Paradise Island: Complete Edition (8 page)

“Oh, Sophie, that’s not it at all. I honestly thought you wouldn’t care. You knew how much I wanted to shag him, I told you myself! So when I saw him at the bar I frequent, of course I came on to him. I don’t know why you’re acting all high and mighty all of a sudden, though.”

“I don’t know either, Lucy. There’s just something about him...”

“Wow,” Lucy said. “You really haven’t fucked him yet have you? I can see it on your face! Do you want me to tell you how he was?”

“Now you’re just being a bitch. Stop it.”

“You started it.”

“No I didn’t.”

“Yes you did, Sophie, and you know it.”

Exhausted by the exchange I sat back down on the bed, feeling like a fool. The truth was, I had overreacted to the whole affair. And moving to Jack’s? That was just the epitome of stupid.

“I’m sorry, Lucy. I really messed up, didn’t I?” I was genuinely sorry that I had alienated my best friend, my only friend really, over a guy I barely knew, and that I knew nothing could happen with.

“I messed up, too. I think I sensed you liked him, but I just wanted him so bad for myself. You don’t know how depressing it can be to live in this shithole of a town, always dreaming of Prince Charming to come along and rescue you. I thought he was my way out, but I know now that he doesn’t see me that way. But I think he does genuinely care about you.”

“What should I do, Lucy? Please help me make sense of this.”

“I think you should take your luggage and wheel yourself over back to Jack’s place and get to know him a bit better. Then you can come back and tell me all about it.”

“You really mean that?”

“I do.”

“I feel like such a fool,” I said, my face in my hands. “It’s just when I saw you guys together. And the coke, it was just a bit too much. Too real.”

“Oh, Sophie, the coke was definitely his idea. You know I’m not a fan of drugs.”

Lucy walked me out and offered to walk with me, but I saw she was tired and I told her to get some rest. She said she’d keep things moving at the diner, and that I didn’t have to worry about it. She’d already told the owner that I had vacation days saved up. I thanked her and I felt like a weight had been lifted. The huge wedge between us was gone, but now something even scarier was in its place: confronting whatever it is I really felt about Jack. I felt like a fool wheeling my stuff back to his place when I had made up with Lucy. I wanted to turn back and forget about Jack and go back to a life that was safe and tidy, where the only excitement came from the stories Lucy would tell me.

A crunching noise snapped me out of my thoughts and I turned back. “Lucy,” I said uncertainly, my heart almost beating out of my chest. “Is that you?”

And again.

And again.

It was coming closer and I stood frozen in the darkness, not really sure what I should do. There was nowhere to run. I was still a ways from Jack’s place, and mine and Lucy’s as well.

Then a familiar face came out of the darkness.

“Henry!” I almost yelled out in relief. “It’s just you, thank God! Look about earlier, I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean any of that stuff.”

The look on his face did not change, it was as if he had not heard anything I said. His greasy hair was taped to the sides of his face, while his thick rimmed glasses were fogged up. It seemed that he had been running. With each heartbeat he came closer and closer to me, and he did not utter a word.

“Henry, please say something.”

He looked down at my suitcase right then and there, and smiled an insane smile, is the only way I see fit to describe it. “Going to live with your little movie star boyfriend, are you?” He almost sneered at me.

“No,” I started to say. “I mean yes, but he’s not my boyfriend. And it’s only for a couple of days.”

“Liar,” he hissed. “You women are all the same. You pretend to be innocent, but deep down you’re nothing but whores.”

“Look, Henry, it’s not what you think. I’m not like those other girls, I’m different. Let me prove it to you.” I improvised on the spot, remembering something I’d seen in a movie me and Lucy watched together. The only thing was, I couldn’t remember if the woman in the movie had lived or died in the end.

“There’s nothing you can do, Sophie. You’ve shown your true nature.”

I had flashbacks to Josie’s diary and the horrible things Thomas had said to her. It felt oddly surreal that here I was with Henry having a similar conversation.

“Henry, please don’t do this. Just walk away and we can talk about this later.” I was trying really hard to act calm, but my heart was beating out of my chest. I sensed that he was aware of how afraid I really was, and it seemed to make him happy in a sick and twisted way, judging by the look on his face.

