Grant stalled at the top of the stairs. I couldn't see what had caused him to stop. I nervously glanced down to make sure Gina was still locked inside. Grant stepped into the room just enough for Will to shove past him. Cal and I nervously followed with Aaron physically pushing me to move faster. The door slammed shut behind us. As we all piled into the cabin, I saw her. A young girl probably around fifteen years old lay on the floor with her hands tied behind her back. Her ankles were tied. A dark piece of duct tape was over her mouth, strands of her blonde hair stuck under it.
We all circled around her. Her eyes were wide at the sight of us and she was trying to say something under the duct tape. I rushed to her.
"This might hurt," I warned. She nodded with tears in her eyes.
I pulled the duct tape off her mouth. She yelped a bit and gasped for breath.
"Untie me," she begged. "Please! Before he comes back."
I started to get her hands free as Grant rushed to untie her ankles.
"Before who comes back?" Grant asked her as he released her ankles.
"Dean!" she shrieked. "He's with Gina." She stopped and listened. "Where is she?"
"It's okay," I told her. "Gina's locked up downstairs."
"Downstairs where?" she asked nervously.
"You don't want to know," I said.
She stood up and looked at us. "Thank you so much!"
"Who are you?" Aaron asked her, stepping forward.
She took a step back. Aaron towered over her.
"I'm Beth. I was supposed to be going to summer camp, but when I got here..."
Her eyes welled up with tears.
"It happened to us, too," I whispered. "We're getting out of here. Come with us, okay?"
She looked like she was in shock. As though it was all slowly sinking in.
"I'm Ryleigh," I told her. "That's Cal, Grant, Will, and Aaron."
"We don't have time for this!" Aaron blurted.
Grant looked at our newest camper, Beth.
"How do you know Dean is coming back?"
"They tied me up at the other cabin. Gina brought me over here, but Dean had said he'd meet her here in a little bit," she replied nervously.
"Let's go," Grant told all of us.
"Wait!" Beth yelled. "My shoes. She put them in there."
Grant opened a small cabinet and all of our shoes were in there. He tossed them out onto the floor and we rushed to put them on.
"There's nothing else in here," Grant said sadly. I helped him quickly open the other cabinets, hoping to find anything else. I found a plastic bag with water bottles in it, but no food. I grabbed the bag, tied the top together, and jumped back up. The bag was heavy with all the water, but I was so happy to have found it, I didn't complain.
Will walked up to me and took the bag from my hand and at first I resisted.
"I got it," he said gently. I nodded after realizing he was offering to carry it rather than trying to steal it from me.
"Our stuff must be at the main cabin," Cal said.
Beth looked at me and I nodded. "We'll get you out of here, okay?"
She didn't respond, but she stood close to me, following behind as we got back into our line and headed for the door. Grant took a deep breath and pushed the cabin door open. He waited for a few seconds before stepping outside.
The fresh air hit me and I inhaled deeply. I felt the sunshine on my face and could've cried right there. Aaron walked cautiously through the dirt and led us behind the cabin a few feet.
"Where are you going?" Aaron spat.
"We have to decide how to do this. Dean is on his way here. I don't want to run into him face to face," Grant told him.
"I do," Will sternly said in a deep voice.
"Yeah, I wouldn't mind seeing him one more time," Aaron added.
"Our best bet is to avoid him and get out of here somehow," Grant advised. "We need to get to the boat. Maybe there's a spare key on board."
Beth stood behind me, gripping my arm and trembling.
"It's okay," I soothed.
"What about the traps?" she asked with wide eyes.
"The what?" I whispered.
"The traps. They're set up all over the entire island," she whispered back.
"Grant!" I called.
He looked over at us and saw my face.
"Beth said there are traps set up all over this island," I told him.
"What?" Cal shrieked.
"Beth," Grant said softly. "How do you know there are traps?"
"I saw them. On the screens," she replied.
We all looked at each other in confusion.
"Can you explain?" he asked nicely.
Beth went on to tell us that when Dean drove her here like he had with all of us, they went inside the main cabin for her to meet Gina. It must have taken Gina a little longer to come out because Beth had a strange feeling about the whole thing. She opened a closed door and inside were about five computer screens. Each screen showed a different location of the island being filmed live from what she guessed.
