‘’You stupid bitch!’’ I roar as I dive towards Niamh and grab her around the neck before she has a chance to retaliate.
The tazer drops from her hand and hits the floor of the boat, sliding out of reach. She gasps as I cut off the oxygen supply to her lungs and she tries to break free of my grasp by hitting her hands against my wrists however her struggles are no match for me.
A wave of sudden strength has come over me, watching her push Aaron from the boat has fuelled my body with anger. I will make her pay for that. I will make her pay for all of this. She is the reason I am here. She is the reason my life has been in danger since I woke up on this island. I will make her pay.
Suddenly, she kicks me hard in the shin and I fall backwards, taking her with me. We fall onto the floor of the boat and grapple each other around the throat for a few moments. She gets a grip around my neck, but my grip on her is still stronger.
‘’You’re supposed to be my friend,’’ I remind her.
‘’I was your friend; but a lot can change in seven years Alice.’’
I slam her head against the floor of the boat, it is not hard enough to damage her seriously, but that’s not what I intend to do to her anyway. As it impacts, she cries out in pain and wriggles beneath me. We are lying on top of each other awkwardly, the fact that we are in a boat makes movement even more difficult.
‘’Just let us go Niamh, we won. We deserve to live.’’
‘’But you’ll expose the secret, I can’t let you do that,’’ she argues, ‘’because then Man Hunt may come to an end.’’
I think about what she is saying. How could we have been so selfish to flee the island? More and more teenagers are going to be kidnapped. The same thing will happen to them. We have to get more evidence that will help us track these people down. We must go back.
I take out my dagger and as Niamh’s eyes fall on it, they enlarge with fear. I stare at her, a stone-cold expression painted across my face.
Am I about to murder her? Will I even be able to? Am I that twisted?
‘’Do it...Alice...’’ she taunts through struggled, jagged breaths, ‘’kill me...’’
I stare down at her. I can’t do this. I am not a murderer. I won’t kill her.
She smirks at me, ‘’I knew you were too weak to kill.’’
As she says this, she uses her knees to propel me forwards. I am launched through the air and I fly towards the front of the boat. I am thrown against the front and as I impact the edge of the boat hard, the wind is knocked from my stomach and the dagger I grasp is knocked from my hand. It flies over the edge of the boat and disappears into the water. As it splashes, I curse loudly.
I am never getting that back.
For a brief second, I look for Aaron in the water. However he is nowhere to be seen in the water that is illuminated by the boat’s light. I don’t fear for him however, he may have been tazed but he was wearing a life jacket, he won’t drown. I am confident of that. I just need to ensure I stay alive to rescue him.
I turn to face Niamh, our eyes meet and then we both glace down at the tazer on the floor between the two of us. She smirks at me, and I stare in disgust at her. I have to get that tazer before she does.
She is closer to it. She will reach it first.
As she dashes towards it, I turn to the pile of supplies behind me and grab the large wooden oar nestled among the ropes. As she bends down to retrieve the tazer, I turn to face her – swinging the oar hard as I do – and I smack her as hard as I can with it.
Before her hand manages to clamp around the weapon on the floor of the boat, the oar strikes her in the side and there is a crunch of bones as what I presume to be her hip is shattered by the power of the blow. Niamh shrieks in pain, and the pitch of her scream actually makes me wince slightly.
‘’You bitch!’’ she screams.
The blow actually knocks her against the side of the boat, again she moans in pain upon impact. Her body is thrown against it like that of a rag doll, and she flops limply against it. The only reason I know she is still alive is because she is moaning softly.
‘’You stupid bitch,’’ she repeats again, this time more quietly.
I drop the oar, grab a life vest from the pile of equipment behind me and then approach her once more. Using my free hand, I pick her up with a tight grip around her collar and stare into her eyes. She stares back fearfully at me – unsure of what to expect from me.
‘’I may not have a head so fucked up like yours that I’m OK with murder...but that doesn’t mean I’m weak,’’ I explain in disgust, ‘’bon voyage!’’
Before she can respond, I slam the life vest as hard as I can into her chest and push her off the edge of the boat. As she falls, she clings desperately to the life vest, and as she plunges towards the water, she shrieks once more. I am surprised at how satisfying it is to hear her splash into the water.
