Unhinged: Volume Two Read online

  “Mmmm,” I murmur, pushing back against him.

  His fingers tighten on my shoulder until they nearly bruise.

  “Ow!”

  “Shush. Open your eyes.”

  I squint into the bright day. The rain has stopped.

  I am about to smile when shadows move in front of me.

  I finally focus on…people.

  Natives.

  Four of them. And they are watching us.

  “Sit up slowly,” Everette says, and I do.

  Jasper and Katie are already up watching the four men with fear.

  They speak swiftly in a foreign tongue to one another, wearing only loin cloths and beads around their neck. Their hair is a bowl cut framing eyes that are dark and suspicious.

  But the most terrifying part is that they each hold a long wooden spear with a very sharp end.

  “We don’t want any trouble,” Everette says, slowly reaching for his pack.

  “Ev,” I mutter, trying to defuse the situation.

  “I know,” he says out of the side of his mouth. “Just in case.”

  The native at the front lifts his stick and points it at Everette, who holds up his hands in the universal sigh for “I give up.”

  But when the native man comes forward, stepping quickly into our camp, Everette dives for his pack.

  He rolls to the side, pulling out his machete, and that’s when all hell breaks loose.

  Everette slings the backpack at the nearest, arcing his machete in one swift motion to keep the man away. If I didn’t think he was about to get us killed, I’d be in awe of his swift thinking. Instead, what Everette does puts us into a chaos that sets things into motion that can never be undone.

  The four men have already lifted their spears at us all, one for each, and they surround us now.

  When Katie screams, it’s like the noise is a signal.

  Everette is on his feet, and he leaps over the fire, machete high above his head.

  The second closest native rushes us, but instead of fighting Everette, the man strikes like a snake, and stabs Katie in her chest.

  Everette freezes in shock.

  We all do.

  Each of us gape at the scene as if it is impossible.

  Even Katie stares down at the spear in surprise.

  Then she makes the most god-awful sound that is drowned out by my scream of horror when she slumps onto her side.

  Her mouth coats with blood, and her eyes are wide and full of fear, but her body is already jerking like a puppet on a string, struggling with an almost instant death.

  Jasper reaches for her but the other natives rush forward to place spears in his face.

  He stops, his features a mask of pure anguish.

  Everette shouts a battle cry and goes after the one that had stabbed Katie.

  Katie is certainly dead.

  I am still screaming as the floor of our little camp runs with her blood.

  She’s not moving.

  Not even breathing.

  “Oh my God!” I cry, unable to accept it.

  Everette tussles with the man forcing him back, and the spear falls. Everette wastes no time. He chops the man at the neck, not quite decapitating him, but putting a cut deep enough that the head become unstable before falling at an impossible angle.

  The man crumples to the ground.

  The three natives charge Everette with their spears up.

  He fights them bravely, but they stab him over and over from all sides.

  Everette takes out one more with the machete between the ribs, but the other two have stabbed him in the sides and back.

  Jasper is screaming now too.

  They keep stabbing Everette, but he is still standing.

  He takes a swing at one of the last natives, and stumbles to his knee.

  Everette looks at me with a defeated expression and falls.

  They attack. Over and over, they stab my boyfriend, the man I thought I would marry, until he’s still.

  I have not stopped screaming since this began.

  The natives, certain that Everette is dead, come for Jasper and me.

  They grab me by the hair and two tie Jasper’s hands behind his back.

  Then they tie mine.

  Tears blur my vision, tears of pain and misery over Everette. For Katie, too. I may not have liked her, but she’s not deserving of a savage death.

  Tears of fear.

  Because what will they do with us?

  They drag Jasper and me away.

  I get one last look back at Everette who is too still for any hope.

  Blood is everywhere. On my hands, on my knees, I don’t even remember touching it but I’m soaked in blood.

  Jasper is gagging and puking.

  They jab at us with their spears, making us walk.

  They force us in the direction of the smoke we’d seen before.

  The trek to their camp feels like a thousand miles, and by the time we arrive at their little village of huts, I drop onto my knees, dehydrated. Having cried out all of my water, and after not being replenished since last night, my body hasn’t had food for far longer.

  Jasper is pale and silent.

  I am still sobbing, I can’t seem to stop the wails that break through my lips.

  The horror we’d endured was enough to last a lifetime, and it isn’t over.

  “What do you want from us?” I demand, but they don’t seem to understand our language.

  They put us in a cage with some pigs and chickens, the fencing made of bamboo that’s tightly bound without much space between.

  The men and women speak, motioning at us angrily.

  The two men leave.

  One woman shouts, comes closer, and she strikes the cage.

  She spits at me, and shakes the fence, then cries out.

  “Must be a wife,” Jasper says.

  He means of the ones Everette killed.

  “What are they going to do with us?”

  Jasper grimaces. “I’m not sure.”

  He’s in a daze.

  “We have to get out of here while they are gone.”

  Jasper nods.

  I rattle the bamboo looking for a weak spot, but a woman rushes me with a spear. She stabs it inside, hitting me in the leg. “Ah!” I cry out, clutching the wound.

