Stranded

TSG: Chapter 10: A Murder is Among Us

I never knew how much I wanted to talk to someone that isn't my girlfriend. Tasha was taking up the left-most of the tent while Amanda and I were sharing on the right side. She... She was very touchy... I didn't like it... I tried stopping her, but I didn't want to hurt her feelings. Nothing bad happened, but she knows how I am with touch. I wanted to talk to Tasha... She would be kind to me and actually care about my feelings and stuff. Amanda was being kind of a dick... Amanda muttered something in her sleep and shifted upwards. She was awake. She grabbed her bag and walked out of the tent. It was a small tent. She would be back. I scooted over to Tasha, settling down by her. She was asleep. Damn... Why does she look so pretty being asleep...? I had half a mind to date Tasha, but I can't do that to Amanda. I'm already harboring a huge secret... I feel so bad... Tasha opened her eyes and looked at mine. The tension between us was insane, but neither of us made a move. That was for the best.

"We need to talk about this tomorrow..." I muttered quietly, averting my gaze to my own sleeping bag.

"Mhm..." she responded, flipping around on her side and lightly snoring. I crawled back to my sleeping bag and tried to sleep. Something was troubling me...

Amanda didn't return that night.

A scream woke me up. I leaped out of bed, Tasha doing the same. We walked down swiftly, trying to figure out where the scream came from. Other campers were doing the same. Jack and Trevor, looking incredibly disheveled, joined us.

"Ooo~ What happened between you too?" I asked, teasing the two. Everyone knew that Jack was a very messy sleeper, but their reaction told that my initial thought was correct. They blushed and turned away.

"You know..." Jack started, "just normal couple stuff..." I stared at him, my eyes widening.

"What!? You had s- "I was interrupted by Tasha.

"We really should see where that scream came from," she said, pulling my hand to bring me to the scene where everyone was gathering. A tent. A tent-stained red. The smell of death was overwhelming. Flies were already surrounding the tent and a girl was sobbing in the corner. I didn't want to take a step closer. But I did. I was scared that it was Amanda. I was wrong. A girl. The same girl that Amanda was staring at the day before. This girl was laying on the ground, her body slashed to pieces. Blood was still oozing out of the wounds, so it was a recent kill. Her head was strewn from her body, pieces of skin and muscles barely connected. You could see bones in her arms and chest, though her belly had organs strewn across the floor of the tent. I felt sick. This girl was dead. The murderer was right under our nose.

"Ignis!" I felt a warm arm hug my back. Amanda... She was here... I felt my emotions overwhelm me and I started to cry. I was crying for the girl. Crying for Amanda. Crying for my past. This was too real, though it wasn't the first time I saw a body.

I witnessed my father's execution.

It was a normal day. I was in the hospital, tending to slight brain damage and deep wounds from my father. My mother had a cast on her head from when he slammed a vase on her head. She was attacked because she made a mistake. She cheated on my father and in turn, he murdered her boyfriend and attempted to murder his own family. Before that, I was abused terribly to the point of passing out from blood loss. My mother always tended to and cared for me. That's why I'm alive... We were taken to the prison and we went to a small room. We didn't want to see this. We still did. My father was tied to a chair, his limbs shaking. His mood clearly worsened as he saw us. He started yelling and saying so many slurs that I started to avoid them. He... I witnessed someone's head getting separated from their body. His head stayed up while his body fell limply against the bindings. I don't know why they wanted an 8-year-old to witness this. These memories were heavily suppressed until today. I couldn't stop myself from having a breakdown...

By the time I was finished with my flashback, I was sobbing heavily. My body felt like it was splitting apart and my limbs were shaking so violently that Amanda let go of me. I needed someone's touch to keep me in the present. She didn't do anything about it. She ran. She ran to get a counselor or whatever and left me having an attack. Tasha.
Tasha helped me. Tasha helped calm me down. The presence of a dead body was so overwhelming that I lurched over and vomited. Still, Tasha stayed with me during this attack.

But what about Amanda...?

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There was word that the boat was delayed. There was word that they couldn't get off of the island. We were truly stranded on this island. I knew I recognized it. This was...

This was the island my mother was stranded on. The Forbidden Island. Home. Mom will be very happy.