The Way Things Are

Chapter 4

Cristia's POV

He was alive. That boy was alive. How was that even possible? He climbed on the raft with tan skin and dark eyes, every muscle in his body flexing as he did so. He was so skinny that his shirt hanged on him like a limp bag. But everything else was all muscle.

His whole body was soaked, and his coal eyes were bloodshot. As I looked closer I could see that it looked like he needed a nice, hot shower. He was so dirty, even when he was in water for such a long time. How did people on this island even live?

The man with the beard gave Max a bear hug, "I knew you'd make it boy, I just knew it. Where's all the rest of you younguns'. How bout' your sis?"

Max looked down at the orange raft, saying nothing, "there's too much for me to explain right now," he looked around at the ocean frantically, "I don't think I can stay here for one more second. For once in my life, I really want to see some land."

 well said. I thought to myself. I was ready for some land to. And ready to get away from this mess.

"All aboard!" The man shouted at us. He looked at me and smiled, "listen miss, sorry to put you through that, but you got one good eye on ya'. I just wanted to let you know that they call me Blackbeard. You might as well call me that too."

I snorted. Blackbeard the pirate? These guys were weird.

I turned around to see Max walking up to where I was standing. My heart began beating fast. His coal eyes were melting my stomach.

Max looked out of sea next to me, saying nothing. Finally, to break the silence, I said, "will you tell me how you did that?" My hands were shaking. He was so close to me, it almost felt like electricity. Why was I acting like this?

Max turned to me and smiled, "Do what?" His voice was very raspy, but you could expect that from someone who was under water for 30 minutes.

I tapped my foot against the boat, "you know, stay under for that long. Why are you not..." I couldn't say it. I just couldn't get myself to ask why he had not drowned.

He leaned in close to me, and I lost my breath. I was hypnotized by his gaze, "on this island, people don't need to know everything. Because some will find that the truth is impossible, and understanding things is the truth."

He broke away and walked by me, not turning back to say another word.

Belle's POV

Two of my vital senses were gone. Hearing, and seeing. Every second the sirens got a little louder then before, making my heart beat faster each time.

Knowing that I could do nothing else, I crawled on my knees to search for whatever I was supposed to find. There was obviously an objective to this game, and I had to find it.

The ground was smooth, it felt like a marble. I decided that this was a big dome, so I kept frantically crawling on the ground, feeling for anything that could possibly help me.

Then I slipped on my knees. And that metal smell, that old rusty smell. I realized with a sour stomach that I had just slipped in some blood. Someone else had just been in this simulation. It didn't looked like they turned out well either.

Shivering, I crawled away from the spot, wiping my hands on the ground as I went, trying to get it all off me. It made me want to gag. What were these people trying to do anyways? Why did they need me to do a stupid simulation, along with other people? They needed us to gain something, and I'm not sure if its just about some hidden treasure. They must want something from us. But what?

I then hit something. It felt like a stick, and after a few moments of thought I realized that it was a bow. I grabbed it and began looking around for arrows, figuring that Tom was probably going to make me kill something. And considering the blood, it looked like it was going to be a beast.

The sirens blared so loudly now, that my head started to pound. Pretty soon, my eardrums were going to burst if they didn't turn the noise down.

A few feet away from where I was, I felt the arrows and grabbed them, slinging them on my back like a backpack. I was used to doing this by now, because I would sometimes go hunting for birds on the island.

Right as I grabbed the arrows, the sirens immediately stopped. It left my ears ringing and a massive headache. It was so deathly quiet, it made me want to scream.

Still pitch black I heard a mechanical voice say out of a speaker, "Simulation 1 begins. Native people from island of Bawsageatti performance task 1.0 starts shortly in t-minus 5...4..."

I Looked around nervously, but couldn't see anything. Was there any source of light?

I took a deep breath, and stomped my foot on the ground. If I didn't learn anything from the island, I would always know this: Whatever happens, you never back down. I was ready.

The mechanical voice continued, "...2...1...0...Simulation begins."

I looked around quickly, looking for anything that might be important. Suddenly, a red light flared. It was above my head, slowly coming down, down down.

I didn't trust that light, for my stomach was telling me that I should turn away and run. But I held my ground.

And then two more lights flickered on, slowly sinking down, down , down. Then three more, and another, and another.

Whatever these things were, I didn't like them. I grabbed and arrow and put it in my bow lining it up with one of the lights. Right when I was about to shoot, all of them at once zoomed towards me, rapidly.