Unhinged: Volume Two Read online

  UNHINGED VOLUME TWO

  A TWISTED COLLECTION OF SHORT STORIES

  by Logan Keys

  ISLAND OF DOOM

  LOST LANE

  SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY TROLLS

  THE CAVE

  BONUS STORY: BARKLEY

  Published in the United States

  by Logan’s Fiction

  Copyright Logan Keys - 2017

  UNHINGED AND ITS STORIES are all works of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons — living or dead — and any events or locals used is entirely coincidental.

  With the exception of excerpts for review purposes, no part of this publication may be reproduced or copied in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or otherwise transmitted without the express permission from the publisher.

  ISLAND OF DOOM

  “Shut the hell up about the stupid coffee beans,” I shout back to Jasper.

  Katie rolls her eyes at me, and moves past my place on the trail, her innocent face a mask for what lies beneath.

  Inside, she’s singing, “Boom I want your boyfriend….Uh huh, I want your man.”

  Her shirt looks pulled lower every time I check, and Everette is not immune.

  He smiles at me now, good-naturedly, with a shrug, like: I’m a man. What jiggles is where my eyes go.

  Too bad I can’t play tit for tat, and flirt with Katie’s boyfriend Jasper. He’s too much of a nerd. Ev would never buy that I’m hitting on a man I can arm wrestle to the ground.

  I bite down hard, clamping my jaws shut to keep from cussing Everette out, before turning on Katie, the little bleach fried-haired idiot, who would step over my dead body for a guy like mine.

  My nerves are shot with Jasper going on about coffee beans for over two hours.

  Hike Song Peak! They said. It will be a blast! They said.

  “I’m serious,” Jasper says, swatting a mosquito. “They grew these super coffee beans up here, and then the locals drove them out. So, the plants are still up here somewhere. They are worth a fortune!”

  “Locals, or jungle people?”

  Jasper’s face turns pinched at Everette’s obvious ignorance. “Native people.”

  “So…” Everette winks at Katie who giggles and pushes her chest out. “Jungle people.”

  I roll my eyes. “Can we just keep on guys? It’s only been a mile, two more to go, and we have to turn back before dark, right?”

  Everette drinks from his water bottle then douses his face with the rest.

  Shaking off droplets, he looks at Katie first then his eyes finally remember to find his actual significant other: me.

  I fight the urge to punch him in his smug face.

  I turn around with a growl and start up the trail.

  The growth is much thicker as we get closer to the peak. We can’t go on without pushing back the jungle. Everette barely hides his glee as he gets out his machete.

  It’s a sharp weapon, nice too. He spent half a month’s salary ordering it just for this trip. Then they wouldn’t let him bring it in his luggage, so he’d overnighted it to the hotel ahead of time. It was all a big mess just to get it here and now, he finally gets to use it like an action star.

  Katie’s mouth is a perfect oh of admiration.

  I look at the sky. “It’s getting late and we have a long way to go. I told you we should have left earlier. Maybe we should turn back, guys.”

  “What? Why?” Katie whines.

  “I think this is okay,” Jasper says, glancing upward, hands on hips. He does his best to seem like an informed individual about most everything. It’s annoying as hell. “They told us it gets a bit thick up here, but we have time.”

  The island only has one small town as it is, and I worry if someone gets hurt or trapped, we might not merit a rescue.

  But if I say as much, again, I’m the Mom of the group.

  Everette chops some of the bamboo and weeds back. He grins at us after.

  The blade does the trick, slicing through the big vines with ease. “See Jules,” he says. “We will be at the top in no time.”

  I do admit, he looks kind of hot all sweaty and chopping the overgrowth back. It could be fantasy material, picturing my man forging a path for us like frontiersman of the jungle.

  I sigh and get on board. “Great job!” I say, with a thumbs up, as he checks back with us between cutting.

  It’s slow going but we manage to see the peak and a clear view of it.

  We pause a moment, Everette’s exhausted having cut us through nearly a quarter mile.

  I glance at Jasper, and then at the darkening sky. He shrugs.

  I sigh. “Here, Ev, let me have a try.”

  He laughs, shoulders shaking with amusement. “You? Really?”

  I hold out my hand with a frustrated sniff. “Yes. Really.”

  It can’t be that difficult to swing the sharp blade around like a caveman.

  He hands it over, and crosses his arms.

  Everette has always enjoyed my feminist slant like the big kid humoring his younger sibling. Sure, he won’t protest, but he has this smirk on his face the entire time that makes me feral.

  I grit my teeth and take my best swing.

  The thick piece of bamboo topples over, cut clean through.

  Jasper slow claps, and Katie even joins in, whistling for me, as I take on more of the foliage.

  But still, it’s harder than it looks. You have to cut the stalks at an angle, and after my initial beginner’s luck runs out, I get the machete stuck in the larger branches time and again, until we have to push around many of the stalks.

  Still, I move us another quarter of a mile.

  Jasper checks his map and measures our distance. “Only half a mile to go!”

  I frown. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it’s getting too late. At this rate, we won’t get to the peak until dark. Won’t be worth it anyway if we can’t see anything.”

