Storm Locked

Epilogue

     I shove the door open and stumble outside, blinded by the sunlight. I squint until my eyes adjust, scanning the area for Mair and Lily. The sand feels strange under my feet after standing on stone for weeks. The trees that fell are gone, carried out to sea by the wind. I continue to scan the beach several times, my eyes not once catching the copper glare of sunlight on Lily’s hair, or Mair’s large mass of curls shifting in the wind. Come to think of it, they should’ve been right outside the door. I whirl towards the Storm Tower and look at the door. I stalk forward, looking for anything to signal they were here, an article of clothing, hair, anything. Something is waving in the breeze at the edge of the door. I grab it and hold it to the sunlight. It’s a strand of Mair’s hair, torn out of her head.

                I begin to panic. They were here, but they're gone now. I think back to the high winds of the storm, and shudder. I can imagine the wind reaching out and grabbing them from the doorway, whipping them off to nowhere. All I have left is a strand of Mair’s hair. I walk towards Rowan, who is sitting on the ground, his head in his hands. I kneel beside him and show the strand of hair I found. He looks at the hair, then up at me, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. I can feel tears springing up in my eyes, held back only by the hope that Lily and Mair might be somewhere on this island. Rowan opens his mouth, rasping out words.

                “They were there. But now they’re gone. Where are they John? Do you know?” I shake my head and he hangs his head, tears falling to the sand with a soft shh. I glance towards the tower, and then out to sea, trying to keep the tears from spilling. I stand up, dragging Rowan with me. I set off in the direction of our house, where there should be supplies. Rowan stumbles after me until he can steady his tears and legs. We walk in silence, not wanting to voice our worries. We arrive at the clearing our house was in, but there is no house, just grass. I stare, unable to comprehend what I’m seeing. Out of the corner of my eye I can see Rowan frantically searching the area. I start to follow suit because something is better than nothing. Right now, we only have the clothes on our body. No stored food, no weapons, no tools, no clothes, not anything. All of our hard work, gone.

                We search until the sun is setting, our hands and feet sore, our bellies rumbling, and our spirits low. I grab some twigs and start a fire, setting up camp so we can sleep. The smoke will keep away the bugs and the fire will keep us warm. The first few sparks fizzle out before catching and starting a small blaze. I add timber until the fire is quite large. I walk through the forest looking for my traps in hope that they’ve caught something. Suddenly I am yanked upwards by my ankle, caught in my own trap. I sigh; exasperated I didn’t see it sooner. I swing gently from side to side, slowly losing momentum. When I finally settle drowsiness has taken over. I blink several times, each one getting longer, until I don’t open them at all.

                “LILY! Let her go! Did you hear me?! I said let her go!” I blink sleepily, confused as to where I am. A few glances refresh my memory. My head and arms are fuzzy from being upside so long and having the blood rush to them. I shake them to get some feeling back. I swing up and grab the rope, standing on the tied foot. I climb up to the bough it’s attached to, muscles aching.

                “LILY! Please! Don’t listen to him! Pull me up! PLEASE!” My heart constricts in my chest. I’d know those voices anywhere. Why they were talking about pulling up was confusing. I untie the knot, cursing when I slip and scratch myself. I shimmy down the tree and set off in the direction of Mair and Rowan’s voices. The canopy this far inland is too thick to see the sun, rendering me unable to tell what time of day it is. From the amount of dew on the foliage around me, I assume its early morning. I walk into a small clearing, like the one our house was at. At the other side is a cliff. At the edge of the cliff is what appears to be Lily and Rowan pulling at the ground.

                “You guys? What’s going on? Why are you pulling up the ground at the edge of the cliff? That’s dangerous. You should move.” I call out, moving to get a closer look. When I reach the edge what I see there almost causes my legs to buckle and send me tumbling over the side. Mair is over the edge of the cliff, holding on to Lily’s hand for her life. They must’ve been at this awhile for both their arms are shaking from the tension. Rowan is trying to get Lily to let go, for some unknown reason. He is viciously tearing at Lily’s hand. I reach over and shove him away so I can help Lily pull Mair up. I wrap my arms around Lily and lean, putting my muscles and weight into it. Arms wrap around me and I am pulled backwards. I fall on my back and see Lily slide forward, her clammy grip slipping.

                “No!” Mair and I cry. I lunge forward and reach a hand over the side. Once Mair’s hand is in mine I pull.

                “John, you can’t be happy. Only I deserve to be happy. All my life I had to live in your shadow. If not for me or Mair, Lily would be with you. But she’s a good friend to Mair, and she realized that I was better. We’ve been plotting to kill both of you, but the storm changed that. You are more important than you’re little girlfriend. I hope you’re ready to say goodbye.” I glance up and blink the sweat out of my eyes. Rowan is grinning wickedly at me, a glint in his eye. I look to Lily and see she has dropped Mair’s hand and is sneering at her. I slide forward under the new weight, struggling not to go over myself.

                “John, John let go. You’re never going to pull me up. Please, this is already painful enough as it is. Just let me die.” Her voice is choked with tears, her face wet from crying. We stare at each other as I slowly disconnect myself from her. I can feel tears in my eyes and throat but don’t let them fall. I open my hand and let her fall. As she falls it’s almost as if time has slowed down. Her hair shifts upwards as the wind increases. Her eyes are closing, their warmth and understanding lost. The tears suspended in the air for a moment before they fall downwards. She disappears into the darkness below, lost forever.

                “I loved you.” I turn and walk away from the cliff, unable to watch. I close my eyes and let the tears fall freely. An agonized scream echoes from the bottom of the crevice, and I run off into the forest, anything to get away from them, myself, Mair. I run and run until I can’t run anymore. I stop and lean against a tree, sobbing.

                How could they do that? Just kill someone so thoughtlessly? Someone they had grown up with, shared memories with, and worked with? My mind cannot wrap itself around the idea that Mair is… dead. It can’t wrap at all. Pictures and feelings flash through, each making less sense than the last. I turn and shuffle back, mind shut off, my body on auto pilot. I stand on the edge of the clearing, observing Rowan and Lily, ready to put myself through hell.