  “Stop it!” Jasper snags the spear, tugging on it, trying to take it from her.

  But more women with spears rush us, jabbing at us until we back away.

  Jasper’s hand is bleeding, and so is my leg.

  I limp to the other side of the cage where he tears his shirt to tie around our wounds.

  “Where are they?” I ask.

  “Probably collecting their friend’s bodies.”

  I shudder thinking of our two friends who will stay cold at our camp, alone, with no one to claim their bodies.

  “Let’s wait for night and we have to get out of here,” I say and Jasper nods, but I can see he’s doubtful.

  I’m cramped from huddling in the corner with Jasper for so long. My wound stopped bleeding, but it aches.

  As of now, I’m a candidate for infection.

  I look through the gate and slap a hand over my mouth.

  “No!” I moan, rising. “What are you doing with them!” I yell, limping to the front of the cage. I grab the bars. “What are you doing!”

  They’ve come back, and they do carry their friends, they also have Katie and Everette’s bodies.

  Panic grips me.

  “What are they doing? Jasper, what are they going to do with him?”

  Jasper won’t look me in the eye.

  He moves back to our corner and sits down.

  I choke back more tears. “Jasper,” I cry. “Why do they have their bodies?”

  He shakes his head, closes his eyes, and puts his fingers into his ears.

  Jasper rocks back and forth humming to himself.

  “Stop!” I wail. “Stop it!” I shake the cage but one of the men comes over with a
spear.

  He threatens me until I back away.

  I sit next to Jasper, but I can still see part of Everette’s body on the table by one of the nearest huts.

  When they start to cut his clothes, a realization dawns on me with a new horror.

  Panic grips me until I cannot control the shaking in my limbs.

  Rocking in place, I plug my ears, and close my eyes.

  I hum like Jasper hums.

  It’s night.

  They have fires going but it’s dark enough for us to make our escape.

  We must or die trying.

  “Jasper,” I whisper. “We have to try.”

  His sad eyes are glazed over, staring at nothing.

  Fear has made us numb, but I’m unwilling to give up just yet.

  I finally get him to stand and we both check our enclosure for weaknesses.

  “Here,” I say. “Maybe we can fit underneath.” I dig at the soft dirt at the foot of the fence. “You watch.”

  He locks eyes with me. “Okay,” he says, voice broken.

  I use my hands to shovel as fast as I can.

  When it’s almost big enough, I say, “Help me.”

  And we both dig like our life depends on it.

  “Try,” Jasper says.

  I squeeze halfway, but I get stuck.

  “Jules,” Jasper warns, “They’re coming.”

  I shove myself the rest of the way, despite bamboo scratching me down my back.

  Then I turn and dig some more.

  Jasper squeezes underneath, and I pull on his arms and help him to his feet.

  “Come on,” I mutter.

  Once he’s up, we take off into the brush.

  “There,” Jasper says. “A trail.”

  My leg hurts but I don’t care. I push myself pumping my arms and legs until my lungs burn too much to ignore.

  A yell echoes behind us. They’ve realized we’re missing.

  “Go!” I call to Jasper who takes off much faster than I can keep up with. “Just go!” I say when he pauses, turning back to help.

  Jasper comes and grabs my arm, dragging me along the trail. “I can’t just leave you.”

  My leg keeps tripping us up.

  We glance back to see torches coming up the trail behind us.

  “Go!” I tell Jasper, pushing him away. “Run! Get help!”

  I dive into the bushes and crawl into the jungle to hide.

  He waits a beat, then finally listens to me and flees.

  The male natives rush past my hiding place, running fast the way Jasper had gone.

  Despite holding my breath and covering my mouth, little noises of fear escape me. Luckily, they don’t hear.

  The trail is quiet now. It has been for some time. I have to decide what I should do next. My best bet would be stay here until they return to their village then make my way down myself. This pathway looks used and probably will lead to the main trail on the other side of the mountain. It’s a long way, but unimpeded, I might make it.

  I hope Jasper already has.

  It’s not long that they return.

  And to my horror, they drag a limp Jasper behind.

  His head is down, hair over his face and eyes, and he looks dead. But the way they carry him, seems that he’s not.

  Blood drenches his shirt from shoulder to naval. There had been a fight.

  I close my eyes and whisper prayers as they pass me by.

  I should go.

  Once they get to the village, I should leave.

  But he didn’t want ditch me earlier. He might have been caught because he was slowed down by my leg.

  How can I leave him behind?

  I start to crawl in the direction of the village.

  It takes me until morning to get there. I drag myself, staying low and out of sight, through bamboo that splinters and stabs me a hundred times before I arrive where we’d dug underneath the fence.

  They didn’t bother filling in the hole. No reason to. Jasper is on his side, bound and gagged.

  His eyes flutter open, find mine, widen, and he shakes his head.

  I put a finger to my lips and check to make sure no one is around.

  When I’m certain they aren’t, I sneak back under the fence.

  Jasper is still shaking his head.

