked away.

“Jack?”

He turned back to me. “I believe you need help, Sophie. I know some people in the city who might be able to help you. We should go to them now.” Jack was calm, and he talked to me like I was a volatile chemical, ready to explode at any moment.

“Jack, so you don’t believe me? I can prove it! Take me to the stream! That’s where I saw her. She was the one who told me to follow you to that hotel. She knew you were cheating on me, so when she asked I put her in the cup, her reflection,” I added after the crazy look he gave me, “I did. And then she told me she knew something else about you and that if I wanted to see for myself I had to drink the water. It was stupid and it felt wrong but I did it, Jack, I couldn’t bear the thought that you were keeping something else from me. The next thing I knew I was here, in your car, about to crash into a damn tree. Take me to the steam and I’ll show you. She’s there, Jack! She said it had some kind of power that helped her manifest.”

Jack looked at me like I was crazy and I couldn’t really blame him. As the words left my mouth I thought about how crazy they sounded but I didn’t stop myself. I had to get all this out now or else I knew I was never going to speak of it again.

“Sophie...” Jack started to say, worry clear in his eyes.

“Jack, please just take me to the stream. Humor me.”

“Fine, but if there’s nothing there, do you promise me that you’ll let me help you?”

“Fine, fine, let’s just go to the stream.”

We got back in the car. This time Jack told me to sit in the backseat, just in case I tried to take the wheel again. I tried to explain that that wasn’t me, but he insisted I sit in the back anyway. I felt like a child whose parents were punishing her for something. This was ridiculous. How could Jack believe I’d act like Lucy had acted the past day or so?

He  parked by the woods and we got out and walked to the stream. I wanted to run but everything hurt so much that walking was the best I could do. My center ached, and now I knew why. It seemed that Lucy found a way to fuck my boyfriend yet again. Even in death she found ways to hurt me. I hated her now more than ever. And to think she tried killing me and Jack. Okay, maybe I could understand that last part. We did murder her and cover it up, but the rest? That just wasn’t necessary. I wanted to be a part of Jack’s family, but now it seemed all of those hopes were shattered. Even if Jack believed my story, I knew they wouldn’t. Besides, I couldn’t exactly tell it to them anyway without revealing that Jack killed Lucy.

Finally, we came to the steam and I slowly approached the water, fearing that Lucy’s apparition would jump out at me in anger, but what I found instead was something I feared I would: just a normal steam of water traveling downwards.

“Lucy, show yourself now!” I hissed.

Jack held me from behind. “Sophie, there’s nothing to see here. We should go.”

I dropped down to my knees, letting the tears fall this time. I started to sob. “Oh, god, I can’t believe this is happening to me,” I wailed. “Why Jack why?” I cried some more while Jack held me saying nothing for he knew nothing he could say would make me feel any better. I thought my life was fucked up before, but this, this was beyond the pale. “I can’t take this anymore, Jack. Whenever I’m alone they haunt and taunt me, and now Lucy managed to take over my body and ruin everything. How can I go on living after all this? And worst of all, you don’t even believe me.”

“Shh,” Jack whispered in my ear as he held me tight. “I’ll make it all better, I promise. I’ll let nobody hurt you ever again.”

We walked slowly back to the car, Jack’s strong arms supporting me all the way there. I had lost any will I had. I had cried so much that there were no tears left. I let Jack drive me. I looked outside the window but saw nothing. The sights passed me by unseen. I was in a catatonic state of sorts.

“I’ll make everything better,” Jack said. “Don’t you worry about a thing, Sophie.”

We drove and drove what seemed like forever until we finally arrived and it had seemed only like a second had passed since we started our journey. Jack helped me walk to a white building where the people were nice. They had sympathetic looks on their faces, and they spoke in whispers. They wore white coats and they led me into a comfy white room. And a white coat lady came and put a needle in my arm and I fell asleep.

I
awoke groggy and disoriented. I was in a white room. The walls were made of soft material. There was nothing in this room that could hurt me. I was all alone. Jack had promised he would help me, but he just left me here by myself.

“Jack,” I whispered. “Please come back to me.” But no one came. I fell on the floor and crawled my way around. The floor was comfy and soft as well. I got tired so I just laid on the floor. I lost consciousness not soon after.

When I awoke next I wasn’t alone. Lucy was there. Really there this time, not just a reflection. She sat on my bed, the hole in her head clearly visible. The blood and the gore dripped down one side. “Finally! Welcome back, sleepy head!”

“You’re not real...” I managed to gurgle out, and turned around to ignore her.

“I’m as real as you are right now, Sophie. Sorry about all the mess I made. I tried to act like you, but my American accent’s just not that good. Plus, I really missed sex and food, so needs must and all that. But now that I see you here, locked up in the loony bin, I want to tell you I’m really sorry for any inconvenience I might have caused. Friend again?” I continued to ignore her, even as she started circling me. I felt drops of hot blood hit my shirt as she stood above me, but I ignored them. “Come on, Sophie, don’t be like this.”

“Shut up! Shut up!” I screamed and put my hands over my ears and closed my eyes as tight as I could. But that didn’t stop me from feeling her poking me from all sides. I kicked her away screaming at the top of my lungs for her to go away. “Go away, Lucy! God please go away!” I kicked and screamed until I saw a white coat lean over me as white shirts held me down. I felt the sting of the needle as it entered my arm and then I was....

––––––––

I
woke up in bed, though I could not move. I was restrained. My hands and feet were tied down and so was my chest. “Fuck,” I said. “What the fuck is this?”

It felt like I was in some kind of hell, and worst of all, Jack was nowhere to be found. “Jack!” I screamed. “I want to see Jack!”

The door opened but I could not make out anything except a white coat.