  Katie purses her lips together. Pushing her backpack higher, she says, “We are almost there. We have flashlights. The path is cut already for the way back. Let’s just finish this.”

  Jasper nods. He tries to look like he’s making a decision on his own for once, and fails miserably, eyes straying to his girlfriend. “I think it will be all right.”

  Everette shrugs with a side glance at me. “Sorry, Babe. Looks like you’re outnumbered.”

  He takes the machete and begins to cut.

  We all take turns this time. Even Katie does a crummy job, but manages to put us a few feet further and we make it to the peak right at nightfall.

  Jasper jogs up to the rock at the highest point. “Wahoo!” he holds his hands high. “I’m king of the world!”

  We all laugh.

  It feels good. Like we conquered something.

  Everette kisses me excitedly, and I pull him into my arms and we have to stop ourselves from taking it too far in front of the other couple.

  Jasper pokes fun at our heated moment, and instead of being pissed, I giggle.

  Katie seems less annoying to me even as she pulls her teddy bear from her backpack for our little time capsule idea that’s not a capsule at all.

  I don’t feel as silly for bringing out my photo of my dad to place on the peak.

  Everette puts down a football, his first touchdown, he’d said.

  Jasper has a letter. “For the next explorers to find.”

  “What does it say?” I ask.

  “Dear traveler, if you are reading this, then you too have made it to the peak of Song Mountain as it is called by locals. We’ve traveled halfway across the world, and whereve
r you are from, we hope your adventure has been just as fulfilling. Everette. Katie. Julia. And Jasper.”

  “And I’ve dated it. Maybe it will be years before it’s found?”

  “Probably the next group comes up in an hour.” Everette laughs.

  Katie shrugs. “We had to cut our way up. Might be hardly anyone comes up here.”

  “Too true,” says Jasper, as he sets a rock on top of his note, and we move to place our additions.

  Katie’s bear, my photo, and the football sit in a little pile, and we circle them with more stones to keep the collection from blowing away.

  The first drops of rain begin to drum on the oversized leaves. The sound signals our last moment at the peak.

  With a sigh, we grab our backpacks and flashlights before we begin our way down.

  The first mile is easy, but the rain has picked up.

  Everette stops to check his compass and Jasper has his map.

  Small threads of water are already rushing down our trail.

  “Should be just a half mile that way to the main trail,” Everette says. He smiles at me. “We are fine, Jules. Don’t stress, okay?”

  I nod, pushing water from my eyes. “Okay.”

  Katie watches us. The rain has turned her mascara into black rings around her eyes like a raccoon.

  I bite back a smile and let her and Jasper pass me on the path.

  Everette steadies me by the elbow when I slip.

  “Careful,” he says, before kissing my cheek.

  He’s trying to make up for all the Katie check-outs on the way up. Now, with our bed in mind, he’s working into my good graces.

  Jasper slips next, falling onto his ass in the mud.

  “It’s really slick ahead,” he says, and we all laugh when he barely makes it to his feet before falling again.

  “Try sticking to the left side,” Everette says, and I hear the first hint of worry in his voice.

  It builds anxiety in me immediately.

  If Everette is worried…about anything…it’s not a good sign.

  “Yeah but we are almost there, right?” I ask, shining my flashlight into his face.

  He covers his eyes, looking away. “Yeah.”

  But Everette pressures us to move faster.

  Jasper tries to reassure us as each one mis-steps and falls in the mud over and over again.

  “The main trail is all rocks!” he calls up to us from behind. We should be fine once---”

  Everette lunges for him as he falls, but misses.

  “Jasper!” I cry, as he flies by both Katie and I, the extra soft spot of dirt turning into a slip-and-slide, straight off the side of the mountain.

  “Jasper!” we all cry as he disappears into the darkness.

  Katie screeches and lunges for him, but falls too.

  I snag her bag, stopping her, but down I go.

  Luckily, Everette has one hand around a big bamboo tree, and he’s got my pack in his other, stopping us all from following Jasper.

  “What should we do?”

  I have to shout. The weather has turned worse. Sheets of rain pound on the mud that’s loosening by the second.

  “Let’s just be careful, keep hold of each other, and work our way down.”

  I nod.

  We inch forward on the soaked trail.

  It’s achingly slow.

  Katie is the next to fall.

  This time, she’s twisted her ankle. “Don’t touch it!”

  She slaps my hands away.

  I don’t need to see it with the shoe off, it’s already swelling.

  Everette and I exchange glances.

  “Let me see if I can find Jasper,” he says, his eyes wide, his face disbelieving.

  “Okay, we’ll wait here.”

  Truth is, I’m afraid to move from this spot.

  I find some aspirin in my bag and have Katie take some. She leans over her leg cursing and crying.

  I murmur nonsensical things like: “It’s fine. Everything is fine. Jasper’s going to be fine.”

  After what feels like forever, I tell her, “Come on. Let’s try to go down a ways.”

  She nods, but leans on me heavily and clings to me like a lost kitten, making it a dangerous trek downward.