I walked slowly back, putting the damn suitcase in front of me, as if it was going to protect me.

“Time to teach you a lesson, bitch,” he hissed and launched at me. I threw the suitcase in his direction and ran as fast as I could in the night. I wanted to scream, but something inside me told me to keep as quiet as possible. It wasn’t a very populated area, by any means, and the only thing my screams would accomplish would be to make it a lot easier for Henry to decipher where I was.

I ran and I ran, and for a moment there I thought I was home free, but something grabbed me from behind, and I fell on the cold hard concrete below. Henry dragged me backwards, and I did not want to know what would happen if he ever stopped. This time I did scream. I focused on the here and now, and with the grace of God or some other supernatural creature, I remembered my constant companion and as the hard concrete scraped my knees, and as I let my other arm get dragged on the hard asphalt, I reached with my other hand in my pocket and thanked all the gods in the existence of the universe as I gripped the thin bottle of pepper spray. In one swoop motion I turned around and pressed down on the top and sprayed in Henry’s general direction. I knew I had gotten him when I heard his scream and he immediately let go of his grip on my legs. I ran as fast as I could off the main road and towards that perilous sea ahead. It was a good place to hide as any. I still gripped the pepper spray in my hands as his screams echoed in the distance. And then there was nothing. I stopped and breathed in hard and then held my breath. I did not want him to hear where I was. I kneeled down and saw that the place I was had rocks everywhere. I picked up one that fit snugly in my hand. I knew that the pepper spray wouldn’t last for long, and I didn’t want to make the job easy for him.

I waited and after not hearing much of anything for a minute, I decided to make a run for it. I ran as fast as I could, but something felt wrong. I heard laughter, and this time it wasn’t behind me, but somewhere in front. I could barely see beyond a couple of feet ahead. I stopped dead in my tracks, hiding the rock behind my back, the pepper spray still in my other hand, visible to anybody who dared to look.

“Why are you doing this, Henry?” I almost cried as I saw him approach. He must have found some water and cleaned out his eyes. Who knew, maybe he even had a bicycle, for I had no idea how he had come to be ahead of me. I was sure the pepper spray had bought me at least a couple of minutes.

As I saw him approach I knew I was in trouble. As he came close I saw what he was holding in his hands: a digital camera. Probably capable of night vision, which explained how he had found me so quickly.

My body was still filled with so much adrenaline and fear that I made a run for it again, but instead of playing games, this time I surprised the bastard by running in his direction. He thought I was going to spray him with pepper spray again, and I heard him laugh. As I approached I saw that he had different glasses on.

“Oh, Sophie, you’re pathetic,” he sneered as I approached.

I surprised him by hitting him in the head with the rock I had been hiding. He immediately fell to the ground, blood pouring down his face. I made a motion to use it again, but he fell over and seemed to be completely out. I dropped the rock, my hands shaking. What had I just done? Did I kill him?

I made a run for it, running as fast as I could until I reached Jack’s place, and felt immediately safe. I banged on the door even though I had the key, but with all the confusion, I had forgotten that fact.

Thankfully, he was home and came to the door immediately, sliding it open.

“Sophie, what the hell happened?”

I lunged in, closing the door myself and locking it for good measure. I breathed hard, fighting to get some air into my lungs. I was sweaty and bloody and I must have looked quite a mess, but I did not care. I was just lucky to be alive.

“Oh my God, Sophie, are you okay? You’re bleeding! What happened?” Jack immediately came to my aid, but I pushed him away. He went to the kitchenette and got me a bottle of water, which I gladly gulped down as soon as it came into my hand. My other hand was still holding on to the pepper spray bottle, hard.

After I had gotten my bearings, the pain kicked in. The adrenaline had left my body, and now I really felt the pain from the cuts and bruises all over my legs and arms. I let go of the pepper spray bottle and Jack picked it up.

“What the hell happened?” He took hold of my shoulders, concern in his eyes. “Did someone attack you?”

I took a deep breath and told him the whole shebang, except I left out the part where me and Lucy made up. He did not need to know that.