  I remove the gag and he whispers, “My God, Jules, what are you doing?”

  “Shut up. How do I get you out of these?”

  I work at the binds but without something to cut, it’s pointless.

  “I’m sorry,” I say, putting the gag back. “I have to go try to find something.”

  Back under and out into the jungle, I could leave right now. I could flee and try to get help.

  But I know he might not last that long.

  He’s lost blood, and it’s been days since we’ve eaten. They might kill him before I can get someone to help or both of us might starve anyway before I make it to the town.

  No, I have to get him free. It’s the only thing I can live with.

  The village is buzzing with people at work, and they will see me too easily if I tried to find something to cut with there. The best I can do is a sharp rock, perhaps.

  I move down into a ravine and start looking.

  Finally, I find one that might work. That is, if I am able to saw at the binds long enough.

  But when I get back to the cage…it’s empty.

  I search the village from this vantage point but Jasper’s not there.

  I have to sneak and circle around half of it until I find him.

  He’s with a man, and he’s untied. He looks…weary. But he’s staring down at something with a perplexed expression.

  The man shoves it in his face.

  Jasper takes whatever it is and lifts it with awe. “You want me to show you?”

  “Show!” the man yells. “Show!”

  “Give me some of the beans.”

  I can barely hear Jasper. He’d said beans?

  He has some sort of tool in his hand. He’s bashing it against the beans.

  “There, you can use this as a filter. See?”

  Is he…he’s making coffee!

  Then it dawns on me. These are the coffee beans---the super coffee beans he’d been going on about! The village has them but doesn’t know how to make them.

  He’s got water heated over the fire, and he’s pouring out some through a gauzy material. “It’s better with a real filter. This will be bitter without sugar.”

  Jasper tastes some. “Mmm. It’s actually not too bad.” He lifts it toward the man. “Try?”

  The man looks suspicious, but then takes a sip.

  He shouts in surprise. Sips again. Then he starts waving his hands around and shouting. Other natives come running.

  They all take a drink from the cup with various reactions.

  But even Jasper is laughing when one man spits it out and grins. One woman even hogs the cup.

  Most of them love the coffee.

  The man motions for Jasper to make more.

  He even gives Jasper a jug to drink water from, and a few berries to eat.

  My mouth waters seeing him stuffing his face with the fruit.

  His eyes swiftly run across where I hide, but don’t linger. Jasper knows I’m still hiding in the jungle, but he’s careful not to tip off the natives as to the fact that he is looking for me.

  My legs begin to cramp after the third round of coffee, and everyone is acting caffeined up and rowdy. A woman is chasing her partner like perhaps this was an aphrodisiac.

  Jasper looks exhausted, but happy to be alive.

  They lead him back to the cage. He seems to have been deemed the Coffee Chief, they’ve even given him a little hat made of grass.

  Once they leave him alone, I sneak under the fence.

  This time, he’s untied.

  “If I try to escape,” he whispers, “they may catch me again and will definitely kill us this time. Look. They seem to like me right now. Just go get help. I�
�ll wait here.”

  Jasper slumps down, he’s tired. I know I am too.

  “No. Are you serious? Let’s get out of here!”

  “They are not looking for you anymore, Jules. Go. This is our chance.”

  I hate to admit that he may be right.

  I close my eyes and breathe deeply. When I open them again, he’s got a weak smile. “Don’t worry about me.”

  I nod. “Fine. I’ll go. But please, be careful.”

  “I will.”

  It takes me half a day to make it down the mountain. By the time I do, I’m delirious with hunger.

  Lucky for me I found berries on the way, and the island has plenty of water, otherwise I wouldn’t have made it.

  A man with a bicycle found me slumped next to the side of the road when my leg finally gave out. He helped me up and spoke English well enough so he could understand that I needed to get to the authorities. I even offered to pay him with my watch.

  He said no to the watch and took me as a good Samaritan.

  With a lot of breaks, I rode on the front of his small bike. My arms shook from exhaustion, and I fell off twice, but every time I thought of giving up, I pictured Jasper waiting for me back in that village.

  The police station is just one door that looks like the rest in a rundown apartment complex. And the two officers are dressed in yellow button ups with matching straw hats.

  One has tattoos all over his chest and neck, and a gold tooth.

  “You have to help me! My friends have been murdered! One of them is up there still, please. They are holding him hostage. You have to help us!”

  “Whoa, whoa! Calm down little lady. You look like you’ve been through hell!”

  His accent is the type of islander accent that should be calming and welcoming---it should sound like vacation to me---but instead, it’s triggering my anger and frustration. It’s too laid back. I need urgency!

  Jasper could be suffering a painful death right this moment!

  “You don’t understand! They will kill him!”

  “Him who?”

  “Jasper. My friend. They killed my boyfriend and his girlfriend already!”

  “Jasper did?”

  The police man is now listening too. They frown at one another like I’m crazy.

  “No!” I shout, slapping the counter, putting a shaky hand through my hair. I feel like I’m going to pass out. “The natives up in the mountains. Song Mountain!”