  Luckily the main path is just ahead, I can see where we turn onto the trail.

  Everette is there, he’s running our way. “Flash floods!” he yells.

  “Where’s Jasper!” Katie screams.

  Just then, the flood hits rushing down the trail.

  “I don’t know!” Everette grabs us both and we all flounder up the hill, fighting the mudslide.

  “Jasper!” Katie shouts, but she wisely works with us, as we dig and climb away from the rising waters.

  “I’m right here!”

  We glance up in surprise to find him there, stuck between a tree and a rock on the hillside.

  Thunder and lightning make it hard to hear and it blinds us too.

  Everette finds his way to Jasper and gets him unstuck.

  “Let’s go back up!” Jasper shouts. “The trail on the other side of the peak. It might not be flooded!”

  “Can we make it?” I ask.

  “Let’s try!”

  Katie groans. “Can’t we just wait here? I can’t walk any further!”

  Everette and I share a glance. She hasn’t been walking this whole time.

  “Get on my back, Katie,” he says and I hand her over.

  She doesn’t look too disappointed.

  And we start the long trek back up the mountain to the peak.

  We suffer, scraped knees, busted elbows, and even my lip split from hitting the ground extra hard, face first, but we’ve made it.

  And the other side is, in fact, less muddy. We hopefully can navigate this side down and find the main trail.

  Perhaps it isn’t also rushing with flood waters.

  The rain even seems to hear our cries of pain and has lessened somewhat.

  The night sounds pick up. Crickets chirp. The drizzle is soothing rather than terrifying.

  Everette brings out the machete again to beat back the jungle on this side, but it’s downhill, so the going is swift.

  Katie leans on my shoulder, and Jasper’s too.

  “This way looks like an old trail!” Everette calls back.

  We all breathe a sigh of relief.

  There is an old path on this side, but we are not seeing the trail, even after hiking a mile downward.

  In fact, there is nothing over here.

  “How close to the bottom are we?” I ask

  Jasper scratches his head. “I think we have two whole miles to go.”

  We are exhausted.

  “We have to stop,” Katie begs. “I need a rest.”

  Everette finally agrees.

  “Over there!” Jasper points. “There is a cave or something in those rocks.”

  A cave is not quite the right word. As we get closer, we see the shelf. The side of the peak has an overhang.

  We barely fit underneath it in a tight huddle.

  Arms linked, we decide to make it work until morning.

  Through the night, we take turns sleeping in a seated position.

  When the sun finally rises, the rain is still coming down.

  We are sore, cranky, and soaked.

  “The trail up to the peak is a wall of mud now,” Everette says after coming back from a quick scouting of our routes. “We have to follow this side down.”

  This is complete opposite side of the peak from how we came up. It means more cutting and forging a pathway.

  “If we can’t find the trail, how far is it around do the other side do you think?” I ask.

  Jasper looks at the map. “At least ten miles.”

  We all share a look.

  He means ten miles of thick jungle. It will take days to cut through that much foliage, and with Katie’s ankle, maybe longer. We don’t even have enough food for that.

  Without debate, we start our wa
y down, anyway.

  “Is this the right thing to do, Ev?” I ask when no one can hear.

  He shakes his head. “What choice do we have?”

  “Look!” Katie yells.

  In the distance. Smoke.

  “We aren’t going that way,” Everette says.

  “Anyone have any phone service yet?” I ask.

  “Nope,” each answers.

  “And mine is dead.” I sigh. “Everette, we might have to go that direction. There is no way we will make it around the entire mountain with a couple of energy bars, and a bad ankle.”

  “She’s right,” Jasper says.

  “That is a mile out of our way.”

  “Sorry, Babe,” I say with an attempt at a smile. “Looks like you are outnumbered.”

  He blows out his cheeks, and nods. “Fine. But this was all of your ideas.”

  “Fine.”

  We begin toward the smoke, off in a new direction, and I take my turn to help cut back the jungle.

  We don’t make it to the smoke before night fall. We find another spot under a different overhang that’s bigger than before.

  This time, Everette makes a fire and we huddle around it, still wet from sweat and rain.

  It’s good to get warm and dry for once.

  “Do you think anyone will come looking for us soon?” Katie asks.

  “Like who? The hotel?” Everette snorts.

  “We are on our own, Katie. The hotel won’t be calling authorities because they won’t know we didn’t return. If and when they do, it won’t be until our checkout time next week. A lot of people camp or stay at other places during their trip. Even if they see we are gone, they may think we stayed on the other side of the island.” Jasper frowns. “If they wait until our check out time to notify anyone, it would be pointless by then. We’ll be goners.”

  “Hey,” Everette says, glaring at Jasper. “We are going to be just fine. The weather is chilling out. We have plenty of water. If we keep the bars until the last possible moment we need then, we will be out of here in a day or so.”

  “What about that fire we saw? If we get there tomorrow, they might have a working phone. Or some food.”

  Katie nods. “Yeah. Exactly.”

  We all become quiet and eventually fall into a restless sleep.

  Everette whispers in my ear, “Jules, wake up.”