Desolation by J. B. Everett (read more books .txt) 📕

just stare at me silently. Wow, I feel very welcome.

"This is Tessa. I found her up in a tree in the jungle. She's one of us" Tristan says.

One of us. Who are we?

A few of the kids smile at me, but the rest of them continue to stare at me as if I have three heads.

"So how many of us are there now? Twelve?" a boy with red hair asks.

Tristan nods. "Six girls, six boys" he says

"Do you know why we're here?" the blond girl says to me. There is something about the tone of her voice that rubs me the wrong way. There is a hint of menace in her voice.

I shake my head no.

"Great. We're trapped here on this island and no one has a clue where we are or how we got here. I want to go home" she says bitterly.

"Jessica, you think that anyone wants to be here? Of course not, everyone wants to be home. But we're not so we've got to figure things out here" the red haired boy says to her.

Jessica turns around then stomps away to the water. I can already tell that I do not like her.

"Hey, where did Ian go?" Tristan asks.

"He went into the jungle to look for water" someone replies. Water. It suddenly hits my how thirsty I am.

"There's no clean water?" I ask nervously.

Tristan shakes his head no.

"As of right now, no. But there has to be some source of clean water out somewhere in the jungle. We'll keep looking for it and find it eventually" Tristan says

"It would be nice if we found it before we die from dehydration" Cara, one of the girls says sarcastically.

I suddenly feel dizzy and overheated. The sun is beating down, bright and shining in the cloudless sky. All of a sudden, everything is too bright. I shut my eyes, wobbling slightly.

"Hey, are you alright?" Tristan asks.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I think I just need to get into the shade for a little" I say. I need to get out of this blazing sun now.

"How about you go sit in the jungle for a little bit? Just don't go too far" Tristan says

I nod, then turn around and begin to walk back towards the jungle.

"Hey, are you sure that you're okay?" I hear Tristan call out.

I turn around and say yes, even though I am not sure if that is the truth.

As I walk back towards the jungle, I feel everyone's eyes on me, but I don't care. I finally arrive into the shade. Sitting down on a rock, I rest my head on my knees. Exhaustion immediately creeps into my body and my head begins to pound. I begin to think things through, trying so hard to remember why am I here and what is going on. But I can't. No matter how hard I try to remember, my memory is a blank slate.

Everything is just so confusing. Why are we here? Who are these kids? Where are we? Then, a thought occurs to me that I hadn't thought of before; maybe this is all just a bad dream? Maybe I will wake up in a few hours back in my own bed living my normal life. But something deep inside of me tells me that this is reality.

Suddenly, I begin to cry. And it's not just crying; it's loud sobs that shake my entire body. I don't want to be on this strange island with these strangers. I want to be home. The tears spill out uncontrollably from my eyes as I continue to sob, gasping for breath.

Then suddenly, I freeze when I realize that I'm not alone in the jungle. Chapter Four

My entire body tenses when I hear the snap of a twig behind me. Someone is here, watching me. I slowly turn my head around and my heart skips a beat. A boy is standing behind me, about ten feet away, just staring at me. My cheeks immediately burn bright red when I register that he saw me sobbing my eyes out. And they burn ever more when I realize how hot the boy is.

He is just standing there, his arms crossed and a stolid look on his face. And damn, he is hot as hell. The next few moments, I am frozen, just staring at him. Then I finally break out of it and begin to stutter, "I...um...I..." I cannot make any words. It's as if I have forgotten how to put words together to make a sentence.

"Who are you?" he asks brusquely, his tone of voice sharp and clipped. He continues to stare at me, his dark eyes burning into mine.

"Tessa" is all that I manage to say. I quickly wipe the tears from my face.

"You weren't there before" he says. The tone of his voice is still cold and impassive.

"Yeah, I know. I...well...Tristan found me. I...well...I was tied up in a tree" I stutter. Smooth, Tessa, smooth.

He continues to stare at me, not breaking his gaze. Something about him is making me feel uncomfortable.

"Why were you crying?" he asks. I am suddenly filled with anger.

"Why??? Because I'm confused, okay? Because I have no clue where the hell I am, who any of you guys are, or how I got here!" I exclaim.

