Waking up to the sun burning my skin, I opened my eyes to look around but panic washed over me as I didn't recognize where I was, nor my surroundings. Trees. Dirt. Bushes. No houses or any sign of life around me. Was it even the same day? I was about to get up but that was when I felt it. I was tied to the trunk of the tree, and the ropes were on very tightly making my wrists itch every time I moved.
"How did I not notice this?" I said frowning. "Hello!! Somebody" Immediately I was screaming trying to get someone's attention. "Please someone help me" I whispered, almost giving up. After what felt like hours I suddenly heard a noise, kind of like a branch snapping. That could be great or bad news, meaning it could be an animal or the person who tied me or someone who was going to help. I tried looking around but there wasn't much I could do. Whoever made these knot's was honestly really skilled with rope and I truly didn't want to find out how skilled they were with other kinds of weapons.
"Who are you?" Suddenly a tall, tanned boy came into my view. He looked about 18 or 19, could be the same age as me. Somewhat skinny but still looked like he had a pretty strong build. The boy had light brown hair, hazel eyes and his clothes were telling me he had been out here for a while and not willingly. After analyzing him for a couple of seconds he spoke again.
"I asked who are you"
"Why should I answer? I could be asking the same thing to you"
"I guess you could but considering you are the one tied up I would rethink my options" he said with a cocky grin on his face.
After thinking about how I didn't want to be on bad terms with the only living soul near me I gave in. "I'm Emily but most people call me Emma, what about you?"
He eyed me closely but also spoke " I'm Mike" then there was a slight pause "Just Mike"
"Okay just Mike, now can you please untie me" I practically begged. I don't know how long I had been tied up like this but the rope was cutting my circulation and it was impossible to bear any longer.
"And why on earth should I trust you? I've been on this island alone for 4 weeks and suddenly you're here, out of nowhere"
He looks at me like I'm some kind of danger to him, but continues to approach me and proceeds to untie the knots on my hands. As he does this I take a second to ask some questions, might as well find out how I got here.
"So you mentioned being here for 4 weeks, any idea how we got here?" I asked after he untied me, rubbing my sore wrists. Those were gonna leave some marks for a while.
"All I know is that I woke up here, tied up just like you, and I haven't seen anyone. There's a beach to the south of the island and I've noticed there's food and some good supplies there but I have no idea who brings them and how they do it going totally unnoticed."
The look on his face actually looked sincere and it made me question if he was telling the truth or was just really good at lying. For all I knew he could have been the one that kidnapped me and brought me here. Maybe a psychopath or something like that and I could just be giving in to his trap, but honestly I'd rather follow him than be alone on an island that I don't know and he sounds like he has explored most of it.
"So how have you been managing these past weeks?" I was actually curious to know what his living situation was, especially since I would be going through the same thing now. "Well, you'll see. I think you'll like it." he said, laughing a little. He looked pretty when he laughed. Couple of hours later the night was finally settling in. Mike gave me a tour showing me around where he was staying. It wasn't much but it was the best he could do in the situation we were in. We got to know each other a little and learned about our lifes before getting here. To my surprise Mike was a pretty decent and interesting guy. He told me about how he was from Australia, but moved to Canada about 2 years ago when he finished highschool. He also mentioned being 20 years old, not too bad considering I'm 19. Lastly he talked about his hobbies and how he enjoyed streaming video games and working with photography. I also talked a little about myself. I told him how I just finished my first college year in psychology, got a job helping out in a clinic and also enjoy photography and reading, especially romance books, those had a place in my heart. We spent the whole night like that, just talking about what our lives used to be and what we miss about it.
Mike's POV
Emily was really beautiful, probably the kind of girl I'd hit on if it wasn't because of the situation I was In right now. She was just about 5'7 couple of inches shorter than me, had brown hair with a little bit of blonde and really dark eyes, almost black. She had dark skin that looked golden when exposed to the sun. She was unique in her own way.
Back to Emily's POV
Couple of days later we went to look for more supplies. Something was off but I didn't say anything about it. There was this feeling lingering on the air like something was going to go wrong.
"Could you check the food bags?" Mike asked while looking for some sheets or jackets. The weather was getting colder and it was starting to rain at night.
"Sure but I doubt I found something that is not canned soup and salted crackers" I spent some minutes looking for everything that was edible to put inside of our food backpack. It was almost full when something suddenly clicked under my foot. I stopped abruptly scared of what it might have been. When I wasn't able to see anything I tried moving again but felt a slight pressure pushing up on my foot. "I totally stepped on something and it didn't feel safe at all." I thought.
"Mike!" "Please come here" I was starting to panic now. I couldn't move at all, my leg was starting to cramp and I had no idea what to do. He came rushing the second he heard me. "What's wrong? What are you screaming for?" and suddenly he went quiet, to quiet for my liking. "Oh this is bad, this is so bad"
Watching him freaking out was making me more nervous. What was he seeing that I couldn't see? "It looks like you triggered something. I hadn't seen this before, I'm certain it was not even here last week" he started looking around to find the main force. "This was obviously done by the same people who brought the supplies, but why would they suddenly put a trap here?"
I started to calm down now that he was here but it was kind of impossible when I didn't know what this could cause.
"We have a bigger problem, whatever reaction this is going to emit it's happening underground.
Meaning there's no way for me to deactivate it without making it go off" ''On the good part we could just easily replace your weight with something else and hope for the best."
I looked at him like he was crazy, and he probably was. We didn't know what would happen if this went off and we shouldn't risk finding out.
"Stop overthinking it, you just have to do as I say when I tell you to, it will all be fine" For some reason I felt like I could trust him, it was weird since we had only known each other for almost a week, but for some reason I felt a strong bond towards him.
"Okay so how do we do this"
"I'll count to 3 and right when I say go you lift your foot and i'll replace it with a rock"
We started coordinating ourselves and getting ready. I felt quite nervous but I also felt like I could trust him.
"Are you ready Emma?" I nodded and made a mental note of how he called me by my nickname for the first time. "Okay 1 2 3..." I see him quickly make the adjustments with the rock and get up from his crouching position. Everything is almost perfect until I hear it. The sound was so loud I swear I went deaf for a moment and suddenly all I could see was black.
I wake up in my room again, full of sweat screaming, calling out after him. What was his name again? I keep dreaming about him but I can never seem to remember his name. It's so weird but I never cared enough to give it attention. I tiredly get up to go and get in the shower. "I need to get this sweat off now" I thought to myself while rubbing my wrists. They had some weird marks on them and felt somewhat sore but that was probably from sleeping on them. Unfortunately it's almost normal for me to wake up with new bruises each night