She gasps quite loudly as she resurfaces, and begins screaming profanities back at me. I ignore her and return to the back of the boat, sitting where Aaron sat earlier. I observe the engine and try to mimic his actions. As the boat slowly reverses from where Niamh is, I scan the water for Aaron.
‘’You can’t leave me here!’’ argues Niamh weakly a few meters away from the boat.
I simply ignore her.
There is no sign of Aaron in the ray of light given off by the light attached the front of the boat. I remain in the same spot and slowly turn the boat around, glancing in all directions, desperately praying for him to appear.
Then I see him.
‘’Oh shit,’’ I mutter and power towards him.
I turn off the engine just before I reach him, so as the boat stops and I do not pass him. He is lying face down in the water. I curse and grab rope from the pile behind me. As quickly as I can, I secure the rope around my waist, and tie the other end around one of the metal beams that act as seats in the boat.
I then take a deep breath, and dive into the water. As I plunge into the deep, the temperature of the water surprises me. I am used to freezing water, but for some reason, this water isn’t too bad. Perhaps it has something to do with it being night time.
I swim towards Aaron and carefully turn him over in the water, as I learned to when I was doing my lifeguard courses. Carefully, I rest his neck across my arm so his head is facing the sky. His eyes are closed and his mouth is slightly open. His face is pale.
‘’Aaron?’’ I question, ‘’Aaron please, no.’’
He doesn’t respond. I move my head above him in the water and hold my ear just over his mouth to check for breathing. I do not hear his breaths nor do I feel them against my cheek. He is not breathing.
I feel my own heart beating about ten times faster than it should be. I have never had to use my lifeguard skills in real life on a real person; in fact, I had always prayed I never would have to. The fact that I must now use them on someone so close to me is daunting. It intensifies the pressure that exists already.
Subconsciously, I place my hand over Aaron’s mouth and move above him, clamp my mouth over his nose – ensuring both nostrils are covered – and I breathe a deep breath of oxygen into his body. When I remove my mouth from his nose, I ensure to keep my hand over his mouth.
I turn my head to the side, again checking for air against my face however none comes from his nose.
‘’One thousand, two thousand, three thousand, four thousand,’’ I say, and then move over him once more – clamping my mouth over his nose and blowing air into his body.
Nothing.
I begin to cry. This can’t be happening. Not so close to the end.
‘’Please Aaron,’’ I plead as I swim with him to the boat, his head still lying across my arm – I am relying on just my legs to tow us both.
I move above him again and repeat the process as before, placing my mouth over his two nostrils, covering his mouth and exhaling deeply.
‘‘’One thousand, two thousand, three thousand, four thousand.’’
I exhale once more.
‘’Please, don’t leave me...I need you.’’
The waves aren’t as calm as they seemed when I was in the boat. They move us up and down as well as making us drift from the boat. Thankfully, I am attached via rope, otherwise we wouldn’t have any chance of getting back to it. The waves also cause the boat to turn in the water, which causes the beam of light shining on us to slowly move off us.
I have never had to tow someone as heavy as Aaron before, it had always been a girl of similar build to me. It certainly is challenging but the lifejackets make it a lot easier. I fight to get us to the boat regardless, determined to get us both to safety.
I clamp my hand over his mouth and place my mouth over his nostrils. I then blow air once more into his body and silently pray it works. I’m not sure how long I can keep this up.
‘’One thousand, two thousand, three thousand, four thousand.’’
Please...Please let him live.
I again move above him and lock my mouth over his nostrils. This time, as I blow air into him, he begins spluttering and coughing, and fights to sit up in the water.
‘’Aaron!’’ I gasp and begin to sob as I float next to him.
‘’What happened?’’ he questions after a few moments of confusion.
‘’I think you were dead,’’ I say, ‘’you took in water, your heart stopped.’’
‘’You saved me?’’
I nod my head, although I am not sure if he can see me.
‘’Lifeguarding is a useful skill to have.’’
‘’Where’s Niamh?’’ he asks.
‘’She’s somewhere in the water, we need to get back to the boat, we’re going back to the island,’’ I explain, and pull myself along the rope towards the boat.