On the table under the screens were notes detailing types of traps.
"Some are animal traps. But then other ones...I think Dean designed them because I've never heard of anything like them before. They set them up all over the place and have cameras recording," Beth told us.
"Why would they have that? That doesn't make any sense. Let's please just get out of here!" Cal begged.
Grant looked at Will. "What do you think?"
Will shrugged. "We can't stay here. Just gotta be careful, I guess."
Grant thought for a minute. "Beth, do you know where the traps are located?"
"Maybe," she answered. "It was hard to tell. The island all kind of looked the same."
"Okay," Grant told us. "We'll have to go slower than we thought we would. Be careful! Keep your eyes and ears open. Dean will probably find Gina and if he comes after us-"
"That won't be a problem," Will cut in.
"Stay alert," Grant advised.
We all nodded. Aaron walked with a slight limp behind me, wincing periodically from the pain in his side. His face was still badly bruised. I placed Beth in front of me, in between Cal and myself. When we were all ready, Grant gave us a nod and started walking.
He had decided it was better to not go toward the cabin since Dean may show up any minute. We also assumed most of the traps were set up near there. It would be better to go around, even if it was longer, it was probably safer. The island had thick trees and plants that we could make our way through without being in plain sight. Grant led the way and we all kept our eyes peeled for anything suspicious.
I didn't even know what I should be looking for. I inspected plants and trees, unsure if I saw traps or not. Everything looked questionable the further we walked. Gina's injections were safely in my pocket, but I didn't want to have to use them.
We walked in silence, the only sound being our footsteps crunching over some fallen leaves. The sun was shining directly above us. After about an hour, I relaxed a bit. My legs hurt and no one had seen any traps at all. Cal moved slowly in front of me, dragging her feet.
"You okay?" I whispered to her over Beth's shoulder.
She nodded. "I can keep going."
I gave her a smile and we trekked on.
"Wait!" Will's gruff voice whispered.
We all stopped and listened. Will was looking up, focusing on a tall palm tree. He pointed and Grant followed his gaze, nodding back at him.
"I see it," he whispered.
"See what?" Cal asked.
Grant shushed her and she made a face. He pointed and we all looked up. At the top of the tree, hidden within its giant leaves, we could see a miniature camera. Grant side stepped a few feet to our right and we all did the same.
"I think we're out of its range," Grant said.
I sighed in relief. Cal bent over, stretching her back. I stretched my legs, my muscles stiff and achy. We went around the palm tree and began ascending slightly uphill.
"There's a waterfall somewhere in the middle of this island," Beth spoke up. "I'm not sure how far it is from here, but it looked pretty safe."
"If we can get to a high point, we can probably also get a better view of this place. Maybe find the quickest way out," I suggested.
Grant agreed and kept us heading straight, assuming we were going towards the center of the island. The heat peaked when we began hiking uphill. We were in direct sunlight and I wiped the sweat from my brow. My throat was dry and I nudged Will to pass out the water bottles.
We slowed our pace, but refused to stop. As the elevation grew, I strained to see the water, but couldn't. The island was much bigger than I ever would've thought. Finally, we found some shade as we got to a fuller part. Palm trees swayed slightly and we gravitated towards them.
"There," Grant's hoarse voice called out as he pointed straight ahead of him.
From the corner of my eye, I saw water falling. Minutes later, we stood in awe of a massive waterfall. We approached the wet dirt and as I dipped my hands into the cool water, I sighed. I splashed water on my face and then cupped my hands, gulping it down. It was exactly what we had all needed. I sat down, resting my legs. I wet the back of my neck and top of my head.
I wanted nothing more than to put my bare feet in the water, but I didn't want to risk taking my shoes off now that I finally had them back.
Beth soaked her hair and pulled it up into a wet bun on top of her head. It reminded me of swimming in the summer. Rachel and I would go to the community pool on the weekends while school was still in session, but it was already hot outside. I'd pull my brown hair up into a sopping wet twist, tucking it into itself before relaxing on a lounge chair. That memory came flooding back and I promised myself that I would do it again soon.
Beth found shade under a tree and walked around its trunk slowly.
Then I heard her scream.