There is a long silence, then I say, "Look, I'm sorry. I'm just really frustrated"

"We all are, aren't we?" he says.

Just then, I turn to see Tristan coming towards us.

"Hey, are you alright?" he asks me. He then turns and looks at the boy.

"No water?" Tristan asks. I realize that this boy must be Ian, the one they said went looking for fresh water out in the jungle.

Ian shakes his head.

"Nope, no sign of it. Guess we're going to die pretty soon" Ian says, chuckling. Neither Tristan nor I find it funny at all. I realize how thirsty I am and how dry my mouth is.

"I want to look for water" I say.

"Tessa, you should get some rest instead of go trekking through the jungle" Tristan says.

"But I want to look for it. There must be a source of fresh water somewhere in this jungle. I can't just sit here and wait for fresh water to magically appear" I say.

Tristan looks at me, unsure of what to say.

"Let her. She can come with me. We'll be back by sunset" Ian says.

I look at Ian, then back to Tristan.

Finally, Tristan says, "Okay fine. But be careful. And make sure that you two are back before it gets dark"

Tristan then turns to me.

"Are you sure that you want to go?" he asks.

I nod.

"Alright, good luck" Tristan says, then turns around and begins walking back down towards the beach.

"Let's go" Ian says. We begin to walk through the jungle. After a few minutes, Ian breaks the silence.

"Why do you want to come with me?" he asks, glancing at me.

"I can't just sit around with the others on that beach. I need to be doing something, or else I think I would go crazy on that beach with them" I say.

"Big groups of people not your thing?" he asks, raising his eyebrows.

"I guess not" I reply.

His lips curl up into a smirk.

"Same here. The moment I met them today, I couldn't stand them. Everyone's yelling and arguing. That's why I left to go search for water" Ian says.

There's a few moments of silence, then I ask,

"Um...do you know how to get back?"

He turns around, looking back at me.

"Worried you're not going to make it back home?" he asks, a derisive glint in his eyes.

My cheeks burn red again. Why does he have to be so attractive when he makes fun of me?

"No, it's just that I prefer not to be lost in the middle of a wild jungle" I say.

"Well if we do get lost, you'll be with me. And I don't think that you could ask for more than that" he says, smirking.

Damn, why does he have to be so freakin hot.

My legs start to burn as the ground begins to slope upwards. Now is when I wish that I were in better shape.

"You need a break?" Ian asks when he hears me panting. I can hear an edge of mock in the tone of his voice.

"No" I say quickly, even though I dying for a break. I don't want to seem wimpy.

"You sure? Because you seem pretty tired" Ian says, raising his eyebrows at me.

"Okay fine. A quick break" I say.

We both sit down on rocks across from each other. My legs are now on fire and beads of sweat are cascading down my body. If we don't find water soon, I am going to die from dehydration.

I close my eyes for a moment, then snap them back open when I remember that Ian is facing me.

"It's okay, you can close your eyes for a little. I'm not going to attack you" he says, smirking.

I roll my eyes at him, then shut them again. The only thoughts in my mind are of water. Clean, crisp, cool water. I have never needed water this bad.

I am suddenly broken out of my daydreams by Ian's voice.

"Tessa, we are being watched"

Chapter Five

"Tessa we are being watched"

I freeze midstep as I process what Ian has just said. It's as if all of my blood has run cold. I look at Ian with wide eyes, who is looking at something behind me. Too scared to turn around and see what he is looking at, I whisper, "What?"

"Look" Ian says, and he points his finger upwards behind me.

I slowly turn around and look up in the direction that he is pointing at. There, mounted up in a tree, is what appears to be a security camera. Focused directly on us.

"I don't think that's part of the natural wildlife of this island" Ian says sarcastically

I shake my head.

"Someone is watching us" I whisper, confirming the truth to myself that someone must have been on this island before us.

"I don't know if I want to know who because whoever it is is probably the person who is holding us captive here on this island" Ian says.

"I wonder if there are more cameras" I whisper.

"Why are you whispering? Afraid that they're listening to our conversation right now?" Ian says mockingly.

I roll my eyes at him.

"C'mon, we should go back soon. It's starting to get dark" Ian announces. The sun has begun to set, turning the sky above the canopy of trees a faded pink. We turn around and begin walking back the way that we came.