“We have to go back and see if he’s still there,” Jack said calmly. “Actually, you stay here and lock the door and I’ll go.”

“No, Jack! Please don’t leave me here by myself!” Hot tears streamed down my face, and I felt ashamed that I was so weak.

“Then come with me,” he said. “We have to make sure he’s where you left him. And if he is, we’re calling the cops or whatever the hell kind of law enforcement they have here.”

“But what if he’s...” I began to say, not able to get the word out.

“We’ll deal with it if it comes to that. Believe me, Sophie, you did the right thing.”

“How do you know so much about all this?” I asked.

“I was in a similar situation in
Moonrise by Sunset
.”

It took me a moment to realize he was talking about a movie.

“Oh, I haven’t seen that one.”

“It’s not that good,” he smiled. “I’ll go get my gun and we’ll be on our way.”

“You have a gun?” I was shocked, shocked and dismayed.

“Hell yes, Sophie. I’m a world famous actor in the middle of nowhere. I have to be able to protect myself. I think you should stay here, lock the door, and tell me exactly where you left him.”

“No, Jack, I’m definitely coming with you. I’ll feel much safer out there with you than here by myself.”

So while Jack looked for his gun, I cleaned myself up as best I could with the first aid kit in his bathroom and while I needed a new pair of jeans, sadly my suitcase was in the middle of the road. I hoped nothing happened to it and that I’d at least get a change of clothes for once.

Jack showed me his gun before holstering it. He even showed me how to click the safety off, but to tell you the truth, I never saw myself using the thing. Rocks and pepper spray were more my forte.

And so we got on that dreaded bike, and we were on our way to the location where everything had happened. Not surprisingly we came there much faster than I did by walking. Much, much faster, which made me realize how overrated walking really was. And dangerous. Let’s not forget that one. I had the damn bruises to prove it.

As soon as the headlights shone on my suitcase, right where I left it and presumably undamaged, I told Jack to stop. While I was on the lookout he managed to strap the thing that held most of my clothes onto his bike.

After he was finished he came to stand by my side, taking the gun from my hand, for which I was more than thankful.

“Could you show me where you left him?”

“Sure,” I said. “Just follow closely.”

“That’s the plan,” Jack said, in such a manner that it made me think that he was quoting himself as a character in one of his movies, maybe even the Moon by Sun one, which would have been appropriate I guess. But I was in no mood for such shenanigans so I gave him a stern, disapproving look.

I held out the flashlight, trying to retrace my steps while being aware of the danger we were in. Sure, Jack had a gun. But what about Henry? If he wasn’t dead, chances were that he was around here somewhere waiting to strike.

I chased those thoughts away by focusing on the task at hand.

“I could have sworn it was around here somewhere...” I said, after a couple of minutes of fruitless searching. Maybe I had run farther than I thought I did? It was one possibility. Or maybe the whole damn area looked exactly the same for miles and we would spend the whole night searching. But just as those thoughts entered my head, I spotted something. It was not a body, thankfully or unfortunately, depending on how you wanted to see the situation. But it was something.

“Here,” I pointed to the bloody sand on the ground. “This is where I hit him with the rock.”

I looked around the general area, and while I almost missed it, I even found the rock I had used to commit the terrible deed. Not so terrible to be called murder, though, so that was a relief. I don’t know what I would have done if I had actually killed Henry. Yes, it would have been in self-defense, but that wouldn’t help me sleep at night.

Jack took the rock from my hand, and before I could stop him, he ran and threw it into the water.

“Why the hell did you do that?” I asked, out of breath, after catching up to him.

“We don’t want there to be any evidence left behind,” he said. “We should get rid of that bloody sand as well. You should help me.”

“But why?”

“Well, he’s obviously alive, but if he comes back here with cops, you could get into trouble, Sophie, and I don’t want to see that happen.”

So we carried the bloody sand, which there wasn’t much of to be honest, and threw it in the water, too. It seemed the ocean was a perfect place to keep our secrets.

After we were done, I asked for an explanation. Jack explained that in the movie the woman’s character was falsely accused and jailed.