“I’m Dr. Ambrose,” said a woman’s calm voice. “We’re sorry it had to come to this, but we felt you were a danger to yourself. Are you feeling calmer now, Sophie?”

I didn’t say anything. Who the fuck did this lady think she was to keep me locked up like this?

“Sophie, I can’t help you if you don’t talk to me. Do you understand?”

“Fine,” I finally said. “What do you want?”

“That’s a good girl,” she said and looked down in a folder she held. “Are you feeling much calmer now? We don’t need these restraints anymore, do we?”

“No, I mean no I don’t need to be restrained. I was having a nightmare before, that’s all. I’m all better now. Where’s Jack? I need to speak to Jack.”

“Jack is right outside waiting to see you as well. I thought it would be better if we talked first. Is that okay?”

“No, but if you won’t let me see Jack otherwise, I guess it’s fine.” I hated her more than anything. Her fake sweetness and caring attitude. I knew she didn’t give a shit about me. All she cared was about the fat check Jack was giving her, and I hoped that’s all he was giving her or he would be a dead man. I tried to smile as best I could.

“Just answer a couple of questions for me, okay?”

I felt a bit out of it but nodded in the affirmative. I needed to get this over with and I wanted to see Jack. That’s all I wanted. Jack would make everything better, I just knew it.

I answered her inane questions. Has this happened before? No. When did it start? On the island. Do you know why? No. Yes, but I couldn’t tell her I went on a killing spree and that the ghosts of the dead were haunting me now, could I? The questions blurred into each other. Inane questions about drug use and emotions. I tried to answer as normal as possible and I tried not to spill any deep dark secrets that only Jack and I needed to know.

She left me alone then and then I was free and I fell asleep for the longest time and when I awoke I saw Jack above me, watching me sleep. When he saw that I was awake he immediately smiled a sad smile.

“Jack? Is that really you?” I asked, afraid that I was hallucination again.

“Yeah, Sophie. I’m right here.” He came in closer and I sat up on the bed and put my arms around him, reassuring myself of his solidity. Tears streamed down my face as I held on tight.

“Jack, please take me out of here,” I said as I breathed in the familiar smell of him, as I felt his comforting warmth envelop me.

“Another day or two the doc said and they’ll be ready to release you, unless you have another episode in the meantime.”

I let go of him and looked him straight in the eyes. “What the hell, Jack? You’re gonna keep me locked up in here? Like I’m crazy or something?” Maybe I was crazy, but I didn’t think I was crazy enough to be locked up. Plus, the main reason I was here was because Lucy took over my body. That wasn’t something I could explain to a doctor without sounding crazy, that was for sure. I thought that Jack would at least try to believe me but it looked like he didn’t even try. Instead he took me to this place. A padded cell in God know’s where.

I laid back on the bed and turned my back on him. Tears streamed down my face. I felt Jack’s hand on my arm but I shook it off. “Go away. You obviously don’t want me anymore,” I said and left it at that.

“That’s not true, Sophie, and you know it. I just want to help you. Don’t you want to get better?”

I turned around so abruptly that I might have fallen on my ass if Jack hadn’t been there to stop me. “I’m not fucking crazy, Jack. Lucy did really take over my body and I know that for a fact. No amount of drugs or some doctor’s diagnosis will make me believe anything else. You might as well leave me here forever, if you really believe I’m crazy.”

“Look, I’ll talk to the doctor about releasing you as soon as possible, but you have to stop this nonsense. There’s no such thing as ghosts, Sophie, only a guilty conscience, which you seem to have in spades.”

“Then how did I know to follow you to that hotel the other day? Lucy told me to!”

Jack shook his head though he did not have an answer. He could not explain it either.

“Please get better,” Jack said as he got up to leave. “For both of us.” He looked upon me for the longest time and then he was gone.

How could Jack do this to me? I thought he loved me. If he loved me, he should trust me, especially after everything we’d been through together. There was no reason for this loony house bullshit. Why couldn’t he just take me at my word and we could go from there? Why couldn’t he be there for me when I needed him the most?

“Maybe because you’re a crazy bitch.” I looked up and saw Lucy standing above me. She was back.

“I know you’re real,” I whispered, just in case they were watching me.

“Am I? Prove it. Yeah, I thought so mate. Sorry about getting you into this mess though. If it were up to me you’d be dead by now. Both of you. God, I should have killed him when I had the chance, now I’ll never get my revenge.” Lucy looked thoughtful and despondent. She was definitely trying to figure out what her next move would be.

“Go away, Lucy,” I whispered as I turned my back on her and the camera in the corner. “Just please go away.”

And she did as far as I could tell and I closed my eyes and let sleep take me again. All the meds they kept pumping me with made me very sleepy I guess.

––––––––

“T
hese pills should keep your episodes under control. You have to take them every day. Do you understand, Sophie?”

I nodded. I was tired and groggy but I understood what she was saying. If I promised to take the pills, she would release me. I wanted my freedom back more than anything and I nodded at the appropriate time and promised her that if I started seeing things or feeling strange again that I’d call her immediately or come straight to her puffy private clinic. I wondered how Jack had met her. Did she help him with his addictions, or did she just contribute to some of them? I hated the thought of Jack fucking her, but I knew he was a whore and it was more than possible. I wondered if he came here for his sex addiction and instead got more than he bargained for as he gave the good doctor a good fuck. I shook my head, trying to clear away the thoughts. I hated that I entertained them, but it was hard not to when the woman was right in front of me. She was in her forties, but she was still pretty damn hot, and I couldn’t help but think that even she would be hard pressed to deny the needs of someone like Jack Stark. I couldn’t blame her really, but I could blame Jack for bringing me to a woman he had once fucked. But who knows, maybe it was just the crazy in my brain that was talking. Maybe their relationship was entirely professional. I’d like to think it was but I just didn’t believe it.